"Yellow"

While playing with one of his toys, Keegan happened to press the button that caused it to say "yellow".  Without delay, Keegan mimicked right along with it.  I just stared at him, amazed by the continuous flow of words. My little Keegan boy, how you amaze me so!

Little water man

On this beautiful, eighty degree day, Keegan and I took a walk along the newly designed greenway in Black Mountain.  We stopped at the end to sit by the creek where we met Claire and Amanda.  There we stayed for over an hour playing in and near the water.  Keegan is such a water lover, caring little for the cold temperature; it wasn't long before he was sitting waste deep in the flowing stream.  It was fun to watch the little ones entertain themselves while the adults sat with amused attention.  After playing in the water for a while, Keegan completely soaked, I stripped him down to his birthday suit to warm up a bit.  It was the funniest thing when Claire saw Keegan's naked body, pointed at him, and started chuckling.  Keegan quite enjoyed the freedom and laughed right along with Claire. Oh boy, what I have to look forward to.  I love you, my little water man!

Family visit

We had a very nice visit from family this week.  Keegan was quite excited to have Nana, Grandpa, Shanon, and Steven here just to see him.  Unlike last visit, he gave a proper greeting by not crying when they entered the house.  He soaked up all the attention and kept us quite entertained.  He headed out on adventures several times a day, proclaiming "bye, bye" and blowing a big kiss as he ventured down the steps towards the outside door; he added "love ya" on one departure, yet failed to say it again despite Grandpa's several attempts for a repeat performance.  Keegan awaited Grandpa's pancakes each morning and devoured Nana's good cookin' each evening.  Steven taught Keegan to say "bird" and Shannon made him laugh with her tickles and chases.  Of course he spent quality time with "Gumpa"--as Keegan likes to say--reading books; he'd climb off his lap every few minutes to pick another book and then utter "up" while waiting for Grandpa to lift him back into his lap.  "Nanee" followed after the little tyke as he toddled outside, stopping several times to gather sticks and rocks, and occasionally to say "flower" while sniffing the green stem. And then, as if life couldn't get any more fun, Auntie Kiah and Grammy arrived.  More tickles, more chases, more eyes to see what kind of silliness Keegan was going to get himself into.  And Auntie just gave him the best kind of lovin' to last until her next venture down.  Oh, life is beautiful!

Bare feet

Since Keegan started walking, he is rarely without shoes on.  As usual, he followed Daddy outside to water the plants, this time without shoes.  His typical protocol is to toddle right along side his dad; yet shoeless, he was unable to take a step off the patio without a little whimper as he retracted his foot from the feel of the grass.  With encouragement, he managed to take about 5 steps into Mommy's arms and quickly crawl onto my lap to get away from that foreign feel  under his feet.  He managed to get in a few more sprints between Mommy and Daddy before realizing he was not having much fun.  The following day, I made a point of leaving his shoes off when we went to the park, and it wasn't long before he was traipsing over all surfaces without care of bare feet.  Oh, what fun these little ones are!

It was fun...but only for a little while

My little bugaboo is home while I sit here many miles away in Massachusetts.  I had the opportunity to feel like an independent woman, traveling without my little guy.  It was a strange feeling. I am a mama now, and having my son in tow is what I do.  But I've been playing Auntie for the last few days, giving lots of lovin' to my little nephew.  When I called home the first night, Daddy told me that Keegan was holding a train-track up to his ear like a phone; in the background I could hear his little voice saying, "mama, mama".  He was having fun, oblivious to the miles that separated us.  I was happy.  When I called home on the second night, Daddy's voice strained above Keegan's cries.  I immediately wanted to jump through the phone and scoop my little Scoobie Doo up in my arms.  Deep breath!  Daddy told me they were outside, Keegan naked, because he had a bad diaper rash. Keegan heard my voice on the phone and stopped crying just long enough to say "Mama?"  He was sad; I was sad.  When I called home the third night, the sound of voicemail picked up; no little voice to say "Mama".  I was hoping he was happy.  I was an independent woman; it was fun...but only for a little while!  Oh my little man, how I miss you so.

"Uh, uh, uh, no, no, no"

Not long ago, while we were playing at home, Keegan walked around the corner saying, "uh, uh, uh, no, no, no!"  I thought to myself, "what kind of trouble has he got himself into now?"  And there he was, holding a cap from the bathroom that he knows he's not supposed to play with.  I had to hold back a grin, as I asked him to hand it over.  The little mischief-maker just wants to see what he can get away with.  He utters the same mantra -- "uh, uh, uh, no, no, no"-- with any activity he's been told not to do:  letting out the drain in the bathtub; rolling out the toilet paper; playing with the computer keyboard;  lifting the lid of the trash can or diaper pail; sticking his hands in the toilet bowl.  My little mischief-maker, how I love you so!