Monday, January 12, 2009

Keegan Version 2.5 It's official. I was two and one-half years old on January 8. Mama, dada and Ga sang happy birthday and everything. I am still as active as ever, which is probably why I stay so skinny -- so much so that my pants always have to be rolled over, which shows off my Cars, Incredible Hulk and Spiderman under-roos. I still get matchbox cars for pooping in the potty. To date I have about 100, seriously. It's hard for mama and dada to find cars at the store that I don't have to add to my collection. I still insist on lining up all my cars, sometimes color-coded, and I really like to drive them, more than my trains, on the train track. My train table was a big hit for Christmas. I am also very into Wonder Pets, and mama and dada actually like it too; well, at least more than that purple dinosaur character. Even though I'm a lightweight, I still generally eat like a champ - favorites are fruits (pears and red corn a/k/a pomegranate) and veggies (zucchini and tomatoes, including green ones off the plants in the garden), and I come by my love of all things "soup" honestly. I repeat everything that everyone says, so beware, and I say a lot of funny things on my own like "I don't think so" (in response to Keegan, do you want to get to bed), "not yet" (in response to Keegan, could you pick up your toys), and "delicious" (when GA is cooking). I still love to read with mama, and can pick out just a couple of words that I recognize, like fish and pancakes; mama has read each of my books so many times that she reads the first half of the sentence, and I finish the second half. I still love going to school at Second Baptist. Tomorrow is pajama and teddy bear day, so I need to blaze to get my z's. See ya!
Mama was in serious organization mode over the holidays, so she went out and bought some new shelves that, of course, she couldn't put together.
Dada and I whipped out our tools and took care of it for her.
Thank you Aunt Sha for my John Deere toolset. We couldn't have got the job done without it! I think dada was a little jealous of my green tools, I'm just saying.
Who is that masked man?

Why it's dada, with his yearly goatee. Every year between Christmas and New Years, while the TaeKwonDo school is shut down, dada checks to make sure it will still grow. Success!
Happy 2009!
On New Year's Day, we headed to the Byman's house for a little fun in Luke's new bouncer toy. He was so exciting (no, not excited) to get it. I really enjoyed it too.
Poor Davis, Luke's little brother, hardly makes it on the blogs, and this is no exception. Mama was proud of me that I was playing with Davis, even if only briefly. There is hope. The dadas gave us some one-on-one time with the fishing rods. Before you know it, Luke and I will be going out on the boat with dada and Mr. Byman! Luke and I also had a good time inside, where we played with puzzles and Luke's train table. Not surprisingly, we have a lot of the same toys!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Christmas, 2008
This year, mama, dada and I took an airplane from an airport to Minneapolis to visit Uncle Billy, Aunt Kristen, Jamie, and Katie; and meemaw and grandpa drove in from Chicago. Two years ago, the party was in Texas. This year, things were a little colder. The trip started with a bumpy ride from the parking lot to the airport (barf), learning of an extra $45 dollars each way on Northwest for 3 suitcases, followed by a several hour delay. Yeh. Then, to top it all off, the only restaurant, if you can call it that, that was open THE SATURDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS in this terminal was, ugh, McDonalds. I ate my first nuggets and fries. Mama and dada too. This was the day "nasty" was added to my vocabulary, to my parent's dismay.

Brrrr. And when we finally got to Minnesota, it was an 80 degree temperature swing from Houston. 75 to -5. Luckily grandma and Uncle Billy met us in a heated car at the airport with coat, hat and gloves. On the way from the airport, and the rest of the trip, I was on the lookout for---snowplows!

On Sunday, we just chilled at the house and tried to stay warm -- people, it was in the negative teens and twenties at night! Uncle Billy tried to wrestle me down to expel some of my energy. I think this picture shows I was clearly the winner of this round.
Katie taught me to play piano, and the entire family endured my pounding.
Aunt Kristen got the star of the year for storing Jamie and Katie's Thomas the Tank Engine tracks all these years. It was also perfect for all my matchbox (aka "poop cars"), as well as the trains.
Three generations.
And ice cream. You gotta have ice cream, even in Minnesota.
Family time is the best time.
On Monday, dada went to visit one of his Facebook friends, whatever that means, so Aunt Kristen drove mama, grandma and me to the Library to stock up on reading material. You know I demand at least three books before sleeping.
It sure takes a lot of work to leave the house. Even Lefty dog was amazed at the shennanigans to get me dressed to leave the house. The seat belts had to be let out to accomodate my girth.
Very cool library near Katie's school. We waved when we drove past.
There were tons of animal puppets, games, and muchos books to read. We were on a mission to find books about dinosaurs and Santa.
That night, Aunt Kristen and Uncle Billy gave mama and dada a steak and movie date night to celebrate their 5 year wedding and 15 year dating anniversaries. They had a wonderful meal and saw Seven Pounds. Meanwhile, me and Jamie and Katie built a gingerbread house. Can we build it, yes we can! (as Bob the Builder says)
I'm not sure my handling food with just underwear on was quite up to Code, but it sure was fun, and tasty!
On Tuesday, the family all went to Keegan's Irish Pub in downtown Minneapolis for lunch. It was such a great place -- the Shepherd's pie was delicous, the Guinness flowing...
And the girls, oh yeah, the girls. Keegan's #1 fan.
Tuesday afternoon was spa time for mama and Aunt Kristen, so grandma and grandpa gave me an early Christmas present -- my first race track with battery operated cars.
Jamie and Katie helped me set it up. I sure am going to miss these chicks when I'm back in Texas. Can't wait to have them in Katy for Christmas 2010!