tales from a far-land

Today, Aiden visited his pediatrician for his 15 month old check-up.  He is developing normally and the doctor was very happy with his growth and development. Although his pediatrician did say that he had not grown too much since his last well-baby visit which I just could not believe.  I think that he is getting so big.  He received a couple more vaccinations and the flu shot.  He was very good and only cried for a short bit.  However, he was very upset everytime the doctor or the nurse would leave the room.  He wanted to go with them.  He would run to the door pointing and crying.  I guess he enjoys his friendly medical care providers. Aiden's stats as of this visit were: Head circumference - 18.5" (52nd percentile) Height - 31" (34th percentile) Weight - 25.6 pounds (81st percentile) Here are a couple of photos that I took while we were waiting in the lobby and while waiting in the exam room for the physician. ...

Last Thursday, the Farrell-Landers family hosted our first Thanksgiving dinner.  I am happy to say it was a great success.  The turkey was moist and the stuffing abundant plus we were surrounded by family and friends.  How lucky are we?.  Our feast was very traditional complete with mashed potatoes and gravy, the Swanson family fruit salad, collard greens, green beans, homemade challah and many, many other side dishes for us to over-indulge.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to the meal.  I think it turned out quite beautiful.  Here are some of the photos I was able to take during the day while the turkey cooked.  Unfortunately, I didn't even think about taking pictures once the turkey was out of the oven.  It seemed like we were all just trying to get the food ready to eat and we didn't even think about photos.  Too bad, as some photos would have been a nice momento.  Hopefully, as we perfec...

Halloween, this year, was even better than last year.  We, along with our friends, the Bukatas, decided to go "trick or treating" in the neighborhood of our other close friends, the Raetz family, in Moon Valley.  Five adults (minus a very pregnant Paige) and four kids traveled up and down the streets near the Raetz home.  What a great time!  Madilyn was completely into "trick or treating" this year.  She would run right up to the door and yell "Trick or Treat".  And was even more excited about all of the candy she was going to get to eat.  She thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience.  Aiden enjoyed being pulled around in our Radio Flyer wagon and every once and a while would totter up to one of the doors to stick out his bag to ask for more candy.  As for the adults, we also were able to participate in the joy of "trick or treating".  A couple of ...

This past fall for six weeks Madilyn participated on Saturday mornings in a program called SoccerTots.  SoccerTots is skill building, non-competitive, weekly soccer program.  During the six weeks, Madilyn learned several different components of soccer -- dribbling, kicking, throw-ins, and passing.  Madi's best friend, Keaton, also participated in the program with her.  These two toddlers were hilarious to watch.  Some weeks they were both very interested in the class, other weeks only one of them had any interests.  Even if they didn't really play any soccer games, they both seemed to better their soccer skills by the last class.  Plus, our kids had a great coach, Coach Maddie.  She was young, energetic and very patient.  It was a very fun experience for all.  Below are some photos and videos of Madi and Keaton at SoccerTots. Madi's soccer shirt from Grandma Farrell   Listening to their coach   Aiden hang...