"It's always fun when Grandpa comes..."

My parents were able to come and spend a week with us a few weeks ago and I am barely just getting the time to post some pictures. We, you will have to ask my dad how he really felt about it, had fun shopping EVERYDAY and just spending time relaxing. The first day shopping my dad was chatting his mantra to himself on the way home, he repeated a few times, "I'm a trooper, I'm a trooper." And he really was, he would take care of Kent while my mom and I shopped till our hearts content. In all reality Kent was more attached to my mom than my dad, but we always seemed to have the camera out when Kent and him were hanging out together. My dad is a great grandpa and does a wonderful job making his grandsons laugh out loud.

Grandpa is determined to have both grandbabies walking by the time we get home in August. Cade started right after we left, but he better be careful what he wishes for!

Ammon and I have been teaching Kent to fold his arms. Of course he doesn't do it for us, we have to hold his arms there, but as you see Grandpa has the magic touch.

I throw this picture in so my mom doesn't feel bad, Kent adores her and she just cuddles him just like he wants. He would reach for her all the time even in his "I want Mom all the time" stage.

Tickle Monster

Grandpa's turn

Kent's turn

Shopping

Grandpa sat down shortly after the last picture and he was out

Big smiles

P.S. Yes my dad does own a lot of crimson, red, and maroon shirts, but that's what you get when you live in Cougar country and work in close affiliation with the athletic department. I promise he did change his clothes daily, there is a slight hue variation in his shirts.

Broken

This past Tuesday our family experienced our first broken bone of our married life. In fact I have never broken a bone and Ammon has only broken his nose while we were dating. However, Kent is another story. As you know he just turned one and not even a week after his birthday he experiences a torus fracture of his tibia, right below his knee. He was hanging on a bar at our gym class when he let go, I had a hold of his hands but was not able to break his fall well enough. His leg hit the mat at a weird angle and he let out a scream that instantly told me he was hurt. We thought he would be okay after a while, but continued to cry. My dad held his hands to see if he could walk on it, but he just limped. We decided to take him across the street to the instacare, and by the time we got there he would not even put pressure on it. I was sure he had just sprained his knee or something of the sort, but I was wrong. They put him in a soft splint for a few days and then gave him a hard cast on Thursday when we could get in to see the orthopedic surgeon. He has to be in the cast for 4 weeks and then continually x-rayed for the year to check on the development of his growth plates right below his break. He has been a trooper and is now just starting to get frustrated with not being able to move around. Maybe this will give him the motivation to learn how to crawl, only time will tell.

After instacare he got a sucker and he couldn't have been happier.

Getting casted

He was so good, he loved the nurses, and just sat and "read" his favorite book while his cast set.

Showing off his new cast

One Year

We celebrated Kent's first birthday this past Friday and Saturday with a lot of family and friends. Instead of writing a lot, I will share a few pictures of the events. Hope you enjoy!

Beginning


Middle


End

Grandma Udy and the birthday boy

Grandma Mills with the birthday boy and cousin Keaton

Opening presents...thanks everyone!

He loves the toy his dad picked out for him at IKEA.

The cake Ammon and I made for the Saturday party. Kent reminds us of a monkey so the cake is very fitting.


Popping his new bubbles with his new shovel.

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate and capture the moment, I swear we had over 100 pictures of the events.

"Hi, hi, how do you do? Welcome to My Gym!"

Kent and I found a little gym that caters to kids 0-12. Needing something to do on a regular basis we signed up for a mommy and me class. I have loved it thus far and think that it has helped Kent to be with other kids and adults while we are here. Also, I think Kent's gross motor skills have increased as well, although still not crawling, he is getting the hang of walking holding onto a hand, the wall, or various objects. Maybe those advances are not from the class entirely, but I have trouble thinking that it didn't help at least a little. We will return to My Gym when we move back to Utah in January. Here are some of the fun things Kent gets to do...

Roll in padded tubes

Rock back and forth

Play in the ball pit

Hang from the bars

Ride the zip-line

A "Finn" Distraction

Little did we know, but the furnished basement we are renting also came with a dog. The best kind of dog to have, one that neither has to be walked or poop picked up by us. It is great, Kent still gets to be around a dog and we have little to no responsibility. His name is Finn, he is a wirehaired griffin. He is still less than a year old, or in other words still a puppy. He LOVES to jump up on people as the many scraps to Kent's head can attest, needless to say we now enter through the house instead of the backyard. Regardless of his jumpiness he is rather nice to have around, take the following picture for example...

The other day I went shopping, or I guess that is something I do 4 out of 5 days of the week while Ammon is gone. However, to anyone but Ammon that is besides the point. I came home with a trunk full of groceries that needed to be taken inside. I had two options, take Kent in and leave him in the house while I unloaded the car which would result in an all out fit or leave Finn babysitting in the garage. I chose the later. I handed Kent a treat, sat him in front of Finn's kennel and went to town taking the groceries in. The two of them bonded quite nicely. Finn would never bite Kent's hands, but never hesitates to lick him, which leads me to the next picture...

The curl on top of Kent's head, you have to look closely, is courtesy of Finn. After a big drink of water Finn came over, sopping wet of course, and licked Kent right up side the head. Kent had drool dripping down between his eyes. After everything dried up a bit we noticed the little curl that was left, who know dog drool was really the best hair gel!