Little Smarty Pants

It seems that lately I have been really amazed at how observant our little Keido is. As he was helping me put my face lotion on, it dawned on me that I should write down some of the little things that he does.

Since Keido became chubby, a few weeks after he was born, he's had this persisting heat rash under his chin. We tried all kinds of things to fix it, however, it wasn't until a couple months ago that a pharmacist recommended calamine lotion, which worked. We took a Q-tip, dipped it in the bottle of pink liquid, and then smeared it under Keido's chin. Well, one day when his neck was bothering him, Keido picked up a Q-tip, brought me the bottle of calamine, I unscrewed the lid, he dipped the Q-tip in, and he proceeded to smear it under his chin on his neck.

In the morning, I have a routine of taking out my night mouth guard, yes I'm a grinder (teeth grinder that is), washing it in water, and then putting it in it's case. Most of the time Keido is with me, and he must have noticed my routine. I had him on the counter while I was getting ready for the day and he was playing with my mouth guard and case. H

e took my mouth guard out, turned on the faucet, washed it off, and then tried to put it in my mouth.

While in Idaho, my sister purchased a bunch of sippy cups because Keido kept drinking the twins drinks. We ended up with a lot of dirty sippies, so we were frequently loading them into the dishwasher. Keido had a couple dirty sippy cups one day and the dishwasher just happened to be open. He loaded them in the bottom rack, pushed the rack into the dishwasher, closed the door, and then pointed to the buttons to turn it on.

When Keido meets someone, the first thing that they do will become Keido's personal sign for that person. His first one was for Boyd's dad. Upon meeting him, Boyd's dad nodded, so from then on whenever Keido would see him, he would nod at him. Then, when he met my mom, she blew him a kiss, Keido picked it up and would really only blow kisses for my mom. He would stick his tongue out at Bob, lean back when he saw my dad, and run away when he sees Boyd. That last one is because Boyd plays a chasing game with him.

Last night, we went to Yogi Berry for frozen yogurt and there were a group of cute girls there that Keido was watching. Keido loves to observe people wherever we go. He walked up to them, gave them his best cheesy, toothy grin, and then continuing to observe them, started walking back to us. He turned around just as his face hit Asuka's chair and knocked him over. Thankfully he was okay, but the next time he walked up to see them, he made sure

he turned around to see where he was going. This is a case where his observation went a little too far.

Just today, I was squeezing the last of the ketchup out of the bottle and it was making those well-known sounds, and Keido laughed and then tried to mimic the sound.

There are many other things that Keido has learned how to do by watching us, such as talking on a phone, brushing his hair, flossing his teeth, doing squat exercises, and kicking a soccer ball. He is so smart and we are excited to see what else he does in the future.

How to eat an Olive

As a child, how did you eat your olives? Did you simply just pop an olive in your mouth? Or did you strategically place an olive on each of your fingers so as to imitate being an alien? Duh, of course you stuck olives on your fingers! That is the only way to eat olives!

Well, apparently placing olives on your fingertips is not just a desire you have to be cool but rather an inherent decision. Keido, our 11 month old baby was given (sliced) olives for the first time this past week and without us showing him, he chose to place the olives himself on his fingertips. Can you believe that? Wanting to have alien hands is apparently a desire from birth. I love my little alien.

First they’re sour and then they’re sweet

Boyd: Have you seen those commercials for sour patch kids? The one where the life-size sour patch kid does something mean -- like setting up a wall for a boy to ride his bike into -- and then does something sweet like giving that same boy a band aid. Well, I totally just had one of those experiences.

The other day, I had just gotten home from work and I went downstairs where Charlotte and Keido were playing. I was kind of tired from work so I just collapsed on the floor, staring at the ceiling. After lying on the floor for a couple of minutes, it was only natural for me to close my eyes while I talked to Charlotte about the day’s events as Keido puttered around.

Without noticing, Keido snuck up on me, stood by my head without me noticing, and just decided to slap me right in the face! (Keido is so a ninja). Keido caught me so off guard that I died laughing despite my face being in pain. While I lay there, hands clutching my face, Keido then leans down and gives me the sweetest kiss ever. Gosh, is that not totally a sour patch moment?! Despite the fact that Keido hit me, I love him so much.

What a good Eater!

I've been really impressed lately with Keido's ability to stomach whatever we put on his plate. Today's menu consisted of blueberries, Japanese pumpkin, brussel spouts, peas, broccoli, veggie crackers, a noodle dish, raisins, rice (his favorite), and a few cheerios. Not too bad for an 11 month old. We've been getting more and more adventurous with the things we have given him and have found that he'll pretty much eat anything he sees us eat. Keido just loves food! However, no matter how many times I try, I still can't get him to eat bananas. Something about the texture I think.

Here's one more example of Keido's food love: We went to the sto

re a couple days ago and there was a little girl with a doughnut walking around. Keido followed her all over and kept trying to take her doughnut. Needless to say, she didn't really appreciate it and ended up running to her mom crying. We definitely know that the way to Keido's heart is through his stomach; what a boy.

(It's hard to say who won, Keido, or the Blueberries)

HALLOWEEN!!

Gerry, Irmy, and Ocean City

Charlotte:

This past weekend we went to Ocean City to visit my Grandpa's Cousin and his wife: Gerry and Irmy Dunn. The drive to the East Coast was absolutely Gorgeous!! Maryland in the Fall is pretty amazing. We also ended up driving over the Bay Bridge, which made me kind of nervous, but I loved it. It's a six mile stretch of a tall bridge with not much over you,

and a lot of water under you. It kind of felt like I was driving on the Rainbow Road in Mario Cart. When we got to the Dunn's home, we were surprised to find that they had a boat dock for their back yard. Cool!

Gerry and Irmy were so kind! Irmy is from Germany and she made us a wonderful German dinner. Gerry worked for the NSA before he retired and he told us that in his career he was able to engineer over a hundred communication devices for the govern

ment. Some of his work is top secret, but the gist of it is that he created things to try to decipher radio signals from other countries and keep our communications a secret. We also talked family things for a while. They both thought that I looked a lot like my Grandma Jean. After chatting for a while, we retired to our hotel for the night. Keido had a great time in the big bathtub and being

able to walk around the room where ever he wanted.

The next day the weather was HORRIBLE!! However, we went back to the Dunn's and had a great time chatting some more and eating lunch with them before heading out. The road's were flooding and the wind was pretty stiff, so just before we left, we stopped at the shore and just took some quick pictures. I can't wait to go back to Ocean City again on a better day. I could definitely retire there one day:)

Toothbrushes, Toilets, and other Tasty Things

There is no doubt in my mind that Keido is a BOY! Even if I didn't have the fact reaffirmed to me every couple hours when I change his diaper, I would still know for sure. I have said many times lately to myself as I've watched him, "Only a boy would do that." Let me expound:)

In the mornings when I am getting ready for the day, Keido sits on the bathroom counter and plays. He started out liking the toothpaste because it was shiney, then my hair bands because they stretched, and now he loves toothbrushes because, well, he has great oral hygene of course. It has come to the point that he has three of his own toothbrushes, one of mine (not going to use that thing now), and confiscates the two that Boyd and I actually use as well (I don't let those ones go far though). I used to think it was cute that he looked like he was always brushing his teeth. A lady at the grocery store even commented on it. However, it has morphed to a whole new level.

Boyd and I took Keido out for a walk. and of course, he brought his toothbrush along. At first it was only in his mouth and waving around in his hand, but then, he started finding out that it was fun to brush things, everything! He would brush the sidewalk and then stick it in his mouth, the grass and stick it in his mouth, the side of our car and stick it in his mouth, pretty much whatever he saw he brushed and then tried to stick it back in his mouth. GROSS!! I finally had enough when he went for the tires on our car and the toothbrush came back black. I went straight inside and soaped that bad boy up (the toothbrush... and Keido). Yet, it continues. At church today he brushed the person's chair that was sitting in front of us, the hymn books, and the floor. That little toothbrush is the most unsanitary item in our whole house now. I think to myself, "Only a boy would do that and enjoy putting it in his mouth."

The other thing that worries me is Keido's obsession with toilets. Keido is going to the bathroom at least 20 times a day, but not like a normal person. All he wants to do is lift up the toilet seat lid and see what's going on in there. If his little arms were longer, he would be swishing those hands in the water and then putting them in his mouth. As it is now, I still am able to control his feddish, but I'm worried about when he is a fully independent walker. Do they make toilet seat locks? Pretty sure that only a little boy could fall in love with a toilet.

The other boyish things that he does are grunting, trying to pick up dog poop, loving to eat meat, picking people's noses, wanting to watch football, and chewing on rocks. However, there is one girly thing that he does lately that I just love. Keido has learned how to help me brush my hair. He grins as he gently pulls the brush through my tangles every morning. He has also learned to brush his hair, but just guess what he uses...His TOOTHBRUSH!

We sure do love our little boy and can't help but smile when we think of all the little things he does to warm our hearts!

Keido has recently learned how to do slides. He's figured out how to scoot himself forward and then lean just enough to go down.

Carl Came to Visit!

World War II Memorial. We stopped to dip our feet.


Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument
Look at the difference between the colors of our legs...you'd think we were different races:)

A really nice building for those government people. I can't remember whose it is.

A couple of weeks ago, Carl came to visit us here in Maryland. I think he referred to his trip as being "Death March Number 2." We had a day and a half to see EVERYTHING in D.C. It was so much fun! Yes, a little hard on the feet, but awesome to spend time together and see some sights.

I thought that my favorite part was going to the Air and Space Museum. I had been there before with Boyd, but we didn't really know what anything was. I don't know how Carl knew sooo much; he must have studied a lot of aviation type books growing up because he told me all kinds of cool things. I felt like a smarter person after coming out of that museum, thanks to my brother:)

We can't wait to have him come again! Next time I will take better pictures:)

Ode to Boyd Part 2

Today, is just one of those days. I'm at home sick with a fevery, chills, stomach ache thing, while my husband, Merry, and Asuka, take little Keido to the county fair. I sure do wish that I could be there when Keido tries to lick all the animals in the petting zoo part. Alas, it just wasn't meant to be.

However, one good thing about staying home is that I'm completely alone. I can write whatever I want about Boyd and he can't do anything about it. Plus, I've got loads of time as my body occilates between burning hot and freezing cold. With that said, I want the world to know what kind of man I am really married to.

Where do I begin...
How about two hours ago.

This morning when I woke up, I really didn't feel so hot and my dear husband could tell. He took care of Keido while I layed and watched TV. Then, as I napped, he fed Keido, changed his diaper, got him ready for the day, and played with him to keep him happy. As soon as I woke up, it was time for Keido to sleep. While I layed on the bed, Boyd showed me funny clips on youtube. Then, as my body started to chill, he climbed under the covers with me to help warm me up. Now, if you were in the room, you would understand what a sacrifice that was for Boyd. It was pretty warm and under the covers I could feel that he was starting to sweat. Yet, he stayed next to me until I figured I'd go sit in the sun. Once outside, he came and sat next to me with our new camera and tried to teach me all the cool things he learned. When he offered to let me try, I said, "That's okay, I think I'll go inside." WHAT KIND OF PERSON AM I?!!! Here he is treating me like a million bucks and I just brush it aside like it's nothing. I have become the Most Boring/Tired/Uninteresting/Ungrateful wife in the world. Now, this instance may not seem too bad, but really, I need to step up my end of the relationship and help Boyd love me.

Boyd is the most wonderful Dad. Keido just loves him! Whenever Boyd calls Keido's name, Keido will run to him full speed, laughing and doing his cute breathing hard through his nose thing. If I'm ever tired, or just grouchy, Boyd will take over with Keido and allow me to sleep, or do whatever I need to do. He just recently found employment and is willing to work a job that might not be too fun, in order to provide for our family. Boyd takes everything that I say to him and tries to improve. He forgives me when I am rude, or bad at communicating my feelings. Boyd plans things with me in mind, such as playing basketball with the guys in the ward, mini-golfing, playing tennis, instigating conversations with the Chinese people around here, or just getting some sort of little treat. What a man!

I feel like Heavenly Father has truly blessed me to be able to marry a man like Boyd. He once said that all of his blessings were spent on me, but I feel like it's definitely the other way around. I don't know who else would love so unconditionally and make my life such a joy.

Well, pretty sure when he sees this blog, he's going to think it's way to mushy, try to take it off, and then accept the fact that it's staying on when I won't let him delete it. Hmmm...I guess that paints a picture perfectly of what kind of wife I am. Always doing things he doesn't want me to, forcing him to conform to what I want, and then wondering why he's upset, but not fixing anything. I definitely have a lot to work on. I'm just grateful that Boyd is the man he is, and allows me the opportunity to try to change.

I love Boyd!!! And, I will love him FOREVER!

A Child Prodigy

In our daily play routine, Keido and I enjoy spending time gracing the ivories. He has progressively become more passionate about his playing and is known to sing along once in a while as well. We hope that he will retain this joy for music throughout his life.


Boyd is also trying to influence Keido's young mind with the things that he enjoys:)

Keido's First Kiss and other Idaho Fun!

A couple weeks ago, Keido and I took off for Idaho to go to Holland's wedding, spend time with the family, and give Boyd a chance to sleep and study for his MCAT. Like always, I can't take Keido anywhere without him making friends with someone. On our second flight, from Chicago to Salt Lake, we sat next to a woman with a four year old daughter. They were very kind and really enjoyed having Keido's entertainment. I have to say I was thankful for their entertainment too. The little girl liked rubbing Keido's head and giving him toys to play with. I enjoyed making puppets out of barf bags with the little girl while Keido was sleeping. All in all, it was a pretty enjoyable flight.

When we landed, the little girl decided to she wanted to give Keido an extra special goodbye. She leaned over and gave him a cute little kiss. Keido was expressionless, but I know deep down in that little manly heart, he thoroughly enjoyed it:)

I was also surprised to find that the people in front of us and behind us had enjoyed Keido's company as well. A little boy with the biggest grin I've ever seen came up to us and asked what Keido's name was. I told him and the little boy said, "Does he like vegetables?" I said, "Yes, I think so." Then the boy said, "He better because his name rhymes with potato and tomato." Then he burst out laughing. I thought it was clever for someone who looked like he was seven.

Idaho was wonderful!!! We had such a good time with everyone. For the fourth of July we went to the Driggs celebration, watched a hypnotist, and swam at the Rexburg waterpark. I also got a personal kyaking lesson from Bruce, the studly man. I have a whole new respect for people who can eskimo roll. I tried my best until I had braille all over my body, and never actually did it. I am determined to try again one day though.

We Love the Little Things about Baby Keido

Charlotte: There are just so many little things about Keido that we love. We don't want to forget any of them, so I thought I would start a list:

• He jumped so hard in his door frame jumper that he ended up with a blister on his toe.
• He pants like a little puppy with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
• He has the cutest little pouty face.
• He will give you a kiss, but watch out, he thinks he's French:)
• When he gets sleepy in his high chair, he will just put his head down as if he were a student sleeping in class.
• He says "mmmmm" when he eats something he likes.
• He has an uncanny ability to make anyone smile.
• We can't take him anywhere without someone commenting on something about him.
• He has the cutest little cottage cheese bum. It looks like an old ladies. Boyd thinks is gross, I think it's super cute!
• "Did your baby put his finger in a socket," said a woman at the store. We love his fuzzy hair.
• When seeing a cute girl, he will stand up straight, suck his gut in, and make grunting noises.
• He's not ashamed to pass gas in public places.
• When he's had a good nap, he smiles and kicks his feet when you go to get him out of his crib.
• He drools on Boyd a lot; I think it's funny. He used to spit up on Boyd a lot, so the drool isn't so bad.
• He can make noises with his tongue that I can't figure out how to make.
• He will fall asleep on your shoulder.
  
• Lately, he's had a little bit of an attitude where he gets angry, shouts, and bangs on something with his hands. The other day he hit his hands on the table so hard that he made himself cry.
• He has a great laugh.
• When pooping, he makes little grunting noises and his face turns a little red. It seems that he likes to do this when we are all at the table for dinner.
• If I eat an apple, he likes to lick it. Actually, he likes to lick everything.
• We went to Home Depot the other day and I had Keido in his stroller. I wasn't paying attention for a minute and when I turned around, I saw that he had popped his tray off of the front of the stroller. A little Asian woman had been watching and she said, "Your baby is very strong!" I was pretty impressed myself.
• He is a big hunk of chubby love.
• He would be a TV watching couch potato if we let him.
• He looks pretty cute in glasses.
• He has fast hands. When we were still in Utah, during sacrament meeting, I was passing the bread tray to a person a few seats away. I went to take it, but was snagged back because someone was holding on to it. I looked at Boyd first and he gave me a "It's not me" look, and then realized that Keido had snatched the tray just as it had passed by him.
• He was making eyes at a little girl in Taco Bell yesterday. They were both smiling up a storm.
• We love his sweet, playful face.
  

Well, this is probably all I will write for now, but there will definitely be more later.

East vs. West

(Keido's clothes don't fit over his head as well these days)

Charlotte:
All growing up I never dreamed that I would be living out East. I always thought that I was destined to marry some western farmer and ride horses for the rest of my life. But everyone who knows Boyd, my true love, can see how he would not even know what a tractor looked like until he visited Idaho. When we married, I knew that my horizons would be broadened and I would get to experience the East.

So far, I love it. Here are what I've seen as differences:

West: really dry, use sprinklers, and humidifiers
East: your can practically drink the air, they don't even sell miracle grow, empty a gallon of water every three hours from their dehumidifiers

West: LOTS of white people
East: I was the only white girl in the whole shopping mall

West: You have lizards and snakes and western wildlife
East: Boyd almost ran over a large snapping turtle with his car, they have giant bullfrogs in their ponds, and there are millions of squirrels

West: Most of the time your ward consists of your neighbors
East: Our stake center is 45 min. away and the only time you see your neighbors is when their outside not watering their flowers.

West: See for miles in all directions
East: Wouldn't even know you have arrived at your destination if it weren't for the signs in front of the masses of trees.

Hmmm...I can't think of anymore just now, but I will add more later. I do want to put some pictures up to show you where we live.

The Front of Boyd's Families HouseThe Backyard

Our Bedroom Upstairs


Keido's Room

The Family Room
The Stairs and the Front Room (not a very good pic)
The Reason Why Our Address is "Pondside" Terrace
(I think this is where the snapping turtle came from)

Boyd's Secret New Hobby

Boyd: Now I know it might come as a shock to most of you, but I found a new hobby. For whatever reason, I've started to actually like reading!!! I'm sure this comes as quite a shock to most people, most of all to me. Who knew that I would actually like anything else other than soccer, fighting, or fat babies?! I had no idea that I liked to read, let alone spend my own personal time doing it.

I think it all started the day that Charlotte was emitted into the hospital to give birth to our firstborn child. I won't lie, I was super excited for Charlotte to go into labor. With Charlotte in labor, that would mean that Charlotte and I would have a whole lot of time to do nothing, a.k.a. a whole lot of MOVIE time. But as it turns out, apparently when the wife goes into labor, the wife gets precedence on whatever we do, which means she all of a sudden gains power to override the husband and his very needy needs. So, since Charlotte was in labor, she decided that she wanted to read The Hunger Games before we started our movie watching marathon. But as it turns out, we got so invested in the book, that we forgoed our movies and finished the first book that first night, despite the fact that we read out loud. So that is how I came to enjoy reading.

Just a few weeks ago, Charlotte and I just finished reading a new book called The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It is a fantasy book that is extremely good. I would summarize it, but the story is just too intricate to describe in just a few short words, so if you're interested in a really good story, I would definitely recommend reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

The Boston Temple Has One Less Tulip Plant

Charlotte: On May 6th, the Tamanaha family ventured to Boston to witness the marriage of the youngest Tamanaha, Rod. It was an eventful day to say the least. We all woke up at 3:00 a.m. to catch our flight to Boston. Arriving there, we rented a big suburban and set off for the temple. We had a little bit of spare time, so we took a little detour to see Keido's future university, Harvard:) He seemed to fit in perfectly with his froggy feeted pajamas.

We didn't exactly keep track of the time as well as we should have, so we ended up driving frantically through the confusing streets of Boston, and barely making it to the temple for the sealing. Boyd and I decided that it wasn't a good idea to leave Keido with the nice temple workers, he has a reputation for screaming at babysitters, so he and I went to tour the temple grounds. I was holding Eli's really nice camera and thought I might try my hand at a little photography. I put Keido on the low stone wall next to the tulips to try to get some cute pictures. Here's what I took:


I wish so badly now that I would have taken just one more of the seen that followed the second picture. He had leaned over to eat the flower and ended up falling flat on the whole plant. Realizing that I had just watched him as he face planted, I felt a little bad and decided I'd better come to his rescue rather than taking his picture. That poor tulip plant will never be the same again. I feel like I should repent for doing such a thing to a temple flower, but hopefully Heavenly Father just got a smile out of it like I did.

While at the Larson's, we asked Kristen to take some family pictures for us. We think she could definitely go professional:) We want to share some of them on our blog.