Saving the best for last...SANTA

Well we met Santa twice this year and both times it was a momentous occasion.  Keagan does not cry, he bawls when he meets Santa.  I guess we are just going through a phase where strange men in red suits are scary.  I can't help but laugh at how upset he gets.  As soon as I get him off Santa's lap he immediately goes back to being the good natured boy that he is usually.

Keagan on the bear at Bass Pro Shop's carousel 

Keagan's got his Santa Pass

Passing time in front of the presents

Well those christmas lights are not so bad!

Ok Santa put me down!

I am not kidding - put me down

Christmas Parade Day

 Last Saturday Parker had their annual Christmas Parade and I think it is the best of the bunch.  It is all horse drawn carriages with a few marching bands thrown in.  John and I headed off a little late but managed to get a great spot.  It was such a nice day Hannah even got to come along.  I think this has been Keagan's favorite holiday activity thus far.  He is like his mom and loves horses.  They were even handing out "presents" so Keagan thought this was the best!

 Our next stop was at a local feed store where they had live reindeer inside. He was excited to see Vixen from afar but when we got up closer he could tell they were associated with that man in a red suit.  He was not so excited then but it was still a neat experience.  Hannah on the other hand loved the reindeer.  She did not get to go up and sniff them but being in the store with them was enough.  She also managed to get 2 little girls to sit and pet her the whole time while we were waiting in line.  That was the best Christmas present I could have gotten my little dog.

This is embarrassing mom!

We had a friend that was teaching her son how to be potty trained and they were using sign language to communicate his need to go potty.  Keagan quickly picked up on the sign and every time mom goes to the bathroom Keagan will sign "potty." So we got him his own potty seat and he will sign that he needs to go potty but I don't think he has control over timing yet.  Sometimes he just sits there for awhile and he will even grab a book to read.  We have yet to have made a potty in the toilet but at least we know he likes the toilet.  I think this picture will be used for blackmail in the future!

What a writer

 Keagan starting scribbling at John's house a few months ago but it wasn't as much fun at home until mom got the markers out again.  Luckily they are washable and the ink just disappears in warm water and a little soap.  He is so proud of himself when he get the colors on the pages! He gets a little upset when he notices that the marker has gotten on his hands but we eventually fix that.  One day Mom just had to write on her hands to show Keagan it was ok.  The plan worked until Keagan inspected her hands after the cleaning and mom can't seem to get that big mole washed off her hands.  The mole is still a concern when ever he sees it.

 But sometimes it is hard work deciding what color to use.  Got to roll up those sleeves...

 Then those caps can be tricky to pull off...

 But when it comes time to draw - he is so serious.  When he needs inspiration he just consults his friend Kermit.  Then there is never a lack of things to write about.

Preparing for christmas

I am excited to bring in the holidays!

Mom's hat is the best to keep warm

So Keagan wants to be ready for Christmas.  This is a big holiday coming up with lots going on.  There will be Santa visits, presents to open, Grandma and Grandpa are coming into town and lets not forget baby brother's arrival.  Mom keeps saying there will be snow at some point and the temps in the 50-60's will not last forever.  Keagan has mastered the art of wearing a warm hat and he knows his down jacket by name - Puffy.  We only reserve this jacket for COLD days and luckily we have not had to use it much yet this season.  

 Now we have been trying to explain Santa to Keagan but right now he just views the man in the red suit as a stranger and why would he want to go and sit on his lap.  Our first outing to visit Santa was with Kaelyn - his best friend since birth.  I think you can see how Keagan took this meeting in the above photo with his nose scrunched up!  Kaelyn agreed!  But they had each other and the day was not a total loss.

 We are busy counting down the days until Baby Yu 2's arrival.  Keagan still seems excited about the prospect of a little brother.  But we are trying to do some special things together as soon mom will be otherwise occupied.  Let's just say this will be the best December Keagan will ever have!

Keagan - how do you feel about your brother?!?

We always say he is his mother's son...

Ok so I love chocolate and little baby 2 must like it as well as I feel chocolate has been the one thing that has tasted good this whole pregnancy.  So I must admit I have indulged in chocolate treats during this pregnancy and Keagan occasionally steals a bite.  When we were out to eat one night we got a brownie sundae and Keagan participated in the feast.  Let the pictures show you how much he enjoyed the chocolate sundae!

Yummy!

Look at my chocolate mustache!

Mom is not giving me enough.  I just grabbed the spoon and got some ice cream as well!

Now he is falling over laughing on his sugar high!

John - you saw how much I liked that.  Let's have some more while mom is away!

Fish Day

We had a great day of seeing the fish last week.  We stopped by the Denver Aquarium on Dec 4th for a quick lunch.  This restaurant is amazing with a HUGE aquarium that you can be seated next to for your meals.  Needless to say Keagan ate before he went so that he could spend all the time talking to the fish.  

The boys with the holiday turtle in the background.

I see you fishy!

Of course we had to take our favorite John along with us.  Keagan had a great time sitting with John while watching the fish and giving him the tour as we had not been here with John before.   This is great free entertainment and a good meal as well.  

You are an interesting fish...

  

"Let me point you out so mom doesn't miss you!

 Our next stop was to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop but we will discuss that later.  There was another huge salt water tank in that restaurant as well.  Again John was Keagan's favorite buddy and they spent awhile examining all the neat fish

Whoops..Thanksgiving was last month

Keagan was so happy to see Aunt Nita for Thanksgiving

 We had another fantastic Thanksgiving this year.  Our neighbor John likes to smoke the turkey and it tastes so delicious.  His kids and us split the side dishes and I think I was done making the cranberries and green bean casserole with clean up included in about an hour.   I don't think you can have a much better Thanksgiving dinner than that.  We all split the left overs and Keagan enjoyed the turkey and sides for  a few days after - loving the home cooked food!

Then we got a holiday surprise from Aunt Nita who was visiting other relatives in the Denver area. She  called us on Thanksgiving day as she was in Parker and invited us for dessert.  I think Jeff was in heaven with all the food.  My nausea is still with me so we would not have had a great dinner if it wasn't for all of our friends and family.

 When we travelled over to Parker, Keagan thought he went to heaven.  Aunt Nita's niece Sally had the most amazing house and 2 young girls that Keagan got to play with.  Zoe was playing with a hula hoop when we arrived and Keagan just thought the hoops were amazing.  He tried to get it going around his waist but he is only 18 months old so it didn't work the way he had planned.  That did not stop him from having so much fun with the sparkly pink (his favorite color right now) hoop!

 Once they finished with the hula hoop they started playing with the soccer ball.  Although Keagan can kick the ball it is so much more fun to throw it.  Sometimes we think Keagan will grow up to be a baseball player - he already has a good arm on him:)

 So when we thought a visit to John's house with Jen and Donovan could not be topped, Keagan was surprised to find that he can have fun no matter where he is!  It never hurts when there is a pretty girl in a sparkly pink dress to steal his heart.  He gave kisses to everyone to say good bye that evening and gave Zoe an extra special one.  What a ladies man:)

So smart...

Here is my head mom:)

We like to think our little man is so smart. ( i know that all parents think their kids are smart so here is our story:)  Although he does not say much it is amazing what he understands.  We do have whole conversations with him... we just are not sure what language he is speaking.  One of our fun things to do is find our body parts.  He knows head, hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, chin, shoulder, arm, fingers, leg, knee and feet/toes.  He loves to help me read his books and has so many of them memorized.  He knows which ones have actions and what they are when we get to that page.  Of course...we think he is soooo smart:)

It helps that my ears stick out so far - they are easy to find!

Here is my nose...

Keagan loves to find his toes!

Putting on my shoes!

Other things that he can do...or at least try to do is putting on his own clothes.  He helps me pick out his pants and shirt every morning.  He struggles with putting on his socks but the shoes are a little easier - of course with mom's help.  Shoes generally mean we are going outside so there is no problem convincing him that he needs those on.  He can easily put on my big shoes and usually even gets the left and right correct.  Unfortunately he is much better at getting his clothes off rather than on....there goes the naked baby again:)

Signing baby so we know who we are talking about.  

  The last thing he likes to do is talk to his brother.  He signs baby whenever he sees one at the store or when we are out and about.  We like to think he is excited for his brother's upcoming arrival next month.  He points to my belly when we talk about the little man and puts his finger in my belly button so that he can have a direct talk with his brother.  Let's hope he still feels that way when the baby comes home!

Growing up so fast

 Keagan is growing up so fast.  He likes to think he is a big boy now and loves to help with chores around the house.  He wants to help in the kitchen but this is generally frowned upon.  It is ok in this picture as the oven was not on :)  His fascination with outside is still strong no matter how cold it gets.  He is always putting on mom's boots and shoes.  Trying to grow up too fast!

Keagan also is practicing writing with John in hopes of becoming a big boy before his little brother gets here next month!

Finally, Halloween

Hello Candy!

 Finally Halloween came to the Yu household and we managed to finish up by going to Castle Rock for trick or treating.  Daddy was still home as his conference in DC was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy.  He got off work a little early and so we hit the streets and Keagan just thought it was amazing people were just giving him candy.  His favorites were any sucker.  The dum-dums were just his size and he had a great sugar rush for awhile.  When people would hand him a sucker he started collecting them and ended up with a sucker boquet in his hand.   Heaven forbid we tried to take those suckers away!

The doctors and the little pumpkin

Of course mom and Keagan dressed up as pumpkins as the weather was quite warm and we thought the puppy outfit was a little too heavy.  Every one like that we had the little brother dressed up for Halloween as well.  I think there will be more pregnant ladies with pumpkins on their bellies and Doctor Dogs next year as these costumes seemed to be the big hits. 

The pumpkins with the Doctor Dog

 Keagan got to participate with the pumpkin carving this year and loved to take the tops off and try and remember which one went where.  Scooping pumpkin guts was also a great activity.  Keagan seemed to like the feel of the slimy seeds on his fingers.

Now where does this hat go?!?

Oooh...Pumpkin Guts!

Dad make sure you cut it right!

Dad did a great job with my pumpkin :)