3 ? !

Today my baby is 3! And so now I wonder, Can I still really call him that? He isn't a baby anymore - and as always - I am amazed at how fast they grow! It is such a fun thing to see them learn and grow and change. I think the best advice I ever got when I was pregnant with Kaylie was to always enjoy whatever stage your child is in. This means not saying things like, "I just can't wait till they can . . . walk, talk, start school . . .move out (?), etc." But instead enjoy every stage they go through because before you know it they do move on, and you'll sit back and miss where they were. So with my 2 kids we have made a point of REALLY enjoying each stage, and we have SO enjoyed it. Now Keiric is 3 - we have moved through babyhood, toddlerdom and 'the terrible twos' (even though, according to Pastor Neal, the "Terrible Two's" don't exist :) and he is now a little boy! Most of you know that when we found out we were having a boy, I cried because I wanted another girl, but now I would not trade him for anything! It has been an adventure and a learning experience for me, but it is SO fun! and he is the sweetest little man!
Here are some pictures of our boy, going back as far as I have pictures on the computer, and my 3 favorite memories.

1. When Keiric was born we knew that we were having a boy, and though we hadn't decided on a name, we were leaning toward Malakai. I thought it would be so cute to have a Kaylie and a Kai, but when he was born and the nurse brought him into view, he just did not look like a Malakai. So Jeremy and I had to quickly come up with a new name while our families were (impatiently) waiting to find out what we named him. We had just recently talked about Keiric, a combination we made up of the names Keith and Eric to give tribute to our dads, and it seemed to suit him. So Keiric Jeremy it was. Then all of our families poured in to hear the name and we had Kaylie share the name that no one else had even heard mentioned before. Of course, coming from our shy 4-year-old in her quiet and timid voice, they all thought we had named him Carrot. Oh well, I suppose if you can name your kid Apple, Carrot doesn't seem so weird!

2. Raising a boy has definitely been a new experience. Having grown up in a family of all girls, and always working with girls, I was pretty confident that I knew what to expect with girls. Boys were a whole new story! He thinks of and does things that NEVER would have even occurred to my daughter, like when I came down the stairs to find our 18-month-old standing in the middle of our counter-height dining room table pushing the light fixture back and forth just to watch it sway. Though I guess I should be grateful that he hadn't decided to swing from it while it swayed! It should be interesting to see what else he comes up with!

3. Keiric is also a great little brother. He loves his big sister and copies her all the time. He lets her boss him around and does what she says but also plays the little brother role well, and you can sometimes see the gleam in his eye as he tries to figure out what he could do to bug her! He doesn't have many kids to play with while we are here, and so it has been so nice to see the friendship built between K and Keir; right now they are eachother's best friends, and I hope that it continues.


I am going to close with a Keiric quotable quote:

Jeremy: "Keiric, stop picking your nose."
Keiric: "Me not, me just trying to get the booger out!"


Ever since Kaylie's birthday a few weeks ago, Keiric has been looking forward to his, or at least opening presents!
Keiric's Birthday Cake - I think it turned out pretty good!