Author: kristjana

I am sitting on  the balcony of our condo,  overlooking the ocean off the island of Maui right now.   Kenny is sound asleep after a morning of frolicking on the beach, throwing fistfuls of sand, and diving headlong into the gentle waves.   Casey is beside me with a Corona and I am sipping […]

Though it’s not Kenny’s first Christmas, this is the first time he has understood the excitement of  ripping open packages, of  seeing new toys and games and books, and  of feasting on  a gorgeous Christmas dinner surrounded by  a loving family.   He ate more pumpkin pie today than any 24 pound animal should be […]

Kenny has embraced two new habits, one an endearing heart-tugger, and one heart-tuggingly hysterical.        Ok, climbing into the cabinet underneath the stovetop to play drums on the pots and pans isn’t one of them, but it’s pretty darn cute, wouldn’t you say??    Ok, climbing into the cabinet underneath the stovetop to […]

I think Kenny cried more than he didn’t today.   All morning, he kept signing “hurt,” yet shook his head when I pointed to his tummy, his throat (which has got to be raw after all the coughing he’s doing), his nose, etc.   Finally, he tugged at my sleeve and pointed to his teeth, […]

A toddler with a wicked cold, a dog who needs a walk, three construction workers that need us out of the way, and a Mommy who didn’t drink enough coffee when she woke up.   That was the recipe we started off with this morning, when I decided it would be a good idea to […]

We just returned from a quick weekend trip to New York.   Casey’s parents watched Kenny on Saturday, and Casey and I  had a grown-up night on the town: drinks at the swanky W Hotel  lounge in Times Square, dinner at Swizz  with his brother and his girlfriend, and then fantastic seats at The Lion […]

For the past two weeks, Kenny has discovered the joy of saying a word and repeating it 368 times, as loud as he can.   In the car yesterday, our conversation went something like this: “Papa.   papa.   papa… papa… papa… papa…” (multiply that by about 50.) “Yes, Honey, I know you love your […]

A typical  morning in our house goes something like this:   We wake up anywhere between five and six, depending on how hungry Kenny wakes up.   His first word in the morning is either, “Nack!” (snack), “Waffle!” or “Lay-lay” (banana…. I don’t know how banana becomes “lay-lay,” but it is what it is…).   […]

Casey and I, after a full fifteen months, finally left Kenny for a whole  night.   It’s about time, right?   My parents stayed at our house;  we went to Casey’s company party, then stayed downtown in a nice hotel, slept in (ok, 7AM feels like sleeping in when you share a house with a […]

Yesterday and today, Kenny and I spent at least a cummulative two hours looking through the big picture window in our master bedroom, waiting for airplanes to fly by.   Kenny would sit on my lap, wired with energy, softly whispering, “Aa-pane,” and staring outside.   Oh, we also noted the birds flying by and […]