Jeff, Ami, Kiran, Ellery and Olivia: Kiran is 3 1/2 Years Old!

Our son has turned 3 1/2. A big deal. For one thing, it's one step closer to being 4. Which is then only 1 year away from him leaving Mommy at home to go on to new things and adventures! Exciting? Of Course! A little sad? Not too much. But definitely a moment I think every mom and dad gets to reserve for reflection and a little drama!

I love watching Kiran grow and learn new things. This is what he is up to these days . . .

First thing in the morning, Kiran likes to put on boots and jeans. This has been true for a few months now. For the past couple of weeks, he has been much more willing to go with tennis shoes or shorts, maybe because other kids at school wear them. After breakfast, he likes a little cuddle time with me. I love it! Kiran is then ready to go outside or go to school depending on the day. He would stay outside all of the time if possible. Kiran is often labeled 2 ways: At school, he is known as "our little observer." He knows just what everyone is wearing within a minute of being inside the classroom. He has asked the teachers, "Why is ____ not wearing his gray tennis shoes today?" The other day when I took him in, he just stopped as soon as we reached the playroom and watched for about a minute just taking every child and activity in. At home and basically anywhere he is outside, he is known as "a worker." He calls himself this, too. He is constantly moving, doing something with a tool or riding toy. Lately, he says, "I'm tearin' up the road." He moves gravel from one part of our driveway to another. Not sure exactly the purpose, but I think it comes from the movie, "CARS." Kiran has lots of little sayings lately, and most come from the movie "CARS" or "NEMO." He really likes both of them a lot! So, many times a day, we hear, "We did it, we did it!" "We're eatin' here tonight." Yesterday, he moved mulch from the back of the house to my front flower beds. He likes to tow other riding toys with his tractor. His legs are finally long enough to drive his JD tractor all over the place, and boy can he move! He is more interested in sports/athletics now. He likes to jump from things (while I hold my breath)! He has just started playing "football" with Ellery and sometimes Daddy upstairs. Yes, he tackles his sister. Usually, he is careful. So far, she has survived, and she usually loves it! At bedtime for the past few weeks, Daddy has given bear rides to bed. At first, it was just Kiran, but now, Ellery can't stand it if she can't join in! And Bubba is happy to oblige. He holds onto her, and they ride on Daddy's back and usually growl at Momma.

As far as conversations go, Kiran is a hoot! Recently, I was trying to ask Kiran about his motive for something he wasn't suppose to be doing. His response, "Mom, it's complicated. If it wasn't complicated, I'd tell you about it. But, it is complicated, so I can't tell you." Simple enough.

Everything these days that is a lot in Kiran's mind is stated by the phrase, "Way too ____!" For example, one night Jeff had the kids while I was MC for a hunger banquet. Kiran was riding his small red trike that he has deemed as his motorcycle. Jeff needed him to get in the car, but Kiran said no because he had to go "WAY TOO FAST" so he could get a ticket. He was upset when Jeff put him in the carseat. But when Jeff returned to the truck, he gave Kiran a ticket because Kiran had been going 150 mph on his motorcycle. Kiran's only question: "Is that WAY too fast?"

Another classic for Kiran right now is "Are you a real cowboy?" He asks this to anyone who wears boots and a hat. It all started in TX when at a restaurant with my family about 15 "real cowboys" came in. He asked each of them if they were a real cowboy and what their names were. So now, to add to his varying roles of worker, farmer, and bike rider, he is often a cowboy these days.

Kiran is definitely into the "I can do it!" independent stage now. He loves to talk about Luke at school. Luke is 5, and Kiran is beginning to see age differences and what that means. So, now he talks a lot about being 5 like Luke and what he will do when he is 5. At his school's Trike-a-thon recently, Kiran talked nonstop afterwards about how fast he and Luke were going and that he raced with Luke!

A few weeks ago just before bed, Kiran got his ukulele and asked if Ellery and I would like him to sing bedtime songs for us. Of course we said, "yes!" He did a great job. He sang and played, "Jesus Loves Me" and a few other songs. I loved it!

Kiran gives the "I Love You" sign every day when I leave him at school, anytime someone in the family leaves home. And, at night as soon as our feet hit the bottom stair of the staircase, he says, "I Love You Sign," and Jeff and I both send one up while he sends one down. It's really sweet.

Kiran loves his sister. He takes such good care of her. He wants to play with her much of the day.

Kiran can say the pledge, draw circles and squares, do great problem solving. I love picking up Kiran at school and seeing his fun artwork! They have the cutest projects - my favorites so far are the scarecrow made of shapes and a turtle made from tissue paper art! A cute thing about school: Kiran is the first to wash hands for lunch b/c otherwise he misses out on the beginning of outside time - he takes his time eating! Maybe it's b/c on school days, I usually send an extra special treat like his favorites: tractor snacks!

Kiran has excellent coordination, and can ride bikes and other riding toys really well. He is sometimes cautious with new things, but is becoming more adventurous every day.

Kiran is still in a playgroup that meets on Mondays now.
Tues & Thurs are school days.
Kiran is in a gymnastics/sports skills class on Tues. nights.
We go to the library on Thursdays.
Every other Fri. Daddy has off from work, so this is a family fun or project day or both.
Saturdays, Kiran and Daddy like to watch 1 or 2 "home shows" on PBS.
Sunday he enjoys Sunday School at church.

Kiran is now making his bed. A couple of weeks ago, I walked into his room, and there it was - a nicely made-up bed with 3 stuffed animals sitting up on it! Adorable! At first, I thought Jeff must have done it, then remembered that he did not have time to do this before he left for work. I asked Kiran, and he said, "I did it, Mom!" He was very proud of himself, so was I, and now he does it almost every morning without prompting! I better enjoy this now, huh!?

Here are some pictures of a special Mommy, Daddy, Kiran date last Friday. We went to a Children's Museum and had a blast! It was great to have some special time with our little boy.

It's always hard to get a picture of Kiran with me because he automatically sucks his thumb and wants to hold my hair instead of smile at the camera. So, here I am trying to remove him from my hair, and finally we got one sweet shot!

At the Children's Museum, there was this adorable little house that reminds me of our house - 2 story, 4 rooms, etc. Anyway, it is just for kids, everything is their size. Super cool! Addie, we hope you can come play here with us someday! We think you would really like it!

Basketball at the Children's Museum

Playing with a model hands-on channel of the lock system on the Tennessee River

Okay, so this may not be a shot of the cute little boy you would recognize from our blog, but this is the little boy I pick up from school every Tuesday and Thursday! The playground is full of wood chips, and Kiran loves playing in the dirt under the chips, so here he is! Thankfully, there are lots of other unrecognizable children with similar facial features when I arrive at 2:00. The first thing we do after school is go potty, wash hands and wash that face!

Trike-a-Thon 2008

Kiran particapated in a trike-a-thon to raise money for St. Jude's Hospital. It was so adorable! Kiran was super cute. I have no idea how many laps he did, but he circled non-stop for 40 minutes! He didn't even get a popsicle when they were offered - he was having too much fun!

A few weeks ago, the city chopper truck came to mulch the shrubs we took pulled out of our yard. Kiran got to talk to the workers - they were very impressed with his work gloves. They chopped for 15 or 20 minutes and used a chainsaw. He loved it as you can imagine!

Helping Daddy build Sunshine's new dog house!

As I already mentioned, we recently pulled out the shrubs in the front yard. Our wonderful neighbor and friend, Bud, brought his tractor for the job. Here are a few pics.

The Work Crew after a Busy Afternoon