Curran is 18 Months!

Our little love bug is a year and a half old today! 

Its truly mind boggling how fast the last 18 months have gone, and how much Curran has grown. This time last year he was just a little shrimp with big round cheeks that scooted around the floor on his bum. Now he's 20lbs of joy, strong-will, love, and silliness. He runs and climbs and chats up a storm. He is so mischievous sometimes but he's also so loving and happy. He never fails to make us laugh---I can't get over some of the ridiculous things he does that just kill us, like his squinty French Stewart impression or attacking us with dozens of kisses. He loves cooking and as soon as we start working in the kitchen he pushes up a chair to the other side of the bar so he can watch and stir with his own little spatula and bowl. We're really excited to see how his interests and gifts develop as he grows older. His personality is already so full! And life with our little hurri-curran is only getting better and more wonderful. 

18 Month old Curran sure is on the move a lot, but I did get a couple photos that pretty much sum up our bright, happy, loving boy. 

[Curran gives us the BEST smiles. Can't live without them]

[He hung around for a couple minutes in exchange for the lens cap]

[This kid has a funny awkward smile that he does sometimes (usually when people are trying to get him to do something) and it just cracks us up]

[That hair. It grows way faster than I can keep up with it but boy, I love it]

[We are in the full toddler tantrum phase! He is one strong-willed kid which might be great later, but for now it leads to many meltdowns a day. This one started because I wouldn't let him put the lens cap on the camera. This is the life!]

Curran, my love bug, you are so awesome. Life is crazy with you sometimes, but we wouldn't imagine it any other way. We're so glad we get to see your cheesy, beautiful smile every day!

Utah Vacation + Curran's First Haircut

Last month we took our first big trip with Curran to visit some family in Utah. We decided we wanted our main focus to be on enjoying our vacation in the moment so we didn't haul around the DSLR everywhere we went, but we did take some iPhone photos to document a little. 

The trip there didn't go exactly as we had planned. The hope was that if we left early enough (say, 2am), Curran would sleep for a while and we could make some progress tear-free. Well the sun started coming up at 3:30am, so that didn't last long. Luckily we found a rhythm with him which made the rest of the drive doable. But after 16 hours in the car, we made it!

One of our top priorities in Utah was seeing our good friend and my old roommate, Jenna. Last time we had seen her was two years ago in DC while she was on her mission, so we were very excited to see her and for her to meet Curran.

We decided while we were in Utah that it was finally time. Apart from trimming his bangs (which resulted in a mini Lloyd Christmas), his hair had been left alone. I had let Curran's hair be because 1) I was weirdly proud of how much hair the little man had, and 2) I had hoped that if I gave it a little more time, all of that long hair would curl like his dad's. Unfortunately it looks like Curran got my hair because it is straight as a nail. So I finally conceded and agree to get his first haircut. He definitely wasn't happy about it, but he didn't really fight it either. 

Before || After

I miss that little ragamuffin but he is quite handsome with his big boy haircut!

The McKennas must be rubbing off on us because we are liking baseball more and more these days. We had a great time with them at a Salt Lake Bees game, despite a little rain at the beginning. Curran also did a great job sitting with us the whole game, something we weren't entirely confident in before. 

A year later with our pal, Curran. Love him!

Snow cones are a big thing out there and since we don't have a place around us in Washington we definitely indulged with Jen, Lee, and Grant. Curran wasn't totally convinced but after a few minutes he decided to go for it, though I don't think it was his favorite--just more snow cone for mom and dad!

Ok, I seriously love this. 

Joey and I really lucked out because we got to be there when my cousin went to the temple for the first time in preparation for his mission in Nevada (less than a month! ahh!). It was really special for us to be with family in the temple too. 

And bonus! Miles flew in from California for the day to be there as well. It was so good to see him after five years and to have him and Joey meet too.

I think one of Joey's biggest highlights was having an In-n-Out so close. Like, we ate there 3 times in the 9 days we were there. Its just good, man. Luckily we'll be a lot closer to one soon!

Another must on our trip was seeing Rainey and Todd. They're some of the best people I know and I couldn't wait to introduce them to Curran. And a fun perk: Todd's dad is Elder Christofferson, so Joey got to meet him (and yoyo for him!) too. One of my favorite memories is watching Fourth of July fireworks with the Christoffersons five years ago so I was glad Joey got to meet him and his wife, and to have a neat photo for Curran's photobook too. 

Right before we left Utah, Joey and I got to celebrate our anniversary (because this happened on the actual day) in Salt Lake. My uh-mazing Aunt and Uncle watched Curran for the day while we did some baby-free shopping and enjoying a relaxing dinner at FINCA. It was the longest date we had been on without the little guy, and while it was a little weird at first, it was so nice to have some substantial time to ourselves. I still can't thank Lee and Jen enough for babysitting for us!

Curran had such a great time with Grant and Lee--it made my heart so happy to see him take to them instantly. 

And while he wasn't the biggest fan of Jen (which truly I don't get, because he normally loves everyone and Jen is just awesome so who wouldn't like her?), he eventually warmed up enough---until Lee or Grant walked in the door, haha!

Thank you thank you thank you for such a wonderful week and we can't wait to see you again!

Curran is One!

Its been a whole year since our special Curran joined our family! 

Unfortunately he was super duper sick on his actual birthday (and our anniversary. Someday we'll have a normal anniversary...) so we waited a few days to celebrate his birthday until he was feeling better. After all, having one's first birthday cake (or in his case, cupcake) is an important event! Plus we had already gone to the zoo and his first baseball game in the weeks before as part of his birthday + our anniversary celebration, so we decided to do this last activity at our own pace.

Daddy helped Curran blow out his candle

We ordered some cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake for Mother's Day and our anniversary, so Curran got to have an extra special cupcake for his birthday. The significance may be lost on him, but we're still glad he got to have a taste of something important to us and our time in Virginia. Curran also really likes to give Joey tastes of his food. He never shares with me, but he and Daddy are buds when its meal time.

Yeah. This is how most of his cupcake smash went. It reminded me of all the times my mom tried to have a special moment or photo as a family and someone was mad or another was crying while a third refused to smile. And suddenly I felt my life had come full circle as I now just wanted one darn happy cupcake smash for his first birthday. So, sorry for all the moments us kids ruined, mom!  

Once he finally stopped crying and actually gave the cupcake a taste he was actually rather pleased, even more so to rub that yellow frosting all over his tray. 

And there's our happy boy!

Oh my dear Curran, we're so glad you're part of this family! Being your parents has been really, really hard, but so amazing. Watching you grow and discover new things is the most rewarding part of my day. I never thought I'd cheer and sing "Go Curran, Go Curran!" while a person ate a blackberry. But helping you overcome the challenges you face fills my heart with so much love for your little self. You make us laugh with your silly smiles and the way you dance and the way you chase the pets as you giggle. You're a strong, brave little boy and we can't wait to see the man you grow up to be. Your name means hero, and you are certainly that to us. 

Here's to a second year full of even more fun and exploring, bugaboo!

Birthday Trip to the Zoo

I've recently realized that a kid's first birthday is great because its a perfect excuse to do fun stuff you normally like to do--in our case, a trip to the zoo. Its also great because it means that when the bookstore's kids club sends your baby a coupon for a free birthday cookie, you actually get a free cookie (I mean, he can't eat it anyways). And really, shouldn't all of the celebration for a child's first birthday really be for you, the parents, for actually managing to keep him alive for a whole year? That first year is no joke. We are survivors! And we will eat our son's free birthday cookie without shame. 

But right, back to the zoo---

Yes, so we figured that with how much Curran loves Remy and Marley as well as watching the seagulls flying along with the ferry, he would surely enjoy a trip to the zoo, and we would too. Because the weather was supposed to be gloomy his actual birthday weekend, we decided to go the week before--which actually worked out great because my ticket was half off for Mother's Day and Curran ended up being horribly sick the weekend of his birthday anyway. So it was a perfect day for a family outing in every way.

As soon as we got to the zoo we were greeted by this flashy peacock. Curran was definitely interested in him and kept saying "ahooooo, ahooooo" while he watched the bird turn and caw. Being the quiet observer he is, he calmly took in the sights and sounds, enjoying things in his own way.

He really took a liking to the aquariums and watching the fish and sharks swim about.

He wasn't quite big enough to reach the sting rays and little sharks, but he did pet a star fish!

This was so great! Elephants are one of my favorite so I was very excited when one walked right up to the edge and we were able to get an awesome look.

This picture of Curran sticking his tongue out while walking makes me laugh because my dad does it when he's working on or figuring out something, and my dance teacher used to tell me I did it too when I was trying to get a difficult step. Looks like Curran might be a Conrad tongue thinker too.

Once we stopped for a little break Curran made a bee line for the snacks. The man knows what he likes! And its so nice that he's finally wanting to really eat food now, though we have a long way to go (but more on that another time).

After a snack break we went to the amphitheater to watch the Indiana Bones show and see more gorgeous animals. The show had lots of audience participation which always took Curran by surprise and of course upset him, but once he got used to it he was fine. And he was so enthralled, he sat still for the whole show---I don't think that's ever happened! Now if only he would do that in church....

Happy boy! He's starting to really enjoy dancing and grooving to music.

Though a little hazy, we had a lovely view of Mt. Rainier while at the zoo. Seeing it never gets old!

We don't normally buy souvenirs from places like zoos or amusement parks but we thought we'd get Curran a special red wolf stuffed animal for his birthday and his first trip to the zoo. He enjoys petting him and carrying him around by the paw throughout the day.
We had such a lovely day with Curran and can't wait for future zoo trips as he gets older. Its a little thing, but I'm excited to see what animal becomes his favorite as he learns more about them. I love seeing who Curran is becoming and the things he's interested in. We love our bugaboo!