Back home, for now

We got back to San Diego late on Sunday night and we'll be in town for about 10 days before heading back east to visit my dad and catch up with the Karno clan.

Nanita Devrah came back to San Diego to spend a few weeks here with Kai and Maya. We went to the beach a few times and enjoyed a very warm SD week. Here is Kai with Nanita in a little beach outfit that cousins Jason & Kara bought for him.

He is growing so much that I don't know that he'll be able to wear it again (note the budda belly sticking out)! Our boy is now a 12 pounder! I need to do some training to continue carrying him around. ;-)

This week Kai's cousin Maya turned 1 year old! Looking at Maya, it is hard to believe how quickly a year has passed. Maya is a vibrant and hysterical little girl with boundless smiles and energy. Here is a photo from her birthday party this week. I think the cake was more fun to squish than to eat.

I'm sure that before we know it, we'll have photos of Kai's first birthday too! Sigh. . .

At Maya's birthday party Kai took his first swim too. Much like bathtime, he is really relaxed in the water.

And the Wilsons too!

On the 2nd half of our trip to AZ, we popped into Tucson to visit the Gideon side of the family and to go to the wedding of our family friends David & Jennifer Martin. We got some fun photos of the clan this weekend.

Here is a photo of 4 generations on the Wilson side of the family at the Martin wedding. . .

Kai was well prepared for his time at the Oro Valley Country Club with his "tea par-tay" outfit . . .

A video of Brendt, his Nana and Mom, Monica shankin' thier groove thing at the end of the take you even get a glimpse of the bride and groom. . .

Nana and three of her great grand children, Kaylee, Maya & Kai. I like to call this Kai's "fight the power photo". . .

Off to AZ!

This week we've traveled to Arizona to enjoy the balmy sunshine of the Sonoran desert. UG! :-) No, we're really here to introduce Kai around and go to a wedding in Tucson.

We got the Mesa clan together to celebrate Brendt's birthday (and Uncle Dave and Cousin Johnny's too). Amid the rucus of our tiny group of 19 or so, we were able to capture a photo of 4 generations of Altendorf's.

Kai, meet Kai

This week we went to the beach with Kai for the first time. As we came down, over the hill towards La Jolla Shores I thought, Kai (Hawaiian for Ocean) meet Kai. The first of many meetings, I'm sure.

My mom was in town and we met up with a few other friends Toby (with daughters Kaelyn and Elliana) and Richard (with son Matteo) at La Jolla Shores. It was a cool day at the beach, but we were able to enjoy a walk and Brendt was able to take his surfboard out for the first time in a year or so. We're hoping to make it a weekly gathering!

Smiles all around!

Grandma Carol returned on Thursday, welcomed by Kai's ever appearing smiles. It has been fun to see Kai's personality emerge. Brendt's last day of school was yesterday and we are looking forward to the next 5.5 weeks of Gidepakis family fun before I head back to work

Here are a few of the little man's smiles. . .

My Life Among Clones

So, I just had to include this photo of Kai and his daddy. They just look so much alike! I tease Brendt that when he coos, "He's so hansome! He's so beautiful!," over Kai that he is really being vain and referring to his own good looks as they really look like twins. I guess I was just the host to this clone. It doesn't look like I really had any genetic contribution to little Kai's appearance. Maybe he'll inherit my long attention span instead. ;-)




Ok! I've been much delinquent at blogging of late. Kai has kept me busy, but we've also had visitors and have traveled too! I've had a little breather this week so I'll be catching up on new photos.
I just love this funny face. . .




































We took a quick weekend trip to Tucson to celebrate cousin Cade's birthday and his fiance Shauna's graduation from pharmacy school. It was a wonderful celebration (as usual, the Wilson's throw great parties!) and we got to meet Shauna's family for a little preview for thier wedding next year. Here is a photo from the party of Brendt, Kai, and uber Nana Teresa (Kai's Great Grandma).



My dad traveled across the country to meet our little man, and my sister joined him here for the week. We got out every day and saw the sites of San Diego including the zoo, Birch Aquarium and the Natural History Museum.

Katie was a huge help, loving up on Kai and taking a midnight shift. I would feed Kai just before going to bed and she would let me sleep an unprecedented 4 hours! Oh for joy! I was even feeling human after a few days.

It was a fun week. I really enjoyed watching Papou (Greek for Grandpa) get to know Kai. He'll get more time with him when we go back East in a few weeks.

We'll be doing a bit of traveling after Brendt is done with school. First we'll be going to Mesa for a few days to show off Kai to my Mom's side of the family and then we go to Tucson for a family wedding. Then a week later we'll be heading to my dad's home town of Wierton, W. Va. (30 min. from Pittsburgh) to introduce Kai to the Greek Clan. It's going to be a fun summer.

Oh, and Kai is now up to 10 pounds and smiled for the first time yesterday! Hooray!