home renovation

It is fun watching Kenzie and Kaden have more fun playing together, now that Kaden is a little older.  Mackenzie is such a sweet cousin, as is evidenced in these pictures from their first meeting in October 2010:

Kenzie has always been so loving to Kaden.  Even when all he did was lie on the floor and look at her, she thought he was awesome.  She would tell him, "It's OK," whenever he cried, and she had to watch me change every one of his diapers.  

This is Kaden and Kenzie with their Aunt Lauren on Christmas day in 2010:

Kaden was a little more entertaining by the time Spring of 2011 rolled around, but not much.  Any "play" still meant floor time, since Kaden was such a lazy crawler.  

This time when Kenzie and Meredith came to visit, they brought a new addition.  Mackenzie has a baby brother now, Tanner.  He filled the baby role this time, which meant Kaden had to step up to to the plate and be a big cousin.  He was not nearly as enamored with Tanner as Mackenzie had once been with him.  He mostly viewed Tanner as competition and didn't want me anywhere near him.  He did, however, love spending time with Mackenzie.  While they were visiting in January, I was still working, so Meredith and Joy kept Kaden during the day.  Kaden learned a lot about sharing, not pushing, and not pulling hair during this time.  I'm so thankful Mackenzie has a sweet, patient disposition.  Even though they didn't always get along, when they did, it was pretty precious to watch. 

Here are all of the cousins, opening their Christmas gifts.  We waited for the kids to be together to open their presents from each other, instead of mailing them for actual Christmas. 

I wish Meredith and Adam lived closer, so our kids could play together more.  Growing up, I lived really close to one set of my cousins, and we had so much fun together.  I really wish Kaden could have that same experience.  We just try to make the most of the time we do have them together!  

Here's one last sweet photo of Kaden and Kenzie with their great grandmother, who we all know as Nana.  I'm sure this will be a special photo for us to look at for many years to come:

 

 And here are some fun videos of the kids playing (please ignore my obnoxious voice in each one):