The Keenan Family 411

One Down

A sure sign that Shanie's gettin' big on us...his first tooth has officially popped out!

Behold...Shanie's First Baseball Hit!

This brief video footage is something you'll want to save.  It should be worth a pretty penny someday...when Shane joins the line-up for the New York Yankees and bats in the clean-up position about 20 years from now, we can all say it started with this memorable hit.

Besides smacking a nice shot right up the middle, he celebrates the hit in a unique (and somewhat dangerous) way. 

Please note that Annie, who is running from 3rd base to home plate in the video, is alive and well. 

Click here and prepare to be...amazed!!!

Our Little Einstein!

Big news for the Keenan clan today...Owen aced his spelling test!

We have some people scouring the Keenan Family archives, but we're pretty sure that this is the first time any of us has scored 100% on a spelling test since Amy pulled it off in the 5th grade.

Well, Harvard hasn't sent us any scholarship offers yet.  But it's a start!

Owen's 6!

Hard to believe, but Owen's been on the planet six years as of yesterday (and the planet's still here somehow)!  Unfortunately, his actual birthday fell on a school & work day, but I managed to get home a little early and then we spent the rest of the evening at Chuck E. Cheese's for some pizza and games.  The real party will take place on Saturday, October 4th at Robb's Farm (same place as last year) where we'll embark on a hay ride, a tour through the huge corn maze, hang with the goats and pigs in the petting zoo, munch on some apples and generally have an awesome time. 

Happy B-Day, Owen!  Six years and still rockin'!

It's Outta There!!!

Mayor Owen's office issued a press release earlier today: he is proud to announce that he is officially down one tooth.  After hanging by a string for days, one of his bottom front teeth popped out yesterday.  And he would like to make it perfectly clear that, despite rumors to the contrary, it was not knocked out by someone he was annoying. 

He was also pleasantly surprised to see how generous the Tooth Fairy is these days, despite the country's current economic uncertainty.  TF rewarded him with a Bionicles video game, a box of Willy Wonka's Nerds candy (an unusual gift for TF) and a small bag of cheese puffs.  Interesting combination.

Strangely enough, I vaguely recall getting a quarter from TF for my first tooth.  But I suppose you have to factor in inflation.

Diapers?! I Don't Need No Stinkin' Diapers!!!

No, no, no...the pictures here are a little misleading.  Little Shanie is not quite potty-trained yet, but he's definitely chomping at the bit.  He'll stand in front of the toilet, demand that his diaper be removed, and then sit there for up to 15 minutes while nothing happens.  Then he gets a kick out of flushing the toilet.  He has also started sitting on the potty, but still no output.  Not yet, anyway. 

In any case, we're looking forward to the day when we permanently bid farewell to diapers...or at least until the grandchildren arrive.  Yes, please note the implication that (despite Amy's apparent psychosis) there will be no fourth child!

"Uh Oh..."

Amy went out with some friends late last night on a mystery shop, so after I put Cameron and Owen to bed I had about 1 1/2 hours of precious "alone time" with little Shaney and we had a lot of fun.

One of the more popular lines for toddlers who are just learning to talk seems to be "uh oh."  Whenever something drops or is otherwise suddenly rendered out of place, a nearby toddler will almost always utter "uh oh..." in a doom-and-gloom sort of manner.  And I've been waiting patiently these days for Shane's first "uh oh".

Well, Shane finally added that phrase to his fast-growing vocabulary last night, joining "dada", "momma" and "done!"  We were flipping through Cameron's Justice League of America hard-cover book (I know, not even close to age-appropriate, but Shane insisted) and it somehow slipped to the floor.  Shane peered down and muttered, very quietly, "uh oh..."

Shane Speaks!

Shane kicked off the new year by increasing the size of his vocabulary by a full 33% (up to this point, he only had "Dadda" and "Momma" in his verbal arsenal).  When he finished his lunch he held up his empty bowl and said, loud and clear, "done!" 

Cameron claims that he actually said "dung", not "done".  Owen adamantly agrees with Cameron even though he was in the living room at the time.