Welcome Party for Kieran

My parents hosted a party on Saturday to officially welcome Kieran into the family and to introduce him to some of our family and friends.

The party went very well. The weather was perfect and most of our family and friends were able to join us. Santosh's friends from his MBA program drove out to Long Island and we were excited to see them. Even though we want everyone to meet him, it's just not that easy to travel with him yet.

Kieran seemed to have a great time at the party (he loves being surrounded by a crowd - especially if he is the center of attention.) He is charming everyone he meets and his giggles are so contagious. They'll come at the oddest times and he is still not taking any requests. You get them when he's good and ready and trying to tickle him or do silly things may get you only a confused stare from Kieran.

You can tell from the photos (and perhaps the quantity alone clues you in) that Santosh and I are very excited to be his parents. We were prepared for Kieran to have some development issues but so far he's exceeded all of our expectations. He appears to be ahead of the developmental milestones for his age so WE have a lot of catching up to do as far as childproofing our house. Who knew he'd be so close to walking at this age? He's a very intense little guy and keeps us on our toes every minute. This means when he's happy - the giggles are so loud that you cannot help but giggle as well. It also means that when he's not happy, he really makes sure we are aware that we'd better fix that . . and fast. We are so grateful to Kieran's nannies who clearly gave him a lot of love and attention.

Durban also had a great time and had never behaved better. It's the first time we haven't worried about him jumping on guests. We all really wanted him to be a part of the celebration so we were thrilled that he really has stopped tackling all of our guests at the door (my mom practiced with the air conditioning repair guy this week and then we tested Durban's reaction to the plumber just to make sure he understood that he wasn't allowed to jump on anyone. Durban's signature greeting had previously included a 'two paws to the crotch' move that appeared to be rather unpopular with some guests. Wheaten Terriers really struggle to restrain themselves. The Wheaten Greetin' as it is called is pretty common and even the toughest trainers have told us to give up. Leave it to my mom to find a way to solve it whilewe were away in Vietnam. Of course he still licks everyone - but we'll let it go since it's fairly harmless. We do need a sign around his neck (similar to those at water rides at amusement parks) that says, "If you touch this dog, you WILL get wet."

More to post but since Kieran is sleeping, I must sleep too.