Waiting....ever so patiently

Patience is a virtue we are all working on right now. I think I'm winning...so far. Our littlest one will come soon enough. He or she cannot stay in there forever, so for now, I'm content. And meanwhile, Koen and I are having a belly contest...the resemblance is amazing, don't you think?




Clay and I took Koen to the zoo with B, Joon and Sophie. It was a nice overcast, yet warm Sunday morning....lovely. The lions roared and the orangutans reached out, begging for food...pretty comical. And I think the elephants came closer than they've ever been to us gawking humans.




Recently, we've been lucky enough to have Nana here to play with us. And we're doing our best to fill the days with something other than sitting around, staring at the calendar. Koen is totally enamored with her, asking for her each time he awakes in the morning or from a nap. He's surely testing her endurance. I think in the one week that she's been here, she's read countless books, drawn pictures, kicked the soccer ball about one hundred times, and played mini-baseball probably 30 times (in which, she is either the pitcher or the batter.....over and over and over). Koen never tires.

Anyway, we're loving it. We had a little play time and picnic at a park today, and I finally remembered to get the camera out for once this week!

Fairbanks Farm

We went to visit a petting farm the other day. Fairbanks Farm is a very small farm located about 20 minutes north of us. They only accept visitors in pre-registered groups (like school field trips). So we were very lucky to have been invited by a friend. On this special tour, they were showcasing all of their baby animals. They cater to kids and therefore, all the animals are mellow, friendly, and touchable (for the most part). We had an absolute blast getting up close and personal with baby Pygmy goats, calves, ducklings, chicks, piglets, Shetland ponies, sheep, goslings, peacocks, etc. There were baby animals all over! It took Koen just a few minutes to get used to the idea of being in such close proximity to the animals. But once he warmed up to the thought, he absolutely loved every part of that place. I think it was the baby goats that really won him over. They were perfectly adorable and feisty, running about, kicking out their back feet like they were so tough. But they loved to be rubbed and came right up to us, even nibbling on our pants a little bit. I wish we could go back again....maybe someday.

Gift from afar

Uncle Devin sent Koen a very nice little outfit from his travels to Qatar. Koen loves it and wants to wear the hat, especially, everywhere we go. Devin would like me to take Koen out for an entire day in the whole get-up. What do ya think? Would I get any strange looks...me looking the way I do, with a child looking like this? Naaaa.

Anyway, thanks for the goods, Dev. You're a very nice and thoughtful uncle.





















Noteworthy tidbits:

Koen has suddenly developed a new phobia...bugs. He thinks there are bugs everywhere, in his crib, on the carpet, in his pants, all over. He does not like these bugs one bit, either. And when he starts to think about them, he gets really shaky and weird, staring intently at the floor, studying every tiny crumb or piece of lint for possible movement. It all began out of the blue the other day while we were at gymnastics. He was playing in the foam pit (his all time favorite place), when suddenly he began screaming bloody murder (for lack of a better description). He was clambering to exit the pit, all the while keeping his eyes focus down into the foam. I came running over, thinking he had cut himself on a lurking nail or staple or something sharp. He lunged out for me as soon as I was within reach and started kicking his feet to get "the bugs" off.
??????

After inspecting the immediate area and finding no bugs, I did my best to reassure him that there were no bugs. But the drama continued. Within five minutes, he no longer wanted to walk on the gym carpet, or get near any other foam pit areas. As we left, he began standing and walking like he'd been wearing chaps and riding a horse all day. Of course, my first suspicion was that he had poop running down his legs. But, when I got him into the house (it was a long walk to the front door with him shuffling along in that manner), I stripped him down, prepared for the worst. To my pleasant surprise he was poop free, but then he looked up at me and said "Bugs in pants". So it was all about more bugs.

Anyway, long story short, this is ongoing. Now he occasionally screams out from his bed. I race in there to find him reaching out to me in desperation, saying "Bugs in my bed!" Tonight, he insisted on wearing his socks to bed because of the bugs. Poor little guy. I think this is really traumatizing him and I don't know where it all started.

Happy Easter!

Easter was a little out of the norm this year as we had Hannah with us...and it was pouring rain outside. Needless to say, we did not get to do our own Easter Egg hunt, nor did we decorate eggs. But it was still a good day.

Here is Koen finding his basket that the bunny left for him. He didn't really get the Easter Bunny thing, probably because the first time we mentioned it to him was about 10 minutes before he found his basket. Oops! Our bad.



We did make it to the public egg hunt down at the park, but that was a bit of a fiasco, really. Hundreds of toddlers, thousands of little plastic eggs and pieces of candy scattered all over an outdoor basketball court (not much of a hunt), and the wind was blowing all the goods everywhere as we waited for the race to start. Koen kept picking up the eggs as they blew in his direction. I tried several times to explain to him that we must wait until everybody else is ready, but my efforts were useless. So he got started early with a few plastic eggs. Then when the people in charge were finally ready to go, a man yelled out "1-2-3-Go!" and everyone screamed and began running onto the court. Would you believe this made Koen cry and recoil to the outer edges of the chaos? I know, hard to imagine.

So here I am, trying to encourage him to get in there, helping him out by picking up some nearby Tootsie Rolls and placing them in his little basket, while Clay tried to snap pictures through the massive crowd. But Koen wasn't havin' it. He started crying harder, and forcefully throwing each candy piece back out onto the ground. It was funny and sad at the same time. I was getting frustrated because, as we all know, I was picking up those Tootsie Rolls for myself to enjoy later! But it seems he only wanted the colorful plastic eggs which were all but gone by the time he calmed down and started hunting. Oh well. We tried.






Collin and Shandy also came over for a little lasagne, salad and super garlicky garlic bread (I'm not kidding, Koen smelled like garlic for the next 48 hours!). They are so sweet, and came bearing gifts, as usual. They brought over an 'igloo' tent and long crawl tube for Koen. As you can imagine, this was the focus of the next 3 hours. Koen absolutely loved it...and still does!






Later that day, we decided to take a few pictures of my belly and the soon-to-be 'big brother'. Sort of a mini-photo shoot before the big day arrives. We are so excited!

First Sleep Over

My friend went into labor the day before Easter, and as planned, we took her daughter for her while she went to the hospital. Hannah officially became Koen's very first 'sleep over'. We had so much fun with her. I picked her up around noon on Saturday, and then dropped her off at 1pm the next day. They colored pictures, danced, had ice cream cones and basically had a blast together. She was very easy to have around, so polite...lots of 'please & thank you's', and went right to bed the minute we laid her down. She's a very fun friend, and when we got the call from her dad that her baby brother had arrived and I could bring her back, Koen threw a tantrum at the thought of having to say goodbye.

It's good to see him enjoy other kids so much. And it was the first time Clay really got to see him interact with a little person his own age. He's a different kid in so many ways, around friends.

One Big Pig

We headed to the east side today, to meet Clay's co-workers and show Koen around his office, followed by lunch w/ Daddy. On our way over we made a stop at Kelsey Creek Farm to walk around and see some farm animals. They have goats, horses, cows, chickens, bunny rabbits, pigs, sheep, etc. You know....farm animals!

Now I've been to a few farms in my day, but I must say, I have NEVER seen a pig this large in my life. He came right up to the fence, inches from our faces, to say "hi" and sniff us. There was a plethora of snot and snorting and Koen promptly backed away from the large beast. I soon followed his lead when the following image flashed into my head: Me, meeting Clay's boss and co-workers for the first time with a spattering of swine sneeze on my shirt and in my hair. Yeah. Nice piggy. :)

Take my word for his size, the picture hardly does him justice.

Introducing the 'real' Bacon

Last night Clay and I presented Koen with his very own baby.  He's all about having his very own things lately.  We gave him a little baby doll, complete with a stroller, diaper, and milk bottle.  I think this gift might actually rival the vacuum he received for his birthday.  He was beside himself with pride and happiness.  Clay and I kept giggling as we watched him try desperately to hide his smile for nearly an hour!  

He decided that his baby is a boy, and he did not hesitate to give him a name..."Bacon" of course. We taught him how to care for the baby, and be very gentle with it.  After that, he went nuts. So far he has done the following caregiver tasks...several times already:

-Changed his diaper & clothes

-Fed him a bottle (several times an hour, actually)

-Put him in pajamas (Koen's PJ's, of course)

-Read him books

-Sang songs for him

-Swaddled him in a blankie

-Put him down for a nap (even turned on the sound machine)

-Introduced him to Oski and Scruffy

-Watched Sesame Street with him

-Taken him for a walk (around the house)

-and brushed his hair and teeth

Meet Bacon.




Diaper changing lesson with Dad...


Clay decided to throw in a quick anatomy lesson while he was at it (yes, the doll is anatomically correct, well for a girl)


First stroller ride...



This is all very encouraging because it was our exact intention to teach him about handling and caring for a baby. What a tender little boy...I cannot say it enough. He's way ahead of the game, as far as I'm concerned...very intuitive for a 2 year old. It's so fun to watch the ideas that spark in his little mind.


Oh, and PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANA!!!