Koen's First REAL Haircut

Clay took Koen to get his very first haircut. The occasional snips we gave him while he stood naked in the bath tub don't count. This was REAL! He sat in a real barber chair...o.k. it was shaped like a sea turtle! But still, he had a real stylist in a real salon (for kids).

I've been picturing the horror of this event over and over in my mind for a couple years now. I could actually see Koen's red, hysterical face, drenched in tears, snot and slobber. And I could hear the frantic screams, "This is NOT o.k! LET...ME...GO!" (Quite similar to our recent experiences with vaccinations) I could feel the humiliation hot on my own face, knowing that everybody in the salon was staring at my kid. And I could visualize the two of us leaving the scene with half a haircut, unable to see it through to the end. Not a pretty picture.

Well, my imagination couldn't have hit farther from reality. Koen held perfectly still, remaining calm and quiet the entire time. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have cars to hold, a movie to watch, and a sucker to lick (notice even the stylist has one). I guess this place has seen its fair share of tantrum-prone kids. They are complete professionals.

Before

During

After!

On a separate note: Finn got a new (well, second hand) Johnny Jump Up! I saw him trying to jump in his sad little exer-saucer, and it just wasn't working. He'd jump up with all his little might, and then clunk down into the seat...no bounce back. Oh, he was working so hard to get momentum where there wasn't any to be had. Poor bouncy baby.

This sure did the trick. He even smiles at the sight of it hanging in the doorway. But, seriously, how much bouncing can one little guy take? He'd go on for hours if we'd let him. I think he's turning into a motion junkie as a result. Now, when we hold him, he's constantly pushing his legs out, trying to bounce in our lap. He even does it while he nurses! Silly guy.

I guess I now understand where the phrase 'Bouncing Baby Boy' came about? We have one.

Weird Turkey Day

We began the holiday this year with a disclaimer..."Chalk it up to a weird Thanksgiving."

Koen and mommy got sick on Monday, the day that Grandpa arrived to play. :( So we spent the entire week at home, laying around, doing indoor activities, and monitoring fevers. Koen's fever lasted five days! A personal record for him.

We barely made it to Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. In fact, Koen and I simply made an appearance at our friends' house. Sam and Matt did a spectacular job putting the evening together in style (see spread below). They insisted that we come and just keep our germs to ourselves. But it was hard. Koen was out of sorts and Finn was tired. So I took them home after an hour. The one nice thing about this was...I went home without feeling like my stomach could explode (as I do most turkey days). I barely had time to eat anything at all...AND had to skip the pie event altogether!

We also missed Collin and Shandy that day! They were attending another feast on the east side. And to make matters worse, it was Shandy's birthday!!! We didn't even get to give her a birthday hug! Sorry, Shandy. Happy 29!

Yes, it was a weird Thanksgiving.

But, holidays aside, it was a good week. We enjoyed plenty of quality time with Grandpa. There was more than enough time for reading books, snuggling, and watching movies. Grandpa helped Koen construct an awesome train track, complete with tunnels and curving bridges. They played hide-and-seek (a recent favorite at our house). Grandpa and Koen colored with crayons, painted with paints, and had a wrestling match.

Finn & Grandpa

(adorable bib courtesy of my very talented friend, Margaret!)

In true form, Koen was acting his age and answered every question with, "No." Grandpa got such a kick out of this. He laughed every time, and soon began to test Koen, trying to catch him off guard.

Grandpa: "Koen, do you like your lunch?"

Koen: "No."

Grandpa: "Do you want another carrot stick?"

Koen: "No."

Grandpa: "Do you want to get down and play?"

Koen: "No."

Koen would quickly look up and smile, changing his answer to 'yes'. Ah, ha!! Gotcha! Then we'd all crack up!

Grandpa took a crash course in Toddler Painting 101. Believe me, it's so very hard to sit back and let the toddler control the canvas, leaving massive globs of paint that will take days to dry, and mixing all of the paint colors together. It has taken many months for me to learn to bite my tongue and simply watch Koen paint, uncorrected.

No matter what Grandpa's vision was for this painting they set out to create together, Koen had another. And wherever Grandpa's paintbrush touched down with color, Koen's paintbrush was standing by to 're-do' the area. In the end, we just laughed. What else can you do? And the finished product was actually quite nice.

Watch out, Monet!

The warriors and their war paint.

On his last day with us, before we went to the airport, Grandpa took us out for sushi. Oh, man, what a treat! I haven't had sushi in over a year! Together, we discovered a little sushi joint in our neighborhood. It's called Kisaku. I've been wanting to try it out for a couple of years now. And wouldn't you know, it's been named "Seattle's Best Japanese Restaurant 2009" by Zagat Survey. Sweet! We'll definitely be eating there again.

I'll also mention that Finn has officially graduated from the baby bucket car seat to a 'big boy' convertible car seat. Woo-hoo! Exciting, I know. But for those of you with kids....and those of you who share my belief that car seats are a conspiracy (albeit a necessary one)...you know that this transformation is a double edged sword.

No more outings with the luxury of carrying the sleeping baby around in a seat. Now baby has to somehow sit in the grocery carts and restaurant high chairs on his own. Never mind that he can't even 'sit' on the floor yet! So I mention this because during our sushi lunch, Finn sat in a high chair for the very first time. Oh, he knew he was big, sitting up to the table with the rest of us. It was pretty cute.

Looking back through the week, I realize how much fun we had doing nothing, really. I lamented most of the time about being sick and wishing that we could take Grandpa out for adventures in the city. But, after it was all over, I feel like we got a whole bunch of quality time with him and it was really nice. :)

Thanks for coming, Dad! We love you!

Yo, Bee!

A fly snuck in our house the other day. Koen raced to get his nature necklace, complete with air holes. He then proceeded to follow the fly all around the house, trying to convince it to get in his box. He was calling it a 'bee'.

It was terribly cute to watch. He followed the fly around from corner to corner without any sort of urgency...saying things like, "Come here, bee" and (my favorite), "Yo, bee. Get in my box, bee!"

The Soprano

Can you hit these notes? I sure can't.

Playin' with Papa

The airfare was low...

The ticket was purchased...

Papa hopped on a plane...

We had a quick visit from Papa this weekend. It was super fun to have him all to ourselves for a couple of days. November has officially become rainy and cold. So we spent most of our time indoors, playing, relaxing, and eating. We went out for Chinese food, Thai food, ice cream....why is it always about food for us Greenleafs? Hmmmm....

Koen started requesting the 'roll game' with Papa from the minute he walked through our door...literally. They put together puzzles and Legos, played with the race track, snuggled on the couch....ect. Koen had a fabulous time and was so happy Papa came!



Collin and Shandy spent some time with us as well. Koen played hard with his uncle this weekend. He started referring to him as 'The Big Guy'. Now, there is some debate as to whether Koen realizes that 'The Big Guy' with the thick black beard is also his uncle Collin. We joked that Koen would become best buds with this new dude, and then Collin will shave off his beard and Koen will start avoiding him again. Doesn't this seem counter intuitive? Especially when you look at this image below?

Love ya, Boy! :)

Shandy got in some cuddle time with Finnegan. He's a little cuddle bug...we love it!

Collin & Koen chased each other around in the blue tube while we waited for the cookies to come out of the oven. Pretty funny, Uncle Collin.

And, of course, there was the long awaited battle of Greenleafs vs. Pistachios. I could hardly convince the three of them to look up for a picture. They were serious about those nuts!

Thanks for making the trip up to see us, Papa! We're so glad you came! And thanks for playin' everybody! We can't wait to do it again at Christmas!!

Mother Nature is an Artist

Sometimes I find myself wondering, "Is nature for real?"

The most beautiful and breathtaking sights my eyes have ever seen are usually found in nature. Seriously, one of my favorite things about riding the bus to and from the university was being able to sit and do nothing but watch the amazing trees go by my window...every day! I loved it. Now that I'm driving two little kids around, I do my best not to run off the road as I gaze at the trees. :) Just ask Koen how many times a week I pull off the road to point out another awesome tree. It's a lot.

Anyway, I love love love this time of year with all of its bright colors. What a palette! I'm crazy about these trees around our neighborhood. We check their progress each time we pass. Hard to imagine that one single tree can display so many different colors! There was one tree down our street that was so crazy bright red, it was blinding. No joke, it nearly hurt your eyes to look at it. I would have a picture but its leaves have recently fallen off. Check these others out...

This guy is massive! The photo hardly does it justice.

So, we were inspired to do some leaf art one rainy day this week. Super easy and very satisfying. The following supplies are needed:

some lovely leaves gathered on a walk....

some pumpkin crayons

(any crayons will do, but these were so festive and perfect for rubbing)

I made these crayons for party favors at Koen's birthday party. I picked up a bunch of old crayons at the thrift store, tore off their paper, and melted them in a Halloween muffin tin. Pretty fun, huh? We had a bunch left over.

oh...and it doesn't hurt to have a cute little helper...

Koen's favorite crayon, over and over, was the blue one. And I think he might have had just as much fun stacking the crayons as he did coloring with them.

O.k. Now we're finally down to business. Place the leaf under a sheet of paper and rub. That's all! Countless hours (well, more like one hour) of fun provided by nature.

Ta da! The finished product. We decided to send some of our artwork to our great grandparents. It might just be 'fridge' worthy, no?

Finn sat quietly watching us, smiling as usual. He's such a pleasant baby. Before Finn was born, we feared that after having an easy baby like Koen, we were in for paybacks with #2...an ornery, feisty, sleepless child. I don't know what happened, 'cause I think we hit the jackpot twice! :)

But watch out! This kid puts everything and anything in his mouth...fingers, socks, toys, whatever! Koen never did that, so we aren't used to it. I was busy walking the aisles of the grocery store the other day. When I looked down Finn had half of my grocery list in his fist and the other half was a soggy mess in his mouth...no longer legible, I'm afraid.

Oh, and meanwhile, Koen was down below driving the grocery car. You know, one of those horrible grocery carts with a kid's car attached to the front. I used to look at the parents pushing them and think, "Come on! Is that really necessary?" They are terribly awkward to maneuver. I almost took down an entire display of stacked wine bottles the other day! I hate those carts, but they really do come in handy with two kids in tow.

Anyway, where was I....oh yeah, Koen was sitting out of sight, riding up and down each aisle, grabbing items and putting them in his 'car'. When I peeked in to say 'hi', I discovered the mound of groceries in his lap. He got a sheepish grin, and said, "I'm just kiddin'!" Then he started to laugh as I pulled out all the stuff he had been swiping. I'm just glad I caught it before we left the store! Especially the chocolate covered malt balls! Little stinker. I guess I'll have to keep better tabs on him from now on.

Enjoy the season, and the trees in your neighborhood!

Three years past

Where did our precious little baby boy go?

He's now an energetic, inquisitive, sensitive, thoughtful, funny, and often wild & crazy three year old! My, my, how the time flies.

We celebrated Koen's third birthday for several days in a row this year. The festivities began with a 'kids' party on Friday. Grandpa Dan and Grammie Pat arrived the night before and, immediately, I put them to work. Danny did a fabulous job draping blue streamers all over the living room. And my mom so kindly blew up 12 giant balloons. She had to have been light headed afterward! I failed to get a picture of the decorations, but trust me...it truly looked like a PARTY around here!

Many of his little friends came over to help him celebrate Friday morning. Since the party was the day before Halloween, we highly encouraged costumes. And much to my delight, Koen quite willingly put his giraffe costume on and posed with the others for a picture. (If you read my post last Halloween, you would know that Koen had no business modeling his costume with the other kids).

Of course we had to snap a shot or two of the babies in attendance. They were pretty darn cute. This is their first Halloween!

During the party, I ran around like a headless chicken tending to our guests. Danny took care of Finn and helped coral the kids from one room to the next. My mom took charge of the party 'project' I had prepared ahead of time. I dyed a bunch of uncooked pasta and set up a table for the kids to make 'noodle necklaces'.

What really happened? The kids stormed the scene, plunging their tiny hands into the noodle containers, spilling out noodles everywhere, giggling as they admired all the brightly colored pasta stuck to their sticky little hands. None of the kids was quite able to push the yarn toothpick through the noodles either. It was quite chaotic and in the end, grandma resorted to stringing the necklaces for each kid that wanted one. Oh well, it was a good idea in theory...maybe wait until the fourth birthday, however! :)

Grammie Pat also spent time reading some books to the kids. She sure had Hannah's undivided attention!

Koen felt like a little king, opening his birthday presents in front of everyone. Mind you, this was his very first birthday party with little friends. He was totally into it and KNEW that he was the focus of the morning. It was fun to see him feeling so special.

My favorite part about a birthday party with 3 year olds...they completely understand the 'opening presents' thing now....but they haven't quite grasped the idea that only one kids gets to do it. As each little friend approached Koen to hand him their gift, he or she managed to unwrap most of it on the way over. One little girl, Zoe the pink princess, couldn't even wait that long. Within seconds of arriving at our house, she yanked a new book from it's gift wrap and ran up to Koen with it saying, "Here, Koen! This is for you!" We laughed so hard. She was so excited and sincere.

I attempted red velvet cupcakes with an additional small cake for Koen. But in the spirit of the holiday, I traded red for orange. Wouldn't you know that recipe is made red for a reason? The cocoa powder overpowered my orange coloring...they ended up being brown velvet. Next year, I'll just leave the cupcakes to the professionals...since there are quite a few around these days.

This was taken right after Koen blew out the candles...he had several helpers as you can imagine. Don't mind the dangling baby in the corner. :)

We spread the gift opening out over the space of three days, letting him have a good couple of hours to enjoy each gift. Our plan was to keep him from getting overwhelmed and it worked like a charm.

From Aunt Jenny, an awesome photograph of the two of them cuddling. It now sits on Koen's dresser and he admires it every day.

Do you think he was thrilled to get these Hot Wheels cars and race track? Ummm....yep.

Aunt Jessy made him the coolest little hemp bracelets with beads of his favorite colors...white, pink and blue. She also made a 'nature necklace' for him. It hangs around his neck and holds the treasures that he finds on our walks...rocks, flowers, beetles, whatever! She even thought to drill holes in it so the bugs can breath. So adorable.

On the evening of Koen's actual birthday we invited Collin and Shandy over for dinner and more celebrating. They helped Koen get his new Lego set started after dinner. Oh, and we had one of Koen's favorite meals...homemade mac 'n cheese with garlic bread, spinach salad and roasted squash!

Boy, was Finn excited to try on Koen's pirate hat, or what?

Koen requested a 'car cake' a few weeks before his birthday...so I knew I had to pull through for him. So for cake #2, I made Martha Stewart's Versatile Vanilla cake (so scrumptious!), decorated with Paula Dean's cream cheese frosting. Yeah, it wasn't a low fat treat. But it turned out pretty cute, huh? Thanks for the help, Mom.

Anyway, the weekend was perfect in so many ways. We were surrounded by loved ones and good friends, the weather was absolutely beautiful, and none of us was sick...amazing!

Koen and I took a little walk one day to try out his nature necklace. He filled it so full he could hardly close the lid! We also found a ladybug the next day and kept him for a short while before setting him free again.

Koen has been wearing this little box ever since. He loves it!

We felt so lucky to have my mom and Danny staying with us for such a beautiful, eventful weekend. They played and snuggled endlessly with the kids. Our time with them went by way too quickly...I wish they could stay for a month!

Grandpa actually got Koen to take a nap (a gigantic feat these days) right here on the living room couch! He truly lives up to his occasional nickname...'The Sandman". He can put any baby or child to sleep...he has a magic touch. (Unless that child is throwing a fit in his car seat, right Danny! :)

We love you guys and hope you can make it up to the Northwest again soon! It meant the world to us to have you here...all to ourselves!

Due to popular demand...and Danny's recent permission...I'm posting our 'Goodnight Gorilla' group picture. Don't my mom and Danny make the BEST zoo keeper and elephant you've ever seen! Danny made that costume all by himself, by the way. Everyone loved it! All night, we kept hearing, "Look at the elephant!" I might commission him to make my costume next year. :)

And Happy Birthday, big boy! Mommy and Daddy love you like CRAZY! You've turned our world around and upside down in the best way possible. You're the coolest, cutest, sweetest three year old we know!