Koen's Garden

Watch out, Uncle Paki, Koen is perfecting his green thumb. The other day at preschool, we planted seeds in paper cups. It went like this:

1. Koen scooped dirt into the cup, barely one inch deep.
2. He then grabbed a massive handful of random seeds and dropped them into the cup.
3. More dirt.
4. The entire cup was dumped out by another kid.
5. Scooped it all back in.
6. Lastly, Koen completely drown the poor things with water (we basically took home a cup full of runny mud).

Needless to say, my expectations for success were low. So I was pleasantly surprised when one little sprout poked it's head up a couple of days later. Then another, then another....until I went from pleasantly surprised to concerned. Soon the paper cup was bursting with life. Now I not only felt the need to keep these precious little plants alive and well, they needed to be identified (something I had failed to do in class that day).

After some internet searches and conversations with other preschool parents, we've decided that we have one pumpkin plant, one sunflower plant, and about eight pea plants. They're all sharing the new pot, but that will soon have to change. These guys are super happy in our bright breakfast nook and are growing so fast, you can practically see it with the naked eye!

My favorite part about this new adventure is Koen's shear excitement. Each morning when he comes in for breakfast, he checks on his plants. And each morning I hear him yell, "Whoa! Mom! They're biggehr!" (Koen pronounces his 'r' like 'ehr')

Other updates....

Koen's new favorite thing is to play a quick game of 'Memory' with Clay right before bedtime. He calls it 'Remembery'. We don't correct him. :) He also loves to give us back rubs and hand massages while we lay in his bed with him at night. I know, I know, he's the one who needs to be going to sleep, but it's so hard to resist his offer. We hope this trend continues!

Finn took his very first wagon ride this week. He felt so big. Koen was thrilled for the event, too. He's been waiting patiently for his little brother to grow up so they can play together. This was a big step in the right direction.

Now that Finn has found his legs (or knees, I should say), he has wasted no time in covering every square inch of our house over the past 24 hours. He has obviously spent the past 11 months taking mental inventory of all the interesting things that were just beyond his reach.

"GAME...ON!"

Plants..........................check

Fireplace....................check

Under the bed...........check

Magazine rack...........check

Kitchen cupboards....check

It might be time to invest in that whole baby gate thing.

Peek-a-boo

Finn's latest game.

It's terribly endearing and he makes every effort to engage all of us. My only complaint is that he usually wants to play while he's eating, which adds about 15-20 minutes to the time it takes to feed him, and makes a huge mess.

We also have some big news to report! At the age of almost 11 months, Finn crawled roughly four feet in a forward direction this morning! Yay (I think?)!

Other random updates:

• Both kids have colds. :)
• Finn is cutting tooth #5 & #6.
• And for those of you dying to know...Koen is successfully using the toilet at all times now! (Granted it has taken dozens of lollipops to get to this point, and I'm having nightmares about his teeth rotting in his head. Are we trading in diapers for cavities? Yikes!)

Snowbird

Clay went snowboarding this weekend. Koen was very excited when he saw his Dad's gear all set out by the door Saturday morning. As any curious kid would, he pulled everything apart, inspecting it and trying it all on. It was so sad though, when he realized that he wasn't going with Dad. Koen watched longingly out the window while Clay loaded up the car. He was very concerned that Daddy might forget his sunglasses. We sat in the breakfast nook eating our cereal and Koen was quite melancholy. Every once in a while he'd return to staring out the window, saying, "Wish I could go snowbirding with daddy."

Even an hour or two after Clay had left, Koen came to me and said, "I wonder if Daddy's on the mountain right now?" He truly thought about it all day long, talking about 'someday, when he's bigger (or daddy's smaller...whichever comes first), they can go snowbirding together'. So sweet.

When Clay returned that evening, he had a cold surprise for the boys...snowballs! Koen smiled and laughed a little, but was more concerned about how Clay was going to get these snowballs back to the mountains? Finn wasn't so impressed. He held some snow for about 4 seconds, then started to cry.

Both kids were equally enthusiastic about donning Daddy's gear, however. Truth be told, Koen didn't take these goggles off for the rest of the night. He wore them on our daily walk, and even wanted to wear them to preschool this morning. While on our walk, he looked up at me and said, "I look good in these goggles!" And upon our return home, he said, "That was a hot journey!" (Huh?) "Do you mean a hard journey?" I asked. "No! My goggles made me hot on our journey!" Funny kid.

Here are just a few other random shots to share from our week.

This kid means business.

Batting practice isn't for sissies!

The trouble with learning to crawl, is that you usually start out going backwards. The only problem with this is that you always get farther from the object that you most desire, and you usually end up in the corner of the room, helplessly under a chair.

Koen's new favorite task is giving Finn his nightly bottle.

He's a very caring and loving big brother. Please let this last forever!

Nothin' but a Finn Fix

Just a little video of a babbling baby for you to enjoy. He's new at this whole 'standing up in the crib' thing. You might notice that he gets a little grumpy toward the end. This is because he's ready to sit down now, but hasn't yet figured out how. Oh the challenges of being new at EVERYTHING!! Gotta love him.

(Notice the increasing tufts of blond hair, and two new top teeth!)

Victory!

Let's just say, our day has been filled with clapping, dancing, cheering, high-fives and hugs. This day has been so long in the waiting! And without divulging the dirty details, I can happily say that Koen has survived one full day of successful potty training! He has been uber-enthusiastic about it since he woke up, and by 6 o'clock this evening Clay and I were nearly completely hands off with the process.

Koen has taken the bull by the horns. Way to go, buddy! We celebrated by going out for ice cream tonight...his choice.

I can't wait to put this giant hurdle behind us...diapers and all!

F is for Finn

More bath pictures...but note Finn's very first mohawk. He knows he looks good, and he's trying so hard to hide his smile.

That's one thing we are learning about Finn as his personality develops. He may be smiling or amused on the inside, but he's not going to give it away quickly. This kid has a dynamite poker face.

But the main reason I grabbed the camera to capture this moment? Everywhere we go lately, Koen is on the hunt for letters...on billboards, on passing trucks, on cereal boxes, etc. He always spots the letters 'D' and 'F', and shouts, "Mommy, look! D for Daddy!" or "F for Finn!" For some reason, he never looks for a 'K for Koen' or an 'M for Mommy'.

Their bath toys made me think of this.