Koen Feeding Tavin

Koen has been in an ultra-helpful mood today. Sometimes the helpfulness is not really helpful in an efficient way, but it's the thought that counts! While I ate lunch, Koen offered to finish feeding Tavin. Check out the video (excuse Doug talking in the background)...so cute!!

Comparison at 11 Months

Any guesses on who's who? I'll reveal the truth tomorrow. The boys are both 11 months in these photos.

A Cold Day for a Parade

We decided to try a family outing two days in a row! We are crazy! We whisked the boys out of the house by a little after 9am to rush downtown to catch as much of the Christmas parade as possible. We did pretty well and were out watching it a little after 9:30am. Koen and Tavin both did really well with the 32 degree temp and the 20 mph wind gusts. =)

The parade was very entertaining for Koen. Tavin basically stayed covered up in the stroller. He did get a little bored with that and so I gave him about 15 minutes exposed to the wind. That was my warmest 15 mins. for sure with his warm little body wrapped to mine in the Moby!

Here are a few shots of some of the different things we saw go by...

We couldn't stay too much longer than an hour, so we walked back to the car. On our way to the parking garage, we decided, why not walk another 5 blocks and visit Aunt Abbie at her weekend job in the Strip District? It worked out to be good timing too because Tavin had fallen asleep and needed the extra sleep time before we woke him up by getting him in the car. Koen was falling apart a little, but the visit and extra time outdoors was totally worth his whining and complaining.

We got home before lunchtime and played with the boys, Doug got a project done and made us lunch. After lunch we played zones and I had Tavin duty and Doug was on Koen duty (while also finishing his house project...impressive!). After Doug laid Koen down he helped me with folding laundry. I left the room for a moment and then came back to find Doug making laundry time a little more interesting with a little helper...

The boys are napping. I'm exhausted today for some reason, so I'm hoping for a low key time of getting things done on the computer this afternoon. We'll see how it goes!

Black Friday? No! ZOO DAY!

Doug and I have never really been into the Black Friday rush. I'm a bargain shopper, but I don't really love shopping, so the whole rush of the Black Friday shopping is definitely not my thing!

We decided to use this day to have some quality family time. After a wild weather night (wind, sleet, rain), it was thankfully a crisp, relatively clear day. The high was only to be about 35, but we decided to bundle up the boys and go to the zoo!

It was such a good decision. Koen was in much better spirits than yesterday (ah, relief!) and Tavin was agreeable as usual. We packed some snacks, hot cocoa and dressed super warm and we were all super comfortable on our walk through the zoo. There was barely anyone there which was perfect. The animals were very active and interesting today.

Tavin did awesome. He just snuggled in his car seat in the stroller and slept through two-thirds of our time there. Here he is before his zoo nap...

Koen loves to get a zoo map and chart the course through the zoo. It's hard to get him started sometimes he is so into his map. I seriously think we could just sit at home with a map and he would be almost as happy as actually getting to go to the zoo.

Probably our favorite animal encounter today was the tiger pacing up and down his habitat. He kept coming close to the glass window. Look at how close he got to us! It was amazing! We were an inch or two away at times. Koen loved it.

We always enjoy the elephants and they were all inside today, so that was fun to see them eating and working with their trainers. Then we went to the monkey house and Koen got to see some of his favorite orangutans.

Koen needed a hot cocoa pit-stop after the gorillas, so we found a nice rock in the sun. Do you see something behind him in the bushes? There were two peacocks hanging out there. Koen and the peaccoks co-existed for about 15 mins. Doesn't Koen look awesome in his hat and sunglasses? Priceless!

We went through the aquarium pretty quickly and came out the other side to see the Polar Bears (one of our favorites!) right near the glass as well. It is so fun to watch them swim, but they were drenched when we got out there, so they must have gotten out just before that, so we missed seeing them swim today). We walked down through the rest of the outdoor sea animals ending at the seals (another family fav) and then Koen enjoyed the slides for a few minutes before we left the zoo.It was a great morning. Exactly what we all needed. Time together, but in the comfort of fresh air and exerted energy! We came home and had lunch and then later got the boys to nap (after some awesome playtime with Aunt Abbie in the playroom - Koen wanted to play Thanksgiving, it was adorable!). Doug got some house stuff done this afternoon and Ab and I did the Christmas decorating (yay!!). Doug and the kids and I went to our neighbors' house for dinner - great company and delicious dinner! It was a fabulous day!

Melder Thanksgiving 2010

Our Thanksgiving started on a high note as Aunt Abbie made us a delicious breakfast...gourmet sweet potato pancakes with cinnamon syrup. Yum!

The boys both loved the pancakes as did Doug & I. Tavin is really enjoying experiencing solid foods. He ate a whole pancake on his own! By the way, it seems that dairy and wheat were not the cause of his allergic reaction the other day. We have yet to try spinach again, but I don't think that is it either. So, that leaves an allergy to amoxycillin. Hmmm...

After breakfast, things went downhill fast. Koen was a basketcase. Absolutely bouncing off the walls. It was sideways raining outside and in the cool 40's, so some outside time to run off energy was out of the question. Thankfully, our gym was open from 10am to 2pm, so Doug took him there for some gym time and then an hour in the pool. It totally did the trick. He came home happy and ready for a nap. He has been napping like a champ lately. 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours each afternoon. He must be going through some type of growth spurt right now as even when he sleeps this much he often still seems tired and gets cranky easily. Thanksgiving Day was no exception.

Here's a glimspe of the look of the table before everyone came (and messed it up, ha!, well, I can be honest, adding people to the tablscape, totally ruins the perfect effect).

The afternoon was low-key. The turkey cooked, friends arrived, we snacked, played with the babies on the floor, the adults played games and watched football. It was a pretty relaxed afternoon (prior to when our boys woke back up, dinner was ready and the chaos could begin).

The bird turned out great. I brined it for 24 hours prior to baking and it was totally worth it. The bird was moist and it produced a ton of flavorful juice for a gravy base. Yum! I think everyone was pleased with it.

Koen's assignment for the meal was to help make the spinach salad. He did a great job and was very excited about the meal (unfortunately he only ended staying at the table for about 10 mins.). It was one of those times as a parent that the teachable moment is totally over-ridden by trying to let your guests enjoy their meal plus trying to cut yourself a break. Koen did well entertaining himself in the living room with toys throughout the rest of the meal though.

Doug did a great job carving the turkey for the meal (he cut thick, juicy steak-type pieces, nice approach babe!). He also totally picked apart the turkey after the meal so that I didn't have to deal with it after laying Tavin down. Thanks, Douglas!

I think our spread was very nice. Simple, not overdone or a grotesque amount of food, but enough options and plenty for everyone. We had turkey, stuffing, gravy, sour cream/cheddar/chive mashed potatoes, cinnamon & cranberry butternut squash bake, spinach salad and a fruit salad.

This was definitely one of those years where I didn't really feel like I got to enjoy the meal as much as I would've liked to, but that was pretty much all due to Koen. I was also suprised that Tavin didn't have much of an appetite, so that kept my hands full too. We did have a lovely time going around the table and sharing what we were thankful for. I'm always overwhelmed and humbled by all I have to be thankful for. Plus, it was absolutely precious that Koen shared as well and he was thankful for Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Abbie and Tavin. It is just so cute how he includes Aunt Abbie as part of our immediate family. Precious!

After the meal, I went upstairs with Tavin. We were soon joined by my friend Kara and her little boy, James. James & Tavin are about a month apart in age. They really enjoyed being up in the playroom where they could freely explore (as opposed to hanging out downstairs with lots of "no's" and boring adults). Koen came up to join us (thankfully with Aunt Abbie in tow to help keep him occupied). Koen got into the storytelling mood again. It was really cute. He totally led us through Kidz Church again and acted out the story of the Tower of Babel and Noah's Ark.

After our playtime we bathed James & Tavin (it was so cute!) and the babies went to bed. Koen was soon in bed as well and we adults got to unwind and play some games (and basically act like kids ourselves) for a few hours. I think between that and the opportunity to reflect on our thanksgiving those were my favorite parts of the day. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tavin's Thomas Crawl

Tavin has taken a liking to Koen's Thomas the Tank Engine. It has one of those make-itself-go functionalities (you wind it up by pulling it backwards and then it steams forward, sorry Dad, I can't think of technical term for this right now!).

The first video shows Tavin pushing the Thomas and crawling along. The other shows him chasing it, that is my favorite! =)

Visit to the Library

It's a chilly, wintry feeling day here today, but I think I just have to have a policy of clear sidewalks, no rain and above freezing temps = we go outside! Tavin got to wear his snowsuit for the first time today. So cute! Just his little sweet face sticking out... (Koen actually took this picture).

The boys both loved the library. It was coming on lunchtime and even Tavin didn't seem to act hungry or worried about getting food. Koen helped me choose books and then he read some (he likes to preview them and make sure they are worthwhile selections!). Tavin mostly played with the toys, crawled around to explore and I read him a few toddler books.

I've been really trying to make an effort lately to read to Tavin individually. He gets a lot of second-hand reading as Koen and I spend a lot of time reading, but I want it to be something special for us too.

The library visit was a must. We were down to about 6 books, now we are back up to 20 or so. We need to refill the stockpile before they were closed for Thanksgiving. Now we are all set!

Koen Can Write!

Albeit an early declaration, technically it is absolutely true!

This morning Koen insisted on writing a card for his nursery school teacher, so I got out the supplies and we had craft time. I was doing dishes or something when he says, "L, L, L" over and over again like he is sounding it out. I look over and see that he is reviewing his own handiwork and "reading" it! I was so excited, he got super excited. It was so cute!
After the "L" I showed him how to do "T" as well. He did that about 20 times and then he proceeded to show me "U" and "V." I am so seriously impressed! I've noticed lately that he's been more interested in pointing out letters (he was super into this a year and a half ago or so when he first learned letters and I've never pushed from there as I know he will just learn in school or when he's ready and wants me to teach him and I don't want him to negatively associate learning with forced "fun" with Mom or something). Anyways, we've been talking more about the sounds of letters. I think they are doing that at school too, but I'm pretty sure they aren't working on writing letters yet. For the past month or two, Koen has also been pretend drawing letters (small squiqqly shapes), so maybe this is just the natural step-by-step development.

Anyways, it is really fun to see your child have major breakthroughs like this one. Our minds just amaze me, it is such a gift to watch one discover and unfold the mysteries of life. I can't wait to see where this "writing" goes!

PS - This afternoon he wanted to continue his craft project. He was drawing for awhile and then starts saying, "G, G, G." Yep, he had drawn a perfect "G"!!! That really impressed me because I feel like G is a lot tougher than L, T, U or V. He absolutely adores his nursery school teacher, "Mrs. G." so I'm sure that was some motivation for that capability discovery.

So Gross!

So, tonight I had to lay the boys down myself. I've been spoiled the last few weeks as Doug has been around in the evenings more than usual, so it's been a few days since I've had to do this. Anyways, the plan is always that they bathe together, then I get them in their pajamas and then I let Koen watch a quick recorded show while Tavin eats and I lay him down. The plan was going according to plan through bathtime. Koen gets out of the bath first and I dry him off, then I reach in and grab Tavin. Then Koen usually runs up in his bathrobe to his room and starts picking out pajamas. So, tonight, this is going as usual when Koen runs back downstairs saying he has the urge to go, so I get out of his way and then we have to wipe and everything. He said that that was all and he was all set and didn't need to sit and go anymore, so we headed upstairs to put on pajamas. I'm in the middle of getting Tavin dressed up on his changing table and Koen runs in (in his birthday suit) and says, "Oh Mommy, you were right, I do need to go more." So, I quickly say, "Ok, buddy, go, run, get it all out this time. Good job telling me." Then he adds, "Mommy, there is a little bit on the floor in my room." ugh!!!!

So, Tavin is on the changing table, almost dressed, so I finish that. Koen calls up to let me know he can't get the light on in the bathroom, so I finish zipping Tavin up, put him in the babyproof, safe playroom (but the door is open adjoining to Koen's room), lock the gate and run down to the bathroom to assist Koen. Again we have to do the whole wiping thing and as I'm finishing that I remember...does anyone else see where this is going????

That's right. I forgot to clean up (or even look for) what Koen had told me had dropped on the floor and Tavin is up in that area on the floor. So, I get up to the playroom as fast as I can, but it is sadly way too late. Tavin has just thrown it (thankfully, a small piece, but that didn't matter, it did damage anyways) back to the floor. Then he starts to crawl. It's on his hands, it's on his leg. So, I run to get a wipe and clean his hands, I strip him of the just recently fresh, clean sleeper. I let him go back to playing and I scoop up the piece and run all that yucky stuff down to the trash and grab a rag to clean the floor. Well, Tavin did some good running around in the short time he had been left alone with the stuff and so there was quite a bit to clean up. I got it under control (Koen is still running around in his birthday suit, which doesn't bother him and he has found a measuring tape to play with and is randomly measuring everything...sure, isn't that a normal pasttime in circumstances like these?), but I still smelled it somewhere. I checked my hands, knees, socks, Koen's feet, looked over Tavin's knees and hands again. I gave up for the time being and put Koen in his pajamas. Then I scooped Tavin up to put him in a fresh sleeper. Ah ha, I found it, the culprit of the lingering smell...a smeer across his face. That is right, my sweet baby boy ate his big brother's p**p! This is a story to remind them of when they are in their teens or twenties when they need a good slice of humble pie for sure.

So, I'm totally bracing myself for whatever might come tonight. I have no idea if he really ate some, or if he just almost did and realized it was gross. We'll see what tonight brings. If he's allergic to something edible or a medicine, I'm guessing this won't agree with him either. Ugh!!!!

Allergic Reaction

Poor Tavin just can't catch a break! Today during lunch he was absolutely loving some whole wheat mac & cheese with chopped spinach (prior to that he had had some baby food and afterwards he chased it all with some baby food apples & apricots). Then, I noticed that his eye was red. When I looked back to give him his next bite, I noticed he had white bumps with red inflammation around them all around his lips. Then he got a few spots on his ear, some on his cheek and then across his nose. He kept rubbing his eye which made that get quite puffy and irritated looking. So, I figured we had an allergic reaction on our hands. I called the nurse line at our pediatrician and she said that based on my description that it could be an allergic reaction to the food, but it also could be a reaction to the amoxycillin that Tavin was on last week (we finished the medicine on Saturday). What's tough to figure out is what was it? All of the food he had at lunch he had had before more than once. He's been exposed to amoxycillin before too. The nurse recommended getting some Benadryl, so I piled the boys in the double stroller and we speed-walked to Rite-Aid. Unfortunately, Koen really needed a nap, so this was really pushing it, but he survived the trip pretty well and I had him laid down by 2:30pm. Tavin took the medicine well thankfully and seemed OK afterwards. I gave him 30 mins. playtime to watch him before nap and now he's sleeping soundly. Hopefully this was a huge fluke. I'm so nervous he's allergic to some major food group that we rely on in our diet and I just don't know what that would be like to deal with. I'm praying it was a one-time problem. I'll keep you posted! Here is the only picture I could grab of Tavin (he moves way too much!) to try and show his allergic reaction, but this was after it had already started subsiding and it is over-exposed. You can see a puff under his right eye and that his eye is red. There are a couple of other splotches. It was much worse during lunch, he looked like I had painted him!

Playground Picnic in Late November!

We have had some balmy November weather here in the Burgh lately. Today we fully took advantage of it. Koen and Doug went out this morning to get our Thanksgiving grocery shopping done and when Tavin woke up from his nap and they got home we headed out with our picnic lunch to Frick Park ("Blue Slide Park") for some playtime. At this playground there is a long and steep cement blue slide that kids slide down on cardboard. Doug actually brought a box for Koen to ride down in. He loved it! Unfortunately, I didn't get the photo opp as I was playing with Tavin on the little playground. He really enjoyed sliding down the baby slide and crawling up a tunnel. After our picnic lunch, I played with Koen for awhile. He was really in an imaginative mood. Part of the playground was his submarine and we went to Antarctica, Australia and Egypt. He provided "traveling music" as he called it. He made up a song that actually rhymed! At each submarine stop, we jumped down the playground and went in search of a key that would take the submarine to the next destination. I was so impressed by his creative little mind. We had a lot of fun. I love that about being a mom, sometimes you get to enjoy with your kids, the pure joy of being a kid.

Koen's imagination play continued onto another part of the playground where he used this "boingy" thing as a spaceship to go to the moon. I got to go on one expedition and he took Daddy on the next one.
Tavin also enjoyed sliding with me (despite the fact the slide was only about as long as me, so it took about a second to get down it).

Of course, Douglas had to make the day extra special with a surprise stop for frozen yogurt on the way home. I can't say that I complained. It was a nice treat and such a great day for it with temps in the upper 60's!
The rest of the day was pretty normal, but I did squeeze in a walk with Tavin after his nap and then I got to take a walk again after Tavin's bedtime with Abbie to run some errands in the neighborhood. Perfect! I love fresh air! I really hope this isn't the last of this mild weather, but if it is, I'll take it. A great day outdoors!

Family Sunday

Doug was supposed to have today off for vacation, but the Pastor who was going to cover him at church got sick, so he had to go in for the morning. It turned out fine, we just adjusted our expectations and our plans and it worked out great.


Before church, Koen and Tavin and I played in the playroom. Koen got this idea in his head that he wanted to be Santa today. He picked out red socks, a red shirt and a red sweater. Then he wanted a beard. He tried to accomplish this by holding a piece of paper in his mouth, but that deteriorated and was really gross, so I encouraged a craft project opportunity. =) We cut a hole in a piece of paper and glued cotton balls on it. It was a huge success! After he was fully dressed up as Santa he wanted to bring us gifts. He wrapped things up in wipes at first. I quickly addressed that and suggested that he could use blankets as wrapping paper. He even got Tavin some gifts. Super cute!
Koen and Tavin and I rode with Aunt Abbie to church. I haven't really gotten any pictures of Ab and the boys, but let me just say that we are having a lot of fun having Aunt Abbie as a houseguest. Anyways, we all went to church together and then Aunt Abbie had her own plans and we then got to meet up for lunch with Uncle Nate and Aunt Megan and their new little baby Alex! I'm so mad at myself that I didn't get a picture of Alex or a picture of my boys with him, but we have plenty of days, months and years of life together ahead to make up for it, I'm sure. =)

This afternoon the boys took awesome, long naps. Before Tavin went down for his, I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of us. His eyes were so blue matching his baby blue shirt. So cute!

Doug and I both got some fresh air and chores done during the boys' naps. Then Doug got Koen up and took him out to wash and vacuum the car (this chore has been needed to be done for a year (literally, I remember asking Doug to do it before Tavin was born)). The boys had a blast getting it done.

Koen put the quarters in and then got right to work vacuuming. Doug said he was really good at it!

Koen came home super hungry and chowed down on his meal. He and Tavin had their baths and went to bed. Doug and I then took advantage of the treat that Aunt Abbie was at the house and we ran out for a quick dinner date. Ah, a perfect end to a nice family day.

My Little Storyteller

Tonight Koen, Tavin and Doug and I spent some time playing in the playroom. Tavin was still in a snuggly, tired mood, so he basically just stayed cuddled close to me. Koen, on the other hand, was full of energy. It was nice though, it wasn't crazy silly energy, just happy, playful energy. Tonight he honed that energy into storytelling. First, he started out by performing a "musical" where he made up songs and danced around, tonight he also accomponied himself with the xylophone. Thankfully, he moved on to telling stories (I like the musicals, but it is definitely quite loud). He basically copied the way that they tell the Bible stories at Kidz Church. He grabbed his Bible story book, he asked Doug to get up on the "stage" and help him act out the story. He told the story of Jonah and Doug acted it out. Absolutely adorable. Doug was an amazing sport and pretended to be the whale or fish of the story. Tavin actually crawled towards him at the perfect time when Koen said, "and the whale swallowed Jonah," so Doug reached out and grabbed Tavin, Koen loved it. Later, we told the story of Noah. This time, I read the story, Koen and Doug acted it out. Doug was the ark. Koen was Noah. Koen pretended to build Daddy, "the ark," with his wooden tool set. Then when they finished that, Koen moved his plastic zoo animals onto the ark. He was so slow with this process, I had to just proceed on with the story and make the rain happen to keep it moving. Koen enjoyed "the ark rocked this way and that way." Doug swung him around on the floor. Doug totally acted out the dove scene too. Hmmm, I wonder where Koen gets his dramatic flair? After we finished Jonah and Noah, Koen asked us if we wanted to do storytime. Sure, why not? So, he told Tavin and I to sit in the chair and he covered us with a blanket. Tavin, of course, loved this and just snuggled some more. He told Doug to lay on his bed and covered him with another blanket (which for some reason, Tavin thought was hilarious). Then Koen got on his rocking horse and opened his Bible story book and started to tell another story (which eventually just turned into Jonah, because that is his absolutely favorite story right now (thank you, VeggieTales)). It was so, so cute. He asked Doug to get up and stand and act out different parts of the story. He was totally into it, acting like a little Sunday School teacher. He would say, "Daddy, can you please stand up now" or whatever the motion was he was very polite, but also expected cooperation. =)

I was really hoping to get across the precious-ness of this special part of our evening, but I feel like it can't be explained. I would have loved to have taken a video, but there are moments like these when I don't want him to feel like he is acting for a camera or an audience. The pure joyous play just for the sake of play is the best. So tonight, I would have loved to have shared it with all of you, but the live show was just for us.

Tired Blanket Boy

So, I was hoping to get a crawling video today, but Tavin was pretty tuckered out. He crawls and then attacks (this is how he snuggles with) a blanket. This isn't even his nighttime/naptime blanket. He basically does this with all blankets. It is so, so cute. We love this attribute about him. Such a snuggler. I will try to get a crawling video another time, but for now enjoy my "snuggle bug."

Saturday Morning Boys

Tavin blessed me with a sleep-in this morning (between the sickness and the time change, he's been waking up closer to 7am then 8am, his normal time). He didn't make a peep until a little before 8am and he was actually happy, cooing and talking, so cute! Anyways, that was a nice start to my day. Doug actually got up a little early with Koen, around 7:30am or so. Koen was hungry, so they made eggs and then watched a little Handy Manny show (classic Douglas, I always get a little bummed out when he resorts to DVD as a time-filler when I try so hard not to use them that frequently, but hey, it's Saturday, I guess I'll let it slide).

Tavin is a crawling master now. He is fast! I will have to get another video up on the blog soon. His little wiggle pattern across the hardwood floors, is just to die for. He is getting really good at scooting Koen's cars and trucks around on the floor and following them - such a boy!! Here are a few pictures of his adorable face as he crawled towards the camera.

Koen had a second breakfast (3 bowls of cereal) before he and Doug got ready to go on their errands to Home Depot, Staples, a brunch at a friend's house and then they will meet us for lunch later (blog posts later I'm sure). Here's a sweet kiss between Koen & Tavin during Koen's 2nd breakfast (boys eat so, so much!).