Yucky Days for the Melders

I hate stomach bugs! Last night Tavin started with it before bedtime. He seemed to rebound very well and initially went to bed fine. Here are a few sweet pics after bedtime (we took them to send to Daddy at work so that he would know we were hanging in there fine).

Unfortunately, Tavin woke up sick again a little before 9pm. I bathed him again, changed his bed and laid him down again a little while later. And then he woke up sick again only about 15 minutes after that. So at that point, I decided to keep him up. The poor thing was sick over and over again for hours. We just snuggled until Daddy got home and then Daddy snuggled while I did laundry and finally ate some dinner (although my appetite was pretty shot!).

Today Tavin has been very sad and sweet and so tired (and must be so hungry, but is still not that interested in food). After an early morning wake-up and then early nap, we tried to head to do a grocery errand, but on our way Koen got super sick in the car. Poor thing! I had no idea it was coming. He was totally fine this morning.

Doug came home from work (and he feels like he might be getting it!), but that enabled me to do more laundry, get Koen cleaned up and set up in front of the TV for some downtime and then I spent an hour and a half cleaning the car and Koen's car seat.

The boys are both sleeping now. Hopefully they will be feeling better when they wake up. And hopefully Doug and I won't get this yucky bug!

Koen Nap Update

So, thankfully, it looks like the abrupt end to the afternoon nap might have been just a taste of what to come. Most of the last few days Koen has taken a champion nap. Most afternoons it is at least an hour and a half, but sometimes 2 or more. Today he's been asleep since 2:30pm (it's 5pm now). I thought I heard him waking up about a half hour ago, but I guess not, it's still quiet. Two days ago he played for the first hour of his nap and then must have gotten tired because he turned his light off and put himself to bed amidst quite a mess in his room. I had to wake him up that day at like 5:20pm. Anyways, it seems to differ every day, but I've been encouraged that when he really needs a nap or after a few days of not great naptimes, he can still calm down and sleep. I have been putting him down later, not necessarily to tire him out more (I'm really OK if the afternoon nap goes away, it's more the how to deal with it that is the problem), but I've been keeping him up so that he doesn't have as much time to kill in his room. I think it is helping although most days he's slept the majority of his naptime/resttime anyways.

Thank you so much to those mommy friends of mine that have been such a help and encouragement in this new phase! The ideas are so helpful and I'm sure I will be updating you more as this new phase develops and we have to practice what to do on no-nap days.

Koen & His Trains

The trains continue to be such a great preoccupation for Koen. He loves it when Doug plays with him. Doug is great at making up little stories and then Koen just runs away with them. It's obvious that Koen gets his imagination from his parents. =)

In this first video, note the hilarious shoes Koen has on. He calls these his "other slippers." They are cute shoes that Doug got him in Nicaragua last summer, but they are a few sizes to big. Plus, they are super heavy. He loves them though!

2nd video, is just more train talk...

Video of Koen & Tavin

This is such a funny video. Although it was really hilarious in person. We were trying to get out of the church yesterday and all the sudden we looked around and said, "where's Koen and Tavin?" Then of course we heard giggling and "Ah, Dah!" Koen and Tavin had a blast going around the room together like this. They were both smiling and laughing. It's so fun when they play together like this. Just a sign of the sillyness to come!

Tavin Making Friends

We had an all morning meeting at the North Way campus in Wexford today. We brought the boys up with us (they love taking advantage of the awesome kids space up there!). Tavin hung out with us for his meals. Partially because he's still getting used to long stints in the nursery, but also because I love having my baby around to show off a little bit. =) He ate breakfast in there with Baby Michael chilling out behind him (Uncle Sean & Aunt Jen's 5 and 1/2 week old!). At lunch, Benjamin (8 mos.), the son of some dear friends of ours from college and the church, hung out to check out Tavin's eating skills (well really he just stuffs his face, but it's cute!).

Both the boys did awesome in the childcare. Koen told me, "it was just like preschool, just longer" to sum it up. The caregivers said that when they had a snack in the morning, the kids were all at a big table eating and Koen says, "is everyone enjoying their fruit?" Hilarious! Tavin did great too. He enjoyed exploring the super fun space and then he even took a nap. It took him awhile to settle down. I eventually came in and laid him down with his blanket and he just wiped out. I had to wake him up to feed him lunch. It amazed me. He fell asleep in a partially lit room with a squeeling friend (Benjamin again) and with caregivers chatting. Unbelievable. It was late for his nap and he was exhausted from the early wake-up to get up there by 8am, but still, I was quite impressed he could turn it all off and give himself a break. What a trooper!

Finally, our ride home was so much fun. Koen entertained us with "Lopey the Clown," Tavin surprised us with conversational "ah-Dah's!" Doug and I were having so much fun we wished we could just stay in the car and go on a family vacation somewhere. We are so blessed by these sweet, joyous boys!

Pins & Needles

Well, I had to post about Koen's naptime. I didn't know what today would bring.

Last night I felt like I had to go into today with a plan to try and arrest some of the bad behaviors that were starting to unfold during this free play/downtime that Koen's afternoon nap was turning into rather abruptly. (By the way, didn't get to mention that at the end of naptime yesterday without warning, Koen wet himself and then called to me on the monitor to tell him what he had done...I was so defeated! We haven't had that happen in months!).

So, Doug and I discussed the situation, the patterns developing, the possibilities of what we could do, etc. We decided that I would wait to put Koen down for nap until right before Tavin's afternoon naptime. That leaves less time for him to be up there causing potential trouble (it's so frustrating, because some of the days when he hasn't napped he plays so well and other days he just destroys his room and tests all boundaries that exist in his room). The other thing we talked about was telling him not to turn his lamp on and that I would tell him that I would come up 45 mins. after he laid down to turn on his lamp and let him play (of course I wouldn't come up if he was asleep and quiet). This runs the risk of rebellion, but so does everything that I tell him to do throughout the day. It negates the issues though of him not understanding the time I tell him on the clock and then having to go up and reprimand him until he gets it right. I just feel he's a little young to totally understand timing like, "3;30" or "3:45." I do think though it might be tough for me to come in the room and then leave again, I'm guessing he will complain the first few times and want to come downstairs, but I do think he'll get over it and be OK and then I also think that eventually he would get used to that routine. Those two new approaches were all that we could come up with at the time, so that was my plan for today.

So, anyways, today... When we were leaving the museum he was really, really tired. It was starting to show that he hadn't napped in a few days. Then he actually told me he was going to take a long nap today (in the past he is actually quite accurate with these statements!). The whole drive home I was thinking over what I should do with the nap based on his tiredness and on our "great plan" from the night before. I decided to still keep him up until about the time of Tavin's nap. He ended up laying down a little after 2:30pm. He kept getting all wound up, so I was really afraid he wouldn't stay in bed, but he did as I left the room. I then went into Tav's room to lay him down. I figured that I would come out and hear Koen across the hall talking or possibly even see his light on, but neither was the case. I carefully tiptoed past his room and have been on pins and needles ever since (hence the very clever title of this post...ha!).

He has been quiet so far (it's now 4pm). I actually hope he doesn't sleep too long, but I'm so thrilled to see that he really needed a nap and he was able to still take one. I guess that this is going to be a day to day progression of dropping the afternoon nap. It's nerve-racking trying to read his signals and make the best arrangement to encourage rest if he needs it, but I'm going to keep trying. This afternoon is much less stressful than yesterday: not listening to him thrashing around, fearing he will wake up Tavin or need me to go up there to tell him what to do and not to do all afternoon was draining!

Thanks for the thoughts, prayers and help in the past few days regarding the new no nap routine we seem to be starting. I appreciate that I'm not the first mom that has ever gone through this. I have a lot to learn!

Morning At The Children's Museum

Today our playgroup got together at the Children's Museum. It was nice to see our friends again as playgroup has gotten far and few between with the winter weather. The Children's Museum is always a blast and is becoming one of my favorite wintertime spots to do something outside the house with the kids. Tavin was a champ yet again and totally got himself to sleep in the stroller for a brief nap which allowed us to stay there through lunchtime.

Here are the pictures from our morning...

Tavin and his friend Addison "played together" on the baby floor. Tavin is so much more independent than Koen was at this age. Tavin (as long as he's not overtired) will get down on the floor and just go and explore on his own and doesn't seem to get scared when I'm not right next to him.

Koen was a very kind big brother and was understanding that I wanted to go to the Baby Floor at the museum first so that Tavin could have some time to crawl around before he napped in the stroller. And I am so thankful that the museum people had the foresight to put some older toddler toys like these great trains in this area so that older siblings of the babies also have something to do on that floor.

Koen, Kaiser and Tavin all enjoyed the musical ball ramp seen here. It's a simple apparatus, but it gets the attention of just about every kid up there. Tavin totally figured it out this time and really enjoyed sending balls down the ramps to ring the bells.

Again, Koen was a sweet big brother and rode the see-saw with Tavin. It is also on the Baby Floor and it is a fun simple machine too which produces bubbles up through the water wall as the kids pump up and down on the see-saw seats. Tavin loves it (I don't know if it's the bubbles or looking at his brother, he's a big fan of his brother!).
Here's the little plumber again. He really enjoys the water floor and entertained himself quite well here while Tavin napped and I could catch up with some other moms. I love this floor. So different from anything we can do at home.

A great morning! So fun to be out somewhere different! I'm thankful for outings!

Slow Down Tavin!

Doug took this hilarious video this morning. Koen was a little later than usual to get off to school this morning due to some business he had to take care of in the bathroom. It was so funny because I kept checking at the door and asking him if he was done and he would say, "no, Mommy, I need a little more time to work on it." So I was busy helping Koen and Doug was in the kitchen with Tavin while he finished up his breakfast. He took this video of him just inhaling his French Toast!

Goodbye Afternoon Nap?

I think that we are finally bidding goodbye to my dear friend, "Koen's afternoon nap." I can't complain. Koen had a rough time learning to nap as an infant, but since 6 months, he's been a dream napper. At 16 months he went from two naps a day to one longer afternoon nap. That nap has fluctuated in length based on his physical (and probably mental and emotional) developmental needs at each different stage. As recent as just two weeks ago he was napping 2-3 hours each afternoon consistently. But in the last few days he hasn't fallen asleep. At Christmas we put a lamp in his room so that he could turn a light on to read or play trains, which I think is good for him to have some downtime playing on his own if he's not going to nap. I don't think the lamp encouraged this new no nap phase to happen and I'm glad it's in there so that he can entertain himself rather than whine for me (which is what he used to do sometimes if he couldn't fall asleep or if he woke up early). I think it is probably naive to think that each afternoon he will entertain himself for 3 hours though. I should probably think of not putting him into his room until Tavin is about to lay down for nap closer to 3pm. Then he would have just 2 hours until 5pm (our standard "wake up" time from afternoon nap). It's hard to give up this little bit of me time I get (especially since this is when I get much of the work done for my job which I do from home just in any downtime I can catch). So, the coming days and weeks will probably be an experiment in what will work. Clearly we have some rules to set. I would prefer if he gave his body a chance to rest and left his light off for the first half hour or so, but how do you explain that to a 3 year old? Then, how do you explain a normal decibel level for play (especially when this kid comes with a naturally intense volume level in normal conversation)? Today he totally went over the line and banged on his door on purpose, so we've now set the rule about that. And yes, little brother was woken up (so, so frustrating!). So, not only are we in the midst of behavior issues, but now we have this to deal with! Oh, the exciting adventures of Mommyhood!

Overdue Rant About My 3 Year Old

So, Koen has not been easy lately. I'm so tired, emotionally and physically, from what seems like a constant battle. It's so frustrating. He isn't a terrible child. He's a blast. A huge vocabulary, so conversational, very sensitive and sweet. But he is 3, strong-willed and smart (and unfortunately, like the rest of us, he's human). I just don't know what else to do. Doug and I have read and appreciate the precepts of "Shepherding a Child's Heart" and basically follow that thinking for our discipline approach and I'm working through some Dobson books about discipline. I'm guessing though that we just have to keep being consistent, loving, but firm and wait and wait and wait for it to finally pay off. I'm not sure I can wait for years though. I'm exhausted. I just want my sweet Koen all the time, not this challenging and difficult little guy that I just don't know what to do about sometimes.

It scares me to because we are constantly working on "listening and obeying." Well, what happens when we don't make progress on the little things around the house? Today I took the boys to the library and I had Tavin, books to return and the diaper bag in my arms, so I didn't have a hand to hold Koen's hand. We had to walk through the busy parking lot "next to each other." Well, his definition of "close to Mommy" was different than mine. I asked him several times to walk close to me and he just drags his feet, and goes his own way. It's so frustrating! I felt helpfless! What do you do? This is a safety issue. All our hard work at home is for moments like these and I don't think that we are getting through to him. If we aren't successful in the small stuff, why would he listen about the big stuff? I'm just praying that under it all the real message is getting through and eventually he won't care to do everything opposite of what I ask.

Can't Koen and I just sit in a chair and snuggle and read all day until he is of an age where we don't have to deal with this 3 year old drama? (yeah, I know if I don't put the time in now it will be worse later). Thanks for listening to my little rant. I've been leaving this stuff off the blog as I hate to bog it down with negatives, but I think it was about time to get a little venting off my chest as well as bookmark it for years to come when I look back and read through old posts. Hopefully I'll be looking back from a point where Koen has grown up and developed through this frustrating process and with God's grace becomes an amazing boy, young man and then adult one day!

Just to pick this up from depressing, I'm including a funny video from Koen pretending to be "Lopey the Clown." He totally made up this little bit of play himself after watching something on Handy Manny. It's so funny. Throughout the day occassionally he'll just turn into Lopey the Clown. He says, "I'm not Koen anymore, I'm Lopey the Clown!" and the fun begins!

Skinny Yellow Sleeper

Oh my goodness, I had to post these pics and videos on the blog. Tavin is so, so adorable in this sweet and simple little yellow thermal one-piece sleeper. Koen used it too and I always loved it on him as well. Here's a picture of Koen in the sleeper at 13 months...
And here's Tavin from this morning, just being himself (which is helplessly adorable in my opinion)!

Keeping Busy, Part II

So today we headed to Kyndal's house for some play with Kaiser and Porter. It was a great time for all of us. Kyndal and I could talk for hours. Kaiser and Koen have the exact same interests (trucks, cars, Legos, Thomas trains, tractors, helicopters, etc.). Tavin and Porter, well, they nap and eat. =)

Here are the few pictures I got. The boys were so busy and there were 4 of them that I forgot to get my camera out more.

We had a blast, Kyndal. Thanks so much for hosting us! It was a wonderful Saturday morning and helped us speed through this time of Doug being away.

Keeping Busy

Doug is out of town for a few days, so we have booked our mornings to keep things interesting around here. Koen seems to do better discipline-wise when there is enough to keep him occupied, so that's my plan while I am without parent backup! For today, we invited our neighbors over for a playdate this morning. First we had a nice breakfast and then some playtime in the playroom. Here's my crazy hungry breakfast eaters...

And now a cute video of the boys being very much themselves in the playroom...

Hilary, Delia and Huck came over right after I laid Tavin down. We sent Koen and Delia out in the backyard for some fresh air. We got about 6 inches of snow last night, so it was nice they had some fresh powder to play in. It was super cold though, about 17 with windchill making it feel like 0!

They hung out for about 20 minutes. Then they had some hot cocoa, did a craft project and then we headed upstairs where it's more baby friendly for Tavin and Huck. They actually had fun playing together and watching each other this time. So adorable! Huck is already walking, so that was amazing to see. I can't even picture Tavin doing it. I kind of don't want it to happen. I feel like he is growing up way too fast as it is!

After our wonderful visit with Hilary, D and Huck we had lunch and then I took the boys out on a brief walk in the neighborhoods on the sleds.

Koen dragged his sled for awhile, but on the way home he needed me to pull him home. It's amazing to me how the boys put up with the cold. Koen even played out in the backyard after we got home. Tavin I had to bring inside because I felt so bad having his sweet baby face exposed to the wind too long.

So, so far, so good. It was a really nice day with the boys. Sunshine, fresh snow, sweet boys (well, when Koen is on good behavior, which I have to say he's doing quite well today). Tavin and I had a fun time before his nap. Here are a few cute pictures and a video.

Symphony Date With Koen

Yesterday Koen and I got to go to the Tiny Tots Concert at Heinz Hall by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. It was so great! Today's theme was, "The Tortoise and The Hare." The orchestra does such a wonderful job of welcoming these loud and busy young ones into such a beautiful hall for a real concert. They play amazing classical music to narrate and accompany the story. Yesterday they did various pieces with different tempos, either fast or slow, to encourage the costumed actors in the race. The actors also did a great job and Koen was so engaged in the whole program. I love having him exposed to these opportunities! We had the treat of getting to sit next to Krissy and Jonathan and Faith, good friends of ours that we rarely get to see. Also, we were able to see another neighborhood friend that we haven't bumped into in a year! So all around it was a great experience at the event. Also, Koen and I enjoyed our voyage on the city bus to get there. It's so fun that we live right on a bus route, so it makes it super easy to use the city transit to get downtown (and totally makes this free event really worth it as bus fare is so much cheaper than driving and parking downtown!). Here's Koen waiting for the bus. He said to me, "Hey Mommy, I have an idea, how about while we wait for the bus to come, we sing a song!" Just then a girl walked by on her way to work and totally started cracking up. I love my vivacious 3 year old! So, yes, we did sing. Koen also made dirty snowballs with the nasty snow left on our front lawn and threw them at the telephone pole. The bus came and he ran to the middle of it and says very loudly, "Oh Mommy, I found the PERFECT seat!" All the women on the bus just started cracking up. Again, you gotta love the little things in life! Our wait for the bus on the way home was such a great contrast to the waits previously when he was younger. This time he stood the majority of the time, right by me (next to the building because it was kind of spitting rain and we were able to hide under the awning), but he didn't try to run away or explore. He knew our job was to wait for the bus and that we did. It was a little late and he was very patient. I let him pull the cord to request our stop on the way home. He loved it! It was a lovely little 2 hour outing. Such a blessing to have a little time just the two of us. Koen was on good behavior (such a contrast to some of the discipline issues we've been having lately at home with him). It makes me wonder if Tavin really is quite a strain on him with wanting my attention, etc. I don't know, either way, we just both really loved our time together on a morning date.

The PSO doesn't allow children under 3 to attend the concerts any longer (apparently it was always in the fine print, but I totally didn't realize it. I've been taking Koen since he was 18 months old!). So, Tavin wasn't able to join us. I would have loved to take him, but I do think it was much easier and smoother to not have to bring him along. So, my dear friend, Kyndal, who has two little boys of her own, Kaiser (2 yrs.) and Porter (3 mos.) came over to hang out with Tavin. Thankfully he slept most of the time she was here so she didn't have to juggle 3 boys under 3, but she handled it all great anyways of course! Tavin did really well playing with Kaiser and vice versa. So, it was nice that Tavin got to have a special time too. Kyndal, thank you so much for giving up your morning to make my date with Koen possible! It was such a blessing to me! Here's a few pictures of Tavin enjoying his special Kaiser playdate...

Kyndal woke Tavin up from his nap. She said he gave her quite a look, like, "why are you here in my room?" Then when she brought him downstairs he just sat in the kitchen on the floor with his favorite book and she tried to coax him into the living room to play. Finally, after Tavin wouldn't budge and only kept staring, she just picked him up and brought him in to play. He eventually relaxed and had a great time socializing with Kaiser. Here's a picture of the boys at lunch. Kaiser got the biggest kick out of Tavin passing him his milk cup over and over again. Kyndal said he was cracking up. Kaiser is going to be such a fun big brother for Porter to interact with!

Nursery School Cancelled AGAIN!

I think nursery school has been cancelled once a week since we've been back from break. So frustrating! They cancel the school anytime Pittsburgh Public Schools has a 2 hour delay. I'm used to massive snow storms being necessary to cancel school. Here in Pittsburgh though sometimes it seems that all it takes is the potential of a cold day with some precipitation that spurs a delay/cancellation. Money we are just tossing out the window! Hopefully this is the last one!

I have to say I was very proud of myself again for having a good attitude with the news. Koen is so cute when you tell him school is cancelled. He's bummed, but then gets all excited to have another day at home with Mommy and Tavin. So sweet that that kind of a day ranks right up there with exciting nursery school!

Tavin was super tired this morning and so, so cute with a blanket he found in the playroom. I took about 10 pictures, but it wasn't necessary to share them all. Here's the general idea of my sleepy bug.
Tavin went down for an early nap so that we could make our day interesting afterwards by running a few errands at the Waterfront and having a Mommy date at Chick-fil-A. It turned out to be a really fun outing. Koen was on best behavior (which in the last few days has barely ever occured!). He was helpful in the stores and then was great at lunch too. Tavin enjoyed his first real Chick-fil-A lunch.He's been with us there and eaten his food, but he's never gotten to have chicken there. I bought him a grilled chicken breast, just for him. And yes, he ate it all! Unbelievable! He also ate 2 clementines and a jar of baby food.

The boys both loved playing in the playplace. Koen took the most advantage of it while Tavin just kept eating and eating. But Tavin enjoyed it too.

I loved my date with my two sweet boys. I am so blessed! What a special day the cancellation of nursery school enable us to have. I guess I'm not that frustrated. =)

Weekend with Nana & Daniel

On Saturday afternoon Doug's mom, "Nana," arrived with Koen's cousin, our nephew, Daniel. We had a great visit with them through to this morning when they headed back out onto the turnpike to head home to Eastern PA. Here's a little synopsis of our weekend together...


Well, first, we waited in great anticipation on Saturday for their arrival. I kept the boys busy playing in the playroom before Tavin's nap. One of Koen's favorite activities lately is doing his new puzzle. He does it 5 times a day sometimes. As you can see, Tavin has found that he enjoys crawling underneath the hardworker keeping himself busy with toys or just crawling over the obstacles.
Here's a video of Tavin doing "hurdles" over the table leg support in the playroom. Koen's a little distracting in it. Usually Tavin just crawls around and around hurdling the bar with each circle under the table. So funny!









After Tavin's morning nap we headed on foot to the library. We stayed and played there for awhile and then hiked back home for lunch. Tavin loves the library.

He is such an explorer as a crawler now and loves pulling himself up on everything. Plus, I enjoy reading him new books there too. Koen spent his time making friends with other library patron kids, playing hide and seek with them and "checking out" books (he reads through most books we select to see if he likes them before we bring them home). We got some really great ones this time! Sometime I'll have to do a blog post on favorite books/authors for his age group. I love when we get new books at the library possibly more than Koen does. I was so excited to read the new stories before Koen's nap.

Koen was sad that Nana would be coming after nap and not before, but thankfully he went to bed fine anyways. Tavin also laid down about a half hour before she and Daniel arrived. I welcomed Nana and Daniel around 4pm and I think it was a little bit of a downer not to be greeted by the kids! =) They were up and awake around 5pm though and Koen immediately started playing trains with Daniel. Later they watched a little episode of Chuggington together. Daniel came all decked out in Steelers gear and so Koen had me put his Steelers jersey on too. So cute!

The next day the boys all had to be rushed out early to make it to the 9am service. Here they are at breakfast (they look tired!). Koen is in a new phase where he hides his head anytime I get out the camera.

Nana and Tavin got along great this visit. Tavin really enjoyed the special attention from her. I couldn't believe when I came around the corner as I was getting Koen ready to walk out the door that Tavin was happy hanging out in Nana's lap. Nana has a special way with these little ones and Tavin is no exception! It was very sweet to see them together.

Koen had a lot of energy while Daniel was here. I think he was just so excited to have his cousin here with him. Anyways, we got home from church and it was apparent that the boys needed to get some fresh air and run out some of that energy. Daniel and Koen played in the back yard for about an hour before lunch. It worked! The boys all took great naps, including even Daniel!

We all went out to dinner that night. We were hoping to get in to the Cheesecake Factory at SouthSide Works, but they had a crazy long wait - 75 mins.! So we went across the street and had a nice dinner at Claddaugh's. As usual, these little Melder boys ate like crazy and they all did well being out until about bedtime.

These pictures are hilarious. Tavin was really weirded out by the flash on Doug's iPhone. I took good pics for once, but Tavin looks really weird!

This morning we visited a little more with Nana and Daniel and then they took off for home around 10am. We had a pretty normal day after that and are back into our normal routine now. It was a great visit from Nana and Daniel. Thanks so much for spending your holiday weekend with us! We loved the special company from family!

Tavin Tries Goat's Milk

So, on Saturday, I had Tavin try some Goat's Milk. He breaks out in a major rash when I give him cow's milk, so we've taken a break from that (although thankfully he can have cheese and things that have milk cooked into them). Here's the shot after the first sip...

Here's after the second sip!

He's actually still getting used to it and isn't super keen on it. I think he's still just not really into the sippy cup and milk other than what he's had for 13 months as of today. I would assume by 14 months he'll be weaned, so I hope by then he'll take a liking to goat's milk. Hopefully in the coming months he'll be able to have cow's milk, but for now I'm relieved that the skin reaction is the only allergic type thing that happens and it doesn't even bother him and that it doesn't seem to happen with cheese and yogurt. Also, on a positive note, this kid has no problem eating so much food despite staying away from cow's milk! Doug and I are continuously amazed by what he packs away at each meal.

Friday With Our Boys

Doug has a busy weekend coming up, so we took advantage of the little downtime he had this morning. Tavin woke up this morning with some loud verbal statements, literally from the moment he woke up on he was just putting these loud new sounds out for us to enjoy. Koen got a real kick out of it at breakfast...

After breakfast Doug hung out with the boys while I cleaned up, did some work and packed up for Koen and I to go out on errands and then for a swim at the pool. We had a super productive morning getting to the bank, Whole Foods (where we bumped into Deborah, Miles & Claire, fun!), Giant Eagle Market District and then Trader Joe's. We got to the gym and had a nice 45 minute swim. Koen was a great little helper at the stores, was in great spirits the whole time and we had a wonderful time getting some exercise outside the house and in a warm spot for a change. I love my moments just with Koen from time to time. We are so close, it's nice to just enjoy each other a little every once in awhile.

Anyways, Doug stayed home with Tavin and got stuff done during naptime. They had plenty of time for snuggling, laughing and Daddy videos.

Here's Tavin after his nap snuggling with Daddy on the guest bed in his room. Tavin is making his "lovey" noise. It's the cutest thing. He makes that noise anytime he sees his blanket or sees "Barkers" his stuffed dog he sleeps with. He seems to have just enjoyed rolling around the bed crashing his head onto the bed and playing with the pillows. Oh, the simple things in life!

Doug fed Tavin lunch. Tavin really enjoyed it as you will see here. Babies and kids are so hilarious when they eat. They just dont' know how funny they are (and how gross this would look if they were an adult). You can tell Doug is cracking up watching him (and possibly instigating some of the funnyness).

Snow Day Again

So, nursery school was cancelled today. We made the most of it, but I was definitely pining for nursery school. If it wasn't winter, snow days would be no big deal, but that's the thing, they only happen in the winter! Thankfully the snow is a nice distraction (although cold and not super fun for a 13 month old). We did go out again around lunchtime for about an hour. We played in the backyard and went on a walk with the sleds (I pulled Tavin in the blue sled, Koen pulled a dump truck in the green sled). Tavin, again, was such a trooper and even sat in the snow in the backyard a little and tried to play with a dump truck. Mostly he just watches Koen and I in awe, wondering how we possibly move around with all the snow gear on. The poor thing is so packed in, he can barely budge!

Here's a picture from our playtime this morning. It was about 10am and Koen was already resorting to super sillyness and mimicing the antics of a 13 month old...enough said about the rest of our day!

Snowy Day With My Boys

Life has gotten pretty normal this week. It's great! We have had a lot of fun just settling back in. Here's a glimpse into our day today enjoying being around the house and then getting out into the snow...
Tavin at breakfast. He's just so cute with his blue eyes and his blue bib. I think I take a picture of him sitting in his high chair every other day. He's going to have 100's of pictures like this by the time he finally gets some hair.
Koen has really been enjoying his ambulance that Lisa gave him. He plays with it morning, noon and night, literally! The ambulance men do emergencies all day until a meal and then they sit at the end of the kitchen island eating while he has his meal and then when Koen's done, they are all off again. Koen's been enjoying driving the ambulance around and Tavin chasing after them, that's the latest development. Here's a video of them following each other around...

Tavin is such a trooper! He doesn't make a peep, not one complaint, despite the fact he's strapped in a sled, enduring a temp of 24 degrees or so and a good gusty wind. He actually even took his first snow faceplant today and he only barely cried and then he was fine. Such a content little guy. I'm so blessed by this little one!
That's my adventurer! He looks like quite the little dude all decked out. I was wishing for a pair of snowpants myself. Ah, those were the days! Koen did really well being a big boy and pulling his sled all the way to the playground. We tried to find a hill to sled on and that didn't work very well, so then we played on the playground. We figured out that sliding down snow-covered slides was a super alternative. Koen flew in his snowpants against the plastic and snow and then he would swoop off into a heap of snow at the bottom. So fun! On the way home, Koen was too tired to walk all the way home, so I pulled the two boys in their two sleds. I must be a hilarious site for people to laugh at!
When we got home Koen stayed and played in the backyard while I got lunch ready. Looks like he found some sled rescuing to do! He's got such a great imagination!