Getting Creative

So, we are definitely not out of the woods of winter yet. Friday was such a great tease, but today has been a taste of February reality. Started off with rain, then as the temperature dropped it went to freezing rain and now it is snow. So, needless to say, there was no playing or walking outside today.

During Tavin's morning nap I came up with a craft for Koen. We made a telescope out of a toilet paper roll and string. He was so into it. He decorated the telescope and then used it the rest of the morning and wore it around his neck. Mommy came up with some creative, yay!

Then we headed down to the basement. When we do that you know I am desperate for something new and "exciting" to do around the house with Koen. Our basement is pretty intense. Our house is 100 years old and in the basement you can truly feel it. Koen tried to ride his bike down there, but the floor is so uneven he felt too uneasy with all the teetering, that we gave that up pretty quickly. He played with his tool set (and Daddy's) for a little while and then mostly we just drew on a big white board easel we have down there. Koen liked it best when I would draw something for him to fill in. Here's our Christmas tree that he then added ornaments and presents to with me. We also did a garden adding plants and underground things in. I also came up with an alphabet game where he got points when he guessed the right letter, but somehow my educational games are never quite as fun as the non-educational art games I come up with. Oh well, at least I try.

Tavin took a great nap this morning so even after all this fun we had time to play trains up in Koen's room. Koen asked me to be Sir Topham Hatt again today. I rose to the challenge and announced a championship race for Koen's trains. We used the stopwatch on my iPhone (he loves to do the start/stop buttons) and we raced all the engines around the track. Of the engines we got through before Tav woke up, Edward is the sure front runner. Surprising as he is not known for his speed in the Thomas the Tank Engine stories. =)

Since we actually had the car out and it was rainy at this point, we decided to head to Target and grab lunch out. Koen is so cute. He loves Target. On the way he said to Tavin, "aren't you so excited Tavin, we are going to Target, my favorite!" Seriously, he should be on a commercial or something. It's priceless! Today it was a particularly fun outing for him because he got new sneakers. The poor kid doesn't seem to notice, but his shoes are definitely getting too tight. I can't believe how grown up his big boy shoes look. Size 10! He was very proud to try them on and can't wait to wear them to school tomorrow.

Lunch went well. The boys love getting out and they both like good food, so they are usually quite happy when eating out. Tavin ate an inordinate amount as usual. Koen had a great appetite too.

I probably waited too long to come home because Koen fell apart in the "listening and obeying" category on the way home, so that was unfortunate. But all in all, a great day keeping busy and getting creative with him as the winter doldrums continue. He thankfully is taking a great nap this afternoon.

Tavin was an emotional roller coaster when we got home. I think this cold is part of it and I think he is going through one of those stages where he is trying out new ways to get reactions out of me/us. He sob screams, which is interesting and he even has a little temper tantrum thing he tries every once in awhile. I think it's just a little baby phase of it though, but we'll see. Maybe he's going to be my drama boy? After I laid Koen down and got him interested in some toys in the living room he was fine and chatting away for awhile this afternoon. I had to get some pictures from him because last night I went through all of Koen's old clothes and pulled out and washed a dozen or so cute outfits. I loved this one and of course, Tav looks adorable in it too. So here's his model shots in it. =)I let Tavin step up for awhile since he had a good morning nap and then was stuck in the car seat, Target cart and high chair for a lot of his wake time. I laid him down for his nap around 3:25pm. He is still up! Never slept and it's a few minutes past 5pm. This is the 2nd day now that his afternoon nap has been a mess. I hope it's just a glitch in our little system. I'm not ready for him to drop to 1 nap quite yet, especially since we are still navigating Koen's nap change! Oh well, I'm thinking positively for now that this is just a random bad few days napwise.

That's it for now. Gotta go get Tavin! And then wake up big brother...