Last Day of January, First Day of Spring?

Today was amazing!!! I knew the weather was going to be really mild and sunny, so I planned for the boys and I to be out all morning. It felt so good! We left the house at 8:45am and headed on foot to Whole Foods. Then we walked to a friend's house back in the neighborhood. We had fun playing there until about 11am. Then we walked down to Market District for a few more groceries (pushing the stroller became more and more of a workout as we moved through our errands and up and down the hills). Our last stop was at Osceola Parklet. We haven't visited this playground in weeks and the boys were thrilled. And even better we bumped into two friends from the neighborhood so we had pals to chat and play with. Perfect! I didn't catch any pictures of Koen because he was so busy running around, but Tavin stuck close by me (and his buddy, Huxley) so I got a few of him.We didn't get home until 1:15pm. So nice to spend the whole morning out without the strain of loading in and out of the car for the errands. Honestly, I do prefer pushing a heavy stroller up a hill to loading kids and groceries in and out of a car more than once.

Soon after we got home the boys went to nap. Koen must have been exhausted because he fell asleep right away. Tavin, on the other hand, was chatting still when I came out from reading books. I was surprised as I thought that all the fresh air would've really worn him out. Guess not because he was up until 4pm talking to himself and being silly! So nerve-wracking! He did fall asleep for what was more like a cat nap as I had to get him up at 5pm so he'd be awake enough for dinner and not have a hard time going down for bedtime. Turns out there was a reason he never fell asleep at first, I think he did his business before napping. Ugh. So annoying! Oh well, hopefully he'll catch up tomorrow afternoon and this doesn't become a new thing. How do you get a kid to go number 2 at a certain time??

So, after nap I got the boys back outside and into the backyard for the first time in months. They were thrilled. Here are a few lame pictures, but oh well, you get the gist.Tavin was so happy out there (and probably also still groggy and tired) that he cried when we made him come in for family dinner. He rebounded though by stuffing himself full of turkey burgers and baked steak fries.

The night was a little annoying as the boys got crazy silly. Koen got carried away and took it too far which is way too normal these days. Soon after that I took Tavin down for bath and then laid him down for bed by 7pm as usual. Koen and I had a special plan. He got to watch a Dinosaur Train show while I trimmed his hair. It wasn't too long ago that we got his hair cut, but he's been complaining about the front being too long and I've noticed it looking shaggy again. Rather than bother getting an appointment, I thought I'd try to just shorten it up a bit. Turns out there was quite a bit of hair to cut, but it was fun and I think it turned out pretty well. Here are a few shots.Well, Koen is now showered and in bed and I'm exhausted. All that walking around the city in the fresh air has definitely taken it out of me! I'll be heading to bed soon myself! But I'm so thankful for the balmy end to January 2012!

Storytime with Koen

After naptime yesterday Tavin wanted to just stay upstairs and read books. Koen and I had to go downstairs to take his medicine (which is going so much better by the way, so proud of my big boy!), so Tavin stayed upstairs in his rocking chair reading books. While Koen and I were downstairs we could hear Tavin chatting away to himself, "reading." When we returned to the 3rd floor after the medicine dose (and celebratory chocolate piece), Koen offered to read a few books to Tavin. Here's "My Car," a favorite of Tavin's (and was a popular one with Koen at this age too). I had to split the video in two parts because I took it in on my phone. Hopefully you get the gist.

Part 1

Part 2

Grocery Store

Koen and Tavin were disassembling the pantry last night and I suggested to Koen that he should play "Grocery Store" with Tavin. Then I went on to act it out and explain that Aunt Abbie and I used to do this all the time when we were little. Koen was intrigued. He loved the "scanning", particularly the noise making. Tav wasn't sure of his role, but he found a way to get involved. Here are a few videos. They don't really show the process perfectly as somehow when I turn the video camera on it tends to never work out to be a great example, but oh well. Here's a glimpse of the fun playtime last night (that actually kept them out of trouble for awhile!)...

Fun Family Day

After a day of barely seeing my little bugs yesterday, I was so in the mood for some quality time today, especially from Tavin. It broke my heart last night when Doug told me he was asking for me and crying big sad tears before bad just saying, "Mommy, Mommy." I was so excited when it was 8am and time to start our day together. Doug and Koen made French toast and we had it with apple chicken sausage. Yum! The boys loved it of course. Then we had to do the terrible fight to get Koen to take his medicine again. Thankfully it was a little better this morning, less dramatic, but painstakingly slow.

We had plans to attend Lowe's Build and Grow free workshop. Today was "Buildasaurus." I registered both of the boys for the program. Doug partnered with Koen and was very patient with him in the process. I teamed up with Tav which meant that I got to pretty much build a dinosaur myself.

Here's Koen and Doug getting into their project. Lowe's gives the kids safety goggles and apron to keep. Each workshop they attend they get a little patch to iron on to the apron. So cute! Koen was so proud.I love this picture! Tavin is being the cooperative little pal just sitting on the floor waiting for what on earth we have him doing today (he must be thinking). Look at him trying to check out what brother's doing for a clue on what he's supposed to do.Doug was so good about working with Koen (although a little upset when I would get ahead on our dinosaur since I didn't really have to include Tav too much). Koen even bumped his hand a dozen or so times with the hammer. What a good, patient Daddy!This was my attempt for Tav to hold up our almost complete dinosaur (just needs stickers).And an attempt to actually appear in pictures so the boys will remember that I actually attend things that happen in their lives!Look how excited Koen is! Such a cute little woodworker.Here's Tavin and I working on decorating his dinosaur. We went with the friendly dinosaur stickers. Koen chose to use the mean dinosaur stickers on his.We loved our first Lowe's Build and Grow experience. Such a great free and fun event for us to do with the boys. Thanks, Lowe's! (PS - also, great marketing ploy, our snow shovel was stolen and since we were there, we bought one there instead of somewhere else).

On our way home the clouds parted and the temp was in the low 40's, so we pulled into Frick Park and let the boys play at Blue Slide Park for about 20 minutes just to get some brisk, fresh air. It was fun for all of us.Doug saw this tree and attempted a little shot of the boys and I. Tav didn't want to be in it, Koen wanted to climb it and I was trying to pose and smile. Yeah, not exactly the photo shoot we were going for. Oh well. We tried. =)Koen had a lot of fun racing around with Daddy. Tavin was really timid about pretty much everything, so he stuck with me.It was a great morning. Koen was a little bit of a disaster afterwards, but that's OK. He bounced back after lunch. Doug and I are so excited because we were blessed by a friend offering to watch the boys tonight so we could have an impromptu date. Yes, please! We are headed to meet some friends for dinner at 6pm. Thanks, Kylie!

Daddy On Duty

Yesterday was a different Friday for us, but it worked out really well as a break and change of pace for me (and probably for Doug quite a dose of what a lot of my days are like, poor guy!). So, I took Koen to nursery school and then headed to a doctor's appointment, so Doug and Tavin stayed at home. They actually prepared a delicious lunch for all of us, which was a nice treat. I came home around 10:30am and then Doug left with Tavin to run errands and pick Koen up from school at noon. I got about 2 hours at home by myself. Ahhh... It was much needed as I had plenty of prep for the baby shower I was hosting that evening. When Doug arrived home with the boys, he was so frustrated. Koen was in fine form (which is quite the norm these days) and was at odds with Doug with plenty of disobedience. Thankfully the yummy lunch made everyone a little happier. Thanks, babe. So nice to get out of prepping a meal! Doug then had to take the boys upstairs to play and I walked to a hair appointment. The hair appointment was just long enough to get me through naptime laydown. Seriously, babe, I didn't plan to do this to you, but thanks for covering for me so much. It was such a refreshing break! Koen actually didn't end up napping, but played in his room all afternoon. Tavin took a great nap. Here's a video Doug sent me of them playing before he laid them down...

After my hair appointment I went into overdrive prepping for the baby shower. Doug rested and read for his class. At 5pm some friends arrived to help me setup and Doug took the boys out for errands and a fun dinner. Before he left we had to force feed Koen his amoxycillin. It was horrendous. So embarrassing in front of my friends, but definitely started Doug's night with the boys off on the wrong foot. Thankfully, he's an amazing daddy and they rebounded quite quickly. Here they are at the 3rd restaurant they tried to get into. Tavin enjoyed his peas and blueberries I packed and then 5 pieces of pizza! Doug barely had time to eat amidst cutting up all those pieces for Tav.Koen was smitten by the big screen TV with ESPN game footage rolling, which Doug said was the perfect distraction during the meal. Koen only ate a piece of pizza (it's probably good he didn't have a bigger appetite or Doug wouldn't have gotten anything!).The baby shower was a lot of fun and a huge success thanks to a lot of teamwork. The girls I worked with did an awesome job. I can't wait to show off pictures, it was a lovely night for our friend. But I also have to give Doug a big thank you for totally taking care of the boys. He did an amazing job handling the moody Koen and the sweet, but energetic Tav. Thanks, babe.

"Having A Rough Time"

I'm exhausted. It's been a "rough" few days. Koen's behavior has plummeted to a new low with sad displays with friends including even pushing, shoving and name calling. Turns out that perhaps his ill-behavior was exacerbated by the ill feeling the ear infection he has was causing him. He woke up from his nap yesterday quite uncomfortable. Thankfully, our friend Megan was at home and able to come over and see that yes indeed it was infected and called a scrip in for him right away. We were able to start the medicine last night (after so much patient prodding). He slept hard for a few hours, but around 10pm he woke up in pain. That was the beginning of a 2 hour attempt to get him back to sleep. Part of me felt very bad for him and part of me felt very bad for myself. See, I've developed some odd skin irritation on my face that is very uncomfortable. Last night I was hoping for some relief in a good night's sleep, but I guess that wasn't in the cards. My attitude was at quite a low when Koen called me near midnight, "Mommy, I'm having a rough time falling asleep." Yeah, buddy, I know.

Koen finally did fall asleep and didn't make a peep until after 7am and didn't even start to play and was still in bed when I got him at 8am. Then he bounded out of bed acting completely like himself...no pain and no obedience. I guess he was back to himself already. Unfortunately, I woke up with a pounding headache, my face still hurting me and very tired from the lack of sleep.

Unfortunately the morning was not very smooth as Koen would not take his medicine and I literally had to prod him over the time span of 2 and 1/2 hours to get his morning dose into him. So draining and frustrating. I know that he can't understand at his age, but it was very tiring to say the least. Thankfully we had plans to get out of the house (although we were late due to the medicine prodding). We set off for Kyndal's to visit she and Kaiser and Porter a little before 11am. It was a great distraction for Koen (although he still showed some embarrassing behavior towards Kaiser - it seriously breaks my heart). Tavin loved playing with all the new toys and watching Koen and Kai-Kai. Porter was such a champ having all the big boys take over his turf. Kyndal was a fabulous hostess as usual. We enjoyed our chats and poor Kyndal endured my emotional breakdown (thanks for your understanding of my tears!).

Here are our little men at lunch...And here they are working in the kitchen together.We got home in time for nap. The boys were exhausted. Unfortunately, Tavin has been waking up early again the last few days and is already awake chatting. Ugh. Oh well, at least he's happy. I'm headed to go wake Koen up since it's 4pm. There is no way that kid is going to ruin another night of sleep for me, so I gotta make sure his nap isn't too refreshing. Well, keep us in your prayers. Between my discomfort and Koen's disobedience, I'm hanging on by a thread!

Huck Visits for a Morning

Tavin's best buddy (you know when I say that that no one tops his big brother though) came for a visit for a few hours this morning. Huck and Tavin really enjoy spending time with each other. It's so sweet. Tavin was so excited from the moment he woke up and I reminded him that Huxley was coming. Tav rolls over and says, "Huck-hu?" So precious!

Huxley likes coming over to see all the boys toys my guys have and he is a great distraction for Koen and Tavin. Here are some pictures of the little guys at work (Koen kind of oversaw their activity for the first hour or so, very sweet actually)...After the boys started getting bored with the first floor, we headed to the playroom. By 10:45am it was clear that I needed to get Koen out somewhere or he would self-destruct (or teach the little boys every wrong thing in the book). So, I suited up the three little men and we took the wagon with Huck and Tav in it and Koen walked and we headed to the playground. It was a good call, but colder than I thought! The boys all loved the fresh air and exercise. Tavin loved having Huxley to follow around on the playground equipment. Koen actually ran around a little with the school kids. When it got close to lunchtime (and my hands were pretty icy), we headed home a little before noon. The boys then had a little more time to play before Huck had to leave. They got really into all the trucks and rescue vehicles and did quite well playing calmly until Hilary got here.It was a really nice morning. A change from our regular pace and I love seeing Tavin develop his little friendship with Huck. Koen actually did well most of the time "helping" with the little boys. After Huck left the boys and I had lunch and of course, still more play. Man, a day can seem long when most of it is at home! It was all very fine. Koen is just having a hard time disciplining himself to actually listen to the things I say and therefore he then disobeys on so many little things. But I know that being consistent is important, so then there's a time out and we just do this around and around and around all day. It's so exhausting! Definitely for me and probably for him too!

Tavin's Learning His Colors!

Tavin has been making fast progress on his speech and on other verbal skills. It's so exciting to see him putting things together. We've been working on (and by that I mean seizing the opportunity when doing a puzzle or playing with a toy or coloring) shapes and colors. He is really catching on. Here's a little example...

Braly & Melder Boys Passing the Time

We had a good deal of time with Daddy out of the house (and with the car) this weekend and my friend, Kyndal, had her husband out of town for the weekend, so we figured we would be better off to spend time together with all of our little boys rather than tough it out alone on our own turfs. It ended up being a fabulous distraction and diversion for the boys and for us. Kyndal and I could talk for hours and it was nice to catch up and discuss ourselves, our boys and life in general. The boys played very well together spending about an hour up in the playroom before we came down for lunch. Here are the hungry little guys!Koen was actually not himself, just very tired from a rough night of congestion and coughing, nothing serious, just lost sleep, poor guy. But he managed to be a pretty good host to his little buddies despite it. Here he is letting the younger ones play with a Marble Works creation he made to show off to Kaiser. I was very impressed that he would share and let them play with it.Tavin and Porter actually enjoyed the Marble Works the most. The both love watching the marbles spin. Don't worry, we kept a close eye that none of those marbles got into their mouths!Kyndal headed home and we headed up for naptime. Koen was relieved, poor guy. He was so exhausted! Tav was also tired, but unfortunately woke up super early from his nap, but he did OK being happy until normal wake up time, so that worked out OK. Thanks, Kyndal, for coming out amidst our messy, slushy roads. It was great to have friends over (for me and the boys!).

Valentine's Card for a Friend

Yesterday we were trying to keep busy in the house since Doug had the car and Koen has a pretty intense cold. I wracked my brain for some kind of season-appropriate craft. Remember those Valentine creatures you made in the 1st grade. Yeah, that's all I could think of. But it was a huge hit! It was so sweet because I said to Koen, "how about we make a big Valentine for Delia?" And he said, "well, how about we make it for Dhini? She had surgery this week and I want to make her feel better." So sweet! Yes, buddy, we can totally make it for Dhini (don't worry, Delia, we'll make one for you another day for sure). Here's Koen working on the writing...Here's the proud creator with his creation...It's alive! Pretty cute, huh.We will deliver the Valentine tomorrow. Koen can't wait! He told me today not to tell his teacher about it because he wants to surprise her at school tomorrow. So sweet.

Snow Day

Well, today was Koen's first snow day of the 2011-2012 school year. It's laughable actually that school was closed today. Growing up in NH, a day like today would never have meant a school delay let alone a closing. The snow stopped at midnight and the roads were treated when we woke up. It was frigid, but nursery school isn't supposed to be cancelled for that reason since they do not rely on buses to transport the kids. I was quite frustrated at first, but thankfully it was Doug's day off, so I had the relief that at least Daddy and I could tag team. Koen was thrilled he had an extra "day off." Doug and I were actually expecting some friends for brunch since we thought we'd just have Tavin with us, so we just added a place at the table and involved Koen in the prep process. Koen helped me make muffins and cooked an omelet with Doug. Tavin saw brother on his step stool and felt he needed a big boy job too. I let him help me wash dishes, which has become a new pastime for the little guy. All he does is holds his hands under the running water while I try to wash the dishes in the stream as well. If I make the water stop flowing on his hands, he gestures for me to move. Hilarious. Not exactly an efficient way to get the dishes done!After our friends left around noon, Doug and Koen suited up in lots and lots of layers and headed out with the sleds to Mellon Park. Koen and Doug got out last night when the snow was falling too to shovel, but we didn't get any pictures. Here's our little snowman...And here's a video of the accomplished sledder...

Tavin and I stayed home where it's warm and where he can move (I don't think he will enjoy snow play this year, last time he couldn't move enough in all the layers and puffy clothing). We colored with markers and then he covered himself with Thomas stickers. Look how intent he is! Precious!
So, it turned out to be a great day despite my negative attitude about Koen's school cancellation. Although I do need to mention that Tavin woke up way, way, way too early from his nap, but thankfully he's now finally chilling out again and not complaining too much about still being in rest time.

Tonight we invited some friends whose husbands are out of town to visit for dinner (Doug's speaking engagement got cancelled) and we are looking forward to watching the boys play with their buddies, sharing pizza and chatting with friends to finish off this snow day.

Marble Works Video for Grampa

Dad, I mentioned to Koen today how you were wondering about his progress with Marble Works. It inspired him to work on a big project to impress you with when Doug got home. Enjoy!

I Love Wednesdays!

Today was Koen's second day of Lunch Bunch. It came as even more of a relief this week because he didn't have school on Monday due to MLK Day (I'm thinking of starting a movement that children should still have school on MLK and Presidents' Days. Whoever made those laws do not have young children or live in a cold climate where they are just then trapped in doors with no museums or libraries open on those holidays to go out and keep busy at...disaster! I think it much more honoring to those great men to keep the kids in school and just mandate that those days they have to study the subject of that day. Doesn't that sound like a good idea?).

Anyways, Tavin and I saw Koen off. Tavin was a little upset because Koen chose the lunchbox that Tavin had bonded with last week. I was able to cheer him up though by telling him that when brother got home we would switch them again. "Switch" says Tavin with a smile on his face. Ok, I guess he's fine with that plan.

After we saw Koen off, we headed into the kitchen and played on the floor for awhile. I just love how laid back it is to play with the one child. I remember those days with Koen and for the most part, the sibling thing is a lot more fun, but I cherish this one on one time with Tavin and I can tell he likes it too. After some floor play with the ambulance toy he loves, he wanted to color (with markers specifically). Look how happy and proud he is!Pretty soon after that we headed upstairs for what turned out to be the rest of the morning! I couldn't believe it. When Tav and Koen are upstairs together it doesn't last long due to the silliness. Everything just seems to be crazy silly, then Tav gets hurt, then it goes back to silliness and then Tav gets hurt and back and forth, etc. So to spend so much low key time upstairs enjoying the playspace and the toys was so refreshing. That's what it's there for. I can't wait until they can play together better and enjoy it themselves rather than just meeting in the middle with super silliness! Anyways, Tavin and I Skyped with Gramma and Grampa for awhile, which was a great treat. Tavin really enjoys it. Anytime Grampa went away from the webcam, Tavin was all concerned and wanted to see him reappear again. So cute! After our Skype session, we played with toys and then I got productive while also engaging with Tavin. He loves getting to just do what he wants without fighting off his big brother, so he just loved being around what I was doing, taking me up on my suggestions on what to do next and chatting with me about what he was working on. Sweet time! Not to mention, I dusted the third floor, changed the sheets on the bottom bunk and vacuumed the third floor. Here's Tavin keeping busy...He loved the rocking horse today. I think he did it for 20 minutes straight. He would ask me to help him off and then he'd get right back on again. So cute. He says, "neigh!" I asked him if he was a cowboy and he said, "Yeah."As you can see from the pictures, Tav was in his PJ's for most of the morning, but I did finally change him before lunch. Not worth it though because we had grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch and he loved, loved, loved the soup, but it was all over his shirt and pants. Such a mess. Oh well, it dried into a lovely design and I have to say I just left him in it for nap anyways. =) After lunch we waited on the couch looking out our front window for Koen to pull up. We played trucks together on the couch cushions. Tavin loved it. It was precious. He actually tried to teach it to Koen when he came home. I guess he liked my little play game. Koen loved Lunch Bunch again, but was tired when he came home. After days of not napping in the afternoon, he fell asleep with no problem and I'm not bothering to wake him up early (I've been waking him up at 4pm lately to help him be tired enough at his regular bedtime of 7:30pm). The boys are still asleep, which is great since we have a cold going around our house it seems. I'm wrapping up my downtime and heading to get dinner started while also already looking forward to next Wednesday. =)

Old School Compare Picture

At Christmas my mom brought down an old picture of me. I was probably younger than the picture of Tavin I'm comparing it too, but maybe by just a month or so. Tav was pretty small in this 6 month picture as it came after his bout with pneumonia. We aren't identical, but you can definitely see the family resemblance.

Birdhouse Project

When Nana was here last weekend she gave Koen a paint-your-own birdhouse kit. Last night I decided it would be a fun activity for Koen to work on after naptime. He was thrilled with the idea. He dove right in and on his own initiative chose the colors and where they would go.Tavin, of course, needed to feel like he was involved, so I set him up with stickers, crayons and markers and scrap paper. The markers were a big hit (and as you can see he also went crazy with the stickers).I didn't think we'd be able to do the whole birdhouse in one night, but Koen was so focused on it and enjoyed it so much, that he did end up using up all the paint. I think we might continue decorating it with other paints some other time, but for the most part, it's done. Here's Koen showing it off for Nana. He was so proud of himself!I was making too much of a big deal over Koen's accomplishment apparently, because Tavin was following me around saying, "Cheese!", so I took his picture too. He's pretty cute!Good job, Koen and thanks so much, Nana!

Funny Comparison Photo

After posting the gloves photo of Tavin the other day, PopPop emailed me a picture from years ago of Koen doing a similar "try on" activity. Great memory, PopPop. Thanks for sending! Koen was less than 2 in this picture, so they aren't quite the same age, but size-wise (and hair growth) they look very similar.

You just can't miss Koen's huge cheeks. I miss those chipmunk cheeks!