Quick Koen Update

It's been awhile since I've devoted a blog post to my oldest boy.  He has a few new things going on in his life, so I thought I'd take a minute to share a story or two (and a picture of course).

1. Entered 3rd grade: He is Mr. Cool & Confident about school.  What a blessing!  I was a scaredy-cat with going off to school each Fall in my elementary years, it's so nice that Koen loves his school and his friends.  We are seeing the usual strains of transition, but nothing major.  

2. Major older brother: Koen takes his role as older brother seriously.  It's innate in him to protect his littlest brother, Jansen.  He's been a baby whisperer since we brought home Tavin, always willing to help with the babes, wanting to hold them and being so interested in them.  But now that he's 8, he shows some amazing qualities as a brother eight years older and totally looking out.  For instance, last week we were at a cookout at a friend's house.  It was 90 degrees and humid.  Jansen was past bedtime and just hot, tired and annoyed.  He had the fussiest evening of his life.  A male friend (whom Koen had never met before) offered to take Jansen despite his crying fit so I could pack things up.  It was a really sweet gesture and I was happy for the free hands.  Koen, on the other hand, was not happy or confident in my decision of passing my baby off to this stranger (to him).  He didn't let Jansen out of his sight.  He stalked this man the whole time he walked Jansen around.  When I took Jansen back from him after about 10 minutes, Koen just glared at him.  It was intense, but it was amazing to see those instincts and those great qualities pour out of Koen.  I pray he is that concerned about protecting and caring for all 3 of his brothers as the years go on.  But it was very encouraging and exciting to see (and I sort of had to apologize to our friend!).

3. Expander: So, we've entered the world of orthodontics.  Koen got an expander in August.  He has a pretty good crossbite and his upper teeth structure isn't wide enough for his teeth to line up or bite properly, so here we go...we are expanding it.  Koen knew this was coming all summer and had really built it all up in his head way too much.  The poor thing.  He was terrified.  It turned out that the insertion of it was not a big deal, but the week afterwards was really odd and uncomfortable as he got used to swallowing and chewing, etc. with this foreign object hanging from the roof of his mouth.  I can't express how much I HATE paying for something that brings my kid discomfort.  It just seems like you are shooting yourself in the foot!!  Poor guy.  He bounced back though and has adjusted well to the stupid thing (which hopefully does it's job quickly and then we are done with orthodontics).  This week we had another appointment where they taught me how to turn this "key" thing to tighten the expander several times a week (super fun...how's that gonna be for the mother/son relationship?!).  I was worried about the appointment, but Koen was a champ this time and was much more relaxed and took it in stride.  Thankfully it didn't seem painful to him that first turn either, so that was a relief!  We walked down the street afterwards to get milkshakes.  I got to whisk him out of school for this appointment and I thought it was going to be horrendous and it ended up being a special date for the two of us and my favorite part of the day.  What a praise!  Way to go, Koen!!