Indoors with the Boys

Koen has been really into playing indoors lately. This somewhat drives me nuts because I absolutely love to take advantage of the summertime weather and be outside as much as possible. I'm trying to resign myself to the fact that this summer, I have a baby and a toddler and I just can't get outside as much as I would prefer if it was just me. Anyways, today was an on and off unpredictable wash-out, so it was fine that Koen was preferring inside play. I'm not a pushover or anything with letting him get his way, but sometimes it is just easier to go with the flow on the little things, especially when I think my desire for him to play outside is a little selfish. I do have high hopes for a walk to the playground after Tavin eats and Koen gets up from nap, but we'll see if that is dashed or not.

Koen has been a helpful little man around the house today. He got all excited when I was unloading the dishwasher and asked if he could help with putting the silverware away. Sure! Don't worry, I did the knives myself. I told him it was like a matching game and he thought that was just fantastic and away he went on the job. He did almost every piece himself and those that he did do, he put them all in the correct spots. I said to him, "this is great teamwork, buddy" and then we said, "Go Team Melder!" and high-fived.

Later in the morning we had kind of made a mess with these car tracks Doug found at a yard sale. They leave black crumbly particles all over the floor after you clean them up. Being the neat freak that I am and having a few minutes on my hands while we cleaned up, I figured I would go ahead and sweep it up. Koen asked if he could do some sweeping. Well, sure! At one point he said, "it's pretty hard work being a little boy, Mommy." And then later said, "I'm being a big helper today, aren't I Mommy." He really was. It was really nice!

Tavin is screaming, so I have to run, but I just had to post a few pictures of Koen's new phone (a fake display model). He and Doug went to AT&T yesterday to update my phone (I think I mentioned this yesterday), anyways, they gave him a free one. He has to take it everywhere with him. It is hilarious. He says, "just in case I get a voicemail or have some texts." He always explains to me, "see Mommy, it does this, just like Aunt Abbie's. And it does this, just like yours" when making it slide to the side and up and down.

Finally, here is a shot of my sweet Tavin when we were playing in my room together before his afternoon nap. Such a precious little one!

Car Show on Walnut

We just had a fun night out with the boys. We went to the Walnut Street Car Show for about an hour and a half. I fed Tavin his cereal and squash there and Koen enjoyed his dinner on the go (he loves "snacky dinner"). We just missed the torrential downpour. We had some light, spitting rain on the way home, but thankfully the real storm came just after the boys were both in bed (and I on a whim of heat exhaustion had just run around and closed the windows and turned on the AC).

I didn't get to walk around much with Koen to see the cars, so I don't have much else to report except that it was a great turnout of beautiful cars. Just check out the view that Tavin and I had from the bench where I fed him...

Tavin wore his car-themed overalls. But first, he wore cereal, squash and a cute bib. =)

Koen and Daddy have had a great day today. I think Koen needed some Daddy time. Koen was in a fabulous mood all day. Such a nice change since the last few days have been filled with lots of whining. Here's a picture of them at the cruise (a parking lot full of Corvettes and other pretty cars are behind them).

Sports Theme Day

At church they are doing theme days for the kids in nursery and Sunday School. I was proud of myself for remembering when dressing the kids this morning! Today was a sports theme. Koen doesn't have much sporty stuff, so he wore a Steelers t-shirt. Tavin, on the other hand, has about 5 Red Sox outfits to choose from. I chose the loudest one! It is like a polyester blend, so not super cool for such a hot day, so I took some pictures of the boys right away after we got home for church and then got Tavin out of it (as you can see in the quick self-taken picture of him and I and in his high-chair where he is still sporting Red Sox pride).

Where's Tavin?

This is Tavin's new favorite game. He was so excited about me getting the camera out that he doesn't do the game as well as usual. But how it works is I throw the burp cloth on his face and he is the one that yanks it away. It is cute when he has to try and find how to get his eyes to peek out from behind it. The video doesn't really capture the best of it. So, then I just decided to tickle him so you could see some laughter.

Koen, the "Helpful" Brother

Koen loves to help with Tavin. If Tavin throws a toy, Koen fetches it. If Tavin gets food all over his face, Koen is happy to point out every spot so that I can clean it all up. If Tavin is sad, he wants to give him a hug and a kiss (super priceless, have to get this on video). And if Tavin is in the Exersaucer or playing on the floor, Koen likes to supply him with basically every toy imaginable. I'm really hoping that Tavin doesn't have an attention defecit disorder someday due to the overwhelming amounts of toys Koen bestows on Tavin. Just check out one picture from an episode of toy-overload today...Here is one of Koen's favorite playthings these days. The hand-me-down train set we got this Spring from some friends and then we build lego things around it as coal stops, water towers, sheds for the engines, etc. (Note the simplicity, 3 years down the road, Tavin's favorite play things will probably be this times 10 based on Koen's "helpful" generosity).
I love my boys!

Tavin Sitting Up

This picture and video are not necessarily Tavin sitting up 100%, but it is pretty close and he does do it all on his own when he wants to. He is still working on concentrating on it so that he doesn't fall over, but he has definitely hit the "sitting up" landmark.

I have to just add in here that Tavin is such a sweetheart. Smiles, sweet babbling, easy-going spirit. He is amazing!

We Have a Piano!

Thanks to my sister's generosity and the help of friends and Doug's willingness, we finally have a piano in our home. I am thrilled!

Abbie bought a piano on Craigslist a few years ago and when she moved out of the area she gave it to us. We just had to move it here. So, with our intimidating front steps I looked into professional movers, but their prices are just ridiculous! We decided to ask our friends to help us with this tough job. Our friends totally rose to the challenge and were willing, helpful and even had fun doing it.
The piano looks great in the dining room and it was such a fun thing to show it to Koen the next morning after the move. He was so excited about it and asks to play it often throughout the day.

I grew up with a piano in the home, with music as an important aspect of our development and I am so appreciative of that. I really wanted to be able to create a similar environment in our home. Thank you to Aunt Abbie and Dave, Brett, Mark, Sky and Steve and of course, a big thanks to Douglas!