Daddy Comes Home Bearing Gifts

Doug loves giving gifts. I was not surprised that he didn't arrive home last night empty-handed. I got two pagminas (sp?), some fun whole wheat pasta from "Eataly" a favorite spot in NYC and Doug had a pile of things for both the boys. Koen, of course, spotted the gifts right away when we sat down to breakfast. When they finished eating I let them open them. Two for each were from Doug and one for each was from Nic, V and Mo (our Aussie friends Doug was visiting in NYC). Look at their concentration as they try to get into the ribbon...Once they broke through the ribbon and the paper, look how happy at their little subway trains (these fit on their wooden train tracks, Koen was thrilled!, no surprise there is already a new subway built up in the playroom).Tavin is obviously taking lessons from Big Brother on how to do everything from unwrapping to playing with the trains.Koen also got a hat (just like Daddy's) and Tavin got a cute countdown bedtime book.From Nic, V and Mo the boys got wonderful Australian books. Tavin got "Wombat Stew" and Koen got "Are We There Yet?" We've already read them and the boys love them. The "Are We There Yet?" book in particular was so fun for Koen and it makes me want to take them on a cross-country trip here in the US as well as through Australia.Well, it was a fun start to the morning. I've had a terrible headache all day, so it was nice relief to have church this morning and then we ran some errands while the boys had a snacky lunch and we got home right in time for nap (well, a little late). Hopefully this evening will be better than yesterday evening which was quite frustrating with Koen. I'm keeping a positive attitude and hoping for the best!

Tavin, the Dish Washer

Tavin has taken a liking to bringing the stepstool from the bathroom sink into the kitchen so that he can get a better view of whatever I'm working on (or Koen is doing). I've been tripping over it all week! Anyways, I'm hoping this phase passes as it isn't very safe with all that Tav can reach when he's on the stool, but every time I remove it he totally throws a fit. I will be hiding the stool for awhile starting tonight to try to break him of the habit. Anyways, yesterday he joined me (on the stool of course) for washing dishes. He saw me using the gloves. So later that evening he got up on the stool and grabbed the gloves without me paying attention. It'd be cute if he had surprised me with getting them on, but I did actually help him do that. He was so proud of himself. Look how cute!

Report for Daddy, Day 3

First a quick catch-up on post-naptime yesterday...

Kelly and the kids (Kendall, 9, Jack, 7 and Katie, 5) visited for dinner and a few hours of play. It was such a great change of pace for all of us. Kelly and I caught up (babe, you are lucky you missed our chattiness, you know how our decibel level can just rise and rise!). Koen emulates Jackson and Jack was such a good sport playing with Koen. He really wore out Koen! Tavin just hung around with Kelly and the girls and I just watching what everyone was doing and pushing around his shopping cart. Pretty cute! I forgot to take any pictures, but it was a great evening, so I thought I'd mention it real quick.

So, today. What to do with two rambunctious boys, a blustery, cold day and no plans. Hmmmm.... I have to say I spent quite a bit of time researching free stuff to do online. There were a few possibilities, but I eventually landed on the all-age storytime at the Squirrel Hill library. It was a huge success. Oh, but first, check out this funny video of Tavin. He's developed a monkey walk (well, that's what Koen and I think it is, we aren't quite sure what he's doing)...

Also, I have to mention that thanks to a see and do Berentain Bears book, I upped the anty on the paper airplanes and made Koen a racing version.He was pretty excited. Paper airplane flying used up much of the morning at home. Then, amazingly enough, the boys played well together by themselves in the playroom. It was unbelievable. So impressive! One of those moments that gives me a lot of hope for what it will be like someday. Anyways, a big thanks to Koen for being a really great big brother for about 30 minutes this morning since Tavin wanted to stay with him while I got some things done on the 2nd floor (and don't worry, had my ear glued to the monitor and the stairwell). So exciting!

Ok, so back to our outing. We got in to the storytime just in the nick of time. We found a spot in the back, but Koen complained eventually about not being close enough, so he was really brave and sat in the middle by himself. Of course, Tavin wanted to join him which was just adorable to sit back and watch.Then it just got better when they did some songs and movements with shakers. Tavin loved it and Koen was a great example.After storytime we browsed books, played trains and Koen found a puppet to play with. He was enamored with making its chomp its teeth.We were actually all quite hungry (just like this croc),so we headed up the street to Bellino Pizza. I was so excited because they have a whole wheat crust and they are way cheaper than other pizzerias that offer a whole wheat or partial wheat crust. Yay! We ordered a large and Koen had 3 pieces and Tavin 4. Seriously, unbelievable. Imagine when they are teenagers! We are in for it, babe!

It ended up being a fast morning and a pretty good one too. The ride home was rough with a lot of back-talk and disobedience, so that was frustrating, but we plowed through the ramifications when we got home and still had a nice time before nap reading books. Koen was exhausted after a fun morning and still recovering from the fun last night. The boys are still resting and I'm wrapping up my downtime. Can't wait for you to be home again, Doug. And the boys are excited to see you tomorrow for church!

Report for Daddy, Day 2 - Tav's First Haircut!!

[Again, this is written to Doug, but you, my readers, also, please enjoy]...

Sorry, babe. It was time. Well, actually it was time about 4 months ago probably. But our sweet, 2 year old, desperately needed a haircut. The straggly, stringy mullet had grown long enough. And I know you think it keeps his neck warm, I'm not sure 20 strands of baby hair can actually keep anything warm. Here he is all set up and ready for his haircut. He was so excited to watch a "Dee-Vee-Dee" and that it was "Don-da" (Thomas) made it even more fun.Let's just do a little closeup so that all the readers are convinced that it was time to say goodbye to the weird hairdo. Note the stringy mullet and the long hair over the ears.Tav was so good during the haircut (although he did keep saying, "out"), but otherwise it was quite a success. He loved his Thomas DVD and I was able to do an OK job of the trim. What a little man!!!Don't worry, I didn't touch the top or front, just did the back and around the ears. So, the weird comb over look is not my fault. We are just still waiting to see where the rest of his hair will grow in. =)Look how handsome!! Such a big boy! Don't you like it, babe?So, that was the most interesting part of our day. We had an OK morning heading off to school before the fun haircut back at home. Koen was pretty energetic and intense before school, but it was a pleasure to drop him off where I knew he would be well cared for and get some of that energy out! The morning was extra frustrating because our van doors are automatic and with the weird weather last night (it was 40 and rainy and we woke up to 20 and windy and snowing), the doors froze and therefore the computer in the car wouldn't allow the doors to open sensing the ice as an "obstacle." I discovered getting the boys in and out of the trunk was the easiest solution. Tavin thinks it's funny and Koen thinks it's a fun idea. Anyways, after dropping Koen off we went to Giant Eagle, then home for the haircut and some playtime and reading, then back out to Target (oops forgot a few things yesterday) and then back to school for Koen. The morning flew by. Koen was in great spirits when we picked him up and we had a pretty good time before nap. The boys loved the snacky lunch I made them, so that probably helped. Not to mention, we made paper airplanes yesterday and both of the boys are so enamored with them. It's crazy. It's just a piece of paper floating through the air! But it's great. They are having a blast with them. Tavin is quite impressive with it actually for a 2 year old. Well, that's about it so far. We have Kelly and her kids visiting for dinner and play tonight, so I'm sure I'll have more to report later. Love you!

Report for Daddy, Day 1

Doug left this morning after a quick breakfast with the boys to head to NYC for a few days. The rest of the blog post I will write as a little report for him...

Oh, Douglas, you missed out on quite a day (maybe you should count yourself lucky you were on a megabus and not at home). The boys were sad to see you go, so I thought, well, why don't we watch Daddy catch the bus from the window? Surely this would be a fun distraction. Look how cute they look!Then when you stepped into view, Koen just completely lost it crying and going on about how he didn't want you to leave. Yes, I know, you could hear it through the window. Weren't you oh so proud that the other bus-waiters could see your precious (although very sad) boys?It wasn't long before Tav was joining in and was also sad about Daddy leaving (or was it just peer pressure and he wasn't sure what was going on exactly)? I asked the boys to come away from the window, but they wouldn't so I just prayed the bus would get to the corner quickly so we could be done with the dramatics. I'll miss you too, baby, but I held my tears in. Someone had to be strong. =)

After all that the boys were hungry for more cereal. Go figure. Then when Koen started getting sad again I distracted him with helping me vacuum the 2nd floor. Worked like a charm. He loves noisy machines!

Then we were on the right track and our day was officially getting started. I got the boys dressed and out the door (after another snack) at about 10:40am. We headed to the Squirrel Hill library for a change of pace and some much needed winter reading material. The boys really enjoyed it there (although the ride over was nerve-racking since they got into one of their silly/screechy moods, you know what I'm talking about). After a quick stop at the bank across the street, where I must add the teller loved the sound of the cash envelope system, we headed back to the car and over to Target. Things were going quite well there (especially with so many things on clearance!) until we got into the check out line. The boys again got silly. Tough to say who started it or who made it worse (I'm talking about the boys here, not myself), but it was frustrating because any correction I attempted didn't work. People must think I'm one of those people that don't enforce discipline at home. But that's just the thing, you know me, babe, I'm the enforcer, the disciplinarian...where is my payoff????? Anyways, Target was so frustrating that I cried the drive home and sent Koen to his room right away until lunch, then I proceeded to cry while I made their lunch (they didn't realize, but they had spinach, tear and cheese quesadillas today). Koen got a stern talking to before he came down for lunch and things went a little more smoothly before naptime. New library book day is always one of my favs anyways, so I perked up a bit reading the boys their new stories before their naps.

Naptime flew by, but was rejuvinating with productive cleaning, some PC work and cutting out paper snowflakes for an attempt to add a little umphf to the winter decor. After nap was a lot better too. Well, for awhile.

Koen helped me finish making the soup for small group (it was so good, but it's completely gone, sorry!). Tavin was coloring while we did that. Unfortunately though he tumbled out of the stool onto the tile with a crash and a scream. We spent about 10 minutes recovering...walking, singing and snuggling. Then the boys had a yummy dinner of peas, soup, bread and blueberries. During dinner Tavin started rubbing his head, so I was totally worried about him. I came in for another look and I discovered a gash and an egg at the back of his head. So sad! I called Dr. Megan of course and she came over for a consultation during bathtime. All signs show that he is completely fine though with his good appetite, chasing and running with brother while flying paper airplanes after dinner and looking super cute in his bath towel. Gotta say I'm happy that Dr. Megan is also spending the night (that's for me though as I'm quite the scaredy cat these days to stay here alone over night). Just checked on Tav before I turned in and he's adorable and sweet, so looking good.

Small group was great and we all missed you. I'll have to catch you up on our discussion when you get back. Love you, hope you are having a great time!

Koen's First Day of Lunch Bunch

Koen's nursery school offers a Lunch Bunch program where your child can attend school an extra hour, eating lunch with their friends and then having extra playtime. Doug and I had opted not to do this to be frugal last semester, but now that Doug needs the car every Wednesday and all our neighborhood friends that are carpool options do Lunch Bunch on Wednesdays, we went for it for the Spring Semester. Koen was thrilled! He had been asking to attend lunch with his friends for months. It has other benefits too...practice for Kindergarten and Tavin and I get 4 hours without Koen instead of 3 (that sounds really bad, but really we both enjoy the one-on-one special time after every other moment with Koen!). Koen came down to breakfast all ready to pack up his lunch. He rejected the lunch bag I thought he would want and opted for a Thomas lunchbox. He looks like an advertisement for HIT Entertainment's Thomas & Friends with his PJ's and lunchbox!Tavin wanted to be just like brother and brought down another Thomas lunchbox (thankfully we have two puzzles that came in these boxes). He carried the lunchbox around with him everywhere today. Adorable!After breakfast on nursery school mornings, Koen is a blur of activity putting on his outfit, brushing teeth, using the bathroom, etc. Tavin got right to work on his newest favorite task. He sweeps!Koen, hates to be left out, so he had just enough time to sweep a little too. I'm not about to say no to this activity. =)Koen rode off with his friend to nursery school so pumped for his Lunch Bunch adventure awaiting him. Tavin and I had a great morning hanging out at home playing (I didn't even multi-task that much), we Skyped with Grampa for 20 minutes, played some more and headed out on a walk to Whole Foods. On the way home we stopped at the playground to play. Tavin loves this jungle gym lately and today was no exception. We were there for about 40 minutes. I kept peeking at him from under the slide. He loved it. So cute! I grabbed my camera to hopefully catch his hilarious laughter, this is as close as I got.Tavin and I got home and unpacked our gear, made lunch, ate it (man he can eat!) and then cleaned up before brother got home. Tavin was waiting at the door with his lunchbox in hand. Koen arrived in great spirits so thrilled about his experience at school. It was completely positive. Although he has requested a "snacky lunch" instead of PB&J for next week already (is this peer pressure already?).

The Christmas Season Officially Ends

Our tree was gorgeous this year and I love making the season last as long as possible. When the house is decorated for Christmas, I feel it looks its best. But, I also do eventually tire of the same old decor (and the dust that settles on the nooks and crannies of the decorations that are hard to take care of efficiently in my usual dusting!). We had a beautiful tree this year with more compliments for it than ever. We will be purchasing our tree from the same guys next year I'm sure. But, it was time for the tree (and all its needles!) to go (especially since the trash guys only have certain days they will take Christmas trees off the curb). [Ok, sorry about all the parentheses today, how do you like the brackets?]

So yesterday we took all the decorations down. It was a great activity for Koen. He was very helpful and impressively careful with everything.Tavin did not enjoy the activity at all. He was very cranky and frustrated. He kept bringing things to Koen, saying "Brubba!" asking him to play with him. It was pretty pathetic. At this point he found my camera and said, "Cheese?", so I took a pic of the poor little bored guy.Well, the house looks quite bleak (although super clean and shiny) with all the decorations back in their boxes in the basement. I'm trying to think of how to decorate wintry and simple until the Spring comes and I can go crazy with fresh flowers.