Family photo ops

Time for family photos, which I'm terrible about doing each year. So this afternoon I decided to kick Dad off football and kid off Elmo and we headed down to the horse barn to make the magic happen. The big smiles show me that, although unenthusiastic to begin with, my boys ended up having a fairly good time... mostly because they enjoyed watching me dance around like a monkey for giggles. And I'm one step ahead on Christmas cards this year. Woohoo!

Fall is upon us

Last days of summer and the hose/sprinkler obsession

Our neighbors happen to own a pumpkin patch. What a special surprise!

I think he likes it!

When it's pouring outside you go camping.

Koen and I are definitely housebound today with rain coming down in solid sheets outside. We've done it all - play in the sink, puzzles, wrestle, tackle house chores together, and camping indoors which proved to be a huge success.

I glanced back at older pictures of this little man and I can't believe how much he's changed in such a short period of time. He's getting so tall and strong and independent these days. He's been in his big boy bed for some time and handled the change easily. We took the front off the crib and put a mattress guard up so it's safer for him to get in and out. No longer do I get to wake up slowly while he waits for me to come get him. He bounces out of a dead sleep with no transition whatsoever then comes and jumps on my face. "Mama outside". I'll ask him to cuddle and sometimes I'll get two minutes then he loses patience.

He's fascinated with how things work and spends most of his time breaking things then trying to put them back together. I'm slightly happy the weather is turning because we can give the sprinklers and fans a break - his longest-lasting obsession. All in all this kid is as easy as it gets and I must remind myself that when I'm close to losing my temper. He can be directed out of a meltdown or doing something naughty quite easily if I am patient and take my time with him. Love this kid more and more each day.

Laugh in a box

My trial run at adding video to the ol' blog

Banged up and still smiling!

Our Koen is two!! We had a wonderful Thomas the Train themed birthday party for our little man on Sunday, June 2nd. He ate delectable chocolate cupcakes, burgers, brats and even sauerkraut like a champ. We invited a few toddler friends and they all did their best to enjoy each other's company. It was a success and Koen was showered with love, adoration and fun new toys from friends and family in celebration of his big day.

The very minute Koen turned two we noticed an edge to his personality, you might say a bipolar disposition, laced with super-charged sensitivity. This is all so new to me and I'm torn on whether to ignore it or console it. Part of this could be that he's missing his dad who is gone for three weeks at AT training in Idaho, part of it could be overstimulation from traveling and exposure to a lot of people in the last two weeks, and part of it could simply be growing pains.

Koen is proudly reciting the alphabet with very little help and recognizes many of the letters in every day words. Lately I find him counting on his fingers and counting objects around the house. I've discovered that he easily counts to 14 on his own and I must admit that most, if not all of the credit goes to Elmo DVDs rented from our local library. Shapes and colors have been mastered for quite some time, while language development is more slow paced and entertaining to boot. I'm picking up on a more developed sense of danger; he's more cautious when it comes to certain activities that were easy going for him in the past and loud noises and fast motions make him go into panic mode. His two major obsessions still include things that spin and pushing anything and everything that has wheels, even if it comes with a kid riding on top. All in all, it's an amazing journey to watch his individual development and I just don't want to forget any of it.

I finally decided to attempt another hair cut after catching him squinting as a result of his bangs scratching his eyes out, and it turned out way better than expected. Elmo kept him occupied and I was able to cut two inches. Now he looks even older than before.

As for the picture, we took a walk to the playground today and he was happily pushing a cheap plastic loader truck along the sidewalk when the edge of the bucket caught on a crack and his momentum threw him face first into the cement. He handled it quite well only crying for a minute; now he proudly wears an "Adolf" blood-stache, cut lip and purple goose egg on his forehead. It's tough being a boy.

OMG a post that isn't all about our son!

Cheese! Thanks to Koen's beautiful cousin Lindsey I was able to escape for the morning and experiment with milk, tartaric acid and vinegar. We made queso blanco, lemon cheese, and mascarpone. Who knew making this delicious stuff was so dang easy. Heat milk, add acid, and drain. Next time I will add salt, but I was very happy with the outcome. Thank you Aunt Sue for the tutorial!

Like father, like son.

Koen and Dad watching Baby Einstein

Our little guy is emulating his father more and more each day from engine noises to laughing hysterically at the sounds coming from his posterior. We also have a champion noise picker; at least he's not eating them yet. As he swiftly approaches two years of age we're seeing a boy that's changing before our eyes. An ever expanding vocabulary is keeping us on our toes, he's catching real air when he leaps off the floor and now sticks the landing while flinging his hands in the air and puffing out his chest... Daddy's little football player or do we have a gymnast on our hands? He's so very aware that Mama has "boops" while he does not, ironic because mine are barely visible. He is also very affectionate, giving lots of hugs and kisses to everyone including our pets. I'm not sure where he got this, but he routinely gives close family members a kiss on each cheek then plants one on the lips; there are two rounds of this before he's done. We also have a demanding back seat driver. Now that we've flipped his seat around he expresses major disfavor when we pull into our driveway or pass the playground without letting him out to play. He's very compassionate when it comes to crying babies, usually saying "uh oh", then signing "hurt" or "sad". Today at lunch we sang and swayed together in our seats. I sang my own lyrics of "I'm with a crazy boy" and Koen repeated in singsong voice, "boppy, boppy, boppy." All in all, we are enjoying this time more than anything. I'm soaking in the last couple weeks of having a one year old, but excited for what the next stage brings. My goal, the not so terrible twos.

Fun day to rough day

One of Koen's favorite activities is playing in the sink. He drags the chair from the dining room, removes all kitchen rugs (even the ones located well beyond his path), and prepares to get everything soaked. I find it hilarious that he took the time to put on his rain boots for this particular play session. Wouldn't want those feet to get wet:) Ah, silly boy.

And just when our good day was going so well...

Every afternoon we head down to feed the horses and unfortunately Koen was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He took a hoof to the side of the head and I could literally hear my heart shatter. Of course I thought worst case scenario, that his head had been kicked right in. My first instinct was to panic and dial 911, then after I took a couple seconds to gather my thoughts decided to run him up to the house to assess the damage with Justin. God was watching out for us because the only impairment was a half-inch split in his outer ear cartilage and some swelling and bruising. His head was unfazed. I do not know if I will survive parenthood, especially knowing this will most likely be one of many scary accidents to come.