Sunday, December 13, 2009

Christmas Preparations

This weekend sure felt Christmas-y. Putting up the tree, Christmas concert, gingerbread train, snow, etc. Warning, this is a long post!! Here we go.....
Koen loves diving into any pillow or blanket. He buries his face into his blankie, Blue, all the time. I don't know why both of our boys have a blankie for a comfort item and neither of them used a soother but it works for me! Generally, as long as `Blue' is in the crib, he goes down without a whimper.
Do you see Koen's tongue? That is as far as he can stick it out. I'll be asking my doctor at his one year check up to see if we should get it clipped. It can cause a few problems (with speech and eating) and I truly wish I had it done right when he was born because the first 2 months of feeding him were very difficult and painful. Totally not his fault, or mine, he just couldn't get a good latch with that tongue of his. They had noticed it at the hospital but didn't do anything about it OR recommend that if feeding continued to be painful and difficult, to consider a frenectomy.
Today the snow began. Not a whole lot, but our neighbourhood is ridiculous in the snow. It's a skating rink and today our car's hubcap was broken in two when Gary swung into a curb. I'm dreading getting the van out of the garage and going through the dreaded alley. I know, it's no snow at all, but in our alley it's pure ice. Seriously.
Koen has a mini mohawk with his 3 hairs:)
Kai was out with all of his Chapman cousins today and we had to take Koen home for a nap. So, after his nap we put him in his new snowsuit and went for a walk. He was sooooo adorable in it and nice and cozy and warm. Perfect.
Koen is now acting like a big boy, pushing cars around. What?! Melissa, I remember when Riley was doing that in Osoyoos at about the same age. Crazy how the 2nd kids skip the `baby toy' stage!
Kai and I playing `camping' on the couch. Sure, I'll hang out in the tent (under the blanket) while you do everything:)

Today, Kai had his Christmas concert at church. He is not shy at all. My only concern is that he doesn't do anything too goofy. You know, yell something silly out. Dance around. Phew, he did it! They sang `Christmas Bells' and recited a bible verse. It's the first one he has ever memorized; Luke 2:11; Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. It's amazing how he can learn lyrics and verses so easily at this age. Three year olds are brilliant!
Good job Kai Bear!!
Kai taking Koen down. Makes Koen's legs look FAT:) I'm starting to worry a bit about parenting Kai. Suddenly I want to make sure I'm doing everything right. I don't know where this is coming from. I know that I can do my best and he will likely turn out fine, but if I can help make him turn out better than fine, shouldn't I try? But then, who do you listen to? What book or method do you use? Shoot, it's like baby feeding and sleeping schedules all over again!
Kai is in a stage where he is encouraging Koen to do bad things. When Koen grabs a body wash bottle, Kai says, `Suck on it Koen! It's good for you!'. When Koen is near the electrical cords, Kai says, `Ya Koen, play with it!'. If Koen is near the fireplace, `Touch it Koen!'. I'm not sure where this is coming from. Desire for attention? He does this with no one else and it has been happening for about a week. We have had to get super strict with him on this and he knows that there are now NO WARNINGS when he encourages Koen to do something dangerous.
(He still has a wonky belly button)
Koen did great with his booster H1N1 shot, maybe cried for a couple seconds. Unfortunately, he is loving the tree. Fortunately we just have all the kid friendly ornaments on the bottom half of the tree. I'm just waiting for him to chomp on a light...
Because it's so cold out, Koen never gets to see his body. Well,he's naked in the bath tub but he's too busy being a wild animal in there to notice that he's not wearing clothes. He was pretty fascinated with himself!
Koen's top front tooth has come through no problemo! He is the proud owner of 4 teeth now. I remember with Kai that once the first 3 or so were through, it got a lot better...until the dreaded molars came.
Kai and Gary finally had a chance to build the gingerbread train. Much easier than the house if you ask me! I tried it with Kai last year and decided that a 2.5 year old was too young to do it. This year, Kai was the perfect age, he loved it!
Kai also found a gumball and had gum for the first time in his life. Fortunately, he didn't like it at all!
Although, he did like the frosting!
Both boys love wild time with daddy (especially if mommy participates by chasing or tickling them) and they enjoy down time and cuddles with me.
Kai is goofy. I feel like I have control in our home right now but I'm a little worried about the future as they are just very high energy and 100% boy. Rough. Tough. Goofy X 100. Maybe they are just normal and I was a boring child:) Melissa, I think of you often (she has 3 high energy boys).
Koen has started to get into every cupboard and drawer now so there's always a little more cleaning up to do.
And...a post feed snuggle. He actually likes the bottle now more than me. He loves that thing. You should hear him giggle and squeal when he sees it. Today, Kai took a sip from it and you should've seen Koen come running, fists clenched and pretty much growling at him.

Feeling truly blessed. Hoping the various tests go well this week. Blood tests and ophthalmologist at VGH.
This feels like the longest post EVER but I'm babysitting at my sisters so I have nothing but time. Maria lives about 15 minutes away. It's so perfect for us to switch off babysitting after 7pm (put our own kids to bed). Perfect arrangement.
Have a great week everyone!

8 comments:

  1. awesome post!! very descriptive! I love your boys. They are ALL BOY, like my boys. I'd say it is NOT that you were boring, but that you were a girl in an all girl family! Here are the things about boys that every parent of boys should know:
    perpetual motion is normal
    loud is normal
    being funny is how they feel loved

    and I think this applies to girls as well as boys, but is essential:
    choices are paramount. Give them choices, even when you say no (ie in our family each kid is allowed 'one sugar' item per day. Each kid gets to choose what that sugar is: halloween candy, dessert, ice cream at grandma's, etc--so even if I'm saying NO you can't have two sugars, they feel empowered because they can choose WHICH sugar to have, ykwim?). Choices will make you both feel in control, in balance, which is what everyone needs.

    Your boys are awesome, possum!
    You should check out Barry MacDonald? He has some amazing insights on boys that are really really helpful!

    Great photogs! Looking forward to hearing how your thyroid is doing!!

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  2. Really enjoyed this post. The photos were great. Koen's chubby body is awesome. So different from my baby's little chicken legs. :)

    I don't know if this applies to boys, but I've found age five to be a huge milestone behaviour wise for Eva. Only 1.5 years to go! ;)

    Praying all the appointments go well, including the consult about Koen's tongue.

    Drive (and walk) safe!!

    How is nursing with teeth going?

    I'm a little green about your babysitting arrangement! So ideal!

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  3. Dana-nursing with teeth has been good! I feel the upper teeth which kind of freaks me out but so far, no biting! I think I was scared because when Kai was teething, he would chomp down on me. Koen would chomp down on me in the beginning of his life with his reflux and so forth. So far, pretty good! I made sure Gary got some pictures because I'm sad I may be almost done.

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  4. Hey Louise, If you have time between your appointments at VGH, let me know if you want to go for coffee while you are here(more like herbal tea for you!).

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  5. hey weezer - such cute lil' ones!!! Kai looks like he is doing karate in one of the photos! hm!
    Oh ya - we're supposed to tell you that before you leave after getting shots, to take the band-aid off you kiddo (so they don't take it off and eat/choke on it)! :)
    Tyler and I were concerned cuz you hadn't posted in a few days! Glad to see things are going well, up the hill!

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  6. there's a lot of great stuff in this post. love the shots of koen's cuteness and kai's goofiness.

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  7. yep - this is a great post. i like that you are aware of what your boys are like and have a desire to raise them right. many people just let their kids be wild and say that's just who they are. energetic and loud is one thing...unruly and WILD is another (in my opinion).
    we haven't been able to find a gingerbread train out here yet. it's my mom and sisters tradition with Taeya, but so far, just houses.
    koen DOES have chunky legs, and it is SOOO cute! :)

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  8. Have a New Kid By Friday - Dr. Kevin Leman (Lehman?) Same guy who wrote the Birth Order Book. We are implementing his technique and are very happy with the results. I wish we had started it sooner. Buy it!

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