We're Back!

Well, here I am trying to get back into the blogging groove! It's been a LONG time...

For a quick recap, here's what the kids have been up to:

NATHAN...
...talks constantly
...is SO stinking tall, wearing 3T clothes
...is starting to be afraid of things and "little bit scary" is a commonly heard phrase in our house these days...the dark, shadows, the doorbell, dogs, swimming pools (especially the shadows the rippling water makes on the pool bottom)...and more I'm sure!
...is very "independent" and wants to do most things "by self"
...is teaching me patience!!
...can climb the tallest, scariest play structures (which is really scary for me when I'm not hovering right there to catch him!)
...desperately wants to ride a bike and can almost reach the pedals on his trike with his shoes on (so we hear, "Shoes on please" a lot!)
...is obsessed with fire engines and construction equipment and can name SO many different kinds of trucks!
...is so sweet with his sister, taking her by the hand and saying, "Come on Abby let's go pway". He gets her water cup or her beloved blanket or just about anything...such a sweet guy!
...loves trains and prefers real ones over Thomas
...can count to 20 or so more or less correctly, depending on his mood
...is so mechanically minded...he is all about anything he can take apart or put together
...has such a sensitive side...and all the good/bad that entails
...has graduated to "big boy cups" from b-o-t-t-l-e-s (yes, we spell that word now since they've been forever banished from our house)
...unfortunately, since getting rid of the b-o-t-t-l-e-s, napping has ceased entirely! A very very sad day for me! We still have "rest time" but it's not totally working for me just yet...
...is so totally fun right now!

Meanwhile, Miss Abigail...
...is curious and very much the go-getter that her brother isn't
...climbs like a monkey! Luckily she's still in her crib (please pray that she'll still be there for another year or so!) but somehow escaped the play pen this morning while I was in the shower...
...LOVES her brother
...is very strong and rough, not quite what I expected for a girl. "Gentle" is still something she hasn't mastered
...wants to do whatever Nathan is doing and gets very frustrated when her little body/mind can't
...is so smiley
...is a bit of a picky eater, or at least is very particular about how things are given to her
...Has 11 teeth and the 12th one is on the way and is wreaking all kinds of havoc on my sleep right now!
...is still nursing, though I'm trying to encourage her otherwise
...is the size of the average 19-month-old
...puts everything in her mouth
...likes to color and is good at it
...says Mommy, Daddy, wa-wa, baby, berry (strawberry addict), doggy
...understands a lot and can follow directions (go give this to Daddy, etc.)
...loves loves loves to brush her teeth with her Elmo toothbrush
...takes 1 nap on most days, about 2 hours long
...sleeps great at night usually, from about 7-6am
...is our little Abby-cakes, Absy-Doodle, Absigail, Abi-dactyl (a la pteradactyl, especially if she's in a shrieking mood), Lady Abigail, "Abidail" a la Nathan...our sweet little 1-year-old girl!

The Little Miss is 8 months

I was nursing Abigail the other day while Nathan was napping, and I was taking advantage of some one-on-one time with her (which is rare somehow). We sang songs and I told her a bunch of nursery rhymes. She thought one was particulary funny and would grin (as best as she could while still nursing) and look up at me with a big smile in her eyes. Eventually when she was done, she sat up, looked and me and gave me the biggest, slobbery raspberry ever, with a huge smile. I cracked up and gave her one back and the giggle fest began. We had a raspberry "conversation" for a minute or so, laughing and enjoying a special time together.

Chatterbox

So Nathan's been talking up a storm lately and I have serious Mommy guilt for not recording his "firsts" better. I'm trying to give myself some slack for having 2 babies right now, but the guilt persists. A quick blog entry to chronicle some of his vocabulary.

Cruising through Target to get Abigail a sun hat, we passed by the lingerie section and several displays of bras, whereby he declared, "Booboo!" (Yes, the boy could probably operate my breast pump on his own...)

Yight, yadder--light, ladder

Da-do--Caillou (one of his favorite cartoons)

Deedee--cookie

Deet--cake

Night night--anyone (real or in a book) who has their eyes closed

Dide--outside

Part--park

Tut--truck

Tar--car

Dadoom--vacuum (which he grabs several times a day, unprompted!)

He's still very "French" in that words that start with "h" he leaves off the initial sound...so "hose" is "ose", "house" is "ouse", etc. Cute!

It is boggling my mind that he will be 2 in a few weeks. How is that possible????

So Long...

Yes, it's been forever since I posted. All I can say is...that's the way it is right now...feast or famine!

Lots has been happening in the Ko household, especially with the growing kiddos. I hope to recap much of that at some point, but I wanted to just get back on the blogging wagon, so to speak, so that I can start recording the fun of Nathan talking. After all the agonizing I did over if he had some issue (my worrying nature), he's talking a ton all of the sudden. Here's just a snippet from today...

Me: Nathan, what should we have for dinner?

Nathan: (insert super cute little boy voice) Pizza, pizza

Me: We don't have pizza, buddy.

N: (shrugging shoulders and putting up hands) Oh well.

Me: laughing...



Meanwhile, Miss Abigail continues to be so stinking fun. She wakes up happy and singing until we go in and get her. Having her own room has made a huge difference in her sleeping patterns...hallelujah! She's been crawling for a long time now and would walk if she could just get the hang of it...oh man, John and I are going to have our hands full with this one!

What's New with the Kiddos?

Just thought I'd give you a quick list of what they're up to these days...



Nathan is:
...obsessed with TV (yes, we've discovered the Sprout channel and have turned to this on occasion, especially when we're up before 6am)
...even more obsessed with trucks, especially construction equipment
...trying to climb on everything. He's figured out that if he moves certain things from one place to another (chairs, for example), he can climb up and get to whatever it is that's out of reach. Clever little guy!
...running and FAST!
...still loving books
...getting really good at eating with a fork...although his preferred eating posture is still holding the fork in one hand and shoving in the food with his other non-fork-holding hand
...taking better naps...about 2 hours on most days! Hallelujah!
...so affectionate. He often just comes over and rubs my arm, or snuggles up to my leg. He does this with John and Abigail, too...it's so precious!
...starting to remember things. A few weeks ago, I was baking something and the smoke alarm went off (the oven had an old spill that was smoking). He points to the smoke alarm every now and then as if to say, "That's the thing that made that terrible noise a few weeks back."




Abigail:
...is almost 4 months old! Seriously, she was just born yesterday! And the day before that I found out I was pregnant! Where does the time go?!?
...is already experiencing stranger anxiety. It's been a bit rough but I know it's just a phase.
...is a social butterfly. She's not as content to be parked in one spot now, especially when the rest of us are in another part of the room. She wants to be where the action is!
...is sleeping great at night, waking around 4am to eat and then back to sleep until about 7am.
...is just as alert and curious as Nathan, maybe even more.
...adores Daddy and loves to be held in his arms. She is so relaxed there and super super content.
...is a chatterbox. She loves to talk and shriek and we love to listen.
...is turning over from her tummy to her back. She started this at about 2 months but I thought it was a fluke. She's so long that if she gets a little off balance, over she goes.
...is blowing raspberries, no lessons from Mommy required

Time is flying by here...these babies are growing up too quickly and I'm trying to savor every moment. It's hard to keep things in perspective--housework will still be there but the kids' babyhoods will not keep. Ah, all the lessons I have still to learn!

No rest for the weary

So I thought I'd last posted about a week ago...turns out it's been over a month! There's not a lot of time for things these days. Nathan and Abigail are still the most amazing children, and John and I are constantly talking about how blessed we are. But the fact remains...2 kids under 2 is tough!

It wouldn't be so hard if there were any breaks. But when one baby is fine, the other one invariably needs something. And they seem to have perfected this tag-team bit. If it's Nathan's nap time, somehow Abigail is either needing to eat or super alert and wanting to play. If Abigail's sleeping, Nathan wants to play. If John and I are sleeping, you can be sure that someone is waking us up! Nights lately have played out this way...Nathan and Abigail are both down by 8pm (usually closer to 7 for Abby). We try to get to bed by 10. Sometime between 2-3am, Nathan wakes up and comes in crying. Either John or I will walk him back to his room and sleep on the floor (John has been a saint this week and has taken most of this duty). If I'm sleeping on his floor, then I sleep with one ear listening for Abigail who usually wakes to eat around 4am. If I let her stir too long, she ends up waking Nathan and then everyone's up!

OK, that's all the "whining" I'm going to do right now. I'm very tired these days and somehow there's not a lot of time for sleeping or when I am asleep, somebody wakes me up too soon. There...I'm done.

Aside from being tired, life is pretty grand. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Sacramento. The kids and I spent the week with my Grandma who was staying at my mom's. She had a blast playing with Nathan and loving on Abigail, and I had a blast visiting with her and watching her love on my kids. We got to see friends and family for Thanksgiving and Nathan had a great time playing with cousins and friends. After Thanksgiving, we met my dad and Paula in San Francisco for an overnight excursion to the auto show and some kid-friendly fun. They hadn't seen the kids in awhile, so it was really nice for Nathan and Abigail to see them. We rode the carousel at Yerba Buena Garden, had lunch at Bloomie's food court, walked through China Town, saw the Christmas tree at Union Square, and of course, toured the auto show. Nathan ran squealing from car to car, climbing in and test driving them. Cute! Both kids did great despite being out of their element and having their routines slightly tweaked. Abigail is very go-with-the-flow. She napped in the stroller when she was tired and was otherwise her happy self.

And now we're getting ready for Christmas. The cards are done...I just have to address them and mail them out. My shopping is mostly done...just a handful of people left. John is off to the U.K. again next week, so the kids and I will go to Sac for a few days. I "can" be the single parent but I was totally wiped out last time and am taking advantage of help this time. When he gets back, we'll put up our tree and then the fun will begin. Nathan is fascinated by Christmas tress right now...everywhere we see one, he "talks" up a storm about it. So cute!

Muscle Building

Abigail and some tummy time