Foto Finish Friday

My big boy. He is growing up way too fast! Here he is, eating breakfast sitting on the bar stool, wearing big boy pj's (ie. two piece) and big boy underwear eating raisin bran of all things.  I remember watching him on this morning and wondering what happened to our little baby...

The Guest House

We just got back from 2 days at the coast...2 stormy, windy, cold days. We stayed at one of my favorite places, a guest house owned by a friend. We've stayed there several times before, but this was K's first experience there. This house is great, fully stocked with amenities of home. K found the toys in the play room within 30 seconds of entering the house and didn't come out for nearly a half hour!  When we got there, the weather was so-so. Partly sunny, but still pretty cold and windy. We made our way down to the beach and played for a bit until our fingers started going numb. This is what the sky looked like then. 
After we returned to the house, the clouds started rolling in, but that didn't stop K from trying to spot a whale (or anything). He found the binoculars and was in love. 
I don't know why I love this house so much, it's just so comfortable. I could lounge around it all day (and I have on previous trips when we weren't also trying to entertain a 2 yr old!). This is one of the best places to sit in the house, right in front of the picture window which looks out to the ocean. 

And this is what you see. I never tire of this view:

Shortly after the rain came, and it didn't really stop through the whole next day. Hence, we mostly just stayed in our cozy little home by the sea, playing games and watching movies. We did make a trip into Newport for a little sight-seeing and lunch. 

On the day we left, it was fairly nice in the morning. The wind died down for a while and the sun came out, it was actually pleasant. We hit the beach on last time and had a nice walk, until the clouds started rolling back in and we got cold...

When we got home, it was still early in the day and very nice out so we went to the park. We realized that K played in the sand more at the park that day than he did during our 2 days at the coast. :-)

He's doing WHAT?!?!

The big news...dare I say it?? At just over 25 months old, our brilliant little boy is nearly potty trained! We honestly had no plan to address this until at least this summer, but he had other plans! He's been wearing big boy undies around the house for several months now, and they were usually wet within about 20 minutes. Shortly after his birthday, something changed... first he kept them dry for 30 minutes, then 45, then a whole hour! We continued doing this on a sporadic, only at home type basis until a couple weeks ago. We'd just been hanging at home most of the weekend, and he had done amazingly well in his underwear (or uh-wareh, as he calls it), so we decided to take a risk...running errands with no diaper and he did great! We decided to just go for it and he has embraced the concept! He is improving daily, and aside from a couple times when we just couldn't get his clothes off fast enough, he's only had one accident at home in the past week. His daycare provider is on board as well, although he's having a little harder time at her house. This week though, he only had one accident per day there (which means 3 total) and I think that's wonderful! Most days, his diaper after nap is dry so I'm sure it's only a matter of time until he's out of his nap diaper. We are just so amazed (and relieved) this has happened so quickly (and easily) and he is doing so well with it, but also a little sad that our baby is really growing up (but not so sad about not changing poopy diapers). I think he looks absolutely adorable in his little Elmo or Thomas the Tank Engine underwear and would love to plaster pictures of them all over this page, but I will restrain myself...I would not want pictures of me in my undies on the internet. 

Foto Finish Friday

In case you haven't noticed, I've neglected these posts (again) over the past few weeks. So, here a double doosey one to make up for it. Here's a few pics from our trip to the zoo last weekend. It was cold and wet, but still fun. And thanks again to Grandma & Grandpa C for the zoo membership! 

Watching polar bear play

Inside the "ice cave"

Trying to get picture lined up next to the bears,

little boy running away...

Finally got it (sort of), thanks to Grandpa M!

more than just clothes

Spring is approaching, and my baby is growing...right out of all his clothes! I loved his fall/winter wardrobe, and am having a harder time than I expected letting it go. To me, these are more than just clothes. Almost all of these clothes were given to us as shower gifts, and I hate to see them go. These are the clothes that I looked at day after day, folded and refolded until they were just right, passing those long 4 1/2 months waiting to meet our sweet boy. I tried to imagine what he would look like in them, what we would do together in them and what parenthood would be like in general. Before he came home, it was hard to believe that my son would really be wearing them. Our journey was a long and bumpy one and it was hard to fathom that we would be parents until he was in our arms. That was not even a year and a half ago, and here we are "on the other side", outgrowing some of the first gifts we were given for him. Go ahead, call me a sentimental sap... that's just what I am. 

Along the lines of clothes, I stripped his dresser of all his onesies...won't be able to use those any more!  Oh, by the way, could anyone use some brand new short sleeve 24 month size onesies (some T-shirt, some polo style), I just found a slew of them he won't be able to wear this Spring. More on that later.

"How old is your son?"

Such a simple question...

We were at the park last Friday, swinging next to a cute little baby girl. One of the ladies with the little girl asked me, "How old is your son?". I answered, not thinking much of it. As I thought about it more and more, I realized this was probably the first time that a total stranger has referred to K as my son before asking me for sure if he was my son.  I really appreciated this small gesture from a total stranger...

Bowling Craze

We've got a bit of a bowling craze going on at our house right now. For the past few months, K has been wild about bowling! I think it started when we got our Wii, and he loves to "play" bowling on that. Then, we started making bowling pins out of his megablocks and knocking them over with his balls. Then, we found a computer bowling game that he likes to "play". We decided it was time for him to experience the real thing. So, last Sunday, we took him bowling for the first time! It was great! Of course, it was a typical activity with a 2 yr old...lots of running after him and trying to keep him next to us, lots of explaining about how we take turns, and a few little yelps of displeasure from all of us. When we walked into the bowling alley, he was soooo excited, it was all we could do to keep him from running down to grab all the bowling pins. I was so amazed that he could lift the 6lb ball all by himself, although walking with it and rolling it was another story. They only had to come rescue his ball twice, when it stopped completely on it's way down the chute. It's a little embarrassing to admit that he actually got the best score out of the three of us. Although, he did get to have his bumpers up so that may have helped him a little. ;-)

Of course, he only wanted the balls that weren't his.

I made a deal with him...if he could lift it, he could use it.

Please pardon the posterior view, this was the best "action shot" we got!

And this is pretty much what we did the whole time...

All in all, a good afternoon of family fun!

We love Kim Chee!

Anyone who knows us IRL, knows that when K arrived from Korea he brought with him a very special dog. We think he has had this dog since he was about 2 weeks old. We have many pictures from his time in Korea, and the dog is never far from him. Thank goodness the nice Korean woman who came off his plane told us about the dog in his travel bag. When he started fussing just minutes after he was in our arms, we gave him his dog and it was like magic. Suddenly, this new strange place wasn't so strange anymore. We knew we had gained another (unexpected) family member. We instantly named him Kim Chee. Honestly, it was the first word that popped into our heads, so that became his name. We truly believe Kim Chee has helped K through his adjustment in unimaginable ways. Those first days were tough, and I actually had moments that I was angry at this stuffed animal because my son loved it more than he loved (or even liked) me. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times we've left our house over the past 15 months without Kim Chee. He comes everywhere with us. I have done several surgical procedures on this poor puppy, he's (literally) being loved to death! This week we had the scariest incident yet, when K got up one morning, there was stuffing on his floor. From where? Guess! Yes, poor Kim Chee somehow acquired a slit in his neck during the night. Just our luck, it was a day we were both working so for the first time K went to daycare without his most favorite stuffy ever. (Luckily, we have Rover, his #2 dog he could take) Joe said he only screamed half way there and was pretty OK with the situation when they arrived, he even told his day care provider: "Chin Chee...owiee".  And don't worry, Kim Chee has made a full recovery from the surgery I performed that evening.

When K first arrived, and we learned how attached he was to Kim Chee, we really realized how much his foster mom loved him, and how well she prepared a 10 month old for the huge change he was about to go through. In our eyes, she is simply brilliant for attaching him to this dog and sending it home with him. 

As K is getting older, more secure, more confident and more independent he's needing his dog less and less. There have been days recently when Kim Chee hasn't even left the crib between K's sleeping times. He's learning to leave him in the car when we go places, or if we happen to forget him at home that Willie will take good care of Kim Chee and he will be there when we return. (Which, by the way, could be a whole no

ther post: how Willie somehow has known from the start not to mess with this particular stuffy.) Now we're just hoping and praying that he will outgrow needing to take the dog everywhere before he falls apart!

K and Kim Chee reading in the rocking chair

3/4/09