New bed!!

If you asked K the most exciting thing that happened this week, you would likely hear "New bed!!" Yes, we took the plunge into the world of free reign sleeping. He's actually doing very well with it. Joe put it up while we were at work/daycare on Monday and when we came home, K went into his room and noticed right away what was different, "New bed!!". Here's his first romp in it:

He's stayed in it all night, every night since Monday (and of course naps, too). He's started getting out after we put him down, but so far he's only gotten out to get more books or animals to sleep with and gone right back to bed, so I guess we can allow that. I tell you, this little guy is just growing up way too fast!

We knew there would be two big, major milestones this year: potty training and a big boy bed. Well, here we are at 26 months old and he's already conquered both. Wonder what will happen the rest of the year?? I can't wait to see!

A little update on the potty training; he's continuing to do great for his age! He's telling us more and more when he needs to go and is having more dry days at daycare. This week he still went through a pair of clothes each day, but the reasons were excusable in my book. One day he had an accident during his nap (which he no longer wears a diaper for), one day he threw up in the car on his way there (nothing major...no more vomit or other ill symptoms), and yesterday he tried to take himself to the potty and it got a little messy. :-) 

I am one proud Momma!!

Foto Finish Friday

We've been having great weather pretty much all week. Last Saturday we got some yard work done, and K helped me plant some flowers in my pots. He had most fun watering them, though. Or, should I say watering everything??

Easter Weekend Review

We had a wonderful, fun filled Easter weekend. K got to participate in 4 egg hunts, here are pictures from 3 of them. 

Indulging in his second piece of chocolate ever, 

and probably his last for a while...

after a couple tastes last weekend, we're pretty sure he's allergic.

Or at least very senstitive to it.

"I know there's an egg around here somewhere"

The Loot

The C cousin line-up, ready to hunt!

Foto Finish Friday

OK, ya'll get 2 Friday fotos this week. I threw the first one in just 'cause his little face is so adorable. The real point of the photo is how independent he's becoming. The phrase of the week has been "I do it". I was getting him ready to go out for a jog earlier this week, and he started adding layers, insisting to wear his snow pants over his regular pants, his scarf and his "skateboard shirt" (another new development, he's started calling anything with a hood a skateboard shirt...not sure where that's coming from).

And here's the photo where you can see better what he wanted to wear. It was kinda chilly out so I didn't really mind the addition of the snow pants. :-)

Foto Finish Friday

Putting on his cheesiest smile!

it's the little things

Like...

Squeals of delight while playing with Daddy

Total relaxation in my arms

Running up to me and bear hugging my leg

Grabbing my hand and saying "My Mommy"

Random hugs and kisses

Hearing "O-tay Mommy"

Arms and legs wrapped around us when in need of comfort

Climbing into my lap with a book or toy

Calling for me when he needs help

We've worked so hard and come so far, and every second was worth it!

Foto Finish Friday

K wearing his Thomas vest that Grandma Nancy made for him (she also made a matching hat, but of course he wouldn't keep it on for the picture) and Willie trying to get in on the action. What you can't see: he's also wearing a Thomas T-shirt and Thomas underwear. This boy is choo-choo crazy!

New Year's Resolution

Yes, I know it's April 1st.

No, this is not a joke.

The truth is, I'm not big on New Year's resolutions. I guess I figure, if something is that wrong with my life, why wait until Jan 1 to fix it? That being said, I tend to be more of a New Year's goal setter. This year, I made a goal to finish a long-standing project by the end of this year.

For those of you who have been in this for the long haul, you probably can guess what I'm talking about. Way back in December of 2006, we sent/gave letters to all our friends and family, asking them to contribute a quilt square to our Good Wishes Quilt for our future child. Well, the future is here, but the quilt is not. Over the following months we received lots and lots of fabric squares with wishes for our child. I started cutting the squares and sewing them together in the fall of 2007. Then something happened... said child came home and production ground to a halt. More important things took over and the quilt was not worked on for many, many months. Not that I'm making excuses, but part of my dilemma has been that my "sewing" room is across the hall from K's room. Given his age, pretty much the only time I have to work on it is while he's sleeping, but you can see, I don't want to make all the sewing machine racket while he's sleeping. So, working on it entails moving my entire sewing set-up into our bedroom (which is the furthest room from his in our cozy little home), not too conducive to quick set-up sewing sessions. I also spend way too much of his sleeping time on the computer, blogging, social networking, etc. 

And yes... I see the irony of this post.

I just wanted to take a few minutes of my precious sewing time to let you all know my goal for this year, so I have more people to be accountable to for accomplishing my 2009 goal.

Thanks for listening...off to sew!

Basketball and other big boy stuff

It's only Wednesday and we've already had a really big week! Honestly, it seems like K is maturing by months over the course of days! Here's the run down:

On Sunday he did great playing basketball with Daddy. He was making baskets like nobody's business, I even managed to get a few on video! :-) (OK, you gotta watch close at the very beginning, that's when all the action happens) 

On Monday he chose to leave his beloved Kim Chee in the car when he was dropped off at daycare. Joe confirmed with him multiple times and he understood what he was doing. He did great all day and only asked for him once, but was quickly comforted by another snuggie at daycare. He also went #2 in the potty for the first time at daycare on Monday.

On Tuesday he had his first full day of no #1 accidents at daycare (thus, the first time in 3 weeks that I didn't have dirty pants to clean that night...nice). He also behaved wonderfully at a friend's birthday party that evening, after we'd all had a long day at work/ daycare. He was so excited for this party, we talked about it over the weekend and he wanted to go...at that very moment! When I picked him up and reminded him it was time for the party he literally started jumping up and down with excitement, yelling "Jacob party, Jacob party!!!"

I'm happy to be at home with him today and can't wait to see what lies ahead for us! :-)

(By the way...he hasn't had any accidents with us for well over a week and is staying dry at naps!)

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

Run

by Ann Patchett

I just finished reading this book and I thought it was great. I'm not a big fan of reading books more than once, but I would definitely consider reading this one again in the future. The subject matter was a bit heavy, but kept me going since it was one close to my heart...adoption. I should say, the story was based around bio brothers who had been adopted (transracially) when they were very young. So many other themes echoed through the book: religion, relationships, life-long deception... several different story lines all webbed together very understandably. This was a book that, at a few points, I could literally not put down. In fact, I read about 100 pages over the few days we were away from K on our trip to Las Vegas. This book was so full of surprises, by the end I could not even imagine what might be coming next. Two big thumbs up from me! :-)

Foto Finish Friday

Fun with soap. Last weekend I was trying to clean the bathroom, so I let K "help". He had fun for several minutes getting good and clean. :-)

Can you see his little face? 

He's trying so hard to get the soap out...

breaking new ground

In the fall of 1998, a few short months after we were married, Joe and I attended a public open house for Lane Transit District, where they were showing the community their plans to build one of the country's first bus rapid transit systems. At that point, Joe was nearly 2 years from completing his degree, but he was very excited about this project and even said how he would love to work on it someday.

10 years later...

The past week LTD broke ground on their second phase of EmX (M-X), and guess who is the project manager...that's right, my hubby!  He began his internship with LTD in 1999, and was hired as a planning technician after he graduated.  Since then, he has worked very hard on many projects (including the first phase of EmX) and moved his way up through the ranks.  The timeline for this project has been set for some time, but construction is starting at a time when it's really needed, it will generate hundreds of jobs in our community. 

Here are some pictures from the ground breaking ceremony...

It was a packed "house"

EmX bus and future stop, in front of the new hospital

My Boys

Kai took full advantage of his Daddy's relationship with the construction guys

and scored himself a sit on the backhoe