Pumpkin Carving

Kenn and I watched Sean and Megan Woodworth while Mike and Jerri went out to celebrate Jerri's birthday last night. Happy Birthday Jerri!! We ended up with a crazy pumpkin (Megan) and a happy vampire (Sean), some carefully squeezed pumpkin juice that only Kenn would try (Megan's project) and a LOT of pumpkin seeds (Sean's project). The pumpkin carving was followed by a leaf hunt for the biggest leaf in the NorthEnd and lots of giggles during Madegascar 2. It was a fun and eventful evening in the usually quiet Hardin household...

Sept 09

Koen has at last become brave enough to try to walk and will occasionally take a few hesitant steps. He finally discovered that being upright is much faster than crawling and loves to push around anything that moves...his walker, toy piano, the highchair, etc....to get to where he wants to go. He's very proud of himself and laughs the whole time -- it's great to watch :)

Growing more teeth (he's up to 7) has been a bit rough this go round and Koen's recently started grinding his teeth which is driving everyone CRAZY!!! Anyone have any advice on how to stop it??

Koen's favorite fall activity is walking down to the park to climb on the play equipment and eat the bark. I fell into the classic mom mistake and made a big deal out of saying "no" when he started eating bark and now it's a game. He loves it when he's told "no" and it just eggs him on - as you can see in the pics below....

August 09

This month passed in a whirlwind! We've been incredibly busy since we moved into our house doing little things to make it "ours"...painting, ripping out walls and doors, installing closet organizers, putting up a fence, discovering hardwood under the kitchen linoleum, etc, etc. All very exhausting, but fun!

We've also found time to enjoy living in this wonderful location and have enjoyed long walks to explore the neighborhood, meeting the neighbors (and their dogs), visiting my sister Jill (who lives only a few blocks away) and taking advantage of the proximity to the Greenbelt and lots of parks! But my favorite part of it all is sitting on the front porch in the evening and watching Koen's face light up as he calls out to every car, bike, dog or squirrel that wanders by.

Koen is now crawling like a speed-demon and walking around furniture, but he has yet to take his first unassisted step. He's such a cautious little man :). He makes up for his lack of motor skills by being a chatterbox - he never stops talking (wonder who he got that from?). Right now his favorite things to do are to dance, play with very loud and obnoxious toys (thanks everyone for the birthday presents!) and chase the cats and dogs. He's got five teeth and puts them to good use as he eats all the time! He still doesn't like bananas, and olives aren't a favorite, but he'll eat everything else you put in front of him. And if he's not eating, he's begging food from anyone else who is eating. I don't know where it's all going though because he's still a little guy. He was in the 20th percentile for heighth/weight at his one year check up but he's got a big noggin (90th percentile).

I went back to work at the end of August with mixed emotions. I was excited to be back to doing what I love, but it meant giving up precious time with Koen after a summer of enjoying being home him. I am greatly reassured that Koen is in good hands with his grandmas and I count my blessings he's surrounded by love every day. Every day with him is a joy and it's going so fast...

July 09

We had a busy but rewarding month! We finally found a house and are in the process of moving in. It's 2223 Ellis Boise, Idaho 83702 for anyone who wants to visit...

At the beginning of the month, our good friends the Dihn's visited from Portland and we had a bbq to celebrate. Things have sure changed since a few years ago when a friend bbq meant throwing hay-bales and consuming copious amounts of alcohol while playing games and telling stories of the good old days in high school. Now it's all about keeping babies happy and older children out of mischief while drinking a whole lot less alcohol...the story telling hasn't changed though!

Koen's third tooth finally broke through the upper gums so he's a snaggle tooth now. This month he's been very busy swimming, helping his Aunt Jill with her pedicures and rocking a mowhawk while his hair tries to figure out what it wants to do when it grows up....

Koen is 1!!

Koen turned 1 on July 3rd and we celebrated with a family party in the park. Thank you to everyone who came and made it a memorable experience!!

May and June 2009

The last few months have been CRAZY!! We sold our house and packed everything into Storage Cubbies and then crammed ourselves into my mom's house while we househunt. We thought it'd be a quick process as it's supposed to be a "buyer's market", but no such luck. We've put in five offers and somethings gone wrong with all of them -- either we were outbid or the house turned out to have something wrong with it so we had to withdraw our bid. But we're still optimistic that the perfect house is out there waiting for us :) Keep your fingers crossed that a house comes along soon!

Koen's changed a ton in the last few months -- he's now crawling everywhere and pulling himself up on furniture. He loves to swim, go for walks, play in the dishwasher and wreak havoc by getting into everything he's not supposed to. We think he now says "dog" (but it sounds like "dot") and he signs "more" and "eat". His favorite song is "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and his favorite toys are balls and blocks. Koen loves being in the water but hates being in the grass. He's a good eater and will eat almost anything but bananas...they are GROSS! Cheerios are his favorite food and he loves to share them with anyone who's willing to eat one from his grubby and slimy little hand. Koen is LOVING being at Nana's house where he is the prince of the castle! It's going to be a rude awakening when we move out and he won't have her attention 24/7!!

Milestones the last few months: first move, first time swimming, learning to crawl and pull up on furniture, first word approximation "dog", and learning to sign "eat".

April 09

Koen turned 9 months old April 3rd and at his check-up he weighed 18 lbs, 6 ounces and was 27 1/4 inches long (20th %ile). While we were at the doctors office, Dr. Lee also discovered double ear infections which was a surprise to me because Koen hadn't been fussing or anything! The little monkey's got quite the pain tolerance. Now that he's on antibiotics and on the mend, he's sleeping about 9 hours a night and finally napping well during the day. Yipee -- it only took 9 months for him to start sleeping! :)

Hmm....what else happened this month? This month I left my little man for the first time when I traveled to CDA for 2 days for a work conference. I was afraid he'd cry all the time because he missed me and I'd be sad all the time missing him - but we both did fine! :) Koen's also cut his 3rd tooth and is signing "more". As an SLP, it's especially fun to see his first attempts at communication! Kenn's convinced that Koen says "Hi dad" when he gets him up in the morning, but he's the only one whose heard it so I'm thinking it might just be wishful thinking! :)

Firsts this month: first sign ("more") and first ear infections