4.5 years, cumulative

Our cumulative parenting experience is now approximately 4.5 years, which equates to B being a scosh over 3 years and Kai logging in at 17 months. It seems safe to say that we've learned a lot, but looking back over our time as parents the best descriptor seems to be humbling; we are humbled by the task, humbled by the responsibility and humbled also by raising such wonderful little people. Being humbled is certainly not a bad thing.

The great thing about B turning 3 is that we now only have 1 toddler in the house and the difference is clear. Not to be misunderstood, we certainly enjoyed B's toddler phase but this 3 year old phase is new and exciting. B is increasingly independent and able and mostly willing, given the proper incentives, to do things like get dressed, feed himself and communicate about his needs and thoughts. The later being extremely interesting. As we've reported before Bjorn is a fascinating conversationalist. He will often pick a topic and request that we discuss it, as in "let's chat about attics." His curiosity with attics comes from reading Samuel Whiskers and the Rolly Polly Pudding by Beatrix Potter where a search is made for a lost kitten in an attic. He also provides very interesting commentary on our world that you can only get from someone so new to it all. For example, one night B asked where the garbage goes after the garbage man picks it up. I gave what I thought was an unbiased description of a landfill and he remarked, "but that stinks up the earth and people will say ickus!" I couldn't have said it better myself.

Kai, now the lone toddler in our home, is charging ahead at full steam. He shows no interest in slimming-down and still sports a very rotund belly despite nearly constant activity. He is about to get his lower fangs which will complete his set of baby teeth minus the molars. This is great and we hope will reduce his penchant for biting, and we're not talking about a little love nip, he has drawn blood on both Eric and I before. Combined with frequent hair-pulling, pinching and hitting it is fair to say that Kai is a rough and tumble guy or as B says a "savage" (a term he learned from a Babar book). Far outweighing these anti-social behaviors are Kai's many charms, including but certainly not limited to his radiant locks, his whistling, his booty-shaking dance moves and his delicious and frequent kisses. To top it all off, he's starting to develop some language skills. His primary words are actually not words but animal sounds. His favorite is the rooster but he can also do cow and fish sounds. As for legitimate English he says "owe" and enjoys using the sympathy owe when Bjorn gets hurt. He doesn't quite have the pronunciation down but he says something close to "hello" and "yeah" and in true toddler fashion can already express the negative but instead of sounding like "no" it comes out more like "nay." Regardless, he makes his meaning quite clear.

Kiddy-Cross, Fall 2011

Dino holds his own through the dust and crowds

Lil' bear cub all tuckered out after the race


B's new skis

Christmas Tree Hunt

B proudly shows off his outside Christmas decorations

Bjorn and Kai hard at work

Bjorn's 3'd birthday at the North Seattle Community Center Toddler Gym with brother Kai, Cousins Satori and Connor and Dad

Bjorn and his Seattle mate, Finley

Christmas time in Seattle

Various video clips

Happy Halloween

This year Kai graduated from his Baby Bjorn based dragon costume on mom's chest (see below) to a little bear suit but Bjorn was perfectly happy reviving his dragon suit. We were also perfectly happy with the choice because a) it took no effort on our part and b) it was practical, i.e. it was very warm for a very cold Halloween night. Both boys really got into the festivities and of course the candy. We coached Bjorn to say "trick-or-treat roar!" which he would do in a tiny mouse voice when someone answered the door. Kai, his silent but enthusiastic partner, would just sign "more" over and over again and wait for candy to appear.



Last year....

The Pumpkin Patch & Other Fall Fun

Here in Bend the beautiful Indian summer we have been enjoying is coming to an end much to our dismay. Inside, things are mostly crazy and out of control. Outside, we regain a sense of competent parenting, albeit for a short time. Despite our best efforts at child proofing, the house never seems Bjorn and Kai proof. We have stripped our furnishings down to the minimum, the plugs are covered, some cupboards locked, chairs go on the table after meals, the toilet seat and bathroom door are closed, sharps are hidden up high, the shade strings are put up and yet the boys are always angling to get into something. For example, Kai is obsessed with removing the floor vents which by itself is relatively benign but here's how it usually goes down. I'm in the kitchen making breakfast and Kai removes the vent repeatedly. Each time I go over and put the vent back on. By about the fifth time, it takes maximum patience to ignore the cheerios and raisins down the hole, replace the vent, discourage Kai and then rush back to the counter where Bjorn has climbed the drawers to the counter top, is sitting eating butter by the handful and yelling for wake-up juice. All this before the first cup of coffee. Its brutal.

On a more positive note, conversations with Bjorn are truly amazing. They vacillate between the ridiculous: "Kai is Scott, you're big Scott [referring to mom] and I'm Bone;" The silly: "I like to chase dinos and chickens"; The super silly: "Dino needs to wear these chonies;"And, the sublime: "You guys did an awesome job vacuuming the carpet yesterday." No kidding, that last one was a direct quote and quite possibly the best parenting compliment we've ever received. Then there is the poetic. One night while dressing Kai for bed in a red jammy and red socks I remarked, "Kai is looking festive in red." Bjorn, without missing a beat, rejoined, "He's going to be a cardinal in bed." In addition to picking up the language, Bjorn is beginning to pick up on gender stereotypes. This morning while reading about dump trucks in "Diggers and Dumpers," Bjorn commented that he would like to drive that dump truck with dad. I inquired if mom could also drive with him. Bjorn considered for a minute and then said that I could ride in the skip while he and dad drove. His own mother, relegated to rubble heap in the back!

Kai is developing his skills by leaps and bounds. His current favorites are jumping and turning in a circle. He's so thrilled and proud of his new skills; the excitement is contagious. Like Bjorn, he continues to improve his communication. He can now sign "dog," "eat" and "more." In other positive developments, he has almost overcome his serious hair pulling problem. While the tendency around here is to feel inept in the face of parenting two toddlers, we may have actually gotten this one right: we gave B a very short cut, too short to offer a satisfying hair pull we speculate. Maybe its just coincidence, but almost immediately after the cut, the hair pulling all but ceased. 1 parents, 50 toddlers? Who's keeping score anyway? Kai made his mark at the pumpkin patch this year. On our second trip to the patch, Kai caught the eye of a photographer from the local paper. He was the headliner the next day for the "Local" section of the Bend Bulletin.

IN THE PATCH

BY THE RIVER

AT HOME

WITH BIG LOU & FAMILY

IN A BOX

IN THE YARD WASTE

IN THE STROLLER

SELECTED SUMMER FAVORITES
(We misplaced our camera for 3 months and recently recovered it along with some summer fun photos. Below are a few favorites.)

PAULINA LAKE



HUCKLEBERRY HIKE

Forest Drum Circle