Love Letter from Dad #4

Dear Koh and Abraham -

You made me cry today - tears of joy of course - in your room this morning, just after 5am. It was you, Koh, that opened this scene by whining loudly enough to get me there and to get yourself transferred to my arms in the rocker, which I suppose is your goal most times. The soft piano sonata CD was playing and the room lit by only the lava lamp... just enough to let me see your face, your open eyes gazing up. Your immediate silence as I lifted and held you wasn't new - every kid trains their parent with this move from the earliest days.

But today you did something different for me... you didn't close your eyes as we rocked. You held your stare, I don't recall even a blink for 5 minutes, then 10, then incredibly 15... I know it was more. Looking up to where? The chair slowly rocking... you looking at me? What are you thinking about? Are you in the Kohzone we know so well? You didn't make a peep or a motion the whole time we were there, our eyes wide open, so calm was your stare. Tears in my eyes, dark and warm was the air... please let this time stand, I'm going nowhere.

Abe - you were there, did you see us us hanging out? Three feet away, and not sleeping at all, and you as well showing something new: Sitting in silence, bottle in hand, drinking a bit, but not drinking too. 20 minutes you sat with yourself, no need for attention, so close to your team but never a peep, not even a glance. Dag, that's good, will you teach me how?

Koh - your eyes finally shut, I knew you were out, here's your crib once again - thanks for that touch, I'm gonna write a letter.

Abe, you whimpered... up you come to the chair, then Koh came alive after the pump-fake he gave. "Eh" was all Koh said but the code word was out, you snapped your head around to open the day... returning the code "Eh...." and you boys were done with sleep for the night.

Happy Easter, you two - you're incredible to me. (and it's only 5:40, your first Easter egg hunt awaits)

Love, Dad

Chip Off The Ol' Block

Abe: So I'm teaching Daddy how to blow bubbles in the bathtub. I get so excited because he gets it right on his first try. I like blowing raspberries on just about anything (windows, Koh, my hand, your hand, whatever) so in my excitement I decide to go blow one on that thingy in the bathtub that lets the water out. I misjudged the distance and kinda smacked my tooth on it. Now I have a chip on my front tooth. Good thing these are only temporary chompers. Mommy caught the whole thing on video (make sure your volume is up):

Buddies

Abraham and Koh: We've had a busy week with our buddies visiting us. Julius and his mommy Sharon stayed with us for a few days. We haven't seen him since he moved away and we missed going on walks with him. I know Mommy really misses Sharon too. He brought some of his old friends over for a playdate. All the mommies tried to line up us five kids on the couch to take our picture. Ha, they are nuts if they think we'll sit still for that.

Then later Reef came to visit. He's our Aunty Andy's nephew and he lives in Hawaii. He's four

 and is a surfer dude. He made us laugh a lot and taught us how to open containers we're not supposed to know how to get into. He likes us a lot and even has dinosaurs named after us. We put some of the pictures online, although many are blurry because we're all boys and we move fast. http://picasaweb.google.com/markseker/JuliusAndReefSVisits

I love you, man

Koh: My brother and me are really getting along well these days... I mean we giggle a lot and even kiss each other on the face.... I'm not kiddin'... here's proof mom caught on video...  

Twins first day on the court

Abe: I been reading about my cousins Kevin and Drew playing roundball and I told Dad i want to do that too... TODAY, DAD! So off we went on a winter day to the local basketball court and I made my first bucket, played 1-on-1 with Koh and just had a blast. Here's a movie of our first game and some practice drills Dad and Mom made us do.

Dirty Boy

Abraham:  Mommy's quick but not quick enough.  New flavor discovered; dirt.  Doesn't taste as good as it looks.

I Scream You Scream

Koh:  So Grandma and neighbor Carolyn were visiting and convinced Mommy to give us something called ice cream.  It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I think I want some more, maybe some chocolate-peanut butter.

Rolling, rolling and snoozing

Koh: For our first birthday, Aunt Angela and Uncle Torrey got us a new way to speed around town and here we are on our first outing.   Really fast and close to the ground and we have to wear helmets but it was cool.   We went to get a movie, whatever that is.   Abraham had his lip stuck out a lot then fell asleep... but not me, I like watching my mom when she's on her bike trying to take my picture and not crash. 

Grandpa?

Abe:  Tim and Jody came to visit and stayed at our B&B.  They thought that meant bed and breakfast, and it did.  But Mommy and Daddy added another "B" for  "babysit" to it and went out for a run while Tim and Jody played with us.  Daddy decided that since we don't have a grandpa, Tim would be ours.  I don't think he's old enough and he doesn't have any other grandkids that he could practice on, but okay, we'll call him grandpa as soon as we can talk.

We Miss Daddy

Koh:  I miss you Daddy.  You've been gone for almost a week and me and Abe want you to come home now.  Mommy's great and all, but she gets kinda boring.  She is not as fun to tumble with after dinner and she doesn't sing that Yellow Submarine song that you do.  But she did give me a treat today.  Watch this... 

Oh yeah, I said "banana" yesterday.  My first word.

Oh yeah, and where is Grandma?  We haven't seen her in a week either.  

Snowshoe racing

Koh - Mom and Dad took us to Mt Hood today for some fun in the snow, and boy did we ever! We did snowshoe racing and they carried us for the 56 minutes up the side of the White River canyon and back down and guess what... we won our age group! The race director says we were probably the youngest ever to finish this race. Whatever that means. The ride was so smooth and warm and calm and serene that we even fell asleep... nose mashed into mom and dad's back.   Check our favorite 10 pics here: snowshoe race photos

Snip Snip

Abraham:  We got our second haircuts ever today.  This time Mommy and Grandma took us to a place just for kids.  We had so much fun playing with their toys.  And we sat in a Hummer to get our haircuts.  And they put gel in our hair when we were done (Koh already had carrots and cottage cheese from lunch in his).  And I got to sit on a motorcycle when we were all done.  And we're even cuter now than before, don't you think?

Real Food, Real Yummy

Abraham: Now that we're a year old, we get to eat real food. No more stinkin' formula. I like pizza best so far. Mommy lets us feed ourselves with a spoon sometimes... only right before we get a bath though.
Koh likes to put all his bread into the handle hole on his tray. Plus he shoves all the food in front of him into his mouth at once and then looks like a chipmunk.

We had tuna casserole at the table as family the other night - that was way cool.

And that Daddy-home-made carrot juice was really tasty. I can drink from a cup all by myself but Koh isn't quite as good as me yet.

Happy 1st Birthdays!

Koh: Today we turned one years old. Don't really know what that means, but I do know that yesterday we got to have a party. It was fun because Carolyn and John, Sally and David, Jeff and Andy, Aunt Angela and Uncle Torrey and Grandma all came over. Everyone sat around us while Mommy and Daddy put us on a sheet with this brown thing in the middle. Everyone was looking at us but me and Abe didn't know what to do. Finally Daddy showed us that we were supposed to eat it... Who knew! Here's the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HXq9gBe7KM

Then we got to open presents and play with them. Abraham always wants what I'm playing with so I cried a lot. Plus my teeth are still hurting me and I didn't like it when Mommy left the room. But Sally saved the day by bringing out the bubbles. For 20 more party pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/markseker/FirstBirthdayBash

Love Letter from Dad #3

Dear Abe and Koh,

You looked different today, right from the start when I saw you in your room. I can't describe exactly how your appearance changed, but you seem different today.... can you let me know why? It's a new year ... but just another day. You're almost one, I know you're older now, but why so dramatic, all in a day? You look like little boys today, and yesterday.... just babies. How can that be, all in a day? How did you change your look so quickly, before my eyes? I think it's your lips and mouth, your eyes and gaze more clear, your face like a boy no longer a toy. Or... maybe you didn't change at all... it was my viewpoint that changed. I wonder why, all of a sudden, all in a day.

Love, Dad