Steam training with Grandma

Grandma: "Hey Abraham.... Koh.... wanna go for a real steam train ride?" We didn't even know she was a train nut when we replied by nodding "EY!" and off we went to a special weekend run of this old fashioned train we could see and hear right from our windows at home. It was real smooth and we got to hang over the railing with no seat belt or silly boosters and see the sights speeding by just like all the big people. And wow was that steam whistle loud! "Oooooh" says Koh. Then we go to walk around the Oaks Park and dance at the live band stand. Here are more pics like these.

Love letter from Dad #5

Dear Abe and Koh,

It's been some time now that you smile when you see me near the end of your day, and that's really nice ...I like coming home to those baby whites. Those open mouth kisses are pretty fun, too - are you being selective as you hand those out? I mean eventually you have to stop makin' out with at least each other.

Something really important just happened, though, and it made me recognize that what's going on between us is getting more serious ...for me anyway.

What's new and different is that you're paying attention to what I do and occasionally even what I say, and I have a feeling that this is a watershed I can't cross back over ever again; On the old side it just didn't matter too much what I was doing when you were around, but now I'm thinking maybe it really does.

You mock me. You listen closely to new words, even though you don't say any. You pay too close attention to what I do, then sometimes follow along. You signal certain bodily functions; Well, Abe, you think farts are funny. You know "no" or "no touch" by my tone; you've even cried after stern talk before. You like to tumble with me, body language at its best. You want to eat what I eat, drink what I drink. You still like banging your head on the window long after I showed you that move one day. You like face mashing with me. You pump-fake me with offers to share food.

Fading fast are the days I can do whatever and nobody notices. You notice, you copy, you might even be recording what I'm saying. Oh my, I have to be careful. I don't think we'll ever go back to the old days. I love you guys. -Dad

I wanna be an indoorsy kid some day

Abe: It doesn't look good for us being hip kids with favorite TV programs and video games ...at least until we can get away from our mom and dad. They keep taking us outdoors where we get dirty, cold, wet, hungry and real tired sometimes. I even heard them bragging that we know how to drink from a camelback... so? We get thirsty, too! But they told me I wasn't supposed to drink from those other people's tubes like I did at the Mt Hood Scramble last weekend. How come they left it there on the ground then?

Yurt Yurping

Koh: I warned them that I wasn't feeling well, but Mom and Dad decided the family yurt camping trip to S Oregon to attend Ben & Tonya's wedding reception was a GO anyway. ..and off we drove with Grandma for almost 5 hours to set up for two nights in this swell heated YURT on a lake in the woods. Click here to see our fav pics.

It was a nice weekend, with lots of people around I didn't know and then some nice quiet time around the campfire, throwing rocks into the lake, and hiking around - Abe and Dad those nuts even went swimming in the cool water. It was one of those really quiet times when me and Abe were sleeping in the yurt that I decided to yurp up that wedding cake and ice cream into the PaknPlay and all over Mom's clothes when she came to rescue me. I warned 'em!

What's that noise?

Koh: So I'm quietly finishing my dinner last night when I hear this loud explosion. "What is that?" I convey to Mommy with my big blue eyes. Her blue eyes get big too and she starts saying "What do I do now?" and "What do I do first?". That noise was Abraham. Actually it was Abe's dinner leaving quickly out the backdoor. And since he was sitting in his highchair too, there weren't a lot of places for it to go, so it went down his leg and onto the floor. Monday Abe showed me how to quickly explode food out his mouth too, while in the car. Mommy keeps telling me to stop bugging him because he doesn't feel well and that in a few days I'll probably understand just how he feels. Does that mean I get to do explosions too?  I think I'm going to wait to do them until we get halfway through our 4+ hour drive to our camping trip and cousin Ben's wedding reception this weekend.  

Walkin Runnin Fallin

Koh:  Abe and me are good walkers now.  We are good runners too.  I seem to be a good faller.  You'd expect Abe to fall all the time since he is so bold and fearless but I am better at it.  We went to our park this weekend and Mommy and Daddy let us walk on the trail.  I wanted to walk beside the steps, instead of on the steps.  Somehow my legs didn't go fast enough or something because I did a bottom-over-tea-kettle move.  I got a face full of dirt, but I'm starting to like the taste of dirt.

Mother's Day

Abraham:  We got Daddy up early to take us to the store today so we could get Mommy a present for Mother's Day.  She was still in bed when we left so when we got home we rung the doorbell and greeted her like this:

We picked out a very fun card that sang a song.  Koh and me love music and dance any chance we get.  Watch.

Auntie Andy is the best

Koh: Auntie Andy and her mom Veronica took me and Abraham to OMSI. What a fun place to go. My favorite part was the water area where I got to get soaking wet by pouring water down the front of my shirt.

Abraham: Tell them about the fun balls and the

tubes we got to put the balls into. And how the one tube sucked the ball up and spit it back out at us.

Koh: Oh yeah, and I also really liked the sand area. Abe didn't want to put his bare feet down at first. He kept pulling them up to his stomach when Mommy would try to set him down.

Abraham: Hey, it felt weird.

Koh: And then Mom had to really embarrass us by dressing us in too-small outfits (but dry) that were stashed inside the diaper bag. Glad we got to go home after that.

Abe & Koh: Thanks Auntie Andy, we love you!

Work Stinks

Koh:  Abe says work stinks.

We got to visit Daddy at work today.  I thought it was fun.  I got to send some email, bounce on Daddy's exercise ball/chair and play with his coworkers.  

Abraham kept trying to walk through glass walls and wasn't successful, so I understand why he didn't have as much fun as me.

Two Lips

Abraham:  Yesterday was so much fun.  Grandma took Mommy and us to the tulip gardens in Woodburn.  We got to play in a hay pile, go on a slide, play with water, go on a cow-train ride (which Koh did not like at all, wimp), play in a sandbox, rope a steer and see (but not touch) lots and lots of pretty tulips.  Best of all, we got dirty.  I like getting dirty.

Yogi Baby

Koh: We just got back from a weekend at Sunriver. Last time we were there it was really hot. This time was really cold. We stayed at Mommy's old boss' house, although he is not that old so I don't know why she calls him that. We had fun playing with Savannah and so did Daddy. They made swimsuit snow angels when Abraham and I were napping. We got to go in the Lodge's hot tub later.

My favorite part was practicing my yoga at the Sunriver mall. My best pose is downward dog so I decided to just do it in the middle of the sidewalk for about 5 minutes. People kept walking by, pointing and laughing. They need to just take a moment to appreciate my form and my calmness.

I forgot about that calmness later when we stopped for a snowshoe on the drive home and got caught in a little squall. Daddy lent me his buff so my face didn't get too cold, but I wasn't very happy or calm.

Toothbrushing

Koh:  Mommy is teaching us how to brush our teeth.  Abe has more teeth than me but who cares.  Mommy does it for us at first, but then we get to hold onto the brushes and try it ourselves.  I mostly just like to suck the berry flavored gel-stuff off the brush, or the handle.

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