ZumwaltOhana.com

Back in the Saddle (so to speak)

We are back home from Colorado and have been for a week now.  I finally gave up on ever getting caught up on chores etc and decided to TRY to get caught up on the blog/journal. 

The week that Zak left I decided to take a hiatus from most household chores and focus on keeping the boys busy with activities and adventures.  We went to parks, took a canoe trip, had friends over, ate out more than I would care to admit and generally kept VERY busy.  One of our adventures was not intended to be an adventure, but a quick errand that went awry.  We ran to Vancouver, WA "real quickly" to pick up some bamboo some friends were needing to off-load.  By the time we got up there it was POURING rain!  We got our bamboo and some frozen strawberries and cherries from them and then headed back home. 

The errand itself went pretty smoothly other than the sogginess involved.  We headed back toward home only to discover that traffic was AWFUL!  There are two bridges into Vancouver and one of them is undergoing major construction.  I guess that, coupled with the rain was a bad combination.  So, I decided rather than sit in traffic forever we would find something interesting to do.  I called a friend and she recommended a little coffee shop with a play area.  We found it...eventually...and headed in for some play and refreshment.  I stepped to the counter to order a beverage for Koa and me and apparently also paid for the kids to play (didn't know that was part of the deal, but ok).  As I was walking away from the counter the lady says, "The kids need to leave their socks on and take their shoes off."  Oh, I guess that means they need to be wearing socks?  Kids who wear slippers don't typically wear socks.  Well, unless you're Koa and then even if you are wearing rain boots you don't typically wear socks.  So, play area nixed.

We sat down at a table with our beverages and there were some cartoons on a TV, so Koa was perfectly content.  Caspian was not.  Koa's chocolate milk was just too enticing.  So, I thought to myself, "I'll just get another chocolate milk in exchange for the play time in which we are not partaking."  By the way, no one in their right mind lets an 18 month old who never eats processed sugar consume chocolate milk in public.  I should just clear that up.  Oh, and this establishment had a keiki potty (a child sized regular toilet) that both kids were totally obsessed with and between the two of them we made about 19 trips to the bathroom in less than 1 hour's time.  Oh, and I only brought one diaper (remember this was a quick errand) which Caspian promptly pooped in seconds after I applied it to his behind since he wouldn't actually USE the keiki potty.

In between trips to the potty and Caspian climbing on and off his chair like a monkey on crack he managed to spill his chocolate milk three different times.  I can't even figure out how the minute amount that he consumed made him act so crazy!  I even insisted that he leave it sitting on the table and drink from the straw and he still managed to spill it THREE times.  The fourth and final time he had picked it up and as I was insisting he put it back on the table, he dumped it right over his head.  As I was frantically cleaning up and scurrying out of there I made a mental note to myself that sitting in traffic is a much better alternative to losing your mind.

We didn't get to it that day, but soon after, we used the bamboo we picked up to build a trellis for the garden that also serves as a teepee for the boys.  Not that I am kicking them out of the house, yet, but just a way to make the stump in the middle of our garden a more interesting and useful fixture.  You can see pictures of it and some of the pea trellises I built in our latest garden photo album.  I didn't get a picture of it, but as soon as I built the teepee Caspian climbed up and started singing like it was some sort of stage.  I really wish I had kids with just a little bit of confidence! 

As we came home from one of our adventures, we were walking in the house and Caspian walked to the edge of the driveway just to see what I would do and stepped one foot into the street.  Koa, in a most encouraging tone told Caspian, "You shouldn't do that.  The cars come by here fast and they will squish you, then we won't have a little brother any more and we will have to use the new baby."

Where Have We Been???

I know, I know that's what some of you have been asking for months.  Well, I could make a list, but instead I will just begin with an update on what most of you are most interested in anyway--the kiddos!

Beginning with the eldest, Koa.  He has become a big four-year-old during my blogging hiatus!  Along with friends, we celebrated his birthday by going ice skating at Lloyd Center and having homemade chocolate peanut butter ice cream.  Even Caspian got to skate and we all had a great time.  Well, maybe Caspian just had an OK time.  We didn't bring socks for him because we didn't think they had skates small enough to fit and he loved it for a minute, but that was about it.

Koa has also learned how to write his name and has taken a new-found interest in drawing in general.  He hardly had any interest in drawing unless one of us would draw Veggie Tales with him or he would occasionally draw a "T" or an "H" or another simple letter, but as soon as we would ask if he could draw anything else he would insist that he could not, and that would be the end of it.  We went to see Dr. Jen for his well-child check up and she asked if when he draws people do they have arms and legs.  (Checking his fine motor skill development.)  He told her they have fingers, but no arms and legs.  We confirmed that we had never seen him draw a person with arms or legs.  She nonchalantly said that he is average for his age and the lack of interest in drawing is totally normal, too.  That afternoon Koa went home and drew a picture of Dr. Jen with arms and legs and pupils and hair, etc.  Then we realized that one of the reasons his "people" never had arms and legs is because he generally draws Veggie Tales characters rather than people (if he draws anything at all).  From that day forth, though, he draws people, often times with only one eye (because they are in a Mike Wazowski costume), he writes letters, his people come with all the details and usually have a story, too.

That same day she also asked him if he could stand on one foot or hop on one foot and he could not, but ever since then he has been hopping on one foot while turning in a circle!  Why is it that a near stranger can ask him to do something and suddenly he is motivated beyond measure but if we asked him to hop on one foot he probably wouldn't be able to do it until he was 15 or so?

One favorite Koa quote came recently with his new-found interest in drawing.  He called me in to show me the guy he had drawn who had eyes, a nose, a mouth and some other unidentifiable round thing.  I asked, "So, what is that?" and he said very matter of factly, "Bread.  He's going to feed the poor."  As I was about to leave, he pointed to the other "guy" on his paper and said, "This is his brother." Then pointing to the mysterious thing next to him said, "He has bacon." 

Other fun facts about Koa:

• He can now list the books of the New Testament up to Ephesians.
• He loves to ride his new bike and is working on getting better so he can ride to a coffee shop with Daddy sometime.
• He has been to soccer "practice" 8 times now and is completely tired of it.  He keeps trying to convince us it is over and says that he doesn't like it because the balls are blue instead of white.

Caspian has been growing like crazy, too.  He's physically bigger (there is only about 10 lbs between him and Koa and sometimes he wears Koa's clothes when they are handy and we are too lazy to go get others), is getting all 4 eye teeth at the same time (I think two have finally poked through!) and he's talking like crazy now both in sign and with his mouth.  He seems a little more at peace now that he is becoming more independent.  Maybe it is the curse of the second child to have to watch what the first one does and be constantly reminded of that which you are incapable!  I think as the gap starts to close on major milestones he becomes more content.  As his ability to communicate with words has advanced he has become more social in general.  He still gives people "the blank stare" regularly but I suspect that is for his own amusement most of the time.    He is SUCH a ham when he wants to be.  We went to a Portland Timbers soccer game the other night and it was REALLY rowdy.  Since he is generally a pretty quiet kid in public I thought it might be a little overwhelming for him, but he thought it was great!  He got completely caught up in the cheering and was entertaining everyone around us in the stands.

He loves to eat!  But only the most flavorful foods, please.  He loves things like rhubarb, sauerkraut and pickled green tomatoes, but the other night he asked for a taste of the mashed potatoes before I had seasoned them and as soon as it touched his tongue he gagged and took it out of his mouth and handed it back to me.  Then he wouldn't trust me with mashed potatoes for the rest of the night!  He would drink honey mustard if I let him.  He loves to help me cook, but I just figured out the other night that when he comes in to the kitchen saying, "Cook, cook."  he really means, "Taste, taste."  He and Koa both adore peanut butter and would eat it for every meal if I let them.  Sometimes I'm tempted because it would make my life very simple. 

I guess he needs to be a big eater because he NEVER sits still.  I know this is typical of children this age, but most kids will at least sit still for a story or to snuggle for a spell.  Caspian will bring a book, crawl up on your lap, be present for the title page and then be gone again.  He climbs up onto things just to climb down.  He prefers only toys he can play with while on the move.  Unless he is asleep he is moving.  I also insist that he sits down while he eats.  So, he will eat, then stack his dishes, hand them to me and say, "Up."  It's almost like it is painful for him to sit still.  Maybe he has restless leg syndrome.

He is also the clumsiest child on the planet so he is constantly falling!  Often times I think it is totally intentional because in the middle of a totally empty room he will place one toy in the middle of the floor and then walk over it multiple times and trip every single time!  He also bleeds more easily than anyone I know.  A couple of different times I have found blood all over at his height on walls and on his toys but couldn't find a single scratch on him.

His constant movement has made potty learning a bit of a challenge.  He won't sit still long enough to do anything on the potty, but he also HATES getting his diaper changed!  However, I think he is finally starting to understand the "urge" to pee because last night he walked in and sat down and went shee-shee on the potty all by himself.  Of course this was right after Zak had taken the bowl out of the potty, so he peed right on the floor, but we were no less thrilled.  I secretly think he knew exactly what he was doing.  Today he has actually used the potty every time I asked him to sit on it.  Whoo Hoo!  Progress!  I really don't know if I would care except that he HATES getting his diaper changed and he has such sensitive skin that he gets rashes REALLY easily so he spends a lot of time with a bare bottom anyway.

Other fun facts about Caspian:

• He recently moved up to a toddler bed.  Well, technically down because we took the mattress out of the crib and set it on the floor.  He swears he hates it, but when we are away and he can't sleep in it he says, "Buh-Buh-Buh" over and over for "Big Boy Bed" and as soon as he gets up in the morning and comes in to see us he says, "Buh-Buh-Buh" as if to advertise his new freedom.
• Every time he walks past a toilet (or any other receptacle with water in it) he says, "Bye poop!"
• He stands outside and greets the neighbors or anyone else within earshot with, "Ha!", his version of "Hi" but no one ever understands or responds to him unless they are from Texas.  Then they seem to understand.
• He LOVES to sing!  He can do the tune to the ABC song pretty well.
• He LOVES to be outside.
• He classifies everything in existence as either a ball, a dog, or a bird.

It has been so fun to see what Koa and Caspian learn from each other.  Koa is eager to teach Caspian things (sometimes incorrectly just to be ornery) but it has been fascinating to see what things Koa actually picks up from Caspian.  As Caspian started going through the stage of wanting to help with everything Koa suddenly started wanting to help out more and would actually be pretty productive when he did.  Unfortunately Caspian also picks up on Koa's attitude sometimes and will argue or talk back to us with the exact same intonation that Koa uses.  It's funny and scary at the same time.

For those of you who missed the announcement, or thought I was saying that Caspian had a new imaginary friend (you know who you are!) you might be interested to know we are expecting another little Zumwalt around here around August 18th.  Put this at the top of the list of reasons this blog has not been updated.  Number two should be, "I'm not as young as I used to be". 

We had our sonogram a couple of weeks ago, but decided at the last minute not to find out the sex again.  We went back and forth for months about whether or not we would but in the end decided to be old fashioned again.  We like the anticipation...or we just like torturing the rest of you. 

This pregnancy has been an interesting combination of the others.  I have craved everything I ever craved with the boys and probably a few more things.  That has subsided now.  I have started to swell like I did with Koa, but not as badly--thank goodness!  I'm learning a lot about using herbs for support this time around.  That has been very intriguing!

At our 16 week appointment Dr. Jen said, "I assume you are not feeling any movement, yet."  I said, "Oh, yeah, I've been feeling the baby move for about a month now.  I can feel the movement externally now."  She got a little worried and said, "Maybe we are way off on your dates."  I directed her attention to Caspian and his constant motion and said, "Or our kids are just really wiggly!"  She agreed.  When we did the sonogram they did decide I was one week farther along.  So, I guess I was 13 weeks when I started feeling little BZ3.  Maybe he/she will be the subdued one! :)

We are considering doing a home birth this time.  We are using the same doctor/midwife as we did with Caspian so have the option of a birth center birth or a home birth.  We are still weighing our options.  Zak will be gone for most of the Summer returning (hopefully) a couple weeks before the birth.  It should prove to be an interesting Summer.  Koa and I were talking through our options this morning for what to do this Summer.  He wants to drive to Virginia again.  I'm not sure I'm up for that, but we might at least make it as far as Colorado.  We will have to see how I am feeling and how things are going around here.

We are accepting any and all suggestions for names for both boys and girls.  One morning I was lying in bed before anyone else awoke and thinking about where we would even begin looking for a name.  Thinking about significant things in our lives and during the time of the birth, I thought, "Well, it will be Summertime.  We are planting a garden.  We live in Portland.  A floral name would be appropriate."  So, I started thinking about the plants already in our garden..."Trumpet Creeper, Nasturtium"....that's about as far as I got before I got the giggles and woke Zak up with all the wiggling.  So, there's our list.  Feel free to add to it as you see fit.

KeikiTweets

17:50 I gave Caspian a piece of plain mango. I was eating some with lime and chili powder. He wouldn't eat his until I added the extra flavors.

17:53 Koa and I were having a heart to heart. He says, "You know when you spank me, you spank Jesus in my heart."

22:25 We did prayer stations at Agape this AM. I got to see Koa wash Zak's feet. Neat way to "do church".

22:29 While reading to Koa out of his Bible he kept asking me if the story of the soldiers being mean to Jesus was in the "Bad Testament.".

KeikiTweets automatically posted via LoudTwitter

KeikiTweets

22:52 Koa has been speaking with accents lately and now he is making up his own language.  Tonight Koa started singing a song in his own language and Caspian joined in his own language. It was quite a commotion!  Maybe they were speaking in tongues to encourage one another! Seminary kids...

KeikiTweets automatically posted via LoudTwitter

KeikiTweets

• 18:03 Testing out my new KeikiTweets Twitter account! Now "The People" can get real-time (daily) updates on the boys rather than bimonthly posts!
• 23:39 Koa says, "If anyone needs me, I have my phone." A little later I heard him "talking" on it saying, "Yeah, I'm just picking up my toys."

KeikiTweets automatically posted via LoudTwitter

Boys Oh Boys!

Oh my, but they are growing!  Caspian is on the move and eating us out of house and home because of it, yet the thighs remain.  At this point in his development Koa had stopped gaining weight and just used every last calorie consumed to propel himself along.  Caspian is movin' and shakin' but he is still a little chunk!  I love it!  I will miss those fat little thighs when they are gone, so I am glad they are stickin' around! 

He had his well-baby check up with Dr. Jen this week and passed with flying colors!  He's right on schedule or just a little ahead for everything developmentally and just at 50th percentile or slightly above for size.  I thought for sure he and Koa would be very different as far as hitting their milestone for motor skills and such, but they are basically on the exact same schedule.  In fact, Koa took his first steps about three days before he turned 10 months old and so did Caspian.  Weird!  Caz is getting more and more confident in his new form of perambulation and is quite pleased with himself.   Lately he has been practicing going up and down the stairs, but he will either stay on the bottom step and hold on to the bannister while he does it, or he will sit at the top and wait for me to come up and then hold on to me as he tries to come down.  It's really fascinating how confident he is and yet how careful he is, too.

His four teeth are just about to become six!  And with more teeth comes more variety in the diet!  He loves that.  He got his mother's ability to eat!  He loves all the fresh fruit and veggies we've been having.  His favorite is strawberries.  He will eat them frozen, fresh, dried, any way he can get them!  We've also had a plethora of peaches lately and he and Koa both have been really enjoying eating them fresh and Caspian likes them in his oatmeal!  We tried Salmon for the first time this week and so far he is not a big fan of that. 

One of my favorite parts of development is language and Caspian is just like the rest of the family in that he is a verbal child!  I love watching him figure out how to communicate with us.  He's starting to learn a few signs and clapping.  He dances to pretty much any song--especially if Koa is singing!  He has two words he uses consistently and they are "Dada" and "tickle-tickle-tickle".  He has a little horse named "Bacon" who has a very fuzzy tail.  When we ask him, "Where's Bacon?"  Sometimes he will say, "Tickle-tickle-tickle" with his little toothy grin.  It's adorable!

Koa's vocabulary also continues to flourish, as well.  He now likes to try to give instructions for things in lecture form.  They don't always make a lot of sense, but he loves to "be in charge"!  The other day Zak and I went out in the yard to play baseball with him and he launched into a monologue about the rules of baseball and told us exactly how to play until we were both ready to come back inside! 

Apparently Koa knows it is "back to school time" because his little mind has really been working on learning lots of new concepts.  He is starting to understand the use of a calendar and will often ask us what day of the week we are going to do something, then he will go look at the week we have printed out and hung on the wall to see if he can figure out which day it is.  He is starting to actually count items instead of just recite numbers.  So, now he likes to count everything!  He also surprised us a couple of days ago by drawing a few letters.  I was especially shocked by that just because he generally shows so little interest in drawing, but he sat down at the table with us to "do homework" while we were working on our Greek and he said, "Look, a T" and he proceeded to draw a "T".  He also drew an "O" and an "H" and tried to draw an "A", but couldn't quite get his lines to touch at the top. 

Today I was trying to study vocabulary for our Greek quiz and he insisted on helping me.  So, he took my flash cards and would say any word in English that came to his mind and I would do my best to give him the Greek counterpart.  Each time he would say something and I would respond he would look a little more surprised.  On about the fifth card he said with a bit of shock in his voice, "I can do it!  I'm really reading!"  I think he was convinced that he was. 

On the days that Zak and I go to Greek Koa gets to go hang out with one of the other seminary families.  They have a little girl in kindergarten and a little boy just a couple of months younger than Koa named Zeke.  Koa loves to be able to go over there!  I can never tell him too early in the day that it is Monday or else he just asks me constantly if it is time to go to the babysitter's yet!  It's tricky getting everyone fed, the kids to the babysitter's and me to Greek when class starts at 12:30 and Caspian usually wakes up from his nap at 12, but I am grateful to have someone close by who is able to watch them during that time. 

Good Little Travelers!

When we started planning this month-long road trip I almost started to develop hives in anticipation of keeping a three year old and an eight month old strapped down for hours at a time.  Well, we have realized that the [near] hives were completely unwarranted!  Koa and Caspian have both done SO well with traveling so far.  When we made our impromptu 12 hour drive into Stafford, VA I think we were pushing the limits just a bit, but neither of them seem to be holding it against us. 

Koa is still most fascinated with his Legos and asks to get his "playgos" out every time we get in the car.  We did reveal another gift we had gotten him which is a dry erase note book for practicing letters, numbers and shapes.  We didn't think ahead of time to establish a rule that he is not really supposed to draw on his brother, but Caspian didn't seem to mind all that much.  Now that we have clarified that the markings seem to stay where they belong and he asks to draw on that almost as often as the Legos.  I am still in shock that we have made it the full distance across the country and have only pulled out those two items.  There have been a couple of other small things and snacks here and there, but other than that Koa has been pretty easy to entertain.  The strawberry fruit snacks that I made and left stuck to the parchment paper for him to unroll and pick off have been a big hit.  They are all gone already. 

Koa has had a lot of people to read stories to him along the way and that has been a lot of fun for him.  He is also getting more and more interested in reading to other people.  He had a little friend at Full Bubble, "Lilily" (Lily), who is about six months older than him and he read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to her several times.

Caspian...well...he has his toes.  So, who needs toys (or snacks) when you have toes.  This is definitely a month of changes for Caspian.  The folks in Portland are not even going to recognize him when we get back.  He is in the process of getting three teeth at once.  He is now a pretty proficient crawler (although he looks a little like Gollum) and is getting better at cruising all the time.  He gets brave once in a while and tries to see if he can stand by himself.  He gets really thrilled by the couple of seconds of success before his bottom meets the ground again!  He is also working on talking a little bit.  He has been saying "Dada" for a while now actually directed at Zak.  One day he said "Mama" right after one of us said it, but it was only one time, so it might have been a fluke.  I think he says "thank you" ("tay-tu") and we think he said "dog" when we were at Becky's house (they have two adorable dogs that both the boys loved!).  He has been working on signing a little bit here and there.  When I say, "More, please." he will give me his hands to help him make the sign.  He occasionally signs "daddy" when I do it first and he has signed "bird" (after me) when we were watching the birds in Grandpa Hunt and Grandma Myrna's yard in Colorado.

When we were in Paris for Full Bubble I would usually take him up to our room to nap during the day.  If we were downstairs and he started to get tired he would snuggle into my chest and act like he was going to sleep, but then he would sit up, wave his hand "bye-bye" and then snuggle in again.  He would do this until I took him upstairs to his bed.  If I didn't "listen" he would get progressively fussier about it.  He got pretty "spoiled" while we were there about getting to go to his own bed and sleep in a nice dark room by himself.  Now we have to fight it out a bit when there is no bed available and he has to go to sleep in my arms.

On Sunday Caspian went to his very first Bible class at North Stafford while Zak and I taught the adult class.  He learned that you cannot live on rice cereal alone, but the Word of God is a necessary part of the diet.  Pictures are being posted, as I type, of his Bible gnawing. 

Caspian has also been using the potty pretty consistently.  If we give him the opportunity and he needs to go he will go shee shee and poo-poo in the big potty.  We're not trying to get him out of diapers any time soon.  We are just giving him the opportunity to get used to using the big potty and he seems to understand the concept just fine.

We just discovered how far behind our photo albums are and submit a public apology to The People.  Sorry.  We (Zak) will get right on that.

Koa's Latest

I know I am really far behind on the posts, so I am going to try to catch up in baby steps.

A while back we took Koa in to see Dr. Jen for his three-year-old well child check up.  This was his very first appointment with Dr. Jen.  We tried to prepare him ahead of time for what would go on since he hasn't been to a doctor for himself in about a year, I think.  We explained that she would listen to his heart and check his eyes and ears and she might ask him to jump or draw something. 

While we were talking with Dr. Jen she asked us if Koa could jump on one foot or draw circles.  Did he know his ABC's?  Apparently someone should have prepared us for the appointment because for a couple of those things we had no idea.  We sat there with blank stares and said, "Um, I don't know.  Koa, can you jump on one foot?"  Finally Jen told us, "These are four-year-old skills.  I already filled out the chart for his three year old skills."  Then she started commenting on his language skills and how they had changed over the past several months--what things had improved etc.

That's when it dawned on me (again) just how fortunate we are to have Jen as our family doctor.  Although she had never seen Koa in her office for anything concerning him, she knew him well enough to be able to fill out all of his skills chart.  How cool is that!  She even said things like, "He's using his pronouns more accurately now."  Maybe she should be writing these blog posts!  I wonder what she would charge for that...

For the most part during the appointment Koa was pretty cooperative (by stubborn three year old standards).  He did not want to even try the "jump on one foot" maneuver, but for several days afterward he spent a lot of time showing us he could do it. 

Anyway, Koa is very healthy and seems to be progressing well in all ways for his age.  We also got to talk to Jen about his vaccinations in order to decide how we should progress with that.  We talked about whether or not our ministry to homeless people should effect any of our decisions.  We have decided to proceed with our original plan to only vaccinate for tetanus right now and chicken pox if he doesn't get the antibodies by the time he is 12-13 years old.  We will follow the same protocol with Caspian except maybe get the tetanus shot a little sooner.  Of course, should we travel or be stationed outside the US all these things shall be reconsidered at that time.

I'm sure I have missed a lot of great stories about Koa, but I was reminded of this one this morning and had to share. 

When Koa was little bitty we started a little routine of laying him down in his crib to sleep and then saying, "Mama loves you.  Daddy loves you.  But you know who loves you the most?  God does."  We figured that was a basic truth from which we could build many other lessons.  So, we have continued that little phrase with Caspian.  However, one night as I was laying Caspian down to sleep, I had a momentary lapse in good grammar and I said, "You know who loves you the mostest?"  And from Koa's bed (where he was supposed to be sleeping!) I hear, "MOSES?  Who's Moses?"  So we had to have a discussion about who Moses is, but that I really meant that God loves him the MOST! 

Right.  Like that was going to work.  Now anytime I say, "You know who loves you the most?"  Koa says, "Moses!"  Three years of teaching down the tubes with one slip of the tongue!  Let that be a lesson to me.

Even more confusing to him is that there is a guy name Moses who picks up our yard debris.  Yeah, Koa, Mommy and Daddy love you, but you know who loves you the most?  The yard guy! 

It's Slobbery Season--For Caspian and the Rest of Portland

On Sunday as we were getting ready to leave the house Koa realized it was raining outside.  He said, "Is it slobbering?" 

Yes, yes it is.  Both indoors and out!

In addition to slobbering, Caspian is picking up some new skills--like sitting on his own.  He's not stable, yet, but he likes to try.  He got to try out a high chair for the first time one evening when we tried a Hawai'ian restaurant called the Ohana Hawai'ian Cafe.  We have been planning to try it every since before I gave birth and we just recently hooked up with Wes and Jessi and gave it a whirl.  It was nice to be surrounded by all things Hawai'ian.  But it was funny because it was L & L food with a bit higher price tag.  I will admit that the ingredients were probably a little higher quality and the ambiance was definitely nicer!

Oh, right, we were talking about Caspian, not food.  Caspian and food...now there's a topic.  This child has had more weird little quirks about eating than you would think is possible for an infant.  He had a bit of a Goldilocks complex for a while.  He didn't like the milk to come to fast, but he also didn't like it to come too slow or that would make him mad.  My breasts apparently have their own quirks and so Caspian would have to choose each time which side he would be satisfied with.  Sometimes he wanted it a little quicker with the right side, but occasionally that was just too much and so he would get mad and absolutely would refuse to eat until I switched sides.  Other times he would not be happy with the much pokier left side and would protest that side.  It really was a crap shoot as to which side would satisfy his pickiness. 

Then he went through a stage where he wouldn't eat if he had been awake for any time at all preceding the feeding.  I would basically just have to wake him up a little early from his nap and feed him right away and we would have no issues at all, but if I waited for any length of time at all or let him wake himself it was all over.  He would just refuse to eat until after the next nap--three to four hours later!

Of course I already blogged about his refusal to eat altogether for 12 hours at a time!  Look at those cheeks!  Can you even believe this child has ever refused an ounce of milk in his short little life?

Anyway, it seems that all of those little quirks are behind us.  Now he pretty much just eats.  Oh, unless someone is around or I am talking or there is any noise at all.  Now he is just easily distracted.  But I think that is a normal quirk for this age.  At the end of each feeding he looks up at me and gives me the biggest grin as if to say, "Thanks for putting up with all of my quirks, Mom.  You have no idea what you have ahead of you!"

Koa has a new fascination with food from the kitchen to the table.  He and Zak have both been helping cook more often and I think that has sparked the interest.  Now when we sit down to eat he will ask me, "What's in this?" or , "I think it tastes like graham crackers."  For a while he would say about many different things, "I can taste the pumpkin."  At any rate, I love that he is interested in his food.  I am excited to plant the garden this summer and let him see where all of this food really comes from (you can see pictures of our garden in the new Gardens at Mult-Home-Ah photo album).  We have mustard seeds growing on our table right now following a couple of Bible lessons on faith and the kingdom of God.  It's a nice little reminder of the lesson that we can keep referring to each time we talk about our plants.  Mustard really does sprout promptly, so it was a great seed to use for immediate gratification (well, almost immediate). 

Next step--chickens.  I wonder if Multnomah would allow us to have live chickens.  Now there's a great lesson in where your food comes from!

Marking Milestones!

Yesterday Caspian turned four months old and today Koa turned three years old, so we have much to record! 

At four months Caspian weighs about 16 pounds, has almost grown out of his six month old clothes and still has the most kissable cheeks imaginable!  He has been a much happier baby lately since I have been off dairy for quite a while.  It seems that it took quite a while to get it all out of our systems, but it has made a big difference for him.  Now if I have even the slightest bit of dairy it really effects him.  The other day I used part of a boxed tomato soup as an ingredient in something I made for dinner and didn't think to check the ingredients.  It turns out it had milk in it and poor Caspian immediately started spitting up and has a terrible diaper rash now!  At least now we know what causes all of his problems and as long as I can avoid dairy like the plague he seems to do really well.

He has been working on rolling a lot lately.  He has the front to back down pat and can usually do it at will.  Occasionally he looks like he knows that he can do it but has forgotten the mechanics of it and he lays there twisting and squirming and looking over his shoulder but can't quite seem to accomplish his goal.  Other times he rolls over in his sleep unintentionally and it wakes him up and makes him mad.  Now he is working on rolling from back to front but has only made it to half way.  He rolls up on his side and just lays there and plays with his hands. 

Caspian seems to be a very goal-oriented kid.  You can see the determination in his face when he finds something that he thinks he can reach/do and he will just stare in that direction and struggle and wiggle like he is willing himself to be able to accomplish the goal.  I don't remember Koa being so focused.  Koa hit all of his motor skills pretty early, but he never looked like he was trying to work on it.  Caspian is all business!

He's starting to grab at things and has discovered his hands which is always fun to see.  He will just be sitting and playing and when his hand catches his eye and he just stops and examines it on all sides for a while and acts completely fascinated.

He continues to have very tiny little smiles.  Even when he laughs his smiles are pretty small.  His little giggles are just so sweet, though.  He prefers to be upright, so he spends quite a bit of time each day in his little jumper and is really starting to bounce a lot in that and can spin himself around to look in whichever direction he wants.

He has also started to become very demanding from time to time and we have started training him to "talk in his nice voice".  One morning when I got up to feed him in the wee hours he decided the milk just was not coming fast enough and was screaming in this very high-pitched squeally voice.  I let him know that was not acceptable and then laid him down for a minute or two until he calmed down.  Then we tried again.  He did fine the next time around and he was less squeally in general after that.  It's amazing how quickly they can learn good or bad habits and how early this all starts! 

He still gets very demanding about wanting to be in his bed to sleep and will gripe at us if we try to get him to go to sleep elsewhere.  He will eventually give in with less of a fight than Koa ever would at this age.  Today we had him out in the yard and it was nice and sunny.  Zak was just sure he would want to take a nap in the sunshine (and get a little dose of vitamin D), but he was quite sure he did NOT want to sleep in the yard, so close to his cozy bed.  We eventually brought him in the house and he immediately snuggled in and went to sleep.  He's very easy to put to bed.  I've got to be thankful for that! 

We celebrated three years with Koa last night by having friends over for dinner and ice cream.  Koa adores spaghetti, so we had spaghetti with meat sauce and Caesar salad and roasted garlic bread sticks.  Koa specifically asked for an ice cream cone for his birthday, so I bought some cones and made two batches of ice cream--roasted banana (with coconut milk) and chocolate peanut butter.  

Koa called all the people he wanted to come and invited them to come celebrate his birthday.  It was pretty cute watching him act all grown up and working on his phone manners.  The only little kid he called was his friend Caleb.  When Koa asked him to come to his birthday Caleb immediately started singing "Happy Birthday." 

Dinner ended up being a lot more hectic than I had hoped it would be because Zak and I were working on our Greek assignment all morning and I didn't get things prepped as I had hoped I would.  So dinner was a little more hectic than I had hoped it would be.  It was still lots of fun because everyone just pitched in and we had fun cooking together and visiting until dinner time.   

Today he has been enjoying some of the things he got for his birthday from his friends.  We spent some time out in the yard working in our garden and riding his new little tricycle.  You can find some pictures of our fun day in his brand new three year old photo album.  After that we came inside and planted some seeds indoors in preparation for the coming season of planting!  Koa got just the right tools for helping with that!