Hot Dog

Kai: "When I grow up, I want to be a fireman, policeman, ambulance driver, doctor, taxi driver, teacher, store keeper, woman, and hot dog."

"I Gotta Feeling"

Check out this video of "I Gotta Feeling" on Oprah!

Kai watches this video at least once a day. We all dance around the living room trying to do the moves. If we are out at a store or in the car and hear the song, he says, "It's MY song!" His favorite part is the woman dancing by herself in the beginning. As the song picks up momentum, he says, with great excitement, "EVERYONE DANCE NOW!" And, we join in the crowd!

Who can blame him for being addicted to this great show? It's contagious.

Cleaning Up

So, Kai attends Sunny Hollow Montessori School, just about 5 minutes away from our house in St. Paul. He also attended a toddler Montessori program last year, so he is well versed in the ways of Montessori.

His teachers ("guides") informed us at conferences last week that he is doing wonderful and they can see how prepared he was for school this year (he is in the "children's house" with 3-6 year olds...although he is not quite 3 yet). His guide said that she has never had to ask him to clean up his "work" or push in his chair etc. He flows perfectly from activity to activity.

Yesterday, at home, Kai decided to throw every single toy he owns in the middle of the family room. He wasn't upset, just thrilled to be doing some throwing. I took a deep breath and just said, calmly, "Well, it looks like you will have some cleaning up to do after you are done," and continued cooking dinner.

Well, let's just say that one hour later, there were no toys picked up and I kept asking and asking and asking....and he kept saying no over and over again. So, finally, I said, very exasperated, "Kai-- you need to pick up your toys now. I feel very sad that you haven't done so and we need to get ready to eat."

He came over to me and very gently stroked my hair and patted my cheek and gave me a hug and said, "Mama, I am sorry you are sad. Let me love you a little to make you feel better." I smiled thinking that he finally got it. But, then, after more kisses he said in a whisper quietly in my ear, "But, you are going to have to still pick up all of MY toys!!"

Truly. Now, what would Maria Montessori think about that?

Seriously....


(By the way, at conferences she also said that Kai has a very "well developed" sense of humor. She said she hasn't seen an almost three year old "get" humor in the way that Kai does....then, the guides laughed saying, "You better watch out in a couple of years...")

KT's Blessingway

I truly am so lucky that so many wonderful women in my life are pregnant. Kt Huber is due on Christmas and since we have been 16 years old, we have dreamed of having babies at the same time. It's almost too much to think that our dream came true!! For those of you who need a reminder, Kt and I met at Camp St. Croix and spent years as counselors together. She has also been my #1 adventure companion-- we went to Northern Ireland together for a summer and spent months traveling and volunteering in Central America.

It is so much fun to think that her adventure in motherhood is just about to begin!

Molly Cooney, Katie Pfaff, and I planned a non-traditional baby shower for Kt called a "Blessingway." It comes from the Navajo Native American tradition and it was truly one of the most special things I have been apart of.

We did a lot of different rituals, all focusing on Kt and her transition into motherhood. Here are some of the highlights--pampering Kt with a foot soak, hand and neck rubs; putting together a labor necklace for her to use, stringing a web of support, and of course, lots of eating!

Sevien

Here he is.....Sevien!!! Our dear friends Andrea, Randy, & Soren have a new addition to their household and we are so happy for them.

We had been "on call" for the last couple of weeks waiting for the little guy to make his appearance (and for us to hang out with Soren) and it looks like Sevi was just waiting for us to go out of town to make his grand entrance!

Soren is Kai's best buddy and we are anxious for Sevi to meet our little gal in March.

We met Andrea, Randy, and Soren when the boys were just a month or so at our ECFE class at Sullivan School. Soren and Kai are 3 days apart in age and they only live 3 blocks away.

Andrea and I have truly lived through every stage of parenting together....you know, those phone calls when you need a friend to remind you that although you haven't slept through the night in weeks (well, in our case, years) things will get better. Or someone to take a walk with and talk about slings, baby food, time outs and crabby husbands (hee hee...)

And, now, our next babies will be only a few months apart too. I laugh though because I assumed the second time around we would know so much more than before with our first children. But, already while watching Andrea, I realize I have forgotten so much! Thank God this time she will be have a few months experience to guide me through....

Oh, and the BEST news is that Ivy is pregnant too (in the top photo it is Andrea (Sevi), Me, and Ivy). We met Ivy and her daughter Helen just a few months after we began ECFE classes. She is the third side to our triangle of support. Ivy is about 8 weeks behind me with her pregnancy. So, the gang will all be getting bigger!!!

These photos were taken at Andrea's "Meet and Greet" for Sevi this weekend......

Duluth

We joined Joe in Duluth this week for a couple of nights. It was such a treat to have uninterrupted fun with Kai. While Joe was at work, Kai and I checked out the aquarium, watched the ships, chased some seagulls, threw rocks into Lake Superior, and just explored! Then, when Joe came home, the fun kept coming-- the last photo is of us at a Thai Restaurant (Kai has entered into a wonderful phase where it's easy to go out to eat with him, as long as it's noodles!) and I'm not sure what Kai is doing to Joe's nose. I think he missed his lips!

Comics

One of the things that I love most about Joe is that he laughs when he reads the comics. I mean, really laughs. Think about this: first, when is the last time you read the comics and second, when is the last time you had a belly laugh over them? If you are me, the answer is rarely.

Well, Joe doesn't just stop at the comics. You can hear him laughing from the basement when watching T.V. too. And, it looks like Kai is following in his footsteps.

Look what I saw the other day....Yep, Kai laughing while turning the funnies!

Santa

Kai: Mama, how does Santa bring me presents?

Molly: He flies through the air with reindeer.

Kai: You know, Mama, that's a little bit weird.

Babies

Kai just cracks us up all of the time.

The other day, I was listening to him play with a couple of his friends here at our house. I heard him say:

"Now, I am the mommy. I have a baby in my belly. Wait, I have to throw up (insert throwing up noises). Oh, good. I made it to the sink."

You might think he has a good imagination (yes) but unfortunately for me this is what he experienced during the first trimester of my pregnancy.

Yes, this is the same reason why you notice hardly any posts from this summer. Pretty much all of July and August were filled with (insert that same noise now). Ugh!!

But, I'm feeling great now. I am in that wonderful stage of pregnancy where you wish you could be pregnant forever. I know this will end, but I'm going to glow as long as I can.

Today, on the way home from school, Kai said:

"You know, Mommy, after Nonny's birthday, and Daddy's birthday, and Santa's birthday (umm, a little confused here...), and my birthday, and Pop's birthday and then my baby sister's birthday, well, Daddy is going to become a woman."

I asked him why and he said because he wanted two mommies.

This whole two mommies thing!!! A couple of his friends at school have two moms and he keeps asking if he can have another mama too. He will just bring it up out of the blue. Usually he ends the conversation by saying he thinks five mamas and five daddies would be the best. He loves the number FIVE. I think he may be moving to Utah when he is older....

My boys

I often think, especially during this time when it is starting to be cold, that snuggling with my two boys has got to be on my top 10 list of favorite things to do. Look at what I found tonight in bed when I came back from a meeting.....so sweet and lucky me, they are all mine!

My Belly

23 weeks and I've popped!!!

Up until this point, people have been saying..."Wait, you're pregnant?!!" and "For your second baby, you don't look very big..."

But, all those comments have stopped!! I seriously gained 7 lbs. in just a few days. This baby girl is growin' (I guess I'm talking about both of us!)

Like Father, Like Son

So, would you think this face would scare an almost three year old?




THINK AGAIN!!! Kai loved his dad's costume!!

Halloween

(We dressed up for Halloween for weeks leading up to the big day...Here is the dragon costume for outdoor cold weather.)

( Here is the pirate costume he wore basically every day!)

(Here is actually not a Halloween costume, but it's too cute to not include. My friend, Tricia, from Kai's new school (Sunny Hollow Montesorri) took this photo of Kai while at his school's Fall Festival this year.)

It seems that Kai loves Halloween just as much as we do!! He had several costumes, talked about the big day for weeks, and toured the "scary houses" (our neighborhood goes a bit nuts with the decorations) with Joe in the bike trailer the week leading up to Halloween. Then, for the third year in a row, we went trick or treating with our neighbors (along with Molly Cooney, Anne, and my mom). I loved that Kai was more interested in saying hello to the neighbors and checking out the pumpkins and decorations then he was about the candy.

I was surprised that he was never scared by the actual scary decorations (One house had a cemetery, mummies, witches, ladies who are groaning and crawling through the grass (Kai: "Look at the swimming lady!") etc. But, he did tell Joe after seeing some blow-up, cartoon (and very mild and pleasant) decorations that he was scared by them. Go figure!!