A Typical Dinner

 

Dinners in the Koch household are anything but fancy. It usually consists of us trying to convince both kids to eat while shoving our face with food.  Claire is the SLOWEST eater on the planet and Henry has little interest in table food. Claire spends the whole meal taking one bite every five minutes while asking 100 random questions and Henry is whining/crying because me sitting two feet away from him is not the same as holding him. After the questions are over, Claire then proceeds to start trying to make Henry laugh. Henry gives in to her crazy faces/noises and it then becomes a circus at the dinner table. Both kids are laughing/screaming and Paul and I are begging for some silence. Actually it’s pretty funny. Claire eventually eats her dinner about an hour later right before bed.

On a side note: Happy New Year! 2011 has been great for us and looking forward to a great 2012 with hopefully more sleep!  

Holiday Happenings

 

Merry Christmas, hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We had a great weekend starting our own traditions with the kids. Claire has been really into Christmas this year, so it’s been a lot of fun for us to hype everything up.

Christmas Eve started off with a ride in our “sleigh”. Paul needed an arm workout. 

 

 

Then it was time for baking and frosting sugar cookies. Well, I did most of it as Claire took a spoon of frosting and ate it the whole time.

  

Henry watched football with Daddy without his pants. He is going to be our nudist child I think.

Then it was time to prep our stuff for Santa. We left out our cookies, milk, and carrots for the reindeer.

 

Christmas morning was a lot of fun. Meema and Boopa arrived late Christmas Eve so seeing them and all the gifts gave Claire quite a thrill. She LOVED the birthday hat from Santa. Afterwards we had to sing “Happy Birthday” to everyone multiple times. Throughout the day she kept saying it was her birthday. Opening gifts took awhile since she played with every gift she opened. Henry enjoyed the paper and trying to take whatever Claire was playing with, pretty typical. Overall it was a wonderful Christmas and great to have Meema and Boopa here. It’s wonderful to finally have a home to start our own traditions.

 

Ten Months

 

 

 

Happy Ten Months Henry!

 

Here’s what you’ve been up to the last few weeks:

• You took your first step and continue to take a step here and there, terrifying me.
• You are a dancing machine and bob your head whenever you hear music.
• Chasing Ria is a favorite daytime activity pulling her fur. You squeak when you see her run by.
• Pulling ornaments off the tree despite our cage that is around the tree.
• You love Claire’s bed and I think you are constantly trying to figure out ways to climb in it.
• Claire’s hair is your favorite pull toy.
• You decided getting an ear infection this week would be a great Christmas present for your parents. Thank you. We really don’t need sleep.

 

Claire wanted to join in on the sticker fun too:

 

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

 

Claire had her Christmas program on Friday and it was absolutely adorable. Her class sang Jingle Bells, well, only about three children in her class did.

 

 

 

I apologize if you can hear my singing, I got caught up the Christmas spirit.

 

 

In other news, Claire spent her first night in her big girl bed, it was a success so far and she’s very excited sharing with people her new sleeping arrangement.

Also, this is what Henry does every time the pantry is open:

It’s a nice 15 minute break for me without him climbing up my leg. If only I can get him to eat real food…

A Bumblebee and Birthday Hat

 

Yesterday morning we went to a Breakfast with Santa event at the country club here in our neighborhood. Since we aren’t members we were invited by our neighbors, which was very nice. It was a lot of fun. It was also very nice to not wait in long lines. I have been prepping Claire for her big Santa moment by asking her what she wants for Christmas, her response, “A bumblebee and birthday hat!”. I have no idea where the bumblebee came from, it might be from seeing bumblebees at Halloween.  She has been wanting a birthday hat for awhile, ever since we started going to her classmates’ birthday parties. I can’t complain, those are some pretty simple wishes. The big moment came with Santa and she did what most other kids do and clung on to Paul for her dear life. She was not into sitting on his lap.

We convinced Claire to tell Santa what she wanted and she did still cling to Paul, he might even have some bruises from that grip she had!

 

We don’t go out to each much so I was impressed with how long the kids stayed at our table. Santa was right behind us and Claire kept turning around and waving to him throughout the meal. Maybe next year we can convince her to sit on his lap.

   

Poor Claire then decided to get an ear infection last night and while waiting in urgent care, vomit all over the waiting room and then my car on the way home. Thankfully she slept last night and is feeling better this morning.  Poor little girl, it’s a pajama day for her!

O’ (Fake) Christmas Tree

I know, I know, before I get crap from Oregonians about our choice of a fake tree, we are saving our real tree seeking efforts until the kids are at an age where they know the difference. For now, the fake one will do for a few years.  We got our tree today and it was a lot of fun seeing the kid’s different reactions. Claire has been talking about a Christmas tree nonstop for a week now. She was SO happy to see the tree after her nap.

Henry giving Daddy a hand.

Claire giving her helping hand as well. Someday we’ll teach her that a box was once a tree and that trees grow in the ground. For now, she knows Christmas trees come out of boxes.

While they were napping we set up the tree. Henry was the first awake and you can see why we put the tree in a play yard. Right away he tried grabbing the lights/ornaments.
Claire woke up and helped me finish the last of the ornaments.  Yes, she often takes longer naps than Henry.  If only I can convince Henry to sleep long stretches like Claire…

The Best $20 We Have Spent

 

For anyone with kids the best toy is an IKEA tunnel.  Aunt Teresa got one for Claire in Oregon about a year ago and she was terrified of it, so it became a cat toy. We got one when we moved here, now the kids LOVE it. Henry had no fear crawling through a few months ago and Claire thinks it’s hilarious. The only downside is Claire likes to lay on top of it and sometimes Henry is in the tunnel. She forgets that Henry is not a two year old playmate from school.

 

She insisted on wearing the hat all day yesterday.

  

 

This is how my day has been going lately since now Henry is really good at pulling up and trying to walk. He is a constant attachment to my leg and by the end of the day I have slobber/drool all over my pants. No wonder I only wear exercise clothes ALL the time.

Who Brought This Hat?

Claire’s really into asking who brought or gave her every single item she touches. Mostly just shoes and hats. It’s pretty cute. Her favorite item is this hat:
Paul got this hat while touring a timber company in Oregon. She wants to take it everywhere we go.  I have limited her wearing it to the car, home, and the occasional Target trip. I have my limits with camo wear.