Now That's Customer Service!

Yesterday afternoon I took the boys for some much-needed grocery shopping to Trader Joe's. We already were huge Trader Joe's fans, but yesterday's events brought our loyalty to even higher levels. Noah had taken a 3 hour nap for the first time in about a month, so I guess I should have known that something was up. However, he was acting normally, so I suspected nothing. Well, as we approached the checkout line, he started whimpering and a minute later emptied what seemed like the entire contents of his stomach all over himself, the front of the shopping cart and the floor all around where we were standing. It was most definitely quite gross. Several employees immediately rushed over to help clean up the big mess. The manager suggested that I take the boys to the restroom to clean up while they ran my things through the checkout. While in the restroom, an employee came knocking on the door with a t-shirt for Noah (we didn't have extra clothes with us) and asked if there was anything else they could help me with. After Noah was as cleaned up as I could get him, we walked back to the checkout, with Noah dressed only in a diaper and the t-shirt which fit him like a dress - he looked really disheveled but quite cute. When we found our checkout lane, the manager motioned over to a cart and said, "Here is your cart, ma'am." I noticed a beautiful bouquet of flowers in the cart and said, "No, that's not my cart, I didn't buy any flowers today." He insisted that it was my cart, saying that the flowers were for me! Not only that, but when I pulled out my wallet to pay for all the groceries, he said, "No, no. Your groceries have already been paid for." I was totally speechless and almost brought to tears by such an act of kindness!

Savannah

We're home again after spending a week in Savannah with Mormor and Morfar. It was wonderful to see them as well as Staffan, Denise, Liv and our newest cousin Oskar who all came down for the weekend from Atlanta. This was our first 'vacation' since becoming a family of four and it definitely was more work than relaxation, which is of course to be expected with two little ones. By the end of the week, Phil was looking forward to going back to work for some down time :)

Noah had a great time bonding with his grandparents - even though he hadn't seen them for over 5 months, he ran right up the ramp at the airport to greet them with big smiles and a hug. Some of Noah's highlights from the week were: spending hours with Morfar on the floor playing with Morfar's antique toy car collection; trying his hand at fishing again (this time the pole actually made it into his hands) in the little lagoon by the house; eating lots of Mormor's delicious meals; playing with cousin Liv; lots of trips to the island's 3 playgrounds; attempting to bake pumpkin muffins with Mamma; a wonderful walk on the beach that included a fully-dressed belly flop into the waves; not a single nap; trying again and again to convince us that the pool was warm enough for swimming; first ever pony ride; and lots of fresh air.

Kai got to participate in mostof the above activities, though in a more passive form - usually in someone's arms, a baby carrier or a stroller. He seemed to enjoy all the stimulation but definitely did not sleep as well as he has been doing at home. Mormor and Morfar, who had only met him right after his birth, enjoyed getting to know Kai better. He charmed them with lots of smiles and cooing.

Phil did get out on the golf course a few times and squeezed in a couple of jogs. Ebba enjoyed not having to cook for a week and was definitely able to relax just being away from the daily demands of managing our household. We did enjoy a childfree evening and went out for a delicious meal at the New South Cafe - a rare, pleasant date.

Here are pictures from our week:

At Noah's Ark playground

Swinging together

Eating flour

Sitting in the firetruck

Strolling with cousin Liv

Puzzles with Liv

Posing on the couch

Stroller pose

Static slide

Cousin Oskar - 6 weeks

Tybee Island beach

Fun on the beach

Post-belly flop

Kai gets a bath

Kai with Morfar

Playing with cars

Hot dogs and barbecue

Fishing in the lagoon

Pony Ride

Gone on Vacation

We are in Savannah for a week with Mormor and Morfar (Ebba's parents). The day before we left was the most productive day that I think I've had in a VERY long time. Somehow, the deadline of going away for a week got me to accomplish quite a list: chiroprator appointment, drug store, music class, bought new shoes for Noah, picked up some pumpkins from a pumpkin patch (finally!! - more on that later), lunch and nap/quiet time, prepared a mailing for my Swedish Women's organization, 3 loads of laundry washed-folded-even ironed a few things, 2 bathrooms cleaned, post office to send off my Swedish mailing, library drop-off to return 11 overdue books of Noah's, car wash (it broke down while we were in the middle of it!), run to the store to get some snacks for the trip, drop off keys/instructions with neighbors who are helping us with cat and milk delivery, dinner and baths and bedtime for the boys, dinner for us, pack our bags. And we even were in bed by 11:00! I need to pretend to go on trips more often.

So we made it down to Savannah in one piece, though traveling with 2 small children ceratinly is exhausting. I thought it would be much easier since I had traveled by myself with the two boys this summer, but instead of one exhausted adult, we ended up with two! Overall, though, the boys did very well and now we are relaxing and enjoying time with mormor and morfar. We will post pictures about our trip when we are back home again next week.

2-year-olds.....

Just had to make a note of this......Yesterday while running into Cub Foods for a couple of items, Noah decided to holler completely out of the blue and at the top of his lungs: "There's no poo-poo, just a cute little butt!"

Friday Morning Snuggles

We had a busy week of play dates, appointments and just the regular daily errands. This morning, we just had a lazy morning at home, which was SO nice. Here is a picture of the boys hanging out together:

Kai Loves Daddy

This is how Kai responds to daddy when he comes home from work:

"Beautiful"

Lately, Noah has taken to using the word 'beautiful' when he sees something. When we went to a pumpkin patch a few weeks ago, he kept running up to the pumpkins saying, "Look, it's a beautiful pumpkin!" Yesterday, when he climbed into his chair for lunch, he looked at the plate and said, "A beautiful cheese toast." And this morning, as he was wandering around the dining room, he stopped and said, "Look what I found - a beautiful crumb!"

Inside Voice

Like many 2-year-olds, Noah often has difficulty with volume control, especially indoors. He loves to scream and shriek and holler in a very loud and shrill voice. We've been trying to teach him to save those sounds for outside or for down in the basement - with pretty mixed results. A few days ago when Noah and I were having lunch, he started one of those headache producing shrieks. In a somewhat exasperated tone, I told Noah, "Please, find your inside voice." So he started looking around the room and all of a sudden he pointed to a corner and said, "There it is." I thought that was so cute! So I told him, "Now catch it and stuff it into your mouth," which he did. Then I said, "Now, use it!" Which he did for at least a short little while. So now that's the new thing to do. I'm sure the novelty of it will wear off soon, but for now it has at least a temporary effect.

More Brotherly Love

Last night I was busy making dinner when Noah came over with a book that he wanted me to read. It just wasn't a good time for me to drop everything and read so I said, "Why don't you read to Dewey over on the green couch or to Baby Kai?" Apparently that was a good suggestion because Noah wandered off, book in hand. Kai was on the floor in a bouncy chair not too far away from me, gurgling and chewing on something. A few minutes later I was at the sink doing something when I heard Noah coming back in my general direction....a few seconds later, I turned around and saw him trying to lift Kai out of the bouncy chair! He had one arm around Kai's head and the other kind of around his waist. Kai looked perfectly happy but it certainly did not look very safe and I quickly ran over to prevent any damage from happening. "Noah! What are you doing!" I yelled out in the process. "Reading to Baby Kai," was his answer. I looked over to the green couch and saw his book propped up on a pillow. "Were you going to bring Kai over to the green couch?" I asked. "Yeah," answered Noah. So I explained that Dewey can read with him on the couch, but if he wants to read with Kai he has to sit down next to Kai and absolutely not try to move him. So Noah went off towards the couch. Well a couple of minutes later, when I glanced over, Noah was just sitting down on top of Kai in the bouncy chair! Again, Kai seemed perfectly content with the situation. And I had to explain to Noah that sitting next to Kai does not mean that he can climb into the bouncy chair. So I modeled to Noah how to sit next to Kai and read the book to him. I guess Noah had enough of this activity by now and moved on to playing with cars which allowed me to finish dinner!

Farmer's Market

This morning we decided to go to the St Paul Farmer's Market. Almost everything sold there is produced within 50 miles of the market and sold by the farmers themselves. It's a really neat place. Unfortunately, we forgot to pack a stroller for Noah - he is perfectly capable of walking around the market on his own two feet, but it ends up being stressful for the parent who has the job of keeping track of him since there is a lot of activity and many people milling about. Noah has the 2-year-old knack of slipping out of our hands and taking off fast - he just thinks our attempts at catching him are hilarious, which of course makes him go faster! It's such a nice place to just stroll around at a leisurely pace, checking out the produce and other things for sale. Apparently, Noah does not yet share this opinion. Though he did stop long enough to steal a carrot; when we returned it, the nice farmer smiled at Noah and gave it back to him. Today we took turns chasing after Noah and also managed to pick up: beets, leeks, tomatoes (they have been heavenly), potatoes, eggplant, as well as our very favorite breakfast sausage from Prairie Pride Farm.

Ebba, Noah and the stolen carrot

Phil and the carrot stealer

...and Kai just slept the morning away!

Our Cow

A couple of months ago, we decided to start drinking raw milk. We had been reading about the benefits provided by raw milk on and off for a while and decided to give it a go after one of our neighbors found a reliable source at an organic farm over in Wisconsin. Since it is illegal to sell it for human consumption, the way they get around it is to sell you a share of a cow - that way, you are drinking milk from your own cow, which is perfectly legal. The milk is so creamy and absolutely delicious - Noah could drink a gallon a day if we let him; he asks for milk all the time. We are definitely hooked! It is kind of a trek to get to the farm - though a very beautiful one. Since our neighbor also goes, we each take turns going once a month, so it's not too bad. The milk freezes and thaws very well without losing any nutritional content so we can stock up on each trip. You can also buy other things from the farmers - eggs, free range chickens, organic beef, cream, eggs, kefir, even cow colostrum!! This Saturday was our turn to go. Both boys fell asleep on the ride over. It was a gorgeous, sunny day. The rolling hills were all different shades of red, orange, yellow and still some green. What a beautiful drive. Noah woke up at the farm and enjoyed running about looking at tractors, chasing some hens and looking for the cows. Then back into the car to bring home a few more gallons of milk from our very own Wisconsin cow.

Cows from "our" farm:

Bicycle Fashion

Noah acquired new boots yesterday, and although it has not rained since he got them, he refuses to wear anything but his new boots when we go outside. This afternoon we decided to take a spin on the tricycle while dinner was in the oven:

Brotherly Love

Mmmm...chewing on this rattle feels soo good on my poor teething gums.


Hey! What do you think you're doing!

Mmmm....chewing on this rattle feels so good on my 2-year molars that are coming in.


Okay, okay.....here you go, you can have it back now.

Stuck

As I have mentioned earlier, Kai is getting more mobile and moving all over his crib. Usually, this eventually leads to this problem:


Which leads to this very cute pout:

Which of course leads to crying (I finally put the camera down and picked him up before he got to that point).

"You're Cute!"

Little kids' naked butts are just the cutest things, aren't they? When Noah runs around naked, which he quite enjoys, I usually tell him "you're so cute". Lately, if Noah is around when I am in any state of undress (which pretty much is any morning when I'm getting ready) he stops, looks at me, and says, "Mamma, you're cute!". Since I still have some abdominal baggage left over from the latest pregnancy (and several other areas that could use some toning) and don't necessarily feel all that cute in my birthday suit, those words are very sweet to hear!

Out for Dinner

It's rare that we take the whole family out for dinner - it's just sometimes more work and stress than it is worth, plus it can be a grumpy time of day, especially if Noah hasn't napped. But after so many sleep-interrupted nights, I thought Phil's idea of going out for a meal last night sounded wonderful. Fortunately, both Kai and Noah cooperated by taking long naps in the afternoon so they were in quite chipper moods. We went over to Hudson, Wisconsin to a Neapolitan pizza place that is family friendly. Their pizzas taste like authentic Italian pizzas and the salads are delicious. Noah behaved very well and enjoyed greeting waiters and other customers, drawing pictures(scribbling) and reading a book while he waited for his artichoke pizza. Though once his pizza arrived, it appeared that his appetite for artichokes is waning as he was more than willing to let daddy eat some of them - and Noah rarely lets anyone come within a foot of his plate. Noah also discovered that he likes dried cranberries and feta cheese - he decided to pick my salad clean of those two items. Kai was rested and had tanked-up on mama's milk before we left, so he was perfectly content to watch his surroundings first from his car seat, then from daddy's lap. It was really a very pleasant Sunday evening outing.

Kai Branches Out into the Food World

This weekend we decided to see what Kai would think of some rice cereal. Noah was very eager to start solids and had just passed the 4 month mark when he started grabbing for our food. Here's a picture of Noah during one of his first meals:

As you can see, he was an eager and focused participant from the very start!

Kai has not quite shown the same interest, but we remember Noah beginning to sleep better after he started on solids, so in an attempt to see if it would have any effect on sleep patterns, we thought we'd give it a shot. Kai was very willing to open his mouth for his first spoonful of cereal but most of it ended up back out on the outside. That stuff really doesn't look too appetizing, so I can't blame him! He did get some of it down, but turned away after a few spoonfuls which was clearly a sign that he had had enough. The naturopath that we took Noah to last year to address some respiratory issues actually recommended starting babies with certain types of fruits and veggies, and waiting a bit longer with the grains. So I think I will refer to that list and maybe try Kai again in a few days with some fruit. Here is Kai with his first non-mother's milk meal:

Hmmmmmm....

This bib tastes better than that stuff they are trying to give me!

Week in Review

Sleep Deprivation
Over the past 2 weeks or so, Kai has decided that he needs to wake up and eat again every 3-4 hours at night. I know eating can increase during growth spurts, but I don't remember those episodes lasting this long. He does appear to be teething, so that may be part of it. But by now, I wonder if it's just become a bad habit, since he was going 9-10 hours of sleep at night without eating. After all, like one of my friends here put it, if you figure out that you can wake up every 3 hours and demand and then get served pizza and ice cream, why not continue? Which I guess was her way of saying that I might want to consider letting Kai cry it out when he wakes up during the night. But then the whole house would potentially be up as well, and right now, I guess it's nice to limit the sleep deprived members of the house to Kai and me. Plus he really does seem to eat quite a bit at night. Which leads me to my other theory, which is that he really isn't eating as well during the day time right now because he is more interested in looking at what's going on around him. At night, it's just the dark room plus it's really quiet. I've tried finding quieter spots during the daytime, but with Noah around, that's pretty much impossible. On a positive sleep note, Noah has napped 4 out of 5 days this week so far, which is practically a miracle. He is a great night sleeper (12 hours solid), but has been an on and off napper since late winter/early spring. I have been getting Kai one good feeding when Noah naps, but that doesn't seem to have an effect on the nighttime situation. Thank goodness for my morning cup of coffee.

Names
Lately, Noah is into giving names to his toys. Last night, he told me that the lobster bathtub toy is named "Cricket". I've started asking him what different things name's are, because it's funny to see what pops out of his mouth. Here are George (blue duck) and Birdie (red):

Noah is very much into acting out scenes with George and Birdie and is constantly talking to them and asking them questions. "What are you looking at George? There's nothing there. Silly goose." Noah is also occasionally assigning names to characters in books, particularly if they are not named in the book. Right now, the name of choice for book characters is 'Max'.

Firsts
This week Kai for the first time went into his little entertainment station, or whatever you call these things:
He was intrigued by the various toys attached to it, but didn't really attempt to grab any of them. After a few minutes, he was much more interested in watching Noah from his new perch:

Noah for the first time this week created his own train track! So far he had only really put together a few track pieces and would push his trains back and forth. One day this week while I was tidying up the kitchen, I heard Noah making a lot of his frustration sounds. I eventually stuck my head down to peak at what he was doing, and he had gathered up all of the tracks and made a loop! He was not quite able to get the last two pieces to come together so I did have to help him with that. There was probably some luck involved with this accomplishment, but I'm sure the repetition of us making them together has also helped. Here is a picture of Noah's first loop:Playing
We went over to Katherine's house for a play date which Noah always gets excited about. They are so cute together - at some point, they always end up holding hands and walking together (not managed to capture that on a picture yet, but I hope to soon). Although parallel play is still the norm for 2 year olds, Noah and Katherine do interact quite a bit as well when they get together. Noah loves going to Katherine's house because it means he gets to raid Sam's (Katherine's brother) truck, car and train collection which is quite impressive since Sam is 5 and has had some time to let it grow. This week, poor Katherine was desperately trying to get Noah to do some arts and crafts with her but he wanted nothing to do with it. After doing some finger painting on her own, she reluctantly sat down next to Noah and started help build a train track. Eventually, she did get him to come over and play with some playdough - they ended up spending a good 20 or so minutes making playdough waffles and other food items for eachother.

Playdough Fun

Kai watches the action from the sidelines