Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Coen Reads

Coen has been into spelling out words and "reading" them. It started at a restaurant a few weeks ago. They gave him a sippy cup with some oj in it. Brodie and I were talking and Coen says "P-L-A-Y-T-E-X says juice mama" reading the lid of the cup. A few days later at the house he was reading the milk carton and says "M-I-L-K says ootz!" *ootz= milk in Coen language

Now he is continually "pelling" things to us from things he sees. Signs, books, license plates...you name it! The other day we were in the car and he says "X-R-Q-S, CLOUDS mama!" Hahah. It is so stinking adorable. I am so close to labeling our house for him. He is very interested in reading and letters its amazing!

I finally got a video of him while we were working on our sight words. I had the ipad propped so he could see himself and this is the video I got...


Thursday, April 11, 2013

Happy Anniversary!

best picture I could get

Today is the 4th anniversary of the day we adopted Jackson. He is formally named Fast Action Jackson Stenquist, but his boy calls him Jacksy Puppy. We love you so much you furball stinker! Take care of this boy, and I promise you can eat almost any food he drops on the floor :)

I tried to get a good picture of them both...this is how most of them went... both were too eager to get going.







Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Beautiful Spring

Throwing rocks in the river is the best!

The end of March was gorgeous with 70 degree temps and bright sunny days. It also brought the seeding and pollenating of about 50,000 different plants/shrubs and trees. Luckily I am only allergic to about 10,000. Anywho, it was obvious to us this spring that Coen also gets seasonal allergies. He was back on "buh-ger" patrol. VERY aware of any drip-age of his nose (even when there wasn't at all) and quickly informed that he had buh-gers and needed them to be immediately wiped! Hahaha. This, however, hasn't kept us inside much.

Coen and I joined a couple of our close friends for a hike in the back of Camelsback. This was a toddler led hike, where we chose the trail and the kiddos chose the pace. The route we took was about 1.5-2 miles but has a variety of scenery and toddler level challenges in it (bridges to cross, narrow trail sections, a transition through a parking lot). Anyway, between the 7 kids (2.25-3) it takes us just about an hour and half (with a snack/water break on a couple of boulders). This gives the kids JUST enough leftover energy to visit the playground for some slides and swings. I didn't get any pics this time, but since this is a new weekly adventure we are doing, I will get plenty next week.

As far as Coen and things to update on him, I really don't have much different to say this month! He continues to be an active silly little man. His language skills seem relatively clear and he has a large vocabulary. His questions and responses are more and more understandable, though he still stutters when he is incredibly excited. He is definitely becoming more adventurous physically. He climbs up playground equipment so much easier and faster. He even wanted to be in the jump houses at recent events! He didn't jump much, but he stood around/fell/sat and laughed and smiled the whole time. It was pretty funny. He also went through his week of eating all morning long, from waking till nap time...and then pick and fuss the rest of the day at meal time. Its not like he is eating bad things either! Lots of fruit, Dave's bread and eggs. As long as he attempts some bites of dinner, I am not worried about how much he is eating. Its just one more power struggle in these delicate years. Hahahaha. And having a very vocal little man, I am sure there will be a few more as we barrel through toddlerhood. Not to mention he will go back to his normal eating habit in a few days anyway!


He has been having a ton of fun on his balance bike. 1 month later, he is riding it nearly every day. Going up (verrrrry slowly mind you) our little driveway and riding down his hill. I'm sure it helps to see 3.5 yr old Declan ride that thing! Declan picked it up so quickly, the riding with no pedals. He was fun to watch. The second favorite thing of Coen's recently has been playing this Thomas the Train app on my ipad. He gets maybe 15-20min screen time on it, but he LOVES IT. His favorite part is this matching cards game. Its 16 cards with trains/characters and a saying of theirs. It's kind of annoying to listen to, but he has a method and goes! Sometimes I wonder if he is matching the sounds or the pictures. He can match them up fairly quickly now.

I am totally digging this age and stage with Coen. He is so very curious and with so much energy and personality! Pretty soon I'll be referring to him as TWO AND A HALF! Sheesh.


Hi Mama!


Coen and Callahan "potato" stamping

After a sleepover at Gamma and Papa's. Wondering if there was any sleeping or if it was all playing...

Poor kid


I mean come on....heartbreakers right?

Boy heaven





Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Yawning

There were a few things I forgot to mention in the last update on Coen. One of them is that he has moved into size 9 shoe with a bit of space to grow. His feet have slimmed down a bit, so I can fit a variety of shoes on him now. No more squishing little loaves of bread in :) I am hoping he can wear flip flops this summer too!

The second is that like all babies/kids, Coen is attuned to emotion in facial expressions. We were all watching a cartoon together (yes this is our lazy Saturday mornings now) and Coen saw one character frowning. He tells Brodie  "oh he's sad!". I know all kids and babies are aware of pleasure/displeasure on our faces, that's how they learn a lot. I didn't know Coen knew the words for it now! He recognizes happy, sad and grumpy. Scared, surprised or someone laughing is all 'yawning'. Hahahaha.

Coen and his 'yawning' train car. (He's also showing his yawn face).

**Brodie thinks this picture looks especially like his younger brother Nathan**

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Zoo trip



Braved the mid 30s temps and took a trip to the zoo with some friends. Coen and I jogged over from Ann Morrison to meet up. His favorite part of the zoo is the stationary jeep they can climb on and drive.





His second favorite part is the slide. He climbs the big ladder himself and goes down without any help/problems!


Third favorite part is a tie between running around with his friends, and seeing all the animals. :)

(L-R) Coen, Abri, Lila and Jameson. 





Monday, March 04, 2013

March Update




The boy is 2 1/4 now. Hahaha. I know that's silly, but the difference between 3 months can really be a lot! Coen is a fun little boy. So incredibly curious, and eager to ask questions and figure things out. He can border on rambunctious, but he loves to read and snuggle. Each month brings better verbal clarification, more adventures and a million more laughs. It also brings a little bit more stubbornness, emotion and toddler opinions. "Coen! It's time for dinner let's get in your chair." Response said extremely clearly, "No Mama, I don't want too! I'm gonna play right now!" I remember longing for that day that we could communicate, so I'd know what was wrong. Hahahaha...hahaha..haha...ha.
Reading to his buddies.

We have all been so eager to get out and be outside. None of us like to be cooped up during the
winter. We've gone to McCall twice already this year, and hope to go back again soon. Coen absolutely loves being in the mountains, cold or warm. As long as he gets to run around outside and get wet/dirty he is good. Actually...same could be said about Jackson too. Those two are definitely peas in a pod. I know their friendship is going to get even better when Coen is a bit older.
Sledding Stenquist Hill. 

Coen and Sofia at Camel's Back. 
Another thing we have restarted this year is going on hikes in the foothills. We were so bummed to stop back in October when it began to get butt cold in Boise. Finally a few weeks ago, we dusted off Coen's hiking backpack and took off. It was still wet and sorta snowy in some spots, but we were outside and loving it. We've gone quite a few times since. Coen and I even signed up for a toddler led hike with some new friends. This one was quite a bit slower, but waaaaay dirtier. The boy was in paradise!









As usual, this time of year is difficult for Brodie with no football to watch/read about. Hehe. While I don't mind and don't notice it much, Brodie is anxious to watch some sports. What fills the spot? BSU basketball! The past few years the Bronco's weren't very fun to watch/follow. This year has been something new and fun to attend. Coen has the Bronco fever that his dad and grandpa have infected him with. A few weeks after Coen turned two, he started saying the fight song all the way through. Yes this is cute...AT GAMES! Not an hour after I put him to bed. Or at 4 in the morning. Grumble grumble grumble.

We were so blessed this Christmas and birthday for Coen. He is such a loved boy, and I am grateful for our families that spoil and shower him with affection. In our abundance this year, we received two of the same awesome present. Once we returned one we ordered a balance bike for the boy. This was something we were on the fence about getting him, but since it was a present we could pick out...Brodie was sold. So far Coen just walks slowly on it, asking for a hand to steady the back for him.

Sweeeeeeet
Since the boy has been up and down with this semi-constant ear infection/cold thing, his eating has become labored and frustrating at the same time. We have a month of totally normal, stuffing his face with everything in sight, kind of appetite. Then we have about a week-10 days of being under the weather, barely eating and shoving everything I try away, kind of appetite. He has also grown nearly 3/4" since his birthday as well. All this together has caused some slimming down for him. His 3T pants that were barely fitting in the waist in January, have been cinched back in a few buttons now! Most don't need to be rolled up on the bottom either. He hasn't quite lost his popeye arms thankfully :)

Loves to eat "rittos" (black bean/spinach burrito).
So the boy loves to read. I have probably a million pictures of him reading by himself. I'll be doing something in another room and he'll get quiet. I sneak in to finding him sitting in his comfy chair/rocking chair/on the toybox/under the rocking chair/under the living room table... reading a book. He has his favorite ones that he wants us to read every night before bedtime. We have read them so often, that he has begun to "read" them to us. He turns to a page and recalls the line for that particular picture. Dr Seuss is amazing like that, hahaha. Coen's memory is astounding, and really it is so cute to hear in his little voice. There is one book about baby animals asking their mothers if they love them, and hearing the mother's explanation of how she loves her baby. Each page starts with "deep in the woods" and ends with the mama saying "I love you forever and ever and always." Oh my gosh, hearing him "read" those lines is so adorable!! Total tear jerker, I know, but its these little intimate moments that are golden :)

In anticipation for daylight savings, I've been tweaking his nap/bedtimes a little bit at a time. Hopefully by DDay, we won't have a retaliation month of 5am starts to the day. Fingers crossed! No new official stats to report, just a healthy growing boy. I will now flood this with random pics. Hahaha.


Apple Fiend

Piano! (Evelyn, Coen, Ben)

At Dave and Buster's. Boys...


Watching the fish at the MK Nature Center. 

from the Winter Carnival Parade (cousin Erick in the back!)





Monday, February 18, 2013

Coen and the ABC's

Coen has been able to recognize and say letters for quite a while now. He is fascinated by reading and seeing words everywhere. Even when its not a letter, he will see letter shapes in things. A snake that is shaped just right, isn't a snake but the letter M. A flamingo neck is the letter S....stuff like that. It cracks me up, but I love to watch him figure stuff out like this.

A few weeks ago he started singing the ABC's on his own. Yes we sing them a lot, happens to be one of his favorite songs. But mostly I would sing them, and he would clap at the end. He has been incredibly camera shy recently as well, so I could never get him recorded.

I got a pretty good video of him this morning. He is singing/yelling/whispering them to me. Hahaha. He usually gets most of the letters though LMNOP has always come out as lellomennoP. This video is a mixture of a clear song and a bunch of silly laughs and whispering.

*Also at the end you can hear his new favorite phrase "I'm not sure about this".


Friday, January 18, 2013

Oops!

I've got a lot of catching up to do! Christmas, birthday parties, and the first of the year!