Fall odds and ends

Heavens, I haven't updated the blog for weeks. Here's a hodge podge of photos from this fall.

Kraeton came to visit over a 4-day weekend in October.

Believe it or not, this isn't posed.

Our darling, adorable new baby nephew Drew.

First "real" haircut. Think he looks sad? You should have seen mommy.

At daycare, every day during Halloween week had a different theme, including Crazy Hair Day.

The monkey and kitty (our neighbor Ava, and her mom Amy)

Dominic replaced the kitchen faucet while Cohen supervised.

1 year, 1 month and 14 day photos

Here are Cohen's 1-year (and some odd change) photos. We love K and E Productions! We worked with them for his 6-month photos too and once again we couldn't have asked for better creativity, service and patience with our getting-hungrier-by-the-minute guy. Enjoy!

Fun at the Orchard

We went to Center Grove Orchard on Saturday and had a blast. What a great place! Cohen had so much fun looking at the animals, playing in the corn, and riding the tractor. We stocked up on hand-picked apples and scored a perfect pumpkin. It's definitely worth the trip (take exit 102 between Ankeny and Ames and go east for a couple miles).

Up with people

So we had this recliner in our basement that we didn't want anymore. I put an ad on craigslist and asked $15 for it. After a week, it hadn't sold so I made mental plans to bring it to Goodwill. Then I received an inquiry about it, and a lady said she'd come over Friday night to check it out.

She was probably still a teenager and was... just... weird, talking about random stuff and acting nervous. Then she realized she forgot her money. It hit me that she was trying to scam us. Along with a rather inplausable rationale, she offered to take the chair home and "come right back and pay us." Here's what went through my head in the mili-second before I responded: Girl, you must think we're really stupid to fall for this strange story but if you take the chair that means we won't have to go to Goodwill so everyone wins. "Okay" I said. So she left with the chair and Dominic and I felt weird. Kind of like we gave someone permission to take advantage of us. We were glad to be rid of the chair but sad too. This girl became symbolic for the crappy state of the the world. And we didn't like the idea that she was probably laughing at how gullible we are. Anyway, we convinced ourselves to put it behind us and we ate dinner.

Nearly an hour passed... and the doorbell rang. She came back. And paid. When the transaction was completed (we gave her a discount for her honesty), Dominic and I closed the door and gave each other a hug.

The chair has been easily forgotten and I'll never see the girl again, but the whole thing really boosted my spirits and belief that people are good. It was a nice ending to the week.

Cohen at 13 months

The man is a full-time walker now, which I'm pretty sure increased his level of enjoyment of life considerably. It's so much easier to explore with this new mobility and speed. My job just got tougher though... yesterday as I was applying mascara (looking away for no more than 30 seconds), I realized he was missing. I quickly found him in Kraeton's room wrestling with the teddy bear. So far all his adventures have been harmless and injury-free, but this phase definitely requires more preparedness and baby proofing. It's nice though too. I've always felt that holding him close is the greatest thing in the world. Well, walking finger-in-hand is pretty darn wonderful too.

He's having a problem at daycare with a biter. One of his little classmates seems to have singled Cohen out as her favorite biting target. I stopped counting, but I think there have been at least 10 accident reports related to biting since he moved to his new room 2 months ago. The worst one was on his cheek and it looks like it's leaving a scar. What's worse, his 1-year photos were schedule the day of his face bite, so we rescheduled for October. So frustrating! They don't have a policy that offending biters are expelled, so I'm not sure what options we have. I will talk to the director (again).

Anyway, he's loads of fun, more opinionated and confident every day. He doesn't talk much, which I find kind of weird considering he said several words a few months ago. Maybe with all his newfound freedom, it's beneath him to say "woof woof" and "hot"?

Peek a boo around the bathtub door

Chicago

We went to Chicago last weekend with the Pevestorfs. We spent Saturday downtown, met up with Emily, enjoyed time on Navy Pier, went on a boat tour, and ate at a Chicago-style pizza restaurant called Gino's East. We were impressed with Emily's level of comfort with Chicago living, as well as her knowledge of getting around downtown. What a great lady she's turning out to be! Kraeton had a football game on Sunday, which he unfortunately lost. It was an enjoyable weekend.



Mitch and Kraeton in front of a crazy mirror on Navy Pier.



On the boat tour

Family pic

Odds and ends

Drumrole please.... we've finished painting the house! Enjoy the before and after pics (no we didn't start the painting project in the winter of '07, that's the only picture I can find of the old color). It was tough parting with the pukey pink, but we're happy with the end result. Thanks to Dominic for doing 99% of the work. Hey, someone has to watch the kiddo, right?

Notice anything familiar on this photo? No, not the grass, not the playground. Yes, the yard sign says Langel. Cousin Ricky (Rick) ran for Ankeny school board. Sadly, he lost by just a few hundred votes. I couldn't resist snapping a pic of the sign as I was driving by. It isn't every day you see your maiden name ablazen on billboards.

No catchy caption, just a cute kid.

Labor Day at the farm

We went to Dominic's folks over Labor Day for Joe's surprise 80th birthday party. Surprise, it was! Sort of. The first clue was when everyone in the family started showing up unannounced. Then, how do you explain tables and chairs for 150+ people set up on the lawn? And why has Celestine been cleaning so thoroughly for the past few weeks? Regardless of the level of surprise, Joe was tickled and couldn't stop talking about the party. A good time was had by all. Here are a few pictures.

The birthday boy

The hayride

Grandpa feeding Daisy, the orphan calf.

Tonni and her birthday dolly from Wendy. Hmm... separated at birth?

First time on a trike.

Happy birthday little man!

yay for us, we made it through the first year. i must say, it's been one of the most challenging and rewarding years of my life. everyone says that, but now i understand what they mean. the big day probably won't go down in the books as one of cohen's better days. he was battling an ear infection and just wasn't in the mood for celebration. We had Pevestorfs and Giffords (the neighbors) over for a casual meal and cupcakes. It was a nice gathering, despite the guest of honor being a little cranky.

cohen is so fun at this age! here are a few things i never want to forget....

how much he loves dogs, and his expressionless imitation of a dog's bark (uh uh uh).
how he puts his soft little hands on my knees when he wants to be picked up.
how the 15 minutes after a bath are his favorite part of the day, how he races around naked and squealing.
how he rotates the yogurt container looking for the picture of the baby.
how he plays independently and happily, occasionally checking to make sure i'm still around, and when he sees me he comes over and gives me a hug and kiss without being prompted.
how happy he is to see me when i pick him up from daycare
his giggles when dominic plays with him.
The notorious pouty lower lip.
that he could listen to me read the book gossie 20 times in a row and never get tired of it.
how he kisses his favorite pages in books (i.e. gossie walking in the snow)
his love of bananas, cheese, yogurt and cantelope.
shaking his head no, even when it's directed toward himself (rolling around on the changing table).
how cuddly he is when he first wakes up.

The list could go on. i've been so bad about documenting those endearing little behaviors. They've been occuring dozens of times a day lately, and i just don't want to forget a single one of them.

he's walking really well lately. just in the past couple days, he seems to have figured it out. dominic and i make such a big deal out of it, and he just looks at us like we're mental.

he is also happier than he's ever been. the smile is practically nonstop and the giggles come so easily. it's infectious!

Anyway, sorry to be bragging so much. i'll post pictures soon of the trip to Dominic's folks and our newly painted house.

and i apologize for the poor use of the shift key, which is busted at the moment. i blame rudy.