Snow! Nieve!

It snowed and stuck. I won’t say “finally” because that would make it seem like I’ve been anxiously awaiting the snow. But, it did take much longer this year for the first real snowfall, for which I’m thankful. Last year it snowed in early October.

Coen really enjoyed playing in the snow after he figured out that he could touch it with his gloves and I didn’t mind too much that he tasted it. When he sticks dirt and leaves in his mouth I take it out, but he got to try the snow a few times.

His first handful of snow.

The corner of our yard and the street we face from the side of our house. The snow still isn’t completely covered, but it’s enough for now.

Yummy snow. After a few tastes it was too cold and he gave up on eating it.

His new cheesy smile that mostly looks like a grimace.

Coen’s first snow man! He enjoyed knocking it down more than anything else.

Our pretty house. To think that just a couple weeks ago Coen was rolling in the leaves in the front yard.

Hat hair : )

Justin’s 27th Birthday

November 23rd was Justin’s 27th birthday. He had class in the morning and worked from 3-11 PM so it wasn’t too celebratory.

We brought Justin dinner while he was working and got to eat in the sweet Target food court. We had chicken & rice and brownies with peanut butter frosting for dessert.

Justin’s birthday “cake”.

Coen decided to eat his brownie by stabbing it with a straw then licking it.

Birthday kisses for Daddy!

Coen hasn’t mastered the self-portrait smile yet.

Birthday guy stare-down

Boston

Boston was great! My company sent me there to the ACTFL (American Conference for Teachers of a Foreign Language or something like that) conference. Gabriel (co-worker from Buenos Aires) and I sat in our booth and talked to Spanish teachers about our programs and our classes. It was very fun and it was nice to finally meet someone who works with me. Now I know that the company is real! : )

Gabriel & me outside of the conference exhibit hall on the last day

We were in conferences all day from about 9 AM until 5:30 or 6:00 PM and then got to do a little sightseeing. Friday night we walked around then went to Chinatown for dinner. It was delicious. I also got to ride a subway for the first time. It was just like in the movies. It was a bit comical that Gabriel, who speaks Spanish and a little English was showing me where to go and how to use the public transportation system. It was his first time in the US.

Saturday evening Paul, Linda, Liz, and Flo met me downtown Boston and we went out for dinner. It was SO nice to meet all of them and they are such lovely people. Paul & Linda are my dad’s cousins and Florence is his aunt. Liz is Linda’s daughter. It was very fun and I’m so glad I had a little time to get to know them.

Paul, me, Liz, & Linda

Florence and me

Sunday the conference ended at noon so Gabriel, his brother Jorge, and I went to see MIT and downtown in the daylight. It was dark when we left the conference the previous days so it was nice to see things with sunlight! It makes quite a difference.

Smarty-Pantalones

Coen’s surprising us more and more with what he knows. The other day he wanted a tattoo bandaid on his hand so I said “only if you hold out your hand” and instantly he stretched his arm forward and held out his hand. It’s things like that where he pleasantly surprises us with what he knows how to do and what he understands.

It is not a pleasant surprise, however, when it’s to do something like take the top off of the milk jug and pour the remaining milk all over the kitchen floor. Luckily I had just bought a new mop that very day so it got its first workout. I thought that I could discipline Coen by making him sit in his high chair and watch me clean, but he cheered me on. When I went to take him out, he wanted to stay in there since he was hungry for dinner.

Lesson learned? Probably not.

Coen also enjoys making sound effects in place of the actual word. Example video below. Please excuse the mess. If you could see Coen in destruct-o mode you’d understand.

Video to come later.

Vick’s Vapor Rub

Yesterday morning Justin went in to get Coen out of bed and found him covered head to toe in juniper-smelling Vick’s Vapor Rub. I think that in my half-sleep stupor I left it on his  crib rail when I put more on him in the middle of the night. He knows how to unscrew tops now, so it was easy work for him. His room still smells very minty and we have no need to use it last night! Imagine that.

BANANA

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween party here with many of our neighbor’s friends and a few of ours, too. Coen dressed as Michael Phelps but had to go to bed before people got here. Here he is!

 

Two of my friends came to visit; Sarah came from Madison, Wisconsin, and Kristin came from Manhattan, Kansas. It was so wonderful to see them and we had a great time!

I was a Christmas tree in human form and Justin was Tobias Funke from the TV show Arrested Development.

 

 

At that point I had taken off my Christmas tree star headband because I kept hitting it on things and getting tangled in the spider web decorations.

The fact that our basement is old and gross only added to the Halloween spirit.

 

Here is a picture of Kristin, Sarah, and me on Halloween. We went out with Kristin’s brother in Mankato, a nearby city. Can you guess what we all were?

left to right… ceiling fan, soccer referee, God’s gift to men. It was fun.

On actual Halloween, Coen was a bumblebee (thank, Grandma Vilski!) and a natural at trick-or-treating. I didn’t show him what to do, but after watching the kids in front of him he knew to hold out his bucket. He said “please” instead of “trick-or-treat”, and he really enjoys suckers. He calls them “ball”.

                         

We went out on State Street in New Ulm. It draws in over 5,000 people each year. It was quite the experience.

Happy Halloween!

Don’t worry, more “real” Halloween pictures will follow. But for now, this is one to share. So far the seeds have been very tasty.

Bath in the Sink

I thought baths in the sink were over. I was mistaken.

This morning I was finishing up some client e-mails and heard the water running in the bathroom. For those of you who don’t know the layout of our apartment, I sit at the kitchen table with the laptop, only about 3 feet from the bathroom sink. Coen likes to climb on the toilet and play in the water. Usually I stop him, but our water never gets warm enough to burn (I never am completely warm in the shower) so I wasn’t worried about him washing his hands. He realllly enjoys washing his hands.

So after finishing the e-mail (maybe 2 or 3 minutes max), I turned, expecting to see wet sleeves. Instead, I turned to find him sitting in the sink, water on and spraying off of him all over the bathroom. We just laughed. (Until I tried to change his clothes, then he cried.)

Kisses

Coen has been more affectionate on his own accord lately. Just a few days ago he was playing behind me in the chair we were sitting on in the dining room and he grabbed my shoulders and said “num num num num”. I turned to see his face next to mine and he kept saying “num num” until he gave me a kiss on the cheek with a big “mmmmmah!”. It was so cute and so thoughtful that he did it all on his own.

Then we went to play in the living room and he was back to being a rough-and-tumble boy.

Children Inspire Design

We got Coen’s new alphabet wall cards from the above-mentioned company. You can see their website here: www.childreninspiredesign.com. If you’d like, enter their October giveaway and mention me! Then I may win.

Fall Time Activities

Now that we’ve entered fall, we’re finding lots of autumnal activities. Well, here in New Ulm it was over 80 for a few days and got up to 90 one day, so it felt more like summer with WAY more bugs. Box elders, noseeums (apparently they’re called that), and ladybugs. GROSS.

We also found other things to do besides trap bugs and kill them with fingernail polish remover fumes and flush them down the toilet (I don’t like to crunch them).

Coen and I went to the park in Lomira one morning. It was pretty crisp outside, but beautiful! He loves to climb up the stairs, climb up the slide (already learned that…), and climb on the curbs. Basically anything with climbing. 

Giving the camera a wave!

Coen’s new room decorations from Children Inspire Designs. They’re his Christmas present. I couldn’t wait to put them up.

Coen & Daddy having fun around the table.

Coen knows he’s not supposed to stand and eat snack, but it’s an improvement over him being on the table.

Eating applesauce all by himself and actually getting most of it in his mouth! Hurrah!

Dancing on the coffee table. When he stands on a table, he is inclined to dance.

Makeshift peach smoothie dispenser. Yum.

H2O

Coen and I took the Megabus from Milwaukee to Minneapolis on our way back from the Lomira/Fond du Lac area. Coen was a very good boy and it was actually a relaxing ride. Mostly. Coen cried for a little but then fell asleep.

FYI, if you ever take the Megabus, don’t expect a bus station. Expect a random sign by the side of the road. Not easy to find.

When we arrived, we were waiting for Enterprise (they pick you up) to get our car to drive down and Coen was entertaining a couple women; one my age and one my mother’s age. The one my age was talking with Coen while the young-grandmother-age woman and I were talking about people picking us up late. Coen was drinking out of a normal water bottle and loving it. (And spilling it.) The women who he had been entertaining said “Oh, you are so lucky to have water. Do you like water?” and Coen stopped drinking, looked at her sternly, and told her “agua.” Not water apparently. She was shocked and said “Agua? Is he speaking Spanish?” I told her we speak both languages at home, but English more. She was very impressed and after calling it agua, Coen felt compelled to keep entertaining.

Asi es la vida.

Zedland’s Pumpkin Farm

 

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Today Maggi, Miriam, Coen, and I went to Zedland’s Pumpkin Farm. It’s just a five minute drive from the Vilski’s here and it’s a family they know fairly well. Justin went to school with and worked with one of the Zedlands so we gave it a try!

It’s a great place! Children were free, so we just paid $10 admission which meant a hayride, feeding the goats, petting the animals, and going through the corn maze. We also got some pumpkins, of course, but unfortunately Coen and I won’t be able to take them home since we’re going on the Megabus.

Coen has a cold right now, but I’m hoping he gets over it soon so that we can go over and help Katrina with Isaac and the household chores and meals by Tuesday. Matt will be gone Tuesday and Wednesday so we’re going to try and be there for both of them in case they need something!

Love to all! If we’re not with you right at this very moment, then we miss you!!

The Misadventures & Shenanigans of Coen & Owen

Blackmail someday…. Also how Coen got his cold. :)

 

 

Owen showed Coen the workings of the drinking fountain. A delicious meal of hotdog, peas, and grilled cheese compliments of the Ehlke family.

Steph (my good friend and former fellow co-teacher) and me!

Baby Isaac

Isaac was born on September 21 around 4 AM by c-section. He weighed 8 lbs 15 oz, and was 21 inches tall, just like Coen. They hit it off right away. We told Coen to give Isaac a kiss so Coen walked over with a puckered mouth, making his “mmmm” kiss noise and leaned over Isaac’s head….and licked it. It was hilarious.

He also welcomed him to the family by almost slicing him in half with a light saber. Luckily Grandma Ide was there to save Isaac. Close call.

Why Stay on the Floor?

Coen lately has taken to climbing. He likes to straddle the kitchen chairs while reaching for things on the counter, and he really enjoys a good table climbing. If he can’t quite reach the table from the chair, he flops forward and catches himself on his elbows. We need an inside jungle gym for the winter. Seriously.

 

My New Job Description

Hello! It’s been tooooo long. Sorry.

For my job working for ECELA (Spanish immersion schools in South America, www.ecela.com), I’ll be moving out of client/prospect e-mails and into marketing. I think I will really enjoy it. I’ll manage the Facebook page, edit articles written for PR Web stuff, write newsletters, and other such things.

Also, I’m going to a conference in Boston (ACTFL) in November for an extended weekend. Justin and Coen are going to have some quality time while I’m away. Fun stuff!

Facebook Status for 8/27/2010

"Veronica Vilski was mortified while paying for clothes when Coen lunged forward in his umbrella stroller, the buckles unsnapped, he fell on the floor, then took off running for the toys section. It's funny now; it wasn't then."

Chatter Box Daredevil

Our sweet little Coen now has a vocabulary. I am most pleased with his “thank you” because he generally uses it at the correct time and is very polite. Take for example, when I come into the living room from washing some dishes and he’s standing on the arm of our chair, arms in the air and giggling wildly to himself. I so nicely helped him down, all the while a huge grin on his face, so he told me “thank you” and took off running. Stinker.

Here are the words he knows and sometimes does on command:

no, thank you, bless you (used at the right time once), mama, dada, papi, buh-pa (grandpa), agua, water, luz, light, that, uh oh, baby, Jessica, tita, and probably some more that I’m forgetting.

He can repeat words when you say them, but the above ones he’s used on his one at least a couple times.

He also has learned how to nod and shake his head. The other day  he was standing on a wooden chest in the living room. He was waggling a remote control and going on and on in a nice, verbose speech with a few “no”s added in and some quite violent shaking of the head. I smiled at him and he scowled at me and shook his head and said “no” then promptly got down from the chest. It’s like he knows I disapprove of him being up there….hmmmm….

My camera is broken right now and my “free” price quote went to $123.00 quite rapidly. I feel lost without it and I want to take some videos of his funny antics! Once I get it back, there will be vidoes and photos galore.

Love to all! If we’ve recently seen you, it was wonderful. If we’ll see you soon, we can’t wait! And if neither applies, come visit! :)

More Family – Weeks One and Three

Melanie and Great (Great) Grandma Judy enjoying the birthday festivities for Jessica & Grandma. Everyone came over the first day we arrived because it was their birthday. Even Uncle Matt came from Ohio!

Jessica feeding Grandma some of the Dutch cake she made.

Awww siblings.

Typical picture from us! All clean! I have no idea. Aaron and I took a similar picture senior year when we were Homecoming King & Queen. This time I decided to be taller than him. Barely. While he sat down.

Can’t forget Tess the dog…