heath kos at 15 months!

our silly little heath is fifteen months. what is even happening, with the time and its insistence on continuing so quickly? anyways, when heath doesn't feel like listening to the words i am saying or isn't happy about what i'm asking of him, he will slowly, slowly back away from me and out of the room... staring at me the whole time, until he backs around a corner and we can't see each other anymore. it's so ridiculous. don't you wish you could do that in uncomfortable situations without that making things a thousand times more awkward?! maybe i should try it sometime and just see how it feels. so, here is a little heath review... i'll just leave it right here and slooooowly back away...

nicknames: h, heath-ers, bug

you are the best little cleaner i have ever met. this is lucky because you are also a very big mess maker. i will ask you to clean up a certain set of toys and you will patiently pick up all the pieces and put the toy away. it makes you very stressed out to not be able to complete a cleaning task. things have to have lids put on them and be put away. the only thing you can't clean up are the books you are constantly dumping off the bookshelf. we're working on it though. 

you love and i mean LOVE any song by meghan trainor. if we are driving in the car and she comes on the radio, you instantly start bopping around in your car seat. at home i often have the tv on and just set to a music station, and no matter what you are doing or where you are, you will drop everything to go and dance if you hear meghan's voice. you especially love all about that bass. probably you can just really relate to it because you have a lot of junk in the trunk. 

you have started using words a little bit, but you aren't nearly as vocal as your brother was at this age. one of your big phrases that you're using right now is "and this!" when you see something you want that is out of reach you will start waving your hands in the direction of the thing and saying, "and this! and this!" if i give you the wrong thing, you will shake your head no, and continue on with the "and this!" until you're given whatever it is you were wanting. 

what you are lacking in the words department, you make up for with large motor skills. you are so good at throwing and kicking and even catching. when we were at our friend's house playing tball with the big kids your dad gave you the bat and put a ball on the tee just joking around. you went over and hit the ball with the bat on your first swing! of course that was mostly just luck, but we do think you are going to be a little athlete. 

heath. why are you the cutest thing that's ever happened? you are such a good little brother... always up in beckett's business, wanting to be doing what he's doing, eating what he's eating, watching what he's watching. you fill your role in this family perfectly. you are still a pretty good eater (getting more picky as you transition in toddler-hood, of course) and a great sleeper. you are such a mover, always dancing, clapping, jumping (your feet don't leave the floor yet, but you think they do), and spinning. you are a joy and a blessing, so we're thinking we'll just keep you forever!

beckett kol at 4 point 5 years

ah geez, four and a half. half way to five. and five is just a really big deal. everybody knows it. also, because old habits die hard... beckett is also 54 months! gah. these updates always stress me out because i slack every single time and then i find myself scrambling to think of stories or recall little details from the last six months. once i start though... it just makes me love the little people in my life that much more. especially since you really do only remember the good stuff. beckett is such a little person now with so many ideas and opinions and more personality than i can handle. hanging out with him is really a pleasure and the constant stream of questions that i get on the daily (because he's four and that's how four year olds do) is totally bearable when i stare at his sweet face. it also keeps me on my toes (and on google) because you never know what he's going to ask about. when were the last dinosaurs on earth? who is the oldest person? who was the first human? how did heath get out of your belly? is celery or chicken healthier for you? how many hours does it take to fly to australia? why does it get dark so early in winter? has there ever been a person with three hands? why does goofy always wear a hat? why?! how?! we must know all the things!  

nicknames: b, b kol, bud

you are obsessed with sweets. you will ask for treats a hundred times a day (you usually get about 99 rejections) and it is a real devastating time in your life when we tell you that it isn't a dessert night. you always want to tag along on trips to trader joes (because you get a lollipop for finding freddy) or safeway (because you get a free cookie from the bakery). when you bake with me, you just neeeeed to sample the sugar and i can't leave you alone with it for even a moment. you will even try and lick the measuring cups if i'm not paying attention. parties and events that don't serve cake are a big fat waste of your time. you must have such a sweet demeanor because you are filled to the brim with actual sugar. i'm always shocked when you get to put your name in the no cavity raffle at the dentist, but so far so good.

you are a crazy singer. and dancer. right now you know all the words to shut up and dance, tear in my heart, bad blood, and really a lot more. you will perform concerts for us that will include a very strange montage of current day (possibly inappropriate) songs and veggie tales hits. you scream sing along with the radio in the car. you will sit and watch taylor swift music videos for days. you try and copy the girl's dance moves in sia's chandelier video. you have band practice in your room with make believe band mates (named jerry, cocoa, and waffle). you already take piano lessons and are signed up for hip hop dance classes this winter (yeah! you read right!), but we are thinking about maybe voice lessons too? too much? you just really love music so much and you come from pretty musically untalented parents, so anything you learn isn't going to come from us! but musicians are like the coolest... so we want to encourage that passion! 

beckett quote

during lunch

3.26.15

"oh, chai there!"

"chai?"

"chai is french for hello."

"guess what? i don't think you know french."

"guess what? that was hurtful."

you are really into superhero pretend lately. you don't know much about comic book superheros (which is starting to make your dad stressed out), so you just make up whatever. you have a superhero mask that you got for your birthday and you will usually make one of heath's large bibs your cape. almost always you are "super beckett" and usually you have normal powers like super speed or super strength, but sometimes your powers are really specific and obscure. the other day while you were super beckett you told me your super power was the ability to summon and throw 17 chairs. you even really used the word summon. i don't even know. i am impressed with your large vocabulary and your creativity... even if it's a little weird. 

beckett quote

playing with blocks

5.29.15

"what is that?"

"a bunch of towers in a town."

"what's that tall thing?"

"a tornado. it's just a small one. the towers will probably be alright. plus, this man is here to stop the tornado."

"that's a man?"

"yes. it's hard to tell because he lost one foot and his head in a tragic accident."

"geez. doing what?"

"jet packing. he's a real daredevil."

beckett kol, you are a real joy. you are so hilarious... even though sometimes (maybe more than sometimes) it's only to yourself. you are such a wonderful big brother. you are generally patient and kind with heath and i am never nervous for you to be playing alone together and for that i am so grateful. you have such a helping heart. you almost always do what is asked of you and often offer assistance. you are a serious snuggler and you come to our room every morning to cuddle before we start the day. you're good at playing on your own and have a super imagination, but you of course prefer to play with someone. you are just our favorite big guy and we are so happy to call you ours.  

heath kos at 12 months!

i just went back to read beckett's 12 month review aaaaaand it doesn't exist! who am i? i just skipped that one, no big deal, apparently. well... okay then, moving on (really not moving on, just sitting around stewing about it) let's talk about heath. it's crazy to me that a person can change SO much in three months, that a new review on their life is necessary. babies are the weirdest. heath is really changing so much, all the time, and it's blowing my mind. heath is really developing his independence and sense of humor and showing us his likes and dislikes and continuing to be adorable in the face region. 

nicknames: baby boy, heath-ie, chubbalub

obviously, your most exciting milestone is that you are walking. in the beginning, you were very directionally challenged. walking forward was very tricky for you and so you would kind of sidestep all over the place, but then be surprised about where you ended up. it was like your legs were moving you places without consulting with your brain. it was so silly. luckily, you've figured things out and are now starting to get a pretty quick pace. you don't mind being picked up and carried (for now) which is so nice because i don't have to choose between letting you dangerously toddle through parking lots or suffer through a crying, wriggly baby that wants to be walking all the time. 

you have started to have food preferences, that of course change on the daily. for a while you could not get enough blueberries. blueberries were the most delicious thing that had ever happened to you. now... you're not so into them. the annoying thing is, the way we figure out that you don't like something anymore is that you will throw it off your plate. not even really throw it though. more like, grab one piece at a time and just gingerly drop it onto the ground. the other day i found a whole perfect pile of shredded cheese just right next to your chair on the floor. for the most part though, you still love food and are eating everything we eat.

you are really developing your sense of humor. you think it is very hilarious when we call your feet stinky. you love to climb under things (like tables or your crib) and then peek your head out. you just laugh so much about being underneath something that we are not underneath. you are super ticklish and an adrenaline junkie, like your brother. you love to be thrown around and held up in the air. although you smile all the time at home, you are serious business when we are out. you will rarely smile at strangers and you actually throw a lot of shade from the front of the shopping cart. 

when you come across another child, you will always crouch down in front of them. it's like you think you are really big and you're trying to get on their level. really though, you are smaller than any other standing human we have come across. even with other babies, you end up just staring at their lower stomach. then you always just start babbling like crazy. every single time. "hey. i'm heath. i know i'm gigantic... let me just squat a little, so you can relate to me better. now, here is a list of so many important things i need to tell you. also... did you want to taste my hand? i'll just try and jam it in your mouth in case you do." 

heath, even though i want to still consider you a tiny newborn infant baby, it is pretty fun having a toddler in the house again. you are still a good sleeper, a good car traveler, and a good nurser. you have just started to show some signs of separation anxiety, but i don't really mind that... probably because i'm not the person dealing with it when it happens. you love to be close to people. if everybody is up on the couch, then you absolutely must also be up on the couch. you have a pretty good arm. i am always surprised when i see small toys just flying through the air in the back of the van. you have a good attention span (for a babe), a sweet nature, and a generally happy disposition. we are thankful everyday that we get to be the ones who raise you up.  

heath kos at 9 months!

ahh! nine months already. time flies with second babies... we are moving at super speed. i will probably blink and this kid will be one! heath is doing all the things that the cool nine month olds are doing... such as crawling, eating, and being chubby cheeked. his personality is delightful and is shining through more each day. he is silly and laid back and his face is so cute i can't handle it. here are some snip-its of the happenings with our favorite little baby!

nicknames: heath-ers... bud... little brother... heathington

you love to play peek-a-boo and your brother thought he could add on to the hilariousness of this game by saying peek-a-toots instead of peek-a-boo. you bought in big time. it makes you laugh so hard that sometimes it seems like you're not breathing and we have to tell beckett to take a break. also, just the idea of it and the words are enough to crack you up. we don't even have to really be playing peek-a-boo. oh, peek-a-toots... why you so funny?

you love to put things inside of other things. your brother was super into knocking things down at this stage, but if we build a tower for you... you will just grab the blocks one at a time and put them back in the box. of course you don't always put things where they belong, so we will often find lots of crazy little things crammed into lots of crazy places. 

you have started pulling up on all the things. it is pretty cute to see you just standing there, smiling in your crib when i come to get you from a nap. or when your little head pops up at the edge of the couch. you also pull yourself up at the play kitchen and can get the cabinets open. you like to just take stuff in and out of the fridge and stick it in the sink or a pot and then you bang things around for a while. you concentrate really hard while you are doing this, like you have a real game plan. you're probably trying to remember a very complicated recipe. 

your teeth are coming in so crazily! you got the two bottom center teeth and then the two top center teeth... like normal. then one more tooth came in on top... with no sign of it's tooth partner on the other side. finally, another tooth popped out, BUT it was on the bottom and on the opposite side! what is happening?! your teeth are like perfect little squares too... like hippo teeth. even though it is a tad crazy, your smile is still the cutest. i love your giant, hippo teeth and we started brushing all 7 of your pearly whites at night. you love to mimic us... and you're not the worst at it. 

you love food so bad. all the food. you are such a great eater, i almost don't know what to do with myself. i was feeling pretty lazy about introducing foods... it's kind of a lot of work... mostly just to take the time to feed you multiple times a day, but i figured it wouldn't be too bad because you would probs hate solids and just want to nurse all the time. this was an incorrect assumption. it's actually pretty fun to watch you try new stuff for the first time and to have you sit at the dinner table with us in your little chair... eagerly awaiting your dinner too. you look extra adorable while eating, i think. 

heath! what in the world?! you are such a good baby. you definitely have your own ideas about doing things though and you are no monkey! even though you can wave and clap and mimic certain sounds you will NEVER do it on command. like ever. you are constantly making fools out of us, but we forgive you. you continue to be an extremely good sleeper and we can now add extremely good eater to the list too. you love your family, taking baths, crawling, and hiding under blankets. you are so fun to be around and we love you fiercely! we can't believe you are in the final stretch before turning the big 0-1, what a big guy!

beckett kol at 4 years

you read right... i bit the bullet and decided it was time to stop referring to my child's age in months during these reviews. okay. i'm not totally, completely done. he's 48 months! 48! bah. i will probably have to cut back to yearly or bi-yearly reviews too. with two kids, these quarterly reviews are killing me. better to not take the time to do them and live in the moment. and try really, really hard to be present because if i'm not documenting it anymore, i'm probably not going to remember it. at least i'll be able to relate better and stop wanting to punch old women in the face who randomly feel the need to tell me to treasure these times because they're gone in a flash. oh geez. i wouldn't really punch an old person. so. beckett. i have such a precious, special place in my heart for the boy who made me a mom. and i'll tell you what. watching him be a big brother sure ain't making me love him less. this kid has me wrapped around his finger, but i think he is just really sweet so he doesn't even take advantage of it much. or maybe i am just so delusional, i don't see what's going on. ha! either way, we're all happy, so it's all good.

nicknames: b, b kol, brother

watching you interact with your little brother is pure joy. it is so silly hearing you talk with him because you are almost always just mimicking what you hear us say. "oh hey buddy! look at you! look at your cute face! i can't stand it. i need to give you a hundred kisses right now!" you are so patient and kind with him. even when he is not listening to your words (basically all the time because he is a baby) and making you totally frustrated, you never take it out on him. you have never been the kind of kid who lashes out physically when you're angry and i'm so thankful for that. you make a great big brother and heath is lucky to have you. 

you have some real crazy texture issues. i blame this almost entirely on your dad who also has some weird texture issues. when we carved pumpkins you cried real, legitimate tears of sadness because you were forced to put your hand in the pumpkin and touch the pumpkin guts. you also like to feel the hem on your shirt and other people's shirts. you call it "checking the threads." all the time you will ask me, "do you like your shirt mom? is it cozy? can i feel your threads?" and then you will touch my shirt hem and confirm that it indeed does seem cozy. you will also often say your sock is bothering you and take it off. it's always only one sock though, and you will go around the house for hours with just one barefoot. 

beckett quote

discussing what to do together one evening

11.5.14

"so, you wanna play a game mom?"

"sure."

"okay! candyland or marbles?"

"how about go fish?"

"ohhhhh. unfortunately you only get two choices. and they're candyland or marbles."

 you've started reading chapter books at night with your dad. it started with abridged versions of classics like treasure island, but now you are reading the full versions of books together. you just finished alice in wonderland and through the looking glass. the writing is actually quite advanced and we aren't really sure how much you are grasping, but you listen quietly and will sometimes start to laugh during certain parts that you think are funny, like the poem about mock turtle soup. you will also randomly just start talking like characters in the book during normal conversation during the day. the other day i asked you where the remote control was and you answered, "look this way and that way. look up and down. look all around the entire house. and when you find the remote... stop looking. you're done. and i'll give you a gumdrop." 

 beckett quote

telling jokes with your dad

12.28.14

"beckett, i have a good one. why did the train get kicked out of the library?"

"umm... because everybody hated him? ...ha!"

oh beckett kol, we love you so. you are really just such a good kid and we feel fortunate that you are ours. you are so funny... you started making up your own knock knock jokes and some of them are actually pretty good. you are so generous... if you are having a treat you will always offer to share it, no matter how small it is (and you are a full on sugar addict). you are so tender hearted... you call everything your friend, even the bugs you find at the park, that you carefully move to safer spots. you are so handsome... your little boy face is basically killing me with it's cuteness (even if your picture smile could use a little work). you are so smart... you can count really high, and you know what letter most words start with and you have a crazy, good memory. you are not perfect all the time of course, but you are perfect for our family and we just could not be more excited to watch you continue to grow and see what your future holds. it's gonna be good. 

heath kos at 6 months!

whoa buddy! here we go again! i kind of thought that because heath was kid two that i a little bit maybe sort of had this baby thing figured out. maybe i could just copy and paste beckett's reviews... with pictures of heath, at least while he was still a baby and we were discovering his personality. no way, man. how are two people made out of the same genetic materials and raised in the same environment so different. how?! i do believe that a person gains certain traits from birth order, for sure, but these boys are just so different. matt and i are different now too though, so i guess that is part of it. it's weird because when you are pregnant with your second child, you can kind of only imagine another little version of your first child popping out, so it's fun to see how different they can be. maybe too fun. like... makes you want to have thirty kids so you can see all the different personalities you could create. geez though... on to heath! (poor second baby... never gets anybody's full attention. ;)

nicknames... h... heatherton... heathers... baby boy... bug...

you are such a good sleeper... it's ridiculous. when we went camping for two nights, you just slept through the whole night... like 13 hours! we just moved you into your own crib and you were waking up at around 6am to eat, and i would just get you and bring you into bed with us, but you only did that for like two weeks. now you just sleep straight through like some kind of angel baby. you usually sleep from 10pm until around 10am. everybody told me there was NO way i would get two kids that would sleep in, but i totally did! ha! despite what the photos below suggest, you are a serious belly sleeper. 

you just started scooting around places and it is the craziest. you look like the world's tiniest, cutest zombie. you are super slow and you pull yourself forward using only your arms, letting your legs drag lifelessly behind you. there have been no attempts to get up on all fours yet. it is really pretty ridiculous, but you are loving being a mobile guy. 

it is insane how much you love your brother. you are always scrambling around to see where he is and what he's doing. you are clearly not going to waste any time playing the catch up game. beckett can always make you laugh with pretty much any random noise he makes or by just jumping around in front of you. one of your very favorite things to do is pull beckett's hair. strangely, this is not one of beckett's very favorite things. 

you are generally a pretty quiet guy. beckett would babble and babble endlessly, but we hear your voice much less. your yiayia says that your dad was exactly the same way as a baby. that they were even a little concerned about how quiet he was and then when he finally did start talking it was just full sentences. your dad is one of the smartest people i know, so i'm not worried about it. i do think you will also be a little more introverted like your dad, which is fine too... we just need to make sure you don't get overshadowed by your super outgoing brother. where does beckett even get that from? we'll never know. 

heath! we just can not get enough of your sweet face. you are such a calm, content, gentle baby. it is stressful to hear you crying because it just happens so rarely. you are a great sleeper, a great eater, a great traveler... you make the baby thing seem too easy. i definitely have to try and keep some perspective on how good we have it with you. when i talk to matt about more kids, he says, "lightening struck twice in the same spot for us. we have two cute, sweet tempered kids. i think we may be pushing our luck if we go for three." ha! he's probably right. i guess for now i will be grateful because we have a good thing going! heath, you are seriously the perfect addition to our family... my heart can barely handle it.  

beckett kol at 45 months

oh my goodness! 45 months...3 and 3/4! i have been a terrible blogger with his updates... i need to go back and do some catch up! just so you know... i am not a weirdo and i would never tell somebody that he is 45 months old. i realize we are way past the saying an age in months phase. just to clear that up. per the usual, the things he does and says and his behavior gets more and more fun at every new age. i don't know what you call this age, not a toddler anymore and i would cry a hundred tears if he is just a kid now... i guess maybe a preschooler? our favorite preschooler.

nicknames: b... beez... b kol

you are obsessed with your family. your definition of family is, the people currently living at the house. saige moved out at the end of the summer, and you will often dramatically start a story about the past with, "back when saige was part of our family..." it is pretty tragic sounding. you always prefer to have our family be all together. sometimes we will leave heath home with saige, to give you some personal mom and dad time and you will spend the whole time talking about how you wish saige and heath were with us, so we could be a whole family together. you love to have family couch snuggle time, and just really enjoy being a family unit at all times.

you started coming into our bedroom in the middle of the night about half of the time. it was a little stressful, since we already have a new baby in the room with us. we asked you why you came in sometimes and you told us that you wake up and you feel a little bit sad and a little bit lonely in your room alone, when the rest of the family is together. so, my heart broke into a thousand pieces and i just can't send you away now. as a compromise we have a small air mattress set up on the floor, with a pillow and blankets and when you come in, you get right into your little floor bed... instead of waking us up and trying to get into our bed. i know this can't go on forever, but i can't bear the thought of you being alone and sad in the middle of the night. i hate being alone at night too. so, whatevs man. 

beckett quote

driving in our minivan 8.22.14

"dad, you're being so unreason."

"what does that mean?"

"it means you're trying to be REALLY interesting, but you're NOT. just kidding. it means you're fancy."

you used to love the disney junior shows, jake and the neverland pirates and sofia the first, but both shows in the same week featured a witch on the show (not the same witch) and now you really, with a passion, hate them both. you haven't watched them in months. if either show happens to come on, you will frantically search for the remote and then just start crazily pushing buttons to get the channel to change. or you will just scream at whoever is in the room, "get this thing off the tv!" it's the weirdest. just recently you showed a little interest in a jake movie that is coming out, but only because the ad says it is an event for the whole family.

you have started to challenge us with empty threats. you are very terrible at understanding how threats work though. we have a rule at the dinner table that you have to at least try everything on your plate or no dessert. so you will say, "dad... if you make me try this chicken, i will be so upset and then i will never want dessert again. i will never have another treat." um... okay. your threats always negatively impact you and not anybody else. they kind of work on your dad because he doesn't like the idea of you threatening in general, but i really don't care.

beckett quote 

walking into preschool, fidgeting 9.24.14

"there's bumps in my boots. i think it's the shoulder blades above my feet."

"i think those are your ankle bones."

"i'm going to take my boots off... don't help me."

beckett quote

playing with a plastic dinosaur and a small triangle block 9.27.14

"what is your dinosaur riding on?"

"huh? nothing."

"what is that green block?"

"it's his sunscreen. he is holding his sunscreen."

"why does he have sunscreen?"

"what? so he doesn't get sunburned."

oh beckett, writing your updates i just laugh and laugh at what a funny tiny person you are becoming. you are a joy to us. you are such a great big brother and just perfect person for our family. i could not have imagined what kind of person you would become, and i just couldn't be happier watching you grow and develop your unique little personality. we are so happy you are ours.