I 2!

"How old are you Carter?"

"two!"

What a big boy. It is so hard to believe, two years ago today Corey, Kate, Matt and I were prepping to play a game, and instead I was going into labour.

Our baby boy, all gown up into a toddling toddler.

On Sunday we had Uncle Corey and Auntie Kate ("kitt-ee, kitt-ee" is what Carter says whenever we talk about Corey or Kate) over for dinner and a small party. It was fun, but then how could it not be with good company, chocolate cake, and food brought for you by your guests!

Some video of our festivities:

Today we had Carter's birthday to celebrate a day early, because Matt could take the day off work. It was great. We went to the Edina play park (pictures below), used Carter's new wagon, and had a grand ole nap in the afternoon as well.




Carter is such a sweet and gentle boy, and he amazes me with his smartitude every day. I can't believe what a learning machine he is. Matt and I also amaze at how lucky we are to have two such amazing sons, and I swear my heart just about bursts when I watch Carter-doing something mundane, or something new for the first time. Hell, my heart bursts when I see my entire family. Two years ago today, our wild ride started to be fun, and if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't even know where to begin to tell myself how amazing our lives would become. Carter will always be our first baby-he, unfortunately, for him, is the one we had to learn on. Thank your lucky stars Carter, that Dad and Mom are a quick study.

All Through The Night Spiraled into a Baby Re-Boot

Back in November I boasted Nolen slept all through the night from 7:00 until 4:00. I honestly don't know who wrote that. I don't remember it happening, and it certainly didn't happen again after that.

I think from that point on, things progressed and got a little worse, a little bit each day. Last week we hit a low, and had to perform a hard reset, or what is known in the Hokes House as a Baby Re-boot.

Nolen was beginning to get up every 45-90 minutes at night, and that was just not going to fly. Now we went through all possibilities, is he having a growth spurt, is he too warm, is it too dry in our house, should we be facing him to the south to sleep-the standard questions, yet we had no answers. The best and easiest thing to do was to tackle the problem.

We had to start from the basics.

We took away the soother-not cold turkey, but we used it about 90% less, and are using it sparingly now.

We used our old baby soothing techniques, and read a few more new books to reacquaint ourselves with new ideas.

It worked.

After a few terrible nights of screaming, we have slowly been getting more and more sleep again in this household. Carter, if he hadn't before the reboot, has become very accustomed to the sound of his brother screaming-so much so he can sleep through it most times now. Very nice.

I am not saying everything is GREAT, and we are sleeping through the night now. That would be...well, just bad karma. As I type for example, poor Nolen has had a rough evening of settling down, and is squeeking like a small mouse in his bed. I hope he does not get up, but you never do know (well the Shadow knows, but that is a different story), and that is what makes this game of craps so darned much fun.

Not that he wasn't a happy, smiley baby before-but now Nolen seems to be much more content. It could be his age, he is approaching four months-that also can make a difference. But, I think having a little more control over his sleep, and not having to depend on us to pop a soother in his mouth, has given him more power. He seems to want to take the world by storm. Why just tonight, in the bath tub, he was pulling himself up, and you could tell he wanted to sit up in the tub.

Who knows? Other than the Shadow that is.

Close Vegas-with the JanPenzeners

We had a lovely vacation in Fargo for our 2006 yearly retreat with the JanPenseners. The kids played and coo'ed together, and the parents all chillaxed out together. In fact, the bar we went to (in shifts, people, in shifts) was a frequent hang-out of CariDee English, the winner of this seasons America's Next Top Model.

I think one of the main highlights of the trip was swimming in the pool at Howard Johnson, and playing with balloons. Carter and Jackson certainly enjoyed each other, and it is so great to see them play together the older the kids get. In fact, we all agreed that we will have to plan a big vacation together once the kids get older...that would be very cool-me thinks.

The only downside of the trip was the last day, and this isn't just because we had to say goodbye. What was so terrible about our last day was an event that started at breakfast on Sunday, and didn't end until Friday that week.

Sunday morning, Carter and Matt went swimming, while Nolen and I looked on from the pool deck. Carter was not quite himself all morning, a little withdrawn, and more "toddler-ish" than normal-picking at his brother, and not wanting to play with balloons. We went down to breakfast, and got some food from the buffet. When presented with his food Carter mustered out a "No, no" (I wish I could convey the tone which "no" is said by Carter. It starts low, and ends strong, like a quiet cough). I don't remember if he ate anything, but in that instant, it didn't matter-it all came out, the water from the pool, milk from that morning, pizza dinner from the night before, and maybe even a little snack tossed in there for good measure. Poor Carter. How do you explain vomit to a 2 year old? He was quite upset. Matt rushed him upstairs to clean himself and Carter up. Sonya and I stayed downstairs with Nolen, Jackson and Kate. It seems that Carter's contribution to Sunday brunch at the Howard Johnson's was not at all appreciated. Most people eating brunch at 8:00am on Sunday are parents of young children, and people in their 50's, 60's and 70's without any children. They all fled the scene.

We thought at first that Carter had taken in too much pool water, and were therefore not too concerned about our ride home. Carter was not running a fever, and seemed to be a bit under the weather, but not too bad. HA. We pulled over just before Fergus Falls to puke. It was clear at this point we were dealing with something viral. I was just hoping that while sleeping in the car on the way home, it would fix itself, and that he would be all better by the time we got home. Nothing is worse then being sick during the day, but it sucks to be sick at night....and nothing is worse then being sick in the CAR. Poor kid.

The next day by 9:00 pm all three of us were sick. I won't go into details, but I lost 5 pounds in that week, and none of us were eating anything other than the BRAT (bananas, rice, apples, and toast, with a little chicken soup in the mix) diet until Friday/Saturday. Not one our top ten weeks, but I can't say which made us bond as a family more. A great vacation, or all of us (minus Nolen) being sick with each other. Either way, both were memorable and not to be forgotten any time soon.

Pictures below (of the trip, not the sickness!)

What do the Hokes Want for Chrimmas?

As requested, people have asked for ideas of what to get the kids for Christmas, and birthdays. We have compiled, and will continue to maintain this little list for you all.

As for this holiday season, remember, we are traveling with 2 kids-therefore we don't have a lot of room-so please, help us re-pack light on our way home!

Look To Your Right...You Can Click on the Website Link "Hokes N00bs Wish List"