Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Dear Santa,

Koen turned 22 months old on last Monday, December 3rd. My letter to him is late because things have been a little crazy around here and at the office. Non-the-less, I'm writing you this letter on behalf of Koen, to determine whether or not he has been Naughty or Nice and if it will affect the amount of Christmas Presents he'll be receiving this year.

As you know, Koen was sick almost the entire month of October and a few days into November. His sickness however did not dampen his energy level, his spirit for excitement, nor testing Mom and Dads patience. Koen now has a new universal greeting. He pinches his lips together and blows outward making an elephant sound. Something he learned from a music class to help warm up the mouth before singing like Luciano Pavarotti, which I'm sure every kid his age all sound like, right?

It seems as though he picked up a bad habit that could possibly be Guinevere and my fault. You see there are times when we need to move our cat (Scrappy) out of the way with a slight nudge by using one foot. Well, Koen has taken this little gesture as, "It's alright to kick the cat." He has even taken this action with our dog Toby who is 85 lbs. and triple his size. Maybe it's not our fault entirely. Maybe it's due to the fact that he has officially entered the "TERRIBLE 2's" stage of development. Yelling, screaming, and voicing his opinion...if this is only the beginning...Lord help us.

Koen's sleep schedule (along with almost every other child in America under the age of five) was affected by daylight savings last month. He has been cranky and fussy ever since. This is due in part by Guinevere and I not re-adjusting his schedule fast enough. He lets us know that at 11:30 AM he is tired and wants to take a nap. And at 8:30 PM he is ready to go down for the night. But all of this doesn't go without him making a big stink about the fact that he is really really tired, doesn't want his diaper changed, doesn't want anyone but Mom putting him down and doesn't want to go to sleep even though he is telling us he is really, really tired.

Our little baby boy is turning into a little toddler right before our eyes. He is developing a strong opinion and will make it known to everyone within shouting distance. I'm sure it doesn't help that we were displaced from our home most of November. Remodeling had us move in with Lola and Lolo for three weeks. The good news is that their house is so big, Koen had the opportunity to move and run freely from room to room and wasn't confined to a small 200 square foot play area we call a living room at our house. This allowed him to play by himself for long periods of time without calling for either Guinevere or I to join him. We call this a selfish sanity break from Thomas the Train Engine.

And speaking of Thomas the Train Engine, Koen showed me a gesture that made fatherhood worth the lack of sleep and gray hairs. I asked him to give me a hug and he ran over to me and wrapped his arms around my neck and squeezed tight. This was a first. He has only done this with Guinevere. His usual hugs consist of him placing his head on my shoulder and me giving the squeeze. So, what did Daddy do? I was filled with that joyful parental feeling and promised to buy him two Thomas engines and "ice cream" from Jamba Juice the next day. I know, they don't serve ice cream at Jamba Juice, but they do serve all fruit/yogurt beverages that are close to the consistency of a milk shake. Some may consider this lying to their child, but hey, when your child already knows what ice cream is and really wants it, do you say "no" and listen to the crying and screaming for hours? Or, do you entertain him with the thought of actually getting "ice cream" and see the smile on his face as he does the ice cream dance every child seems to be born with? You know the dance. I'm sure you used to do it too. So Santa, is it Koen you should be evaluating for being naughty or nice this year?

Koen was a well-behaved trooper on Thanksgiving. Grandma, Grandpa, Kera and her parents all came over to Lola and Lolo's house while Guin and Uncle Greg made dinner. Uncle Greg's chicken was a big hit with Koen. That was the first form of meat he had eaten in weeks. He and Kera did have their moments of blissful laughter while playing in his tunnel. Unfortunately, I'm a bad Daddy for not documenting it on camera. However, I did capture it on video. But no one will see it until I can figure out how to embed QuickTime files on this simple HTML page. My bad.

How about this...during our stay with Lola and Lolo, Koen woke up one Saturday morning holding his neck, telling his Mom that it hurts. Now Koen isn't one to let a little pain stop him from running around. He wouldn't walk and every time he tried moving his head, he clinched in pain and would cry and want to snuggle with his Mom. So Guinevere called the advice nurse who prompted her to call the doctor and go in for an Urgent Care visit. So with a little Children's Tylenol in his system, off we went to the Doctors office - Koen, Mom, Dad and Lola for extra support. When we got there, Koen's neck seemed to be much better. He was able to move his head and walk without stopping and holding his neck. He even laughed and spoke about the very big fish in the waiting lounge.

When the Nurse came out and walked us down the hall to the examination room, we needed to first weigh Koen. As soon as he saw the scale...his legs straightened as if he were a dog going to the Vet. His brakes were totally floored and the crying began. Not just any crying. This was the sound of "you are going to hurt me." We assured him that this visit wasn't to stick needles in him. That didn't help. We were desperate and needed to find a way to get him to stand on the scale. Like the Super Mom she is, Guinevere pulled out a small bag of mini M&M's and bribed him with two scrumptious morsels of hard coated chocolate candy to stand on the scale. Of course this worked. Sheesh.

So there we were, in the examination room waiting for the Doctor. And when the Doctor finally came in, Koen seemed to snuggle closer and melt into his Mom. Koen however, was really good about letting the nice Doctor look in both ears, feel his neck and listen to his breathing from his back. Then the poor Doctor said the wrong words..."lets have a look at your throat." Once again, the wailing began. The Doctor suggested we lay him on his back so he can peak in Koen's mouth while he cries. So, what was the Doctor's prognosis: "Koen has a stiff neck, give him some Children's Motrin, until he feels better."

As the Doctor left the room and we were gathering everything, Koen didn't want to leave. He started to cry again and we couldn't get him to leave. What did we do? You guessed it. We bribed him with more M&M's. As soon as we were back at Lola and Lolo's house, Koen was his usual self, running around and playing with his trains. My prognosis: "Koen faked the stiff neck thing just to have some M&M's." Just Kidding.

Santa, Guinevere and I agree that Koen is in deed starting the Terrible 2's but his acting-out could be due to the fact that we had been away from our home for three weeks. Please keep this in mind when you go through his naughty or nice list and that this letter is only for the events in November and that for the past year he has been sweet, gentle and has learned compassion.

With that in mind, Koen has been talking about this particular toy for the last three months:

Thomas the Train Engine Auqadoodle

Best Regards,

Gary