Super Saturday

Karsten must have realized it was a Saturday today, so he slept in until 7:30am. WOO HOO! Let's hope we can make that a new routine! You can always tell when he's definetely up for the day because he will sit in his crib and babble to himself.

After we got up and around, we headed to the farmer's market to get some fresh fruits and veggies. We have tomato plants that are doing fantastic, so we needed a few odds and ends to make a few things using all of our tomatoes. There's a fantastic middle eastern restaurant there, so we had a yummy lunch then headed home so Karsten could take a nap.

While he took a nap, Scott and I made Salsa! It turned out pretty well - next time I won't add so much sugar. I'm sure salsa is one of those things that takes a while to find the perfect recipe.


When Karsten woke up, we decided to try out his new raft at the pool. He wasn't thrilled with the raft at first; however, after playing in the water for a while, he was willing to sit in it. By the time we left, he was a happy camper floating around in his raft.


I think someone needs another nap!


Whew - what a great day. We had a bottle of wine from our trip to Hermann with dinner and by the time Karsten was ready for bed, I was ready to go to sleep as well!

Marsten

When I was little, I never understood why my Grandma would say everyone's name before she got my name out. I often heard "Brett, ummm Lisa" or "Shawnee, Shannon, ummm Lisa" and I always thought she just didn't remember. Now that sometimes I yell for Madison to stop itching and in the next breath say "Heeeyyyy Karsten"...I end up saying the wrong name or calling for "Marsten". Marsten is the combination of Karsten and Madison - LOL.

So, I finally get it - and I'm sure there are many more years of Marsten in our future.

Karsten and Madison have started to play tug of war with toys lately. They will tug for a bit, then Madison will win and Karsten just laughs and laughs. It's impossible not to smile and laugh watching them.

Future Soccer Player?

When we were at my parents house on Sunday for my mom's famous peach pie, Karsten was kicking a soccer ball all around the kitchen. I hadn't seem him do that before and was impressed that he was actually kicking the ball then chasing it and kicking it again.

Tonight he was kicking the soccer ball at our house - hard to get pictures of him kicking, but here are my attempts. He keeps a close eye on the ball and taps it with his foot - absolutely adorable.



And back the other direction he went. Sometimes when the ball gets under a chair where he can't kick it, he'll bend down and pick it up then put it back on the floor where he can kick it.




He got tired of the soccer ball and was kicking around his favorite pig. Soon after the kicking game was over because the pig wanted to ride on the tractor - time to play with a different toy.

Family photos - strike 3

We've been trying to do family pictures for a couple of weeks now. The first date was rained out. The second date was uber hot (although I think Kenna got some amazing pics) and today...our third reschedule today was also uber hot. We thought we could brave the heat - we all got dressed in our coordinating outfits, fixed our hair and makeup (I guess that was just me), then off we went to meet Kenna at the park.



By the time we walked to the location where we wanted to take pictures, Scott's tshirt was starting to get sweaty and my hair was starting to get curly. Karsten still looked cute - but his cheeks were getting a bit rosy from the heat. We did one picture and then all agreed that this was not going to work - in a few minutes Scott and I would have been super sweaty. That does not make for great pictures.



After we got home, I snapped a few quick pics of my guys before Karsten got ready for bed.

Look at those rosy cheeks!


They had lots to talk about....


Karsten was getting very sleepy by now.


Then he rallied for one more picture before crawling up the stairs to bed!

Swimmin' - well kinda

When we went to the pool this weekend, we decided we needed to get an innertube for Karsten to sit in at the pool.

Scott bought a floaty raft that has leg holes so Karsten can sit in it and float in the pool. We just KNEW he would love it and were excited to try it out. It was too late to go to the pool to try it out, but we had the brilliant idea of filling up our big tub and floating the lil raft in it. Perfect, right?

Ummm, no. Karsten was not a fan of the raft in the tub - we're hoping that he likes it better when we try it in the pool. I think he was scared that he was standing in the tub then we put him in the raft where he couldn't feel the bottom of the tub - that IS scary, I can relate to not being comfortable in the water. :)

So...Scott and Lisa get an F on that idea. O well, it makes for a good story if nothing else!

Watching the tub fill up


The first sign that this idea wasn't going to be a hit.





Then he was happy as long as he was out of the raft and he had pushed it out of the tub!

Did I hear that right?

Karsten is starting to 'talk' (aka babble) a lot more. Every so often we will think we hear a real word in there. He will often repeat it at an appropriate time, so we're pretty sure we've heard a few new words.

Today at church Karsten would say "sanks" each time I gave him a piece of Baby MumMum crackers. The first time I wasn't sure I heard hime right, but Scott confirmed that it sure sounded like Thanks when he kept saying it.

When we're eating dinner, we'll often say "Yummmm" when Karsten eats something OR if he refuses to eat something and we're trying to get him to eat it. :) We were at my parents for dinner tonight and several times it sounded like he said "Ummmmm".

I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting...stay tuned. :)

Just like Dad

Jen gave Karsten a cool lawnmower for his birthday. Soon he'll be walking behind Scott in the yard pushing his little lawn mower.

It took forever to get the lawnmower out of it's package. There were LOTS of twisty ties on this - it wasn't going anywhere quickly. Karsten wanted the gas can off and was getting a bit impatient.


Finally the lawnmower was unpackaged and put together. He was off - lots of carpet to mow!




Then the lawnmower ran into a chair and he got frustrated when it wouldn't go forward anymore, so he plopped down and rested for a minute.


Scott showed him how to start his mower - it's so cool, it actually makes a starting noise when you pull the chord.




He was fascinated that he could pull the chord and it would quickly retract into the lawnmower.

Wednesday

Not too much to share today, just a little of this and that.

Karsten is getting in his one year molars and his teeth have really been hurting him lately. It's
made him a bit crabby from time to time. Tylenol seems to help his teeth feel better so we've been giving that to him as needed. The good news is more of the molars are peeking through so hopefully we are through the worst of it.

He's been 'discovering' more things around the house lately. Not sure where he found this link that used to hold a toy on his carseat, but it's a popular toy for him to carry around the house. He'll see a little piece of fuzz or something on the floor then bring it over to us.


Tonight he walked up to the stove and was looking at his reflection in it. Then he got much closer and pushed his face into the window on the stove and made a funny noise.


Playing fetch with Madison never gets old. He throws the tennis ball, Madison hurries and catches it (often doesn't have to go far) then brings it back and Karsten laughs. Repeat. :)


Talkin' to dad. He started 'talking' a lot more this week. We can tell when he wakes up in the morning because he will sit in his crib and talk to himself. On the way to work in the mornings we talk about all sorts of stuff - the cars and trucks driving by, what we're going to do today, the toy he's playing with....when he gets tired of talking we turn on the CD of kid's music that grandma and grandpa got him for his birthday. He loves the music - if he was fussy he always calms down and just looks out the window and listens to the music!


Looking for the perfect toy in his toybox.


He is frustrated that he can't get the shape sorter out of the toybox. He's been playing with the shape sorter quite a bit. If you turn the shape sorter so the appropriate shape is facing him, he can put the shape in the container. Scott showed him how to hold it so he can push it through the hole so each time he picks up a shape he puts it in his hand how Scott showed him. We were so surprised that it only took one time and he remembered it.


My aunt Nancy and uncle Kevin gave Karsten this 'popcorn popper' toy for his birthday. Shannon and I found one of these and gave it to their son when he was little - he LOVED it and Kevin and Nancy grew to hate the sound of the popcorn popper. I knew when I had a child, I would receive a popcorn popper as soon as he could walk!

Karsten has a great time pushing it around - it's usually good for one stroll across the room then he tries to push it at an angle that's close to vertical and gets frustrated when it won't move.






He also tries to use it as leverage to stand up and that never works out well!


Taking the popcorn popper for a walk.


...and then we're done with it, couldn't figure out how to get it out of the corner.


o wait...I can pick the popcorn popper up and take it to Dad who will help me figure out how to push it again.


Then all is right with the world. :)


Someone's getting sleepy! Must be time for bed!

Little Monkey Bizness

After spending the weekend away from Karsten, we wanted to have a family day today to spend some time with him. We wanted to do something fun and Kenna gave us the great suggestion of Little Monkey Bizness! It's like a big playground for little kids - there is an area with big foam toys for little ones to play in, slides, a bounce house, climbing stuff...you get the idea!

At first Karsten was watching all of the kids running around, then we sat him on the little slide and after he slid down, he was ready to explore. There was a little guy running around that was four months older than Karsten and once Karsten saw him run past, he took off after him.


Then we moved on to a bigger slide - it took a few times before he got the hang of scooting forward far enough to slide down the slide.


He would sit there for a minute, then slowly scoot forward.


Then down he went!


Back to bouncing the big balls - they were also fun to chase around the wood floor. There was a big mirror at his level. Occasionally he would stop and stare at himself in the mirror.


Then it was off to another toy - he wasn't big enough to climb into it, but he had fun on it when we lifted him on it.




Next we went to the area with big soft blocks - the main area was getting kind of busy with big kids, so we thought this might be a nice change of pace. He had fun crawling over the blocks.


Scott built a tower and Karsten laughed when he knocked it over.


A nice lady volunteered to take our picture while we were playing - so nice of her!


Then we moved on to a BIG slide! Karsten remembered how to scoot forward then go down the slide. He enjoyed the big slide then we wanted to try out the curved slide.




Hard to get a good picture of this slide. Scott held onto his arm because we thought he would get going too fast and go off the side of the slide! When he got to the bottom, he would lay there for a minute waiting for you to pick him up and take him back to the top.


A few more minutes playing with the big balls, then it was time to go home for a nap. little Monkey Bizness was lots of fun - thanks for the great suggestion Kenna!