Christmas on the Farm

Our Christmas plans took a bit of a turn this year. Our original plan was for Grandma and Grandpa Sindt to come to Minneapolis for the holiday. Then mother nature intervened.

The weekend of December 18th, we packed up the van to head down to the farm to meet Tony, Lisa, and Max for an early Christmas. We were excited to share some holiday time with our new nephew/cousin. Tony and Lisa had arrived at the farm on Thursday night that week. We didn't get to spend whole lot of time with them since they left on Saturday, but we cherish any little bit of time we can get with them.

I had to get back to Minneapolis for work on Monday, so the plan was for me to take one of the Sindt cars back. Then the grandparents, Kim, Camden, and Ethan would come back home together for Christmas. Then the weather reports started to come in. There was a big snow and ice storm headed our way. The forecast promised that it would be around for quite a long time through the Christmas holiday. So we made the quick decision for me to return to the farm so that we could all be together for Christmas and not on the treacherous roadways.

Turned out, that was the best decision we could've made. Had Grandpa Sindt tried to come back later in the week, it likely would've been too dangerous for him to do so. The weather was so bad on Christmas Eve that we didn't even make it to church service.

We got about 15" of snow on the farm and there were drifts at least 12' high. But if there was a place to be snowed in, a farm was the place to be. It was like one of the boys' books come to life. They loved watching "papa" roll out the tractors and move the mounds of snow. Camden even got a ride in the tractor.

Kim and I took the opportunity to go out on a date one night. The weather seemed to have cleared up a bit so we took the 1 hour trip to Sioux City for a movie and dinner. We saw Avatar in 3D and then headed out to a Mongolian restaurant. The fun part was on the way home. The weather had turned, yet again, and conditions driving back weren't ideal. The wind was blowing pretty hard and it was snowing. We met the worst of it on the service road pulling into the farm. About a quarter mile before the farm, the snow had drifted up about 4 feet high preventing us from getting through.

Tried as we might to plow through, we were not successful. So we phoned home for help. Within minutes, we saw the bright headlights of the tractor coming to our rescue. Grandpa plowed us free and cleared a path for us to come home. Just not something I've ever experienced as a city boy before, but thankful that the necessary equipment and family members were available to help us out.

All and all we had a wonderful Christmas. It was nice to have some extended time at home on the farm and the boys loved it too. We'll definitely remember the Christmas of 2009 as a white Christmas.

Crate and Baby

Ethan loves Oliver's crate. During our visit to the farm, we had brought Oliver's travel crate. Ethan decided to see if he could fit in it. Camden was more than happy to help him find out. We had to take the crate apart in order to get "Winnie the Pooh" out.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was incredibly cute this year. As you can see from the pictures below, we dressed Camden and Ethan up as Tigger and Winnie the Pooh, respectively. In order to maximize our investment in their costumes, we made sure to parade them around as much as we could. We first took them to the Como Zoo for "Zoo Boo". Basically, they parade around the zoo and pick up treats. There were a few animals still around so that was fun for the boys too. On Halloween, we went over to their friend Alex's house to pass out candy and hang out.

Here is some video and a few pictures from Halloween 2009:

Welcome Maxton!

Welcome to the newest member of our family, Maxton "Max" Anthony Sindt. Proud parents Tony and Lisa Sindt brought Max into our lives on September 24th, 2009. We're so excited to have Max in our lives and happy that Camden and Ethan have a new cousin to grow up with.

Ethan's 1 year well baby today!

My baby is ONE! How crazy is that?!?!!?

Here’s his stats as I remember them:

• 33 inches = off the charts!
• Weight: 23.3 lbs -- 75%;

He’s the long lean little brother machine! He took his shots much better than big brother, but I think it helps that mommy is more of a pro these days… plus prepared with candy.

Ethan charmed all the ladies in the doctor office, while the doctor was a little bit behind; we wandered the hallways and smiled and waved at everyone. Charmer!

Ethan is totally loving the communication phase! He currently signs for help (or throws a tantrum); and has a general sign that when paired with a grunt differentiates his different needs. He raises his arm and does a little open/close the fingers backwards wave. When he adds the point at the sippie and an extra long grunt, it means he wants the sippie. When he points at a food choice.. that’s what he wants! Of course, anytime he sends his plate/spoon/food down to the floor, it means he doesn’t want it. He’s long since mastered the headshake no and for emphasis will totally look away from a proffered item. It’s really cute. He’s also very into words -- Ah Duh (all done) Yayayayayaay (Oliver); MAMAMAMA (mama); Of course, there’s more, but I’ll have to add them later!

He’s a great little guy with a big smile that lights up our lives!

PS: Almost sleeping through the night… I’m thinking he’s on a growth spurt and has had a bit of a night waking issue. He’s no fun to be up with (I think it makes him mad to wake up at night, but the little man doesn’t soothe himself back to sleep that well).

A day in the life

I found this on my work computer from six months ago. Kind of cute, if I do say so myself! Yesterday marked our first joint Well Baby visit – Camden's 18 month and Ethan's 6 month. I thought it was time to document a day in the life of my boys:6:30 AM: Baby's crying – listen intently to determine which one is giving us our Morning wake up call (not that it really matters!)

6:32 AM: Nurse Ethan… Can we get his breakfast done before big brother wakes?

6:32 AM: Discuss the good night with Steve… I know I was up with Ethan, but I'm too tired to remember 3:20? No, says Steve, he was up with Oliver; Oh, well, must have been before that

6:40 AM: Camden hollers!

6:45 AM: No cuddling, Camden is stating intently "eat", "eat"

6:46 AM: Waffles are in the toaster and discover the carton of Soy milk is empty. Drats!

6:50 AM: Camden is adamant that "Wah-ver" is not going to work, tantrum is broiling.
Emergency stash of Similac's ready to feed Soy formula.. will it be a sufficient substitute?

6:51 AM: "Wah-vels" are on the plate, Big Brother is content for now

6:52 AM: Go find Ethan…. Luckily he's still generally wherever I left him and also genuinely happy that I came back for him

7:00 AM: Waffels for everyone… daddy makes me coffee before heading out to be at work by

7:10 AM: Diaper change! Ethan's wet diaper has the beginnings of formed poops! Am I really that excited about formed poops? Maybe I'm sad about formed poops? Maybe I am waaaay too sleep deprived to care so much about formed semi-formed poops.

7:20 AM: Camden's diaper change, luckily he's pretty excited to tell me about his current interest in Buttons the musical stuffed animal to protest too much

7:30 AM: What are we going to do all day? The kids are sensing my lack of preplanned activities. Steve leaves with a reminder that the upstairs bathroom needs straightening up (as does the rest of the ENTIRE house!)

7:40 AM: Feed the facebook addiction? No… too much work!

7:45 AM: What smells? I mean, Who smells!

7:46 AM: Ethan smells…. Little man surely must feel better after he unloads!

7:50 AM: Art time: Camden loves art and the Art Box needs to be sorted.

8:10 AM: Grandma calls to check in… doe we need them to come up this weekend? That's sweet, I think, I'll check with Steve, but I think we're fine, I respond.

8:15 AM: Masterpieces should really take longer… a lot longer. But most of the art box is sorted

8:20 AM: Call Ba Noi in Ohio to catch up on the week. Decide to webcam;

8:30 AM: Where's that danged Web Cam? We just used it last week with Dr. Aunt Paige.

9:00 AM: Baby Juggle for Ba Noi and Ong Noi: But great chat. Camden loves seeing his Grandparents: he played peek a boo, showed off his love for his little brother and his words too; Ethan smiled and enjoyed the session too!

9:10 AM: Oh! I'm missing my Stay At Home Mom indulgent hour: The Ellen Show! Usually the boys and I dance with along with her to many giggles.

9:11 AM: Now who smells? Surely not Ethan again!!! Camden's turn for a diaper change.

9:20 AM: Where's the Febreeze? Freshen the house while ½ watching Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson on Ellen

10:15 AM: Snack time: Cheerios and bananas…. The similac is not going over well in the cheerio bowl. "Cookie, Cookie" is the mantra. Hmmmm

10:30 AM: Dismantle the baby swing. Ethan hasn't been in it in weeks. Start a tantrum by not letting Camden play with the electic cord

11:00 AM: General clean up: sort the DVD collection for the ARC collection coming on Tuesday;

11:15 AM: Camden walks purposefully over to pantry and pulls out the Gerber granduates for lunch. Throw in a steam fresh bag of veggies first and the heat up lunch

11:16 AM: Prepare Ethan's peas knowing he's not going to like them…double check that there's sweet potatoes

11:30 AM: Everyone's eating! Sort of! (Attempt to sneak in Ethan's antibiotic!)

11:32 AM: Seriously…. Lunch really should last shorter and not be so messy!!!! Nap time is really needed, with Mommy needing a nap the most.

12:00: Ethan nurses and falls asleep. This could be good, this could be very good!

12:30 pm: Nap time disaster start. Camden is adamant that his naptime will not be occurring as scheduled (maybe because he slept in?)

1:00 Pm: Seriously? Doesn't he realize that not amount of tears will forego naptime? And it's not a game, contrary to popular belief

1:10 pm: Suppress major jealousy as Steve has returned to work from home. He's currently reclined watching THE Ohio State Buckeyes play their first game in the big 10 tourney

1:30 pm: Call gradma, this mommy is miserable and wants her mommy!

1:40 pm: Steve can sense my desperation and intervenes with Camden and his unwillingness to nap

1:45 pm: the countdown begins: scrape out the rancid left over chicken that didn't get eaten, empty the pungent garbage, empty the dishwasher… wash all the dishes because they weren't clean – again. Check the Jet Dry – still full; check for plugged something… see a broken piece. Load the dishwasher anyway…. Things got marginally clean even with that broke piece.

1:59pm: Short napper wakens… pop in and sooth him back to sleep

I wish I could remember how the rest of this day went! All the days go so fast but are so wonderful!

Ethan's 1st Birthday!

September 9th, 2009, aka. 9.9.09, was a special day for our little man, Ethan Zachary. Ethan turned one today! His mother and I both had the day off from work to hang out with him. We sent Camden to daycare to give Ethan our undivided attention. We didn't have anything specific planned except that we wanted Ethan to get his first experience with pizza on his first birthday.

As with most mornings, Ethan started his day at about 445am. He must have been excited about his big day. For that matter, Camden must have been equally excited because he was up shortly after that. After we got Camden to daycare, we let Ethan nap in the van a little bit while I took care of a haircut. Judging by the pictures, you're probably wondering why we don't take care of Ethan's too. As soon as we cut Camden's hair the first time, he lost that "baby" feel. I guess we want to hold onto that as long as we can with E.

We took Ethan back home and hung out with him in the backyard before taking him to our neighborhood park. Which was amazingly busy for a Wednesday morning. As usual, Ethan monopolized the swing. He also spent quite a bit of time on the big kids play equipment. While not quite walking, E's very adept at pulling himself and walking along railings and posts.

Ethan has such a cute little voice too. It's got a deeper tone than Camden's and a little raspy at the same time. We haven't really classified his first official word yet, but he appears to say things like "pop!" and "baahble" (bubble). Perhaps we're a little harder on our 2nd child and have higher expectations for the clarity of what a first word should be. Not like when I thought I heard and gave credit to Camden saying "hamburger" when he was about 3 months old.

After E's playground adventures, we came home and had some lunch. E conked out for his afternoon nap shortly after that. When he awoke, we headed out to Punch Pizza. Some say Punch is the best pizza in town. I tend to agree, but I know there are those that prefer other places. I think E would agree with those that say it's the best in town. We could barely keep a piece of pizza on his plate before he scarfed it down. He smacked his lips between each bite, each piece. It was very funny.

The final cap to the day was a cupcake celebration. By this time, E was wearing down after a long day and wasn't quite sure what to think. We put a chocolate cupcake and a carrot cupcake in front of him and let him go to town. He certainly made a fine mess of everything. His big brother, Camden, joined in the fun too. Although Camden enjoyed blowing out Ethan's candle over and over again versus the cupcake mess that Ethan was enjoying.

All in all, a great day of celebration with Ethan. Kimberly and I couldn't be happier with having a happy, healthy one year old in our lives. Sure it's challenging at times to have two boys so close together, but looking back we wouldn't have it any other way. Camden is really at an age where he understands Ethan and his place in our family. Ethan's an amazing young man. We love you E!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY ETHAN ZACHARY!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

We're happy to celebrate Camden's 2nd birthday today! In addition to mommy, daddy, and Ethan, the birthday boy got to celebrate his day with Grandma and Grandpa Sindt, and Aunt Paige. We made the trip back to Holstein, Iowa. Timing was nice because Aunt Paige was in town for her 10 year high school reunion.

Camden's birthday also falls on a game day this year as the Buckeyes opened the season against Navy. The Buckeyes squeaked one out and served as a nice gift for Camden on his birthday.

It's been a wonderful two years, sleepless nights and all. We wouldn't give back any of the precious moments we've had with Camden and are grateful and blessed to have him in our lives. Camden bring such joy to our lives and makes us laugh daily. We've seen and learned so much in the two years we've had Camden.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMDEN!

Urine Trouble

Has this ever happened to you? You're in the privacy of your own bathroom, minding your own business, when WHAM! a toddler decides he/she needs to join you?! Well, it happened to me recently and what ensued is nothing short of hilarious.

Like I said, I was minding my own business at the toilet going #1, you know the stand up type. In comes Camden, curious as can be. He comes right up to my right leg, places his hand on my leg, and just watches. Didn't say a word. I said to him, "What are you watching Camden? Are you watching daddy go pee-pee? When you're ready to go pee-pee in the big boy toilet, you let me know, okay?" Still no response. Eyes transfixed on one thing. A mysterious gaze at some wonder fluid coming out of Daddy's body.

My body finally stops it's normal urinary function, and Camden immediately speaks up, points at my boy part and says, "'GAIN!" Translated to, "AGAIN!" As if it's a hose that I can just turn on and off. I could barely contain myself and neither could Kim as she listened in from the other room.

As you might guess, no pictures were taken during this event to accompany this post :)

Active little Ethan!

 Ethan is determined to be in the mix of everything.    He lets us know what he wants, where he wants to be and with whom.     He watches his big brother intently and has a new affinity for pushing trucks and other four-wheeled toys around just like Camden.   He’s especially thrilled with the new found freedom his walker gives him.   He takes off down the driveway as fast as his little feet will carry him…. Looking back with the biggest smile on his face to make sure we are watching him. 

 

He loves sharing and will hand (or almost hand) you items and wait for you to give them back.   His favorite noises are the “motor boat” noise.     He too loved the four wheeler and loved being at Grandma and Grandpa’s with all the wide open door ways and what not.

 

 

Three word sentences!

Camden’s ability to articulate sure has grown!   Last night, Camden brings in his current favorite book (which he stole from the Doctor’s office by putting in the diaper back while I wasn’t looking!) ‘Are you my mother’.    He went searching for that specific book and brings it in saying, “Da-dee,  read this”.   He handed it to daddy and in a very bossy tone says “Lap!” and turns around and backs into Steve’s lap, settling in for the 63 page story.     I used to be able to read every other page when I was in a hurry, but he’s already catching on to that trick!    You will never have to guess what Camden is thinking, he will tell you everything.   Here’s some of his more bossy instructions offered up while visiting Grandma and Grandpa Sindt this weekend:

 

Grandma, baby!   (Mommy, you need to give the baby to Grandma and take care of me! ) 

Outtide.   (You’ve got 30 seconds to get me outside before I have a meltdown)

Bump --   (the new high five)

Go Away :   (Warning to Oliver, even though I am holding out my super yummy snacks, do not take them from my hand, you need to go away)

Wipe!     (dirty fingers need a wipe J )

Po-Po  (Thanks daddy for teaching him this one --  he also thinks all the geeksquad beetle cars are po-po)

Elmo On, Couch.    (You co get the Elmo DVD and turn it on while I go sit on the couch….

 

Camden has never been a quiet and this trend continues as his vocabulary continues to grow.  It’s super cute! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's pretend!

Camden may be 22 months but his imagination and pretend play is certainly emerging. A couple weeks back, we had a playdoh kit out. The miniature extruder has the little stencil that fits on the end of the tube. Camden ran around the house dipping it into the extruder tube and blowing (sometimes spitting) on it and then would proceed to watch his pretend bubbles. He would hold it out to me and I would blow him some make believe bubbles… to his delighted giggles.

Other imagination activities: He started pulling in and gassing up his little lawn mower. The next time, after watching daddy check and fill the oil of our lawn mower, he subsequently flips his lawnmower over and also checks the oil and fills it! Finally, while eating at his little table, he’ll run over to his little kitchen and grab his pepper grinder and return to his plate and grind a lot of pepper before finishing….

There’s more instances of pretend play and I wish I could remember them… they certainly bring a big smile and keep us very entertained!

Ethan on the go!

Let chaos reign!    Ethan has mastered crawling with a vengeance and his newfound mobility is driving many changes in our household.   The many baby gates are going back up – one at the top of the upstairs stairwell, one at the top of the kitchen stairwell,   the boarder gate that spans the TV components and the fireplace.    Despite our Safety First mantra, Ethan’s already got a bit of shiner… he was playing at my feet at the refrigerator door yesterday while I was putting away groceries.    He toppled while trying to reach the dressing bottles on the next door shelf up and had a little bruise bust under his eyebrow.    Poor little guy!   He hollered for a bit but settled easily enough.   We tried to apply a the boo boo bunny but he just wanted to chew it.    

 

Ethan’s also obsessed with Camden’s sippy cups.    They  can each have their own sippie cups and the minute Ethan spots one of Camden’s he abandon’s his and bee lines for the much more appealing one.  

 

It’s definitely a little more chaotic with two on the move, but they really are bonding and enjoying each other so much, we cannot complain!

 

 

Exciting updates on Ethan: Waving!

Our amazing E continues to make tons of interactive progress!    This week he’s all about the waving and squealing hello.    He’s very communicative, laughing often as his big brother, expressing extreme displeasure when someone wrongs him, waving hello and mirroring our sounds.    He loves to motorboat, which often has all of us motor-boating back at him.  

 

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/camdennguyen/3699437529/" title="DSC_0107 by kimberlyknguyen, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3479/3699437529_3e380fe713_b.jpg" width="1024" height="681" alt="DSC_0107" /></a>

 

Kimberly Nguyen  | IT Business Analyst | Technology Services | Carlson Marketing
phone: 763.212.2856  |  mobile: 612.385.2775 |   fax: 763.212.3361  |  mail stop: 8280  |  skype id:  kimberlyknguyen 

Camden can count!

A favorite activity for Camden is placing an ear of corn out on the squirrel feeder (thanks Grandpa, for putting that out there!).    Subsequently, we are a favorite neighborhood hang out for the local squirrel population.     Yesterday as we rounded the corner to the back yard, I pointed out the squirrel munching on the corn and he pointed and said “two squirrel”).    Sure enough a second squirrel was sitting  on the fence post.   While we recognized that he was aware of numbers, this is the first time he articulated his counting capabilities.   Way to go Camden!  

Memorial Day Trip, Part II

The next leg of our Midwest tour took us on a 5 hour drive from Coloma, MI to Dayton, OH. We were scheduled to be there for 5-6 days. That's one of the nice things about driving is the flexibility it leaves for our schedule. We rolled in late in the afternoon of Memorial Day. The boys held up great in the van and slept most of the way. They woke up just before we got pulled in.

Ethan got a chance to get introduced to a lot of new people. People who were introduced to Camden only a year ago, or a little less. E got to meet Becky Lewis and her new son Jackson Carter Lewis. Jackson is only 4 weeks old. My friends Jenny and Jason Seifert were kind enough to host a little get together at their house. It was nice to see those guys again and introduce them to the boys. Mommy and Daddy again took advantage of having Grandma and Grandpa around to take advantage for themselves. We took an evening to ourselves and went to a Reds game. It was a blast. It was our first time in the new stadium and it didn't disappoint. We look forward to the day when we can take Camden and Ethan to their first ball game.

A hot, sunny, and relaxing week with Ong Noi and Ba Noi came to a close. We piled all our worldly possessions into the van and began our trek back to Minneapolis. We stopped in Chicago for an overnight stay to break up the trip. We met up with Uncle Tony and Aunt Lisa one last time and then finished our last leg of the tour. Overall, the trip was a great success. The boys handled the long stretches in the car extremely well. Oh and did I mention Oliver made the trip with us too? He did great too.

Memorial Day Trip, Part I

This year's Memorial Day weekend brought us on a 1700+ mile, 25 hour trek across the Midwest. Our roadtrip started out with 8 hour drive to the shores of Lake Michigan where Uncle Tony and Aunt Lisa have a beach house. Their condo sits atop a beautiful bluff overlooking mile and miles of beach. It's a great place to relax, get some sun, and let the boys play in a never ending sandbox.

We met Grandma and Grandpa Sindt at the resort. We arrived at about 1am (2am local time) and the grandparents were happy to sweep the boys into their arms. The weekend was also memorable as we were able to celebrate Mommy and Grandpa's birthdays (5/23 and 5/25, respectively). The Sindts love combining holidays, events, and any other made up occasion to celebrate into one big get together. With everyone spread out so far apart, it's the only way to do it. And we always manage to do it up right. Uncle Tony and Aunt Lisa were fantastic hosts, as always.

The lake water was cold, but the boys loved the beach. It was nice having some extra hands around so that mommy and daddy could get some R&R, too. All in all, it was a fantastic start to our week long vacation.



Check out Part II of the Memorial Day Trip as the Nguyen caravan heads south for a fun week with Ong Noi and Ba Noi in Dayton, OH.

Six Month Update

Ethan is the ripe old age of six months old now. Here are a few pictures from his photo shoot with the Easter Bunny. You may remember last year's Easter Bunny photo shoot with Camden. He had no issues with live animals at that time and neither did Ethan this year. However, this year, Camden didn't take to the bunny real well. He was very apprehensive and didn't want any part of the bunny this year.

Ethan on the other hand, was not shy about prodding, poking, and pulling on the bunny's ears. The family portion of the shoot was a bit challenging as well, but we managed.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! We hope everyone is sharing this day with the one(s) you love. We're lucky to have two of the sweetest Valentines that exist.

Thanks to Ong Noi and Ba Noi for the froggy bath set.

Rice Rice Baby

Ethan had his first solid meal this week. We mixed up some rice for him and he seemed to enjoy it. He took it, at least. We're happy that he didn't protest against it since he hasn't been the most accepting of taking a bottle. At least now we feel like we can fall back on rice is we really needed to feed him and a boob or bottle isn't available.

The Bailout

Last week was challenging in the Nguyen household. Both Camden and Ethan ran pretty high temperatures and each had their own episodes of vomiting. There were many sleepless nights since both of them were up seemingly every hour. And if one of them woke up, it's worth noting that they both always wake up crying, then inevitably the other woke up as well. When Ethan wakes up he makes sure the whole neighborhood knows he's up.

So we took both Ethan and Camden to the doctor to get them checked out in case they had ear infections. As we suspected, Camden had an ear infection. In both ears. Luckily, Ethan's ears were clear and we avoided having to administer any antibiotics. Ethan generally was in good spirits and his normal smiley and giggly self. He still isn't sleeping regularly yet.

Ethan still wakes up every couple of hours, sick or not. He seems to nap normally during the day, but he just doesn't have night sleeping down yet. He doesn't seem any worse for the wear.

Given that the week was such a drain for everyone, we looked forward to the weekend when we expected the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa Sindt. They are always a welcome site for bleary, sleep deprived eyes, and they didn't disappoint on this visit either. It's nice to have someone around that is, not only willing, but HAPPY to take any number of the night shifts with the boys. They're easily bribed by the mere scent of coffee and food. Or maybe they're easily duped by Ethan's extended bottom lip when he expresses sadness.

Whatever it is, we're thankful for the time and effort they make to come visit us. It's important for us that Ethan and Camden have as much exposure to family as we can possibly provide. Especially when they're lucky enough to have such wonderful grandparents like Grandma and Grandpa Sindt. They're Ong Noi and Ba Noi are pretty fantastic too :)