Krees goes Dutch Kiwi!

Recently seen on the playground

Charles took these photos on the playground a week ago. Torsten looks so sweet, and Aldus looks so determined - whatever it is he's doing with the sand.

They grow up so fast

Charles usually takes Aldus and Maui for a long bike ride after work. It gives the dog some exercise, gives me a little time to feed Torsten in peace or start on dinner, and gives the boys a chance to see what's new with the local cows, tractors, etc.

The other day after their ride,  Charles said to me, "I had the condom talk with Aldus."

"Oh, good. I'll have to have the drug talk with him tomorrow. What did you tell him?"

"Use lots of them."

Torsten @ One Month

Torsten was one month old yesterday! I haven't weighed him in a couple weeks but can see that he's grown since his birth. Or maybe he's just stretched out more from the fetal position and his head and face are assuming more normal head and face shapes.

It's fun to see how similar and how different he looks from his big brother.

It's also fun to see him in the hand-knit Viking hat he received yesterday from Marion-ajuhma! Thanks, Marion!

Let the pillaging commence!

Fan club or flash mob?

Aldus has a little bit of a cult following among the kids in our neighborhood, most of whom are girls. I don't know if it's because he's the youngest of the kids who's old enough to play, or because it's a novelty that we speak English, or if it's just because he's so darn cute. (It started with them all wanting to play with Maui because he obeyed commands in English and with hand signals.)

Regardless, not only do they ring the doorbell nearly every day to ask of Aldus can come out and play, they've also taken to playing in the circular driveway in front of our house just to let us know they're out there ready and waiting. I finally understand the exasperated parents of teenage boys who complain about all the phone calls from admiring girls.

I really shouldn't complain about it, as they keep him occupied, help him (us?) to burn off his energy, and a couple of the girls are old enough to watch him for an hour or two without our supervision.

But it also means that leaving the playground always takes longer than it ought to as they all line up to give Aldus goodbye kisses, hugs, waves, elbow bonks and fist bumps.

Family portrait

When Aldus was born, we forgot to ask someone to take a photo of the three of us together. Until Charles's parents visited, we only had photos of Aldus by himself or with each of us individually.

We were fortunate that the midwives attending Torsten's birth immediately volunteered to take a photo of the three of us, and my parents took a photo of all four of us during their recent visit.

Kids REPEAT the darnedest things

It's funny what you don't realize you say until your child starts parroting you.

A few months ago when I would get angry with the dog for disobeying me, Aldus would start shouting "Maui! GODDAMMIT!" I've since made some improvements to the way I communicate with the dog. Most of the time.

These days when Charles goes to change Aldus's poopy diaper, he's met with an enthusiastic, "OH MY LORD!"

The good news among all this cursing and taking the lord's name in vain is that Aldus's favorite Neko Case song seems to be "John Saw That Number." He likes to sing "Holy to the lord" repeatedly.