Halloween and Toddler Beds

Halloween Huber Family

Trick or Treating with Mommy, Christina, Daddy, Grandma

Trick or Treat!

Konrad (Tinman), Zachary (Lion), Michael (Scarecrow)

Our Big Boy Beds!

The boys are doing great and growing fast. We loved our Halloween, the boys were the Wizard of Oz and they were a big hit with all of the houses we visited. The boys had some fruit snacks and they loved eating "candy". What a mean mommy to not give them the chocolate they earned, I know.

We had to transition out of the cribs this week because our "trouble" Konrad was flipping, yes flipping out of his crib by summersaulting over the edge. He did it on Tuesday, Wednesday and then on Thursday night the fun never stopped...and after the sixth time he had to sleep with Mommy and Daddy. On Friday we went and bought the toddler beds. They have done really well. Of course, they like that they can get out and walk around, but they really haven't been too naughty. They explored and went to visit each other the first couple of nights. But they have settles in and now they are pretty used to it. It must have been time, it was a pretty smooth transition. They are growing up, our little boys.

Mikey is 31 pounds, we aren't sure how tall. He is getting better with his talking but he is still a little hard to understand. He is eager to be understood and he tries hard to communicate. If you have context, you can usually figure out what he is saying. He is very entertaining and he is usually laughing. He smiles constantly and he is extremely outgoing. He waves and does introductions to everyone he meets in public. In fact, introductions are kind of his "trade mark" right now. He walks up to strangers and starts introducing the family "Mikey, Zachy, Konrad, Mommy, Daddy". It is very funny, and people don't quite know what to make of him. He is always running somewhere. He broke his left leg at school on the slide in September, so he was limping for most of the month, but it is getting better and he still has a slight limp. He has always had a silly walk, kind of a penguin saunter, because of his coordination disorder and his abdominal muscles being a little weak...the limp has added to the saunter and now he is quite hilarious, but he doesn't seem to be bothered by it and he flies around the house and around the yard and park and keeps up with his brothers...maybe he trips a little more often then the other two but he doesn't seem to mind. He has a blanket still which he loves and he still calls it his "coke-it" instead of blanket and he has a toy mickey mouse. He loves to do flash cards still and coloring he could do for hours. He is fairly self contained and he plays by himself if his brothers will let him. His favorite toy is Mr. Potato Head.

Konrad is 30 pounds and growing very quickly so we don't know how tall. He is talking extremely well and constantly. There is a constant stream of noise coming out of his mouth from the second he wakes up to the second he falls asleep. He is either laughing, crying, whining, talking, yelling, or singing...but rarely quiet. He is still our silly show off, but also quite dramatic and angry at times. He is a child of extremes. There is really no down time or calm with Konrad, he flits from one thought and one activity to another with a slightly destructive edge. Socially he is shy and reserved, which is very odd to Mike and I. When he gets into a crowd he is a shy, quiet, clingy child that grabs your leg and wants to be held. He even puts his fingers in his mouth and he quietly watches the people go by. But get him into an environment where he is comfortable and the other Konrad comes out...no more Mr Shy guy. He loves to sing...loudly...and he loves to play around and joke. He loves puzzles and mega blocks. He has a pacifier still, it has a frog attached, but he holds it more than he sucks it. He also has a blanket on his bed which he likes. He doesn't like toys, things or stuffed toys much, and at the store if you ask him if he wants one, he says "no thanks"...even when his brothers are getting something...weird kid but kind of interesting. He is an emotional child, a loving child, an energetic child, and at times a challenging child.

Zachary is 34 pounds, around 38 inches tall. He is happy and flirtatious. He has really started asserting himself over the past few months. He is talking better and communicating better. He can speak more clearly than Mikey, but he speaks less frequently. Zachary speaks with intention, not usually the babble you hear other children say, so when he speaks we usually understand him. He smiles this quiet smirk and sometimes you see him looking at you wonder what he could be thinking to make him think such a thought and smile such a smile, too mature for such a baby cherub face. Zachary is also a trouble maker. He my most defiant child. He will look me in the eye and throw something when I tell him no. He is pushing boundaries and testing limits to the extreme. He has a naughty laugh that tells you he knows he is begin rotten and enjoying it. He is in many ways more challenging than Konrad because Zachary will do the exact opposite of everything you tell him not to do. In fact, I think I could play the opposite "reverse psychology" game with him and it would actually work perfectly because if I said, don't put your shoes on, he would go get them and try to put them on. He still is a bit of a Houdini when it comes to doors and locks, so his defiant streak can also be a bit dangerous. He is very smart, but a different smart from Konrad smart...definitely naughtier...Konrad doesn't think through his actions, Zachary, he does, laugh. Zachary has some very redeeming qualities too when he is not being adorably rotten. He is very cuddly, he also has the most wonderful laugh. He loves to play cards and hide and seek. He is the leader at pre-school, or so the teachers tell us, which is surprising. He is also a dancer. He absolutely looooves to dance.

They are doing great and continue to challenge us and make us proud!

Evening Wrestling

The boys have started evening wrestling sessions, it is the funniest thing ever...I thought I would share. They love it and they laugh so hard...it usually ends in someone getting hurt (almost always Zachary like in this video) but while they are all having fun it is very entertaining.

Summer Fun

After a long day in the sun...

Resting on a bench after a long walk to the park

Zachary at the Hands On Museum

Konrad thought the Starfish needed to be in the sky

Mikey loved pouring and experimenting

At the State Fair with Grandma Debbie and Daddy

We have had many adventures this summer with the boys. They are so curious and excited. They love the water, the beach, going to the park, seeing animals at the zoo, visiting with Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunts and Uncles and Cousins, and almost anything outside. They wake up saying "outside" and "go bye-bye" and they are ready for fun. They are so incredibly talkative and funny and they are starting to ask "why?" and "what's this" or "what's that?" as they explore the world and try to figure things out. They make the funniest faces and sing and dance. They laugh at each other and at us. They are wonderful.

kalahari water park

Enjoying a carousel ride

Grandma Debbie and Zachary

Mommy and Zachary in the bird cage, the birds were TOO close

Zachary tried to TOUCH one and they all flew into the air

I was not pleased

Zachary was very pleased

After the Zachary incident, Daddy and Konrad were a little hesitant

Grandpa Tom and Mikey in the bird cage

Zachary riding the pony, he kept saying "weehaa"

Mikey loved his pony ride

Konrad wasn't too sure about the pony ride, but he did it

Daddy letting the animals LICK Mikey

Mikey and Daddy on the Water Slide

Konrad running through the water

Zachary asking "watching momma?" before he goes down the slide

Daddy and Mikey

We had SUCH a family adventure at Kalahari resorts with Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell. We played so very hard and fit so much fun into two days. We were water logged and happy! The boys loved the water slides - they were so brave (too brave, laugh). They went in the wave pool, ran around the squirt areas, ran around in a ball room every evening, had pony rides, fed animals and went to the petting zoo, they even played in the arcade area a few times. They ate in restaurants and slept in the hotel room like champs! They did great. Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy needed a vacation from our mini vacation when it was over, but it was a blast!

Cookie Monster!

At the zoo, getting ready to walk around

Mikey at Gradma's house

Mikey splashing in the pool

Konrad coloring on the porch (coloring the porch)

Zachary taking a break

Zachary has started calling himself cookie monster...it is actually really funny and adorable even though it is really messy. He even makes then noises that cookie monster makes. The only problem is that he also eats like cookie monster and so he crumbles his food and destroys EVERYTHING before it reaches his mouth while growling num num num "cookie monster". He also runs around the living room growling and saying cookie monster...we are not sure why cookie monster struck his fancy but he did. So now when we go places and we try to give him a snack we have to make eye contact with him and warn him and say "Zachary no cookie monster" or else he will start crumbling his food and num num num growling, laugh. He usually just grins at us in a naughty little grin and does it anyway but sometimes he listens :)

Konrad is talking so much, he stares at us and rambles off something so fast like we know exactly what he said. Sometimes we do, sometimes not. He is a very precise mimic and he repeats everything that he hears which is frightening and hilarious. The other night the TV was on for a split second within his hearing and a commercial was on (they normally watch DVD's not live TV) and the loud voice said "next Saturday Big Savings" and I hear Konrad saying "Big Savings, Big Savings"...Mike and I just looked at each other and laughed. He skips around and jumps off furniture. He is still so goofy. He thinks he is so funny and most times he is but it is so much funnier because he thinks he is funny and he is trying hard to be funny. He has to much energy and he can be so intense. Sometimes he will walk up to us and hold our face to make sure we are paying attention to him and only him like if we look away it means we are not listening to just him. Poor Konrad, he wanted to be an only child - he needs the snuggling and the extra along time and the attention, he really does. He has so much energy and he is so sensitive and he has to brothers to share us with.

Mikey is having a hard time with his language skills and it is very frustrating for him. He is happy and playful most of the time and he runs around and plays with his brothers and wrestles them and does all of the things a rambunctious two year old should - but it is at the times when he wants something that his brothers don't or when he is trying to tell us something separate from his brothers that he get most frustrated. He is talking all of the time, but we have a hard time understanding him. We are working hard with him to help him figure out how to communicate with us. The one thing Mikey says all the time is "I Love You". He doesn't say it crisply, it is more like "I yuh you" but it is very distinctly I love you because he often gives kisses after saying it. He says it in this sad, forlorn sort of a ways like you are leaving him forever...it is hilarious and adorable. In the morning when he is leaving his crib, he says to his blanket (which he calls coket) "Coket I yuh you" as he reaches pitifully back for it. He runs up to Mike and I and gives us puppy dog eyes and lays his head on our lap and says "I love you". As we walk past doggies on the evening walk and he is leaving them behind "forever" he will shout "Doggie I love you". It is wonderful, adorable and pitiful and we love it. Our Mikey has a big and wonderful heart that he wears on his little sleeve already.

Memorial Day Weekend

Playing guitar with uncle Kurt

Playing on the beach

Playing on the beach at Grandma and Grandpa's

Enjoying the pool.

The boys had fun on Memorial Day Weekend. We had some busy days. Saturday we went to Grandma Carol and Grandpa Kurt's and we spent the day at the beach and swimming in the lake. Sunday we spent the morning at the water park with Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Tom and then we went to Grandpa Kurt and Grandma Carols for the evening. The boys played at the beach for hours and they didn't get to bed until almost 10pm. They were exhausted but happy. They are getting so brave! At the water park, Zachary ran around with no fear, he talked to strangers like he wanted to be taken home with them and he played in the freezing water like it was 90 degrees. He was amazing! Mikey was a close second at the squirt park, he ran around and played and loved the water, he stayed closer to the adults he knew (thank God) but he ran around everywhere and explored. Konrad took a little while to warm up and he did not like the cold water at all, but eventually he was playing and running around after his brothers...but nothing like Zachary. At the lake, Mikey walked right out into the lake, no fear, like he had been swimming for years. He was saying "bath, bath" like it was one big bath tub or something - he definitely needed a life jacket, he was down right scary! Konrad knew it was a beach and he was a bit more hesitant once again, but he was more willing to try to go into the water the second day and he even went in alone in the shallow areas. Zachary was more interested in covering himself with sand and mud and squishing the sand but eventually he tried the water. He was not nearly as brave in the lake as he was at the park, but he liked it all the same. They are truly amazing to watch explore and test their boundaries. They all are learning their world so fast. It is kind of sad because they are growing up so fast, but mostly wonderful.

Spring Fun

Playing at the park!

Resting with Daddy

Reading in the car

Where are we now...

Mikey and Konrad are fighting for leadership. They have very similar needs for attention and adult reactions and they are both emotional. They are always fighting over mom and dad, toys, chairs...everything...wrestling and tumbling and taking each other out. Konrad still bites here and there, but Mikey has learned to tackle which can be just as surprising based on Konrad's reactions. Zachary plays a bit more with his brothers, but he has no interest in leadership. He is still pretty much his own man in his own world. He is easy going and happy. He can get what he wants because he is the biggest, but he rarely tries. He just waits until his brothers are finished and then picks it up afterwards. He defends himself more, he used to sit still and literally let his brothers push him over and walk on him, now he has learned to bite back or wrestle back, but only when he is desperate or when they both have piled up on him.

They are all talking so much and sometimes we even know what they are saying. Mikey still speaks a weird jibberish language when he talks fast and we have no idea what he is saying. When he slows down though, he gets clear words out. Konrad is still the best talker in that he has the most words and he is putting together full sentences. He talks pretty much constantly. Zachary is a very interesting talker. He talks for a reason but not just to be heard. Where Konrad and Mike will repeat everything we say, Zachary will not. Instead, Zachary will walk around the house saying "What's this?" and when we answer then he might repeat it. Zach speaks the most clearly and is the most articulate when he is talking slowly, he is also the most surprising because he is frequently quiet around his brothers but when you get him alone he starts speaking in paragraphs...and yesterday he counted to thirteen. Konrad repeats what he hears all the time, but he sometimes doesn't get enough credit for all that he knows. Konrad surprised us with saying every shape in a puzzle the other day including octagon, and Mikey told his brother to "sit down and be quiet" this morning...so they are incredibly surprising and entertaining sometimes as they explore and expand their language skills. They are all hilarious when they dance and so eager to please when they do puzzles or drawings.

Zachary loves to sing, Konrad loves to draw, and Mikey loves to read. They all like to do puzzles, play ball, go on walks, and play outside. They are definitely becoming boys.