Happy Thanksgiving!

We are all a little too tired to write anything tonight (see below), but we have happy, fully bellies...

snow!

A rare November snow in Seattle during a Thanksgiving visit from beloved Aunt Jen. In fact, these come from Jen's camera. Alden spent the day in between the warm living room dancing with Jen and eating squash, and out in the front yard, with 14 layers of clothing. What he lost in mobility, he gained in frequent falls to the ground to taste and re-taste the snow. In other news from Jen's visit, he has learned two new words -- "pig" and "pancake", sometimes the two get confused.

bassinet

we pulled out the bassinet to lend to bob and ali, who are expecting their baby around the holidays. It was a good way of putting alden's growth to scale . . .

cookie jar

This video highlights some of the current conflicts in Alden's life.

Conflict 1: walking vs. falling

Conflict 2: letting go of the spoon for the use of his left hand vs. never letting go of the spoon EVER.

Also check out the (barely audible) "hi" to end the film.

Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY-8hoFmPZ4

hiking

April, Molly and Harper talked us into a quick hike in the Cascades -- Elizabeth and I both skipped meetings for this one -- they are bad influences, that family. Alden got a big armpit swing from mom in his pjs - well documented by April.

silly dance

Alden somewhere came up with the concept of a Silly Dance. This is pretty much how it goes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJv14dD9HgY

tunneling

A video from our nanny sara - we love her!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7RbaaEmjiU

The Bluest Eye

I took these two photos more than a year apart from each other, but we just discovered their similarity...

Stepping Stool

Carl has done it again -- over the course of the weekend, he designed, planned, and hand-built this beautiful two-step stool for Alden. It was an immediate hit, as it enabled Alden (finally!) to see what has been going on in the kitchen sink all this time. At first he practiced standing, sitting, and climbing (sometimes backwards) on it, but eventually the pure fun of "washing dishes" began.

yard work

We tried this one year ago - and we've become a much more functional team. The wagon (below) is Alden's property, in case there was any question. Warm fall day - and everyone gets outside in this town. . .

laundry monster

horse suit

From the studios of Fredo Koschmann, comes the critically acclaimed "Horse Suit."
Here is a preview:

http://gallery.me.com/fkoschmann#100022

halloween 2010

Joined by the Radeskys (with family tiger theme), we celebrated our second Halloween with Alden. Upon first placing him in his outfit, Alden appeared most like a tranquilized horse (above), laying fairly still for a few minutes, as the Grandparents Koschmann watched on from skype-land with much amusement.

At the risk of peril to the horse, we placed him in a wagon with the tiger. Fortunately, the only altercation involved the horse attempting to take the tiger's shoe off. We took one lap around the block in the street, before the animals got restless. Picked up two Reeces Pieces at our one stop (far below) chosen for its impressive candle show. Then back to the house for more beer and cupcakes . . .

cat pumpkin

when we gave alden a vote on the subject of what to carve in our pumpkin -- he did not hesitate very long.

we bought a boat!

(we already sold it)

construction

Teaching Alden that even if you cant figure out who to fix it, stick your tongue out while trying, like many generations of Koschmanns. Also pictured is a new flannel from Lois and hair recently treated with Apricot balm (mom's treatment for cradle cap, which seems to be working, in conflict with dad's pediatric knowledge.)