Ephram at 19 Months

An Active Boy

At 19 Months, Ephram was full of energy.

Sometimes he would sit still, but I usually had to isolate him on a table or in a chair to make it happen.

I never felt too bad for doing this, because he was always so happy even though he was stuck.

He turned into quite the puzzle solver - here pushing three riding toys at once.

And then moving back to the dinosaur to try a different approach.

At the park, he loved to swing.  For five minutes.  Then he needed to get down.

Always happy to get his hands on my phone... if we have accidentally called or texted you, this is why.

Chasing the birds... He didn't care that they always flew away before he reached them.

He even started trying to climb this rope structure to be like his big brother.

He was definitely busy at 19 months.

But, as I have since learned, it was just the beginning of things to come.

Ephram and the Tricycle

The Kovars like bikes.  Andy definitely likes them the most - he now owns three to meet his varying needs.  But I enjoy a good bike ride, and Charlie feels deprived if he doesn't get out on his every non-rainy day.  So, we knew we wanted to introduce Ephram to wheeled transportation as soon as possible.

18 months may have been a little early, and if it weren't for tricycles with push handles, we would have had to wait much longer because of his short legs.  But, this past July we got Ephram his very own tricycle.  Andy, Charlie and I were all very excited.  And Ephram was excited that we were excited.

Andy opened the box in our family room and let Ephram help him build the tricycle.  This was probably the most excited Ephram had ever been.  It kept his attention for a long time... we even changed into pajamas, and he ran right back into the family room so he could continue building the tricycle with Daddy.

Finally, it was ready to ride.  Ephram climbed on and enjoyed rides around the house.  Charlie was excited that he could push the tricycle for Ephram too.

The real fun came the next day when we took the tricycle for its first voyage outside.  Ephram rode it around the cul-de-sac gleefully.  Andy introduced him to the concept of a wheelie, which prompted Ephram to ask to get off so that he could push it around and make it do wheelies all by himself.

The tricycle saw a lot of action this summer.  We took it out almost every day after lunch.  Even as it got colder and more wet outside, he has continued to enjoy riding it in the garage.  We can hardly wait until his little legs are long enough to support him on a bicycle!

Charlie the Builder

Charlie has really grown in a lot of his skills since we started therapy about a year ago.  He became a skilled bike rider, developed his musical ability on the piano, started reading, got better control of a pencil, and... started excelling in lego building.

One night I noticed there was a growing collection on Charlie's dresser, and I asked him if I could take a picture.  Andy and I had both worked with him multiple times on how to follow the picture instructions to assemble legos.  Honestly, he just didn't seem to get it... but he always had fun watching us build, and also created some great structures all on his own.

But, we went from incapability to a sudden ability.  He just figured it out on his own.  He went from us trying to explain what pictures were showing until we were so frustrated that we would just give up... to magically understanding them and not requesting an iota of help.  Things like this started popping up everywhere.

That's Charlie.  I've learned a lot about him in the past few years.  But the most important thing I have learned is that Charlie is very, very capable.  That when he is ready, he can do just about anything he wants to do.  I like the surprise of it all and constantly wait to see what skill he will suddenly pick up next!

Fourth of July 2011

We had a perfect 4th of July this year.  Summer finally came to visit the northwest and it was a beautifully sunny day.  The kids were so excited to put on the shirts that their grandma sent them in the morning.  Then we went outside to play around for a little bit.  Then we subjected our boys to the Twilight Zone marathon - which they both seemed to enjoy.  While that was on we spent time playing around, making paper flags, and getting ready for a yummy dinner.  Charlie also helped me make cream puffs.  When the sun was starting to go down, we went and joined our neighbors outside for fireworks in the cul-de-sac.  Ephram made it until all of the really loud fireworks started going off.  Then he and I headed inside where we have an excellent, and sometimes better, view.  Charlie stayed out with Andy until it was almost the 5th of July!  All in all it was a nice, relaxing day with the family.

Charlie's First Tee Ball Experience

We had such a good experience with indoor soccer this year that we decided to sign up for the next sport... tee ball.  Charlie had a lot of fun playing.  A lot.  However, he didn't quite get the game as well as he did with soccer.  For most of the season, his coach and I were encouraging to do what he was supposed to do.  And he finally started hitting the ball without the tee at the end of the season.  Sometimes.

But the most important thing is that it was fun.  And, although it taught us that soccer is more of his game, we will probably do the baseball thing again next summer!

Father's Day 2011

My boys are so lucky, as am I.  They have the best father.  He plays with them all the time, and can get giggles out of both of them like no other.  They both love to venture out into the garage with daddy and help him with projects.  Nothing is more cute than watching them troll behind him while he is working in the yard.  But I think their favorite thing to do with daddy is to go for a ride on the bikes.  Andy already has Charlie riding on trails...  and Ephram can join him now too, thanks to our Father's Day present - a bike seat that attaches to the front of Andy's bike.

I think Andy had a great Father's Day.  As usual we enjoyed yummy food, and spent most of the day trying to give the boys time to spend together.  Happy Father's Day Andy!

Ephram at 18 Months

Growing Up


My little boy will be two years old in a few short weeks.  That means I am almost six months behind at getting these pictures up!  I have been stalling because I keep intending to look up his stats... instead, I promise to post them at a later date.  In the meantime, here are some pics of the things Ephram was up to around the time that he turned 1.5!!!