Potty Training

The biggest new and events around the Ko house these days is potty training. I have to say, it has taken me completely off guard, totally motivated by Cameron wanting to wear underwear and Timo wanting a new train...and reinforced by stickers! (since it was totally unplanned, I had to use random stickers around the house and throw together a sticker chart for them)

It's been 5 days now and the kids are doing amazing! I'm so proud of them!! Cameron kept bugging me about wearing underwear so I told her she needed to peepee/poopoo in the potty first...so she did. That was the last time she wore a diaper. I gave her a sticker and told her after 5 stickers she could wear underwear. Timo got so upset when she got a sticker...I told him that he had to pee pee in the potty to get a sticker too, so he sat on the potty and that was the last time he wore diapers. They both racked up 5 stickers by the afternoon and I pulled out the underwear. We had a few accidents the first two days but have been accident free for three days now. We're in only underwear during the day and pull ups (or under diapers as Cameron calls them) at night. I know, it's really early to think it's done, but I think we're off to a good start!

We stayed cooped up for two whole days...we drank a lot of liquids (to keep them peeing) and watched a lot of TV (to keep them in one room). Reading and eating were other potty time activities because it kept them on the potty for an extended period of time. It also helps to have potties all over the house...bathroom, living room, kitchen and bedroom. We try to never be more than a few steps away from a potty!



After two whole days of being inside, I took them outside to get a little fresh air and help me wash the car...potty in tow! I kept asking them every 5 min "anyone need to potty?" It was so warm out, we just stayed out there a while playing in the yard and enjoying the freedom on no pants! (notice Cameron is wearing a few different underwear....she had one accident and got water all over another pair but Timo did great in one pair the whole time!)

We made it to church and home on Sunday and even made it though our first park outing, all accident free...potty in tow, of course....
I'm so proud of the kids, they are even pooping in the potty like pros...but I'll spare you the pics of that! Way to go Timo and Cameron! I guess Mommy has to follow through with the new train like I promised...

Timo put his pants on all by himself! Not sure why he had to pull them all the way up to his arm pits, but hey, at least he did it!

Nature Walks

We are so fortunately to live right across the street from Golden Gate Park, a huge resource of nature in the middle of San Francisco. We typically go over to feed the duck and then walk the waterfall loop back home. What could be about a 15min walk turns into an hour and a half walk when you have toddlers....

The kids always like to eat the bread before tossing it out to the ducks.
Grandma Ko got a good taste of what it's like to keep up with two toddlers on the loose!
The path runs next to the little stream coming from the big waterfall so we're always stopping to throw rocks, leaves, sticks...anything in the water and watch it float away.

Of course, the walks always take even longer when certain toddlers insist on pushing/pulling the wagon.
We finished our walk up in the rose garden...so beautiful.
Timo even took time out to stop and smell the roses...

Baseball Glove

I guess Timo can cross baseball glove off his Christmas list. His Grandpa Ko saw a little one at Target and wanted to surprise him with it! I can't even begin to tell you how happy Timo is to have his baseball and glove...maybe you can tell by the pictures...
He has barely taken it off...can you see it still on his little hand while he sleeps?
And he wouldn't even take it off to play with his precious train...dare I say something else has become more important than a his trains??? Or is he just trying to strike that balance between two loves...

FBCSF Annual Picnic

We had our annual church picnic the weekend before Labor Day. It was a super exciting day for our church body, not only because of the picnic, but because we voted in our new senior pastor...Pastor Ryan Blackwell! Young was on the pastor search team so he had already formed a friendship it Ryan and his family. I'll post more on them later...but we were happy they were able to make it to our picnic and we're looking forward to what God has in store for our church!

It was nice to be outside enjoying the good food and sunshine!

Timo was all about the baseball this year. There were lots of kids tossing the ball around from glove to glove and Timo just had a fit to be in the middle of it. Some of our youth were VERY KIND in letting him throw with them. I guess a baseball glove might go on the Christmas list...

And Cameron was all about the scooter. Another one of the youth was VERY KIND in lowering her handle bars so Cameron could better ride. She tried over and over and over again until she could push and ride at the same time. I guess a scooter will be on her Christmas list...

Untitled from Sara ko on Vimeo.

Since the picnic is right after church, the kids didn't get a nap...until about 4pm on our way home...

Tahoe Day 5...Gold Rush Days

We left Tahoe Monday morning and headed home with a pit-stop in Sacrament to attend the Gold Rush Days festival. Gold Rush Days is when old Sacramento is transformed back to...the gold rush days. They even bring in loads and loads of dirt the cover the streets! My main objective was to do the train ride around Old Sacrament because it was the last day of the year they were having it before stopping for the season. We had planned on connecting with our friends, the Kapics, but only got to say hi for a minute before having to rush off to catch the next train. I hope next year we will have a bit more time to explore around and fully take in all the festival has to offer (maybe we won't be fighting that darn nap time next year) because there looked like so much wild west entertainment to enjoy!

As I said, we were able to see the Kapics for a second (not long enough for a picture) but they are members of the train museum and Emily was able to get our train ride tickets for FREE! Thank you Emily!! I think the kids were more excited to have their own tickets as they were to ride the train! They held on to them the whole time we were in line and all the way up until the ticket guy came through the train to stamp them.

I think Young parents might have enjoyed the ride a little more than the kids...
Until the engine moved from the front of the train to the back...oh, exciting
After the train ride we were able to walk around a little more and check out some of the activities. We heard the cannon being shot(Cameron did not like this), saw some soldiers riding along(Timo loved them) and got to travel back in time just a little bit with all the sights and sounds of the old west.

And as usual, there was big drama trying to leave. The kids are getting so smart, they could tell when we changed directions and started heading to the parking garage. It's always the case when they are over tired and screaming because they don't want to go...they were fast asleep before we could even get back on the freeway home! They were so tired, they slept the whole way (2+hours in Labor Day traffic), we had to wake them up to get out of the car! What a great ending to a great vacation!!