Coombs Kids

Happy 1st Birthday Jordan

2009-04-20T05:01:00.001-07:00

I can hardly believe that it has been a year since Jordan entered the world. My only sadness, is that his family back home have not been able to share our joy in watching him grow and have missed out on getting to know him. I thought that I would share a little on our lad...

Jordan Micah Coombs

Everyday, he lights up my world. He is the source of so much joy and delight. His smile always brightens my day. He's a curious little boy who likes to explore. He's an independent baby, who is content to wander around the house without you looking for new things to play.

He is a loving and affectionate boy who loves to give hugs and even kisses. He is thrilled when his daddy comes home, and will walk as quickly as he can to greet Clayton at the door and will hug his leg until he is picked up and hugged. He LOVES his brothers! He's not afraid to wrestle a little with them either. In the morning after he wakes and I have got him changed or whatever, I'll often ask him, "Do you want to go see your brothers?" to which he is very swift to nod his head up and down. Jordan is a contented little boy. He rarely fusses or cries for anything. He's happy to go shopping or on walks in his stroller.

Jordan is loved and we are so grateful to God for giving him to us.

Here are a few recent pictures from a little photo shoot we had on the Easter weekend - a week before his birthday.

Here are the rest of the photos:

Nathan turns 2

2007-10-22T21:50:00.001-07:00

On September 13 we celebrating Nathan's 2nd birthday. We celebrated with friends at the Fuller Playground with a giant 3 foot wide pizza and a nemo pinata.

Now Nathan just loves to sing the Happy Birthday song. He is always slightly out of time with everyone else, which kinda makes it even cuter, because it stands out.

Brotherly love!

I tried to get the boys to sit down for a nice photo with their nan (my mum) who was visiting. Anyone with young boys knows how hard this can be - particularly when there is a party going on!

The mega PIZZA!

A picture of Nathan with his favourite fishy friend Nemo - before his brutal battering.

Presents!

Some more photos, taken around September

2007-10-22T21:40:00.001-07:00

Judah with Dad on a Bugs Life dodgem car at Disney's California Adventure Park.

Judah goofing around with Clayton's glasses on.

Pictures taken at Malibu.

Boys will be boys

2007-08-22T20:21:00.001-07:00

Judah and Nathan's latest joy - wrestling eachother!

Nathan and his 'picking'

2007-08-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

Back in June, it started off as a minor blemish.

...then he picked

and picked...

until he had a small crater in the middle of his forehead.

We've been keeping bandaids on his head ever since in a desperate attempt to keep him from picking further.

Nath came home from church one day having learnt to say, "What happened to you?"

Three months later, it seems to have healed up, but he still has a pink spot on his head that he refers to as his 'picking'!
It has become such a part of his life, that when singing the 'tell me what your name is' song at our pre-school group, and it comes Nathan's turn to look into a mirror and call out his name, he cheerfully declares, "Picking!".

By the way, they're not his shoes! He just likes to goof around in his friend Zodi's shoes (whom he affectionately calls Yodi).

Recent pictures from my phone.

2007-06-08T07:26:00.001-07:00

Pics from my phone

To market with Jack

2007-05-27T22:32:00.003-07:00

Every second Friday night, we like to go to Monrovia Market with the Webb family- Matt and Eva and their children Jack, Solveig and Evie. They introduced us to the market when we were just new on the scene, and we've been frequenting the market together ever since. Jack is only slightly older than Judah, and Solveig and Nathan are about the same age as well, with Evie being 4 months old. We pick up lots of fresh produce, share a meal together and often treat the kids to a ride. One of the great things about the market is that you have the chance to sample a lot of the fresh fruit, like a try before you buy.
Pictured, you see, Judah and Jack holding hands to walk to the little old toy store that has an extensive Thomas the Tank Engine train track set up. It was really sweet to witness. Visiting the store has almost become a bit of a ritual. They really enjoy playing with the thoughtfully arranged set of tracks with all of the beautiful trains and carriages.
The children get along really nicely and are very fond of one another. Judah and Jack have started to hold their own delightful little conversations.
We really value our new friendships as we are really missing those from back home.

Photos from Disney Round 5.

2007-05-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

Disney Round 5

Our first family hike.

2007-05-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hiking Trip with the Myer Family

Nathan and Judah went hiking with their new friends Andrea and Landon. You can see the pictures if you click on the image above of our family.

Disney - Round 4!

2007-05-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

Disney Round 4

Click on the image above to see pictures taken from our 4th trip to Disneyland. There's mostly just shots of Judah with Lightening McQueen. He really enjoyed hanging out with the Cars. There's also some shots taken from a parade. I had a lovely time this trip catching up with some old friends from the church that I grew up in. Tom and Janette were passing through America on a round the world ticket, on their way home from a missions trip to Uganda with the Watoto children's orphanage. Judah and Nathan loved having them around as I think that in a way, they reminded them of their own grandparents. Judah enjoyed going on all the rides with Tom, and on the way home, said to me, "I like Bailey's nanny and grandpa. I just like Tom and Janette. They are good grandmas and grandpas." It is just lovely to see someone from home. We also had the pleasure of seeing Brian, one of the pastors that Clayton worked with at CityLife church, while he was doing an intensive subject here at Fuller towards his D.Min. Judah really liked Brian and the times that we spent with him. We can't wait to see my Mum who will be here in September, and Clayton's parents with sister Jessica and husband Ben for Christmas.

Judah goes missing...

2007-04-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

Today Judah decided that we would be playing a game of Hide and Seek, or as the Americans call it, Hide and Go Seek. Imagine the situation; we live in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment for which there is only a hand full of suitable hiding places, and since we had played hide and seek here a couple of times already, I was already pretty familiar with all of the hideout spots - or so I thought. There's the wardrobes, the pantry, and a couple of other tighter cupboards. Then there's more conspicuous places like under the rug! So you get the idea - when we play, I'm merely amusing them with my wondering around calling out "Where's Judah?" or "Where are you Nathan?" You can pretty much know for certain that their hiding places will be both obvious and unoriginal. The other thing is that when they hide, they are usually not all that focused on staying hidden, and will typically, make some noise or move around so that you can hear them.

Well, today it was different. Today our little game of hide and seek went to a whole new level. I took Nathan in to the bathroom with me (that's our counting room) while Judah went to hide. I counted out loud "One, two, three....eight, nine, ten. Ready or not, here we come!" We wondered around the apartment checking all of the usual places. Nathan looking with me saying "Where's Dudah gone?" "I don't know." I would reply. After checking all of the usual places and not having heard any movements, I started to get slightly concerned. "Judah? Judah where are you?" No reply. Could he have left the apartment? He had never done so before, and was generally the sort who would be too scared to venture off on his own. I decided that I would just need to look more thoroughly. I looked briefly under his bed, a place that we had never hidden before. No. Not there. I got Clayton involved in the search. By now, Nathan is well practised in asking and answering the question, "Dudah? Where's Dudah? - I dunno." We decided that we had better check outside in the corridor. No. "Clayton. Check the garbage disposal room. He could be in there." No not there either. Now, although not panicked, my concern is growing. He could have ventured off down the lift, and if he did that, and got out at the car park, he'd be stranded there without a key card. I ran down the corridor and checked the car park. I called out, "Judah? JUDAH? Judah are you there?" First floor, "Judah?" Still no sign.

It felt like it had been maybe 15 minutes since we had begun to play, but in reality it had probably only been 5 or 10. Desperate situations call for desperate measures. "Judah? Are you here? I've got ice-cream!" That didn't do it. A short time later he emerged. He had been so determined to stay hidden that he had accidentally wet his pants, and needed to make his way to the toilet. Where had he been? Hiding under his bed, behind a suitcase! I had looked there, but obviously not thoroughly.

We all had a good laugh and big sigh of relief. We congratulated him on his hiding skills, and thought it prudent to just remind him that he should never leave the apartment on his own. That was it for our little game today. Oh, and yes; it was not long before I was reminded of my earlier inducement for ice-cream.

Recent pics of the boys

2007-04-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

Latest shots of the boys

Click on the above image to view the most recent pictures of the boys taken in our play area and during our 3rd trip to Disneyland. There are some fun shots of the two brothers having a smashing time - particularly Judah getting wet. This was my second solo parent visit with them to Disneyland. Remarkably, we spent the whole day there - hassle free, while daddy was back home busy working on assignments and studying for mid-terms.

2007-04-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

Nathan has spoken...

2007-04-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

Tonight Nathan blew us away. We had decided to get take-out from In-n-Out Burger. The burgers were fine, but the fries were possibly the worst that we have ever tasted. Imagine McDonalds fries, then let them go cold. Leave them out for a day or so, re-fry them and then put them in the oven. You get the idea. Anyway Clayton and I were commenting on how bad they were and had decided that we were not going to eat them. Judah eventually agreed that they were not very nice and gave up on them. All of a sudden, Nathan butts in and says to me, "I like them muma." After I had got over my initial shock at his perfectly formed and pronounced sentence, I decided that I had better respond and interact with him. Here is my 19 month-old not only speaking to me in a complete sentence, but he is also asserting his opinion and demonstrating that he understands and follows conversation that is not moderated and simplified for his understanding. For a while now, he has been using a handful of useful well worn 2-3 word phrases like, "Wha' daddy doin'?", "No, I don' wan' dat!", "Sorry mummy" and "I wan' milk" or "I wan' dat." But never quite as sophisticated as we heard tonight. I think we have another talker!

Kidspace and our adopted caterpillar 'Mary'

2007-04-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

Kidspace

Click on the image above to view the pics.

(kid friendly version)
Yesterday, we went to the most wonderful place. It is called the Kidspace Children's Museum. We had lots of fun climbing up massive 2-3 story high structures, exploring through caves and human size ant holes, and splashing and stomping around in a creek. We played water games, tried to pedal around on a tricycle track, and we even adopted a caterpillar. Judah was really happy to have his very own caterpillar. Judah has named her Mary.

So far we've watched Mary eat some of the sugary mixture at the bottom of her little enclosure, and we've noticed that she likes to sleep a lot. She seems to have started building her cocoon, so we'll have to get on to making her a larger shoe box home to transfer her into, so that once she becomes a butterfly she will have some space to move. The museum has a butterfly release ceremony day, but I think that we might just let her go free as soon as she is ready.

To keep up with Mary's progress click on the image/link on the upper right.

Judah's Bible 'Reading'

2007-04-10T15:02:00.001-07:00

Koinonia & Wombat Stew

2007-04-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

Koinonia & Wombat Stew

Judah is always so happy here at this place. Everyday he asks, "Can we go to the Koinonia park?" It's a place for meeting new Fuller families, letting the kids run around and burn some energy, and a place where their imaginations are set free. It's a place where new physical limits are challenged, and where the grass is always greener (although that could have something to do with the fact that it is synthetic!) Koinonia Playground is Judah and Nathan's happy place.

Shop on the FTS Express

2007-04-08T22:07:00.001-07:00

Fun in our first week here

Photos taken on the 10th March.

Boys playing in their new croc tops

2007-04-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

Croc boys

I've never actually put them in matching clothes before, but I couldn't resist getting them both one of these cute little crocodile t'shirts - particularly when they were 2 for the price of 1 at $3 each. If you click on the image above, you'll see some shots of them playing with this toy that I recently got for them. No I don't work for Fisher Price, but mums, if you're looking for a toy that is going to grow with your little one and you like toys that encourage brain development and all that, this one's a winner at around $10. I've put a link on the side of this page to it.

Our own little easter egg hunt

2007-04-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

Our little speckled frogs...

2007-04-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

Everyday fun

These pictures are of Judah and Nathan playing with our speckled frogs that we had just finished making and singing a song to. The other pictures are of them playing with our new friends from Zambia who live across the corridoor.

Judah's Chit Chat

2007-04-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

Disneyland

2007-04-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

Coombs trip to Disneyland

Now that we live in California, we can go to Disneyland all the time!

Our Fiji Holiday

2007-04-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

Fiji

These photos were taken on our holiday in Fiji.

Judah's Island Dance

2007-04-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

Judah's dance moves inspired by the Fijian Island Dance that we had just seen.