Pete Starts Solids

Today Pete ate rice cereal for the first time. He was a champ. The first few tries he was like, "What in the world is this stuff?". My friend Chele was over and gave him a whole bowl of cereal like he had been eating it all his life. He is so smart. Such a fast learner. Guess he was more ready for solids than I thought. Anyway, he ate the whole bowl and looked like he could have had some more. It was pretty neat. Brought tears to my eyes.....most things do these days. Anyway, P. was pretty excited about it and couldn't wait to feed him tonight when he got home. Here are some pics of my friend Chele and P. feeding Pete. Another eventful day in the life of Pete. Oh and keep him in your prayers. They are still trying to figure out what is causing his diarrhea. It has been over 2 weeks now and it's still bad. That is why they told me to only feed him lactose-free formula and rice cereal for a few days to see if we can clear it up. Here is his "I'm confused at what this stuff is" look.

Casino

Today we met Omi, Opa, Mike, Katelyn, Krischan and Uncle Gerhard up in Mt. Pleasant at the casino for a little food and fun.  Well, a lot of food and fun.  They have a great buffet up there and you know how much I love buffets.....  Anyway, it was a great time.  I taught Pete a little Blackjack, he caught on fast.  Thought I would start him off easy and work him up to Poker and Craps later.  No j/k.  Pete hung out in the arcade with the other kids and finally had enough fun and passed out on Opa.  Thanks for a nice afternoon Omi and Opa.  It was great to see you and Uncle Gerhard.  

Start of the 2008 NFL Regular Season

Our little Philadelphia Eagle.  (Only because I don't have a SF 49er outfit for him.)

Tonight football season started.  The Giants are playing the Redskins right now and so far it is a pretty good game.  Watching the Giants and Eli Manning brings back memories of last year's Super Bowl when the Giants were supposed to get rolled by the Patriots and they came back to win in the closing minutes.  Boy was that a fun game.  Tonight P. and I got some sub sandwiches, dressed Pete in his Philadelphia Eagles outfit and have been watching the game going on 3 hours now.  Of course we have done a lot of other things while watching the game but we always come back to the t.v. 

How do I feel about football?  I love it.  I love the SF 49ers no matter how terrible they have been over the past few years.  I am not a fair weather fan.  I am a Niner for life.  Jerry Rice is my all time favorite player.  Then Joe Montana, then Steve Young.  I thought about naming our son Nolan after the 49ers coaches.  We didn't, obviously.  I don't get to see many games living out here in MI.  We mainly get Detroit, Chicago, Green Bay and Cincinnati games which I don't get too excited about.  I used to get excited about Green Bay but not since Brett Favre went stupid.  Football to me means chips and dip, chili and cornbread and reason to curl up on the couch with a blanket and Dr Pepper.  But it also means fall and winter are around the corner.  It's a sign of the end of summer and the coming of my least favorite time of year, winter.  Not just any winter, winter in MI.  So tonight is bittersweet for me.  A start of something good and a start of something not so good.  My 49ers won't be good.  They won't be good for a long time but that's ok.  We'll hang in there.  Off to watch the RNC, it will help put me to sleep......  :)  

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great holiday weekend here in warm, sunny Grand Rapids, MI.  We finally had the summer weather I have been waiting all summer for!  Now this is more like it.  I am a warm weather person.  I like to be warm, even hot sometimes.  There is not a time I can remember when I enjoyed being cold.  So this weekend was perfect.  High 80's, low 90's, sunny, not too humid.  

I played volleyball three times this weekend.  It felt so good to get moving again.  Friday we spent the evening at a friends house across town who has a grass court in their backyard.  After playing for an hour or so we chatted around a fire pit, having drinks, roasting marshmallows getting home just in time to put Pete down for the "10 count" as P. would say.  Saturday ITT Tech took us all out for a day at Craig's Cruisers a local miniature golf/go-cart place. They provided us with pizza buffet wristbands for 3 hours of food, my kind of eating, and 2 hours of fun.  We had a blast with our good friends the Potters.  Check out the pictures.

Sunday we played volleyball with 2 other couples at a park that has sand courts.  We played at 3pm and it was hot.  The sand was hot and the sun was scorching but it felt great to use those muscles I lost way back before my neck surgery.  I am encouraged and excited to be exercising again and hopefully will gain some strength and lose some pounds if I can keep this up.  I miss being active.  Then Monday my friend Lisa watched Pete for us while we went to lunch in Rockford, MI.  Rockford is just north of Grand Rapids and we have yet to explore the cute little town.  So, she recommended a place right on the river and we ate in the window overlooking the dam.  It was so pretty.  It was such a perfect day.  After lunch we went on a walk and sat by the river eating ice-cream and talking about the future.  We went to pick Pete up about 2 hours later and of course he got rave reviews.  No problems.  No fussing.  He is such a good boy.  We appreciate Lisa so much for offering to spend some time with Pete while we spend a little time together as husband and wife.  It is refreshing for our marriage and she is happy to offer her time without anything in return.  

Then a friend invited me to play ball with a bunch of girls she knows, indoor.  Oh, so fun.  This is my second time playing with them and I love it.  Not too competitive but just enough to keep me challenged and get my heart rate up.  If all goes well I might be able to play with them every Wed and Sun nights.  Boy would I love that.  So, we will see what happens.  But right now I am having fun with it and feeling like my old self again.  

Pete is great.  No problems.  Still dealing with tummy issues so I think I might call the doctor again tomorrow and tell her things are still coming out as fast as they are going in.  P. is great.  Hopefully he is refreshed after a nice long weekend at home.  And so it is 11pm and I must go to bed.  Pete has been down for almost an hour and that is precious time for me to be wasting sitting here awake.  Hope you are well.  All my love to you.  AM

My Favorite Pictures From This Week

Mom and friend Kari taking pictures of Pete dressed up in a pink bonnet.

"I'm secure in my masculinity."
Mom thought it was funny.  
Dad catching dinner on Lake MI.
My boys.
Chillin' in my shades.

Little Ducky

I found this ducky outfit at a thrift store last weekend and had to buy it. First because it was only $.99 and second because my friend Kari loves rubber duckies and I knew she would love seeing Pete in it. P. wasn't too thrilled about the purchase or the pictures I took of Pete dressed as a duck but that's ok. I had fun with it and Pete didn't seem to mind either. Take a look at our sweet ducky.How is Pete? He is great. What a great baby. Every where we go people comment on how good he is, how sweet, how cute and how smiley. He smiles at everyone. Sometimes it seems as though he stares at people just to get their attention so he can smile at them. His 4 month doctor's appointment was last Monday and things went well. He gained about 2 lbs, grew another 3 inches and was very healthy. And he has been very healthy until this past week. He has had tummy troubles for about 6 days now and I am starting to feel sorry for the little fella. But he doesn't fuss. He doesn't complain. He just smiles. Have I mentioned yet what a great baby he is?

Blueberries

On Wednesday P., Katie and Natalie went to pick blueberries. They picked about 10 lbs and we froze about 6 lbs of them. I ate the other 4 lbs in a matter of about 2 days so we decided to go back and get more yesterday. I think this is pretty late for blueberry season but they were so good and for $1.35/lb you can't beat it. Plus we really enjoy picking fruit. It is a fun thing to do together and with Pete around this year we never got out to pick anything else. Last year we picked cherries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. You wouldn't believe all the blueberries! We ate about a pound each and brought home another 6 lbs. Pete wasn't too into it so he took a little snoozer. See pictures.

Johnny Jumper

We got a hand me down Johnny Jumper from some friends and tried it out this week for the first time. Pete loves it. It tires him out quickly right now though but he is all into sitting in it and playing with the toys in front of him. Just in the last week he has really learned how to reach out for things, hold things and grab things in front of him. Check it out.

Step Stool

Check out Pete's new step stool! I found it at a garage sale for $3 and my friend Kari painted it just for Pete. Isn't it perfect? She did such a great job. I am going to use it for my feet while sitting in Pete's rocking chair. Then someday Pete will use it in front of the bathroom sink or for whatever he might need a little lift for. I love it and Pete will too someday. Thanks Kari!

Baseball Game

We went to another local Whitecaps baseball game last night with some friends. It was a long game but really good. We left before it was over and I still don't know who won but it was Pete's bedtime and he, and we, were pretty tired. Pete is really an incredible baby. Most people have a hard time sitting through 3 hours of baseball, but not Pete. Not my boy. He is such a good baby and I feel so proud of him every day. P. says he takes after me but I am going to bet I wasn't this good of a baby. Wherever he got it from I am thankful and thankful we could see a fun game, spend time with good friends and eat good baseball game food. Here are some pictures from last night.

Week At The Cottage

Where have I been? We, and our friends, have been at a rental cottage in Shelby, MI for a week. It was another lovely time away that was filled fun, family and friends. We spent the week playing at the beach, fishing, touring a local dairy, reading, playing badminton (or birdie as the kids call it) and volleyball, eating, watching sunsets and sitting around the fire. I would write more but I don't have a lot of time right now. We are still trying to recover and unpack from our trip and with Katie leaving on Wed we have been busy seeing people, doing fun things and getting last minute errands done. But here are some pics that do a good job of telling our vacation story.

Some Pictures From This Week

The Girls

Remember those dogs I used to blog about all the time? My babies, my best friends, my first born Abby, my sweet Serra..........yeah, I know, I vaguely do too. Since Pete was born my dogs have gone from top dogs to bottom dwellers. From, can do no wrong to can do no right. Now my girls add stress, chaos and dirt to an already messy situation. The first problem is they are loud. If they see a squirrel, bird, ant, blade of grass move, they go charging outside, barking, sliding into each other, slamming through the doggie door and of course never catch what they are after so retreat back into the house through the doggie door only to watch for the next movement in the yard. It is the most annoying, agitating thing and if Pete is sleeping he isn't anymore. The second thing that has become increasingly bothersome is that if Pete is on the ground they will surely step or sit on him. That is just my girls though. They like to be close to you. One blessing is that the addition of Pete didn't really add any jealously issues regarding the girls so that's good. But in general you have to keep a close watch on the girls while Pete is hanging out on the floor, especially if they decide to go charging outside after something. And third they are hairy and dirty. It doesn't matter how often you vacuum, sweep or bathe them they are dogs and they are dirty. Ask me if I have time or energy to clean right now. Nope, no time or energy to clean. Today I might get the time and energy to give myself a bath, maybe. Lastly the dogs do not like visitors. If someone comes to the door, the mailman comes by, or someone walks a dog down our street in front of our house the dogs go nuts. Even if they are locked outside it is a loud, chaotic event that bothers me, wakes up Pete and makes life hard.

How do I feel about this? Bad. Sad. I wish it wasn't this way. I miss my dogs. And if the dogs seemed more affected by the whole thing I would feel worse. I remember when the noise and dirt didn't bother me a bit. I remember napping in the afternoons with both of them laying on me with not a care in the world. Nap, what is that? I remember when watching them charge outside after a leaf that turned over was funny. And now the guilt of not giving them the attention and love they are used to hurts me. I do make an effort to spend a little time with them each day, give them treats and P. still gets them out for a walk a couple times a week but overall it is a huge change for all of us. Babies are huge changes. But what can I do? Nothing. The girls are still my family and I still love them very much. Abby is still my girl and Serra is still a little sweetheart, they just spend a lot more time outside now. Since it is summer that is ok. Not sure what we are going to do when winter sets in. They might need to grow thicker coats.......

Oh and here's a funny picture I took last night. I did the hair thing again. Heehee.

Dr Pooper

Here's my little Dr Pooper.