Teeth!

Hello friends! It has been a terribly busy past month and a half...filled with packing up and moving, again, new teeth, unpacking...trying to figure out where to put everything, more teeth, less sleep, more sleep.....

So, yes, we have moved, again. You would think, that for as much as we dislike moving, we would just pick a spot and stay for the rest of our lives. Or at least for a few years. Right? I guess not. I mean, it's not like we ENJOY packing up, begging our friends and family to help, hauling it all out in a million trips, into a new place and then unpacking it all again. I kinda feel like we're those people who move all the time to hide their identity or something. Well, we aren't hiding, but we do get less junk mail! One day we'll find the right house and stay for a long time. For now, we'll enjoy our apartment. Oops, I mean our "residential suite". Besides, all this moving and transition time that we've had teaches us to be flexible, patient, organized, and I'm sure a lot of other good things that we haven't figured out yet. And...we're planning, God willing, to stay put until we're ready to buy a new house again. Yippee!

So now that I'm done apologizing for not being a better blogger in the past month and a half, I'll try to squeeze in as much as I can about Peter. He is changing and growing so fast, I can hardly keep up! I have a friend who, when her kids were babies, took a picture of them each Sunday and when they hit their first birthday, put all the pictures into a photo album and labeled it "A Year of Sundays". I wish I would have done that for Peter! I guess it would be weird to start at 5 1/2 months, though. We'll just have to make do with what we have!

Peter is seeming to be one of those babies who tries something new, masters it, does it ALL THE TIME for a few weeks and then stops. That's what he's done with many new things...rolling from back to tummy, tummy to back, sleeping long stretches at night... ;) He has finally started rolling from tummy to back again - mostly when he's supposed to be falling asleep but he'd rather not sleep. So he rolls over, gets mad because he doesn't sleep on his back and cries until one of us rolls him back over again. Well, he did that for a while...

His personality is really starting to develop lately, too. He smiles and laughs, oh, so much! I just love it! He's usually in a very good mood when he wakes up. I wake up to hearing him cooing and jabbering away to his two teddy bears that are in his crib. Typically, I put him down on his tummy with his feet almost touching the foot of his crib. By the time I go in to check on him before I go to bed, his head is almost hitting the head of his crib. So, I slide him down again. By the time he wakes up to eat, he has rolled over, slid on up to the head again, and most of the time has his head smashed up against the side of the bed. Sometimes he's laying sideways in bed, other times he has turned 180. It's always a surprise!

Over the past couple weeks, as we've moved and unpacked, he started cutting a couple teeth. The beautiful thing about it was that I didn't even realize he was cutting them until the first one was through! That was last Friday night - May 22nd. Last night, one week later, the second one finally cut through and now he's a happier camper again.

I really won't comment much on his sleeping habits as they change as soon as I say anything about them. He sleeps. And eats. :)

We drove down to Morristown to visit Luke's Grandma Jo and her brother, Uncle Bud one Sunday afternoon. It was their first time seeing Peter! And she just loved seeing him so much. It was a fun day.

On Mother's Day, we left church early, and drove to Darwin to visit some more of Luke's relatives. We saw his parents, ran over to an uncle's house to visit some aunts and uncles and then went over to the nursing home where his Grandma Ruth now resides. She had a stroke a little while back. It was so good to see her. She was even able to hold Peter for a picture. If she was able to, I'm certain she would have been beaming - as it was, you could see the joy in her eyes. I'm so glad we made that trip!

We enjoyed our first pretend camping trip of the year last weekend. My family congregated at my parents' cabin and we got to sleep in the camper. How's that for roughing it? The weather was beautiful, although rather windy on Monday, and we soaked up lots of sun, fishing, hanging out on the beach, and ball throwing into the lake for Lucy. She almost NEVER tires of that game. It was a wonderful first Memorial weekend with a baby!

I'm sure I'm missing a lot, but that's all I can think of for now. Now for the pictures!

Sophia "reading" a story from her Bible to Peter. I think she'll make an excellent mommy someday!

Well, one Sunday morning five minutes before we needed to leave...

Peter and Luke at Grandma Jo's. Uncle Bud is in the background. This was the best shot I could get of him. He pretty adamantly did not want his picture taken.

Peter and Great-Grandma Jo.

Hanging out with Grandma P. one afternoon.

The last time Peter used his baby swing. Whenever it swung back, it looked like he was going to fall out forwards.

Helping our dear friend Samantha help us move!

Luke getting chewed out by his Grandma Ruth for never smiling in pictures. :)

Peter and Great-Grandma Ruth. She was smiling as best as she could!

When moving, we were going to move our beds one night and then realized we couldn't. Peter ended up sleeping one more time in the bassinet using a pillow sham cover as a sheet. I'm surprised he fit!

Peter LOVES his exersaucer.

My brother Brad and Uncle Jim posing in their waders before wading into the lake to fix the boat lift. Such strong and courageous men!

Hanging out with Great-Aunt Jen. (I was sure to put the "great" in there just for you, Jen!)

Swinging with Heidi.

Lucy R-E-A-L-L-Y wanted to keep playing fetch!

What good is a camera without a self-portrait? I'm not quite sure what that weird knee/elbow looking thing is in the front...my wrist maybe?

Playing in the sand with Abby. She lives up the hill from the cabin and loves playing with Peter!
We love it when she plays with him, too! :)

Chewing on daddy's pear with his new tooth.

Completely wore out from all the Memorial Weekend fun!

Working with Grandma.

Is he a ham or what?

Peter and Lucy. Friends for life.

Rolling Over

Peter rolled over from his back to his tummy today! I was on my lunchbreak...almost ready to head back out to the office when suddenly he ROLLED OVER!!! Yippee! Yay Peter!!!

April Showers Bring May Flowers...

I suppose I should really wait until next week to do this posting, as Peter will be 4 months old next week Wednesday - April 15th, but, Luke is on the phone (I'm waiting for him), I remembered that I started this but never finished, and well...I guess it's time to finish what I've started!

This past month, as you remember from my previous postings, Peter started rolling over from his stomach to his back, but after about two weeks of happily rolling over, he suddenly stopped. We have tried and tried to convince him to roll over again, but to no avail. He will have none of it. He merely looks up at us with his big brown eyes and pleads (or at least I'm sure that is what he would do if he could talk with us) with us to roll him over or better yet - to pick him up!

He is also starting to sleep longer stretches at night. I have decided it's more important to sleep through the night than sleep through the morning, so we're working on the 8pm-5am thing instead of dropping the early morning feeding. He still likes to wake up around 2-4, but he's slowly getting the hang of it, I think.

Naps are also slowly beginning to take on a regular cadence. Chaos isn't really my thing, unless it's organized...and a baby who naps whenever for however long isn't organized in the least! He may not be the longest napper in the world, but at least the nap times are getting more predictable. I love that!

He's officially wearing size 3 diapers and is mostly into 6-12 month size clothes. Still wears some 3-6 month size, but is growing out of them, even as I type, I'm sure.


He's graduated from his baby bathtub to the regular tub. We had some relatives make a surprise visit, and while they were here Peter and his second cousin Owen (who is 1-1/2 months older) got to spend some quality bonding time in the tub together. I'm not sure they even had a clue anyone else was in the tub...Owen was far too interested in his feet, and Peter was too busy smiling up at me and splashing as much as his little legs and arms could splash!

A couple weeks ago, I got together with a family that I used to work for - and their son Henry, who was two months old when I first started taking care of him, got to hold Peter! What a sweet and memory-filled time that was!

Well, winter is almost over. We Minnesotans eagerly await the true arrival of spring, warm weather, NO SNOW, and flowers/green grass/leaves on trees, and it's almost here. So close that some days I can smell spring coming. I love this time of year!

Easter is in 6 days, and I look forward to celebrating the Lord God Almighty's victory over the grave. I love that Easter is in spring - how fitting to know that the Lord created a way for us to have new life during a season filled with new life? It reminds me of a verse in 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." And I am filled with joy!

Every once in a while, Peter likes to suck on his thumb. I just love it.

Here we are, eagerly anticipating spring by going for a walk, and yet still knowing it's frigidly cold and snowy out so we must bundle up!

Here are Sophia, Elle and Josh (MY cousins!) after a long day at the Chidren's Museum...I guess Peter's wailing for 20 minutes in rush hour traffic on the way home tired them out!

Luke was paranoid that Peter was going to suddenly start rolling again and fall off of the counter onto the floor. He didn't.

Peter and Grandpa Prigge like to spend some quality bonding time together sometimes before Grandpa heads out to the office. This was one of those moments.

Remember Peter's best friend, Jackson? Here he is again! Peter wasn't too thrilled with sharing the limelight, I guess.

Peter, Great-grandma Geri, Elle and Sophia hanging out in the kitchen. Grandma kept telling me to go change his clothes into some cute pajamas or something - "He looks too old!" :)

One morning, as I changed the sheets on Peter's crib, I piled him and his bears onto the recliner in his room. He was really just more interested in chewing on his thumb and blanket.

This was my dad's and my lame-o attempt at making Peter look super cool. You know, with his hat on backwards....oh, well.

One day as we were at Caribou with my friends Christina and Sami, we ran into Jan and Jane - some other friends (and Jane is Christina's mother-in-law!) who were also having coffee. Peter and Jan were sharing a moment. He was very glad to see her!

Here's Peter and Jackson again. Peter was in a much better mood this time, but why do they both look like a couple of deer in headlights?

Here's Peter with Henry and his sister Mariah. Henry is 7 years old already!

Both above and below is Peter with his second cousin Owen who was visiting from Michigan. They bonded.

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for...Peter's American Idol audition piece! He really gets into singing along with Darlene Zschech!

(Need I even mention how much he loves being sung to?)

Trumpets and Thunder

A week or so ago, my good friend Christina sent me this video via email. I won't comment - but will just let it speak for itself...make sure you turn the volume on your computer way up, otherwise you won't be able to hear it.

3 Month Update

My Baby is Three Months Old Already!!!!!

Today, March 15th, marks Peter's third month of life. Whoo-hoo! My how time flies when you're having fun! Last Tuesday, I took Peter to my friend Lisa's house to get his three month pictures taken. She decided a few years ago to start taking pictures at home - after spending a fortune each year getting her four kids' pictures taken at a studio. So she bought lights, a camera and some backgrounds and voila! Here we are. Now she takes pictures for friends - and we think she's great! Below is a small sampling of those pictures. But first - some updates.

1. Last Tuesday, while getting his picture taken, Peter rolled over from his stomach to his back for the first time! I thought it was just an accident, but as he's done it over and over again over the past week, I've decided it was no accident. My baby's getting mobile...
2. He's getting more and more interactive with both people and hanging toys. He still doesn't get picking something up and playing with it, but he'll bat at toys hanging overhead for a good long time before he gets bored.
3. Peter took his first trip to the Minnesota Children's Museum last Friday. While he was unable to do much of anything besides hangout in his stroller all day (bummer part of being a baby - I'm sure he would have loved to run around in the anthill exhibit with Elle, Josh, Sophia, Carter and Morgan), he was completely enthralled with all the kids and things there were to look at. And so other than the 20 minute wail in the car in rush hour traffic on the way home - it was an excellent day.
4. Peter finally moved out of our bedroom into his own last Friday night. He had about a two inch amount of wiggle room length-wise in the bassinet. Time to move, I guess. Sad! I was really nervous about forgetting to turn on the monitor so I'd hear him when he cries...which leads to #5...
5. As I mentioned a while back, Peter had dropped his 5am feeding. And then picked it promptly back up again. Early this past Saturday morning (3am to be exact), I woke up to Peter crying, got up, shut off the monitor, fed him, changed his diaper, visited the bathroom and crawled back into bed at 3:17. Quite a record for me. At 7:40 I awoke with a start, realizing that wow! Not only did Peter sleep until 3:00 before waking to eat (he's been getting up at 1:30 lately), but he didn't wake up at 5 or 6 or 7 to eat again, either! Excellent! What I discovered later was that if I don't turn on the monitor, I can't hear him crying in his bedroom....and so apparently he cried for about a good 40 minutes and finally went back to sleep. I felt so terrible...what horrible mother lets her baby cry for that long? Perhaps it was a good thing, however. Last night, he slept from 8:00-6:40, back down at 7:00-8:45. That's the longest stretch he's EVER gone at night! And so, if letting him cry himself back to sleep one night will help him sleep better, longer at night, I'm definitely going to be okay with it. I just won't forget to turn on the monitor again, though. If you're opposed to letting babies cry, I do apologize, but remember...I didn't know I was doing it! I'll keep you updated on how well the night time sleep goes...
6. And now for the photo shoot. They are, again, in order from last to first - Jesus was right, the last shall be first and the first shall be last. :) One of these days I'll remember to put them in the right order!

And there's the end! Peter Luke Willing is officially 3 months old. And terribly adorable!

Cherishing Every Little Moment

I think it's time for a new font - perhaps just for today. That always adds a certain something to things, doesn't it? This one, for example, always makes me think of a typewriter...I get nervous about making a mistake, forgetting for a moment that I can simply hit the "backspace" button if I do. :)

Peter is growing and changing so much lately that I thought it was time to update things again. Before I get too far, I want to thank everyone who sent me information, links and heartfelt messages about immunizations. I appreciate all of your input and help!

As each day goes by, and Peter constantly changes and grows, I find myself suddenly remembering something that he used to do that he no longer does. So incredible that so much happens in such a short amount of time! And so I have a smallish list of things that he used to do, but does no longer as well as things he is just starting to do. So, without further ado:

1. He used to make a tiny little squeaking noise when nursing. It was so cute...
2. He used to ALWAYS have his hands up by his face. That made feeding him such a challenge. I felt like if I could just have about 5 more hands at all times...
3. On Sunday, March 1st, Luke noticed him beginning to interact with his toys. Peter was sitting in his bouncy seat batting at the toys hanging over him, smiling. :) Luke was thrilled!
4. On the 4th (Wednesday, I think) I realized that he has begun to discover his tongue as well as different textures. He will lick, chew or suck on anything that gets near his mouth. My face has been licked quite a few times now! :) Unfortunately he does not realize yet that he is holding on to something if you give him a toy and so he will accidently put it up to his mouth, start licking it and then jerk it away and get frustrated that it is not at his mouth anymore, but he doesn't realize that he can put it back!

And now for the pictures:

We're trying our best to instill a passion for reading in him at a young age...tee hee hee...

Always a smiley bubble blower!

Just cute...and a little tired - notice the red-rimmed eyes?

Grandma Prigge is his babysitter a few days each week. I'm not sure who loves this arrangement more, Peter, me or her? If a girl has to work, what better person to watch her baby than her own mom?

Despite his chubby cheeks, he really isn't that fat of a baby!

Peter fell asleep on my lap this way when we had our friends Josh and Rachel over for dinner one night. How on earth can that possibly be remotely comfortable?