Summer's End

We had such a busy and exciting summer, I never got around to writing when Peter hit 8 months! Oh, well. He'll be 9 months on Tuesday so I decided today is a good day to do some blogging.

Today, I think instead of trying to remember everything and then sticking all the pictures at the end, I'll use the pictures to help me remember it all. You'd think that as a good mommy I'd write every last thing down. :)

Peter and Jackson are growing like little weeds - Jackson is almost 10 months old already! The boys will both be one before we know it. Wow!!!!!

Lest you think we were trying to pose them perfectly, we weren't! They are just that cooperative and love the camera!

At the end of July, we were able to visit with my aunt JoAnne and uncle Pat who are missionaries in Vienna. They both work at a Christian school there - Vienna Christian School. The staff are all (I think all, anyway - you guys can correct me if I'm wrong!) unpaid by the school and fully funded as missionaries. It's a very unique school full of opportunities to serve the Lord. It was wonderful to visit with them when they were back in the States for a little while - and they finally got to meet Peter!

Peter, as he is getting a little older now, definitely knows who his daddy is and gets excited to see him every day.

Peter loves to show off his standing skills whenever he can. :)

Still loves looking at that book!

While hanging out at Grandpa and Grandma Willing's house in early August, he got to try some sweet corn. I know, I know, it's a potential allergen for babies; I didn't know that at the time. He had fun wielding it as a sword more than anything, though. It was one of his first tastes of real food. As much as he normally sticks everything into his mouth, I'm not sure he really knew what to do with the corn.

Around 8 months, I began having some issues nursing him and after visiting a lactation consultant and caving to the peer pressure all around me, we started Peter on solids. His first bites (after licking the sweet corn, of course) were of sweet potatoes, then squash an then carrots. He loves them all, mostly. Carrots he'd be perfectly content without. We also tried yogurt, which he loves. Spitting continutes to be one of his favorite activities.

Hamming it up for the camera on mommy and daddy's bed one day. I thought the white of our bedding/walls and his brightly colored clothes would make for great pictures. I didn't count on having Luke's arm in the pictures, though! Neither did I count on the camera being too slow to get the actual smiles...but he's just so adorable nevertheless.

I just love his little fingers.

He takes food pretty seriously.

Daddy's helper.

See what I mean? He LOVES his dad! Oh, and can you see his top tooth? He had that lone top tooth for just over a month before the second top tooth finally came in. It was so cute! But, more on that horrid second top tooth adventure later...

Peter is definitely mobile now, but only when he wants to be. He's not all out crawling on all fours, but he's got a pretty good army crawl down. He wiggled his way under his bed and thought it was pretty funny when I found him. He must have found that Nuk under there, too. They are always falling out of his crib and onto the floor! I keep 1-2 spares on hand at all times...I'm not about to get down on the floor in the middle of the night to search for it when it falls!

Remember I said we were going camping? Well......we did it. And survived. It was an adventure, to be sure! Not one I'd like to repeat too soon, though! We went up near Duluth to Spirit Mountain Campground with my brother Brad and his wife Kerri. We had a walk-in site near other sites (with loud but very nice people). Being in a tent out in the wilderness was super fun, I will admit that. Having a baby along was the tricky part.

The first night, we didn't set up the pack n play, but just made a little bed on the floor near our mattress. He moves so much during the night that he kept scooting off of his bed and onto the hard cold plastic floor of our tent. He woke up (after FINALLY falling asleep!) every time he moved off of it. I think he ended up in bed with us around midnight (so I guess he spent about two hours on his own bed). This is a picture of Peter and I around 6:00am the next morning. It was a long night, but things could only get better from here, right? I was pretty upbeat. We set up the pack n play that morning and Peter took a good morning nap in it. Fwew.

That day we drove to Gooseberry Falls State Park (along with everyone else up there, I think) and spent the afternoon picnicing, hiking and taking pictures.

The scenery was just breathtaking!

And Peter loved riding in his backpack carrier. Actually, he spent a good part of his waking hours in it! Thanks Kyle and Laurie!

Yep, there we are, looking cute!

Aren't the falls magnificient? It is at times like these that I feel sooo small in comparison to the great and amazing things God has done and created.

Peter and Luke were getting ready to go. It was naptime.

But there were so many pictures left to take! :) Peter and his beloved Auntie Kerri.

Saturday night, Peter went to bed at 7:45 or so and fell asleep after I held him for a while. He was pretty tired. It was going to be a good night, I was sure of it. Things didn't quite work out that way, though. He woke up around 1:30, I nursed him as I didn't want to wake up everyone else, and put him back to bed. Fifteen minutes later he woke up again and started wailing. I quickly got him up and realized (now that I was a little more awake) that he felt awfully warm. Not sweaty, but WARM. He stayed in bed with us the rest of the night. He and I got up around 6:00 again and after visiting the bathroom and putting in my contacts, we drove into Duluth to Caribou. This was going to be a long day, I was sure. And after getting another crummy night of sleep, we needed some extra help! I love Chai Tea Lattes....
I took his temp when we got back, and sure enough, he had a fever of 102. Yikes! Tooth #4 (the second top tooth) was really taking a toll....and his gums were so swollen, it looked like he had a pink tooth. Literally. It looked awful.
Our church was having a youth retreat that weekend, as well, and so we were hoping to join them on Sunday for the day. We missed Sunday morning as Peter needed to nap (shockingly enough), but made it in time for lunch at Old Country Buffet! It was really, really, REALLY good food, but we had to leave before I could get some soft serve ice cream (rats!), as Peter needed a nap yet again. Normally we wouldn't be so controlled by our son's need for sleep, but this weekend was different. Fever, constipation, new tooth trying to come in, little sleep??? We let him nap whenever he needed it!
As soon as we climbed into our borrowed minivan (fun!), Peter was out, so we took a drive up the scenic route to Two Harbors. On our way back, he woke up and we stopped at a scenic overlook on Lake Superior, climbed down the steep incline (don't know how I did all that hiking with my flimsy pink flip-flops!) and took some pictures. The one above and the one below are from this stop.

It was a beautiful day!

On our way back to Park Point in Duluth to meet up with Brad, Kerri and the retreat, we stopped at Canal Park in Duluth and took a stroll. Can you see the tiredness and slight stress etching Luke's face? Mine was nicely covered by my sunglasses. I love those things.

Sunday night was no better than the previous two nights, and so we decided at 2am that as soon as the sun came up, we were packing up and heading home. Which is exactly what we did! We all packed up and then stopped at Country Kitchen with Brad and Kerri for breakfast before heading out. Peter was, despite feeling a litte warm, totally hamming it up with the ladies at the table behind us. It was nice to have him in such a good mood! One thing that didn't change, though was his appetite. He ate and ate and ate...all weekend long! And although we were definitely short on sleep all weekend, and Peter was feeling out of sorts, as you can see from the pictures, we did have a splendid time. We were just tired. And Peter was very crabby towards the end of the trip. :)

When we got home, I checked our crying and very hot baby's temperature to discover that he had a 104 temp. Sigh....so I called the nurseline after bathing him and getting him down for a nap. The nurse I talked with said that we really needed to have him seen because of the fever he'd had since Saturday night. So, we drove to the nearest open Urgent Care where they swabbed his little nose and pricked his finger and he wailed the entire time we were there. No influenza, white blood cell count good. No clue why he has a fever. Go to Children's in Minneapolis. We'll call ahead for you.

Against Luke's (and mine, too) better judgement, we drove down to Minneapolis to Children's. They did a catheter to do a urine test to check for a kidney or bladder infection and drew blood. Both things were unpleasant, but it was definitely the blood drawing that almost pushed us over the edge. The poor nurses who were sent in to draw it couldn't get the needle to go into his vein and they had to try two different spots. No luck. Our baby was screaming, I started crying (again, man I was tired), and Luke was doing his best to stay calm. Finally a lab tech came down and on the first, and far less painful try was able to get the vein and got the sample he needed.

Nothing has shown up as being unusual yet, although it hasn't been two weeks yet, I guess. But, even though all the experts say that teething doesn't cause fevers, I'm willing to say otherwise. Or at least the sores on the gums from the teeth trying to break through are potentially places for germs to breed and cause infection.....ironically enough, the next day his tooth popped through. And his fever was gone. And here he is below, happy to be fever-free, needle-free, home and with his best friend, Lucy.

And now he has four teeth!

I guess all parents have to have these sorts of experiences. It's what makes us grow and become wiser, right?

Peter can now eat:

• sweet potatoes
• carrots
• squash
• green beans
• chicken
• yogurt
• Ritz crackers
• graham crackers
• bananas
• pears
• applesauce
  
• oatmeal...if he's in the mood
• toast
• hamburger

We also put many things through the baby food grinder. Some of the above mentioned items make it through.

He also knows how to go from laying down to sitting up and sitting up to laying down. (or is it lying?)

He can make little kissing sounds.

He loves looking at books. Especially books with flaps. He loves opening them.

He has learned how to shriek and works hard all day long to perfect it! :)

Two years and one day ago....

Click here to view these pictures larger

It Came!

Tooth #3 is here. Finally came through on Sunday!

Still Waiting....

Peter's tooth has not come yet, but he was far less crabby today than he was the past two days. He was so out of sorts yesterday that after going to bed at 8:00pm (fairly normal), he woke up at 8:30pm and was completely inconsolable. Finally, after a long while of trying to console, exhausted and very weary, we decided to just put him back into bed to let him cry. I had fed him, changed him, gave him Motrin, rocked with him...everything I could think of. So, he just had to cry for a while. Finally at 10:00...he fell asleep. Aaaaaahhhhhhh..........the sweet peacefulness of a sleeping baby.

Today he was pretty cheerful and hamming it up all day. We went for a couple walks, played a lot and had fun. He started doing the cheesy smile today - a huge and sometimes fake grin with his eyes shut. How he figured that out is beyond me! It is pretty cute, though. It makes us laugh every time!

He also really likes to try pulling himself up to a standing position whenever he can. With very little assistance from either of us, he is quite capable! He seems more interested in walking than he does in crawling. Maybe he'll be one of those babies who skips crawling? Not so sure I'm liking that idea, though! Too grown up too fast!

But, since he's already in bed for the night (hopefully not a repeat of last night) and Luke ran to my parents' house to borrow my dad's waders (he has become quite the avid fisherman), the house is quiet...think I'm going to go do some sewing and maybe watch a movie?

Teething Again

Peter is teething again. This time, however, I am seeing signs of it! Maybe the first time around I just didn't know what was going on and that's why I didn't pick up on his teething-ness state...maybe? Well, there is a tooth on the top coming. He also has a runny nose, which I know often happens when a baby is teething, but since it didn't happen with the first two teeth, I wonder if he has a cold or if it is teething related?

Seven Months and Counting!

Okay, so Peter isn't counting yet, but wouldn't that be incredible???

Since I just posted a couple weeks ago, there isn't too much to tell....or is there? Let's see:

He can now sit all on his own. He will, of course, fall over if he forgets what he's doing and loses his balance - like if he suddenly lunges for a toy or if one of us is standing right next to him and he tries to crane his neck to see our faces. He definitely will lose his balance then! So, typically he just stares at our legs or feet. haha... :)

Remember when you were a kid and were fascinated with bubbles? And then when you realized if you were careful enough and pooled enough saliva in your mouth you could ALMOST make your own bubbles using your mouth and spit? Yeah...well.....Peter has already figured that one out!

He loves to turn the pages in books for me. I just read board books to him and I hold the page up a little bit so he can grab it and when it's time, he turns it! Of course, sometimes I have to read really fast to keep up, but...is it me or is this little man a genius?

Peter, if you haven't been able to tell from all the pictures of the two, absolutely ADORES Lucy! All she has to do is come waltzing into the room and his whole face lights up!

He is starting to outgrow Baby Einstein videos. Sadly enough he gets bored watching them! Okay, okay, just so you all know, it's not like we plop him down in front of the TV all day long or anything....but when I'm trying to make dinner and he just wants to be held, or when I'm trying to quickly pick up the house...a little video is great! His current video series of choice? Fisher Price's Little People. He could watch Eddie, Sarah Lynn, Sonia, Michael, Farmer Jed, Zookeeper, and everyone else allllllll day long! So, thanks Chrissy for giving those to us. :)

I know he's probably too young to start talking, but when he's babbling away, he often says "ma-ma" and I get so excited. I pretend he knows exactly what he's saying. I'm sure his first real word will be "da-da" or "Lucy" or something like that, but for now I can pretend.

One of our current frustrations is his sleep, or the lack thereof, at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He's starting to have a really hard time sleeping, well falling asleep, when he's not at home. We first noticed this when we were at the Iowa Conference last month. He sleeps just fine once he's asleep, but...sigh...it's hard. I work Tues-Thurs and the first two days consist of much crying at nap times. Finally by Thursday he's realized that it's okay to sleep at Grandma's house and that he won't miss out on too much and he goes down without a fight. But those first two days are a real challenge. So is traveling!

Last weekend we decided to surprise my brother Brad with a visit for his birthday. We also permanently brought my aunt and uncle's dog - now Brad and Kerri's dog - back down for them. Brad had no idea we were doing any of this. Our arrival didn't work out just how we had planned, but we did surprise him and we ended up getting to visit with the family of one of my former students from Pine Island. She is 21 already! I guess it helps that I first met Jamie when she was a junior, but still.....how are all these kids growing up so quickly? I'm pretty sure that many of my first students are all graduated from college and getting their own jobs now. Wow. That's weird. Just like when the babies you used to babysit are suddenly not babies anymore...but are graduating, marrying and having their own babies! Hmmm...think I'm starting to date myself...

On Monday evening, my friend Laura came over with baby Uriah - we hadn't met him yet! So, while the mommies and babies (and Lucy) hung out and went for a walk, the daddies went fishing. I love summer!

Oh, and remember my nice neighbor Lisa who loaned me her ladder when I got locked out of our apartment? She had her baby last week! Kaitlyn Grace is her name and she is a beautiful little girl!!!

Yesterday, Peter and I drove to the mall to see my friend Gretchen and her two darlings. She and her husband David recently moved to South Carolina and were home for a visit. Funny how you don't get much visiting time in when kids are in the picture! I think we have more productive conversations over the phone! But, it was wonderful to see them and meet their new (9 month old) baby and let them meet Peter. Too bad David and Luke were working...we missed having them with us.

We are hopefully planning a camping trip to the North Shore later this summer...all tips on camping with a baby are welcome! Not sure we know what we're getting ourselves into, but I'm sure it'll be a trip laden with memories!

My favorite time of the day is bedtime. That's the time when Peter is actually a snuggly little baby. We say goodnight to daddy and head into his bedroom for pajamas and a fresh diaper. Then we sit in the comfy recliner so he can eat his last meal of the day and then regardless of how restless and squirmy he was moments ago, as soon as I start praying with him, he stills. And nestled against me, we pray for our family and friends, I pray for Peter's life and thank the Lord for all His blessings and provision for us. We are such a blessed people...it's unfortunate that we forget so easily. And when we're done praying, I recite verses to Peter. I'm hoping that by the time he's old enough to talk, he'll have a wealth of wisdom already tucked away in his heart. Currently we're on John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son. That whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." and Proverbs 3:5,6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths."

Peter just loves Lucy's tags.

While she may have more energy and love to share with the world than we'd like sometimes, Lucy is so good and patient with Peter. We have been blessed with a truly wonderful dog and we just love her all the more for it. Nicole, if you read this, thank you!

Peter and Anna. She's Gretchen's daughter and she loves babies.

Gretchen!

Zachary and Peter....well, Zachary fell asleep and so this was the best we could get. Peter was wishing he was alseep...

Laura's little guy Uriah and Peter. Uriah is only 2 1/2 months old!!!

I couldn't resist putting this in - it's a picture of Luke from the day he was on a fireworks crew. He's holding a 10" mortar (firework). Wow.

Fourth of July Weekend (and 6 3/4 months!)

Many, many things have happened since my last posting. This one is so very overdue so I will hit the highlights:

On June 6th, Peter got to go to a wedding for the first time. Our friends Matthew and Nancy got married, but since we were sitting in the back corner I did not get any good pictures. I think I deleted them all! However, Matt, Jen and baby Audrey were in town for the wedding and I got a good one of Audrey! I'll be sure to attach that picture. It was a beautiful wedding with lovely flowers, yummy food and a beautiful bride. The groom couldn't stop smiling, either! Congratulations!!!

A couple weeks later, I finally found an armoire for our TV, dvd player, vcr, tapes, dvds, cables, reciever, remotes, etc, etc, etc....so the three of us piled into Luke's Ford Ranger - Luke driving (my efforts driving a stick-shift vehicle have always ended terribly and sometimes rather dramatically...ask sometime about the time when we were driving to our birthing class...), Peter in the passenger seat and me in the backseat! Since it's an older truck, there are no airbags and the backseats flip down from the sides, not facing forward, so Peter had to sit in the front! That was a little weird, and since he could see me the whole time, he cried, so I had to duck down behind the seat so he couldn't see me. That was just too weird! We did end up, however, with a beautiful cabinet that very nicely hides all of our junk! Well, the tv junk, anyway...now what to do with the rest of it???????

Peter now rolls like crazy. If he's on the floor, he'll be halfway across the room before too long. He can even pull with his arms while also pushing with his feet and scoot himself forward a bit, too.

While he still LOVES to spit, he's also discovered his tongue and likes to make clicking sounds sometimes. But more often than that, he plays with his lower lip by sucking it in and then pushing it back out, over and over and over and over again.

He is able to sit, aided with my Boppy nursing pillow (it's shaped like a horseshoe) for long periods of time, and can sit completely alone for....about 10 seconds. But he is getting stronger and stronger. Each week he's able to do new things it seems.

A few weeks ago, Peter and I went on a marathon garage saleing spree one Thursday armed with a stroller, water bottle, snacks (for me) and $40. We bought puzzles, two plastic play barns with people and animals (I think they are both Fisher Price, one is just, well, a little dated and runs completely without batteries!), two shirts for me as well as a couple bracelets, a glass that matches our set to replace #12 that broke a year or so ago, LOADS of clothes for Peter including: more, bigger summer clothes, jeans, dress shirts, pajamas (fuzzy winter ones!), regular shirts and more things that I can't remember. We came home with $8 left over! I love garage sales. Oh, and, the dated Fisher Price barn without batteries that cost $.25? It's Peter's favorite!!!

We also went to Iowa Conference, a Bible conference our church has each summer, in June. It, too was, of course, Peter's first time there. We finally landed a really nice, albeit rather small, cabin and had a pretty good time. It's much different when one brings kids along - no more late nights at Happy Chef after bowling or mini-golfing or whatever is going on that night. Oh, well...I had a really good book along! Peter also spent two mornings during the morning session in the nursery. He did very well and I was quite happy.

Two weekends ago, Big Lake celebrated Spud Fest (ours is a community full of potato farms) complete with a carnival across the street from our apartment (fun...), fireworks and a parade. Well, that's just what we went to. The carnival was, well, a small town, overpriced, greasy food-filled, noisy carnival. With rides. Expensive rides. I wanted to go on the Tilt-a-Wirl so badly.....but instead I just enjoyed the ride from afar. Not quite the same. Peter, however, enjoyed his first parade with our friends Rebecca (her husband, Willie, is one of the community's potato farmers!), Courtney and James and their two darling kids - Corinne and Daniel. Peter was quite taken with Corinne...

That same weekend, Luke, at the prompting of something he read in his psychology textbook, decided Peter should try tasting something with a really strong flavor...something like....an onion. Well, we finally agreed on a lemon, sliced it up and let him have a taste. If I can get the video to load, I'll let you see his whole body shudder he does when trying something new. It's pretty funny!

And now we reach this past weekend - Peter's first Fourth of July! We spent the weekend at the cabin with family and friends. Luke got to try one of his "Bucket List" items - being on the fireworks crew! I was a little nervous, but he came back with no missing limbs or fingers and had a huge smile on his face. I guess the fireworks up in Garrison were especially spectacular this year!

Peter got to go on his first paddle boat ride, had his first taste of watermelon, pineapple and a host of other fruits and cooked carrots. We have this little mesh bag with a handle on it that you can stick any type of food into (within reason, of course) and then let them chew/suck on it. They are able to get any liquid out and all the flavor without any chunks that they might choke on. He did not get to see any fireworks as that is WAAAAAAY his bedtime and, quite honestly, I'm pretty sure he'd be a complete mess and terrified of the noise. He did, however, spend lots of time on the beach and with everyone there.

Picture time!

Hanging out while I wash the dishes.

Watching TV with Uncle Ben.

Baby Audrey!

Our new armoire that we had to drive to south Minneapolis, Peter in the front seat and me in the back to get...what a ride!

Typical guys. Heaven forbid they actually have to sit close enough to touch! :) Love you guys...

All clean!

Why is he happy? Because he's playing with his new barn!!!

Still playing, still loving.

Don't know why it wouldn't rotate this one the right way...

He JUST woke up.

Peter and Lucy in what is quickly becoming a typical pose around our home.

One night we had a rainbow...two rainbows!

See his teeth?

For whatever reason, Lucy likes to hang out back there in Peter's room.

My little brother. Isn't he so cute?

This is what the guys did most of the weekend at the cabin...

And this is what the kids and the moms did!

He isn't such a fan of cool lake water.

He didn't really like this either. Can't imagine why...I love it!

Eating breakfast with Auntie Kerri and Uncle Brad.

He really did not like his lifejacket...

Awww....

But he LOVED the boatride!

Getting ready for the fireworks!

Kyaking...beautiful cool morning.

Lucy just adores this game....jump off of the dock to retrieve a ball! Her pal (and twin?), Stewart is still on the dock. She beat him to it.