and then there were two

so cute

The "So Much" Song

This is another song I made up for Daniel. Depending on who's around, we switch it up: Oma, Opa, Gramma, Grampa, Auntie, Tante, Uncle...

Daniel's song

My little peanut is now a brute!

WOW! I took Daniel to the pediatrician this morning to find out if his sniffles are the result of teething or something else. It looks like he may have had a slight cold, but seems to be on the mend. What shocked both the doctor and I was his weight. I still think of Daniel as little, with the "failure to thrive" we struggled with when we first brought him home. He was at the 2-3rd percentile for several weeks, and we were so proud when he hit the 20th percentile at his 6 month appointment. Today he weighed 21 pounds, 8 ounces--75% percentile!!! Of course, this is still well within normal, but wow! The doctor isn't concerned. I told her what we feed him and she said that sounds good. But we have been given some ideas on how to cut out his night feeding. We've also been spreading out his bottles a little more. It'll be interesting to see where he is at his 9 month appointment in a few weeks...

Birthday party

Last week we went to the birthday party of a 3-year-old. Daniel is still too small to enjoy most of the toys and things, but as you can see, he still had a great time!

Picture of the Week: Week 37

Sorry we haven't posted much the last few days. We've all be3n sick with something or another. Niels had a freak fever. I had a run in with a cat which is sloooooooowly working its way through my system. (I'm very allergic and exposure leads a week or so or cold-like symptoms). Daniel is teething and may also have a cold or may be sharing my allergy to cats. For the most part, he's still pretty good-natured, though we know he's in pain when he goes on his crying jags for 30 minutes or so. The one thing we found that really soothes his sore gums is frozen waffles. In this picture, he had a waffle in each hand. It's amazing how quickly he can down these things!

Hopefully, we're all on the mend and can go back to taking and posing for pictures more this week!

Daniel's Favorite Way to Spend the Day

Picture of the Week: Week 36

Nobody puts baby in a corner...except baby. Daniel's getting better at crawling every day. He is quickly discovering the world beyond the area rug in our front living room. Today I watched him crawl into the corner made by the desk. It was like he gave himself a time out!

daniel's new game

bouncing baby boy

Playdate

Now that he's crawling, Daniel is getting a little big for the breastfeeding class, aka booby class. A few weeks ago, I met some mommies here in Green for a mother's night out (MNO). They seem like a good bunch, but we haven't been able to make any of the playdates. My head doesn't always let me plan ahead very well. This morning I was feeling pretty good so I decided to venture out to Jackson Park to meet up with the mommies.

Jackson Park has a great children's area, though most of it is too big for Daniel at this point. However, he did have a great time on the swing:

fun with reading

Picture of the Week: Week 35

The Thelens are Here!

We've been a little offline the last few days enjoying the company of our friends, Alex and Melissa Thelen and their two adorable little boys, Samuel and Siah. They arrived on Wednesday and will be leaving tomorrow. We'll be back to posting adorable pictures of our own son soon!

+/- 25 Things About Being 8 Months Old

by Daniel, with help from Mommy and Daddy

1. I'm not exactly sure, but I think I'm over 18 pounds.
2. I am now 27.5" long.
3. I still wear my 3-6 month clothes but they're getting a little tight. So I'm starting to wear 6-9 month clothes!
4. Mommy hopes her Minnesota friends and family keep an eye out for new Viking apparel for me at the garage sales!
5. I still wear a size 3 diaper.
6. On August 3, I cut my first tooth!!
7. On August 4, I pulled myself up for the first time to stand next to my toy box!!
8. On August 5, I crawled for the first time!!!
9. I've had a very busy week!
10. Daddy lowered my crib because Mommy caught me hanging over the edge!
11. Daddy put up some pretty art on my wall. It has my name and says, "Slaap lekker" and "Sweet dreams."
12. I'm now enjoying three meals a day. I get oatmeal for breakfast--just like Mommy. But I like Mommy's oatmeal better so I eat mine real fast so she;ll share hes with me! I have fruits for lunch and veggies for dinner.
13. Thanks to Gerber and Mommy, this month I tried lots of new foods: plum, apricot, blueberry, grape, pineapple, mixed vegetables, 2 kinds of puffs, cheerios, frozen waffles (they feel really good on my sore gums), and even a few licks of ice cream! Yummy! I still don't like peas.
14. Mommy can get a guaranteed giggle out of me if she makes the "t" sounds. I don't know why, but it cracks me up!
15. After we got home for our big trip, Daddy put in my new big boy car seat. No more carrier for me!
16. On August 15, Mommy took me to my first movie in a theatre. We saw Hotel for Dogs.Mommy says I was a very good boy!
17. We had lots of company this month. On the 10th, Uncle Gary came from Canada. On the 23rd, Da Dan was here, along with Aunt Sara and my "cousins" Zach, Noah, Mia and my godsister, Hannah. This week we're hosting Aunt Melissa and Uncle Alex, and their boys Sam and Siah. Siah is only 9 weeks old so I'm not the baby!
18. I have a new nickname: Gunther Grunter, the disgruntled German. I grunt when I'm happy. I grunt when I'm mad. I grunt when I eat. I grunt when I explore...I like to grunt.
19. I'm sleeping in my pack-and-play for a few days this month, since my friend Sam Thelen is checking out if Daddy lowered my crib correctly. He is two years old, so he'll make sure everything is nice and tight... Thanks, Sam!
20. I kinda like hanging out in Mommy and Daddy's room. So much easier (read: faster) to get some food out of the 'rents.
21. Waffles, baby!
22. Can you believe it, we have NOT traveled in my 8th month...?!
23. I'm praying for my Great-Gramma Ann, she's not feeling to well and with my teething I know it's not fun not to feel well. Looking forward to see you in November, Gramma Ann.
24. I saw some funny pink balloons at my first trip to the Bowling Alley. One of my Mommy's friends supports Breast Cancer research and we went to the fund-raiser.
25. I also saw some really BIG balloons as part of the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame festival.
26. Mommy and Daddy are watching the Hall-of-Fame game while putting this little blurb together. I'm hearing that I have some football in my near future...
27. Next month I'll be out of the womb as long as I was in... Next up: my 1 year milestone. Stay tuned!

big find at the big bad baby sale

i love prunes!

We have a crawler!

Picture of the Week: Week 34

First Tooth!

This is a bonus video. First, I discovered a new way to make Daniel laugh. I was thinking about how he couldn't make the "t" sound without any teeth. I was making the sound as I was thinking about it and apparently, Daniel found it quite funny, so out came the camera. Second. if you look very careful, you can also see the bud of his first tooth!

I can now post stuff too...

My Daddy added me as an author to the family blog. Mainly because my Mommy has almost used up all her free space with cute pictures of me. Figured I could help her out with donating some my (unused) free space to upload more pictures of... ME !!!

Daniel's Wall Art is up

Today we put Daniel's little wall art that we ordered quite a while ago. One of Jen's friends from her days at Family is a consultant for Uppercase Living. Jen picked-out a two-piece design with both English and Dutch. She ordered it before Daniel was born and his name was a secret. At least that was the initial excuse for procrastination. I guess we've been busy the last 8 months. Anyway, it turned out beautiful, right above his crib:


We also had to lower his crib since the other day he was kind of leaning out to his waist. All the things he starting to out-grow... The swing, the car-seat, the bumbo, the highest setting of his crib... Our boy is definitively growing!

One thing off the daddy-do-list... plenty to go ;-)