A Bench in Time

We've had some beautiful weather here in Ohio these last few weeks. I don't remember a lot of sixty (even seventy!) degree days in Minnesota growing up. Daniel and I have been taking advantage by going for walks in Boettler Park. There's a nice one-mile walking path that we like to enjoy. There's lots of trees, a marsh, and occasional wildlife. Yesterday, we veered off the regular trail to go around a pond where I took some pictures of Daniel in May. Kinda fun to see the difference six months makes...

Picture of the Week: Week 48

Niels took this adorable picture of Daniel. He's sporting a sweatshirt from Auntie Liz's alma mater, Bethel University. Unfortunately, this will be the first and only time Daniel gets to wear it because it's already getting too small. Guess we'll have to save it for when Auntie Liz has a baby!

Niels says Dutch Dad needs a picture with a closeup of Daniel's face for his big project. So here are two bonus pictures...

+/- 25 Things About Being 11 Months Old

by Daniel, with help from Mommy

1. I'm still a chunker. I'm now just under 25 pounds!
2. I am about 31" long.
3. I'm wearing 12 month and even some 18 month onesies and shirts!
4. I'm wearing 12 month pants.
5. I'm wear size 4 diapers.
6. Mommy was having a hard time getting shoes on my feet. She was sure I was a size 4. We went to Stride Rite to get my feet measured--I'm a size 5 1/2 extra wide!
7. Mommy found a pair of Robeez for me on Craigslist for a lot less than they cost new. Good thing. Shoes for big-footed boys like me are expensive!
8. I've been sleeping all through the night most nights. Although I don't sleep as well when new teeth are coming through...ouch!
9. I know have six teeth, with number seven just about to just through. I have 3 on the bottom and 3 on the top.
10. I took my first few steps this month! One night, I decided to walk between mommy and daddy a few times. We even called Gramma Chi on Skpe and she saw me walk too.
11. The next day, I was over it. I much prefer to walk while holding someone's hand.
12. The jumperoo has been retired. My favorite activity is cruising around the living room.
13. My current favorite toy is the Alphabet Pal. I especially like the yellow cord.
14. I also love my books. My favorites are: I Love You Through and Through and My First Truck Book. I've pretty much destroyed I Love You Through and Through.
15. Mommy has a new favorite children's book author, Leslie Patricelli. We have checked out some of her books from the library. Mommy's favorite book is Yummy, Yucky. Mommy says we need to get a copy for ourselves because I think the book is yummy!
16. On Wednesdays, Mommy takes me to the library for baby time. We listened to stories, sing songs and then play with balls.
17. Last week, it SNOWED during my class. I found the falling snow to be more interesting than the stories so I crawled over to the window and stared outside.
18. Mommy has also been taking me on lots of walks at a local park. We usually take the one mile loop. She can't believe it's still 60 degrees out in November!
19. One of my favorite things to do is to shake my head back and forth. Mommy thinks I do it because I can make myself dizzy. She also thinks I'm showing off because she can't do it without getting sick!
20. I like to eat with my left hand and play with my right.
21. My favorite foods continue to be cheese and yogurt.
22. Mommy hung up the pump this month. She did a good job and made lots of yummy milk for me. My little chest freezer is overflowing and I have lots of milk...enough to last me past my first birthday. Thanks, Mommy!
23. I'm down to 4 bottles a day. Four ounces each in the first three, and six ounces in my bedtime bottle.
24. I've started to have a little whole milk with no problems. That will make things a lot easier when we travel next month (to Arizona to see Gramma Chi and the Netherlands to see my Dutch family!)
25. I've tried lots of new foods this month: cabbage, kiwi, water chestnut, beef stew, green beans, beets. I like it all!
26. As a special treat, Daddy shared a stroopwafel with me. YUM!
27. The stroopwafel came from Auntie Jen VV, who came to visit us this month, alone with her kids, Aleena and Sienna, and Auntie Rachael, and her kids, Bethany and Hannah.
28. I kinda have a crush on Hannah. We made eyes at each other all day and held hands.
29. We went from a walk in the woods by our house. The leaves were so pretty. I love fall!
30. Grampa Elmer and Carole also visited this month. Grampa Elmer helped Daddy landscape the yard and plant tulips!
31. We traveled to Virginia this month to see my namesake, Dan Kennedy and his family. We had a lot of fun and my cousins gave me lots of love.
32. There was a harvest party, so I got to wear my bumblebee outfit again. But it was naptime, so I didn't stay long.
33. I also wore my bumblebee outfits at our church's harvest party and at the annual Haeufgloeckner party.
34. I'm a cute bumblebee!

New Blog Header picture and goodbye to friends

Jason and Andria with Daniel

Last night we had dinner with the Statens at IHOP in North Canton. They are moving to California. In the middle of a pregnancy... I'm amazed how well they are doing with all of that. The stress of selling a house, finding a new apartment over the internet, new doctors... wow.

We had a great time and Daniel loved some of the extra attention he was getting (or maybe it was the buttermilk pancake he devoured). Anyway, since we were all in a good mood and we had some friends at hand, Andria was kind enough to take a picture of us that we in turn used as an updated blog picture.

Jason, Andria, Jason Jr.: Godspeed in California and thanks for the Ohio memories! Ultimate will not be the same... ;-)

Picture of the Week: Week 47

In honor of this week's historic game where Brett Farve - this time with the visiting Vikes - entered onto the pitch at Lambeau Field and threw 4 TDs, no INTs all leading to a 38-26 victory over the Pack. Therefore, here it is, this week's Picture of the Week ...

- plus a bonus picture -

Clothing courtesy of the Rossings... Go Vikes !

And thanks to Verizon Wireless, our awesome new Blackberry's and ESPN mobile 's Play-by-Play we were able to follow almost all the game - in all but the remotest parts of the West Virginia Turnpike - on our way home from visiting the Kennedy's in Richmond, VA. The wonders of technology !!

The connected family

It started with a phone line. Then it became the cordless phone, the cellphone. Then came the dial-up connection to the Internet, a DSL line (or Cable), Satellite or Fiber. Personal Computers, then desktops, notebooks and netbooks. Now everything is converging. We schedule our TV recordings using the smartphone from our favorite Java cafe, we connect with our friends 1000s of miles away via Facebook for Blackberry while checking prices in the dairy isle at the local grocery store. We sent a quick email to work before going to bed... The Internet is everywhere now and the use of it has evolved in strides previously unthinkable.

How are we ever going to explain to our children (those born after 2005) that there was a time that mail involved paper, pens, envelopes, stamps and - in case of US to Europe relations - at least a week of transit time? They will simply look at us with unbelieving eyes while blind-video-texting their friends on whatever device will be the rave in 2015.

Since the connectivity-train has gone from the commuter slow-poke to the Hi-Speed, 200mph+ comfort wagon I'm not even going to guess what the next 10 years have in store... I just hope we can somehow keep up and a little ahead of our children so us parents can at least pretend to know what our kids are doing and have access to.

P.S.: Both Jen and me now have Blackberry's. Can't believe how attached we already are to them. Hasn't even been 2 weeks... yaiks!

Picture of the Week: Week 46

This was taken at the annual Hauefgloeckner Harvest Party.