L'air du vent

Thanks Aunt C. for this delightful sleeper!

Photos:

L's anniversary of his birth was a few weeks ago but we've been without internet and so I'm just getting to making a note for that occasion.

Our dear sweet little man is growing daily before our eyes. He's all over the place and into everything. He loves to play with my tupperware and cookware. We read books a lot, and take walks when the wether is nice. He usually takes one 2-hour nap in the afternoon time. He love to eat real people food (even tonight I gave him his first bits of chicken.) He wears size 4 shoe and still has the cloth diaper booty. He is quick to pick up verbal sounds like a lion, monkey and elephant, snake and fire truck. He enjoys playing chase games with his daddy,

To celebrate the birth of our little boy we had dinner with my parents and sister and brother in law. We had a cake, no candles (ask steve why) and enjoyed just being together. I know the next year will be just as delightful.

Here are a few pictures of the cake eating! We had to show him that it was to eat, not to play in. It only took a few seconds for that idea to lock in, as he is S.'s son...

Chick Magnet!

Thanks, Gwen for this great hand-me-down gem! It's our favorite shirt! (And oh, so true with the mop in tow. Every women wants a man who will help around the house!!!)

One Year Old:

Today marks the one year anniversary of my dear sweet little boy's birth. Over the past months L. has grown and changed remarkably. Every parent watches with mixed emotions as their little one gets bigger and becomes more independent. I too feel a lump rise in my throat when I dwell on it. But I look for the joyous moments that Yahweh blesses our little family with, and realize I most definitely am not loosing anything but gaining an inquisitive, strong and sweet little boy. We are very excited about the coming months and years as L. continues to develop a personality, wishes and dislikes. Our goal is to train him to be obedient to us, his parents, and to Yahweh, so that it is well with him. He is a quick learner!

Over the past two weeks L. has picked up a few more things to note:
He says 'bah-bye' and waves
He says 'Bahhh' which is translated Ball
He says 'Heah' for Hey
He signs for 'more', sometimes 'all done' and the itsy-bitsy-spider-- sort of!
He loves to play the drum on anything
He weighs just under 20 lbs and is about 27 inches tall

None are crystal clear, but all have been verified with outsiders! (I'm not making these things up!) I praise Yahweh for giving him to us. I love you, baby boy!

Good Eats:

Mom's no Alton Brown, but I love her whole wheat pancakes and pearsauce!

Picture Pals:

FUN news!!! (no not that kind of news..)

We are very excited about an opportunity that has been presented to us. A friend and photographer from church was asked to take photos for a cloth diaper company based out of Singapore, called Bum Wear. Her daughter is the "Baby of the Month Baby" on the home page!!! She asked L. (and another church baby) to model for it! So, today we went over for a quick mini-photo shoot. There is more to come this Friday! Here are two from today that might be used by the diaper company:

Our friend

Let me tell you about our friend! She is a sweet 2 1/2 year old girl, who is gentle and kind. She is bright and always cheery! She shares Freddy the Frog and other toys with L., talks to L. and loves to hug and kiss him, too (..smack on the mouth mind you..) She met L. when he was still in my tummy. She used to poke him through my belly button. She officially met him when he was 20 hours old. They go way back...

Here is a few pictures of our visit yesterday:

Photo fan fare:

In response to "Do you like MSU?"

Okay, Maybe L. just doesn't like hats!!!

While sorting out summer and winter clothes, L. climbed into the box. He just had to get into the middle of it all!

"Let me tell you how much I love yogurt!"

Full Speed Ahead!

Over the past two weeks L. has changed even more. And now he's officially 11 months old! I now refer to him as a toddler because he toddles around. He is literally into everything! I love how he finds joy in throwing things over and over.. thanks Steve for encouraging that. He usually will throw a fit if he sees any small black electric thing, resembling a phone. We made the mistake of letting him play with it and now he LOVES the phone, we are in retraining mode!
He still eating everything nature in sight.. sticks, fuzz, bits and bugs... ick. He also is showing great interest in toys. When he is well rested, fed and dry he'll enjoy a few minutes of self-play on his own. He takes two naps a day and usually is a happy child. He has discovered his tongue a few days ago... so now he's constantly running it over his teeth and sticking it out. We measured his height yesterday and he's 26 3/4 inches tall. Still to short for a rollar coaster. Darn.
While I was chatting on the phone the other day L. enjoyed a few minutes in daddy's office.

The weekend

Sunday after church a friend and I jumped in the car, babies in tow, and ran to Asheville. The plan was to maximize my off-call day and visit family. Overall it was a great success! Here are a few memories:

And here are two videos of our time together. We had a wonderful visit!

Backlogging:

August 22nd:


August 23rd:

A Bone to Pick....

I have not used this blog to air my grievances in the past, but today I have a bone to pick!

In a nutshell I have been miserable all day due to an outbreak of hives. BUYER BEWARE!
I contacted the company via internet to let them know there is a problem.

Here is what I wrote:
"I am very disappointed in your All Free and Clear. Or should it be renamed 'neither free nor clear'. After using this product two-three times in the past week and a half, I have become overtaken with hives. This is the ONLY thing that has changed in our routine or of the products we consume. After a day of suspicion it was confirmed, i had taken medicine to relive myself but while nursing my son, who was dressed in freshly laundered pj's yet again my stomach, buttocks and ankles immediately began itching and swelling with weals. Please tell me what chemical is reported to have this side effect as I want to avoid it in all ways. I do not want to be hospitalized for anaphylaxis after washing clothes! In case you dismiss this is a rare case, I spoke to my health care provider today regarding my suspicions, and lo and behold her daughter is severely allergic to this product as well. I am irritated and itching. People are conned by lovely packaging in the hope that they are doing a good thing for their body and environment and this is an injustice. "

Maybe it is a wee bit dramatic but darn it all! I'm not happy!
Does anyone out there have itchies from a chemical? Air your grievance here!!!

Family Vacation!

For our first family vacation we traveled by plane and car. It was a super-duper great time with family. We love them. In chronological order we visited: S's uncle and aunt, S's parent's friends, S's parents, S's sister's family, S's Aunt, 14 of S's High School pals, S's Grandma B, My dad and his family, S's childhood friend and his family and S's parents again. I think it will be less time consuming to simply give you the count, so without further ado...

Here's the fun and extensive 2008 Family Vacation count:
1 long term parking spot
4 plane rides
1 new learned computer game
2 excited cousins
1 GIANT bon fire
0 mosquito bites
4 hours at Lake Michigan beach
1 new hair cut
100's of laughs
2 hours in Ikea Canton, MI
9 home-made loaves of Naan
3 thrift stores
1 visit to Cleveland Zoo
1 nap through the butterfly garden
4 Subway sandwiches
10 outdoor walks
8 Olympic medals to what's-his-name (we watched them all.)
51 pounds of midwifery books shipped home
3 rounds of corn hole
10 hands of Texas Hold em'
6 home-cooked meals
15 cloth diapers
2 o'clock AM when we arivved home.


And because we ended up with only a smattering of photos this is not all inclusive... sorry to those who didn't make the cut... we love you dearly! But apparently we didn't care enough to take your pictures. Actually I think our battererys went dead.

Today:

L. seems to be growing up so quickly. I'm afraid to blink; I might miss something. He's such a sweet and smiley baby! He's very attached to Mama and Dada but will happily go to Granna (and a few select others.)

L. crawls around on his hands and feet. My guess is he wants to be Spiderman when he grows up. He can stand up while holding a toy in his hands, balance for a few seconds and land-- kersplot-- back down on his rump. He creeps around the furniture, wobbling only slightly and already he tries to climb. He tires to climb into the tub, into the diswasher, up onto the bed... sigh... and he can't even walk yet!

To keep up with all the climbing L. eats well! He still nurses the majority of the time but LOVES food! Tonight he had whole wheat noodles for the first time. Yesterday he had blueberries and grapes on our outing to Lake Monticello with friends. A friend suggested frozen peas, as babies this age are trying to establish their pincer grasp this keeps them busy: chasing peas around the high chair. Sure enough, it kept him busy while I did the dishes. The only drawback I see is later that day I got to see them again. Who knew?

He does have the pincer grasp down fairly well. He also loves to bang on his drum Granna and Pop brought him from South America. He love to bang on anything really, the diaper pail, the toilet...

Not only does L. enjoy food but his all time favorite is to chew on shoes.. my new white flip flops have teeth marks on the toe. We have officially exiled all shoes to a basket on the sun porch, and don't you know if the little rascal sees the sun porch door ajar he will make a bee-line in that direction. One time he stopped to see if I was en route behind him, and I just had to chuckle when upon seeing me he turned and tried to spider crawl even faster! I could see the wheels turning.

L. LOVES his dada. He enjoys how his dad plays with him. S. figured out a new trick. I believe he calls it the helocopter: he shakes his head 'no' while pressing his hair into Levi's belly. It makes him just howl with glee.

L. is a very special kid.
I am blessed to be his mother.

One Year Ago Today:

I had time to paint my toes...
I was half way through my midwifery training...
We had a dog named Dara...
Steve was an EMT Basic...
Hmmm, I'm forgetting something...
AH, we were very excited that we only had to wait a little while longer for Levi's arrival!

Plans

Plans hinge on lots of things in life. Take nap time, for example. Most of our ability to function is determined by the quality and length of naps. Sometimes naps hinge on the schedule or location. (As we venture to our first traveling vacation I wonder how the plans will flow.)

For example.. the plan today was.. nurse the baby to sleep, then clean and prepare the chicken for dinner. I mean, really, who wants to do this with a baby wrapped around your ankles? So, in this little scenario, today we had victory over the plan!

The plan for the afternoon? Play around the house, clean up a little, nurse,... THEN take another nap. Ha Ha Ha (in a sassy voice) It all comes full circle!

Our Family Photo Shoot July 19th, 2008: