Improvment?

You'd think after a year of eating solids, he'd get better at feeding himself!

Happy Halloween!

Following daycare I took Gerrit, Luke and Paul to church for their little outreach Halloween party. Gerrit was too young to participate but he enjoyed looking at the costumes and watching the kids. We left the older boys there and headed home to 'trick or treat' at the neighbors. We made it to a few other homes of our friends and then called it quits. Gerrit and I needed to be back to go to the football game (while Adam went for a bike ride).

(When you put the cursor on the photo of the slide show, the picture stops moving and you can see a caption.)

At one point while waiting for Adam, I ran up to change my clothes. Gerrit was content on the steps sorting his candy - where he learned that, we will never know! Anyways, I realized he had small pieces he could choke on, so I quickly ran back near him. I should've known he'd be into sorting the gum and tootsie rolls than realizing he could eat them!

It was a fun/busy night. We made it to the football game even though we lost. Another busy day of racing tomorrow. Maybe this week will slow down? I hope!

Gone WILD!

I had the opportunity to join Anne and the boys at a Minnesota Wild Hockey game. Dave was out of town so they had an extra ticket. I had never been to a professional hockey game before so it was a real treat!We had great seats too. 6 rows on the corner. Here is the ice before the game, during the intros:

Pictures of the game:

I had a great time. I don't think I have ever watched an entire hockey game (on TV) and really enjoyed it. I know the basics of the game but felt frustrated when penalties were called and I didn't know what they were called for before the explanation. The crowd would get mad/excited and I had to wait for the ref to explain it to totally know what was going on. Its not quite like a basketball game - we had to wait to get back to our seats until there was down time. I guess they don't want you to get in peoples way walking to/from your seat in case a goal is scored seeing they don't get many in a game. All in all I found it to be a fun time, great atmosphere, and wonderful company despite the 1-2 loss. After all I've lived in the "STATE OF HOCKEY" now for 10 yrs, I should get to know the game a bit better!

TV Options

We caught the end of the world series and I decided I had seen enough of the interviews etc. I changed the channel to the TV guide to see what was on at 9pm. My choices on the major networks included: Lipstick Jungle and Dirty Sexy Money. Nice...pathetic if you ask me. So I changed it to the only station Gerrit will ever watch: ESPN.... :)

Pumpking Carving

Tonight was a busy night. From daycare, Gerrit and I went for a run (well, I ran and Gerrit rode), Subway to get dinner for mom, and then to Dahlen's to carve pumpkins and eat. Gerrit sat in the high chair eating and watching us carve pumpkins (staying out of trouble, really). I had given the boys a few pumpkins from our 'harvest' so we had plenty to carve. Here are Luke (left) and Paul hard at work:


Nikki and the girls stopped by too to check out the festivities and hang out for a bit. Nikki assisted Paul in making a ZM pumpkin while Anne is cleaning seeds to bake:

The finished products (mine is on the far right):

The view in the dark:

The pumpkin carving gang behind their pumpkin masterpieces:

Adam joined us when he got home too. He played Playstation with Paul while I finished up carving my pumpkin. And Gerrit didn't run into the coffee table tonight either! (I look pregnant but I'm NOT - my shirt is caught between my arm and Gerrit!) And tomorrow night I'm off to the Wild game with them!

Halloween at the Library

Tonight was Halloween at the Library. We met our friends Nikki and Abby for story time and a parade through the library. Here is the group waiting for a story (Gerrit is the little green blob behind the black/yellow kid standing):

We listened to Halloween stories for almost a 1/2 hour. Gerrit did pretty well sitting on my lap (I had a hard time sitting for that long - boy, I'm getting old!) It was nice he was shy so he didn't wander off!

Following the stories the kids were suppose to line up and walk through the library to show off their costumes. Abby is trying to help Gerrit get in line:

Following the parade (which really wasn't a parade) we went back into the story time room and tried to get a few pics of the kids. Here is one I got with my camera:

Nikki tried to get Abby to give Gerrit a kiss which she was willing to do, Gerrit wasn't willing to let her. He thought it was a chase game and he kept running away from her! I think Gerrit enjoyed looking at all the other kids and I'm glad we made the effort to go.

PS - one of the librarians didn't know Gerrit was a frog! Then again, she's a librarian, what do they know??? Oh, and I was surprised there were not very many homemade costumes. I like the creativity that comes with homemade ones...plus I'm cheap. Sorry Gerrit!

Cheek

Took a quick picture this am of Gerrit's cheek. It was a bit swollen (I know, he has chubby cheeks to begin with!). It makes for a good story. The dr. didn't think anything of it - he said it just shows he's a boy and takes risks. I didn't tell him that he was in the basement when it happened with all guys - Adam was there too but playing playstation! :)

(Its not a great picture becuase Gerrit was begging to eat my 'crust' from my pop tarts - which is what is in his mouth. He wouldn't cooperate and let me get a good one of his cheek.)

Endless Job

Gerrit is not a big fan of sitting on our lap and listen to a story. He'd rather look at the book on his own terms. He will spend a lot of time thumbing through a book but is not into having them read to him. I often find myself picking up after this mess is made:


But I've gotten smart and leave it for a few days because I know it will look like this as soon as Gerrit walks back into his room! Its not worth picking up every time he pulls them off, I have other things to do!

Gerrit had his 18 month check up today. He is right on for his height and weight. I forgot his height but he is up to 25+ lbs! The dr. says he's a classic kid - chubby and near the top of the chart early on then once he starts moving more, slims down and is in the middle. When he said slims down I wanted to ask him if he's seen his tummy yet! He looks more like Opah in that area! He did well getting his flu shot and then we had blood drawn. Have to make sure the lead poison question can be put to rest. I wouldn't want to be a lab tech for kids if you paid me a ton of money! That is not an easy job. It took a nurse and myself to keep Gerrit still and then once the tech couldn't find his little vein, I had to switch sides with the tech and try again. Gerrit didn't know what was going on! Poor kid. He was a trooper and as soon as we let go of him, he stopped crying. I don't think it hurt as much as he was scared.

Following the dr. we went for lunch and then shopping. He did get a treat - a little squishy football at Dicks Sporting goods. I couldn't resist - its a little Gopher one and seeing the kid is into football, I might as well teach him how to throw one! (Just kidding).

Melts My Heart

It was bed time for Gerrit and he was busy stacking his cups as he often does. I told him it was time to go to bed and that he should say good night to dad. I suggested he give him a hug before we head upstairs, thinking he'd continue stacking and ignore me or run away so I couldn't get him. He did neither. He stopped his stacking and walked over to Adam and as Adam reached to give him a hug, Gerrit gave him a 'kiss'. I put it in quotes because a kiss (as we've observed) Gerrit style is his mouth open wide and he puts his lips on your cheek. He did this to Omah when she visited and that was the first time I had seen him kiss anyone! Well, he did it again tonight to Adam. Very sweet to see and melted my heart.

We did the bedtime routine and as I was telling him it was time to go to sleep and put him in his crib, I asked Gerrit for a kiss. I was denied. What's up with that? I thought mom's got it all?

Four Letter Word

Yikes! No, Gerrit has not learned any swear words (yet) - it snowed today! It even started to accumulate in the flower beds. It was a very blustery day and made us realize that winter is around the corner - although 60 is predicted for Friday! Gerrit and did not cheer Adam on at his bike race today because of the weather. We went yesterday when it was sunny and pleasant. Friends went too which makes it more fun than just us.

Nothing real exciting happened this weekend except the snow. MSU won, ZM won, Lions lost (no shocker there!). We went to friends tonight for Chili and Gerrit fell 2 times hitting the same cheek on the edge of the coffee table. He'll have a great look going into the dr. tomorrow! I've got the day off because no daycare and Gerrit's next round of shots. We'll hang out at home for a bit in the morning and maybe do a bit of shopping after the dr. before heading home. Might as well make the most of our time in the cities right?

18 Months

For 18 months now I've been:

changing diapers
wearing breast milk, spit up, poop, and/or snot on my clothing
shopping in infants/toddler section instead of misses
doing twice as much laundry
sleeping less
laughing more
often forgetting my things when I head out the door, yet have my hands full
showering and getting ready in less than 20 min.
worrying about the future
smiling often

just to name a few....

And loving every minute of it! Happy 18th months Gerrit. I love you more than you can understand and more than words can express! (even though you've been crying now for 1/2 hr and are too stubborn to give in a go to sleep - just like your mother!)

When Mom's Gone

Notice Gerrit is NOT eating in the dining room...

I have book club once a month and we have dinner at book club so Adam and Gerrit are on their own. Monday night was book club and Adam wanted to eat dinner in the basement. Not a great spot for an 18 month old to eat but Adam figured out a way to make it work!

My Little Sports Lover

Gerrit LOVED the football game. He was totally into the game, especially when the players were on their end of the field. He would oooh and aaah like he does when he watches football on TV. He sat on Anne's lap the entire first half. I don't think he's ever sat that long on my lap that didn't involve sleeping! He made me proud. I just wish I was with him to experience it. Z-M won so maybe we'll get to the next playoff game.

First Time

Tonight is my first overnight away from Gerrit. He's almost 18 months, that's a long time of being together. I'm not doing anything spectacular in my night away. I had conferences tonight till 7 and need to leave again in the morning by 6:30 to sub so it made sense to stay in the cities. So, I'm at my friend Sue's - where I use to stay a lot before Gerrit was born. We're just hanging out. She's so great to me - she makes sure I have muffins for breakfast and Diet Coke in the fridge (she's a Diet Pepsi gal). I'm hoping to get up and run before going to work. I can sleep in a bit too seeing I'm only 15 minutes away. It is weird not seeing Gerrit and knowing I won't see him in the morning too. I just wish my first night away was for a better reason than conferences - like a vacation with Adam or something. I'll get over it.

Update: I called Adam thinking Gerrit would be sound asleep and see how their evening went. Gerrit was at a football game! Anne said she'd watch Gerrit for an hour while Adam went for a bike ride, but her boys wanted to go to the football game. She said she'd take him with. So, at 9 pm, Adam was at their house waiting for Gerrit to come home. He called Anne and she said he was doing fine. I can't believe he's lasted this long - I'm curious to hear if he sat still on her lap the whole time. I'm awaiting a phone call - hopefully soon which means Gerrit will be in bed. And to think he will be going to daycare at 6:30!

Book

I forgot to mention I ordered the book that I had talked about a few posts ago. It came yesterday and I briefly looked at it last night. Its awesome! We have been very shocked by some of the findings. Some things we think we were eating we thought were some what healthy and they are not! And when we eat out, we'd try to choose what we thought would be a healthier choice was actually worse than the ones we thought were bad for you. We've enjoyed looking at labels today and seeing how much sugar is in stuff as well as high fructose corn syrup (sugar). Its amazing. I thought whole wheat bread was good for you as long as it was 100% - well, when I checked the sugar content, I was shocked. 2 g per serving and 1 serving is a slice! That's a lot of sugar in a slice of bread. Anyways, I've only read a bit of it and I think we've got some changes to make and will have to take time to read labels at the grocery store. I'm hoping I can shed a few pounds just by making better choices!

So Easy

I uploaded the fall pictures to shutterfly a few days ago. I hadn't been on that site in a long time. It was even easier than before using my Mac! I should do it more often. My cold has finally improved; my voice is back! A cold has not put me out of commission for this long in a long time. Staying home from school for 2 days was odd. We are all healthy - for now.

My parents made it safely and are enjoying Gerrit - and us I think! And I'm enjoying my 2 days off too. I've been teaching for 10 years and never have gone to the convention which is why we are given these days off. I just see it as a time to see the family! I have no desire to go to the convention either.

I've got 2 days of conferences done and one to go next week. Yipee. The weather is beautiful and hoping to get some yard work done with my parents as well as shopping.

Raking Leaves

The leaves are in full color this week. We had a bit of a windy weekend which means many trees have lost their leaves. Adam was going to mow the lawn but realized he should rake beforehand because there were too many leaves to mulch.

Gerrit loves being outside and seeing it was so nice out we decided to see what Adam was up to. Gerrit took to the raking right away but didn't want much to do with the big pile of leaves.


After Adam putting him in the middle of the pile a few times, Gerrit warmed up to the idea of the leaves. He ran through them - well, fell and then crawled out. I was able to get a few photos:




What I find interesting is that we don't even have a tree in OUR yard! Thanks to the large trees at the church next door we get the opportunity for leaf raking without having a tree. I often get frustrated spending so much time taking care of others' leaves.

(We did think about raking the leaves back on the church's property - but didn't. In fact, Adam actually raked some of the leaves from the church and disposed of them because he knew they would end up on our lawn in a day or two anyways! He said one of the volunteers who takes care of the church's property did drive by and wave. The church has at most 30 members and is over 100 yrs. old so you can imagine how big the trees are on their property!)

The Farmer and the Dell

While watching MSU beat up on Northwestern today, Gerrit spent a lot of time playing with his animals that go with his John Deere toys. He took all of them and lined them up on the chair that I was sitting in, then he would walk across the room and admire his work, come back and knock them down and start the process over again. I thought it looked pretty cute how he lined up all the animals and the farmer . What is 'the dell' in that song anyways?????

My Little Helper

Today I did some major cleaning because we have guests coming this week. Yep, Omah and Opah (aka my parents) are coming for MEA. We are excited to have them come but that means getting the house into shape. Adam wasn't feeling real well so I let Gerrit hang out with me while I cleaned. When in the kitchen Gerrit thought my cupboard that houses all my plastic containers needed some work:He spent a long time putting the lids in the butter tub and taking them out. He was kind enough to put them all back in the cupboard when he was done.

When he got bored with the butter tubs and lids, he went to the utensil drawer and pulled out all of my cheese spreaders (the handles have basketballs and footballs on them). When I thought I had the kitchen cleaned, I looked around and saw not only my cheese spreaders on the floor but also table spoons and tea spoons. I left them and dealt with them when Gerrit forgot about them.

The house is clean (for the most part, just don't look too close) and we are ready for Omah and Opah!

A Bit Quiet Around Here

I stayed home again today due to my lack of voice. I layed low and didn't do any cleaning which was tempting - NOT! I will be going to school tomorrow regardless of my voice. I feel bad for Gerrit though as I can only whisper. I only imagine what he's thinking. He did go for a long bike ride with Adam before dinner and loved it like usual. He fed himself apple sauce at dinner and I think he ended up with more on his face than in him. I cringe at the site of him being a mess but realize he needs to learn to feed himself (as do I to let it go).

I did hear of a new book I am going to get while watching Rachel Ray (not my first choice for daytime television). She had on a guy talking about kids meals at restaurants and what choices we as parents should make. It was interesting and any help we can give Gerrit to making healthy eating choices at an early age the better. She also had a nummy recipe for turkey sausage burgers with cranberry sauce. Anyways, off to bed.

One last thing, Gerrit is back on track! He has not become a night owl (yet)! Sweet dreams.

Way to Go HUB!

I'm home from school today b/c I don't have a voice. The bright side - I was able to sleep in (Adam brought Gerrit to Julie's) and got a few things done that I've been meaning to do. I feel ok, just can't talk. Anyways, I decided to make muffins that my friend Elizabeth has raved about. It calls for flax meal and I figured I'd have to get it at a 'real' grocery store, not my little one in town. I didn't make it to a real grocery store so I thought I'd just see if they had it here in town seeing I needed a few things anyways. And low and behold (a phrase commonly spoken by my mother) they did! Way to go HUB! I need to give them more credit than I do, as they have quite a bit and are willing to get it if you ask.

The weather is beautiful and I took a few minutes to harvest some pumpkins - sound like a true farmer? "Gerrit's" isn't orange yet so I left that one but cleaned up the others that were ready. I noticed a little one had started (seems awefully late in the season) so I decided to write "Birr " on that one, we'll see how it turns out, might not be in time for Halloween, but still a good Fall piece of decor.

One last thing as I need to head out to pick Gerrit up, but he was quite a pistol last night! He didn't want to go to bed. I'm really hoping he isn't becoming a night owl because that isn't my style. I like having my few hours after he goes to bed before I go to bed. I am not sure what his deal was last night but we tried everything: a snack, rocking, laying with him in our bed (which he either jumped on or hopped off and headed for the office where Adam was working), and finally after a 1/2 hr of sheer crying, gave him some Tylonol (our version of sleepy medicine since he can't actually have Benedryl yet). That calmed him down from 11-2 30 and then he started up again. So we brought him back in our bed (hoping this doesn't become a regular thing). He fell asleep right away on me - with his head shoved in my neck! So Adam brought him back to his room - he screamed again! So we brought him back and he slept with us the rest of the night. We have a queen size bed and it wasn't big enough for the 3 of us. Gerrit is like his mother and is a restless sleeper - he was tossing and turning and of course sleeping more perpendicular than horizontal to us. Uggg. We all got some sleep and I am really praying that we can tucker the kid out tonight and get him back on track. Stay tuned.

Feeling Proud

Tonight I was invited to a high school volleyball game. It wasn't just any old volleyball game, it was "invite your FAVORITE TEACHER" to the game night. I have a 7th grader who is on the JV team and she invited me! I am battling a terrible cold - I don't have much of a voice but went to school today just because of this volleyball game. She had asked me every day if I was planning on going to the game which I thought was cute. I felt proud that she invited me as silly as she felt inviting a middle school teacher because the rest of the team would have high school teachers. I couldn't let her down. We lost the game but she did very well. Other than looking younger, you never would know she's in 7th grade. Her parents I have known for a long time as I have had her brother and sister in the past too. They both came and talked to me for a while and thanked me for coming. Following the game, Brittany came and thanked me for coming and gave me a thank you note. I didn't take the time to read it in the gym and waited til I got in the car. This is what it said: "Thanks for coming to my volleyball game. I hope you had fun. Love Brittany." I just chuckled after reading it; I don't know what I was expecting it to say - she is only in 7th grade.

I think it is a great idea to invite your teachers to your game. I had wanted to go to one of her games but didn't think I would because it would mean I wouldn't get home till after 7 30. This was a great reason to get me to go and it was nice to see other teachers there as well that probably wouldn't otherwise take the time to go.

Excitment at School

Today we had a bomb threat which always makes for an exciting day. I don't take them seriously because to be honest, I don't think of middle schoolers in my building as real threats. So often they tell on each other before they can carry out their 'plan' anyways. However, we have to treat them all as if they are real. So 5th hr we had to keep our 5th graders in the gym and not let them out to use the bathroom or get a drink. They just played dodgeball and we did another skill test. They loved that they had an extended PE period and at the end thought the lock down was just a test (as we have to practice lock downs these days like we do fire drills).

In the end, the dogs deemed the building safe and they actually caught the kid who wrote the threat. See, middle schoolers aren't real smart! After explaining to the kids that there wasn't an intruder with a gun in the building and yes, there were bomb sniffing dogs in the building, they all went home.

I'm not sure what will happen to the kid but it made for an interesting afternoon.

Late Night Snack

We had a beautiful fall day at Adam's bike race. Gerrit enjoyed hanging out in the backpack watching all the racers. We stopped for 'lupper' on the way home around 3 30. Pizza with Dave tasted good seeing we sort of missed lunch (had snacks during the car ride).

Anyways, we emptied the car and played until bed time. We put Gerrit down at his normal bed time but he didn't seem to want to sleep. I rocked him and laid with him but he still didn't want to settle down. Finally he fell asleep for 20 min. or so. He woke up and started crying again. It dawned on us that he hadn't eaten since pizza at 3 30! So I had to quickly think of something to give him that wouldn't make too much of a mess, be quick, yet filling.

I brought him some milk and a granola bar. Nothing like eating and drinking in the dark on mom's lap after bedtime! After most of the milk was gone and 3/4 of the granola bar, he is sound asleep!

I came back to the basement and said I think he was hungry this whole time - too bad he can't tell us this stuff! Then Adam said, "come to think of it, I'm hungry too". He came back down with 2 pieces of leftover pizza and a corn muffin!

Oops. We'll chalk this one up as a reminder to never skip a meal with Gerrit!

Muscles

Last night after Gerrit was in bed, there was a knock on the door. Adam answered it and it was our next door neighbor "uncle Nikki" bring Gerrit a gift from Mrs Putney (their dog). It was a huge container of animal crackers (from Sam's club).

We often find random 'gifts' left by our door or even on our kitchen counter if the door was unlocked. Adam asked, "How can we leave even leave Z-town with great people like this?"

Nick also trimmed his walnut tree which hangs on our driveway and will pay for it to be taken down because we are getting our driveway paved in the spring. He knows the walnuts stain and doesn't want that to happen to our driveway. How sweet is that?


This morning Gerrit noticed his gift on the chair in the basement. I forgot it was there but he had this look on his face that screamed 'guilty!'

Here he is attempting to bring the container to me so I would open it and give him some:

I love the look on his face - sheer determination! He was able to pick it up but then dropped it. We have bought one of these before and had to hide it from him because when it does get lighter, he will carry it around wanting to eat some.


Its suppose to be a beautiful day (when the frost melts!) so Gerrit and I are going to Adam's race with Dave the dentist. Its not quite as far today, just northwest of the cities.

Surprise - Happy Anniversary!

When I got home today Gerrit was playing with this:

And this was inside:

And here is mom wearing it!

Adam ordered me an anniversary ring and it finally came in! I think the wait was worth it. Gerrit might have gotten a basketball hoop but I think I got the better deal, although Gerrit likes the little black box the ring came in.

A quick story: just before dinner Gerrit filled his pants. I was on the phone and managing dinner and Adam had returned home from a bike ride. When I asked if Gerrit smelled, Adam responded with "He smells like diamonds!" I think I'm going to be hearing that line for quite a while!

Little Man

Tonight we finally took the plunge - Gerrit got a real haircut! I scheduled a cut here in town (1 block from home) where our friends' boys get their hair cut.

Here is Gerrit beforehand (don't mind the snotty nose, it was wiped before we left home):

Ready to go (he liked to chew the cape!):

He sat still at the beginning:

Getting sprayed didn't bother him; he wanted to eat the spray bottle:

He didn't like having his hair cut around the ears:

Taking a quick break before the bangs:

A quick run around the shop, playing with mom's cell phone, and being given a sucker didn't keep him still enough for the bangs so mom had to step in and hold him (we gave up on the cape for him):

All done!

The finished product: our Little man!

He no longer looks like my little peanut - he now has the look of a big boy. Such a sad day.