Dad's Excitement...

Tonight Gerrit rode his bike a long time (well, longer than he normally does) and even COASTED! Yep, no feet and balancing! I think it brought a tear to Adam's eyes! He did it a few times for 3-5 feet in distance. We were pretty impressed. Of course when I went to get the camera, he had had enough of the bike and was on to something else...still, we saw it - it was real. Adam guesses he'll be riding a bike before he's out of diapers...here's hoping that isn't true!

In all the excitement Adam didn't realize that we didn't get new toothpaste for Gerrit -
he put Desitin on his toothbrush tonight!
Time for a new toothbrush.

The Porch

After many hours of sanding the porch is finally ready to be used! (We still need to paint and do a little decorating, but it is usable and we love it!)
The view looking west:

The view looking east:

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a busy weekend! Grandpa Bob and Geri came for a few days. Here are some highlights of the weekend:

We went to a cool toy store where Gerrit rode the carousel and we got him to try on a hotdog hat. He didn't like that much.
They saw the flags in town in honor of the holiday.
Grandpa Bob brought a cool wooden rocking air plain that he painted MSU style.

We went to the big parade today - not really, 2 bands and some service people and that was it! Following the parade we did some yard work and headed next door to a great BBQ with the neighbors. Adam rode to Northfield with a few guys and I followed behind to get him. We hung out at our favorite watering hole for a bit and headed home.

Getting Ready

I have the urge to potty train Gerrit (this summer). So, I felt we should get ready and get him some:

Seeing he likes his Cars movie, we thought we'd go with that theme. I left the package on his changing table knowing I'd need to wash them in the future but was in no hurry. Gerrit noticed the 'cars' and pulled them all out of the packaging. He proceeded to try to put them on himself but became easily frustrated. He needed some assistance especially because he was trying to put them on over his diaper and shorts!

The finished look (don't worry, I did get them off before we left the house that morning!)

Our Little Athlete

Here are a few of the lastest athlete in action:

Top left: Gerrit throwing a football - note the arm and feet (granted the ball went backwards but still, good form!)
Top right: getting ready for a 'run' or at least thinking he can go outside if he has shoes on, no matter whose shoes they might be!
Bottom left: what happens when you wear someone else's shoes and try to go down the stairs
Middle: following one of Adam's rides, Gerrit felt he needed to look like a cyclist (glasses are his)
Right, left: helping Adam get ready for a ride - making sure the water bottle is fitting properly
Right, right: Adam tapes his ipod in his ear (he feels like the pros who tape their radio in the ear during races). Gerrit found a piece of tape and tried to do the same - minus the ipod.

I forgot 2 pictures in the collage - doing a wheely!


A shiner from falling off his bike twice!

And We Havn't Even Left Yet!

My brother's family sent Gerrit a portable DVD player for his birthday. It has come in handy:

I needed to get dinner going and Gerrit was 'in the way' - 'Cars' to the rescue!

I wanted to shower one morning and Gerrit didn't. He wanted to watch his bicycle movie (one of Adam's cyclocross DVDs). So I set him up in the bathroom so I could get my shower in before school! Gerrit didn't want to get dressed and leave the video when I was done either. It came up stairs with us and he was able to continue watching it on my bed.

I never thought how handy the DVD player would be. I can only hope it is as beneficial in the car as it is in the house!

Tubby?

Last night we were out for dinner and they had a TV on in the corner. Gerrit looked up and said "tubby?" (aka bath time).

I looked up and saw Michael Phelps swimming.