The End of Summer

We have been enjoying the long weekend here in Wisconsin. The weather has been perfect and we have had lots of activities. Friday night Dan, Peggy, and Non came over for dinner. Yesterday Matt and I went to the UW football game, and today we are going to spend the day at the lake after we go to church. We don't have any plans for tomorrow yet. I'm just trying to save up my energy for the next month. We have lots on the calendar already.

Daniel is changing by the minute. He has started to figure out some cause and effect relationships. The most comical one is that he head buts the little musical device on the exersaucer. I keep thinking that it must hurt him, but he keeps doing it and doesn't cry.


Last night he stayed sitting for a few moments. This is just the start of sitting, but we took a picture anyway. He is quite the little squirmer these days, so we are continually trying out new poses.

Here he is getting ready for college football season. He has a strong interest in the TV, so we have cut back quite a bit. I will actually spend an entire day at home and not turn the TV on until he goes to bed. May not be an accomplishment for some of you, but for me it is a big change. I'm thinking that he will get to see quite a bit of football. We're just not ready to give that up. Maybe we will mute it.

Squirming in Non's arms.

New Pictures

Matt and Daniel enjoying the nice weather.

Yum! Sweet potatoes.

Look at my two teeth!

Back to Work

This week was my first week back at work. Everything went quite well. My mornings are a bit more hectic and I don't really see myself doing many after work activities, but in general, things are great. Daniel did great with Peggy on Monday and the nanny on Wednesday and Thursday. So I guess I'll work again next week :)

He is still teething. The second tooth is almost through. Hopefully he will be done with this bunch soon. It has been tough for him, and he's had a slight fever most days in the past week.

He must be in a stage of rapid development. There are so many new things that I can't even get them all down. He has started rolling onto his belly every chance he gets, but then he gets mad about being on his belly and cries. I'm hoping he figures out belly to back soon. He is doing the inchworm when he is on his belly to move to toys and to look a different direction. It is pretty funny to watch.

Well, I better get dinner started. Kelly and Mom are here tonight. They are on their way to St. Louis to drop Kelly off for the semester.

Big Things Coming Our Way

Yesterday was Daniel's 4-month doctor's appointment. Everything is looking good. He is 16 pounds, 8 ounces and 26.25 inches long. That's the 75th percenile for weight and the 86th percentile for length. I'm hoping that he won't outgrow me too early on :) We also got the go ahead on solid foods. Yesterday Daniel had his first rice cereal. I'm not sure how much made it to his belly, but he did pretty well considering he had shots before trying any. Also, I forgot to mention that Daniel has found his feet in my last post.

He has not done so well with the transition back to the house. I'm not sure if it is the travel, or the teeth, or the doctor, but he has not been so pleasant and has not been sleeping great. Maybe this is just his way of preparing me to go back to work. I'm hoping this is just a short spell, and he will return to his joyful self sooner rather than later.

Watching the Olympics with Papa.

Hey there foot!

I'm not so sure about this.

Yum!

Mommy, it hurts.

We Are Home!

Sorry for the long hiatus. I disappeared into the rural cottage life and decided to leave life and technology behind. The trip was wonderful. Daniel got to spend tons of time with his aunts, uncle, great aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents and great grandparents. Daniel took to cottage life quite well. He really enjoyed the fresh air and went swimming at least five times. After the first attempt in the swimsuit, we quickly discovered that naked swimming was best. On his last swim, he started kicking and really enjoying the water. As Daniel is a bit 'slow to warm up,' I was thrilled to see him enjoying the water so much. After he came out, all the grandparents who were on the beach decided that if he could do it, they could too.

In the past three weeks Daniel has changed so much. He is much bigger and stronger. He grabs at toys and puts everything in his mouth. He has been drooling a ton. Grammy likes to call him Juicy. Just today, we spotted a tooth coming in. Nothing above the surface yet, but I can see it just below the surface.

On three out of the four plane flights, we had the same flight attendant. He was very kind to Daniel and would always bring him a cup to play with. Well on the flight out there, Daniel had very little interest in the cup. Today, he grabbed the cup and put it right in his mouth. If I handed it to him the right way, he would grab it with both hands and put it in his mouth. Maybe we will skip all the bottle feeding and go straight to the cup :)

Alright, enough for tonight. Tomorrow, I get to unpack and go through the mail and get back to real life. Well this real life, next week I go back to work. I think that is probably real life.