Travel Bug

Instead of the guys doing their annual quadding trip down in Rexburg, they decided to quad a bunch at Ashley lake. This way the women and young’ns were able to come too. Mommy and me got to drive down with Uncle Derek. I was such a good baby and slept most of the way. I had tons of fun play with Cousins Ashton and Nick at the lake. They loved bringing me toys, singing to me and having dance parties. I was able to see Ashton ride his new quad around a lot. He is a really good driver and I hope he can teach me someday.
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Papa let me play with his chocolate cake, but mommy wouldn’t let me have any… it was torture!


In this video, Ashton and Nick are singing “I Am a Child of God” to me. This little scene brought both grandma and Papa to tears.


When we arrived at the lake, Grandma Schlenker noticed that I had teeth cutting through my gums!! Mommy was in shock because she had no idea (I guess that is a good thing that I wasn’t extra grumpy or anything). Mommy doesn’t make it a habit to stick her fingers in my mouth but will try to check more often. Everyone thinks my new teeth make my smile even cuter.
After the long weekend at the lake, Mommy and me said good bye to daddy who went back to California to work and drove up to Medicine Hat. I had a great time playing with Grandma and Papa Schlenker. They take such good care of me. I also was able to spend a lot of time with Great Grandma and Grandpa Campbell. Grandpa has great music to listen to and grandma can always find a new toy for me to explore. Later in the week I was able to see some of mommy’s friends as well as Auntie Deb. Mommy loves showing me off. One of my favorite parts about the trip was when Papa took mommy and me to the Leisure center to go swimming. I was so chill the whole time floating in the bubbles. Mommy is so happy I like the water.

My other favorite part was my introduction to the jolly jumper. I still have not caught on totally but I am getting there. Mom likes that it keeps me busy and tires me out.
When our vacation was over, mom and I flew to Utah and met daddy who drove from California. Daddy starts working with the football team on June 14 so we needed to come find a place to live. After a couple of days of searching, we found an amazing place in Springville. It is a new condo with 3 bedrooms and we even have access to a pool which I’m sure mom will take me to often. Mom and dad spent a whole day loading all of our stuff from the storage until into a big u-haul and then unloading it into the condo. While they were busy I was able to play at the Smiths. I am just like a new shiny toy to them and they take very good care of me.

We were hoping to head up to Ashley Lake on Friday for one last vacation before dad gets really busy but I got my first fever Thursday night and the brakes on our car were making funny noises so we will postpone it a day or two.

Learning Experiences

Well as you read earlier, Mommy, Daddy and I recently babysat 3 kids in their home while their parents house hunted. It was an interesting and tiring 10 days but overall we agree that it was a good experience. Mom said the worst part was changing the two year old's diapers and the best parts were learning about her and daddy's parenting styles and developing relationships with the kids. Fortunately, mom and dad's parenting and disciplining styles are very similar, at least for those kids. Daddy might be more of a push over for me though. All those kids sure loved me. The 10 year old and 2 year old were great at making me laugh and the 7 year old girl loved to play and sing with me. It was different acting like the baby of the family but I think I will prefer being the big brother.


The other worst part about the babysitting experience was the little fall I had. It was Friday morning and mommy was busy getting breakfast ready for the hungry mouths before they went to school. Mom had sat me in the bumble seat on the counter like she had done every other morning. She was only about 2 feet away from me but her back was turned when she heard the crash. I fell onto the linoleum and burst out into tears (which was a good sign). Mom immediately picked me up and ran me to the bedroom where daddy was just waking up. Mom was so grateful he was home! Mom was crying and shaking so much that daddy had to hold me and try to calm me down. As he did this, he checked my body. The only thing they really noticed was my swollen eye but they decided to take me to the hospital just in case. As soon as the two older kids went to school and grandma cooper came to watch the 2 year old, mom and dad took me to the hospital. After the doctor checked out my body, he decided it was better to get an x-ray and CT scan just to be safe. I was such a good boy for both (I think the ib profen they gave me helped a bit). As we expected, the results were normal and we went home. Mom pretty much held me the rest of the day. The next day, mom noticed I started crying every time she lifted me up by the arm pits and some swelling on my left shoulder. When the swelling went down, mom noticed a bulge on my collar bone and dad thought it would be a good idea to take me to the doctor again who recommended I get another x-ray. This x-ray revealed that I had a fractured collar bone but the bulge meant it was already healing. It never bothers me any more and mommy is amazed with how fast I healed. Even my black eye went away probably twice as fast as an adult's would have.
I wanted this mother's day to be special for mommy because it is our first one together and she had been working so hard with the babysitting. Daddy and I set out her gift so she was able to discover it in the morning. We gave her a nice card, a cute book about a chick and his mother duck, and a beautiful necklace with a setting of my birth stone (opal for October). She loved all of it and I think we made her feel pretty special. After a hellish morning (trying to get everyone ready for church on time) and church, a lady (bless her heart) from the ward took the kids for the rest of the day so that mom could have a break and we could attend the family party that was planned. We had a great visit with the family playing games and eating good food.
So I am pretty sure my parents love me very much. My mom started singing "You Are my Sunshine" during my nap time routine and almost every time she sings it, she gets choked up at the end. At least once or twice a night, daddy comes in and just watches me sleep. Sometimes he even pats my little bum that is sticking up in the air. They are always hugging and kissing me and look like they are going to explode with pride every time I learn something new. I sure love them too!!


We were able to make it to a couple more A’s games before our time in California came to an end.

Adventures

On Monday I had my 6 month doctor check up. Once again everything looks good. Now that I am 6 months old, I can start taking low doses of children’s medication so that means we can get rid of some of my allergy symptoms. I now weigh 18 pounds, 3 ounces and am 28 inches tall and am as healthy as ever. The worst part as usual was the shots. I think I am getting tougher though because I only cried when the nurse game them to me and slept the whole way home.
This Sunday, mom, dad and I are embarking on quite the adventure. We have agreed to watch 3 kids for 10 days while their parents go house hunting in southern California. The ages of the children are 10, 7 and 2. The 2 year old will obviously be quite a handful and mom is a little nervous about watching both of us all day. Luckily their mother has arranged many of her friends to help out as much as possible. The older children seem to be real helpers and well behaved so that should make things easier. I will try my best to sleep as good as possible for mom’s sake because she won’t have much time to take naps during the day. Wish us luck… o the things my parents will do for $500. Sheesh.

This week mom decided to introduce me to some yellow veggies. It didn’t go so well. First she tried squash. As you can see in the video, my whole body shuttered when I took bites and I eventually choked up what I had eaten. I was not a happy camper. Later in the week mom tried to feed me sweet potatoes which had a similar result. Because of the craziness we will be experiencing next week, mom decided to stick with cereal until she can take time to slowly ease me into the new food. Plus I eat cereal super fast so that will be a benefit when she is trying to feed 6 hungry mouths.

The best part about this week was my first time swimming in a real pool. Auntie Anne had Friday off work so she got us into her work out club so we could go swimming. My parents bought me special diapers and a cool frog floaty thing. Like I react to many new things, I had little real emotion or reaction at first; just a mellow fellow. But after I got used to it I started kicking and splashing with my arms. I had to be pretty tough because even though the pool was heated there was a breeze in the air. Mom wasn’t sure how my bathing suite outfit would work because it is for an 18 month old but it seemed to hold up just fine. Daddy was sad he couldn’t be there so I am sure we will go again as soon as we can.



On Saturday daddy drove to a national park to go ride his dirt bike a bit. On Friday he was so giddy and excited. But when he got home he was very tired and very sore. A little more practice and he will be a pro.

my first video

Out for a walk in the rain. Don't I look like Daddy?


A little something we call "Pants on the Head"


Thursday was a very busy day for us. In the morning, mom had an appointment with the Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid/government no-cost medical insurance) worker that is in charge of my health insurance application. Can you believe my mom has been trying to get me health insurance since January 27? She filled out 3 separate applications and spent hours on the phone. If you want to know more, you better ask her. This whole experience has made mom hate private health insurance and appreciate what she grew up with in Canada. She has discovered that she feels like health insurance is a right. When you have money to pay for fancy shmancy health insurance go right ahead, but when you can’t afford it, it needs to be provided. While we waited for me to get health insurance, mom prayed every night something would not happen to me. We have been very blessed that I have been so healthy. When mom went to the appointment with her worker, she said she wasn’t leaving until she had coverage for me. I am glad she left me with grandma and grandpa incase things got ugly. BTW she was successful with out having to beat anyone up!


After my next nap, mom and I went to the dollar store to get some birthday decorations. Thursday was grandma Cari’s birthday. We put up streamers and balloons and wore party hats when she came home from work. She thought I was the cutest birthday surprise ever! Afterward we went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. I was so tired the whole time but refused to have a nap. I didn’t want to miss the party!
On Saturday we drove to Brentwood to celebrate both grandma Cari’s birthday again and Auntie Lora’s birthday which is Sunday. After a delicious meal we watched the Shark’s playoff hockey game and had some ice cream for dessert (well the adults did - I guess Ryan did have a little but mom didn't give me any...rude).
You will be happy to here to that most days last week I slept like an angel. Mommy was thrilled and got so much done! Unfortunately later in the week brought about more allergies so I woke up quite a bit because my nose was really stuffed up. That is no fun for anyone! I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow so mom is going to ask about allergy medication.
One other cute thing I am doing lately is sucking in my bottom lip and using that to make new noises. It seems I talk more and more everyday and daddy thinks I will be talking before I even crawl.

Cousin Marin's Baptism

Well blow me down and call me Aunt Jemimah (as grandma Schlenker would say)! We have discovered that the one thing mommy has been avoiding like the plague because of SIDS actually helps me sleep better; who would have thought that sleeping on my belly would allow me to sleep like twice as long. The only problem is sometimes I don’t fall asleep on my belly and mommy doesn’t want to force anything on me but gets excited and scared when I do.
Mom is thrilled that I have started a new schedule. Instead of having 4 naps, I have two short naps in the morning and a long nap in the after noon. Because of this, mom bumped up my bedtime a half hour. Dad doesn’t like this as much because he doesn’t get to spend as much time with me, but I get so tired otherwise.
Just the other day I discovered rolling from my back to my tummy. Now I do it all the time. Sometimes when mom puts me on my play mat, she looks back and finds I have rolled myself all the way onto the floor roll or under the coffee table. She has to keep more of an eye on me but is still grateful because she knows this is only beginning.
A little while ago daddy helped Auntie Anne fix the stereo in her car. To re-pay him, she babysat me and treated mom and dad to a night out on the town. They went out for dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant in Berkley. They had a nice date and I had lots of fun with Auntie Anne. I am so silly though because when she took me to the park I fell asleep in the swing. My first time in a real swing and I fall asleep! Mom wished she could have seen that. Anne had so much fun with me, she is thinking of other favors we could do for her so she can babysit me again.


Left to right: Troy, his sister Marin holding Houston, Kathryn holding her brother Ryan
Yesterday we drove up to Sacramento so that we could attend Cousin Marin’s Baptism. It was so very special! Grandma Cari talked about the Holy Ghost and mommy played the piano so I got to hang out with daddy the whole time. Cousin Marin looked so beautiful in her white dress and was beaming the whole time. She is very mature for her age so I think she understood better than many children that get baptized at 8. After the baptism, the family gathered at Auntie Andi and Uncle Adam’s for a barbeque. We played a lot outside because the weather was so nice. Marin loved the gift we got her which was awesome because mommy spent over an hour picking it out. It was a colorful butterfly necklace and matching earrings. I was such a good boy the whole day and slept the whole way home. Mom and dad love that I can be pretty flexible during the day as long as I get some naps in (note: the key word is day). Alas, when will I ever sleep through the night?


The last bit of exciting news is that Daddy bought a dirt bike! He has been wanting to by a bike ever since he sold the scooter and finally got his wish. He got a great deal and loves riding it around. It is a 2008 Yamaha WR250R. It is a special bike that is great in the dirt but is also street legal so he will be able to drive it to school everyday and leave mommy and me the car. He picked it up on his way to Sacramento yesterday and was able to show it off to all the family. Mommy got to ride on the back for a little while but is excited to learn how to actually drive it.

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