This weekend, Grandma Cari came to visit me and my parents. On Saturday we played, shopped, ate lunch at Zuppa’s, swam and played some more. Grandma is pretty impressed with all my new tricks and abilities. She even bought me a house warming gift for my new room. I think they are trying to get me to like baseball. What do you think? True Fans
Tomorrow (Wednesday) Mom, Dad and I are driving up to Ashley Lake again. Dad is staying until the weekend but mom and me will be staying until the end of July. I am so excited to see some of my cousins, aunties, uncles and grandparents. The weather is supposed to be pretty nice so hopefully we can play outside, in the water and in the boat. Mom and Dad really hope I travel better this time but are prepared to stop for the night in a hotel if I can’t sleep in the car. Yesterday I had my 9 month doctor’s check up. I am still average for weight (21 pounds) and still knocked height (31 inches) and head circumference out of the park. So far I either have Schlenker or Cooper height which is awesome! The doctor said I was healthy as could be! I enjoyed this doctor’s appointment extra because I didn’t have to get any shots.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Ready for church.
Ready to ride.
Snuggles with Daddy.
On Thursday daddy had work off but instead of going motor biking or shooting (what he usually likes to do in his free time), he babysat me while mommy went to a movie that she has been waiting to go to. She thought Eclipse was SO GOOD but as much as she loves to go to movies, she loves coming home to see me even more. Daddy was able to get his biking fix on Saturday morning when he went riding with his old boss. They woke up super early to avoid the heat and had quite an adventure. They even made it to the top of the mountain on the west side of Utah Lake!!
Also, mom got a calling today. Word spread pretty fast in the ward about her piano abilities partly because she is looking for piano students. So she was not surprised when she was called as the Relief Society pianist. Mommy isn’t thrilled about this for a couple of reasons: 1. she will be nervous every Sunday which makes it hard to enjoy church and 2. She wanted a calling that would help her interact with people on a regular basis. She is happy to hopefully improve her sight reading skills and simply be forced to practice on a regular basis. I love to make noise! The more noise a toy makes the better and the more I play with it. I am also learning to imitate people. For a couple of days now, every time daddy says “dada” I copy him. Also when mommy whispers to me, I whisper back. Mom and dad find this very entertaining and can’t wait for me to really start talking.
Sometimes it takes me a very long time to eat because I love to peek at daddy on the couch.
The count down is on! Grandma Cari is coming to visit me on Friday and I am so excited!!
I think my daddy’s first father’s day went pretty great. You’ll have to ask him to know for sure but I think he will agree. He woke up to mommy and me bringing him the Sunday paper and his gift. For his gift, mommy had two matching silver plated coins engraved with some scriptures on one side and a family coat of arms on the other. Since one is for me and one is for dad, these coins will always be a symbol of our special bond. A little while later, mommy made dad’s favorite breakfast, biscuits and gravy. I didn’t get any but it looked super good. Then we went to church and mommy made dad steaks (well he is better on the grill so he actually made them himself). Later in the week, dad found out that he got almost a week off of work so we decided to head up to Ashley Lake and spend some time with Grandma and Papa Schlenker. The drive up was pretty rocky. We left late after dad’s work and it is at least a 10 hour drive (more with me) so much of the drive was during the night. Since I am almost too big for my car seat, I was not able to get comfy enough to sleep for long periods so that was a little stressful. Once we got there however, it was amazing. Mom took me on walks and down to the dock. This is the first time I have seen this place in the summer and it is pretty nice. I can tell why mommy and daddy love it so much. On Friday, Grandma Schlenker drove down from girl’s camp but our reunion was less than ideal. Since mommy had just chopped off the tip of her thumb chopping lettuce, she was ignoring me and I was crying. Luckily Grandma was there to save me from my neglect and daddy came to assist mommy’s impairment. My favorite part about being at the lake was the mornings. After I woke up and was fed, mommy took me up to wake Papa and Grandma. They think I am the best thing to wake up to. Then she would leave me with them to snuggle and play in the bed covers while she went back to bed. I think this was everyone’s favorite part. I was really excited to go for a boat ride and see mommy ski but the boat wouldn’t start so I’ll have to wait until the end of July when Mommy and me are going back.
Also while we were at the lake, we celebrated mommy and daddy’s 4 year wedding anniversary (July 5). In the morning they exchanged gifts and then cleaned and worked on the boat (how romantic). They stick to traditional gifts and this was year fruit and flowers (easy for daddy for not so much for mom). Dad got mom some beautiful pink Cyclamen flowers and some candy peaches. Mom got dad some fruit flavored starburst and mike ‘n ikes, and made him a key lime pie from scratch. They both LOVED their gifts. Later that day they went for a romantic quad ride up fish creek road while grandma babysat me. I am so happy that my parents are so happily married. I can tell that they love each other very much. We all have so much fun and can’t wait until our family grows even bigger (well maybe mommy can wait). On the 9th, I become yet another month older. My parents cannot believe that I am 9 months old and will be celebrating a birthday for me soon. I am definitely moving around more but still not crawling. Papa Schlenker tried to help me learn but I am still not ready. Instead of crawling, I sort of dig my toes into he ground and then use my head to maneuver my way to my destination. It is quite a sight. I haven’t quite figured out that my ARMS are the key to moving more. I still only have two cute little teeth but my hair is growing thicker although it is much lighter than mommy was anticipating. I will go to a new doctor soon to see how much I have grown. I forgot to mention that mommy finished my room. It isn’t much, but I love it. The bed, dresser and quilt were gifts from Grandma and Papa Schlenker, and the rocking chair was a gift from Grandma Cari and Granddad. Mommy worked very hard to put the furniture together, sew the curtains, stain the shelves, paint my name, and find cute wall decorations. When mom sees me smile at the decorations it makes her very happy. She was finally able to fulfill her nesting needs! Check out the slideshow below.
The only real big thing that has happened this week is that I got cuter and more fun. Just when mom and dad thought it wasn’t possible, I prove them wrong again. You’ll see in the 3 videos what I am talking about. Mom usually puts me in the jolly jumper while she is making dinner. She hooks it up to the panty door frame and I usually end up jumping on stuff in the pantry (broom, plastic bags, pop boxes, etc). Check out my innocent smile.
While mommy was ironing, I was playing on the floor and discovered how much fun tissue can be. There is that innocent smile again.
Daddy and I love to read the news paper together on Sunday mornings. Apparently we were reading about some pretty funny stuff.
One of my favorite times of the day is bath time! I get so cuddly afterwards when mommy wraps my up in my hooded towel. Another miracle that happened this week was me sleeping through the night with out eating. I cannot begin to tell you how happy mommy was. However she had a feeling it was a fluke week and since the past two nights I woke up hungry around 4am again, she might be right.
Look how I have grown!! Click on it to see the whole picture. Left: 2 months, bottom right: 4 months, top right: 8 months.
Well sadly this awesome week has come to an end and Daddy starts work tomorrow (Monday). Luckily he won’t be really busy until August. He starts most days at 6:30am which is great because then he comes home early to play with me. Mommy and I hope to go visit him sometime this week so we can see him work. He is a little nervous because he has not taped any body parts for a long time but I think he will catch on again pretty quick. I offered to let him practice on me but he said I was too small. I am like the size of some of those football player’s thighs. As you may remember, last weekend I got a little flu bug. It lasted a couple of days so mom and dad decided that driving up to Montana probably wasn’t the best idea. We were all sad that we couldn’t really vacation but we were able to get a lot done here at home. We unpacked and found a lot of furniture. It is starting to look pretty good around here. All we need now is a desk, an end table for the living room and a dresser for all of mommy and daddy’s close that are on the floor of their room. Mommy ordered me a new crib and dresser and it should be arriving in about a week. I am so excited to sleep in a real crib and not a pack ‘n play. Mom is excited for it to arrive so she can organize and decorate my room. Mommy is thrilled because I have been sleeping so well. I have graduated to only two longer naps a day which means I am awake and happy for longer periods of time. This allows mommy to have sort of a life and get some stuff done. We have been swimming almost every warm day which really poops me out so I think that helps. I am also getting better at the Jolly Jumper which is also tiring. I am still not very close to crawling. The closest I get is when I am sleeping or falling asleep and my knees tuck under my body making my butt stick up in the air. One thing mommy has noticed lately is how I smile and laugh at things other than people. A funny noise or song, a new texture, the sunshine; I find lots of things quite funny. Daddy is still the funniest of all of course as you can see in the video.
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. > 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.
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.
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