Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We haven't quite mastered the pucker-up, but wo wouldn't want to kiss this kid?

Sitting long enough for a photo... 

Tiii-mmm-bbb-eerrr...

a happy landing...

Go get 'em tonight Badgers! Woo-hoo for March Madness!

Sweet Holy Moly!

It delights me to have the ability to share these little blips of my days spent with Arjen.  Every day now it seems like he is suprising me with new skills or insights into his personality.  Among some favorites...

"Arjen the monster munch" (One of his many nicknames has been "munch" which started as an abbreviation of munchkin, but has coincidentally been very appropriate as he now attempts to put any and everything in his mouth):

"Arjen the dog lover" (He just recently started really noticing the dogs and laughing or smiling at them.  In this video, it's the first time I've seen him actually reach for one!):

"As yet, untitled" And finally...drumroll puh-leez.....

YES!  HE IS STARTING TO SIT!  That was a solid 3 second long video people.  Sweet Holy Moly!

5 months!

Hard to believe that 5 months have passed us by!  It just amazes me that kids don't learn to speak until they've already been around for a couple of years.  I feel like he communicates so well already!  He has definitely found his voice, sometimes gibbering about whatever it is that excites him for minutes at a time.  Arjen is starting to sit unsupported for a few seconds at a time, although gravity still wins that one hands down (well, no hands down really - that's how gravity wins!).  Today however, marked a new milestone!!!  I can officially say that Arjen has learned to roll over.  He repeated it enough times, that I was actually able to catch it on camera - on the first take even!  For your viewing pleasure (oh, you may want to make sure the volume is down...he was slightly less than thrilled with this one):

Earlier today, our friends Nandita and Frits came over to play.  The 2 month age difference between these two is definitely becoming less obvious already! 

simon says "lift your legs!"

 

simon says "wave your left arm!"

"dude, so like, uh, your sister is really hot"

When we were in Wisconsin, I used my camera phone to take pictures of a bunch of Andrew's baby photos.  This probably won't show up too well, but worth a shot (but how impressive is it, that a picture of a circa 1975 photo, taken with a camera phone can be posted online??)...anyhow...I wanted to show the history of the winter suit...

Andrew as a baby

Arjen wearing Dad's baby bunting

 ...and you can kinda see the resemblance.  :)

Good times with the Wisconsin crew

I must admit, I experienced a whole new, overwhelming sense of motherly pride this past week.  Arjen and I took our first plane ride together, and we survived!  Not only did we survive it, we received a great compliment on the plane from another passenger: "Sorry, but I think you're cursed with the cute baby syndrome...I don't think you saw it, but every time he made a face or looked around, there were tons of smiling faces looking right back at him!"  Arjen did about as well as I could have hoped for; he laughed, smiled, cooed, slept, and he at least waited until we were off the plane to explode out of his diapers! 

Proof of my happy, sleeping child on the plane:

And a little bit of fun while packing:

"Mom! When you said you were carrying me on, I didn't think you meant in the suitcase!"

Before we left for Wisconsin however, Wisconsin (well, Minnesota) came to us! Adam and Shannon made a stop in Oakland en route to Cabo and we're so glad they did!

playing with Uncle Adam

que paso mi amigo?!

relaxing with Aunt Shannon

Once in Wisconsin, we had a great time.  We got to visit with Grandma Cherie and Grandpa Wayne, Uncle Arden and Aunt Tracy, and COUSINS!!!  Arjen got to finally meet his first cousins Aden (almost 6) and Adalin (almost 4).  We all tagged along to Aden's school's Barn Dance Friday night, then spent some quality play time at Grandma and Grandpa's house the rest of the weekend.  On Saturday, he got to meet Great Aunt Diane and Great Uncle Leonard, and Dad's cousin Jason, his wife Tami, and their daughter (2nd cousin?) Mazie (18 mos). They all came over to visit, and to help celebrate Arden's birthday.  Unfortunately, a small blizzard kept us from getting to visit with the Treptow clan on Sunday, but we did get to spend some extra time with Arden and crew on his actual birthday, and Arjen got to play in the snow for his first time.  :)

"Am I ready to go outside yet?"

"Okay, I have my hat on.  Now can I go outside?"

Aden gets his groove on

time to refuel

Arjen has the amazing capacity to sleep thru really loud music...just like his mama

Arjen showing off his head control (while totally being sucked into the TV I hate to admit), with cousin Jason

Three generations of Anderson men (and yes, the two belonging to me are matching)

Add a great-grandma and you get four generations!

My brawny men in their square shirts

Hold on tight Arjen!

Meta playing dominos with her kids

From that angle, you can really see the resemblance between Addy and Arjen

Getting his first tick mark on the wall at Gma Cherie's!

You get weighed too

Adalin "holding" Arjen. She was very excited for this, until he wiggled, then her arms retracted fast! Glad Aunt Tracy was smart and stayed close by!

Mazie gives the bouncy chair a whirl

Happy birthday Arden!

Great Uncle Len, Jason, and Tami.  They swear the mess isn't theirs.  "The kids did it!"

Playing memory with Grandma and Adalin

Getting a bath old school style and loving it!

Too cool for the crib...gotta take the bed!

just a little snow

peeking out the window at downtown Elkhart

brothers and cousins

please note the retro snowsuit Arjen inherited from dad!

singing with Gma

Grandma, Arjen, and Frosty

"I think I could eat your nose!"

If you've stuck around long enough to get through all of these photos, here's a little dessert for ya...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just a quick Happy Valentine's wish from Arjen to all of his family and friends! Hope you all feel the love.  :)

4 months and a Superbowl Win!!

There was a lot of excitement around here this past weekend.  The Packers finished off their season with an honest-to-goodness Superbowl win!  We had a lot of fun here watching the game with friends, although Arjen was a little busy entertaining the ladies (see below). 

Yesterday, Feb 7, he celebrated turning 4 months old.  Time really does fly!  His 4 mo check up isn't until next week, so right now, my best guess is he's somewhere around 15 lbs.  We've almost totally said goodbye to the 0-3 month size clothes, although I still manage to squeeze him into a couple of my favorites.  :)  With the new size up however, he does get to finally wear some new cute outfits, such as the oshkosh b'gosh overalls and square shirt from Grandma Cherie (again, see below).  Along with growing out of clothes, he's grown out of the infant sling that we were using in his bath, and now he gets to sit directly in the water.  He gets a kick (pun intended) out of it, as Mommy and the floor usually end up with more water on us than is left in the bath!  As soon as he's a little more stable sitting upright, I think we'll have to move off the kitchen counter and into the actual tub for bathtime. 

While I have yet to capture any blog-worthy video, Arjen is tolerating Tummy time better these days, and showing interest in rolling over from tummy to back.  He hasn't quite mastered this skill, but clearly wants to.  He has also mastered thumb-sucking, which has evolved from the whole fist/knuckle-sucking trick he was working on last month.  Right now, it's pretty cute and keeps him entertained, so we're rolling with it. 

Just a few fave photos since the last post.  Enjoy!

Go Pack! 

The Ladies' Man

Having a laugh with Dad

Big boy bath comes with toys! Oh Wow!

Aunty Shanny gets the sleepy snuggles when she stops by after work.

"Oh boy...which one do I go for first?"

"What are they doing to me?"

"Ma-om!  What is going on here?!?"

He really loves bath time!