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...
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.
Since this boy of ours has been around, it's been an exciting few months of sports. He was born at the start of playoffs for the SF Giants, who went on to win the World Series. Next, the Wisconsin Badgers made their way to the Rose Bowl, although weren't as fortunate as the Giants. Now, the Packers are going to the Superbowl! We had a fun Sunday watching the NFC Championship game, and can't wait for the big one! A few photos from this past Sunday...
who says we can't all fit in the same chair?!?
adopt-a-family (she's dressed appropriately in a Wisconsin shirt!)
Now he sits a bit straighter and taller! (3 1/2 months)
Remember this little guy?? (3 weeks)
Someday these guys will know that "say cheese" means smile, right? It's not like we were trying to make them wear cheeseheads (not yet at least)!
Frits is catching up! I think Arjen will always weigh more though, even when they're the same height...look at that chunker!
Aside from watching the Packers, we've had some other weekends of fun visits with friends and fam, as well as some good play time in between. Arjen is getting better now at holding/lifting his head up when on his belly, although he still complains about the whole tummy time thing after 5 or so minutes. He hasn't quite figured out how to get his arm out of the way so he can roll over on his own. He definitely likes to stick his butt up in the air, so as soon as he can figure out how to involve the arms, I'm sure this child will be mobile. Already, he scoots himself across the floor if his feet have something to push off of. One of these days I'll catch him on video. Right now though, he seems to be too smart already - as soon as the camera comes out, he stops whatever he's doing, and just stares (see photo above...really, someday he'll learn it's fun to smile for the camera right??)
A few photos from the past month, including a couple rare smiles caught on camera. :)
playtime with GGma Clarice...we were all impressed with her agility less than a year after having a hip replaced! Arjen especially had fun though...he was full of gibber jabber
"look ma! Auntie Ranee has some fun tricks up her sleeves!"
free babysitting. who needs baby monitors when you have a pole-dog??
"he looks like a fun friend to have!"
"sneaky mom! you caught me smiling!"
"okay then, let me ham it up!"
Wasn't intending the Blair-witch effect here. But Arjen has spent the last few weeks working his way from getting a fist of knuckles into his mouth, to now just the thumb. Yay for self-soothing!
Helping with dinner prep. Learning to love his veggies early!
