We got to celebrate Halloween a few days early this year, since Elkhart Lake plans their community trick-or-treating on the weekend. It was kind of nice to be out on Sunday afternoon, see all the kids, and being here in WI, it also helped keep the temps above freezing!!
Caja Fuerte and the mini racer
Gus the Goat staying cozy in the stroller
Gus the Goat even warmer inside
A repeat of Arjen the Goat, cause a) he was cute too!, b) he was 1 and Gus is only 8 months and they're wearing the same outfit!, and c) I still don't believe how different my babies look from each other!
And apparently wearing the same shirt as your last month bday, but I'm
pretty sure you'll be busting out of it before nine months.
You started crawling a couple weeks ago, and pretty much never looked
back. That big bro just has too much for you to try and keep up with,
or get away from, for you to slow down.
Which brings me to this picture! I guess crawling wasn't exciting
enough for you, you had to also start pulling to stand, then cruising.
You are an awesome eater. You are taking three meals a day now, and
stay relatively clean! You pretty much eat whatever I give you, which
is awesome. You've even figured out using a straw, and you're sort of
getting the hang of a sippy cup. Still no teeth though.
You learned fast that a quick cry gets your brother in trouble for
jumping on or tackling you.
You have truly discovered your voice, and the set of lungs that is behind it.
You're still keeping mom up at night, but we'll have that squared away
by the next month, right??
And you've got mom convinced that you're picking up baby signs
already. I think you like eating so much, that you've interpreted the
sign for "more" as the sign for "food", since that's pretty much the
only time you've seen it used. But I know I've seen you use it when
you want to eat!
It's been an awesome eight months with you so far kiddo! You're a
delightful little man!
Well, we had our "final hurrah" for our stint in Wisconsin this summer-now-fall. Andrew's cousin Courtney got married this past weekend at the beautiful Waubee Lake Lodge in Lakewood, Wisconsin; up in da North Woods. It was great to be able to join in the festivities and to hang with the Treptow clan one more time before we return 'out West'.
GGma Darlene with her 6 GGkids, soon to be 8! We look forward to meeting the next two in April. And no, they wont be ours!
Gus enjoyed a dance with Gma Cherie and Gpa Wayne. They were the last couple dancing during the longest married dance!
Gus got lots o' love from his 2nd cousin Emma
And he got love from 1st cousin Adalin
Arjen danced the night away with Aden - I just was too slow to get a good action shot. Not exactly sure what he's up to here...
I'm learning to love shopping malls with the kids. It seems that these indoor playgrounds are all the rage these days, and it sure makes running some errands easy when I can let the boys out of the stroller to stretch their limbs for a bit. While Arjen was off making friends with the other toddlers on this particular rainy day, Gus decided he wanted to step up his game, no pun intended.
Well, I was disappointed with the last round of professional photos I had done for the boys, so I decided I'd test my own skill as family photographer. Good thing for fancy cameras and seasonally appropriate backdrops. These pics of the boys were taken at Little Farmer in Fond du Lac, WI, where we went with Tracy, Aden and Adalin to pick out our pumpkins, or "punk punk" as Arjen is calling them.
Gus, 7 months
Arjen, 2 years
And then of course there's this years family photo, well, the one I'm not saving for the Christmas card. :)
I knew this moment was coming. Gus has been getting himself up on all fours for a few weeks now, and just last week figured out how to get himself into a sitting position. He's been scooting himself backwards and rolling all over the place, and yesterday, I saw the first consecutive crawling "steps", one, two, before he collapsed onto his belly. But today, it's official! Gus can crawl. Just a few days shy of 7 1/2 months old. The kid is on a mission to catch up with that big brother I think. It'll probably take another day or two, or maybe a week or two, before he realizes that crawling is in fact more efficient and faster than roll-sit-roll-sit-scoot-roll, etc, etc. But watch for yourself, Gus can crawl!
Two years ago today, I woke up, got ready to go to work, but rather than go to work, I found myself checking into the maternity ER, on my way to my first birth day.
Arjen, 1 day old
One year ago today, I was five months pregnant, Arjen was on the verge of walking independently, and we were fairly good at using baby signs for communication.
Today, I woke up to "Hi Mommy! Hi Mommy!" over the monitor, along with the peanut gallery in the pack n play in the corner of our room. Somewhere over the past 2 years, my little premie, who scared the tears out of me that day, has turned into this incredible little toddler; one who dotes on, then pounces on, his little brother; one who can make me laugh and also make me want to scream at the top of my lungs; one who makes me forget he's only just 2, then reminds me he's only just 2.
A rare moment these days, when I am actually able to get a true "cheese!"
The Birthday Boy, crusing around in his new ride
So Arjen is now two years old. Can someone please explain to me how TWO WHOLE YEARS just passed me by??? He walks. He runs. He jumps! He glides around on his little strider bike like it's nobody's business. He draws. He eats his food with a spoon/fork (and still his hands and whole body at times). He can be bossy and demanding. He loooves his "ding-dings" (and yes, I am realizing we need to rename motorcycles so that any sentence involving "your ding ding" is not met with questioning looks from passersby). He knows that he needs to put his bag thru the xray at the airport. He knows how to navigate his way thru an iPod/iPad/iPhone (yes, all three, and he knows which is which). He loves planes, trains, and automobiles. He loves his brother. He loves his Dada. He loves his Mommy (yup, somewhere in the past few weeks I became "Mommy"). He sings! He loves the water. He speaks...in three to four word sentences.
Basically, he still amazes us. But what kind of parents would we be if we didn't think our kid was the best there is??
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