Way to go Grandma , Carrots and Teeth

You just never know! Three posts in one day after a long time without any! We just found out that Grandma got a new job! Way to go! You're (really) the boss! We can't wait to see you and celebrate this weekend. We also would like to wish a very happy birthday to Aunt Megan tomorrow as she turns older.

William had an okay day. He was a little testy this morning which turned into crabby this afternoon. When he finally let us peek into his mouth this afternoon, John spotted and then felt tooth #3 and maybe #4. One or more of the top ones will be making its appearance soon! Enjoy the gummy pictures because they won't last a lot longer.

I probably wouldn't have started a new food today if I had realized the tooth was getting that close, but I didn't. So, today we started carrots! William did a really good job with them and gobbled them up. He did make some funny faces, but he kept opening his mouth up again and again.

Carrots

Can you see where I sneezed cereal on my tray?

Mmmmm....I like to try and bite the spoon. Then I can grab it and make it all sticky....

Hey! I'm trying to eat here!

Thank you, thank you very much. The show is now over.

UPdate

Sorry...it was a long week followed by our Harry Potter readathon. All the way back on Thursday, William performed his first flight attempt by launching himself off of our bed and landing on the floor. On his head. The verdict: He is okay, but he cannot fly. Later Thursday, we met up with another teacher from WMS and her son who is a week younger than William. We were joined by another friend and her baby who was born between the two other boys. All the boys were born within a week of each other. I didn't get any pictures of the three of them (Hey Sundi, did you get one?), but I did get this cute one of two of the three.

William sucks (bites) Tate's fingers. Calvin (sp?) is eating behind them on the couch.


Tate still hasn't found those teeth...or he has a high pain tolerance!

Friday was drywall delivery day. As this was not my week (speeding tickets, son cannot fly episode, clogged ductwork, etc), the drywall delivery did not go according to plan either. When purchased, the building materials representivie asked us if we would like the drywall delivered in the morning of afternoon. We selected "afternoon". So, it was a big surprise when the delivery people called at 6:40 AM to tell me they were on their way. After lots of blurry, half asleep phone calls, I was able to argue enough to turn the truck around until 10:30 AM. Still not afternoon, but better.

Our current NO car garage.

Saturday was full of waiting for our last Harry Potter book. We wandered around and John worked on the basement a little bit. It was all a lame attempt to appear busy until the book was delivered. Then we read the book following our old rules: No one gets to read the book unless we are both there reading. We even had the willpower and desire to attend Winefest 2007 at another teacher's house Saturday night and take a hike on Sunday morning with some friends. And we finished reading it late, late last night.

Hiking on Sunday! William and John are on the far left.


Wild animal footprints along the trail...could it be duck?


William helps Daddy break in his new backpack

Snoozing and hiking

William has been making a lot of progress lately. The cereal and vegetable feedings have been going better and better. Even the peas are better. I still don't think he loves them, but he no longer cries through them. We have two vegetables left before we can start the fruits. He also is doing a lot more of pulling up onto his hands and knees. Once he gets there, he doesn't seem to know what to do with himself and usually goes back down to his belly to crawl off somewhere else to make his trouble. Standing is another favorite. Bouncing or not bouncing, it doesn't make any difference - he likes to be upright.

Naptime isn't just for sleeping! William must have been practicing pulling himself to his knees in his crib.


Standing up with the help of the gate. Don't look too closely or you will see the sweet potatoes up his nose!

Standing and "kissing" daddy through the gate

Practicing standing by holding the gate and looking at daddy!

Mommy and William behind the gate...I thought I was making the same kind of face as his. Turns out not.

Done!

Okay, I won't tell you what happened, but I'm done. It was good...better than good. Although the word is escaping me as I'm tired from being up later than usual to finish it. Not bad to finish an 800+ book in less than 2 days! I think I might need to go back and read it again - there was a lot there...first I'll do an update post though.

I won't be back until I'm done...

It arrived yesterday. It was beautiful. Must get back to reading. More later.

I'm so funny

You all out there may not know this about me: I am super funny. Maybe one of the funniest people I know. Every year, I tell my students this on the first day of school. I tell them how lucky they are to have me as a teacher because I am the funniest person ever. Ever. Every year at least one of my students challenges this statement within a week of making it. "You know, you really aren't that funny. At all."

Several others softly chime "Yeah, you aren't really". I don't care because I know they are just jealous. It isn't possible that I'm not funny. It never has mattered what they thought. I think I am funny. Therefore I am. And I do crack myself up with my atmosphere and outer space jokes (have you heard the one about Uranus? No? Well, let me tell you...)
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Earlier this week I was at the Y when I ran into a few students of mine from last year. I was hot and sweaty and holding William. William threw his body at one of the girls. With a squeal that could only be made by a 14 year old girl, she opened her arms and took him. I silently said a prayer and tried to look relaxed while interrogating my other former students about their summer reading lists, high school class registrations (did you get the Advanced courses? Good. What about taking two foreign languages? No? Why not?), and other enrichment activities. I also like to get the dish about the other kids in my classes, although I try to look disinterested in this - like I would rather be at home wearing my lab coat and goggles. During this time, William was occupying himself by trying to pull the hair of my other student and pat her overly made up eyes. There came a lull in the conversation and William looked down at his hand pulling her hair and giggled with glee. One of the students laughed at him and said "He thinks he is pretty funny."

The other student replied "He must take after his mother..."

Everyone laughs, the girls elbow each other at their joke at my expense. I can't help but think William is the luckiest kid ever. Do you want to know why? I'm the funniest person ever - and my students remembered that almost a year later (Please God, let them have remembered something else also...)

I'm going to miss having all my kids next year. I already miss them.
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The big news of the day (excluding the termite inspection finding no termites) is that I think we may have found a peas solution (HAH! Peace solution). Whirled peas (say it out loud people) with sweet potatoes. This kid loves sweet potatoes. He ate ALL of his peas tonight without any crying. I didn't have to sing about Old McDonald planting his corn or soy beans. I am amazed and happy. He might be able to eat vegetables like his daddy after all.

And I let it get to me!

Tonight we watched a movie called Freed0m Writers. I was kind of excited because I am all about movies that show teachers making a difference. I was all ready to sit back on the couch and shout my support for the fellow teacher at the TV. I am shocked by my reaction. Besides the to work/not to work conflict surrounding teaching, I totally disagreed with this teacher. Very little positive shouting was heard. The "bad guy" in the movie was totally right in my opinion. The "hero" had it ALL wrong. Wrong and wronger I tell you. I'm not to liking the bad guy and strongly disliking the hero. But, she was SO wrong! And I'm letting it get to me. I'm hoping I can get it down here and then move on to sleeping tonight. I've already tried spouting off at John (he took it well) and it doesn't seem to have been enough...

Sweet Potato Pie

I think we have established that I hate peas. Although it is on the early side to add another vegetable, I am tired of the swively head and trying to sneak the peas in there one way or another with crying in between. So, today we started a vegetable I KNEW he would probably like (P.S. I was right. Not that you doubted me). Sweet potatoes were a hit. He probably would have ate the entire container if I would have kept feeding him. I am relieved because I was beginning to wonder if we were pushing the solids to early. If he had turned down the sweet potatoes this afternoon or squash tomorrow, we would have had to slow down or stop entirely. I am completely okay with blaming the peas entirely. Have I mentioned I hate peas? I do. No worries though, he gobbled them up with a smile on his face.

Sweet Potatoes

The scooting on William's belly is getting quicker all the time we're noticing. He's also doing this thing when he sits up. He kind of gets going bouncing up and down until it looks like he might launch himself forward onto his face. The face plant has only happened once that I know of...I think this is all going towards that funny little butt scoot thing some kids do. We'll have to wait and see.


The other highlight of the day was our trip to the vet. I know, our first kitties are often neglected in the blog. But, their day is nowhere near as exciting as William's. Napping, eating, napping, napping in different spot, sniffing the carpet, drinking water, staring out the window, visiting the cat box, and napping don't add up to a whole lot of excitement. Even with the occasional hair ball, it doesn't add up to much. Just to reassure you, they are still our first kitties and we still love them lots. Even if they don't get much time up on the blog. The cats both had their physicals and shots - we're good for another year. both cats were very well behaved without any attitude (hissing, growling, scratching, etc.) The fatty spots on Mudd appear to have gone away or shrunk and both cats have lost weight. The vet was very pleased and my only complaint is that she didn't compliment us on how pretty their eyes are. This is the first year in history the vet has not gushed over the beautifulness of our cats' eyes. The only saving fact is she thought William was cute. We probably won't be switching vets after all. Although if another visit goes by without the eyes being noticed, I may reconsider.

Mmmmm...sweet potatoes. I think he may like the sweet potatoes more than the cereal or squash.


Opps! I don't think we quite have the hang of it yet.


The end: Mess

The end Mess Part II

Old McDonald should have had corn

Why all the animals Old McDonald? I just don't get it. Is that something like having a diverse portfolio for your retirement? Because I'm getting tired of singing about your animals...ALL your animals to William while I am trying to feed him stinky peas. May I make a suggestion? Keep the cows OR the sheep. The mooing and baaaaaing here and there and EVERYwhere usually makes him smile. But, get rid of everything else. Plant some corn. Or wheat. Do something different.

Swirled Peas, Again

I hate peas. I hate peas. I was quite ready to move on to other, yummier smelling vegetables when John asked me what I was going to do with the 1/2 full container still left in the fridge. Unable to throw it out, we will soldier on with the darn peas. Although he doesn't appear to actually like them (that's my boy!), he will now tolerate them if they are swirled into his rice cereal and I sing 'Old McDonald' the entire time I am feeding him. The Entire Time I am Feeding Him.

We have had a busy weekend despite the poopy peas problem (not an actual poop problem at this point for those of you who care). In prepareation for the drywall delivery, John cleaned out the garage on Saturday. I confess to coming out for short periods of time and moving things around without actually helping. Then, I would suddenly remember something I needed to do or hear the baby, etc. If you talk to my dad, he will clearly remember such tactics from when I was thirteen and supposed to be helping him with yard work. Anyhow, John worked and worked all day and found all kinds of interesting treasures. Our garage sale/donate pile has grown to be quite monstrous again.

One of the treasures we found were the torches we bought for our deck 100 years ago (or 3 years ago) as the "finishing touch" for the deck. Although we walk by them every day, they seem to just sit there, unfinishing our garage. As a result, Sunday we spent part of the day installing our lovely torches. And the deck is now "finished". We also spent some time in the basement hammering things around and moving ladders while William played in his "office". We are getting closer and closer to being ready to install drywall.

Tired baby boy on Saturday. Yes, we still have the bumpers in...I keep meaning to take them out. But then he does silly things like trying to crawl into the railings of the crib, bonking his precious little head every time.


Our newly cleaned out garage. No, this is not the before shot. This is the after and I think it looks GREAT! Lots of space to hold the drywall...just not cars right now. Just not the car I guess I should say since the most we've ever got in there is my car.


Biter buscuit test drive on Saturday. Verdict:too soon for William/ mom is a paranoid freak. He definitely enjoyed it. I did not enjoy the gagging/coughing noises he made. We'll try again in awhile.


What a good helper! Rule #17: NEVER leave the ladder up where a cat could climb it into your ceiling.


William conducting business in his "office" on Sunday


The finished deck with torches

Making Whirled Peas

After three days of struggling with peas (have I ever mentioned I HATE PEAS?), I am leaning towards William disliking them. The only way I have found to get them in his mouth is to whirl them up into the rice cereal and pretend they aren't there. I am seriously considering making John finish out this last few days of the "peas week". I'm starting to wonder if my gagging while feeding William the peas is having anything to do with him not wanting to open his mouth for them. Hmmm....all I know is we are going to try something easier next time. Sweet potatoes I think. Or carrots.

In other excitement, we have finally ordered a whole flock (pride? herd? gaggle?) of drywall to be delivered next Friday. We decided that although the delivery charge is actually more, it is going to be a huge saving in the end to not have to haul it off of the truck. Now, we'll just have to figure out how to haul it from the garage to the basement. Progress at least.


We're going to be busy the next couple of weeks. We have a 6 month doctor appointment, 6 months pictures to be taken, vet appointments for the cats, a termite inspection, drywall delivery, TA and Gerry going to be in nearby Taylorville, Cousin Chrissie making a stop and possibly and visit from the Grandparents McGarry. And we still have to decide about the reunion thing since they have extended the deadline for ticket purchase. We had decided we just weren't going to go - and then they extended the deadline, opening up the option again. Makes me tired thinking about it.

Peas, Revisited

Turns out when peas are spit up again hours later, they still smell like peas. The first, second and third spit up all carried the essence o' peas. I smell like pea. I hate peas. Who picked peas anyhow?

...and I believed you...

Now that William has been eating solids for about a month, we have noticed the change in the poo. You all told me it was coming and I believed you 100%. You said it was going to change colors and it was going to smell. Smell horribly. Even so, I was not prepared. Changing diapers hasn't ever been my favorite job, but it isn't the worst thing ever. Now, it is a whole new game. The other day, I handed him to John and asked him to change his diaper. John, none the wiser, took William towards the bedroom to change the diaper. As an afterthought, I mentioned "he might be poopy". Now, this was not fair. I knew very well that he was poopy - I just didn't want to change him myself. William has changed over from the yellow milk poo to the full on brown poo (or sometimes yellow due to the squash). The occasional slightly smelly diaper once opened has become a sewer gas emitting stench. All the time. It would be an understatement to say that the cereal has given William gas. The kid is a fart machine. If you were lucky enough to spend any time with us in the last week, William has something he would like to say to you "EXCUSE ME". I think that will cover it. At least we are now creating poo everyday with regularity. When we first started the rice cereal, everything kind of stopped. No poo for 3 days makes one scary diaper.

Moving along to other topics: Peas.

Yesterday the peas weren't exactly a hit. I thought maybe William was not a good mood, too tired, or something. So, this morning, I decided to add a second cereal feed to William's schedule and try out those peas again. The verdict is : I think he doesn't like the peas. He stopped opening his mouth and turned his head away. It was a struggle to feed him the tablespoon I had scooped out for him. Oh well. More later.

Peas Please

Messy baby

It is good to be home. I did some laundry, cleaned a whole bunch and ran some errands. Where did I get my energy? Turns out William remembers his bed and slept in it all night until about 8am. Heaven!

After conquering squash, it is now time to move on to the next new vegetable! John picked peas. Unfortunately, I realized after we started feeding William that he was probably too tired to start eating a new food or any solid foods for that matter. What can you do? He was already messy, so we soldiered onward. The pictures don't really capture the total meltdown that occurred. We'll have to wait and see if it was the peas or if he was just really that tired.

Based on William's behavior the last several days, I would also guess we are going through another round of teething. No sign of which ones are coming in, just a crabby baby so far... The other discovery is the speed William developed in his scooting while we were in Rochester. After pulling him out from under the couch (where I think the cat may have been hiding from him) twice this morning, I decided it was time to try out the superyard Jim and Kendra gave us. Works pretty slick (sorry no pics), although it makes him pretty crabby to not be able to suck on the cat brush or lick the carpet near the fireplace. Oh well. No one ever said life was fair baby.

The first peas! Sorry the picture isn't rotated. So lazy... just turn your head


Smiling for the daddy!


This look is probably more accurate as to his feelings during the feeding.

No more Legs

All legs of our trip are completed as we arrived back home today around 4pm. John had time to mow the lawn, water the grass and then we went together to pick up my car from the repair shop (another story for another day). William was REALLY good until the last 45 minutes of the trip and then required constant attention. All in all not so bad for the amount of time he has spent in the car the last few days. It feels good to be home - even if it is hot. I'm anxious to see how William does sleeping in his own crib tonight. I hope he remembers it and sleeps all night looooong!

More tomorrow!

Not the End of the Story: Rochester Part 2

All Done! And messy!

All in all, we enjoyed our North Dakota adventure. William did better than anyone could have expected given he was not sleeping in his own bed, not taking any naps, not eating at his normal times, passed around groups of strangers, riding in the car for hours at a time and completely off of any kind of familiar schedule.

We got back to Rochester on Sunday the 8th just in time for dinner. We got the car unloaded and William into his seat to feed him his cereal and....his first vegetable! SQUASH! He did a good job and ate all of it without even making a funny face at all. He went down to sleep pretty early Sunday and made it longer into the night than the last few nights. Last night (Mon. eve) he did make it all the way through! Hurray! Now we'll find out what will happen when we get him home tomorrow night... The last leg of our trip will be tomorrow as we drive back home. Can't say I'm looking forward to sitting again.

Today we have the whole day with Grandma and tonight we have dinner planned with Mike and Tien (and Grandpa Heidt). I think we are all caught up now, or so I hope!

First vegetable: SQUASH!


First few bites. I'm not sure if the look is because of the flash on the camera or the taste of the squash.


He is super thrilled...again not sure if it is the camera or the squash


Mmmmmmm....squash?

North Dakota Adventure: Tuttle

We left Grand Forks on Friday the 6th for Tuttle. We had been looking for a reason to go and visit the Tuttle relatives this summer and Jim and Susie Heidt's 40th wedding anniversary was the perfect occasion to see everyone. We had a nice drive to get to Carl and Anita's house where we stayed. They were great hosts!

First we stopped at the Tuttle cemetery to see Grandma Heidt. It was nice to see the stone marker and talk a little bit about Grandma with William. He was a good boy and did not spit up on her, although Grandpa said she would understand if William did. As part of a separate project, we took pictures of about a third of the stones in the cemetery for some genealogy work Grandpa Heidt wants to do later on.

After leaving the cemetery, we drove down the street to Carl and Anita's home. We got to visit for awhile and helped to make a sign for the back of the wedding buggy ("Just Married 40 Years) before we got ready and went to see Jim and Susie renew their wedding vows. Jim and Susie had a very sweet service to renew their vows. Their 12 grandchildren were the attendants! It was perfect and emotional. After the service, we walked down to the "Blue Hall" (it is blue on the outside) for dinner. During dinner was a wonderful time to talk with some relatives we knew and meet some relatives we didn't know. We were sad we had to leave on the early side as William hadn't really had a nap or time to play on the floor during the day. He was getting restless and tired, so we took him back to Carl and Anita's house. When everyone came home later in the evening, we got to enjoy some great music Carl had recorded at a local variety show including himself. We were sure impressed with his harmonica skills!

On Saturday, we drove to Bismarck to see John's Uncle Earl and Aunt Violet. We had a nice visit with them and then had lunch at Perkins. We enjoyed lunch very much as we don't get Perkins in St Louis. After lunch, we drove to the cemetery to see where John's Uncle Wilbert and Aunt Ardella are buried. It nice to see the cemetery after hearing so much about it. It was time to hit the road again and we drove back out to the Tuttle area to have dinner with John's Uncle Charles and Aunt Dorothy. The last time we were at their house was after Mom's funeral, so it was nice to be there with happier circumstances. John's Uncle Harry and Aunt Lorene (hey! dad, I think we spelled her name wrong!) joined us. It was nice to visit and the food was amazing as always. I think John and I gained about twenty pound each in the last week! Back to the Y next week!

We left Tuttle on Sunday the 8th for Rochester. This was our longest day of driving yet. We hit several areas of heavy traffic and then a big rainstorm in the cities. Those two things added at least an hour to our drive time. Yuck. William was very well behaved and discovered that he could see different things out of his window. His favorite thing to look at out his window: Trucks. All in all we had a very nice trip and got to see a lot of family. And we ate way to much. But, we had a great time!

Smiles with Mommy!

William and his Grandma Heidt

William and his Grandma Heidt

Our family with William's Grandma Heidt

John's Uncle Carl and the buggy he built!

John's Aunt Anita had a beautiful flower garden!

Grandpa and John's Uncle Jim with William at the anniversary party

Mommy and William all dressed up


Grandpa Heidt, John, William with Aunt Violet and Uncle Earl

John's Uncle Wilbert and Aunt Ardella

William and 2 Great Aunts: Lorene and Dorothy

John's Uncle Charles and Aunt Dorothy and William

John's Aunt Lorene and Uncle Harry with William

Aunt Anita, William and Uncle Carl

Sleepy Baby boy!

PS If you are reading this and you know John's dad: ask him about the sheep. The story is worth it.