Happy Birthday Aunt Wellie!!!!!!!!

Today is my Aunt Wellie's birthday. She is.........Um........Um......Well, I am not sure how old she is. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count that high. She lives all the way on the other side of the state. It is a 2 1/2 hour nap for me to travel over there. Unfortunately I don't get to see her very often. But, when we do get together, we have a lot of fun. The first time that I met her, she came to my house to see me. I was only weeks old. Then, Mommy and Daddy drove to Lake City for a "Weekend at the Cottage" with all my cousins and her. I was only 6 weeks old at that point so I don't remember very much. I have visited her in Grand Rapids and she gave me a tour of her house, and the building where she works.

Aunt Wellie works for Urban Family Ministries http://www.urbanfamilyministries.com/. She helps inner city kids realize that their future is shaped by the decisions that they make at this point in their lives. She is a mentor to many kids. She is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. About the only time that she has to herself is when she comes to Detroit to see me (because she turns off her cell phone), or goes to the beach (which sometimes takes kids with her). She lives by a creed, which I am sure that many have heard:

"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child."

This is proven out by what she does with the kids. It is not uncommon for her to bring many of the kids to Grandpa and Gramdma's (Steve's Dad and Mom's) for certain holidays or just for a visit. The picture above is from Easter (which actually took place the week after).

On Sundays she has lots of them over for Breakfast, as you can see from the photo above. Some of them have to walk a long way to get there, but they still come because they like hanging out at her place. Then it is off to church with all of them.

Aunt Wellie also mantains her own blog, ( http://www.hoodmama.blogspot.com/), which she posts many pictures of what she does with the kids. She has everything on it from trips to the farm, to master gardening classes, to just having fun with a garden hose on a hot spring day.

I find it hard to write down the difference that she is making in these kids lives. I am sure that they don't realize what is happening. But someday down the road they will see how important you where/are to them and they will thank-you for it. They many never tell you directly and the thank-you may come in a different form, but the thank-you will definately be there.

So, I wish you a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" and I look forward to the times that we can spend together over the coming years.

A Major Step Forward

Last night I took a major step forward in my development as a little girl. NO, literally I took 3 steps forward. It was the coolest thing that I have done. Here is how it happened. Dad had just gotten home from work and was sitting on his bed. Mom was sitting on the floor next to the bed about 2 1/2 feet away. Out of arms reach for me. I crawled into the bedroom and pulled myself up on next to the bed where I was holding on. I looked at Dad, I looked at Mom, and then I let go of the bed. There I was standing all by myself (which is also another thing that I have been doing for about a week) in the open air. Then, I did it. I took my right foot and moved it forward. Next, I took my left foot and moved it forward. Finally, I took my right foot and moved it forward again and finally fell into Mommy's arms (Thursday May 10, 2007). What a great place to be. Mommy and Daddy went nuts. They were so surprised. I new I could do it, I have been practicing when they weren't looking.

Now, I have to be honest with everyone. Technically this was not my first steps, but it was my first steps without being coaxed. Uncle Jerry and Aunt Sheri were over for supper one night (Tuesday May 1 2007), and Uncle Jerry was dangling his bracelet in front of me. And everyone knows that you can't dangle anything shiny in front of a little kid without them going for it. So I went for it. I took one step, but that was all that I could do.

But last night was the first time that I did it on my own. I had in my mind a place to go and I went for it. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of it. I caught Mommy and Daddy by surprise.

Lets see, what else has been going on. It has been warm enough lately that I have only been sleeping in my diaper. Mommy and Daddy got new windows in the house, these even have screens, so they can open the windows without having bugs come in. Daddy says that I am eating like a horse. Rooffuss (see post below) is doing very well, although he has to go in for surgery. His seam is coming apart. I think that is about it. I will try to get some pictures of me standing up all by myself to post next time.

My buddy Olivia turned 1 year old recently so I would like to wish her a happy birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVIA!!!!!!!

9 Months Old

On April 17th, I became 9 months old. To this point in time, I can safely say that I have mastered crawling on my hands and knees. I can stand up by myself, if I have something to hold onto. I can also walk if I am holding onto a solid object that doesn't move. I am also starting to test my balance. I will hold on to an object, stand up, and then take my hands off the object for only a few seconds. Then I get scared and grab on again. I am not sure if you can count it as my first words, but I say Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma and Da-Da-Da-Da-Da all the time, maybe this last one is more of my first syllables.

This past Wednesday, I had another doctors appointment. This time I only had to get one shot. I weight 20 lbs and 6 oz and I am 29 1/2 inches tall. The doctor said that I am very healthy.

The food at this stage of life is definitely changing. Not only am I drinking formula and eating the normal baby fruits and vegetables, but Mommy and Daddy also lets me try some of thier food. I have been known to eat a dinner roll at one sitting. I am also eating Cheerios, applesauce, some sort of meat and vegetables that come in a baby jar, real bananas, mandarin oranges and once in a while Mommy will grind up whatever they had for supper and feed me it the next day.

This is my stuffed dog Rooffuss. I like to play with him. He is so soft. Grandma (Gena's Mom) got if for me when I was first born. At first, I didn't like him very much, but as I got older I have started to really enjoy him. As you can see I like to jump on him and bury my face into his soft fur.

I also like to wrestle with him. He is becoming less and less competition all the time. I guess that I am just getting stronger. TAKE THAT!!!!!!!! In the end, he sees things my way and I win.

My Special Visitors

Last week we had a special visitor stay at our house. It was Aunt Monika and Olivia. This was the first time that I met either one of them, but I hear Mommy and Daddy talk about them all the time. Uncle Dave and Aunt Monika (Mommy and Daddy's friends) are missionaries to Costa Rica. As luck would have it, they left the same day that I was born. This was Aunt Monika's first trip back. Uncle Dave, Aidan and Abby, their two other children, stayed behind. Hopefully they will be able to visit soon. I am very excited to meet them. I log onto their family blog to see everything that is happening down there.


This is Olivia, she is my Costa Rican buddy. She will be 1 year old this month. We had a lot of fun together while they were here. We played with my toys and crawled around on the floor. My favorite thing was when Mommy got done feeding me and Olivia pushed me around the kitchen in my high chair. It was good team work.

Even though I am younger, I was still able to show Olivia how I play at our front window. It is a really big window and it is close to the floor, so I can look out it. I like to pull myself up on it and bang on it. It is especially fun when walkers go by on the sidewalk.

Crawling

Here is another short video. Hopefully everyone can see this one also.
This video is of me crawling across my living room carpet. Sorry for
the audio in the background, Momma was making supper.

Mommy and Daddy also discovered another tooth. It is right next the one that
is already in. That makes 2 teeth. Daddy tried to get a picture of it,
but I wouldn't hold my head still long enough. We will wait until the
teeth come in better and then I will post another picture of them.

My First Tooth

This is the major break thru from my last post. I have my first tooth. You can see it just to the left of center on the bottom. It popped through the last week of February. Mommy and Daddy took a picture of it March 1st, but you couldn't see it very well. So I had to wait until I could get a good picture of it before I posted more. Getting my first tooth was quite easy. I wasn't fussy at all. I do drool more but so far it doesn't bother me.

Another great thing happened just today. I officially crawled for the first time. In the last couple of weeks, I have only taken a few strides and then laid on my belly until someone picked me up. Today I crawled from the center of the living room to the swing and then over to the window and then to the dining room. WOW it was a long way. When Mommy got home, I had to show off my new found mobility for her. She was very surprised. It won't be long and I will be following her all over the house.

I Am Getting Stronger

As you can see, I am finally getting strong enough to lift my whole body in the air. I have figured out that I can dig my little toes into the carpet and get my hands under me and lift my butt way up in the air.
Since I am getting stronger, I also have been able to get up on my hands and knees. I haven't quite got the hang of moving my arms and legs in the same direction in order to crawl. I sort of go from this position to my belly and then back to this position again. It takes a while to get to where I am going. But I have found that I can move better in reverse than I can in forward.

Check back soon for another major break thru.

Six Month Pictures

Here is my Mommy, me, and my Daddy. This is one of our six month family pictures that Aunt Sheri (Mommy and Daddy's friend) took. We had a lot of fun taking the pictures. I was a little tired, because as you know you never can tell when a baby is going to take a nap. Unfortunately it was about the time the pictures were supposed to start. But Aunt Sheri was so much fun that she kept me awake. We did take a little break for a while, which gave me some time to rest. Taking pictures is a lot of work, especially when you are so little.

In this picture, I was in the dress that my Great Aunt Esther got me. Don't worry Aunt Esther, Mommy and Daddy are planning on getting one of the pictures made for you and Uncle Pat. That way I might be able to nudge my way onto your kitchen window sill.

I know that in most of the pictures that I have blogged, I am smiling. I thought that I would add this picture to show my more serious side. I am not always fun and games. I do get serious around nap times, feeding times, and wet diaper times.

But who can be serious when you are having so much fun. The white cloud looking thing on my
feet is actually a feather boa. This was the same one that I used in some pictures when I was 2 weeks old.

Hey Aunt Mindy, this is a good shot of my Popeye arms.

Every little girl needs to have a picture taken in a white wicker chair. Although my feet barely
reach over the edge of the seat, I wasn't going to fall off. I had a hold of the arm.

Below are some more of my pictures. In these pictures, I was just chill'n in the pot. These pictures are Mommy's favorite.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Mommy took this picture of me the other day. I was dressed up in an outfit that Mommy's friend Bree got me. It was my first Valentine's day outfit.

Sorry it has been a while since I have updated my blog. Not much has really happened. I had a visit from my Aunt Mindy and Grandma Lisa over the weekend. This was the first time that Grandma Lisa has been to our house. They came early in the morning and stayed until late at night on Saturday. It was very nice to have visitors. Grandma Lisa fed me and played with me while I was awake.

Lets see what has happened in the last month. Well, first of all Mommy had a conference to go to in Grand Rapids. We all went over the night before and stayed with Uncle Will and Aunt Heather. Then the next morning after Mommy was dropped off at her conference, Daddy and I went to see Aunt Wellie. We met her at her work. She works with inner city kids in Grand Rapids. She helps them realize that there is more to life then what they normally see. I got to meet some of her co-workers. Then we got a tour of their new office building. It was really nice. I also got to see Miss Kali while I was there. She knows my Mommy and Daddy from when they lived by my Grandpa and Grandma in Middleton.

After the tour we went out to eat lunch and then back to Aunt Wellie's house to see her animals. She has a rabbit, hermit crabs, a bird, and she just got two turtles the night before I was there.

We then traveled to Great Grandpa and Great Grandma's house in the afternoon. We couldn't go there in the morning because Great Grandma was at her Jolly Sixty's Group although she is in her Eighties. I am just too young to figure that one out. We stayed there until after Mommy was done with her conference and had supper with them, then on our way home, we stopped in Lansing to Aunt Mindy's soccer game and Grandma (Gena's mom) was there. So I got to see 80% of my family in one day.



I am almost at the point of crawling. This is about as far as I can get. I just can't seem to get that darn leg under my butt. It always seems to stay under my tummy. Once I leaned a little too far forward and landed on my nose. That wasn't fun. I don't know how all you big people walk on those things. I prefer to stay like this, that way Mommy and Daddy have to carry me everyplace that I go.

I have been able to perfect the backwards push and multiple rollover to get to where I want to go.

Other than that everything else have been about the same. I still don't like Peas. Green beans has become a staple in my diet along with rice and oatmeal cereal. I did get to try some squash last night. That was good. Bananas and carrots have also been added along with this thing called dessert. Wow is that good, although it comes at the end of the meal when I am almost full. Mommy and Daddy have been feeding me a banana apple desert.

Aunt Sheri (family friend) did take my six month pictures. Mommy and Daddy are picking some out to send to family and friends. I will post of few on my blog just like I did the pictures after I was born that she took. You may have noticed that my profile picture had changed. This was one of the pictures from Aunt Sheri. I figured that since I am almost seven months old that I should change my picture. I am a BIG girl now!

Six Months

Yesterday was my six month birthday. And yes, I had to go to the doctor, and yes, I had to get 4 shots, and yes Mom almost cried again. My weight is 17 lbs and I am 26 in long. I have dropped from the 90th percentile to the 70th percentile in both weight and length. The doctor was not concerned even though they would like to see me stay at the 90th percentile range since that is where I started. I have another appointment in 4 weeks to get weighed again. Can't be to careful, the doctor just wants to make sure that my weight is not dropping more.

Why are all the grown ups trying to loose weight, but when I do it, it is this major thing and I have to go back to the doctor just to make sure.

Here is what has been happening since Christmas. I can sit on the floor all by myself. I still can not go from a laying down position to a sitting position, but if Mommy or Daddy sit me on my butt, I can sit there without falling over. Although in the last couple of weeks I have been getting a little braver and reaching for toys out past my feet, then I get a little out of balance and fall over, I guess I am still a little top heavy. One good thing from falling over, is that I have found some new ways to move around. If I am on my stomach, I can push backwards with my arms and move backwards. Although this usaually takes me away from the toy sthat I am trying to get. I haven't been able to master the ability to crawl yet. I can get my upper body in the air by pushing with my arms and hands, and I can also get my butt up in the air with my legs and knees, but I haven't been able to get both halfs of my body in the air together.

I have also learned how to spin around on my belly button. One day Mommy with talking with Aunt Mindy on the phone I spun around 2 & 1/2 times all by my self. This doesn't get me very far. Seems like I just go around in circles, but it is alot better than laying on my back staring at the ceiling.

I am just starting to learn that if I roll over more than once, then I can move a long distance really fast. Well, really fast compared to my standards.

By the way, Rice Cereal, Oat meal Cereal, and carrots are good. Peas and Peaches, YUK!!!!

Starting off the New Year

For New Years, Mommy and Daddy invited some of our extended family over to help celebrate, along with my Grandma (Gena's Mom) and Great Grandma (Gena's Grandma). We had lots of fun. We ate and talked and even sang Karaoke. Yes, my Dad sang also, although it was not taped and he probably would never admit it. It took a little bit to get him to do it, but he wasn't going to get off that easy since Uncle Jerry and Aunt Sheri sang a song by themselves. In the picture above is Jordan. He is the eldest son of Uncle Jerry and Aunt Sheri.

This is Josh, Jordan's brother and Uncle Jerry and Aunt Sheri's youngest. Jordan and Josh were the ones who got the Karaoke machine and thought it would be fun to bring it to the New Years party.

Here is Aunt Sheri. She is a photographer and took the family pictures in the post from the beginning of the blog. She also came to the hospital when I was born. Aunt Sheri even sang Karaoke. The song was something about "Blue Suede Shoes". She said that she likes the oldies.

Unfortunately Uncle Jerry and I just couldn't make it to midnight. After a long evening of playing cards, talking, singing and eating, we were both just to tired to stay awake....... Just kidding, Uncle Jerry woke back up. I didn't make it, I stayed sleeping.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning started out at our house before we headed to Middleton. Don't pay any attention to the day stamp on the picture, Daddy didn't have it set right. Boy parents and technology just don't mix. I guess I will have to show him how to work the camera.

This came in my stocking. I had to try it to see if it was eatable. This one was a little dry, not much flavor, tasted a little like cardboard.

Hey Great Grandpa! Look what I got! It is a toy in the shape of a light house. The top spins around and each different colored section comes off.

Christmas with Grandpa

A few days after Christmas, my Grandpa (Gena's dad) and Linda came down to my house for supper, and guess what, they got me loungy cloths. Mom and Dad spend most of their weekend in what they call loungy cloths. They are just really comfortable cloths that you don't mind wearing all day long. Now I have some.

Sorry, Grandpa. When the pictures were downloaded to the computer, I noticed that I didn't have a good shot of Linda, you, and me. So I thought that I would throw this picture of us up. It is from when I was only a month old.

Here I was sitting on Linda's lap, I was vibrating my lips making this cool sound. Although I do get a little spit all over the place to.

Christmas at Uncle Chris and Aunt Sarah's

For Daddy's side of the family, we went to my Uncle Chris and Aunt Sarah's house. They just moved the week after I was born. It is a really big house, out in the country. This time all my cousins were there. Taylor, who is in the silly hat, is holding me. Makenna is next to me in the red shirt. Elizabeth is in front of her in the pink sweater. And the goof ball dressed up like the reindeer is Jessica. They are always doing something silly. I can't wait until I get older so I can join them in the fun.

I got to see my Great Grandpa and Great Grandma there. My Aunt Wellie brings them to Middleton for family Holidays, which is nice because we can't always get to Grand Rapids to see them. But whenever I am over in that direction, we make it a point to stop by.

OK, Christmas is very exhausting when you are only 5 months old. And when my Uncle Chris got a hold of me, I just fell asleep in his arms. There were so many presents to open and playing with my cousins makes me tired. They just keep going and going and going. For some reason, they never seem to get tired.

Christmas at Grandma's

Christmas at my Grandma's (Gena's Mom) was lots of fun. Our hole family was there inlcuding my Grandma Lisa. She grew up next to my Grandma in Middleton and often comes to the family holidays because she is what you would call extended family. I finally got to where my Christmas Dress that my Grandma (Gena's Mom) made for me. I would overhear my Mommy and Grandma talk about it on the phone, and could only imagine what it looked like. Boy was I surprised when I seen it. The dress came with a shawl, which also had a hat. She must have worked really hard on it. I lOVE IT. I only wish that I would not grow so fast so I could where it again next year.




This is my Grandma Lisa. I don't get to see her very often because she lives so far away. She was like a second Mom to my Mommy, so that makes her a second Grandma to me.


Hey, stop tickling me




Wow, I got lots of presents. I am so excited. I got teething rings, cloths, and lots of toys. I wish it could be Christmas all the time. Although I don't think that my bedroom would be big enough for everything. Mommy and Daddy would just have to build on.

My First Christmas Tree

Sorry, this is just a random picture. I was looking thru my blog and realized that I don't have many pictures of my Mommy and me. So I thought that I would throw this one up for everyone to see.


A couple of weeks ago, I went with Mommy and Daddy and picked out my first Christmas Tree. Boy are there a lot to chose from. There are tall ones, short ones, prickly ones. Ones that are green, ones that are some shade of blue and ones that have long soft needles. Here are the three of us trying to figure out which one to get. One of the workers was kind enough to take a picture of this momentus occasion. Because as you all know, I am only 5 months old and still experiencing a lot of firsts. Boy was it cold. This winter was not like last winter. I was nice and toasty warm then. This winter I had to bundle up in my snow suit, but my little cheeks and nose still got cold.


We finally picked the tree that would be perfect in front of our big window.
Here I am helping Mommy and Daddy put up the Christmas Tree. Of course, they couldn't do it without me. They got a White Pine tree so the needles are really soft. They new that I would want to help, and they didn't want me to get poked by the needles.


But at last the tree was up and it was time to eat. As you can see, I didn't make it thru my supper. I was so tired after putting up the tree, that I thought I would just take a little nap. That is a lot of work for someone my age. I don't know how you grown up's do it. I have to take a couple of naps thru the day, just to make it.

Today is Mommy's last day of work for this year. Daddy takes his last final of the semester tonight and he his done with work on Friday until after the New Year, so this will be my last post of the year. I get to spend lots of time with my Mommy and Daddy of the next couple of weeks so I won't have time post anymore unil next year.

Everyone have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I will be back next year with more pictures and many other firsts.

One of My First Rollover's

Finally the file of me rolling over is able to be put on the blog. Hopefully everyone will be able to see the video clip. I will wait for a couple of days and then check with some of the known people who still are using a dial up connection to see how long it takes to load. I may not be able to leave the clip up for very long, but you are one able to view it, please enjoy.

Watchout World, Here I Come!!!

Yesterday was my 4 month checkup at the doctor. Wow! I have been here for 4 months already.

Everyone will be happy to know that I am 15lbs 4 oz, and I am 25 inches from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. This is a big change from when I was born. I have grown 4 inches, and almost doubled my weight. The doctor said that I was healthy on right on target. I am still hovering around the 90th percentile as far as body weight and height. What ever that means. I just know that mom has a plastic bin that she is putting all the cloths in that I outgrow.



Here I am in my high chair. Dad put it together the other night. I know, I look really small in this big chair, but believe me. I am getting big. I can almost sit up all by myself. My parents will sit my on my bottom on the floor. I will sit there for a second, but then slowly start leaning to one side. I would try to lean the other way, but my little body hasn't figured out how to do that yet.


Since my high chair was together, Mom thought it would be a good idea to see if I liked "real food". I have been imitating my parents eating a little so they thought they would give it a try. Mom bought something called rice cereal. I don't know why thy call it rice cereal, because it wasn't rice and it definitely wasn't cereal. I was thinking that it was "Frosted Flakes" or "Lucky Charms", but no, it was this stuff that looked like soupy mashed potatoes.

It took me a little while to get the hang of eating off of a spoon. The cereal would go in my mouth, but then it would come right back out again. I finally got the hang of it. You are suppose to keep your mouth closed while you eat. That is why big people say to eat with your mouth closed


I finally figured out how to roll over. My first roll over was a few weeks ago. I was laying on my stomach and rolled over to my back. Then a few days later, mom seen me roll over from my back to my stomach, but I couldn't get my little arm out from under me. Now I am a pro at it. All I have to do is swing myleg over to the side and get my momentum started and just at the right moment, lift my head up over my shoulder and I will roll right onto my stomach and my little are will pop out from under me. I have a video of it, but I am not sure how to post it on the blog. My Aunt Wellie is looking into for me, so check by in a couple of weeks and you my just get to see it. For now, the picture above is the start of it. Just image that within a couple of seconds I am on my stomach and smiling like the picture below in the post "How I Spend My Time".