Pure Michigan

I was riding in the van one day with Mommy and Daddy and heard a commercial on the radio. It was a guy that was talking about all the wonderful things that a person can do and see in our great state of Michigan. At the end of the commercial, he concluded with the words "Pure Michigan". I was fortunate enough to experience "Pure Michigan" for a whole week recently.

We went camping at Straits State Park in St. Ignace Michigan. All you Michigan folk probably know where St. Ignace is. If you don't, it is located on the north side of the Mackinac or Mackinaw Bridge. The spelling depends on if you are from the Upper Peninsula (ac) or the Lower Peninsula (aw).

This is where I took up residence from Monday July 9 to Sunday July 15. This is our tent. It is quite a large tent. It is big enough for Mommy, Daddy, and me to sleep in and still have enough room for our clothes, food and toys.


Our campsite at the campground was as close the water as you could get. This was the view from outside our tent. Ok, we had to go on the other side of a small line of trees in order to see this majestic view. It was perfect. Uncle Tracey called it "breathtaking" when they arrived. This is the Mackinaw Bridge. It is 5 miles long and will be 50 years old this year.


After we set up our tent and got everything organized. Mommy and Daddy took me swimming. The water was COLD. Uncle Tracey said the average temperature of Lake Huron was in the 60's. Mommy defied the cold water and took me in anyway. I LOVED IT!!! At first I wasn't too sure about it. I hadn't had much experience with water, except for taking baths. I loved splashing around in it. When Mommy and Daddy noticed that my lips and cheeks were a slight shade of blue, they decided that it was time to get warmed up, so they dried me off and wrapped me in a warm towel.

The first full day of our vacation, we went to the beach. There wasn't a very good beach at the campground, so we loaded everyone into the van and took off down the road for about 20 minutes and found a beach that ran for what seemed like miles along Lake Michigan. Here I am in my beach garb. The yellow thing under my jacket is my swimming suit. It was a little chilly for me so Mommy dressed me in my hoody jacket and my capris.

This is my buddy Anthony. He is 4 years old. We had fun playing in the sand and trying to catch bugs with his butterfly net. I think that he actually caught something in it. He was also a master at scaring the seagulls away at the campground. Whenever I was feeling sad, Anthony and Christian would make a funny face at me and make me smile.

Here is Uncle Tracey and Aunt Michelle, well at least the back of them. After we ate lunch and Daddy and Uncle Tracey did a little swimming in the cold waters of Lake Michigan, Uncle Tracey and Aunt Michelle "hunkered down" on their beach chairs and listened to a little music. As you can see in the back ground, it was cloudy, but it was warm. We also took the canopy that Grandma got Mommy and Daddy for Christmas one year. It was a wonderful thing to have. We even put the removable side up and stayed out of the wind and played in the sand for most of the day.

On Wednesday, we headed to Tahquamenon Falls. It was about a 1.5 hour nap for me. We left in the middle of the morning and arrived there just after lunch. We had to stop in Paradise and everyone dipped their toes into Lake Superior, except for me, because I was sleeping.

After we ate lunch, we hiked to the Upper Falls. It was quite a long distance to get back to the falls, so Mommy and Daddy front packed me for a while.

After we saw the Upper Falls and did a little hiking, we went to the Lower Falls. This time, I got to ride in style in the backpack. Do you know how easy it is to hike when you are riding around in a backpack? It was no trouble for me at all. I stayed right behind Mommy the whole time. I thought I did a good job of keeping up with her.

Part of the day on Thursday, we explored St. Ignace. It was sort of a relaxing day for us. Again the weather was sort of gloomy, but it didn't rain until we were on our way back to the campground. We explored some of the shops and then went to the park to eat lunch. Daddy took this picture of me and my Mommy with the light house in the background.

There was a playground at the park that we ate lunch at. Christan and Anthony were playing on slides and crawling up the bars. I spent my time walking around and taking in the sights, although every once in a while I would peek over at them to see how much fun they were having.

Friday was our trip into Mackinac City. We spent most of the day wandering around the shops and eating Ice Cream. I had a raspberry sorbet. It was yummy. We darted in and out of the fudge shops, popcorn shops, and of course the had to hit the kite store. It was Mommy's favorite store. For lunch we went to the park to eat. It was right on the water and we had a wonderful view of the bridge and the water.


This is my other buddy Christian. He spent a lot of time riding his bike around the campground with the friends that he made. They were doing all the things that boys do. Most every morning, Christian would accompany Daddy and Uncle Tracey on a coffee run to the local gas station.

Saturday morning, we woke up and it was quite cold and rainy. We decided to have a hot breakfast, so we went out for breakfast and then headed north to Sault Saint Marie. It didn't make much sense to me to head north when it was so cold, but nobody asked my opinion so we went anyway. When we arrived at "The Soo", it felt warm. There was hardly a breeze and the rain had stopped to just a small drizzle, one of those drizzles where you really don't get wet. We arrived about 20 minutes before two boats were scheduled to go thru the locks. One boat was going upbound to Lake Superior, while the second boat was going down bound to the St. Mary's River. It was really fun to see the boats get raised and lowered. They are really really big when you are that close to them. But why to they have to blow their horns where they exit the lock? Do they think that we can't see them? It was really loud and it scared me.

Sunday morning came and the sun was shining and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was definitely one of the better days that we had there. So instead of wasting the sunshine driving the 5 hours back to Southeast Michigan, we decided to pack up our camping stuff and head to the beach for a final swim. The Lake Michigan water was still cold, but that didn't stop me from wanting to play in it. I loved splashing around in the waves.

So to recap our busy week of vacation, I got to see three of the 5 Great Lakes and dip my toes in 2 of them, the Mackinac/Mackinaw Bridge, the Soo Locks, and I got to play in the sand on the beach for the first time, all in 7 days. I also got to experience the camping lifestyle--drinking cool bottles in the morning, sleeping in a tent and enjoying a nice warm campfire at night.

One Year Old

Today, I turned 1 year old. My birthday was officially at 10:09 pm. Wow, what a year it has been. I have taken tremendous steps in my development. When I was first born, I slept, I ate, and I, you know, all the time. I really couldn't move much. I would just lay in my Mommy and Daddy's arms just waiting for the day that I could smile at them. Then that day came a few weeks later and I had to set another goal, and then another goal, and then another goal.

Right around six months old, I was able to sit up on my own. It wasn't hard at all when I finally figured out how to do it. Next came crawling. Now this one took a little bit of work. I would get my self up on my hands and knees and sort of rock back and forth for a while. It was hard to get all my muscles working in the proper order to actually crawl. Then one day, I took off across the living room floor. Finally some independence. I was able to crawl to where I wanted to go and the toys that I wanted to play with.

My next big challenge was walking, but first I had to be able to stand up on my own. I sort of surprised Mommy and Daddy with this one. They weren't paying attention one day and I was standing in the middle of the living room. It was soon after that, that I took my first step. It was in the bedroom as you recall. I took about three steps and landed in Mommy's arm. What a safe place to be. Since then, I haven't stopped. I have logged many miles walking thru the house.

All this has taken me to today. July 17, 2007, and my first birthday. The day started out like all the other days. First it was getting up and eating some breakfast. Then Mommy took me shopping. We had to buy me a new pair of shoes, because we can't find my other shoes since the camping trip, which I will post about later this week. So we called Daddy to have lunch with him. Luckily he wasn't busy. After lunch. I entertained Daddy's co-workers for a while, and then it was off to another store. Once we got home I took a nap. Before long Daddy was home from work and it was off to Mr. Steve and Mrs. Cindy's house for Gideon's eighth grade graduation party. Mrs. Cindy babysits me while Mommy is working two days a week. It is my home away from home. Once we got back to the house, it was time to open presents. I got lots of toys. Mommy, Daddy, and I played with the toys the rest of the night, until I had to go to bed. But stay tuned because Saturday is the big party. My first birthday party. I will have lots of pictures. Mommy even said that I get my own cake to tear into at the party.

Happy Father's Day!

Hey Daddy! Happy Father's Day! Boy, I thought Mommy and I were never going to be able to do this without you knowing! We've got to hurry, though, 'cuz I want you to see this when we get home from church tonight!

Mommy isn't quite as good at this blogging this as you are, Dad, so bear with me. I just thought you might like it if I put a few new pics up for you to enjoy. When we told another daddy about our blog surprise for you, he said that I should let mommy be in some pictures with me. I guess I'll share my space, 'cuz I know that mommy loves you very much too.

Me and My Daddy

Well, like I said, Dad--Mom isn't the greatest blogger. But, we did manage to get a few of our special moments on here. Remember that day that we were by the sliding glass window and the sun was so bright? You saved the day with those new sunglasses!

Boy, those glasses sure helped. And I think I look kind of like that funny movie guy you like to watch...

Here we are, enjoying our carrots together. Now that I've got 6--count 'em, 6!!!! teeth, I can actually eat these things instead of just gumming on them! No wonder you like them so much! I like the fat carrots, just like you Daddy.

I sure do like it when you give me a bath, Dad! Mom does it the same way all the time, and she doesn't let me stand up in the tub like you do! I have such a fun daddy.

Easter pics (a little late)

Hey, Daddy! Here I am again! Mommy thought you might like to see some pictures of me in my cute Easter dress. I picked this one because I LOVE smiling at you because you are the best!!!




For all of you who don't know, my dad is the most awesome daddy in the whole entire world!!! He does all kinds of cool stuff with me. Remember this phone, Dad? He used to let me play with it all the time. I loved those lights and beeping sounds!! One day he let me play with it for a really long time (of course, it was in my mouth the whole time) and when Mommy tried to call him, she couldn't hear him. I heard them talking later about microphone not working.

Hmm, that's funny. Our mouths are really wet all the time, but we can still talk okay. Why doesn't the phone work when IT'S wet?


Here's me and my Dad. Sometimes Mom gets a little camera-crazy with me, so it's nice when Daddy comes along and takes some of the heat with me. It can be a regular paparazzi-alley when Mom puts her mind to it! I don't envy all those famous people.

Here I am Walking.

Here is a short video of me walking around. For the last couple of days(since Friday June 1), this is all that I have been doing. I walk from the kitchen, around the island to the dining room, over to the piano and then back down the hallway to the bedroom and then to the living room. I can make the transition from carpet to hardwood like it wasn't there. It has become my favorite mode of transportation. Although, if I need to make a quick getaway, I still get on all fours and crawl.

A Night on the Town

One Friday evening, Mommy and Daddy decided to go for ice cream. There is a Stroh's Ice Cream Shop in a town nearby that Daddy likes to go to. It was about 7:30pm when we finally left for the ice cream shop. It isn't to far away, so I thought that I would get a little shut eye before we got there. The truth is, I was really tired and fell asleep on the ride over. I slept while Mommy and Daddy ate ice cream and I didn't wake up until they were walking along the river. Then Mommy took quite a few pictures of me in my stroller. I will post them further down so everyone can see me.

When we were on our way back to the van, Mr. Bob and Mrs. Judy drove by. So Mommy and Daddy had coffee with them and we walked down to river again. This time, I stayed awake. This is a picture of me and Mr. Bob. They go to the same church that we go to. We sat on a bench and talked for a while and then strolled along the river and finally back the where we parked.


A few days later, it was back to Wayndotte to guess where......The Stroh's Ice Cream Shop. This time it was with Uncle Tracey and Aunt Michelle. Mommy and Daddy had ice cream again and Daddy even gave me a little. It was really cold. He had Mackinac Island Fudge in a waffle cone. I didn't get any of the waffle cone, but the ice cream sure was good. I think that we will be making many trips to the ice cream shop in the future.

In the park next to the river where we walked a couple of nights before. There is a little playground. While Christian and Anthony (Uncle Tracey and Aunt Michelle's boys) were playing, Mommy took me down the slide. It was really fun. It made my little tummy feel all funny. Like there were little butterfly's inside me.

By the way, Rooffuss came thru his surgery with flying colors. His seam is fixed, now I can't put his stuffing in my mouth.

Pictures of Me

These are just some recent pictures that Mommy took while in my stoller.

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.