My Wonderful Hands

In the last few weeks, Ledger has developed an obsession with his hands. He loves to chew on them every chance he gets. Much to my chagrin, he has even learned to suck his thumb! And he LOVES his thumb -- it must taste much better than his silly old pacifier! So Mommy and Daddy have taken up "thumb patrol"; replacing his thumb with his paci every time we see him try to sneak it into his little mouth!

He has also started chewing on his pacifier and bottle nipples (... and occasionally MY nipples while he's nursing!) and drooling all over the place. His Grammie says that it is pretty normal for babies in their family to have teeth around 3-4 months old! So there is a possibility that he is starting to teethe already! For my own breast feeding comfort, I was really hoping he would wait until 6 or 7 months to start sprouting teeth... but it doesn't look like he's going to hold off that long!!

Poker Run

This weekend was the annual Lake Kanopolis Poker Run. Since Chris and I are yacht club members, this year we had to work the event instead of just enjoying it. :) Our main job was to cook 250 hot dogs. It took us almost 2 hours to cook them all!
Our next job was to dress up and serve the hot dogs to hundreds of hot, sweaty, drunk people. The Poker Run theme this year was PIRATES -- which was convenient since Chris is currently working on a very detailed Captain Jack Sparrow costume for Halloween. I've been given permission to post a picture from this weekend... but understand that this costume is still under construction. We also didn't have time to do any makeup work -- which is probably best since it was so hot it would have all melted off anyways.The Poker Run was a complete success -- better than last year. We had a good time, but are looking forward to at least getting back out on the water to participate next year! :)

Look at him grow!

Although sometimes it is hard for us to see Ledger growing and changing, here are pictures of Ledger in his Bumbo seat from June and July. Side-by-side you can really see the changes in his face -- he's filled out his little chubby cheeks and since he can hold his head up much better now, you can actually see his neck! :) I think it's interesting to see how much he's changed in the last month. :)

I Hate Tummy Time

We have been working hard on forcing Ledger to meet his "tummy time" criteria. Unfortunately, he HATES tummy time. After a few minutes of grunting and burying his face in the ground he usually erupts in crying. We offer him toys and mirrors and lots of encouragement to raise his head up... but he's just not interested.

We received this tummy playtime mat as a baby gift and he's finally big enough to prop himself up on the pillow of it. He likes being propped up and I'm hoping it helps strengthen his neck so that he will be able to lift himself up when he's laying flat. :) But at least it makes tummy time a little bit easier.

Bedtime Routine

This week we have started a bedtime routine for Ledger. He gets a bath, dressed in his jammies, fed his night time meal, and a bed time story. I love this picture of Daddy reading a bed time story to Ledger. Yes, he's too little to read... but you can tell from the picture that he is interested in the pictures and he loves to listen to his Dad's voice.

We are trying for a 8:30 p.m. bed time alone in his crib. So far it's going OK. He wakes up when he loses his pacifier and then goes right back to sleep. So far he's doing great. It's hard for Mommy to go to sleep with his empty bassinet next to the bed, though. :)

In other news, I think we've finally got our child care situation sorted out! Grammie Pam's friend Darlene will be taking care of Ledger in our home from August 3rd to November 9th. Starting on November 9th, he'll go to group child care with Connie until the end of the school year. There are a few gaps in care during the early part of the transitional period, but we are going to make it work! We are so THANKFUL to have this weight listed off of our shoulders and we are thrilled that we'll be able to keep our son in the hands of some wonderful, loving people!

Grandpa and Ledger

Happy 60th Birthday Grandpa Steve!

Today is Grandpa Steve's 60th birthday!! To celebrate we went out to lunch at Hong Kong buffet -- one of his favorite places. We dressed Ledger up in a red plaid shirt and jeans to match his grandpa. You can tell from this picture how much he loves his grandpa -- he loves to watch his face and listen to his soothing voice. So happy 60th birthday grandpa! We all love you very much!

Starting a Schedule

This week we are going to try to start getting Ledger on more of a schedule. We are taking first steps by establishing a bedtime routine. Bath time, jammies, meal, and story time just before bed. Yes, it's going to be a challenge... but we know it's for the best.

As I mentioned in a previous post... Ledger has found his voice this week. He especially loves the "echo" game where Mommy and Daddy mimic the noises he is making. This is a brief video of him having a very involved conversation with Daddy!

More Lake Fun

Today we went out with the Heusner 4th grade teachers to Lake Milford. Heather & Travis Sharpe have a great wakeboard boat out there and we all got to enjoy it! :) The weather was PERFECT this weekend... 80 degrees and no wind! We decided to get out there relatively early to try to take advantage of the weather to score some smooth water... and boy did we score! The water was like glass, even at 10 a.m.! Heather and Travis are both great jumpers and showed us how to catch some serious air. Chris got up like a seasoned pro and got a few pointers from Travis on how to jump. He really attacked the wakes!

Brian and Beth Kinon came out to the lake as well. Their daugthers, Kristen (12 months) and Dara (4 yrs), really enjoyed being out on the boat too. Dara even went out for a big ride on the Sharpe's awesome tube. I even got out on the tube for a ride too! :) After Dara was finished riding, Chris, Travis, and Brian got out on the crazy tube and Heather took them for a crazy wild ride. There is a video of it posted here. You can see the guys bouncing around on the tube. Here are pictures of the boys on the raft.

And of course, Ledger did great on the boat. He's such a champ. He puts up with the life jacket (which we borrowed from cousin Ronan) better than we could have hoped. Here are some obligatory photos of Ledger in his lake gear.


For more pictures, you can visit our picasa web site here.

Ledger's Log

Our little boy sure has gotten big. He is 2 1/2 months old now and he has changed a lot over the past few weeks. It is easy for us to forget to mention all of his little milestones, so here is a brief recap of what Ledger has been up to:

• He is smiling all the time now and has laughed a few times in his sleep. We are still anxiously anticipating the first true giggle. I am sure it will come when Daddy is making faces or funny noises at him. :)
• Since his 2-month birthday, we have noticed that Ledger is spending a lot more time awake during the day. He takes short little naps here and there, but with his "on demand" feeding, it has been hard to start a schedule. Next week we are going to try a nap-time and bed-time routine with him and see how it goes.
• Ledger has recently discovered his hands and loves to put them in his mouth. Mommy is trying hard to keep him away from thumb-sucking... but Ledger sure loves to find his thumb! It is funny to watch him try to fit his whole fist in his mouth. It's even funnier when his fist is covered by blanket, so he just sucks on the blanket instead!
• This week, Ledger has officially discovered his voice and really loves to use it for his own entertainment. He makes very loud cooing and chirping noises. Our neighbors probably think we've bought a parrot! :) We love his little noises and add to the cacophony by echoing him every time he makes a funny sound.
• Ledger has officially gotten his nickname: PEANUT! We call him this for 2 reasons. 1) He somewhat resembles Jeff Dunham's purple ventriloquist puppet (pictured at the right) with a little tuft of hair on top and a very round belly. 2) When he's just waking up from sleeping, he curls up his legs really tight and looks like a little peanut. It's adorable. :)
• Our very helpful family consultant came by this week and encouraged us to work with Ledger to develop purposeful movement. Meaning, he needs to learn how to reach out for something with the intention of grabbing it. We put Ledger in his bouncy chair today and he loved learning to touch the animals to get it to light up. We've loaded a video of it online because it's so freakin' cute! You can see in the video how hard he is concentrating and how fascinated he is with the lights and sounds.

We are really looking forward to watching him continue to develop. He changes and grows so fast. He is our constant source of laughter and entertainment! :) We will be sure to keep this blog updated too! :)

Harry Potter

Last night, Chris and I went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the midnight showing. I had been looking forward to it for months... and wasn't disappointed. The movie was excellent and I think the writers did a fantastic job of interpreting the book into a movie without missing any major plot points. (Yes, I am a Harry Potter nerd... but I'm proud of it!)

Mom agreed to spend the night at our house and take care of Ledger so that we could go to the big debut. This was the first time I hadn't gone to bed with Ledger and it was so strange. Something about Oma must really help Ledger sleep though, because he slept from the time we left the house at 10pm until we got home after the movie at 3am -- that's a long time for him!

Child Care Headache

This week has been pretty stressful so far. We are busy still trying to figure out what to do for child care starting next month when Chris goes back to work. Doing a last-minute scramble has forced me to ask favors of friends and family and make some awkward telephone calls... but I know it is for the best. We found a great provider that takes babies only, but she does not have an opening until November! It's put us in a tough position!! We will keep you updated on what is going on.

EDIT: I originally posted this under the title "Child Care Nightmare"... but then I realized that things could be much, much worse. It's more of a pain-in-my-a** than an actual nightmare. So I've changed the title.

My Cousins!!!

This week, the Guy family was visiting from Seattle. Ledger finally got to meet his aunt Brandy, uncle Jeremy, and his cousins Jonas and Ronan. Jonas is 2 years and 5 months old and has developed into a little lover boy. Ronan is 10 months old and happy but ornery. Although our time together was limited this week, we really enjoyed the time we got! Who knows when we'll see them again... it will definitely be longer than I would like. I've included some of my favorite pictures below, but you can see all of our pictures here.

Jonas loving on Ledger.

Ronan and Ledger -- note the difference in size!

Papa with Ronan.

2 Month Doctor's Appointment

Today Ledger had his 2-month check up with Dr. Rosales. He weighed 11 pounds, 13 ounces and measured 23 and 3/4 inches long! He is growing like a weed! He got a clean bill of health from the doctor and had to have his first 4 vaccinations. He handled everything very well. Of course he cried when he got his shots and was a little fussy for a few hours following the appointment... but by the evening he was doing great. :) In the picture above, you can see the blue camouflage band-aids on his thighs where his injections were given.

In other news, we have just found out that the woman we had planned on for child care is going to be unable to take care of Ledger after-all. This is a pretty big problem because school starts next month, so we are scrambling to find someone that we trust to take care of our baby boy. It has been great having Chris home to take care of Ledger this summer... but it is finally time for Daddy to go back to work. We will keep you posted about this dilemma... hopefully it will be resolved quickly!

2 Months Old

Today is Ledger's 2 month birthday. I honestly can't believe how big he has grown. His un-official weight is about 12 pounds! He is smiling and verbalizing all the time and he is constantly moving when he's awake. Aside from the occasional upset tummy fussiness, he is a very mellow, happy baby. We have been truly blessed with a wonderful baby boy. :)

4th of July

This weekend we celebrated the 4th of July at Lake Kanopolis with my family. The weather was less than ideal for having fun on the boat -- windy with scattered thunderstorms -- but we managed to have a great time anyway! Most of the weekend was spent on the deck of the lake house playing "Pegs and Jokers" or "Poop on your Neighbor". On Saturday, we did manage to find a nice quiet cove where we could toss the football around and just enjoy some of the rare sunshine. I slathered Ledger with sunscreen and we dipped his feet in the water. He hated it -- the water was just too chilly for him. Below is a picture of him expressing his displeasure. So he and Mommy spent the remainder of the time hiding in the shade of the bimini cover on the boat. The Saturday night fireworks display was very impressive, as usual. Ledger did better than expected, and slept through the last half of the fireworks!

The Guy family is here visiting from Washington this week. We are looking forward to spending some time out at the lake with them and introducing Ledger to his cousins! We will post lots of pictures of the boys together!