BUSY week

Hi there! We were back in the saddle full swing this week; which is why I couldn't get to you earlier. Monday I got to spend some time with mom and Oma since Oma wasn't working, Tuesday Gymboree level 2, Wednesday music class at church and Arbor Hills with some buddies, Thursday Gymboree level 3 and today NOTHING is on the docket! I have been eating really well (it is driving mom nuts constantly preparing, feeding, cleaning only to prepare again!) If I don't come up in the weight %, I will think this is all a sham. You'd think I was preparing to be a linebacker!! Clearly if you know my family...that is NOT the case, unless good ole Opa genes come through for me...wouldn't that be funny.

Mom got some stuff for me online to take on our trip, here is a picture of me not liking the sunglasses she got me. Dad keeps telling her not to take these bad pictures outside, but she forgets.

They have no clue as to how busy they will be trying to get me to keep on all my new hats and sunglasses and other various rediculous accessories they have purchased. My favorite so far is my new golf hat. My great grandpa Shaffer would have LOVED it and I am sure he would have let me go golfing with him already! I will make sure to show you when I get a chance. Daddy calls me Payne now. They are frantically trying to find me knickers. Boy, can't say that I hope they do.

That is about it. Along with my new feeding frenzy, I have discovered that digesting food makes me TIRED. So, I am actually sneaking in some cat naps and long naps in the pm!! This is great for mom. Here I am in the garage, after Gymboree yesterday...please note: snack in hand...SEE DAD...I am very careful not to mess up my new car seat...I am keeping it just right!

Happy Easter!

HE IS RISEN, JUST AS HE SAID!
What a great day. I started off with an egg hunt around the living room...well, not so much a hunt as a crawl to. I did have fun and after all, this first go round is just a training session right? We went to Oma and Opa's for lunch, Grandma joined us. It was really nice to have a relaxing calm day to reflect on what the day is about! Then, after all of that calm, we went to Dad's hockey game. Seems a bit odd, but you know I am just along for the ride these days! Here are a few pictures from the days events. Hockey pictures are on another camera...when mom's act is more together, I am sure she will post one or 2.


Here I am relishing my find!



Cheddar was keeping watch over my plastic eggs for me...yeah right...she was waiting for an opportunity to steal em again!



Here I am at Oma's house in my Easter outfit (we are actually getting pictures taken after Hilton Head, so you can see more on this later!) and more plastic eggs. I am quite fond of them.



Here I am with Opa chatting it up and trying to figure out how he makes that really cool noise with his mouth!



Finally, this is my posse, minus Ched...she was (shocker) chasing the eggs around the house.

Egg Hunt and Coloring Eggs

This morning my dad and I went on an Easter Egg Hunt at Sprouts by the house. It was lots of fun. I really liked those plastic eggs. When daddy wanted to put them in my basket, I would not give them up. I am getting pretty good at keep away these days.
I was napping when mom got home from tutoring. When I woke up, we went outside and colored some eggs. Grandma stopped by; as did Oma and Opa...we were so into egg coloring that we really didn't get any pictures of the process. Here is a couple of me outside playing with those glorious plastic eggs!
We are off to church this evening instead of tomorrow am so that visitors can have more seats. I hope those folks in the nursery are ready for a hyped up, no napped me today!
I bet mom gets called out of service to wrangle me!
Happy Easter.

The Circus Came to Town...Sorta

We had grand plans for this morning. There is a little circus that comes to town every year...one ring, run by a Ringling nephew...and they do it under a big top. Today at 8:30 there was a "free show" to watch the elephants raise the big top tent. Mom, Oma, and I loaded up and went to see the show!! Well, wouldn't ya know the life of a carnie ain't all it's cracked up to be. They had a camel, llama, some mini horses, dogs, so we looked at those while waiting for the real fun to begin. While we sat on the ground eating our breakfast tacos from Rudy's we saw Grant Rogers with his grandma and we took some pictures with some elephants. WELL...here is the low down, some truck never showed, so they didn't have the poles to put up the tent!! We loaded up, a bit degected, and went home. They were hoping to do it at noon. Fast forward through my nap. We rushed back up there at NOON sharp to see it, only to see everyone leaving the area. We thought we missed it because we saw portions of the tent up. Well, wouldn't you know it, there was a hole in the tent and it got canceled. Hope they get it fixed before the show at 4:00!!!
Life lesson...carnies are creepy and rather unreliable...don't run away with the circus!






Anyway, after that bust (but doesn't it look like we had fun??), we loaded up to go to Sprouts and Mardel to get baby Jacob some books for his mommy to read to him while he is in his incubator. Then we came home and had lunch, then we took Cheddar for a long walk to the park and I got to swing and slide. After all that fun, Oma headed home and I took a nap. Tomorrow I may go with my dad to an egg hunt while mom tutors. I'll keep you posted. Have a wonderful Easter. HE IS RISEN.

Van Zeeland Family Update

My grandma got back in town the other day and she came to see me last night. It sure was fun. She bought me this Horton and a couple of books. You can see how excited I am for this new guy.
Along with her return came some pretty upsetting news. My grandpa fell again last week and is now in the hospital. He has some heart and kidney problems and also has pneumonia. He's in pretty bad shape. Please pray for him. My Grandpa is pretty special to me. He is the only Van Zeeland link that allowed me to have my big BRIGHT blue eyes that everyone notices. I hope I get to go see him soon and tell him how much I love him in person!
I'll update you as soon as I know what is going on.

9 months!

WoW! I can not believe my life is so old already. On one hand I feel like I am brand new, but the other one makes me feel so old! I went to the doctor this am for my check up. Dr. Bain said I am in GREAT health and I got a clean bill of health. We talked a lot about eating and what we can start now. Get this, I can eat just about anything I want with a few exceptions of nuts and strawberries. She said I can start eating everything mom and dad eat with no worries on anything other than size of bites! That is very exciting for mom...it seems she may have just made her last batch of my baby food on Monday! Right now she is starting some refried beans for us to have today. I also found out that I need to be eating 3 meals a day, with 1-2 snacks...she also gave us some good ideas on snacks and our upcoming trip. I also only need to nurse 3-4 times a day and can start drinking more water to fill me up. So...this looks like the beginning of the end of life as I knew it. I am excited about that. This is exceptionally good news form Oma and Opa because it means when we go on our vacation in a couple weeks, neither of them will need to learn how to lactate while mom and dad go into Augusta for the day of the tournament!!!

BUT, get this...I got my first polio vaccine today and DIDN'T EVEN CRY during my shot. Guess I may have gotten that from my mom along with my eyes! Everyone in the office was really impressed; to the point where one nurse asked if I decided against the shot!!! Boy o boy, I am getting tough. Guess dad telling me to "rub some dirt on it" has paid off. Get ready Stars, I am gonna hit that ice running and maybe be the new Shane Churla (but will probably only be the size of Todd Harvey).
I was in the 25th % for height...up from 17%. I am now in the 17% of head circumference...up from 6%. However, I am now only in the 8% for weight. I got some eatin to do for sure...but I have already tripled my birthweight almost and if you know my dad's family...we ain't breaking any records there!

I am off to my nap to relish in the new lease on life! WOW, it kinda sounds like I might like eating as much as mom does!!!
Have a great day.

Rainy days and Tuesdays

Always get me down! Okay, bad Carpenter's reference Oma...sorry.
So apparently we are in a lock down today because it is soooo rainy outside. It is a good thing mom and me tried out my new stroller yesterday while taking Cheddar for a walk...it looks like it might be a few days before we can do it again. On that note, I LOVED my new jogging stroller. I am so lucky to have a Daddy who finds such good deals. Only glitch was that mom didn't really air up the tires too well, so that is one thing we will need to do on this rainy day before our next outing.
Can a boy be any happier??

Then, this morning I decided to play with my dog a LOT. She is my best buddy. Dad doesn't know mom lets her love on me like this during breakfast, but it is really fun for us both.




Next mom took me out on our patio so I could feel the rain. I LOVED it, too. I giggled when the rain hit my hands and it was pretty cold. Mom rolled up my sleeves so I wouldn't get drenched before my nap. Then, she let us open the window in my playroom to watch the rain...it is hard to say who liked that more, me or Ched.

Bummer of weekends!

Well, here we all are this weekend sick. I think Oma and Opa gave us the flu. Mom was not good at all, neither was Dad. I was a bit better, but it didn't do me any good with a couple of bum parents laying around. Wouldn't you know it...when we need the Grandparents, they all took off out of town! Oh well, we managed just fine. We even made it to the store to get me this cool new bean bag chair. I LOVE IT!

Can you tell my new favorite thing to do?

Here is a hint:



That is correct. I LOVE playing on Cheddar's beds! I lay on every one in the house!
She is getting a bit put out, but for the most part, she is a good sharer! Or at least she tolerates me so far.

I went to Gymboree and Arbor Hills this week. We are all hoping we are well enough to run our race on Saturday. I'll be sure to let you know.
Today was a lazy mom's sick day so I decided to pull ALL my toys out of my bins...doesn't it look like fun?


I was a good boy today and Oma came to play with me so mom could rest a bit.
Tooth report: Still no more other than my monochomp.
It's starting get on everyone's nerves! :0)

Big Day with Dad!

Today was a LONG day. I got up super early because my almost teeth were hurting me. Then, before we knew it, it was time to head out to the Fire Station with Dad. Mr. Rogers and Grant and Mr. Maguire and Cole went too so that was fun to have some buddies with us. Here are a couple shots of me and the big rigs. I am standing at the wheels looking at myself and sitting on the front of a couple vehicles.





I also got to mess with their boots and helmets and be a ride along while Grant "drove" the ambulance.


My Opa gave me this Stars helmet...ISN'T it cool??? It is just a tad bit too small for me, but I sure wanted it to go on!!


After the big day at the Station we went out to lunch at Scotty P's. Mom and Mrs. Rogers came to join us. I started getting real upset because of my teeth. Since we forgot to bring anything to help me out...me and mom took off early. I was to come home and take a nap...but I just talked and played in my crib for while instead of sleep!!
Then, after that Mrs. Mogan and Bailey came over to play for a while. Bailey's dad is out of town and so they had the afternoon free. It was lots of fun to see her...we are both pretty different from our early mall walking days. She was a LOT of fun to play with. She's really fast at crawling and using the push toys.
I watched her and then I PUSHED MY TOY WHILE WALKING ON MY OWN.

As you can probably see, it was a BIG day. I was so tired. And tomorrow is my cousin's baptism and birthday party and another birthday party...should be another long one. I hope mom and dad go to bed early tonight so they aren't crabby for tomorrow!!!
See how much fun my Daddy is!!!

Woe is MonoChomp

How to pass the time while you are puny with a fever? WELL, you lay on your mom a lot and just chill out most of the time. But, I did manage to read a couple books to Cheddar. She is good to be around sick, she just lays right by you and puts her head on your legs. She's a good dog and buddy to have around.

I also checked out my swing again, which I have not done in MONTHS...on account of being so big and all. Well, mom put me in for a bit and I quite enjoyed myself. I sat and hummed along to the music playing and looked at my book from my cousin Nathan about football guys and read it to Waddles my duck who was cold out of the freezer to cool me off. Not a bad gig, but you can tell I don't feel great.

Finally, here I am at dinner last night. I was feeling a bit better and practicing my new face. I make this Popeye looking face that cracks mom and dad up. I just started it and maybe I am trying to figure out what that thing on the bottom of my mouth is.
Anyway... you can see the MonoChomp pretty good here. Just click on the picture and you will see it up close!


I sure hope I feel better tomorrow so I can go to the Fire Station with Dad. I had to miss Cole's birthday party last night on account of the darn fever!! I hope they had fun...lucky duck got snow on his birthday. That'll never happen for me!

Three Muskateers and their Lady!

Got a fever of a hundred and one, I'm hot blooded, hot blooded!! Not really how the song goes, but the best I can do!
I went to the doctor yesterday after a puking spell and apparently I am about to get 3 more teeth!!. So after getting a clean bill of health, I went to meet some friends at the mall to play for a bit. I tried to go to Gymboree to make up a class on Tuesday because I was feeling better, but mom the ding dong went at the wrong time. Luckily I got to see all my friends, but they were loading up in the car!! So anyway...I went to play Wednesday instead.
Here are my buddies Thorne and Nathan on a big knife with jelly.

And here we are with our lady Lauren who joined us a bit later on in the day! We are sitting on a huge Grapefruit.



I am the oldest of the group, but they are all my size or bigger!!! Lauren is 100% in everything...she has more teeth than me too! She is wearing 18 month clothes and is only 6 months!! She's gonna be a tall drink of water!!!

Well, in mom's defense, I was not running a fever until later in the afternoon, so she didn't take me sick. In retrospect, all this junk is teething related...even the puking...I coughed so hard I made myself throw up EVERY ounce of food I ate for breakfast. However, my dad gags like that when he coughs really hard too. Dr. Bain said that I was fine, just in a "whimpy white boy" state! Mom laughed, Grandma was not laughing at that statement. I think it won't be the last time I hear that phrase from mom...falls right in line with "suck it up" and "God made dirt, dirt won't hurt" (credit Aunt Jill for that one!!).
Yesterday we took Ched for a walk because it was so nice out...almost 70...tonight, we are supposed to get more snow!!! CRAZY TIMES.

Texas Weather, Baby!

Well, I have finally seen it all in my little short life. One day it was 80, the next day it was rainy, and last night we got SNOW...Now, today it should be 60. No wonder I can't shake this stinking cold and runny nose. My body can't figure it out! So is this what every March will be like?

Here we are playing in the snow this morning for a bit before my nap.



Dad wanted to wake me up last night to play, but mom had no part of it. I was very interested in it and, like everything, I stoically checked it all out. I did try a bite of it because I saw Cheddar eating it. Check her out licking her chops and running at the same time!!



It felt pretty good on my new tooth. Mom was throwing snowballs at Cheddar and she was trying to catch them in her mouth and eat them. I just wish my Daddy could have been here to play with us and not at work. He's probably way better playing in the cold than mom...who made me sit on a towel!!


On a side note, I got my new big-boy car seat yesterday and I LOVED it. Mom took it out of the box and I went right to it to climb in. Somehow, I knew it was just the right size for me. I let her strap me in and giggled, and swung my feet, put my head back, rubbed the soft fabric, and patted the arms of the chair! It is soooo much more comfortable that the infant seat...I wish they would hurry up and put it in the car...I see some major napping happening in that thing!


I was really bummed out when mom took me out. I sat and cried for about 10 minutes, then she put it in the box thinking that I wouldn't know where it went...does she think I am an idiot?? I just sat and played outside that box for about 20 more minutes. Then, when dad got home, we did it all again. Almost better than Christmas!

We have a busy couple weeks coming up. I have a birthday party this Thursday evening, my buddy Cole Maguire is turning 2!! He and Grant Rogers are the same age! I also have my cousin Nathan's baptism on Sunday and Jack Relle has a birthday party too that day. Saturday I go to the fire station with dad on an Adventure. Mom is now tutoring 11 kids, so she is working sometime this weekend with 2 kids. Next weekend is the Race that started it all. The St. Patrick's day race that mom and dad met at is on Greenville and we are going to do the traditional race. It is their 4th one in a row...1st one they met, next one they were married, next one mom was pregnant with me, and now it is my turn to join the fun. We are bummed because Cheddar is not invited this year. But I am sure there will be LOTS of pictures to update of all my fun adventures this week.
We'll keep ya posted as much as we can!

What's the word???

PRECOCIOUS???

I think that is what they call me. I have managed to do the following this week in record time...that means under 2 minutes of no supervision. OH, and mind you, I have been under the weather since Monday with cold/teeth junk still.
1) managed to open a bottom dresser drawer and remove all contents that could fit though an opening the size of my arm



2) chase the dog from my room to the game room
3) climb up 4 steps and almost hit the first landing!!!
OH, and also...forget sitting up in the crib, STANDING is way better, I do it EVERY day now.




Other than that, things were pretty quiet around here. Oma came over to watch me while mom went to try and take care of her speeding ticket to no avail. Then we went on little outings for about 45 minutes...a couple of long walks with the pooch.
The biggest news of the week is I HAVE A TOOTH THROUGH!! My bottom front left tooth peeked its way through Thursday morning. So that gives us a little bit of consolation on the sad times I have had lately. Dad calls me Monochomp now. Mom thinks that will change very soon as she thinks she feels another one coming in too. Not sure what that one will cause me to be called, Duochomp?
We tried to get a picture while I was yelling, but to no avail. Plus we are having some difficulty getting to the pics on our camera so we'll show those when we can.

I don't think I am going to go to Grant Van Boven's party today, I can't get anyone else sick. My cough sounds pretty nasty these days...even if I am not contagious, I am sure that no one would be allowed to come play with me at the party...I'd be "THAT KID"...you know the one I am talking about!!