Over and back

Brenden had a Dr. Appointment this week and he's healthy as ever, which is a great sign. He now weighs 15lbs 5oz and is a little taller than the average baby at this time. He also got his next set of shots, so needless to say, he wasn't the happiest camper that day.

The above picture is proof that he's now holding his head up high. There have been times now where he has rolled from back to front, then front to back again. A great accomplishment. The downside to that, now we have to watch him more carefully. Eventually he'll start rolling around the house. He hasn't caught on the fact that if he pushes with his knees, that he'll actually go places. For now, I think we should stick with just the rolling over part.

Anyway, other than this minor update, not much news to post this week. I would imagine that this week and next week will be real busy for parents, getting their kids ready to go back to school. Good luck with that, we'll be in the same boat soon enough!

Away for a few days

Well, it's been a long time since the last post. The past 5 days I was away from home spending time at the Havelock Country Jamboree and Michelle was away for the weekend in London in a baseball tournament. This was Brenden's first time away from home without mom or dad around. He spent the day (Friday) at Grandma Schaefer's house, and spend Saturday and Sunday at Oma Vanderwel's. Apparently he was an angel and there wasn't any problems at all. That's a sigh of relief. I kept thinking that while I was away, hoping that all would go well. As we found, it is very, very hard to be away from him more than a few hours. I managed 5 days, but was dying to see him. I missed him a lot. Michelle on the other hand stated that 3 days was way to long and said that she's not ready to give him up for anymore than a half day at a time. Apparently, I'm going to my ball tournament in Niagara Falls by myself this year, since that will be 3 days as well. Unless of course we brought him with us, but that would be tough right now.

Yesterday once major accomplishment happened. Brenden rolled over on to his stomach all by himself. The past few weeks he made it half way to the stomach, but couldn't get that extra umph to get all the way. Now he rolls over and puts his head up. Only thing now, he has to learn how to roll back. After a few minutes he starts crying while on his stomach, so we have to roll hime back over. Of course, we couldn't catch that one on camera, but maybe later today I can.

Last week I also produced Brenden's first DVD. Clips from Day 1 up to 4 months (by the way, Brenden turned 4 months yesterday). It turned out quite well.

Anyway, now that I'm back home, I'll start taking more photos and videos again. I can't post the videos here as the size is to big and the bandwidth wouldn't allow it. However, feel free to ask for a copy of the DVD, it's only $20 + shipping and handling. Just kidding.

Until next post, which I promise will contain the latest photos of the growing Brenden.

B's 1st time camping

OK, well, those that were camping on the weekend are probably wondering why I haven't posted about it yet. Plain and simple. Just to busy this week.

Camping was or to us anyway a success! Brenden loved it from what we could see. He cried some while being passed around, but that was more or less the excitment getting to him. He can only handle so much at a time. During the nights he went to bed around 9-10pm and woke up about 4am to feed, then went right back to sleep and work back up around 7:30-8:00am. He did well from my point of view, since it was a first for all of us. First time camping for him and a first for us to bring along a baby with us. We didn't know how it would turn out, but we're very happy it worked out so well.

Brenden had another first. Not only was he a trooper at camping, he is also a well defined swimmer. OK OK, Michelle was holding him, but once he got used to it, he loved the beach & the water. We must have been in the water for a good 20 minutes or so, and he never cried about it once. He would carefully watch each wave roll in and then go past him. He was so focused on the reflections in the water as well. I actually had the video camera out and filmed every minute of it. He was just facinated and so were we.

Overall it was good to go camping. We all got out of the house to visit family and it was a good time for all of us!

Click on the pictures for a larger view!

August Long Weekend

Looks like the August LONG WEEKEND is here. This weekend will be Brenden's first time camping. We are leaving today, and returning on Monday. I sure hope he likes it. We are camping with the majority of Michelle's moms side of the family, which usually includes 50+ people altogether. Brenden will be held by several people, I'm sure.

There hasn't been much changed this week, and the roll over on the stomach thing hasn't happened yet, so that's kind of good. He still rolls on to his side and falls asleep that way, an he looks very cute that way. Picture of that to follow soon. Brenden really has the smiles down pat. He smiles from dimple to dimple and occasionally laughs (at me mostly, probably because I'm funny looking).

Anyway, back to packing, since we are trying to avoid the traffic, since it'll be very, very busy. Have a good weekend everyone!

Ride for Diabetes

I hate to solicit money using this BLOG, but I have entered myself into the "Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Ride for Diabetes Research" and it's for a great cause.

Here's how it works:
Teams consist of 5 Riders, and on event day each team member will alternate riding a stationary bike for 8-minutes over the course of 40 minutes. Many teams like to compete to see who can clock the most kilometers, raise the most money, show the most spirit, make the most noise, and have the best costumes.

Click this line to sponsor me any amount you wish. $1, $2, $5, $10 or $20, heck, I even take $50's and $100's. Anything will help. I have set my goal of raising $500+. So far I have reached $125. Thanks to those that have already donated and to those that plan on helping me reach my goal.

Here is the information about the ride:
Ride InformationCity: Toronto, ON
Venue: Nathan Phillips Square
Date of Ride: 9/15/2006
Ride Time: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Length of Ride: Every hour on the hour from 9:00am - 4:00pm

Again I am using this to promote a good cause, so any donation will help.

Thanks,
David Schaefer

PS. I will post the events of the week on Friday. Not much to post, but I'll try and think of something.