Finally, a new post!

OK, once again, I'm guilty of not posting at least on a weekly basis. After vacation work has been just hectic and I haven't had time to post anything. The times I am free, I just flat out forget until it's time for bed.

So now you're probably wondering....how's Brenden? What's new with him? Well I see him everyday and I see a few new things, but not a whole lot.

Talking:
He has really started to try to say single words now. He has started saying, mom, mom, mom. At least it sounds like that. Sometimes I even hear da, da, da, but I'm not sure if that's just my brain saying it sounds like that. Occasionally he'll belt out some bablle words and scare the crap out of us because we weren't expecting it.

Attitude:
We can now tell when he's angry and/or frustrated. He will put his arms or flail them around in disgust if he's not happy with something. Generally he's happy, but he has his days much like you and me (well, not like me, but like you).

Eating:
He is eating very good. You gives you that face when he doesn't like something and we have started to give him a spoon while we feed him. If we did his spoon in the food, he will actually move the spoon to his mouth and eat from it. After that he usually drops the spoon. Hey, it's a start though. He's very good at it and at least knows what to do with it. At bottle time, he holds his own bottle now. I know have a extra free hand to use the remote and talk on the phone at the same time as feeding Brenden.

Exercise:
So it looks as if Brenden will save the wear and tear on his knees and advance straight to walking. He can hold himself up on his hands and kness, but he's not sure how to move forward from that position. Instead he pushes with his arms and moves backwards. If we try and sit him down, he gets angry, because he really wants to stand instead. He can pretty much stand on his own while hanging on to something, but hasn't grasped the walking concept yet. That's probably a good thing. He still loves to bounce. The Jolly Jumper and his little bouncy car is very handy at the moment. I can only hold and bounce him for so long before my 'Ironman' arms are sore. He also loves to be tossed....now that doesn't mean I'm throwing him around. It simply means I toss him up in the air and catch him. He loves it. He laughs and smiles. I think we have ourselves a future rollercoaster connoisseur.

Fun Time:
He loves peek-a-boo. And he loves it when mom holds him and dad approaches from behind. He thinks its a game, and if I make the silly sounds that adults make to babies, he will literally laugh his ass off. He giggles and it's so funny. That seems to be the happiest moments. We have also found his tickle spots and can get him laughing quite easily.

Well, that's the 2 week update. Next step it to update his pictures. I have taken a few, but not many. I should take more, since he loves the camera, but I'd rather enjoy my time with him then take pictures. I'll soon post what I've taken since Christmas. For now the most recent are included above.

One last thing I would like to say, is congratulation to my cousin, Steven Schaefer and his new wife Cindy. Sorry I couldn't make it to Hawaii to enjoy the ceremony. I'm sure it went well, and I'll be looking for pictures once you return to Japan from Hawaii. All the best to newlyweds, Steven & Cindy Schaefer. You can see his website at http://www.nocentre.com/wedding/

Until next post.........

Vacation over, back to work

OK, the vacation is now over for the three of us. Brenden had a vacation away from us and we had a vacation away from him. It was a much needed break for all of us.

Cuba was great! 30C weather everyday, only one evening with rain, and a tan to boot. The beach was awesome, other than the naked parts of it. Old, hairy Europeans that do not to be tanned in the private regions. Quite scary at times. Try sitting across from them at the dinner table afterwords.

We enjoyed Cayo Largo while we were there, but I wouldn't advise anyone with a sense of adventure to go there. Let's just say, there's not much to do. If you just want beach, sand, ocean and just to laze around all day, then this is the perfect place to go. The only excursion we took was the Catamaran tour. It was pretty good.

I'll be posting pictures online of our vacation soon and will post a link when I have. I will, as I promised earlier, be adding some new pictures of Brenden soon as well.

Thanks,
Dave

A Vacation

Well, for the first time since having Brenden, we are leaving him for a week. Leaving him with his grandparents of course. We are taking a much needed vacation to Cuba. We leave in about 5 and a half hours from now. By noon on Saturday, we'll be lying on a beach in Cuba. I can see it now. Pina Colada's and big German's with tiny Speedo's. OK, that kind of grosses me out, but oh well. Hot sun, hot white sandy beach, relaxing on our all inclusive vacation. Brenden will get the same. A needed break away from us. Now's a good time for him to start learning that we won't always be the ones taking care of him. Afterall, he needs some non-parent time too.

This being the first time we're spending a week away from him will probably be a good test for us as well. It's hard enough to go 2-3 days without seeing him, and now it's going to be a whole week. It's not like we can just drop what we're doing and leave to go get him. There is no turning back once we board the plane this morning. I think it'll be a bit easier on me, since I am normally working for the most part of the day and only see him 2-3 hours a day as opposed to Michelle who sees him all day everyday. This will be a good test for her. If she starts getting ansy, I'll be sure to force some more drinks into her to mellow her out a little.

Anyway, we'll post a message when we return next week to let you know how the week went, without our son.

Hope it's cold here at home, that way the trip will be more worth it. I can live with 24-27C in Cuba. Not going to like it when we return home though. Lets not think about that right now.

Dos Margarita's Por favor!

Happy New Year

First of all we would like to say Happy New Year to everyone who reads this BLOG! Best wishes from our family to yours.

Brenden had his first swimming lessons today. Michelle took him in the pool. He loved it. Never complained one bit and slashed his heart out. He was very tired after though. He just about fell asleep putting him in his car seat. His lessons will last a number of weeks on Saturday mornings. We're a little nervous about the dunking stage, which didn't happen the first day. Michelle doesn't want to dunk his head, alhtough last week he had his first experience with water poured in his face. I was bathing him and gave him a cup full of water, which he loves. This time it tipped towards him and the water landed on his face. He cried a little (I think it scared him), but he was fine after a few minutes.

Brenden is quite the shopper. Loves looking around and tries to grab ladies purses as we walk by. I taught him well...haha.

Brenden is picking up so much stuff from us. We try and teach him new things, like clapping hands, and he tries, but hasn't quite got it. He still isn't crawling yet and no teeth are showing yet. It's just a matter of time.

I'll post some more pictures soon. Again, Happy New Year!

Christmas Over

You are probably wondering why no Christmas post has been made. Well, it's been a very busy holiday, and now that I'm back to work I still haven't had much time to login to the BLOG to make a post until now. Most people will be pretty sad to hear that I didn't take to many pictures over the holidays, especially when it's the baby's 1st Christmas. Well, I in fact took more video's instead. I am in the midst of saving them to my PC and producing a Brenden's 1st Christmas DVD. I think I have almost an hour of footage at least. I can probably grab some stills from the video camera and have them printed, however I don't think the quality will be that good. I do have some pictures and I will post them as soon as I figure out which ones I want to put up.
Overall the holidays for us are very busy. We put over 1000km on the car during a 4 day span. Brenden was a little trooper and hardly fussed about all the driving. Being strapped in a seat can't be that much fun. In and out, in and out. I found out as long as I sing his favorite song, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" while strapping him in, he laughs about it instead of fussing over the fact he's being strapped down, over and over again.

Brenden would like to thank everyone for his wonderful gifts. He plays with everyone of them and loves them. Michelle and I have learned most of the tunes each one emits down to a "T". It's funny, because while I'm at work, occasionally I sing to myself, the tunes these toys emit. It's getting into my head and I can't get it out. I guess this is where our childhood starts to come back to us.

For the videos, I may make it available on-line, but you'll have to make sure you have high-speed access to see it, or possibly download it to your PC first before viewing.

Hands Off

Brenden is now finally able to hold his own bottle when he eats. We still hold him, but we are totally, "Hand's Off", and he likes it that way.

We finally put up our Christmas tree on Sunday, and Brenden seems to have taken a liking to seeing something new in the house. He likes the lights and the reflections. He can sit for hours staring at that tree, as if he's waiting for it to make the first move.

Yester Michelle swears that Bredned said, "Mama" for the first time, but since she's said that, I've yet to hear him say that. Michelle has taught him to make the kissing sound, simply by puckering the lips and making the kissing noise we all make (try kissing without making a noise, talk about wierd). It' so funny when he does it.

Anyway, have to go get ready for work. Another Christmas party to attend this afternoon and much to get done before that.

Later,
Dave

First Santa Sighting

Well here it is. Brenden finally got to meet the one and only, Santa Clause. Surprisingly enough, he smiled for this picture as well. He's very photogenic apparently. I'm off to bed, so I'll keep it short. Here's the picture. Good night.

Chrismas Portraits

Well, we got our Walmart Christmas portraits back and they turned out great! Smiles all around. Not much to upadate this week, but I will post the pictures at least.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Almost back to normal

Well, Michelle came back home last Friday and was feeling much better. She has recovered quite well and is almost back to normal. As you can see from the pictures above, Brenden isn't to fond of his beans. Not a vegetable man yet.

Brenden has started getting Gerber baby food, which makes those morning poops smell so much better. Ew! He likes a few types and won't give the time of day on others. It's quite funny seeing him eat various things and the expressions you get out of him.

On Sunday Michelle and Brenden met me at the Ajax Santa Clause parade. Brenden's first parade. He loved the loud bands belting out the tunes from the trumpets and trombones, and at the end of it all, really could care less about the man in the big red suit. He would rather look at his own reflection in the window of the car behind us. Next year, he'll be more inclined I think.

Brenden is now sitting without support. We do put pillows around just in case, but he never falls over. He is a very happy baby in that position. He still hasn't figured out how to crawl, but that's ok. That means we don't have to chase him around yet and we know exactly where he is.

Brenden loves the mirror. Every morning we get up, before he eats, we have to look at the other baby in the mirror. He laughs at him everytime. Or maybe he's laughing at the fact that his dad has a twin. Who knows.

Until next time, check out the picture site, as I've added many more photos. Here's the link again. http://thevipers.ca/ourbaby/index.html

So Quiet, It's Eerie

For the last few days it has been very quiet here at home. Michelle had her gall bladder surgery on Tuesday morning. All went well, although she said when the pain killers wore off she was in so much pain. She is staying with her mom and so is Brenden until Friday or so. Chevy our cat, is keeping me company, so it's not totally lonely here.

Brenden is doing well away from home I here, so that's good news.

I would like to say congrats to Michelle's cousin Justin and Christine on Thomas' first tooth. For those that don't know, Thomas was born the exact same day as Brenden. Brenden just drools a lot, no teeth though. He's still gumming everything to death.

Anyway, back to my lonely night, here's a couple pictures of the company I've had the past few days. See you soon Michelle and Brenden!! Miss you!

Brendens First Post

Brenden has a few words of wisdom before bedtime.

njjjjjjjju,k. I think that means good night in baby typing.

Brenden

Sleeping

Had to show you a picture of Brenden sleeping. He sleeps like I do already!

Lack of Postings

We're all still here and doing ok. I caught a little bit of the flu bug and think I've passed it on to Brenden. He has a little cough, but still pretty happy nevertheless.

Within the next week, Michelle will be having surgery to have gall stones removed. She's been having attacks regularly and not feeling well because of it. She may be going on Tuesday if she has another by then. The pain is unbearable and she said she would rather give birth than have attacks. It has really limited her to what she can eat and what she does eat, she can't keep it down. We are blaming Brenden for the Gall Stones, as they say it's pretty common after giving birth. We believe this is the contributing factor, "Estrogen: Excess estrogen from pregnancy, hormone replacement therapy, or birth control pills appears to increase cholesterol levels in bile and decrease gallbladder movement, both of which can lead to gallstones".
I'll keep you posted on any further updates to this.

Today, we had our first family pictures done at Walmart. We also got Brenden to pose for a few himself. We were late getting there and had to wait about 20 minutes at which time Brenden starting getting tired and a little crusty. He hung in there like a trooper and smiled at every picture taken. Once we get the pictures, I'll scan them and post them here. They turned out awesome. Can't wait to get them.

Brendens' sleeping patterns have finally changed. He is finally on Eastern Standard Time. On a good night, he'll sleep until 8-9am without making a peep, and other times, he'll wake up during the night 3-4 times in search of his soother. Right now he may be a little off at night due to the cold which I generously passed on. It's so hard to stay away from him when you have a cold and you need to help out.

As far as words, he hasn't picked any new ones up yet. He still makes motor boat sounds and blowing spit at the same time, all while driving his bouncy car.

On Saturday (Nov 13) I gave Michelle a much needed break and took Breden to see my Aunt Marilyn and Cousin Brian and went to see Grandma & Grandpa Schaefer for the day. He was very good and in high spirits all day.

Other than that, nothing else is new. Sorry for those looking for photos. I don't have any new ones to show you. Since I know there are many out there that want to see more. I've had a few people mention that I should post 1 each day. Yeah right! I'm lazy, can't you tell by the lack of postings?

Daylight Brenden Time

Well, since we have all changed our clocks back, most of us in the EST are now on Standard Time. As I said, most. Guess who's not? You got it. Brenden is still on Daylight Savings time. He is waking up almost exactly one hour before he's suppose to be. This makes for less sleep for us. I can't complain, since it seems that he is starting to get back to routine. It is closer to 7pm once again. We had to hold him off one nap in the late afternoon to get him off the old schedule. I can't believe how much babies are like clockwork. Brenden tells time better than I do. I can use him as an alarm clock now. When he cries to get up, that's my queue to get ready for work.

Well, Brenden's first Hallowe'en has come and gone. We didn't go trick or treating however we did put him in a costume. Had to get some pictures for his first Halloween. We did visit some family though. For his first one we had to dress "B"renden up as a what? A Bee. His first initial. Creative eh?

Enjoy the pics......Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Also, feel free to leave me comments, or any advice you think we could use, or just leave a comment to say "hi", so I know someone out there is reading these BLOGS.

Dr. Visit at 6 months

Well, Brenden had another checkup and some more shots on Tuesday. The Dr. says he's a healthy boy. This is very good since Michelle has come down with a cold a time or two the last few weeks. Brenden now weighs 18lbs and get this, he's 28 inches (71 centimetres) long. The Dr. said a normal 1 year old is on average 30 inches tall. Brenden still has 6 months to go and only 2 inches to grow. Makes me wonder what's really in our water today? The main thing is, that he's healthy.

What's new and exciting in "B" land? Not much more development yet. He does however have a permanent smile now, or at least that's what it seems like. He also rolls over, but only in one direction. Eventually the wall stops him from going any further, if he's already rolled 3 or 4 times.

We've had to buy some new outfits, as you can imagine with the rate he's growing at. Not only because of the size, but because of the weather. TIme to break out the baby mittens, it's getting near the freezing mark. Heck, it's almost time to break out my own mittens at this rate. I almost need a snowsuit to cut the lawn, just to stay warm.

Anyway, that's about it for another week (or so).
Next week, Brenden will be typing his first words on this BLOG........

6 Months Ago

Well, tomorrow Brenden will be 6 months old. Half a year! Wow! Just amazing how fast time goes. He's much more happier than he's ever been. Smiles and laughs at just about everything. He actually loves his Toronto Maple Leafs hand puppet (thanks Aunt Terry). Everytime he sees it, he smiles then laughs at it.

Not a heck of a lot has changed. He has got bigger and heavier, but that's a gimme. He pretty much stopped rolling over. He would rather be lazy (like me) and just lay there. He does move around, but just from rolling side to side. He loves his car and now loves his jolly jumper. He is very strong. He can almost stand. Not on his own, but he keeps his legs straight and rarely bends his knees.

He loves Chevy (our cat) now. Starting to pull his hair, whiskers, tail. Chevy is tolerating it for now. Brenden can now suck his own toes which is wierd. I tried to do it, but got stuck and needed Michelle to help me out of it.

Funny, as I write this, Brenden rolled to his stomach, then back to his back. You can see him really concentrating on on items now, trying to figure out how they work.

He is amazing! I am loving every minute of this stage. Can it get any better?

Until next time. Dave.

Gobble Gobble!

HAPPY BELATED THANKSGIVING!

This past weekend Brenden has been happy go lucky. I'm quite surprised his face doesn't hurt from laughing and smiling so much. I know mine does.

He didn't seem to mind the fact that we put about 800km on the car over the past weekend, travelling, visiting all the family. He seemed to take it better than I thought. The times he was awake in the car, he didn't fuss about it. Most of the time he just talks to his soother, probably hoping it will talk back to him. It doesn't. I tried talking to it too, but nothing.

As I said previously, he seems to become more aware of his environment day by day. He loves to watch the cat simply walk around him in circles. Brenden is tending to follow every single movement an animate object or person will make. You can see the wheels turning. I really think he would jump in and help if he could. Do your chores Brenden, then you can play. OK, were not at that stage yet...*sigh*, I'll put the dishes away this time.

Brenden has now moved away from laughing at the word, "naked", and will now smile and/or laugh at pretty much anything that has the letter "B" in it. "Baby", and sadly enough, "Boo-bee" is now his favorite words. I taught him well.

He can now roll over both ways consistantly, however, he hasn't figured out the crawling part yet. I'm 'ok' with that. He will also sit up, albeit aided, but just lightly holding on to his arms and he sits fine. He can also stand quite well. Holding on to his arms, he will put his legs straight out as if he wants to stand up. Not yet, "B", not yet. We're not ready for that quite yet.

He now eats his pablum from the spoon much easier. He's almost an expert. On the weekend, he got his first very small sampling of ice cream. "Thanks Bill!", just what I need, a baby wired on ice cream. Actually, he was fine that night, nothing happened out of the ordinary.

Anyway, once again I've updated pictures on my picture site. The link to "Baby Pictures" is on the left side of this BLOG Site. We are enjoying the 5-6 month stage a lot. It's awesome!

Hamilton Trip

Well here i am again, pondering what to write. One week later. Where are the latest pictures you ask? Not here, but you can go to http://www.thevipers.ca/ourbaby/index.html to see them still. I have added the most recent there.
This past week has been pretty cool. Brenden sounds like he's trying to say his own name now. It's probably just giberish, but he's putting his lips together and making sounds like, "B" and "Ba". I'm sure, "Brenden" is quite far away from his personal vocabulary though. He still has his happy and sad/mad days. It's usually a trade off. 1 good for 1 bad day.

On Sunday, Oct 1, Brenden got to meet my dads aunt and cousin from Germany in Hamilton. As well, I got to meet my 2nd cousin, which apparently I last saw when I was very young and don't remember. Brenden was in a pretty good mood that day and enjoyed being passed around. He even had a nice sleep there without any issues. There are a few pictures on the website above of the trip to Hamilton. Unfortunately our German family left for Germany Monday evening. It was great to see them again, and we hope to see them again soon. Next time we'll take Brenden to Germany with us to visit, a few years down the road. We'll see.

Oh, and regarding the picture at the top of this post, that is my 2nd cousin, Theresa, and her 2 month old baby girl. Putting Brenden beside her really made him look big. It was hard for me to imagine that he was that small only a few months ago. As yoo can see, Brenden was quite amused that there was actually someone smaller than him there.

Anyway, maybe I'll splurge this week and put a 2nd post in, then again, maybe not. Who knows?

More missing posts

Has it been 2 weeks already? I didn't fall off the earth, really I am still here and Brenden is doing just fine. Hard to believe he is already 5 months and will be half a year on Oct 20. Just wow! Where is the time really going? This month has been a very busy month, as you can probably tell by the lack of blogging. Also I have been lacking in taking pictures, as I don't realize that Brenden changes so much every day, until I bring him to someone who hasn't seen him in awhile and they tell me that he's changing so fast. Holy crap Dave, smarten up...take pictures daily. *sigh* I wish it were that easy. This is tougher than I thought. I tend to want to spend more and more time with him as he goes through his stages. It's great fun to sit back and watch this happen as it's so amazing. It tends to lead me away from my computer time which is just fine, but that means less and less Blogs as you can tell here. That's 'ok' too. Blogging isn't everything. It's great and a plus to have, but nothing we should fuss over if there hasn't been a post in awhile.

As of this post not really much has changed, well really, a lot has changed, but you really have to see him to see the changes. Really hard to describe. He's getting bigger, that's for sure. He interacts quite well now and loves to be picked up. He used to hate being carried around. Now we walk around the house together and I point at objects and he tries to grab them. Occasionally he'll stare back at me and giggle a little. I love it! This is the best feeling in the world, knowing that a child relies on his parents to help him grow. He is now eating pablum with a little maple syrup in it. He now opens his mouth when a spoon is carefully aimed at it. Sometimes it reminds me of, "Hungry, Hungry Hippo" when he lunges forward to get the spoon. Most nights I don't like the fact I work so late, because really we only get to spend 1-2 hours together before he goes to bed for the night and in the morning he is a great alarm clock. Wakes up between 7am and 8am.

I will post more pics soon, I promise. Just have to get my trigger finger ready and catch him in mid smile or laugh.

Favorite Words

Here is the a picture of Brenden eating pablum. Most of it is on his face as you can see. Eats like I do.

Anyway, well, what can I say...I'm officially lazy now. Over a week and no new post until this one. I am not so sure you can call it laziness when you've been just so darn busy, between work and the family life. Well for those that read these posts, I am still hanging around, but just can't seem to post much anymore. I knew that would happen. At least a once-a-week update is better than not posting anything at all.

I convienentley named this post, "Favorite Words" for a reason. Not my favorite words, but actually Brenden's favorite words. These are words, when said 2 or 3 times to him, will make him smile and eventually laugh. I find it very amazing that certain words are more amusing than others. Simple words such as 'peek' and 'cover' said 3 times fast will cause a reaction. The best word seems to be the word, 'naked'. It's so funny that when he laughs, I start to as well. When he's on his change table getting ready for bathtime, I can say 'naked, naked, naked!' and he will literally laugh is face off. It's so funny, you have to laugh back at him. He thinks that word is the funniest ever. Now, even when he's just lying on the floor playing, you can say that word and he'll pump out a little smile at first, and when said again, he'll start to giggle about it. I am not sure if it's the expression in my face or the tone of my voice when I say it, but no matter what, it's hilarious. I love his reactions and faces he makes. Even when you've had a bad day, a smiling baby can make all the difference in the world!

The Daily Routine

We have tried very hard to keep Brenden on a routine at night time. We give him to spoonfuls of rice pablum mixed in a bowl with some of his bottle and he eats it all. It's quite amusing trying to feed him with a spoon at this stage. The looks we get are priceless. I'll have to get a picture of the feeding tonight so you can get the idea.

Following that we bath him, then wrap him (yes, we still do that, as it's comforting to him), and feed him what's left of his bottle. Shortly after that, he's out like a light. At this point, it's very easy to put him to bed. This whole process starts about 8:30pm and we're usually finished between 9:30-10:00pm. He'll generally sleep until 4am, at which point he will make some noises. Usually all it takes is a walk to the room to put the soother back in his mouth and he sleeps until 7:30am or so. He sleeps well, which is good for us, as we';re starting to just now catch up on missed sleep.

Not much else is new as far as advancing in any other activities. It is really easy to get him laughing now. Laugh at him and he laughs back. It is quite funny at times seeing him react like that.

Anyway, gotta go, baby's crying.....I think he just said dada....nope....just my imagination.

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.

Rollin Rollin Rollin

OK, not rollin' over completely yet, but he's half way there. Brenden is now rolling on to his side and will sleep that way (see above). He gets his feet in the air and swings them to his left, and his body goes with them. It's quite interesting that he's learned that already, and he seems to like it. He can also roll back on to his back. Next step, he'll be rolling to his stomach and crawling. Scary!

The Dr. appointment earlier in the week went well. We were told that Brenden is in the 75 percentile in size. To me that means he's 25% larger than the average, which is still ok. Dr. thinks he'll be tall like me. He now weighs 13lbs 13oz and is 62cm tall. Everything is going great (as it should be). No problems which is great news.

Tomorrow, Friday, Michelle and Brenden are stopping by her work, and then coming to my work, to show-and-tell Brenden. Hopefully Brenden will enjoy it, and will learn what it's like to work.

Week 13 Developments

Developments at 13 weeks. Can a 3 month old actually laugh? Apparently this one can. Could be my funny looks, but I actually got him to laugh the other day. The mouth was open with the biggest smile ever. I should have got that one on camera, but it wasn't in the vicinity. I'll have to try and get one and post it up for all to see.

It's just amazing watching the stages a baby goes through. Everyday it seems like something new. We are at the point when we can actually carry him around for 10-15 minutes without him fussing about it. We'll go for little tours around the house and look at pictures, mirrors, plants, out the window, etc. We try and point to things, but he hasn't grasped the finger pointing thing yet. When we take him outside, we'll look at colorful flowers, trees, a fence, etc. Anything to visually stimulate his brain. He loves the outdoors.

The long weekend in August we are taking Brenden camping for his first time near Sandbanks (on Lake Ontario, near Picton). This will actually be quite the experience for all of us. Totally different, since we won't have the luxuries of home while were away.

This weekend Michelle and I are in a ball tournament, so Grandma Schaefer will be taking care of him on Saturday for us.

12 weeks old now

Clothes courtesy of our family in Germany!
Thanks to Marc, Melanie and Family!

Well, "B" is almost 13 weeks old now. He has almost gained total neck control and he smiles up a storm while he tries to put words together. The past week he has learned how to grab objects. He will hold on to them for 5-10 minutes at a time. Most notably he likes to grab his shirts and pull on them. I figure maybe they're a bit to tight and he wants to stretch them a bit. Brenden also loves to stare at the TV. He likes his "Baby Einstein" DVD's. He will sit in your lap and stare at the tv for 10 to 15 minutes before he decides he's had enough. I had him interested in a Bluejay's game the other day and he watched it quite contently.

It seems he's crying less and sleeping more at night, but that could be just an illusion. Brenden is doing goood, and so are we.

Sorry for such a short update. I will try to get another one in midweek as well.

Go to sleep, Go to sleep

Another week gone by and no post. What's going on here? To me it almost seems like a chore, however now that I think about it, I am really writing this for Brenden right? So he can read it later on, and laugh at it. I should post more. But what? It's almost as if I, yes me, has run out of things to talk about. That's not like me. There's always something out there to mention. Then I think. I am posting, but is anyone really reading, or are they just looking at the pictures I post? I'll never know. I can't let that get in the way of me posting every couple of days. So once again, I am going to step back, and post every few days. Heck, even if I just post a picture/video and a caption, at least it's something for those reading this, to see. Better off doing that, then to have you come here daily only to find I've posted nothing, and then you lose interest. All ramblings aside though, lets talk about past and recent events, if I can remember them....*sigh*, I must be losing it or something.

Lets start with my own ability to walk. The sprained foot is nearly healed. I would say about 75%. I bought myself new high-cut cleats and have been wearing the ankle brace I have and it has helped considerably. I played 3 games of ball this week, and although I have used a runner, I have been able to hobble down to 1st base. I think my stats for this week, were something like 10/12. Not bad, batting .833. Maybe I should sprain my ankle more often. I find I can't swing the bat as hard, which generally means I bloop the ball in between the infield and outfield. Whatever works.

Enough about me...How's the baby you ask? Great and growing I have to say. He smiles and you can tell much more when he is happy now. The oddest thing about this baby though is that he doesn't like to be held. He would rather lay on his blanket and stare at you, and "goo goo gaa gaa" at you. He plays with is mobile toys, and kicks the crap out of them with his feet. He loves it. Everything he kicks it, it plays music. He is at the point now where he's able to lay on his blanket for a good 30 minutes and play on his own, and he smiles and talks to his toys. It's quite amusing at times.

On July 5th, Brenden visited the Toronto Zoo. Albeit too young, at only 2 and a half months to know what he was seeing or even where he was, it is a day spent outside, which now, means more sleep for us. We find now if we stay outside for 4-5 hours with him and bath him at night, he will sleep 7-8hrs. In fact, that night after the zoo and a bath, he slept for 9 hours straight. Not a peep. Last night was similar. He was outside for a good 4 hours, taking in the scenery at my Aunt Marilyn's and he hardly slept there. We got home, he woke up, gave him a bath, fed him and he slept for almost 8hrs. We also find that when he gets his sleep, he is much happier. Sounds a lot like me. Need my beauty sleep. Haha.

So far everything is good. Bad moods and crying are tough at times, but we're starting to get the hang of what to do if that's the case. The hardest is when the baby is crying in public. Because Brenden at times, has vocals higher than that of Mariah Carey. Just when you think he's screaming at the top of his lungs, he goes louder. That's usually the point I take over the stroller. People may stare, but I could care less. As long as we know he's fine, then that's the main thing. Eventually he stops, and all is fine again.

Anyway, another week in the books. Can't believe in 2 weeks, Brenden will be 3 months old. Everyone is right...they grow so fast. Gotta head to the baby's room. Sounds like he's waking up. Time for a feeding.