And we're back

Well, it has been a busy couple of months and I have forgotten all about the poor little blog. Here is some of what we have done/happened over the past couple of months:

1. Derek officially "hands/knees" crawls = gets into everything

2. Along with crawling, he is a climber (climbs over Fletch, through our tables, underneath the bed-he figured that if ducked his head low enough he could squeeze underneath the bed getting back out was the hard part, climbs on the dishwasher door when open, this kid will climb over anything-pray this is a phase and he doesn't continue this as he gets older)

3. We got sick a lot = no sleep for mama, steam room bathrooms, nebulizer treatments, antibiotics, etc, etc

4. It snowed 20 inches mid-February (the most I have ever seen in one snow fall in my entire life-it was crazy)

5. I went to the zoo, Ikea, and Costco in Cincinnati

6. Derek has his 2 bottom and 2 top teeth

7. Had fun with Grandma and Grandpa Falk for a couple of days

8. We had to move the crib to the lowest position and take out his bumper since he almost tried to climb out of it in hopes of reaching his frog humidifier

9. Our little guy has become quite the little eater. There is nothing this little man doesn't really like...including paper


That is us in a nutshell. Just our day to day life but man does our little guy make me smile. He brings me so much joy. Just a few pics to share our story...

20 inches of snow later...

He loves the frog

One of his favorite things to do, play in the dog's food/water bowls

Helping me with the dishes

Our little sick man

Again with the dog bowls (mind you there is water all over the floor at this point that Derek is just crawling through)

Fletch's new favorite spot so he can catch all the crumbs

2 sharp bottom teeth = this (now we have covers over the top railings)

He is set on getting those darn rocks (tongue out and all...just like Dad and Grandpa Falk)

Enjoying the zoo

Driving home from Spring Break...would not recommend a 9+ hour drive by yourself with a little person who doesn't like their carseat. He was a trooper

Carpet Speed Bump

Derek is now beginning to figure out how to really get around these days. He's on the verge of "officially" crawling. But, he has been army crawling/scooting for the past month. He's one fast little man. In fact, call child protective services cause he has scooted himself off the bed...twice. Yeah, that's right. You think I would have learned the first time. I can't turn my back on this guy for 1 second without him getting into all sorts of things...computers, cell phones, calculators, remotes of any kind. What can I say, he loves technology?

See the determination in his eyes? He's probably fixated on either the dog or my cell phone...

These next 3 pics, he seems to be enjoying a new delicacy...the carpet. You ask why he started doing this? My answer to everything else about this little guy....I have no idea why he does the things he does. He's slowly figuring out his world by putting everything in his mouth...

King of the House

Since Derek seems to control most aspects of our lives, we thought it would be a appropriate for him to have his own throne...

Lovin' it

Letting someone else have a turn at King

Baby It's Cold Outside

Nothing new really going on with us. I feel like January is the one month of the year that goes by slow for me. Maybe it's cause the holidays just zoom by and not much happens in January? I don't know. But, I've always felt that and this January is not much different. Needless to say, we have enjoyed getting back into our routine at home and watching our little man grow up. 6 months on the 19th. He is getting bigger by the moment. Here are some things that he enjoys: playing with Fletch (playing isn't quite the term but he does enjoy having Fletch around him-he smiles at him all the time), eating solids (oatmeal, sweet potatoes, avocados, bananas, squash, and carrots so far-not a fan of pears and rice cereal ), going on walks, biting everything he gets his hands on (including my face), being with his Dad (I think he's a Daddy's boy), army crawling (mostly using his right arm), playing peek-a-boo, and being thrown up in the air...he is such a happy, sweet baby and we are loving each precious moment.

"I don't know how I feel about this cold weather Mom"
(He seems to make every kind of facial expression that you can imagine with the use of his eyebrows and his lips)

Magazines look mighty comfortable to take a nap on...weird dog

A man after his Dad's heart...already going for the Xbox

He reverted to just sucking the banana off the tray (wasn't able to get that on camera).
He is already a problem solver

Mr. wide eyed about to make a move for it...

Slowly inching forward

Christmas and Such...

Not much to say other than that we had a great time at Christmas, seeing a little of both of our sides in Portland, Oregon. We feel so blessed to have both sides living near each other and we were very blessed this holiday season. We were also able to bless Derek while we were there too. Be prepared to be overloaded with pictures...

Our family

Derek's blessing outfit

I love this little man

Derek loves his cousin Madison

He loves to eat bananas...and his spoon for that matter

Todd must have taught him his manners

Mmm...squash and oatmeal

And, sometimes he would prefer his toes

Derek was baby Jesus this year (my family acts out the Nativity on Christmas Eve)

Some of the Grandkids (8 are missing out of this picture)

Some of the men in the family

And some of the women

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time and a Happy New Year!

Tastings and Talents

Tasting #1: Root Beer

Last weekend, Todd and I decided to get crazy and have a rootbeer tasting contest of some local rootbeers in the area (or the midwest, really). So, the winner was...Sioux City Rootbeer. Even the "top rated NY Times" one (the one on the far right), to me was nasty. We still really like the rootbeer at Brick Oven, good 'ole A&W and Henry Weinhardt's. It's a toss up with those...

Talent #1: Jumping

Derek is our little jumping bean! He loves to jump and he jumps in this thing for a good 15-20 minutes until he needs a little break...over stimulation, perhaps?

Tasting #2: Oatmeal

He tried some oatmeal this week. He looked at me like, "Whatever this is, it is nasty!" It's an acquired taste, I tell him...

Talent #2: Toe-touch

"Oh, there you are little feet, you've been hiding."
He does this a lot these days...grabs his feet whenever he gets the chance.
Sometimes, I even catch him sucking on his big toe...pretty flexible.

Thanksgiving and then some...

Thanksgiving just crept up on this year. We were happy to skip town and head out to stay with Todd's family and were also able to see some of my family too. We are lucky to have them both living in the same area :) We had a great time with family and are now getting back to the realities of life back home. Todd has been very busy at work, logging in some long days. Nothing new for me has been going on. I partly decorated for Christmas. I have yet to get our fake tree out. I'm wondering if it's even worth it now. But, I love Christmas and the Christmas tree (although I prefer a real one, maybe we'll get a real one next year). The pictures below prove that Derek is growing up, slowly (weight, that is) but surely. He is still our little banana baby...tall and skinny. These are just a few random pictures of me messing with the camera. My goal is to learn how to take some great shots of our kids, as you can see, I have a lot to learn...

Anyone ready for turkey?

Derek is now beginning to have the technique down of grabbing and pulling on Fletch's hair...he doesn't mind a bit (However, the Santa hat that I put on him is another story)

This turned out dark but I wanted to show that he sits up (kind of...before he topples over)

His little mind at work