Merry Christmas

Here's a few photos from our Christmas

From Perryn - December 2008

From Perryn - December 2008

From Perryn - December 2008

From Perryn - December 2008

Perryn and Santa

Merry Christmas everyone!

This is a photo we snapped last weekend at a restaurant. Santa and Mrs. Claus were walking around visiting the kids.

From Perryn - December 2008

A Little Smirk

From Perryn - December 2008

"I'd like out please"

From Perryn - December 2008

Grandma B and Perryn

From Perryn - December 2008

Busy, Busy

Well, it has been crazy busy both at work and at home lately. Getting ready for Christmas is always a busy time and we've also been doing some projects like baby proofing. We now have gates up to close in the living room and keep the little guy out of danger (or at least narrow down the possibilities).

We had some stonework done around flower beds outside a couple weeks ago and although they pretty much look *nothing* like what we requested, I do kind of like them. I'll have to take a photo and post it. It was also less expensive than I expected, so I guess overall I'm happy.

We knocked one big "to do" item off of our list last night. We booked a cruise a while back and have been meaning to get on the website and choose some shore excursions for the ports. We did that last night and I'm pleased to say that we are going to be doing some snorkeling, ATV riding, kayaking and even doing a "discover scuba" excursion. Can't wait!

Now, if I can just finish my xmas shopping...

New Cars

Perryn playing with some new cars. Forgive his "bad hair day" LOL.

From Perryn - November 2008

Brrrr

So, I get to work today and as soon as I login to our instant message system one of my co-workers IM's me that it is -12 degrees in Fargo and -39 wind chill.

I'm sorry for all you folks up there. :-) BRRRRR.

It's cold here today also. It was 74 yesterday with a strong wind coming from the south (bringing in the warm air) and today is 29. How about that temperature change? Wasn't expecting that when I got dressed this morning - lol.

Picture of the Day

From Perryn - November 2008

"I Want the Remote"

Perryn and Grandpa play with the remote, er... watch TV.

From Perryn - November 2008

And the Next Milestone to Report...

We're pretty excited about this one... he holds his own bottle. Very convenient at breakfast when we are busy trying to get to work. :-)

From Perryn - November 2008

Standing Up

I guess I'm a little behind posting photos. Perryn is now pulling up on the furniture, but hasn't figured out walking (even if we're holding his hands). Here's a pic of Perryn standing at the cofee table with Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa arrived the weekend before Thanksgiving.

From Perryn - November 2008

First Tooth

Yep, that little white speck in Perryn's mouth is his first tooth emerging.

From Perryn - November 2008

Playing with Mommy and Daddy

Some photos of us playing from the weekend.

From Perryn - October 2008

From Perryn - October 2008

Another Fond Memory

Believe it or not, this is another moment that I wanted to capture. We have plenty of pictures of our little guy smiling and happy, but who thinks to take pictures of the whiny moments.

And doesn't Gary look thrilled? :-)

From Perryn - October 2008

Ahhhh

Perryn frequently falls asleep during his last bottle and it's just oh so precious. I wanted to capture the moment because I know it is just one of those things I will miss when he's older.

From Perryn - October 2008

Here's another shot as we were going upstairs to bed

From Perryn - October 2008

Fall Carnival

We took Perryn to the Fall Carnival that the daycare sponsored. Roberta joined us also. This is Perryn and me in the "balloon room". They had different themes/games in each room and a big bounce house outside. We knew there wouldn't be much for babies, (geared towards older kids), but I got the opportunity to use Perryn's costume, so I was happy.

From Perryn - October 2008

Roberta and Perryn

From Perryn - October 2008

The Big Tub

I guess I haven't been very good about posting pictures this month, so I'll try to catch up over the next couple days.

This is a photo we took from Perryn's first bath in the "big" tub. The rubber ducky was a gift from Grandma C. It quacks when you squeeze it's beak. In hindsight, I'd have to say that it does seem like a little bit of a poor design since Perryn can neither see nor squeeze the beak while sitting in it. (I registered for this, so I'm certainly not complaining about Grandma's choice of a gift - LOL). I do still think it's cute and it is handy to have a smaller area than the entire tub, as well as a soft landing when he falls over.

From Perryn - October 2008

Progress with Crawling

Here's a very short video showing the progress Perryn has made at learning to crawl.

Happy Halloween!!

From Perryn - October 2008

Perryn "Creeping"

Here's some video of Perryn creeping. He'll be crawling soon.

This is in 2 parts:

Perryn Playing in Exersaucer

Here's some video of Perryn playing in his exersaucer

Perryn in a "tie"

Here's Perryn in his "dress" onesie that Grandma C gave him. :-)

Picture of the Day

This is Perryn in an outfit that one of my cousins sent (Sharon & Joe).

Playing with Pepere

I'm just a little slow copying some photos from my camera to my PC. Here's one from Pepere's visit.

6 Month Photos

We took Perryn for pictures last Monday and this time we decided to go all out and do family photos. I had fun shopping for coordinating outfits. :-)

This is *my* favorite:

Here's the one of Perryn and me:

You can click on either of the photos to take you to all of the others.

Sitting Up

Here's some video of Perryn sitting up and playing with his puppy rattle.

Picture of the Day

Just a cute photo

Go Patriots

We did a little photo shoot this weekend of Perryn in the outfit that Pepere brought for him. I think this was the best photo of many attempts. :-)

Sitting Up

Perryn is in the process of learning to sit up unassisted. He's getting pretty good at it. This is a photo from the first time that he sat on his own for several minutes at one time. Usually he topples over pretty quickly.

Watching TV

One of the things that surprises me about babies is that a 6 month old can be soooo interested in the TV. It actually started much earlier than 6 months, although I don't recall exactly when. In this photo he's on the play area in the living room which happens to be under the TV. He's trying to lean back far enough to see the TV.

A Trip to the Zoo

Pepere (Gary's dad) visited this weekend and we were lucky enough to have a beautiful day on Sunday, so we decided to take Perryn to the zoo. We really got lucky because Hurricane Ike passed through the area on Saturday and it rained in the afternoon and evening. We originally expected to get rain all weekend, but it came in later than expected and cleared up earlier.

I can say that Perryn enjoyed the zoo, in that it was a nice day to be out and walk around, etc. However, I can't say for sure whether he actually noticed *any* of the animals. It was still fun and we got some nice photos of the experience. Here's a couple shots:

How many monkeys do you see?



Family Photo:



Cute place to pose:

House Photos

I finally took photos of the house now that we've moved in and gotten settled. The only things missing are the exterior and the study. The study is still full of boxes and temporary furniture. :-)

Here's a link

Picture of the Day

Hello, Foot

Perryn has recently discovered his feet. He'll often grab one or both of them and yes, even suck on his toes.

Good Morning

This is a typical "I'm so happy to see you" look that we get when we go get Perryn up in the morning. It just makes my heart melt. :-)

Labor Day

Roberta came over for Labor Day and Gary grilled up some goodies for us. This was the first time Roberta has gotten to swim in the pool. Here's a pic of her with Perryn.

Teething

Perryn has been putting everything he grabs in his month since he figured out how to do so. In this picture he's playing with a rattle by exploring it with his mouth.



I think he might be starting to teethe though because lately he starts crying when he's doing this. I suspect the hard plastic is actually hurting his sore gums. I took this toy away after this photo and gave him something softer to chew on. Of course, he didn't really appreciate my taking it away either, but he quickly forgot about it.

Picture of the Day

Just a cute picture in the bumbo seat.

5 Month Photos

Here's my favorite photo from Perryn's 5 month photo session, which was on Monday.

(This is a low resolution photo that I got from their website, so probably not printable).

Picture of the Day

Here's a picture of Perryn from the other morning. He had just woken up and this is a pretty typical morning expression. He looks really alert, huh? LOL. I think he's going to take after mommy and not be much of a morning person.

This is an outfit that Pepere gave him.

After a Swim

I thought this was a cute expression. He's sitting on my lap after a swim and yes... he's wrapped in *my* towel. We don't normally give him a pink towel. :-)

Let's go boating

We tried out Perryn's little floating boat last weekend. He seemed to enjoy it. I had to hold on to him since he can't quite sit up on his own and it's pretty wide open, but I think it was something fun for him to do in the water.

Picture of the Day

Here's Perryn going for a walk in his carrier in an awake state. :-)

Sleep walking

The thing we've come to understand about babies is that they're all about timing. Take a typical night, for example. If we nail the timing, then we're rewarded with a quiet, relaxing evening. If we blow it, then we're facing several trips back and forth to the nursery, trying to coax a none-too-cooperative infant off to sleep.

We like to start Perryn's nightly ritual at 7:30 or so. We give him a bath, or maybe just change his diaper, and dress him in a fresh pair of pajamas. Then we feed him some cereal and finish that off with a bottle. If all goes well, he's comfy and content and drifting off to sleep by the end of the bottle. We put him down at 8:30 and get the rest of the evening to relax or get other stuff done.

Our nightly ritual

Bath	+ PJs	+ Bottle	= Sleeping baby

Of course, it's not as simple as it sounds. For one thing, the successful execution of the nightly ritual requires proper setup in the afternoon. If we haven't allowed enough time between his previous bottle, then he may not be hungry for dinner. Or, if he naps too late in the afternoon, then he might not be sleepy at bedtime.

And so it was that Rachelle and I found ourselves the other night: we had just finished eating. It was still only 6:45, so we had about forty-five minutes to kill before starting our routine. We decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. The only complication is that Perryn almost always falls asleep in his stroller, and it was way too close to bedtime for him to be napping.

No problem, we thought, we'll break out the baby carrier. We'd tried it a couple of times before, but Perryn wasn't quite big enough to fit in it comfortably (faithful readers may recall a previous post on the subject). We reasoned that he'd be far less likely to fall asleep in the carrier than he otherwise would in the stroller.

Well ... guess what? It turns out that babies can sleep, like, anywhere.

Perryn really took to the carrier. He didn't fuss a bit as we walked the neighborhood. I think he enjoyed watching all the scenery for a change. But after about twenty minutes, the soothing motion of the carrier got the better of him and he was out. We carried his limp little body back home and had to wake him up so that we could change him, and feed him, and put him to bed.

Perryn falls asleep in his baby carrier

And how did we fare later that evening? Well, as I recall, he was a little less patient than usual when eating his cereal. And he was a little fussier when we put him to bed. But Rachelle and I did get one more fond memory that we get to keep along with the others. And I think it was worth it.