One Month Old!

WOW - Landon is One Month Old today. I can't believe it! This time has really flown by. He's doing great! He eats well and is (knock on wood) even sleeping relatively well. The last few nights we've been getting some good 5 hr stretches which feel great! Sometimes there are little "catches". Like one night the 5 hrs didn't start until after midnight and one night he wanted it all to end at 4am (too early for me to be up for the day!) - but generally 5 hrs is good!

- Landon has soley nursed up until last night. He took his first bottle - about 2.5oz. He did great - drank it all up and even burped after. Burping isn't a regular thing - about half the time we can get one. Kills me when he is crying and squirming around and we can't get anything out. Poops are sorta difficult too. Poor kid!

- Landon enjoys his bouncy, could give or take the swing and seems to really enjoy his playmat (we just got it out yesterday for the first time).

- He's even coo'd a few times over the last two days.

- He still enjoys sleeping a lot (which is great!). As long as he gets enough awake time to sleep at night he can continue sleeping as much as he wants during the day!

- Seems to enloy bathtime as long as the water is nice and warm. Getting ut though is another story...being cold is not fun!

The other stats...

- he is now in size 1 diapers. Newborn only lasted about 3 weeks.

- wearing 0-3 mo clothes for the most part. A few newborn things still fit, but not a lot.

- Baby achne has set in just a tad. There are traces on his cheeks, but not so bad.

We love our newest little man! He's a joy and blessing to our family!

First Bottle

Tonight Daddy gave Landon his first bottle. He took it like a champ. This is great news! If you remember - Alayna was pretty against the bottle for the first 7 months of her life - makes things really easy for Mommy (sense the sarcism!). He took his second bottle like a champ as well - once we were able to wake him up to eat it. We are hoping his bottle acceptance continues so we are able to get out at times. I love you Landon, but sometimes being away from you for more than 2 hrs at a time will do us both good :)

Dr Grant

Landon's one month appt is coming up next Friday. Grant thought he'd check him out in the mean time just to make sure all is well. According to Dr Grant - things are good!

Princess

A few SURPRISING pictures of Alayna below. Saturday she was asking for a princess dress and a "princess thing" (which I'm still a bit puzzled on and never did really figure out what it was). So we got out the lady bug costume because it has a TON of sparkle, headband and a magic wand AND we got out the princess dress. I was so excited she put them on at her very own will :) But it did only last a couple minutes for each one. Oh well!

(I know - you like her outfit right? Orange giraffe print tank over pink long sleeve shirt with flowered pants? She was insistant that we needed a shirt to match the orange flowers on her pants (the two shades of pink were just not good enough) and this was the only orange we could find. I'm just happy she knows her colors to tell me she want to match her orange flower :)

Uh-Oh

Help, Help....is what we hear being called from the kids' bedroom on Sunday afternoon. When Brian went in to check what was going on - Alayna was found like this - on top of the firetruck bed. Why are you on top of the bed Alayna? "Grant telled me to jump."

Pickin' out Pumpkins

After Landon met Great Grandpa and Grandma Vande Zande we went to Grandma and Grandpa Kok's house. Grandma asked us to help get the pumpkins out of the garden. They weren't too big this year, but they were perfect size for us to handle. We got them out of the garden and handed them to Brayden in the gator so we could take them up by the house.

There were medium size white and orange and really small white and orange See...perfect size!

Grandma had gotten rid of some of her flower planters already. It sure was fun to kick the dirt.

Grant had fun throwing little cherry tomatoes from the garden into the corn field. WOW - what an arm!

The pumpkin harvest of 2011

Now...time to get 'em clean

More Grandparents :)

Last week Thurs I got to meet another set of my Great Grandparents. I'm so fortunate to have so many GREAT Grandparents to meet!

Great Grandma Vande Zande Great Grandpa Vande Zande. His birthday is August 18 and Mommy thought surely I was going to be born on his birthday. She was WRONG. I held out on her and came 9 days later:) I'm a sneaky little guy!

We all went to McDonalds for lunch. Mommy went to feed me in the car while Grant and Alayna played on the slides. Then we went to visit at Great G&G's house for a while. It was a really nice visit and I'm glad I was able to meet them already. Hope to go back again soon!

Fireman

Today we went to the park and I mastered the Fireman pole. Mommy helped me the first few times and now I'm a pro! Alayna likes to do it too, but she can't do it by herself yet like I can. First you put one hand out, then the other and then swing your feet around and slide down. It's a lot of fun!

Grant's Great Day at Preschool!

I had a great day at preschool today. When Mommy picked me up I had this special sticker on my shirt. It says "I did a great job sharing today." Mommy was really proud of me. I had shared really well with my friends when we were playing the marble game.

Also notice the purple "G" on my paper I'm holding in the picture. I wrote it all by myself! Mommy didn't know I could even do that! She asked me to write it again, but everytime I did it it ended up to be backwards. Oh well - I'll keep working on it!

It's Getting Chilli

Time to start bundling up for heading outside. Grant and Alayna like to play outside even if its chili out - so I guess I just have to wear this crazy stuff. Lucky for me Grant got this sweatshirt and hat as a gift when he was born and Mommy thought it would surely fit him in the spring so she saved it...he was too big though. So this outfit was BRAND NEW for ME! It's super cute and nice and warm. :)

Crazy Sleeping

It could be possible that Mommy didn't velcro this swaddle blanket correctly when she put me to bed...or I really kicked a lot this night. Either way it was quite the shocker to Mommy when she came to feed me :) Hehe...gotta keep her on her toes!

Meeting More Grandparents

Sept 11, at Owen's birthday party Landon was able to meet 3 more of his Great Grandparents! Great Grandma Meidam
Great Grandpa Meidam, Daddy & Landon and Grandpa Meidam (a second 4th generation of Meidam men)

Great Grandma Schmidt - who turned 91 on Sept 11. Happy Birthday Great Grandma!

First Zoo Visit

Landon's first trip to the zoo at 2 weeks old. Here he is visiting the cows in the Zoo Farm. He was a real trooper! Slept the morning, ate while everyone else ate lunch and then slept the rest of the afternoon.

Grandpa and Grandma came along too. Landon's first trip to the zoo AND his first train ride. FUN!

Grant and Alayna had a great time too! They LOVE the train and we only go on the train on special visits to the zoo - like when Grandpa and Grandma or Daddy come along.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma - we all had a really great time!

Curlers

We put sponge curlers in Alayna's hair on Sat night after her bath and before bed. I knew it was a long shot on whether or not she would leave them in while sleeping. Typically she doesn't even want a pony, braid or ANYTHING in her hair when she sleeps. Well - we had her convinced this was going to be so neat to have curls the next morning. Well...after the 3rd time of her getting out of bed to tell me one fell out...I gave up. We took them all out and she had straight hair the following day. Oh well - maybe when she's a little older. The few curls she did get were really cute.

Week 2

Well - what did week 2 bring us?

We tried out the bathtub. Landon wasn't a huge fan during his first "official" bath. Baths since then though have been better - maybe it was the water temp or something.
Of course I had my helpers to make sure we got him really clean :)

All wrapped up and drying off.

Uncle Cory, Aunt Trisha and Brayden came to meet Landon on Labor Day

Other family events that made the week interesting... (see additional posts for some of these events) :)

- Grant and Alayna had a playdate at some friends on Tues am - to give Mommy a little rest time. Huge THANKS to them! They had a great time with Lydia and Madelyn!

- Grant started preschool on Wednesday and Alayna had a playdate with Miss Taylor...another Huge THANKS! Made it easier for me to take Landon to his "weigh in"

- Friday we took Alayna to the Dentist and she did great there so we went out to lunch to Noodles

- Friday night we went to Tosa Fest

- Saturday Daddy had a work event and G&G Kok came to visit - we took Landon to the zoo for his very first time!

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Tummy Time

Look at this strong little man. Nice work on your tummy time little buddy!

After all the hard work of tummy time Landon needed a break to "hang" with his big brother.

Sleeping Where?

Landon slept all night in his big boy bed at about 12 days old. Daddy is usually quicker to think they should move to their own room than Mommy. Landon is a grunty little boy - apparently Mommy can sleep right through all those little grunts, but wake up when it's time to feed him. Daddy on the other hand - wakes up with all the little grunts. SO...Landon is alread in his big boy bed...crazy!

Dentist

Alayna had a visit with her dentist last week (9-9). She was a bit nervous at first, but did a great job after warming up a bit. The hygenist told her all about all the "tools" they were going to be using and she was even able to pick BLUE toothpaste to polish her teeth with.
This dentist is pretty cool because not only do they check teeth, but for little girls they put on lipstick (the pink dye they use on their teeth to make sure the brushing we are doing is getting all the gunk off her teeth) and paint finger nails (something to pass the time while waiting for the dentist to come do the final check. She got a little nervous when the dentist came and cried during his check because I had told her she was going to have a "lady" dentist (oops - she wasn't there that day).

Lipstick

Check out those sunglasses!

Alayna did such a good job she got to pick where we went for lunch after. She picked Noodles for some great Mac n Cheese! It was a fun day!

Weigh In

Landon's 1 week appt to "weigh in" went well! On day 4 I found out from the lactation consultant that the first 3 days newborns are expected to lose weight, day 4 stay steady and day 4 is the first day of really gaining anything. Hopes are that babies gain about 1oz per day. Well - Landon weighed 7lbs 10oz at birth, left the hospital at 7lbs 2.4oz on day 3, day 4 was 7lbs 3oz and after 1 week he was 7lbs 14oz. HOORAY!!! 3oz over where he really "needed" to be. I was pretty excited - when nursing one never knows how much a baby is eating and sometimes Landon was acting like Grant did. When I nursed with Grant he didn't gain and things just did not go well - I was so hoping that wasn't going to happen again.

Anyway - happy to report 7lbs 14oz at week 1. Way to go Landon! Keep it up!

First Day of Preschool

Oh My Goodness! Today (9/7) was Grant's first official day of PRESCHOOL!!! Grant is in 3K already - I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

Super excited to head to school. Doesn't that backpack look HUGE!
Getting ready to head into school

Playing with his friends until class starts.

When he came home and I asked how his day was he said "good". I asked what they did - if they painted "yes", did you sing any songs "yes", read any stories "yes"...if I asked he answered, but I wasn't getting a lot of specifics. Mommies of some of the girls in his class heard all the specifics and excited talks of school all afternoon. I guess that's the difference b/w boys and girls huh? Maybe......... So glad he likes school!

Labor Day Camping

This is the 11th year in a row for Labor Day Camping with Brian's college roommates. Well - there was one year we had planned to go in July instead of Labor Day (b/c some people thought weddings were more important than camping - whatever! :) ) Anyway - we tent camped up until 3 years ago when kids started coming into the picture. Grant was the only kid to tent camp at 9mos old - that was an adventure! So - in 2011 - we rented a house near Sheboygan on Lake MI. Crazy thing is - this is the first year we ever had a place rented REALLY far in advance and then two couples ended up pregnant and due the week before Labor Day. One of those couples was us :) and the other is Scott and Jeanette.

Sweet and beautiful Lana
Carla, Tyler, Grant and Alayna, Becky and Lana all playing Ring Around the Rosie

Tyler and Alayna having a snack

The two youngest camping members this year - Anna (3 mos) and Landon (1 wk). Connor was missing - 2 wks. Landon and I only made it for Sat afternoon/early evening - but it was great to see everyone and catch up.

Well - after this long together - we had an official camping shirt made up. On the back it lists all of our camping locations for the past 10 years. Crazy - 2011 was the "Year of the Baby". We look forward to this weekend every year. So fun!

Week One

What have I been up to in my first week? Well... Aunt Sheila came to visit me
So did Macey...

Owen...

Aunt Jayme...and Nolan and Uncle Chad

Grandma Meidam came to help Mommy so Daddy could get a bit of work catch up done. Alayna, Grant and Grandma baked a whole lot of cookies

Grandma Meidam and the boys...my shirt is a little too small - didn't really cover my belly very well. Apparently my brother was a bit smaller than me. Thanks to Mommy for buying me some bigger ones at the store :)

My big brother and sister really must LOVE me - they talk to me all the time and love to take turns holding me

Oh man...time for another nap! I sleep nearly the whole day away. Mommy says it is important for me to have 2-3 hrs of awake time during the day/early evening or we are in for a long night. I guess by "we" she means her and daddy b/c I'm perfectly fine with being awake - not sure why they aren't!

My first sponge bath. I only needed one of these because my umbilical cord fell off already by Thursday (I think). Mommy was surprised it fell off that quickly.

I wasn't a huge fan of bath time...once I warmed up it wasn't too bad.

This is quite the life

Can't really fully see it here, but all of my skin is peeling off. I'm shedding big time...all over my blankets, crib, floor and whoever holds me. Don't wear a dark color - looks like you have dandriff!

Aren't I a cutie!

Daddy and his boys

I am ONE WEEK old today! (in this picture - I realize Mommy is a bit behind in getting this up on the blog itself)