Catching Up

Hi Everyone!!! Lots has been going on in our family.
1st of all 10/9 was my last day at The Dow Chemical Company, I am now home taking care of my baby, home & family! I LOVE being home with him and our family life has been a lot smoother - we've had nice dinners to boot!!! Staying home is a lot harder than you'd think, though I would not trade it for $1 million bucks!
Andrew & I have joined back up with our Bible Study group recently and it is good to be back. We're studying mentorship.
Dakota is now 19 weeks old and is on his way to sitting up. He has good strength and likes to sit forward, but doesn't quite have his balance down yet. He is absolutely amazing, a complete charmer, very alert & observant, and he loves to cuddle & to be with people!
Here is a picture of Dakota and me, with his BFF Raggedy Andy on 10/10! We're SO happy to be home together!!!!!!!!!!

At Dakota's 4 month check up, he was 25&1/2 inches long (which is 80%) and 14.6 pounds (25%), so he is Tall and Thin. :) Our Dr. said he is very alert and interactive and has great head/neck control for his age.
He has pretty much out grown his 0-3 month outfits in length but not in width, and doesn't have much length left to grown into his 3-6 months outfits but most of them are way to big on him width wise. Crazy boy, I think I might need to cut off the feet of some of those outfits so he has something to wear, as there is no way I can move him up to the next size, they'd fall off of him.
On 10/10, Dakota turned 4 months old! He was very excited about that as you can tell from the photos below!

Andrew is doing pretty good. He is busy with work, school and our family, but is keeping his head above water. He makes sure to spend time with Dakota and us every evening. Here is a picture of the proud daddy & his boy on 10/16/09. Aren't they great together!?!?

Here is Dakota on 10/17, in a new 3-6 month sized outfit, it says "Cute-A-Saurous" and we agree!
His new favorite game is Peek-A-Boo! Patty Cake is still right up there though. He also LOVES to be read to while he looks at the pictures and to tell us lots of stories...so cool! Dakota "talks" a lot!

On 10/17, Emily went to her Junior Year Homecoming Dance. Isn't she lovely!??!
She went to lunch with some friends, then to get her hair done, then home, then to Dow Gardens for photos, then to dinner at her friend Loren's house, then to the dance, then to a party and then home again with Brianna to stay up way late chatting...jigity-jig! Here are some of the pictures we took.....Tadah!


Quick question, what do you do when your baby is about to out grown his little baby bath tub????? I thought about the kitchen sink, but think that will be too drafty and I am concerned he is still way too little for the real bathtub. Moms, pls share your tips!!!
Here is Dakota on 10/19, just before his bath. And we can confidently report now that he LOVES his baths! He kicks and splashes the water and has a fantastic time. His fav is when I lay the washcloth over his belly and pour warm water onto it and his legs!!! Sometimes he tries to drink the water, gross! I need to get out his bath toys now that he is big enough to play with them.

Finally, here is Dakota on 10/20, with his new Tigger toy. He totally loves it! And he is putting everything in his mouth these days. He also enjoys sitting in his high chair and watching me cook and tidy up the kitchen, etc and I love to entertain him while I do those things, though it can get a bit crazy some days!!!

On 10/21 Dakota moved up to #2 sized diapers! Recently in addition to telling lots of great stories, Dakota has begun screaming & screeching when he is excited! It is super cute!! Oh and he has the most precious laugh!! It delights us all when he laughs and smiles. He is SUCH a joy & blessing to our home & family!
Well I gotta run, TTFN! Thank you for checking in! Bye!