Potty Training? And lots more!

Are we crazy?!?! No, we're not crazy. We aren't really, truly potty training....we're just being prepared. A friend of ours who has a little girl 10 days older than Denver happened to go on the potty chair so Daddy said it's time to buy one! I refuse to clean out a potty chair and try to find a place to store one (or walk around one as our bathroom is too little the way it is), so I bought a seat that fits on top of the toilet. It has Sesame Street characters on it and for those of you who know Denver well, he LOVES Elmo, so he was super excited to see Elmo on the potty seat. Every once in a while we'll pull the seat out and let Denver sit on it. He thinks he's pretty cool sitting on the toilet, but hasn't figured out what to do yet, which is just fine with us. We don't want our little boy to grow up any faster than he already is on his own without any encouragement from us. (Any tips or hints you have about potty training for when we truly are serious about this we'd appreciate! You can email me or leave a COMMENT.)

We also had permission at Denver's 15 month appointment to turn his car seat around! The car seat in Daddy's pickup doesn't face backwards so he has had some rides facing forward prior to this, but now he gets to ride forward facing all the time. Denver loves watching the cars go by and I love the fact that I can actually see him and what he's doing now!

Denver got a big boy hair cut last Saturday. It's his first real short haircut (that was cut this short purposefully anyway....we did have that one in August that was shorter too, I guess). He looks like such a big boy with his hair cut like this. It's made me realize how much his little face has changed.

Denver has returned to being a Daddy's boy. He loves spending time with his Dad and would much rather listen to Daddy read him his books at night than Mommy. This has been a bit of a tough transition for me. I appreciate the time I can go get stuff done without someone hanging on my leg, wanting up to see what I'm doing, but especially after I get home from working a 12 hour shift I've missed my little guy and just want to snuggle.

Denver continues to like to clean and got into the Swiffer this past weekend. He found the button that sprays the cleaner and he made a mess! The little stinker. I can't wait until he knows how to "truly clean" and be our good little helper.

Denver got to spend some more time with his cousin Jacob this past weekend. He continues to love him and want to love on him, but he was not interested in taking pictures with him. We'll just pretend we didn't want them looking AT the camera. :)

All BOY! Denver is definitely all boy. He continues to find my potted plant that always gets neglected and some how is still alive. He has started taking his little shovel for the beach and trying to shovel the dirt out. After being told "no" he usually listens and goes on with things so after it happened today I expected to turn back around and see him playing with something else, but instead I saw him EATING dirt! (Oh what fun are we going to have this summer!) To top it off Denver and I had just taken a shower...at least there's not enough dirt that he didn't get real dirty. As you can see in the picture we need to invest in a bigger robe!

Also, just wanted to update all of you on Jovie. She's doing amazing thanks to all of the prayers she's received. She has finally been able to eat. This is huge as she never was able to eat before. Things are going so well that it looks like she'll be discharged from the hospital next weekend (not this weekend) and will stay in Pittsburgh where she can continue to see a feeding specialist (although she's been doing so well with and couldn't get enough orange sherbet!) and any other docs that she needs before she can return home again. Thank you for all of your prayers! Our God is so good!

Give Thanks to the Lord

1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

By my title I'm guessing you've figured it out.....YES....Denver's test ALL came back normal!!!!! This couldn't have made us more happy or more excited. The verse I started this post with just keeps going through my head as I'm just so thankful that God has brought us through this with such wonderful results and has made it so we can relax again and enjoy our perfect little boy!

The plan was to just watch Denver and check his weight again at 18 months if all of these tests came back normal. I say the WAS because we have decided to change that plan a "smidged". Today when I was at work, anxiously awaiting a call back from the clinic with the rest of Denver's test results I listened to a family telling our speech therapist (who yes, is called a speech therapist, but no she's not working on the babies speech, she works with their bottling and is an expert on picking up on cues that a baby is giving and why they may be struggling with bottling and what they can do to help the baby progress) about their older child at home who had struggled with feeding issues and I felt like they were almost exactly describing Denver. When our pediatrician called me with Denver's test results and we talked about what to do from here I told him some of the conversation that I and this family had with our speech therapist and he agreed that it wouldn't hurt to have them evaluate Denver. Now, I don't know what they exactly all do at a consult with a speech therapist with a 15 month old, but I'm hoping they'll be able to pick up on some feeding cues of Denver's....whether he has trouble with swallowing some things, or if his reflux is causing issues and he's just not presenting it how he used to so we didn't realize he was still struggling with it, etc. and then with that information I'm hoping they'll be able to give us some hints on how to get Denver to eat better. Denver likes to eat, but he doesn't usually shovel food in like most kids do and he'd rather graze than eat a bunch at one time. Also, something that has also really bothered us is that Denver will chew and chew something, but then spit it out or as we say "abort" some of his food and then he just decides he's done eating. With this said, we ask that you PRAISE God for answering our prayers in all the normal test results that we received, but that you pray that Denver can learn to eat better so he can at least maintain where he's at on the growth chart instead of continuing to drop. We understand that Denver will probably never be a huge kid or person for that matter, but we also want to make sure he thrives and does well and that we aren't missing something that he really needs. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers thus far as they have helped us get this far and we at least now know that their is nothing majorly "wrong" with him!

Also, I keep forgetting to put in my updates that Denver continues to get more teeth. Number 7 is all the way through and 8 is close to cutting through his gums. Next will be his 1 year molars which have been swollen (at least on the top) for quite some time so I'm guessing they won't be far behind. Denver's been a trooper with all of these teeth trying to come through at once and hasn't really acted like they bother him other than he rather drink his milk and pediasure (and chew on his sippy and everything else in site) instead of eating so much.

Since I know everyone appreciates pictures here are some pictures of Denver and his "zooey" (or is it "zooie", I can't remember now). Denver's Great-Great Aunt Ardis made him, his little sister, and his cousin Jacob all "zooey's". It's a long story of how the blankets got their names, but that makes the blanket special in its own way too. What makes this blanket extra special is that this Great-Great Aunt Ardis did this for her sister, who was Denver's Great-Grandma Betty, who Denver unfortunately never got to meet. Although this blanket doesn't replace Denver's sleeping blanket he loves to drag it around the house and to lay down on it on the floor in the living room. I hope this blanket will be a reminder to Denver of how special his Great-Grandma Betty was and how important of a person she was not only to his Mommy and Grandma, but to everyone else who knew her.

A Long Exhausting Week

We've had a long, emotional, exhausting week and boy am I happy Friday is here and is almost over! Very rare do I wish a week away, but after being so drained I have been anticipating Saturday more than I think I ever have.

First, I'm sure every one's been wondering where things are at with our 15 month old "little" Denver. Our emotional week began with Monday and lots of poking and prodding on our little man. Denver weighed in at 19lbs. 11oz. Although this wasn't 20lbs which I was hoping so much for, (but really didn't think we'd hit) it was a weight that I was very happy about. This puts Denver back with an "x" right below the 3%. (He had been WAY below the 3% the last 2 visits to the clinic...but he was sick then too, so dehydrated, not eating good, etc, etc.) He was 30 1/4 inches long and I'm not sure about his head, but both his length and head were back in their original percentiles or very close to it that there was no longer a concern in those areas, thank goodness! Even though Denver's moving back up on the growth chart, we and our pediatrician decided that we need to go ahead and do some testing just to make sure we aren't missing anything. After 21cc's of blood(and only one poke for all that blood!), bagging him for a sample of urine, and 2 shots (normal 15 month well baby shots) we finally got to leave the clinic! On Tuesday we had a phone call that some of the lab results were in and those that were back were all normal. Today (Friday) we had to go to the hospital where Denver was admitted as an outpatient and they completed a sweat chloride test. Believe it or not, I got a phone call just a little bit ago with those results and as I suspected they were normal too. Praise the Lord! We are only waiting on 2 more of the blood tests which are for celiac and an allergy panel. I asked for the allergy panel since we were doing other blood work anyway and he seems to get "bruises" under his eyes off an on which is an indication of allergies. We ask that you continue to pray for Denver and pray that at least the celiac test comes back normal. I know I've touched on celiac before, but for those of you who don't remember or didn't read that blog it would mean a specific diet for Denver that would include NO gluten. Gluten is in lots of things, so this is very scary for Evan and I in the thoughts that we would have to change how we prepare things at home and what we can let Denver indulge in. For now, we're just going to hope and pray it comes back normal.

I also had a doctor appointment for our little girl today. Once again everything looked great. Denver was a trooper by going to his appointment, then later to mine. He was such a good boy and I was so proud of him.

I have a couple of new pictures. The other night while the boys were waiting for me to come home from work they were playing and Daddy snapped some pictures (I was impressed...not just that he took pictures, but the quality of them too! Pretty good for a Daddy!) The boys have more and more fun playing together every day. I could watch them play together for hours. They are so silly and have so much fun together it just warms my heart.

Denver got into some scraps from Mom's sewing projects.

Here are some other miscellaneous pictures of Denver.

A lazy Saturday morning. Denver loves to play with his toys and read his books.Playing in the tub.

Denver loves to brush his teeth. Elmo is on his toothbrush and he LOVES Elmo, but he also likes Mommy's plain toothbrush too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We are having a good Valentine's day and hope you are too! I did some trading so I could have the day off with my boys and be able to go watch my cousin and his team play basketball (and it's finally in Sioux Falls so no driving!!!). Today was a much needed day after an exhausting week of running around and lots of time thinking about "life". First, I want to thank all of you for praying for Jovie and her family! It sounds like she's doing awesome and the organs looked great. The physician took extra time to make sure everything looked 100% before giving the organs to her otherwise he wasn't going to do the surgery. Praise the Lord for such a successful surgery. At the same time, Jovie and her family have a long road ahead of them. Please continue to pray for them and everyone taking care of Jovie. That her body can handle the meds and whatever she needs so her body does not reject the organs and that her story continues to be a success and touch many more peoples lives. She's an amazing little girl! Also, please pray for the family who had to say goodbye to their little one. I couldn't imagine going through the loss of a child and it will take them a long time to heal. Pray that Jovie's story can touch their lives and that they can feel like the loss of their child helped another one live. Also, we had another tragic loss in my hometown community. A good family friend of ours passed away at 23 years old due to drowning in a bin when he was helping his dad. This once again has turned my mind to the thought of life and how precious our lives are and how we never know when our end (but new beginning) will come. Please pray for this family and our community and their friends to find comfort during this difficult time! Yesterday, I was pulled to our pediatric floor as they are overflowing into 3 other units with children. RSV is out in full force! By the time the day was over I was able to take care of 6 different children, all who were within 5 months of Denver. To watch these kiddos not feel good and get poked and prodded while Mommy and Daddy had to stand by and watch; my heart just broke. I couldn't imagine being the ones in their shoes. It would be horrible to watch your child have to suffer so they can get better. I also, came home from work last night feeling scared about my "little" Denver and what news we may find out next week. I ask that you please pray for us, for Denver, and for our pediatrician as we have Denver's 15 month appointment next week and we will then know if we're going to do any testing to find out why he's so little and if we do we'll find out those test results. Even though I really feel in my heart that he's okay and if something is wrong it's something very minor that we can fix it stills scares me; especially after seeing all those little ones on peds yesterday. I think we've just had so many emotional things going on in our lives lately that I'm getting overwhelmed and I hope and pray that after next week my mind will be able to focus on our daily lives and not worry about the little things that we can't change or do, but to leave it all in God's hands. Now, that all of that has come out........I'm so grateful for today and the time we can spend as a family. Nothing is better than when we can spend time as just the 3 of us. I wrote this "post" on Valentine's day and waited as I had hoped to get some good pictures of Denver and his 2nd Valentine's day, but the camera was kind of forgotten about so sorry...no pictures once again. Denver continues to do well in his toddler bed and we are so very proud of him for making this transition. He's such a big boy! Denver makes us laugh every day and it's amazing what he learns every day as well. Last night he insisted on drinking water from my glass and after a couple sips he wanted to do it himself. He usually does pretty well with a glass, but this was a big glass full of water and ice. When I handed it to him I said "you're going to wear it" and sure enough....I was right. He immediately wore it and the ice cubes went down his chest and he was sitting in his highchair so the ice cubes were then sitting in his lap. At first he cried and then he said "brrrrrrrrr", it was so cute and funny. I wish I would've grabbed the video camera before I let him have the cup!

Prayer Request

Sorry, no pictures this time. I just want to get as many people praying as I possibly can for my dear little friend Jovie. I had helped them start a blog for her awhile back, but haven't been able to "teach" them how to really update/etc so it just has the intital blog, but it tells a little about her and her link is on my sidebar with the blogs that I follow. Anyway, I just got an update that she's on her way to Pittsburgh to get her transplant. This is huge for this little girl. It's so exciting, but so scary at the same time. Please pray for safe travels, to keep Jovie calm (and her family) through all of this as it will be scary to go to a new place, etc. Also please pray for the family who had to lose a loved one so Jovie could benefit from their organs. Keep the doctors, nurses, and everyone else involved in Jovie's care in your prayers also, so that everthing goes well and that Jovie and her family can feel God's presence with them. Thank you for all your prayers!

Growing up too fast!

Our little boy is once again growing up too fast. We no longer have a crib set up in our house. There's no way Mommy would have been ready to do this if we weren't trying to get ready for another baby! Last night after I got home from work and after we ate supper the mission to turn Denver's crib into a toddler bed began. It's amazing what you can forget after a year and a half has gone by...like where are the instructions and hardware to change this crib to a bed! I finally found them and work began. As you can tell from the pictures Denver thought this was great and was all about Daddy's toolbox. He is definitely a boy!

Denver and Daddy after his crib was transformed to his toddler bed.

This is cool Mommy!

Our first night in a toddler bed went amazingly well. He never woke up and cried, he never tried to get out, he just laid down and went to sleep like he always does, and woke up at 8a.m. this morning and stood in his bed crying until I went to get him. I thought wow that was easy, but let's see how naps go. We've been a little busy in our household lately with lots of running around and late nights and Denver was tired this morning so he went down for a nap and once again he was a champ. I laid him down in his crib and he went right to sleep and slept for 2 and a half hours! This never happens in the morning anymore! When he awoke he sat by the edge of his bed and patiently waited for me to come and get him out. I know it won't be long and he'll figure out how to get out of his bed as he knows how to get down from our bed and off the couch if he really wants to, so the time is coming, but for now I'm thankful this transition has been so easy. Please pray for Denver that this transition continues to be a good one for him, so he can be one step closer to being ready to welcome his little sister into this world.

Denver fast asleep in his bed!

Denver's a TV/Basketball Star!

Denver made our hometown news last night! We went to watch cousin Ethan play basketball against #3 in the state Viborg last night. Unfortunately after leading most of the game they lost by 1 thanks to a 3 point shot by Viborg with about 10 seconds of the game left. We were all bummed, but still super proud of the boys as they had played a tough game against Wagner (an A school) the night before that they won. On the bottom of the blog (in the red box) I embedded the "Sports Zone" broadcast, unfortunately I can't cut it down so you'll have to watch from the beginning to see Denver.

I forgot I actually had my camera at the game too, so here are some pictures of our little man enjoying the game. Denver loves to go to basketball games, but these close games get a little too loud and a little too late for him. The other night he was crying and clapping at the same time!

Denver's soon-to-be cousin Tom took Denver out on the floor at half time to let him run around and play with a basketball. Denver ate it up!

Stubbornness?

Is there a little stubbornness in our child? Today, I think the stubborn genes that Denver inherited shown right through him. Denver and I were at the mall with a girlfriend of mine and her little girl who is around Denver's age. I could tell Denver was getting tired, but we were to the point that it didn't matter if we left or not because he'd fall asleep in the car ride home if we left then and unfortunately this child does not know how to transfer from the car asleep and to STAY asleep, to finish his nap in his crib, so I decided we would stay a little longer. All of a sudden I look down at Denver and realize he's asleep. Only....this is how he was asleep. He did not want to give it up, so he was NOT willing to lay back in his stroller. Instead he fell asleep with his head against the hard plastic. I put his blankie up on the tray, but he wouldn't let me move his head to lean on that instead....his head had to fall there after he fell asleep again.

We also found this shirt at the mall today. It was too fitting for Denver so I couldn't pass it up when I saw it was also on sale. (It says: "Don't Be FOOLED BY MY SIZE")

Denver continues to become braver every day and one of these days I'm worried this little boy is going to go flying down the stairs if the baby gate ever gets left open. He's beginning to want to attempt to walk down the stairs like an "adult", but after a foot goes forward to try he quickly hesitates and waits to grab your hand or to turn around and go down on his hands and knees. Daddy likes to swing the door in towards the stairs so it doesn't stick out of it's left open, but then you don't realize as quickly that the gate is open....not only that, but Denver knows the gate is supposed to be closed so if he finds it open he goes to close it...so when Daddy has left it open he has to lean forward on the stairs to grab the gate to close it.

I just had to include this pictures of Denver. He's becoming quite the little character. Denver LOVES shoes. He is always digging in his shoes and socks bucket and pulling them out. He has a favorite pair of tennis shoes that he insists upon wearing, but he's recently become interested in some clogs that his Great Aunt Lynn gave him, that are yet too big...I'm thinking this fall they will fit, but he thought he had to wear them around the house today.

Praises and Prayer

The first praise we have to go along with the title of this blog is we had our official follow-up appointment for our baby girl's growth and she passed with flying colors. She weighed in at 1lb. 8oz. Her length actually was above the 50%! The most important measurement for them was her belly, as that had fallen in the 3% last time; this time is was in the 26% which I thought still was maybe small, but they said that's great....so we'll take it! At this point in time my doctor didn't think we would need to do anymore ultrasounds to follow her growth/weight we'll just keep track like any other pregnancy with my weight and uterus measurements. Not many people get a 24 week ultrasound, so we were lucky to be blessed with some more wonderful 3-D pictures of our little girl. Here are some that we just had to share with you...isn't she adorable?! :)

Our second praise to God is for our Denver (I want to call him our little Denver, but I guess I need to get out of that habit as he's growing and soon will be a BIG brother!). Denver continues to amaze us every day. He's growing into this adorable, intelligent, fun, loving boy. This boys vocabulary continues to grow every day it seems. Denver received an "ABC fridge toy" for Christmas that had originally been put away so we didn't have too many new things out at once. I took this out a week or 2 ago and within the first hour of it being on the fridge he hit the button that sings the "ABC's" and he began saying a b c with it! I was busy in the kitchen and couldn't believe my ears and then later that night he did it for his Daddy without even playing with the toy! He continues to love music and to "rock out" to it. His little arms go up in the air and he moves them around like he's directing a band or playing the drums. Anytime he hears music he stops and starts dancing. Denver's also learned how to give a serious/mean look and gives it out all the time now. When he gets yelled at for doing something he's not supposed to do he looks at you and stares you down with this look.

Denver got to enjoy this past weekend with his 1st cousin Jacob! He loved on him so much. Denver would always be looking for Jacob and if he'd see his car seat he'd go over there and start moving the blankets around trying to find him knowing that it was Jacob's. When he'd find him he'd be leaning in for lots of love, whether it was kisses or to snuggle his head to him. There were moments of slight jealousy when Jacob was getting the attention that Denver so desperately thought he needed, but he really did quite well. We just hope and pray that Denver feels the same about his little sister when he finds out that she's here to stay, not just for a weekend!

Our other request for prayer is for Denver to continue to grow and to be healthy. We are approaching Denver's 15 month "birthday" and this is when we go back in for another weight check and a decision on what to do about his continual drop on the growth chart. I've talked to one of the neonatologists that I work with in the NICU and asked her for advice if we should go ahead and do the testing that our pediatrician wants to do and after explaining things to her she felt that it would probably best if we did, as if there is something wrong it's all things we can "fix" and how terrible would we feel if we didn't do it when we could've helped him. While saying this, I also want people to understand that I truly believe that our amazing little boy is just going to be little his whole life whether we like it or not, and that nothing is wrong with him. At Church the other day I realized how much more active our little man is than a lot of kids his age. Denver runs non-stop and doesn't like to take extra time to eat any extra calories. He'd rather continue to burn the ones he's taken in by running and playing.

Denver loves mac and cheese!

We have quite the little cleaner on our hands. This past Sunday we caught Denver "cleaning" the vacuum cleaner with some wet wipes that he got into. There are plenty of other times when we've been cleaning and he'll find a paper towel and start wiping down the floor or the ledge by the window. Maybe I'll have a helper to keep this house clean before the baby comes!? :)

Someday Denver will probably not appreciate me for sharing this story, but it's too funny to not share and have documented for Denver to read some day so here goes our past Sunday afternoon. If you have a weak stomach you may not want to read this. When we got home from Church we put Denver in his high chair to eat his lunch. He was being poky with eating, but very content so Evan and I began doing other things around the house while he finished. After awhile Denver decided he was done and Evan took him out of his high chair; when he took him out he never thought to check his pants first....as a Denver who sat there that long, that quiet...he had to be up to something. We continued on with our things until I heard Evan yelling from the other room. I went to find the problem and Evan's pointing to the floor...."I think that's poop...where did it come from?!?!". I said sure enough and it came from him (pointing to Denver after looking down his pants). We went to Denver's room, put a blanket on his floor and I went to take off his shoe to put my hand in a pile of poop stuck to his shoe! As if this wasn't enough to make Evan get all excited I started pulling off Denver's pants to find poop stuck to his pants and all the way down his leg....stuck to his onesie, etc, etc (you can only imagine....as the onesie came off up the back to his head it went). We immediately went and put Denver in the tub to finish cleaning him up where we then would give him a bath. Before we could get him wiped up Denver plopped his little bottom down on the tub and now we had a tub to get clean before we could start filling the tub besides finish cleaning him up. Needless to say, we've never had quite the excitement with changing a diaper before and we HOPE this will be the one and only time. :)

Denver has found the "tupperware cupboard"! The tupperware cupboard is one of the cupboards that I haven't minded if Denver found and/or played in and today he found it alright. He had all sorts of containers out and was finding the right lids for them and putting them on. He loves stacking things and putting lids on things so he had a blast with this for quite some time.

Denver loves to sit in our rocker recliners and to rock. Today he wanted his blanket and a pillow so he could lay and rock. He also loves to play on the couch and thinks he's hot stuff when he's on "big people" furniture without being held.

Updates on the kiddos

It's been a little crazy here lately that I haven't had time to do any updates, so I figured I better get a quick update done before anyone goes through any withdrawals! :) First, last week we had another ultrasound to see our baby girl. This was for the study that we are participating in and it was so nice to see our little girl again. The ultrasound tech was great and spent lots of time getting very accurate measurements and said she weighed 14 oz. This is a 3 oz. gain in a week and one day, and I am not a doctor, but I think that's a pretty big gain, so I'm guessing our measurements at our 20 week ultrasound were not correct and that she really isn't too little! She is laying in a hard position for getting good measurements by ultrasound so that's part of the problem. This also makes her less photogenic than Denver was for his 2o week ultrasound, but we were able to get a couple more glimpses and pictures of our little girl in 3-D. We have another appointment in a little over a week with my doctor and will have a follow-up ultrasound for that (if you're wondering...the study we are participating in does not give my doctor any information (and vice versa) and that's partly why there are so many ultrasounds).

Now...our little man. He's keeping us busy as always. Denver has gotten very fast and loves to run around. This has become a problem with shopping; which Mommy loves to do so very much. The other day I was in the fabric store and put him down and looked away for one second and turned back around and he was gone. He's so fast and too short that he's not easy to spot! Don't worry...it didn't take long and I found him. He also LOVES to play in between the racks of clothes. I know all kids love to do this, but this is kind of funny because Evan and I always talk about how we liked to play in the racks of clothes when we were little and remember doing it at the same store...so we joke we maybe even played with each other as kids in that store! The past couple days Denver has not been acting himself again. Sunday he threw up for the "first" time (other than his "spit ups" from reflux when he was younger). Since then he hasn't been very interested in eating or drinking. I took him into the clinic yesterday as we had noticed he had been pulling on his ears a little more (which he seemed to have started when he had his cold a couple weeks ago). Of course his ears looked great, but that was a big relief since Daddy had to have tubes in his ears when he was little. It was obvious when we were in the clinic that he didn't feel good so they didn't want to just send us home without checking out anything else so they checked him for RSV and influenza. The quick strip came back negative and we're waiting on the longer results. This test can also detect if he has some other virus, that I can't remember the name of, but our pediatrician said if he has that virus we can't do anything for it (like any virus it just has to run its course), but that would be the explanation for his crabbiness. They also checked his weight which was a big disappointment for both Evan and me...and of course our pediatrician too. He weighed 18lbs. 11oz. I had so hoped he would be in the 19lbs area! This weight puts Denver at a 2oz. gain since his 1 year check almost 2 months ago. Although, with that said we have to keep in mind he was sick several weeks ago and went about a week without eating so he lost a lot of weight and he has gained that back so we need to be thankful for that. Last night Denver seemed happier and more himself again. We went to cousin Ethan's basketball game and when Denver was running through the hallway he fell and bit his lip and now has a fat lip! It's a little owie looking but he ate almost a full bowl of oatmeal this morning so it must not be bothering him! So, I think he's back on track. Otherwise, not a whole lot to update on Denver. His vocabulary continues to grow and he gets smarter every day about how every day things work. He now will take his "uck" (dirty diaper) after I change him and go put it in the diaper genie. Yesterday he tried pushing the button that you have to push in as you lift up the baby gate to open the gate because he wanted to go downstairs. He's gotten really good at drinking from a regular cup or a bottled drink. We've been trying to let him feed himself with his own silverware more and more. This is very hard for us though as he makes a mess and he loves to play/explore with his food and silverware. He's getting pretty good at it and can stab things with his fork to eat and scoop things with his spoon. I also think a mouthful of teeth are on there way in and that's been a big part of his crabbiness.

Our mischievous little boy!

We continue to run like crazy between working and going to basketball games and everything else going on in our lives. Last weekend we actually had a weekend that we got to relax and make our own plans. Saturday night Evan and I enjoyed a night out with some friends which was absolutely wonderful. Saturday morning we finally got our Christmas tree taken down along with the other Christmas decorations. Here's some pictures of Denver enjoying the last few looks at the tree before we took it all down. I never really accomplished any pictures of him in front of the tree this year (other than this one below) as he would run away as soon as I put him in front of it! Oh well, next year he'll understand and he can hold his little sister down and I'll get a picture! :)