Four Months

Denver was 4 months on Monday. He had his 4 month well baby check up on Tuesday and he weighed in at 12 lbs 9 oz (25%) and was 24.5 inches long (50-75%) and his head circumference is in the 75%.

We also got the okay to start cereal, but to be honest, we had tried it before because Denver loves to eat. He would watch Evan and I eat and reach for what we were eating. Also, our little guy may only be in the 25%, but it's not like he's not trying to gain more weight as he eats 5 oz every 2 hours (which is about twice of our little neighbor girl who is 10 days older than him and weighs a lot more than him). Denver likes his cereal, but he gets so excited when Mommy and or Daddy smile at him that lots of times he smiles before he swallows and it comes back out. It's pretty sweet. Denver gets his cereal every evening and gets a little better at it every time. Right now I'm thinking we'll slowly increase it after awhile and then around 5 months start vegetables and 6 months start fruits.

Denver has had some fussier times in the evening and after feedings leading us to believe his Prevacid (for his reflux) needed to be increased so we doubled his dose. It seems to have helped and he's been more himself.

Denver has been working hard to roll from his back to his tummy and Tuesday morning he achieved that, but he couldn't figure out how to get his arm out from underneath him so it didn't last long and he rolled back to his back. He also loves playing with bags; Ithink he likes listening to the different sounds and feeling the different textures. One night while we ate supper Denver played with a bag of chips. (When we eat supper Denver sits in his bumbo seat on the table.)

This is Denver's new way of sitting in his bumbo seat. He doesn't seem to sit straight in it very often anymore. He's just a busy kid trying to see everything going on!

Happy Easter

We hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. Here are some Easter pictures of Denver.

Happy St Patricks Day!

Bumbo Jumbo

Every thing in our house rhymes these days. Denver loves to be sung to and Daddy is always making up songs that have little rhymes in them. It's pretty cute. I tried getting a video of Daddy singing the "Slippery Butt" song, but the camcorder battery died on me so I will have to get it another time. This song is sung to Denver by Daddy when he gets out of the tub, while Mommy or Daddy put lotion on him. Denver typically if not always cries after getting out of the tub and this seems to satisfy him thus there is no crying if Daddy is around after bath time! :)

Denver has a bumbo seat. This is a seat that he sits in that helps him sit up, but also helps him build the muscles he needs to sit on his own. I did get him to sit by himself for a couple seconds yesterday. I have some pictures below of him sitting in his bumbo seat. I need to get a video of him play with his tractors while sitting in his bumbo seat. Sorry to all the John Deere lovers...but I think he likes Case better as he plays with that one first until it falls to the floor and then he plays with the John Deere one. When he gets tired he lays his head on the side and starts sucking his thumb.

Denver gets stronger every day. He still hasn't rolled over from his back to his tummy, but is very close and I don't think he's in any hurry to do this as he does not like being on his tummy very much. He rolls to his side back and forth and back and forth until he gets himself turned so he can see what he wants to see. Lots of times what he's trying to see is the TV! It's about time for us to start thinking about a baby gate so he doesn't go tumbling down the stairs when he gets a little more mobile. Denver's still working on pushing himself up off the floor with his arms. He does this from his elbows to his shoulders, but not with his hands. We've been working on getting rid of our head lag when you pull him up from a laying position to a sitting or standing position. He is getting really close, but when you first pull him up a bit that head hangs back for awhile. Denver loves to play in front of the mirror! Mommy and Grandma Verni have spent lots of time in front of the mirror to make a mad baby a happy baby. It's amazing how well it works!

I think that's all we really have for an update. Denver is 4 months old on Monday so hopefully there will be a doctor's report (including his weight!) and 4 month pictures some time next week. Thanks for checking in on us and thinking about us. We are amazed at how many people check out our blog!

The Lost Thumb has been Found

For all those who remember Evan and I talking about our 20 week ultrasound or showing you pictures of it...Denver sucked his thumb throughout the ultrasound. At one point he lost his thumb and got mad and started flailing his extremities around until he found his thumb again and the ultrasound tech just happened to get a picture of him in the process of getting his thumb back in his mouth. Here's that picture...which if you look close they typed in "WHERE'S MY THUMB????".

This past week Denver found his thumb again! I think he's only found his left thumb as I can't recall seeing him suck on his right thumb. Now we typically find him in the crib in the morning sucking away on his thumb. His thumb has become a good tide me over and when he's tired his thumb goes straight to his mouth! Enjoy the video that we got of Denver sucking his thumb in his crib Sunday morning before he woke up. (It's a little dark as we didn't turn the lights on in the room until the end because we didn't want to wake him up before we got it on video!)

Three Months Old

Denver was 3 months old last Sunday. We are having more and more fun with him every day! Today we went to Target and he just talked away while we were there and was full of smiles. Denver didn't like to sit still much before, but now he really doesn't like to sit still. He's always wanting to be looking at something new or playing with a toy. He has a musical gym and today we got him another gym that has 6 different spots for toys to hang from (1 which is a mirror that he loves to look into) and he loves both these toys. They can entertain him for up to 30 minutes. One day he was sitting in my lap basically asleep and woke up when I moved him and he saw his musical gym and starting reaching for it and going "eh, eh, eh" until I put him down to play with it. Then the other morning Denver decided to get up at 5a.m. (when Mommy was working a night shift so Daddy had to get up! Ha, ha, ha....sorry Dad, but it's funny to Mom) and he played with his musical gym until he fell asleep! Amazing! Denver is also slowly figuring out his jumperoo, but hasn't figured out how he can jump...we have to bounce it for him.


Denver is still a Minnesota Twins fan! We're getting excited for baseball season. Daddy thought he needed to get Denver a baseball glove today, but Mommy said just wait until he gets bigger! Daddy can't wait to play basketball and baseball with Denver.


Here is what I've accomplished for 3 month pictures. Denver has learned that Mommy takes too many pictures and knows that if he starts crying I'll stop....so it's getting hard to get good ones. I'm still hoping to get a good full body one of him in his little button up and corduroy pants.

ROLLING OVER!!

We are rolling over!! Denver rolled over for the first time today. Believe it or not, both Mom and Dad got to be there to see him roll over for the first time. Dad is very proud as he read in a book that at 5 months your baby MIGHT be able to roll over one way. I missed the first rolling over for the video camera, but got it for the 2nd and several more after that. Here's the video of him.

More Bath Time Fun and Jiber-Jabering!

Denver continues to do well. We think he's still working on a tooth though as he's been fussy at times and nothing seems to soothe him other than rubbing his gums or giving him some orajel and/or tylenol. He sucks on his fists constantly and is always drooling. We wear bibs pretty much all the time now to prevent his shirt from becoming soaked in drool! He seems to talk a little more every day. Last week we had a meeting in Church and one of his little girlfriends (who is 10 days older, lives down the street from us, and her mommy works with me, besides the fact of going to Church together) was there...we had them facing each other and Denver started to giggle at Abby and then Abby started to talk away to Denver. It was so cute and fun to watch. It makes you wonder if they know what they are saying to each other! Denver keeps working on rolling over, but hasn't gotten very far. It's going to take awhile to figure out how to get that arm out of the way, but that's okay because we like that we can put him in one spot and run out of the room and he'll still be there when we get back! Denver was 3 months old on Sunday. I hope to take 3 month pictures tomorrow and will hopefully have them posted by the end of the week.

Here are some videos of Denver. One of them is part of bath time and the other is of him talking. Whenever I turn on the video camera he seems to quit doing whatever he was doing that was so cute. These are some of the better ones I've been able to get. I hope you enjoy them. His little personality comes out more and more everyday. It's so much fun!

Adjustments

Now that I've been back at work for 2 full weeks I figured I better make some time to get some updates on here and let everyone know how it's going. It was very hard to leave the house for my first shift back, but each shift it's a little easier to leave. I think that's because I don't "dwell" on it so much and I know I have to go and that I just need to enjoy every minute I get at home with Denver AND Evan. I think Denver has enjoyed his time with his Daddy and Grandmas, but we can tell he misses his Mommy! Night shifts are easier in the fact that Denver sleeps through the night and I can usually make it home in the morning right before he gets up, so he only notices I'm gone in the evening before bed. The only problem with that is that he wants to nurse and snuggle with his Mommy before he goes to bed which has made the evenings a little difficult for Daddy. Day shifts are a little more difficult for Denver because he wakes up to both Mom and Dad gone, but thank goodness it works for Grandma Verni to stay with him so at least it's a familiar face that picks him up out of his crib in the morning and plays with him all day long. Since I work 12 hour shifts I'm gone from the house for about 13 hours and so I'm going nuts by the time I finally get to leave the hospital and go see my baby boy! We are all slowly adjusting and hopefully we will all continue to do well with this transition in our lives.

Here are some new pictures of Denver:

We tried a foam liner that lays in the tub for bath time...thinking he might like that better, but his Daddy was right he likes his blue tub the best. He likes lots of water to be able to splash and when you put enough water in with this yellow thing then he turns his head and drinks the water.

Elmo is one of Denver's best friends. He likes to play with Elmo and he fell asleep with him in his carseat one day.

Valentine's DayMom and Denver played at home all day and then Daddy came home from work and they played together for awhile. Then the 3 of us went out for supper and to Tom's basketball game.

Drew, Ethan, and Tom's Biggest Fan!

Denver loves to go to the Freeman Academy and Augustana Basketball games. He usually is very content and happy just watching the game. There is lots of action for him to watch and there are always new things to see!

Ethan, Denver, and Drew

(Ethan is too scared to hold Denver!)

Denver and Tom

Two Months Old

I've been a little slow once again on getting Denver's 2 month pictures posted. Now that Denver's 10 weeks old I figured I better get them on here!

Denver continues to do well. He is interacting with his surroundings more and more every day. He bats at things with his hands and sort of grabs at them. Denver talks more and more every day. (2 parents that love to talk....what's this baby going to be like? Could be scary!) We also think some teeth are maybe working on there way in. One day Denver was crabby and I couldn't figure out why. He had red cheeks which made me start to wonder if he was working on a tooth and when I stuck my finger in his mouth to feel I felt a little piece of a tooth on the top. Since then we've had a couple more days like that, but I can't feel a tooth anymore so we'll see. I go back to work on Super Bowl Sunday for a night shift. It will be difficult to go, but it will also be nice to get out of the house by myself. It's amazing how grocery store trips by myself have become a highlight! Grandma Kim is staying with Daddy and Denver Sunday night (Grandma works Sunday day...that's why she's spending the night....not that I don't think Evan can handle it on his own) and Grandma will stay until Mommy gets home from work and gets a little sleep. Grandma Verni will be coming to Sioux Falls to watch Denver on Wednesday and Thursday when Mommy has her first day shifts. Please keep us in your prayers as we make this transition. Thankfully, Denver consistently sleeps 8 hours at night so that will help tremendously.

Daddy and Me

Daddy and Denver have lots of fun together. Going to the gym is still important to Daddy and he's been trying to teach that to Denver. Denver has been working out with Daddy at home, and going to the gym with Daddy and Mommy.

Getting ready to leave for the gym.

Here Daddy is teaching Denver how to do sit ups.

Matching boys! Don't they look good?!

Two Month Check Up

Denver had his 2 month check up today. He passed with flying colors. Mommy and Daddy had to fill out a "Denver questionnaire" (this tool is actually called Denver...it's not because of his name). After answering these questions we found out that Denver is doing some things that babies don't do until 4 months! Denver weighed 10lbs. 4 oz. and was 22 1/2 inches long. These measurements are in the 20% area, but has followed the growth curve from birth so Dr. McKercher was okay with them. Everyone said he's doing great, so we were happy! Denver also got his 2 month immunizations today. This included 3 shots and 1 oral. The oral one he liked...he did great with it just like he does with his medicine every day. The shots on the other hand he did not like and cried for quite awhile, but now he's happy. He slept on the way home, then ate when we got home, and then played for quite some time. He's currently swinging and trying to fall asleep.

Otherwise things are going well here. Denver continues to be a pretty happy baby. He is starting to sleep through the night on a more consistent basis. He goes anywhere from 5-9 hours at night (he's gone 8 hours pretty consistently lately).

Grandpa Rodney and Grandma Verni got Denver this onesie for Christmas. We maybe need to work on drinking more milk so we aren't so little! ;)

This onesie was the guestbook at the baby shower Aunt Kim threw. We are so greatful that every one loves Denver so much! We can't believe that our blog has been viewed over 1,000 times! Denver is so blessed to have such loving and caring family and friends!

Denver continues to love bath time. He is always happy and content after he's had his bath and evening snack!

Baby Dedication

Today we had Denver's baby dedication at our Church (Oak Hills Baptist Church in Sioux Falls). Pastor Tom did Denver's dedication. Pastor Tom invited Shelly our Children's Ministry coordinator to also be a part of the service; Pastor Tom prayed for her and the Oak Hills Children's Ministry to be an integral part of Denver's life.

Evan read Denver's life verse. Proverbs 3:1-6

We had a small dinner celebration at our house after the service. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who will help us raise our son with a heart for God. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers for us as parents and for Denver. We love each and every one of you!

Giggles!

Denver learned how to giggle on Thursday! Denver and I were sitting at the table and I was showing him his hands and then we started clapping them and saying "yea" and out came a laugh. I couldn't believe it and said "Daddy come listen quick". We were so excited that we didn't think to get the video camera out until he wouldn't do it anymore. Then Saturday night we got him to do it again and the camrea was on this time! Here is a video of him...hopefully it works.

LSU and others...

Here's the big LSU post for the Houstonites (and any other LSU fans). (FYI Denver's relatives from Houston sent him this LSU outfit with instructions to wear it for the big game and to cheer LSU on to a victory) Unfortunately, Denver had to cheer silently for LSU because Daddy says that the Big Ten doesn't get enough coverage, so he was going for Ohio and Denver didn't want to hurt his feelings. :) Once again Denver's good luck helped out another football team! (Sadly, Mommy doesn't know anything about college football so she didn't care who won.)

Things continue to go well here. Denver is changing and doing more and more every day. He typically is a very happy baby and is full of smiles which we're finally getting caught on camera! Denver loves to bounce and loves music. This past Sunday in Church during the praise and worship songs he just smiled away.

Before we know it football season is going to be over and baseball will start again. Denver is ready for baseball season. I think he has at least 5 Minnesota Twins outfits (not to mention that his nursery is decked out in Minnesota Twins paraphernalia)!