Garrick's BACK!

Garrick was gone all of last week in New York.

He had a lot of fun, learned a bunch of new- actually old stained glass stuff from people all over the world.

Pete and I were in Baraboo (that was all in the previous post though.)

Once he got back we took a family trip back over the interstate bridge to take the kids swimming- well we just dipped Pete's feet, Scout actually swam...

The other fun thing that we've started to do this week is putting Pete in the boppy and letting him look around. We have a top that he likes to watch spin.
The only problem is that once in a while he starts to disappear...









Finally, here Pete is sitting like a big kid next to his bear. (16 weeks i think??) He is still in the 0-3 month clothes, but the sleepers are all starting to get a little too short for him...
Some may be put away this week and we'll move onto our next set of big kid clothes. 

Also, please vote on Pete's future profession- I think that he has promise for them all- reasons- A. Breakdancer- you should see him scoot across the floor when he is kicking- he moves all over the place!

B. Fireman- diaper changes... enough said!

C. Astronaut- He spends a lot of time looking at the sky- I think he wants to go out there someday

D. Doctor- He is really smart and always makes me feel better!

E. Olympic CC skier- Lonnngg legs, already is beating me in races and likes to help Garrick around the house!

Pete does Madison! LOTS of pictures...

We've been all over the place in the past few weeks- which is why we haven't had a blog update for a while! First, we went to Madison over Memorial Day weekend to run the Mad City 1/2 marathon. We went to the expo/packet pickup and got to see a special girl! Kimberly was home and met us with her sister, Erin, in Madison for the day. It was so fun to see her- she lives too far away.

We had lunch and went to the capitol. We were looking for the observatory deck and saw about 12 of these signs along the way: *You can click on the picture to make it bigger- but it says, stairway closed to observation deck- use NW stairs...*

Then we finally saw this:

And then we saw this (I'm pretty sure this was the ONLY time I held Pete that day...):

Then we ran the 1/2 marathon... Pete watched with my mom and dad and rode around Madison in the Chariot and cheered for mom and dad. Cute story: Mom was cheering for me and yelling "go mommy" while holding Pete- a lady running near me said, 'that's a cute baby' and I said thanks- and she was like- that's YOUR baby- he's tiny! :) (Garrick ran a 1:36 and I ran a 1:49!!! Good times for both of us!)

Here Grand-Dan and Pete are hanging out looking like twinners. And grandma and pete are cheering on Garrick who is running SO fast that he is blurry.

Then we had a quiet week at home- I was WAY too sore after the race to do too much and Garrick was a little sore- and I got some real cute pictures of Pete one morning that it was cloudy out.

Then we went BACK to Madison for Race for a Cure- we've been going every year for the last 10+ years. It is so nice to go and support my mom- cancer free for 14 years now- and let her be 'princess for a day.' We love her so much! Garrick couldn't go- he got to go to New York City for a stained glass conference- so Pete and I went to Grandma Mooze's house for 5 days! Pete ran his first race and beat me by 1 second! He is so speedy! :)

Here is the whole crew that came out to run:

Grandma and her running babies... :)

After the race, we went to Matt's house and played in the yard and watched Grand-Dan do a speedy lawn-mow and then got to spend some time with cousin Jack and his aunt and uncle! Matt got him to laugh and laugh and laugh- it was so cute. JAck is also getting so big- he is almost walking and plays so nice!

We also went to Devil's Lake one night for dinner- Pete slept the whole time- I'm not sure if it counts as an "official" visit but it was nice to go there- it is one of our favorite places in the whole world- it's where we got married!

Other things that we did were: take the dogs for LOTS of walks and swims, Dad and I went swimming to get ready for TRINONA, saw our friends Kristen and Kendall and ate hotdogs with Nancy, Dennis and Bryce one night, visited Great-grandma Quill and spent lots of time playing and singing songs. Pete's new best thing is watching people (grandma mooze) sing songs and make movement with their hands.

Little man Pete

Pete is getting so big! He has a new skill- he can stand up and support all of his weight on his legs . He just can't balance side to side... but he loves to stand up adn looks SO proud of himself when he does.

We also got a new transportation device for him to use. The front pouch is still working great, but it is getting to be a little heavy and he is getting long to fit in. (He now looks out when we walk!) We bump his legs when we walk and know that we needed something different for the summer and the trips we have planned. He isn't quite strong enough to hold himself steady but we did do a test run of it in the living room. :) I don't think he knew what to think about it.

river rat

We almost named Peter TOM because we really liked the name, but also because it would be fun for a kid to grow up on the Mississippi River with that name- we think it would have been real funny now with his friend Finn... Anyhow, we live really close to the bridge that goes to WI, so Pete and Scout and I all loaded up in the jogger and leashed up and took our first journey by foot to a new state! Pete has been to WI before, but never by foot power. I think we got some funny looks as we were walking over to the beach. But we had so much fun, Scout swam and swam and swam and ran around like a crazy dog and Pete napped in the shade, put his feet in the water and watched Scout. We also saw a watersnake go swimming by. I was scared, but Pete and Scout weren't. Then Scout kicked some dirt in Pete's face, oops, and we got cleaned up, stopped crying and headed back home. All in all, a successful trip.

Pete and I posing for a picture, Scout wanted to be in it too!

Scout swimming with the bridge in the background.

Baby laundry...

is SO cute!!! One of my student's moms saw me hanging out diapers and she said it was hr favorite baby chore. I think so too they look so nice all lined up like that and they get so nice and white and fresh smelling from the sun. I also like the way all of Pete's little onesies and sleepers look all lined up. :)

SOOOO big

Big smiles in his car seat! He now makes faces and smiles responsively. I love it.

First, for those of you who are wondering, Garrick's grass is growing. You would think that with everything he's done to the house, grass wouldn't be a big deal, but he came running upstairs one

morning after the grass sprouted over night.

On Saturday, my school threw a baby shower for Pete and Chloe- one of my teammate's new baby- there was lots of games, food and everyone loved holding the two babies. Pete finally looked like a "big kid."

On Mother's Day, we went for a nice hike, went to church where we were asked if I went to the store and got a new baby this week, and went to the "dog party" (I had to take care of my other baby :) ) It was a real nice day. Pete got me a sprinkler, plant waterer (like they use at garden centers) and a nice bowl for our fruit that we always have out. I really thought a lot about a) how lucky I am to be a mom to a happy, healthy baby and that I am really blessed. and b) how much I am lucky to have such a great mom (and dad) myself. I didn't think that I could love her more until I had my own kid.

This is the dog park- it is the field behind the tech school- I think that there were 50 dogs there this week- CRAZY, there were St. Bernards and Great Danes and Scouts and there were also some little tiny rat terriers and chihuhuas (sp??). Fun fun fun.

Pete's Dad: the amish farmer

Peter loves the warm weather! We had a busy week- my mom came to visit and we had a fun day of hiking and playing with the babe and the dogs... I waitressed one night and pete and garrick bonded- they worked in the garage doing manly things... it is getting so warm and sunny out and we are spending more time outside which is so nice!... Peter is officially rolling over. Some days he doesn't do it, but some he will flip over again and again, he tilts his head and the rest of him follows... Garrick and I are biking and running quite a bit too- winona is great becuase there are multiple rides that can be met up with throughout the week!

Here he is by the tulips outside- He is scrunched up a little bit, but the flowers are real big.

So tired- it is hard work to be a baby!

Garrick and Mike (our nextdoor neighbor) decided that the grass between our driveways was no good. As a result they tore up all of the grass, tilled the packed dead dirt, planted grass seed and made a little path between our two houses! (The caution tape serves two purposes: 1. To keep me out of the mud, I have a hard time backing up sometimes... 2. To keep our neighbor Hunter who is a 6 year old biking wonder out of the mud...) This is a picture of Mike and Garrick with the 100 year old contraption that they used for this job. AMAZING

Here is Pete at 10-11 weeks with his bear. Refer to the March posts to compare growth- he may not be growing width wise, but is definetely growing lengthwise! As my mom would say- what a little munch! :) He used to be smaller than the bear, I'm waiting for the day that he is picking up the bear and eating it.

We also went up to the Twin Cities to see Pete's California cousin Benj who was visiting. Benjamin is 1 1/3 years old and runs all around, talks in his own language and is so fun to be around! We hung out at Grandma's house and went to the zoo. Add this is Pete's "can do" list: RIDING HORSES! We rode the big carousel just like a big kid! Bobby and Ben are in the background. He also was climbing trees in the conservatory- we snapped that picture real quick before he climbed down.

We have been spending lots of time outside planting flowers and plants in the gardens and I have been trying to finish painting the last side of the garage that I should have done 2 years ago... oopps. This is Pete and Scout's contribution to this process.