Happy Halloween!

We celebrated Wade's first Halloween with his grandparents and Aunt Kristin, who came over for dinner tonight.  Wade visited the house of three neighbors before enjoying his bedtime bottle in front of the firepit.  After he went to bed we continued to greet trick or treaters from the driveway.

What a beautiful night!  It's a shame we all have to go to work tomorrow.

Wade at the Pumpkin Patch

We visited Stuckmeyer's Pumpkin Patch with the Haarmanns this weekend.  Wade was still a little young but we promised him that we'd be back next year!

I missed a 6 month post.  Wade actually turned 6 months old while we were in Denver and then when I took the official picture a couple days later, I had trouble uploading it.  He had a rough go of things the week before his half birthday, with a cold, pink eye, and an ear infection.  As a result, I had my first ever case of pink eye too.  Wade really was a sport through the bad times - he still slept through the night and really never was too fussy.  The worst part was the horrible case of diaper rash that he got as a result of the constant dirty diapers from the antibiotics.  Anyway, he made it through and we discovered some great tips for curing severe diaper rash (so check back if it happens to you.)

We went back to the pediatrician after our trip for his well doctor visit and everything's going great.  He weighed 23 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 29 inches - both greater than 97th percentile still.  The doctor (and I quote) said, "he looks awesome!"

The other news as of late is that Wade is sitting up.  He could do it for a few seconds and then suddenly on Thursday he found balance and started sitting up for longer periods of time.  In this picture, he's holding on to his toy but he can sit up for 20-30 minutes without holding on to anything.

Our Quick Trip to Colorado

Last fall we got bumped on a flight home from Chicago and we had free airline tickets that we had to use by November.  We decided to go to Denver and decided it would be easier to leave Wade at home.  It worked out well because he had been sick (more on that in the next post) plus Ryan and I tend to cram a lot of activities into a short amount of time.
We landed in Denver around 7 am on Friday and pulled into our driveway at 6:55 pm on Sunday, just in time to put Wade into his pj's, read him a story, and tuck him into bed.  In between - we did a lot!
Here's the list:
Friday: US Air Force Academy, cog railway to Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods, outlet mall, and dinner at the 16th street mall in Denver
Saturday: Coors brewery tour, gold mine tour, panning for gold, dinner in the Denver Aquarium, drinks at a bar (almost walked into a gay bar...not that there's anything wrong with that)
Sunday: Denver Museum of Nature & Science and a mall (we were going to go to the zoo but it started raining)
I hope I remembered everything!

 

It was windy and chilly on Pike's Peak - 18 degrees!  The view was amazing - you could see Kansas and Oklahoma in the distance!

Garden of the Gods, a city park in Colorado Springs

 

We didn't strike gold in Colorado which is why it's back to work this week.

Apple Picking at Eckert's

Today Wade got to experience a great fall activity - apple picking!  The Woods joined us for an afternoon at Eckert's where we picked our own apples, saw pigs race, watched Maddie & Wes go on a ride, and even bumped into our friends, the Seneczyns. 

Wade didn't pick any apples this year and won't get to enjoy the apple pie that I have planned but it was still a fun outing.  It was such a gorgeous fall day - we couldn't have asked for better weather!  Thanks to the Woods for spending the day with us!

Wade Into the Waters

Yesterday was Wade's baptism and the theme of the sermon was "Wade Into the Waters" which was so cute and clever!  Ryan and I were also welcomed as new members into the church.

After the ceremony we had lunch back at our house for the 15 family members who had joined us for the ceremony.  Wade had fallen asleep towards the end of the ceremony but then was the life of the party back at the house, playing and "talking" in his exersaucer while everyone ate.  He did end up going down for a long nap while we enjoyed cake and opened presents.  Thanks to everyone for the generous gifts and for spending their Sunday morning with us.  Congratulations to Wade on his baptism!

Camping - a New Hobby for Wade

If you haven't heard, we bought a new toy this summer! We finally found time to take our 2009 Palomino pop-up camper out for its first camping trip (under our ownership, that is.) We spent the weekend of September 10-12 at Meramec State Park with my parents. We worried only about getting ourselves, the camper, Annie, and Wade to the campground - my parents took care of all the meals and even let Annie sleep in their camper. Ryan's parents, Bill and Terrie, also came down for dinner on Saturday night.

It only rained Friday night while we were sleeping and we were left with mild weather the rest of the weekend. We took several walks and Wade had his first real hike.

He "talked" a lot in the backpack until he fell asleep. We cushioned him with a couple sweatshirts. Wade did great camping this weekend which is good since he has a lot of camping in his future! He slept great in the camper the first night and during his naps. He had a bit of a rough night the second night. He still slept until 7 am but we think he has a bit of a cold and/or is teething - either way he tossed and turned super loudly. Actually we think that he may have gotten a decent night's rest but we sure didn't! It seemed like he was shaking the whole camper!

Laid back in the lawn chair!  (Who are we kidding, this was just for the photo op - he still loves that exersaucer more - and it did come on the camping trip!)

What Five Months Brings...

Happy five month birthday to Wade! He could have smiled for the photo, but he would rather practice his rolling. He still only likes to roll to the left, but now he has gotten quite good at going from back-to-stomach and stomach-to-back. Periodically you have to re-position him because he will run into a wall or some other barrier.

At five months we are experiencing our first cold! I just heard him coughing himself to sleep, poor little guy. Baby food is going well - he has tried rice cereal, zucchini, peas, sweet potatoes, and apples.  More exciting options to come soon! Wade has also been using his sippy cup with dinner which he is far from good at, but it's sort of a fun adventure.

This morning it was about 60 degrees for our walk to the babysitter's house. Burr! And this baby owns no cold weather clothing! So I took a lunchtime shopping trip to Once Upon a Child where I stocked up on all kinds of cute jeans, pants, hoodies, and long sleeved shirts. While we're not sure that we're ready to say good-bye to summer, at least Wade will be able to welcome the fall season in style! (I'm not so sure I can say the same about myself...)

P.S. Gotta love that exersaucer!