chasing monkeys

they are paying attention to us

2010-04-06T16:16:00.001-07:00

hugh and i have taken to calling the boys "big" and "little" just when we are talking about them to each other. we were out running errands with the boys in the evening last week. hugh and i were discussing what we needed to do when we got home and i said "little needs to get in his jammies and go to bed" when a voice from the backseat said "but not big!"

gerrit was getting out of the car at costco today, when he noticed some flowers and exclaimed "hey, lion flowers!" i thought to myself that i guess they kind of look like lions with their yellow furry edges. as we were getting back to the car and passing the flowers again i realized "dandeLIONs"...gerrit quickly confirmed with a "YEAH." he and oma had picked some dandelions on a walk for me during their visit last week. they in fact were not dandelions, but did have a resemblance, especially from a 2 year old's perspective.

the monkey and the banana

2009-11-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

for halloween this year we decided to recycle the monkey costume i made gerrit a couple years ago. and what goes better with a monkey than a banana? definitely not my best work ever and it will be retired this year to just the dress up box, but they sure look cute together in the one picture that turned out even remotely decent (what would i do without the sucker bribe?)

gerrit still had a hard time keeping up with the big kids in the trick or treating and i think he had even more fun passing out the candy. we got together at my brother's and each time the doorbell rang he ran towards the door yelling "trick or treat, trick or treat!"

and look at this monkey...

travels to yellowstone

2009-10-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

when you have a 2 year old and a 2 month old, what are some of the
fun activities you think of doing with them? a nap, maybe a visit to the zoo, a day at the beach...what about a 15 hour drive and tent camping for a week in yellowstone? we opted for a long drive and camping and it actually wasn't too bad.

in july we packed up my parents' suburban with just about everything but the kitchen sink (though that would have been useful too), put the boys in their jammies, and hit the road. hugh and i drove through the night and 15 hours later we were in yellowstone. we were meeting my sister and her family who were road tripping it from grand rapids, but hugh's parents were also in yellowstone at the same time. this was their first time seeing henry.

our first full day there we hit old faithful, morning
glory, the old faithful inn and many other geysers and springs. of course seeing old faithful in action was quite a site, but one of my favorite parts of the day was when we were walking past what appeared to be a serene spring. we realized it was not a spring, but a geyser just as it began to spray. the picture on your right shows olivia getting surprised by the geyser. and just as we were heading back to our campground the bee hive geyser erupted across the meadow from us.

on our second day, we headed to canyon and mammoth. along the way to canyon we had our first sighting of buffalo and we saw a lot. they look so docile, i can see why people think they can get close to them. but they are big animals with horns--ooch. the second area we stopped at was the canyon where we had a beautiful view of yellowstone falls. afterwards peri found a great spot for a picnic along a creek where the kids found some great big logs to play on. afterwards we made it up to mammoth with its intriguing terraces. i think the littles had had enough by this time, so it was a quick trip with lots of sites from the car. it had was raining off and on during the day, but luckily it only seemed to rain while we were in the car. we saw lots of wildlife that day including a black bear. we finished our night with pizza and beer and

the third day started with a visit to fishing bridge (though you are not allowed to fish at fishing bridge anymore) and then we made our way to the lake yellowstone hotel where kevin lost his wallet many moons ago and the little boys got stuffed buffalo to remember their trip. we had a picnic close to our campground and lake yellowstone. once we were done we walked out to one of the peninsulas in the lake where gerrit took a unexpected dip in the lake. on our way back we saw a young deer on the peninsula. our next stop was at geyser basin with many beautiful geysers, springs, and mud pots. on our way back we saw several elks. our last night with peri, kevin and family were spent making hobos, playing frizbee and whittling around the fire.

the next morning peri and kevin
packed up everyone into their nests and hit the road towards the tetons and jackson. we spent a lazy morning and afternoon around the campground and lunch with hugh's parents. while we hung around our campsite we saw several elk going through the forest behind us. after naps we went to play at the lake and had dinner with oma and grandpa. then back to pack.

we had a long and busy day ahead of us, so we got up early the next morning and took down camp, stopped for some coffee and good-byes at oma and grandpa's then hit the road towards tetons. we made a few stops around the tetons and had lunch on the shores of jenny lake, but didn't have enough time to go to the falls. we met up with peri and kevin in jackson and made our way to idaho falls where we would stay the night before the rest of our drive back to california. one must realize that we decided not to take showers while we were camping...it seemed like a big waste to get all clean just to get dirty again as soon as you step out....so that shower in idaho falls was delicious.

after breakfast at the hotel we left for our drive to california. the monkeys were not the gems they were when we drove through the night and by sacramento they were getting a little antsy, but we made it home in one piece and were glad to be in our own beds again.

we made it through 30 hours in a car with a two year old and two month old, nearly freezing nights, and five days without a shower. it was an interesting trip and not one i would make on a regular basis, but it was fun to be with family and enjoy the amazing sights of yellowstone and the tetons. gerrit won't remember much if anything from the trip except the buffalos and i think we will have a hard time remembering the fact that henry was with us--he was great.

our website of photos is down, so check out more of our yellowstone pictures below, for now.

yellowstone

a tooth

2009-10-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

obviously i have a lot of catching up to do, but here is a quick post to try to satisfy a few eager bloggie beavers out there.

henry's first tooth came through last week, right before we left for colorado.

big brother to the rescue

2009-08-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

the other day i had henry sitting in the bumbo on the counter (yes, i had my eye on him the whole time). i saw gerrit go somewhere on a mission. gerrit came back over, scoots over his kitchen stool, takes out the kleenex he just went to get and proceeds to wipe the big booger off his brother's face. that's love.

tales from a nursing mom

2009-07-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

here are some of the joys from the household of a nursing mother and a toddler (don't worry, i am not nursing the toddler)....

i was just finishing up feeding henry this morning when gerrit sits down next to me. he proceeds to lift up his shirt and says "henry. eat. me." translation: gerrit would also like to feed henry. wouldn't that be conventient.

gerrit loves anything remotely related to cooking and if it isn't related to cooking, well then, he makes it part of cooking. the other day i got the new kids bakeware set from ikea for gerrit. soon after giving it to him i hear him say "oh. hot pancake. ooch." i look in and there on his baking sheet are two of my nursing pads that are doubling wonderfully as pancakes--hot ones at that.

enough embarrassment for me for one day!

watch henry grow

2009-06-24T16:21:00.000-07:00

henry is already a month old and we have continued the tradition of the "watch me grow" pictures we started with gerrit. each month we take a picture of henry in a white onesie in the same green chair and "watch him grow."

we always seem to be comparing henry to when gerrit was a baby, so here is a little side by side of each of their one month "watch me grow" photos.

henry gerrit

a little preoccupied

2009-06-24T15:43:00.001-07:00

so obviously we have been busy with the kitchen remodel, but more importantly we have been a little preoccupied with our newest addition...henry grant.henry was born on may 12 weighing in at 9 lb. 7 oz. and a length of 21 inches long. he had a little case of jaundice. after a few blood tests they decided he just needed a little sunbathing by the window and wouldn't need to sit under the lights in the hospital like gerrit did. i was very relieved! he is doing great now.gerrit seems to be loving his new role as big brother, so far. his first question after he wakes up from a nap is typically "where's henry?" that might all change as henry starts requiring a little more attention one of these days.

check out more pictures

it's done...well, just about

2009-06-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

before

after

our kitchen is finally done! well, we are still figuring out our faucet, but at least we have a temporary which means we have running water, usable sink and garbage disposal, dishwasher and ice maker. and hugh just needs to wire the fabby lights over the counter. yahoo!

kitchen remodel

2009-05-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

what is it about this...

that makes one do this...

check out more of our kitchen remodel progression pictures here. Hopefully you will see a completed photo soon!

dishwasher in training?

2009-03-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

this is my view from our laptop in the kitchen for about 2/3rds of my day lately. gerrit seems to have found a new love for playing in the sink or more fondly called wah-er (water) by the wee one. he pulls up a dining room chair, i throw in a few containers, pour in some water and you have got yourself a happy boy (a wet one too, but oh so worth it). add a squirt of hand soap or a wet paper towel every once in a while and now you are at the top of his list.

class clown

2009-03-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

the other night we were reading to gerrit before bed and he had one "pashie" (pacifier) in his mouth and one in his hand. soon i hear giggling. i look up from the book that we are reading to find gerrit with two pacifiers in his mouth and a huge grin underneath as he is showing hugh. he seemed to know this was going to be quite humorous. i think we might have the class clown on our hands.

cast off, splint on

2009-02-27T17:04:00.000-08:00

pick yourself up off the ground...yes, this is my second post in two days!

gerrit had an appointment with the orthopedist today. the great news: gerrit's arm is healing quickly, so they were able to remove the cast and he didn't have to get a new one on! gerrit now needs to wear a splint for the next couple of weeks. they tried to fit him with the tiniest splint i have ever seen, but he has got the chubby arms. the next size up was too big, so he has a splint made of an ace bandage. it is a little more work for us, but it still means we don't need to go through the big bagging ordeal we had to go through when gerrit would ask "shower?"

together again

2009-02-26T09:55:00.000-08:00

this past june

eight months later
lincoln, zane, gerrit & jackson

the boys were all together on the big brown sofa again, but this time it was four boys with three moms (and two babes on the way)--much better odds. sally, shelly and the boys made a visit this week and the big question is whether the play date is for the boys or for the moms.

first of many

2009-01-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

on tuesday of this week we started to notice that gerrit's left arm was a little sore. when we would put on his shirt he would whimper a little and he didn't seem to use it as much. we watched it for a day and it didn't seem to be getting better, so we called the advice nurse on wednesday and of course they told us to bring him in.

so thursday afternoon found us at the doctor, then radiology for an x-ray, and then the minor injury center for the cast on a broken arm. there was never a big fall with lots of tears, so hugh and i aren't quite sure what happened. he seems to handle injury well as he was dancing and running around the waiting room at the minor injury center. and he was an excellent patient as he just sat back with a pacifier while the technician put on the cast. the doctor did tell us it wasn't a spiral break, therefore cps will not be hounding us (yet). phew!

we go to the orthopedist on thursday, so hopefully we will find out how long he will be in the cast. as you can see from the picture he seems to be doing just fine with the cast. somehow i have gone 31 years without a broken bone in my body and gerrit can't seem to be go 20 months, so i am sure this is the first of many injuries.

our boy has tricks

2008-12-17T13:59:00.000-08:00

is there anybody in there?

2008-10-27T19:43:00.000-07:00

we had our first doctor appointment this week and our first ultrasound. there is a part of me that just doesn't quite believe i am pregnant until i see that tiny heart beating. it really is there! here is just one of the pictures the picture-happy nurse practitioner took for us.

well worth the wait?

2008-10-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

a year later

2008-06-27T15:33:00.000-07:00

gerrit has two little girlfriends, molly and alexis. molly is six days older than gerrit and gerrit is nineteen days older than alexis. they all have been friends since day one.
here they were a year ago....

and here are the big one year olds

baby vdb

2008-06-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

sparky made his grand entrance yesterday (sans fireworks, as anticipated). he lacks a formal name yet, so i will continue to fondly call him 'sparky'. mom and baby (and dad too) are doing well and are supposed to come home tomorrow. we visited them this evening and in honor of his birth i have experimented with a little movie making. check it out.

Publish Post

watch him grow

2008-06-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

are we insane

2008-06-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

if we weren't insane before, we might be now. last night we had four boys ranging in age from two years to four months spend the night with us as shelly, charles, ian and sally spent the night in san francisco. we had fun with them, but there were definitely some moments of insanity. why is crying contagious? there is a very good reason God made us so there is nine months between our babies. i don't know how people do it with twins, triplets, and beyond. we are now breathing a sigh of relief as we maintain our one.

all ready for bed. although it appears as if we sedated them, no medications were used to create this photo (just several photos)

yippee, our moms are back!

a new view

2008-06-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

i think the best part of having a one year old is finally being able to turn around the carseat. it is amazing how one little move can make such a big difference for all of us. this is a picture of gerrit's first trip out in the big boy seat. we took a special trip to the nursery to get plants for our new vegetable garden. he thought it was quite funny when we just turned around to look at him.

big monkey birthday bash

2008-05-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

our little monkey turned one! to celebrate we had a monkey party with all gerrit's friends complete with monkey mask invitations, monkey cakes, monkey cupcakes, pipe cleaner monkeys, and a monkey pinata. and in true johnston fashion (including our wedding and gerrit's baptism) the day turned out to be hot. so with a few phone calls we turned the party into a pool party with a couple pools and a slip 'n slide.

the kids had fun in the water, playing in gerrit's new sandbox, breaking the pinata, and feeding the geese. and gerrit had a great time watching them all! you can find a slide show of some of the party highlights below or check out rest of the photos at our website.

gerrit's birthday present

2008-05-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

hugh has been working hard on gerrit's big birthday present for a couple weeks, but had the new sandbox ready for all the kids to enjoy for gerrit's first birthday party. the sandbox is complete with a storable lid, benches, and a toy box. we thought it might be too big until there about 15 kids in there comfortably play at once during the birthday party. watch the sandbox's progression below.

the monkey is walking

2008-05-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

wait a second! have we told you gerrit is walking? its true! it has probably been almost three weeks now since the crawl was left in the dust. i am not sure how it all clicked, but it is definitely now the preferred means of transportation for the monkey and getting better everyday.

gerrit's bag of tricks

2008-05-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

life with gerrit is getting funner every day. he seems to be at the perfect age...he thrives on hearing cheers of "good boy," so we are using that to our advantage and teaching him some new "tricks"...sooo big, he signs please and thank you, dances when he hears music, and he even immitates us whenever we sneeze. here is a video of a few of his tricks.

baby no name faber

2008-04-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

we are so excited baby faber has finally made HIS appearance! he was a couple weeks early, but it seems like cassie had been having contractions for months now and must have seemed even longer for cassie. he was born on april 17 weighing in at 7lb 11oz. and 21". mom and baby are doing well after a little time heating up under the heat lamps and cassie is excited to be able to take this baby home with her today. the hardest part seems to be deciding on his name. last night they had finally settled on carson for the first name (a name big brother ethan selected long ago) and it was their goal to have a middle name picked out by the time they left the hospital today...we will keep you posted. he looks like a faber--check out his picture and the rest of the photos are at our website.

first steps

2008-04-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

gerrit has been on the move for a while now, but lately he is trying a new means to get from a to b. walking! when he first made his move, we would have to stand him up and do everything in our power to coerce him to take a step. with in a couple weeks, he is now pulling himself up on the coffee table, letting go for a few steps and then lunging for nearest sturdy object to catch his fall. walking is by no means his preferred means of travel yet, but we are getting there. check out a video of the drunken sailor.

playing catch up

2008-03-24T14:11:00.001-07:00

ok, if peri can catch up with her blog with four kids and a part time job then certainly there is hope for the stay at home mother of one. i guess we have been busy or maybe just lazy as we recover from all our visitors and parties.

last month oma and grandpa came for a visit, where they got to have
a brief taste of spring before heading back to colorado. we did have a lot of rain that weekend, but enjoyed one dry day by visiting golden gate park. the blossoms were starting to pop as we visited the japanese tea garden, botatanical gardens, and you could just make out the tops of the tulips by the windmill. before the rains came on saturday oma and grandpa helped us in our own garden--thank you! oma and grandpa even played babysitter one night as hugh and i went to the ccc school auction. they were a big help and we were sad to say good bye.

our next big event was st. johnston's day, complete with corned beef, cabbage, and home brewed green beer--hugh's first time home brewing again (with joel faber) since our wedding brew. a little rain didn't stop the festivities--little can stand in the way of green jello shots and irish car bombs. and a big thank you to beppe and pake for giving up their own st. patrick's day festivities to watch gerrit with anneke and arie.

of course gerrit is keeping us busy. he is at a very fun age and has become a little parrot mimicking everything we do and performing all his tricks on command--clap, wave, nodding 'no' and the latest feat 'yes'. our big push right now is walking, but he seems quite content as crawling and cruising around the furniture gets him where ever he needs to go.

the balloon

2008-02-11T14:06:00.001-08:00

last week tuesday we went out for our annual fat tuesday celebration at pete's brass rail with the rest of the gang. as soon as we got there the kids got beads and balloons, including gerrit and the balloon has been his favorite ever since it lost some air and came down to his level. so it might not be the most child friendly, but it is keeping our little sickie quite content. so we keep a close watch on him as he bites and even lays on it, just waiting for it to pop, scare him, and come in for the quick take away. so far, so good.

what have we been up to?

2008-02-05T14:21:00.000-08:00

obviously we haven't been blogging, but we have been busy. we have been to the park, taking walks (or naps for some) to the library, visiting with friends, finding a new fascination with toilet water, and learning how to wave, make fish faces, and high fives. see the slide show below of all we have been up to.

not so small

2008-01-22T09:21:00.000-08:00

a few of us have recently formed the 'big baby club' and the newest member is lincoln brooks weighing in and taking the lead at 10lb 2oz! not small, but quite cute and shelly is looking fabulous! i got to visit the latest addition to the brooks family in the hospital yesterday and gerrit can't wait to meet him and play with the rest of the gang on saturday. check out the photo of mommy and baby lincoln.

sun & fun, puke & poop

2008-01-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

we survived our first padmos christmas vacation with a baby in tow. definitely different from past vacations, but it was fun watching gerrit eat sand, splashing in the pool, and playing with his cousins. in the midst of all the fun, we also had a little sickness. gerrit had his first bout with the flu and we had our first experience with puke. and in the midst of all of this he got his first two teeth.

our days mostly consisted of sitting by the pool or down at the beach. as predicted, gerrit went straight for the sand, but we found the pacifier limited the intake and spent more time in the pool. breakfast was at whichever room was up and had food for us, lunch and happy hour on beppe and pake's porch, and dinner was typically out (with beppe keeping the kids occupied with presents, crafts, or other activities).

we took a few day excursions. one was to the rain forest where hugh got to test out the capabilities of his new camera while a gondola took us through a wet rain forest. we also took a day trip to soufriere--the day included our first taste of johnny cakes (fried goodness), getting a back massage from a water fall, a drive-in volcano, lunch between the pitons, lots of rabid dogs and of course there was the memorable blow-out which took three people to change on the side of the road.

we had a great time with family, but we are also glad to be back to the old routine. i have included a slide show of a few of our pictures, but check out all the photos here. we hope everyone is enjoying the new year!

last blog of the year

2007-12-23T14:02:00.000-08:00

it is busy here in the johnston household as we prepare for the annual padmos christmas vacation. we are off to st. lucia this year and gone are the days of no worries as we sip grant's rum punch and watch our brothers and sisters chase after their kids. now we are already worried about whether we have enough baby food and diapers and we haven't even left the house yet. it will be an adventure, to say the least.

as i was getting out our passports, i had a little chuckle as i looked at gerrit's picture and thought the rest of you might enjoy it too. hugh and i took gerrit to the post office to get his first passport when he was about 6 weeks old (going on 85 in the picture). if you look closely, you will notice it is actually a picture of hugh and gerrit as hugh is holding him up against the backdrop. the funniest part is that he will have this picture until he is 5.

we have had a busy weekend of basketball games, packing, dinner with friends, and a web cam christmas with the johnstons and sharps in colorado on saturday morning. we hope each of you has a very merry christmas and we will be back with more monkey tales in the new year.

technology these days

2007-12-17T11:21:00.000-08:00

this past weekend we celebrated "christmas" with the padmos family with a gift exchange. our tradition is to draw names between the kids and grandkids and then open them when the den dulks arrive in california from michigan. we had a bit of a dilemma this year as the den dulks aren't making a trip out to california, but meeting us all in st. lucia. so we had to get a bit creative this year for our gift exchange--in comes the christmas web cam!

all those in california gathered around beppe and pake's computer while the den dulks gather around theirs in grand rapids and via the web cam we watched everyone open each others gifts. it was chaotic, but not necessarily the same chaos that occurs when six grandchildren (now seven with gerrit) open presents in beppe and pake's living room leaving behind ribbons, boxes, tissue, and opened toy boxes. check out the photo of arie opening his gift in california as ellie watches in michigan.

we even got great-grandma padmos talking on the web cam. if it boggles our heads, i sure would like to know what is going on in her mind. on the right is a picture of grandma padmos talking to ellie, abel, and peri.

gerrit enjoyed his first "christmas." of course, he probably enjoyed eating the tissue, chewing on the ribbons and climbing in the boxes a little more this year. he is looking forward to another web cam christmas this coming weekend as we exchange gifts with the sharps and oma and grandpa in colorado.

no stopping him

2007-12-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

there seems to be no stopping gerrit now. he has mastered the crawl, is on the move, and seems to want to, and can, get into everything of mommy and daddy's. it is like babies are born with this inside knowledge of what is a toy and then a radar to find everything that isn't. he still gets excited when he spots something, like he did when he was "creeping," but now we just have a little less time to get between the object and the crawler.

check out a rather lengthy video of the crawler below.

six months (tomorrow)

2007-11-20T12:45:00.000-08:00

we are one day away from having a 6 month old! of course, time is flying and we are having so much fun watching this little monkey grow.

as many know, we have been taking gerrit's picture every month in the same chair--a great idea from a friend. today was photo shoot day as we will be at pake and beppe's tomorrow (his actual six month birthday) for the thanksgiving weekend. some of the highlights from the photo shoot included the lovely and mostly constant drooling (the doctor said yesterday to expect teeth in the next few months...gee, thanks for narrowing that down for us) and the very exciting jump, head first, from the chair. mom was so skilled she caught the take off and was there to catch the little flying monkey too. see the take off photo on the right and click here for the rest of the watch me grow photos.

typically there doesn't seem to be a huge difference in these photos from one month to the next, but of course there is a huge difference from his first month to his sixth. in the first month we had to keep propping him up straight in that big chair and now we are having to hold him down to keep him in the chair! i have included a slide show with a picture from his first six months below.

monkey on the move

2007-11-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

there is no stopping him now...gerrit is on the move. he is not quite crawling yet, but more of a creep as grandma vander wall would have called it. it definitely does the job and gets him to all those fun things of mom and dad's. he was playing in the office this morning as hugh and i were working on our computers and all the sudden he had this excited cry, his breath shortened and he was making a bee line for hugh's phone and charger cable. check out gerrit heading for some safe toys below.

typically the creep gets gerrit where he wants, but every once in a while gerrit needs a little help from us when he gets into a tight spot. check out gerrit's interesting maneuver in the picture. this is when the creep only took him backwards and he backed in under the bookcase, right between dad's shoes.

i wanna be a monkey

2007-11-03T20:26:00.001-07:00

gerrit was begging to be a monkey for halloween this year, so a couple yards of fleece, one broken sewing machine, and a 'few' hours of labor, gerrit had his monkey costume. and what a cute little monkey he was.

he had a great time seeing all his friends dressed up at the pumpkin party at church and showing off his costume to beppe and pake who came for a visit on halloween.

getting caught up

2007-11-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

ok, time to get caught up. there is so much to report, but we have been so busy that there seems to be no time to sit down to write about it. fortunately, life seems to have slowed down for a few seconds, so i will use this opportunity to get everyone caught up. i will start where i last left off, september.

september usually means back to school--typically that doesn't effect us, but this year that meant addie faber would join us two mornings a week as cassie takes on the job of athletic director at contra costa christian. i am not sure who loves it more, gerrit or addie. this will be good training for addie with the expected addition to their family coming next spring!

september also included gerrit's first plane ride with a trip to colorado. gerrit had a great time playing with grandpa and oma and getting to know cousins--lexi and evan better. highlights of the trip included a weekend in breckenridge, a ride up pike's peak on the cog railway, another train ride through the royal gorge, hikes, bike rides, and fun just relaxing with family.

one other first in september was camping. uncle joel and auntie reen were willing to venture out with us on our first camping trip with gerrit to calaveras big trees. some of the highlights included rain--and although it was expected, it always makes camping a bit more an adventure especially with a baby, a nice hike through the 'big trees', joreen's beloved baton twirling, mmm...carne asada, a successful 3 am car ride to get the newest camper to sleep, and chili--lots of chili.

with october comes pumpkins, so we were off to john and brooke bos' (along with brian and lisa van groningen) pumpkin patch. dutch hollow or 'd-low'--as it is so fondly referred to, is much more than pumpkins including animals, bounce house, hayrides, and much, much more. there was so much going on that gerrit was asleep on pake's shoulder by the end, but before that he enjoyed a visit with the goats, petting a bunny, and sitting on/licking a tractor with dad.

of course, during all of this gerrit is growing (and growing and growing) and learning all kinds of new things. first it was learning how to eat solid foods, if you call very watered down oatmeal cereal solid. i would now say we are up to 80% is making it to his mouth. then he finally remembered how to roll from his stomach to his back. he began rolling all over the place, you never know where you will find him next. then in mid-october he made the big push to his hands and knees--we never know what new feat the day will bring.

and lastly, we welcome a new addition to our 'extended family' with the birth of zane angelo gerbo born to ian and sally (one of 'the twins') on october 25, weighing in at 9lb 4 oz and 21 in (so we like our boys and we like them big!). i think we are all looking forward to the day all these boys can run out and play together.

the missing link

2007-09-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

there always seem to be two questions or comments when people see gerrit. first, of course, is "he is ginormous!" logical--take two big people and you get one big baby. the second is "who does he look like?" at first everyone (except aunt sally) thought he looked like cousin arie, but now people have started to say he looks more like hugh. well, after our recent trip to colorado we have an answer. gerrit looks like his cousin evan...right down to the drool on their chins! well, i think gerrit's eyes still belong to tante peri or beppe.

check out the picture of the two cousins!

vacuuming monkeys

2007-09-07T15:41:00.001-07:00

i was busy getting dinner ready the other night when i heard a wonderful noise--the vacuum, when i am no where near it! so i look around the corner and there is hugh vacuuming with an even better sight--gerrit happily helping dad in his bjorn.

i missed the shot of hugh's foot coming through the ceiling, so i made sure to capture this one. thanks monkeys!

rolling right along

2007-08-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

so the biggest feat of the little monkey is his new mobility.

i was making dinner wednesday night and had gerrit on the kitchen floor in his gym. i put him down on his back, went back to making dinner, and when i turned back to look at gerrit he was on his stomach!

gerrit is not "tummy time's" biggest fan, so he had already mastered the art of rolling from his stomach to his back. now that he can roll from his back to his stomach he seems to have forgotten his old trick and gets stuck on his tummy. we are just waiting for him to put the two tricks together and he will be rolling right along.

so gone are the days of playing in the middle of mom and dad's bed and naps sprawled out on the couch...

check out a video of the roll below.

my monkeys

2007-08-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

for the past three months I have been spending my days and nights 'chasing' my own little monkey (or monkeys if you count hugh too). there seems to be something new to report on gerrit each week and what better way to share all these great feats than to start a blog.