Memorial Day Weekend

Zak's extended family always spends their Memorial Day Weekend camping on Mt. Adams. Since Mt. Adams is in our back yard, we decided to join them at their camp for dinner on Saturday night. When we arrived, we were met by Zak (4) and Daniel (7), Zak's "cousin", shouting: "Anders is here! Anders is here!" So cute.

We hung out for a while, ate a delicious campfire dinner, checked out the boys' forts, and then headed home to our soft beds.

On Sunday, we made a day trip to Portland and stopped in to visit the Bergers for dinner and board games. Marta had made a chalk drawing to welcome Rocket.

Katja & Marta (and also our nieces Katya & Nadija) are apparently of the opinion that babies need to have all of their toys at once. Rocket ended up buried in a mountain of toys.

- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket

The Beginning of Teething

Anders has been drooling like a mad-baby since he was 4 months old, but we hadn't seen any other signs of teething until about 2 weeks ago. It was at that time that he started his bipolar personality: one second he would be smiling and happy, the next he would be crying and generally fussy. At first we thought he might just be tired, but it didn't seem to resolve itself. I believe it was actually his grandfather who first noticed the white ridges under his gums. Teeth are on the way!

None have yet broken through, but we have had one night of restless sleep so far that was likely a result. After a bedtime story and a last meal, Corinne put him down for bed at 9:00pm. He cried until Corinne picked him up again about 15 minutes later, which in and of itself is unusual since he is typically a very good sleeper, including a self-soother. Ten minutes of rocking and she tried putting him down again, with the same result. By this point we had put two and two together to figure out that it was probably his teeth bothering him, so we gave him a dose of infant Tylenol and put him down a third time. This time he was down until shortly before 11pm, but awoke in the same way. Up again, more rocking and a blanket re-wrap got us another hour. Repeat, up again at 1:30am. This time a combination of refresh on the Tylenol and mom "taking one for the team" by feeding him in the middle of the night got us through until 5:30am the next morning.

Come on, teeth! Get out here!

- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket

Sitting Up

Anders's latest trick is that he appears to have mastered the art of sitting up. Last week we measured his longest interval (yes, we do that sort of thing) at 50 seconds. This week: 11 minutes! That's quite an improvement in just a few days.

We decided to sit him in the grass outside to enjoy the lovely weather.

When we moved him to the longer grass, he of course decided he wanted to find out how grass tasted.

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Grandpa Stops By

Dad surprised us with a visit Sunday evening so we all went out to dinner to a local joint in Trout Lake (one of the few).

Anders was fascinated with the water carafe, but we wouldn't let him try to drink from it. I don't think that would have ended well.

- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket

Anders and Josephine

When we were in Seattle for Taryn & David's wedding, Anders had his first opportunity to really interact with his cousin Josephine. Josephine (and her parents Tor and Clare) live in Tulsa, so we don't get to see them as much as we would all like.

Josephine is almost four months younger than Anders, so she was fascinated by just about everything that he did. His spoon skills were particularly impressive...

Perhaps if we could get Anders and Josephine to play together, the adults would have more time to relax on the couch! (I can dream, can't I?)

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Spring Travel, pt 3: Taryn Marries David

A few weeks after our Seattle trip for Corinne's cousin Taryn's bridal showers, we made a second trip to celebrate the marriage of Taryn and David.

Corinne was one of the maids of honor along with Taryn's sister-in-law Clare and Taryn's friends Alicia and Heidi-Lyn. A complicating factor in the organization was that all of the maids except Alicia had new babies: Anders was born in September (8 months); Heidi-Lyn's daughter Petra was born in November (6 months); and Clare's daughter Josephine was born in January (4 months). So we had to juggle babies with the wedding activities and figure out how to nurse in formal attire.

The bride and her maids (Photo by Studio Elise)

The wedding was held at the church of the bride and groom and was followed with a cheese, fruit, and cake reception for 200+. Despite several attempts, Mike and Anders didn't get to see much of the actual ceremony. Anders was making enough noise and doing enough wiggling that the two of them spent most of the ceremony waiting in the lobby.

Anders, mid-wiggle during the ceremony

Later that day, there was a intimate dinner reception for the family and bridal party at Newcastle Golf Club with fabulous views overlooking Lake Washington and the Seattle skyline.

Leif, Mike and Loren enjoying the view from Newcastle

There are so many great photos from the weekend. Some of my favorites follow, including the darling photos the wedding photographer captured of the bride with all of her favorite babies. It took a few tries to capture the right moments, but she eventually succeeded.

Tor, Clare & Josephine at the Wedding Rehearsal

Taryn and Corinne at the hair salon

Taryn's side of the family (Photo by Studio Elise)

 
Anders sleeping through the church reception (Photo by Studio Elise)

Corinne and Anders enjoying the view

 
Anders with his beautiful Aunt Taryn (Photo by Studio Elise)

 
Petra with the bride and groom (Photos by Studio Elise)

Anders: "Uh-oh. Josephine is upset." (Photo by Studio Elise)

Anders: "I better cry too." (Photo by Studio Elise)

Anders and Josephine with Aunt Taryn (Photo by Studio Elise)

We took Anders's jumparoo to the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception which was a little unorthodox but worked out great. Anders loves jumping so between the jumparoo and all the relatives eager to shower him with attention, we were able to fully partake in the celebration.

Watch this video on YouTube or
in the original blog post

Welcome to the family David! And congratulations to both Taryn & David. We look forward to many years of good times together. (Josephine, Anders and Petra can't wait for Lund Jr!)

Taryn and David (Photo by Studio Elise)

- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket

First Solid Food

For some time now, Rocket has been eyeing our food when we eat. We knew that was one of the signs that he might be ready for solid food, but it was the parents that weren't quite ready. Corinne has gotten nursing down to a science and it doesn't require packing any extra stuff; everything is just "built-in". Of course we knew we would have to introduce it eventually, but we weren't in any hurry.

It was our pediatrician who pointed out that introducing new foods is actually fun since you get to see them experience a new sensation each time you give them something new. Combined with Anders's obvious signs, that was enough to convince us that it was time.

The typical first food is an iron-fortified rice cereal, so that's where we started as well. It turns out that Anders had been paying attention and really was ready; he immediately grabbed the spoon and shoved it into his mouth.

One of the added benefits that I've heard from other parents is that solid food causes babies to sleep longer/deeper at night. Anders has been sleeping through the night since 3 months, so I doubt that we'll notice any change. The biggest downside, of course, comes out the other end... we won't be able to just toss the cloth diapers directly into the laundry anymore.

Watch this video on YouTube
or in the original blog post

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket