Cooties and More!

"What have we here?"



The shape sorter from cousin Aydan!

 

He zips along like a madman these days
but still has time to snuggle with Daddy sometimes :)

We are just shy of 8 months and Izaak is doing better with crawling, his style is still very "military" but he can get from point A to point B like nobody's business! And it's so enjoyable to watch him play, he's very inquisitive and sometimes will just sit quietly and carefully inspect whatever it is that he's holding. Mostly though, it's a chaotic race to see how much stuff he can knock over, drool on, and make noise with. Either method is fun to witness. He's sitting up on his own much better and has somehow learned to clap his hands - which we find to be incredibly adorable, of course. Taking pictures of him is getting more difficult since he's so often on-the-go and his playing style predominately seems to be "rough and tumble". He's become a pretty adventurous eater though his appetite seems to be waning. Maybe he'll slow down with growing a bit? He already fits in a lot of his 12-month sized clothing!
We've come down with the first round of daycare cooties. Izaak seems to be on the mend though still contending with a runny nose and a little cough. (His parents are having a rough time with their colds as well!) Izaak has already came home from daycare with some bruises (from falling over) and germs but he seems to be enjoying it. I like that it's learning oriented, he gets to play with other kids his age, they give us written daily reports about his mood and what he ate when, all about dirty diapers, etc., the facility is new and it's much closer to home, plus they don't have a TV in the classroom. I'm not anti-TV, just don't think he needs to be watching it all the time. Daycare even sent him home with a fingerpainting that he did yesterday (we have it on the fridge now, of course!) Having him at the babysitters when he was a tiny little guy was great because he got individualized attention and didn't have all the germs to battle but he seems to be thriving well at his new school.

Almost Crawling and Preschool!

Hey!

Who's up on all fours?!

I just can't get over how fast time goes once a little one has entered your life! Since the last post, Izaak has sprouted another tooth and he has begun to get up on all fours, ready to crawl!! Perhaps a more thorough baby-proofing of our home should commence...

Also, as indicated by the post's title, Izaak has started preschool! Some may think that 7-months is a little early for such a thing, but not for our kid!! Actually, the preschool is also a daycare but it does aim towards being a learning environment. The babysitters who had been so kindly looking after our wee one since I had gone back to work had other obligations coming up and the commute to pick Izee up after work was getting to be a bit much so we decided to research some other daycare options closer to home and/or work. We had spent a good deal of time checking out facilities and digging through Craigslist postings when we stumbled upon "It's A'KIDemic" on our way home from the babysitters. It's a new facility, we really like the staff, and it just felt right. They had an opening and we jumped! Izaak started today and it sounds like he had a really great time, rolling on the floor with other kids, and he got to eat new foods too. I didn't even know he could eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch or oranges or yogurt, but according to his teacher, he ate everything like he's been doing so all his life!!

Daycare was fun but exhausting!

Another wonderful item to report is that our good friends, the McClams, have recently brought a new baby boy into the world: welcome little Beckett! We can't wait to meet you in person!!!

Chillin' in the jogging stroller.

Valentines Card from Shutterfly!

Candy Hearts Valentine's Card

Click here to see graduation announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Please, pretend I sent one of these to each of you!!! ;)

First Tooth!

First tooth (it's there, I promise!!)

After months of drooling on and gumming everything he could get his little paws on, Izaak has finally gotten his first tooth! Earlier in the day, he had been patiently sitting in my lap and gnawing on the knotted string on my hoodie. I was happy that he had stopped squirming and pulling my hair for a couple minutes and there was no plastic part on it so I let him slobber away. A couple hours later, Joe was holding him and noticed that a tooth had broken through!

Joe and I were so excited and wanted to document this milestone with a picture. Izaak wasn’t sure why we were all pumped up and smiling like buffoons at him but he played along. “Izee! Let’s see your new tooth!! Open your mouth! But move your tongue… no, the tongue is in the way… there we go! Good jo- … eh, the tongue is in the way again”. I think we did end up getting a picture but some imagination may be necessary to really see the tooth ;)

Happy New Year!

What a cute bunch of Niedweckis and Ellers!

Happy New Year! I hope this posting finds everyone healthy and happy. Things are wonderful on this end and here’s what we’ve been up to lately:

We were able to meet up with and exchange Christmas gifts with Joe’s sister’s family this past weekend at Joe’s parents’ house in Myrtle Beach. New Year’s Eve was spent with Joe’s parents and their neighbors, Joe’s sister’s family, and Joe’s grandpa; a great time was had by all! Izaak was so excited that he stayed up for the celebration as well (we aren’t a quiet group, oops!) and though he seemed happy enough, I’m sure he was more than a little confused at the midnight hoopla. He’s not too keen on fireworks yet, something that we’ll have to work on given his father’s side job with Zambelli.

New Glo-Baby and awesome Izaak-couch
from Nana and Papa!!

What a year 2011 was! Perhaps it sounds cheesy, but bringing a new life into the world has made the past year my personal best. Well, not really the bringing part, but I couldn’t be happier with our little bundle of joy and I’m very excited at all the prospects the New Year has to offer! It’s nice to have an excuse to wipe the proverbial slate clean and have a fresh start. As expected, I was barraged at work this morning with questions about what my New Year’s Resolutions are. My answer is simply that I don’t have any. Of course I’d like to shed a few pounds (umm, around 40lbs would be fantastic!) and make healthier choices but I’m not going to limit myself to “not eating sugar” or “no beer except weekends” at this point. I do plan to use my jogging stroller but I refuse to set unrealistic goals such as “running 3 miles every other day”. Though I will attempt to be a better version of me, my main focus this year is going to be family.

Super fun learning train from Aunt Michele and Uncle Bob!

Before the baby came along, Joe and I were already a family of sorts (regardless of our non-marital status) but the dynamic has changed somewhat with the addition of Izaak. I can’t properly put it into words, but the kiddo has brought out the best in both of us. We don’t have as much time for each other as we used to but we also don’t seem to require that time as much as before. I don’t think either of us feels neglected or anything--the love connection is still as abundant as ever--our priorities have just shifted a bit.

 As parents, I think we are gaining more confidence in our perceived skills but I’m sure it still looks awkward to anyone else. Some days I feel like I’m doing ok, other days I feel terribly clumsy. I sometimes wonder if being a parent at a younger age, when you think you know it all, is easier than a little later in life, when you’re paranoid about all that you don’t know! Luckily, we typically maintain a good sense of humor and don’t freak out too badly when we run into issues like a diaper that has overflowed and run up the baby’s back and trying to figure out how to wiggle him out of his onesie without getting poo on his head. Despite our inept parenting abilities, I can confidently say that Izaak is thriving but I’m convinced that there’s a reason why nobody remembers being an infant!

Izaak's new gocrib! This thing is SWEET!!

Yummy dish from Aunt Jordana and cuzzies!

New jammies from Grandma and Grandpa!

Some things that perhaps should be on my New Year’s resolution list besides fitness goals and organization improvement are “keeping in touch with friends and family” and “keeping up with the housework”. It’s far too easy to fall out of touch with great people and I’m sad to report that currently, the inside of our home looks like a bomb filled with junk-shrapnel went off. We’re contending with “stuff overload” presently and suffering from not being home long enough to get the place in order. I could try to blame it on the baby’s plentiful accessories but that isn’t really fair (though we do need to figure out some toy storage options pretty soon), the real issue is the fact that Joe and I should be on the TV show “Hoarders”. Is it really so difficult to get rid of things that we don’t use anymore or put junk mail in the garbage? Apparently. And I need to be timelier with trips to the Post Office. I still have 4 sets of Christmas gifts that need to be sent out… pathetic! I was so excited about sending out Christmas cards this year that I totally slacked on getting the bigger stuff packed up and out to their respective destinations. In my defense, some of the items are breakable and I haven’t had the time to properly get them wrapped so that they (hopefully) arrive in one piece.

All in all, life is far from perfect yet perfectly fantastic and I’m currently quite content with my place in the universe!

Merry Christmas!

Rainbows are festive, right?!

Happy Holidays! I'm happy to report that we had such a nice first Christmas with the kiddo! Regardless of the fact that Izaak had no idea what was going on, he seemingly had a wonderful time tearing into brightly colored paper and chewing/slobbering on the contents. We got to spend the weekend with Joe’s parents and grandfather in Myrtle Beach and everyone was thoroughly spoiled! Izaak really raked it in; he got tons of new clothes and toys including his own Sesame Street fold-out mini couch, Radio Flyer red wagon and tricycle, a train toy that teaches counting and the alphabet, a learning toy with a monkey that you can make dance using a joystick, a Glo-Worm, a big pillow-like stuffed Owl, Santa diapers and baby food, savings bonds, some ornaments for the tree, monkey dishware, much needed hooded towels and washcloths, a Nike jogging suit, many pairs of new, footed pajamas, a bunch of outfits from Carter’s, a really soft “lovey” with a frog’s head and satin underside, amongst other great gifts that I’m not remembering at the moment.

"Rip it open already, sheesh!"

My “big gift” from Joe: a jogging stroller that we found on Craigslist!! Granted, the thing is 10 years old and has had already had plenty of use, it works fine and was only 20 bucks! Though it isn’t the prettiest thing, it rides smoothly and does the job. Would I like one of those fancy $600 BOB strollers? Of course (duh)! Do I need one or could even fathom justifying us spending so much on a stroller? No way! I will however, be on the lookout for an upgrade, we can always put this one right back up on Craigslist!! Some of my other received gifts: cold hard cash, Amazon.com gift cards (hello, Star Wars Complete Bluray Saga!!), a set of automatic trash cans (they open when you wave your hand over the lid!) and some other stuff for the kitchen. I must be an adult now because I was genuinely excited about getting cutting boards, a new peppermill, a mortar and pestle, and the above mentioned garbage cans!!

"Is the bow on my head necessary?"

Even though I am short on “free time” these days, I tried to give personal gifts this year. We had family portraits taken by our friend at the beach earlier this month and I framed some 8x10’s. I also made some photo books for the grandparents using pictures taken since Izee was born. Joe and I acid-etched a glass beer mug for his grandfather. When we couldn’t come up with a decent personal gift, we resorted to the tried and true solution: gift cards!! All in all, we’ve had a wonderful year and can’t wait to see what the next year brings!

Xmas Card Idea from Shutterfly!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.