Fun at the park

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and we all went to the park!

Photos here!

Derek Fun

Here's a photo of Derek in a little birthday suit. His daycare 'mom' is from Peru and it's customary for the child to have a nice birthday suit on their special day. So she gave him this one! It's gorgeous- fine wool, with velvet cuffs and a bow and pressed collar. Wow!

Next is a photo of Drew feeding Derek tonight! This could be fun! They both loved it!

Derek is One!!!

Little Derek turned one on Sunday! It's hard to believe it! He's got six teeth, is standing (with help), he smiles a lot, laughs a lot, and he's just having a great time.

Here are some photos of that day!

Here is a little video.

Happy Birthday Derek!!!

Derek and Brother on Father's Day

Derek is having some fun sitting up now. He usually does pretty well on his own, but he still tilts over and goes "bonk" on the floor! We find that if we put something chewable directly in front of him, he tends to lean over to try and eat it, thus keeping him upright. Also we see Derek and his big brother on the couch. I think Drew's telling Derek a secret! For those interested in desktop-sized photos (Grandpa?), click on any of them for large versions.

Derek getting out and about

Derek is now seven months old! He's starting to show more signs of growing up: There's a little tooth coming in (which means he really wants to chew on our fingers), he's pushing himself up, and he's wrestling with his big brother. Of course, he's smiling and happy virtually all the time - it's really a joy to watch him interact with people, and smile back at them. First thing in the morning is the best time, because he gives everyone a big smile and kicks his legs and makes talking sounds.

Here we see Derek doing some push-ups while Drew gets ready for bed, some fun in the bouncy-chair, bath, and at the same graduation party that Drew was attending last night.

Sleep update: Derek is now able to sleep up to 7 hours on a fairly regular basis. He may get up once in the night about 50% of the time – a huge improvement over the last few months, which we are tremendously thankful for! Our most recent challenge in this department is that Derek is now sharing a room with Drew, so when Drew wakes up at 6am and screams MAMA! at the top of his lungs, it tends to wake the little guy :-(

Derek is 6 months old - wow!

Well, in some ways it's hard to believe, but Derek Leonard is 6 months old! He's going through some neat changes - like starting to sleep more than 3 hours straight at night! He's also starting to make talking sounds in the "goo goo" kind of language, which is sweet. The best thing though is that he seems to be really happy most of the time - he's quite interactive and smiley. He recognizes us and gets really animated. I think he's an extrovert! He's also started on "solid" food - meaning rice cereal. It took him about a week before he got used to the idea of holding food in his mouth and swallowing it, but he's got the whole operation working now!