Happy Father's Day

Walking into Month 11!

Today (June 3), Judah received his twelve month pediatrician appointment. When they started to ask me questions pertaining to his development such as "is he crawling, " I laughed out loud and responded with, "He is walking." Judah's development has soared so much during his eleven month.

And walking he is or should I say practically running now. You can see him pick up speed at certain times and carefully turn corners. Judah is on the move every waking moment. It seems like you finish picking up the damage from one thing and then he is already into another thing. Perhaps that is why I have not sat down to write on the blog lately. I am either chasing Judah or sleeping from chasing Judah. He is a busy but very happy, fun little boy.

Judah likes to play games and explore his world. Together, we stack and knock down his "stacking cups." He really enjoys playing "peek-a-boo" followed by being chased and tickled and looks back at you to see if he is being chased. This month he has noticed his stuffed animals and often picks them up talking to them or attacking them in hugs. He has figured out cause and effect with putting his farm animals away in his barn/silo and getting them out again. Then he plays with his cars/tractors making motor sounds and driving them on the ground. He especially likes to put things in his bucket and shake it to where the items fall out. Judah has also figured out that his shapes go into their container and we often practice putting them in the right hole. And of course, Maestro will always be his favorite toy as he still likes to pull his tail and grab his hair.

Judah has a great sense of humor. Quite frequently he brings over an object to you, pretending like he is going to give it to you, and instead pulls it back again. Other times, Judah likes to look at the world upside down by putting his head on the ground and bending over. He also has started "hopping on pop, " which is attacking Tim with his whole body. He still likes to dance to music and so we have many dancing parties (yes, as a family), only now he also moves his shoulders and and his arms up and down in addition to swaying to the music (which is the cutest thing). Judah gives these silly grins where he will scrunch up his chubby little cheeks.

Sometimes these silly antics get Judah into trouble. You can almost see him turn and look at you right before he does something he is not supposed to do. He does this when he is near the fireplace. You can see him thinking, "Are they watching me?" And other times he just gets into trouble going full speed ahead. For example, as soon as the gate is left open, he is into Maestro's water dish.

Judah now communicates with you by pointing and grunting at things he wants and places he wants to go. Judah often walks around waving his arms just making talking sounds and looking for something to do or get into. He is very social around other kids now (or you can say territorial about his toys). About the only time Judah ever really sits still is to read books. Often he will take his books off his shelf and browse through them or he will carry one to you and plop in your lap expecting you to read it. His favorite books this month has become his alphabet and number books called My First Alphabet and My First Numbers (and even likes the Your Baby Can Read Book). Almost weekly on Friday mornings, we go to the downtown Des Moines Public Library for story time (Lap Time for 0-18 months). Here we enjoy stories, songs, flannel boards, instruments, activities, toys, and interaction with babies the same age. Judah and I like to check out picture books (such as Me Baby, You Baby and the Baby Goes Beep) now to bring home to read.

Judah loves to play outside. If we are not outside, you will find him looking out the front door. Outside, Judah will play in the dirt (most often eating it), throwing or kicking his balls, sticking his fingers in soap bubbles, and picking mommy's flowers. In face one day a call was made to the Poison Control Center of Iowa to see if a mouthful of fertilized potting soil was harmful. We still make it to the park occasionally for a swing or a ride down the slide with mommy. Quite often we take walks to Valley Junction for Thursday Farmers Market in the Junction or to drop off some mail to the post office. We also stroll together on the bike paths or take a bike ride as a family in the evenings. At these moments, Judah enjoys watching the world go by as he lounges and relaxes in his stroller or his bike trailer (often falls asleep in his trailer). When it is hot, the sprinkler comes out for Judah to play in the water. He loves to splash water holding out his hands in the sprinkler and laughs. On a sunny Friday, we often go to a garage sale or two as well.

You would not know that Judah is in the third percentile for height at and weight (at 18 pounds) for how much he eats. This month we started him on whole rice, crackers, oatmeal, pasta, apples, shredded pork, and hamburger, in addition to others. He even had his first couple meals of real table food when we had roast pork and potatoes one night and hamburger, vegetable stew another night. His favorite is still peas and cheerios though. Being totally into finger foods has created a challenge to get Judah to eat some foods. That is when we discovered he likes little cracker sandwiches (with almost anything in the middle). Likewise, Judah still likes his cheerios covered in yogurt and oatmeal for breakfast. He has become proficient at using his cup and likes to drink water (except you have to grab it before he starts playing with it). He started two snacks for the day in addition to his three meals. About halfway through his meal, his bib continues to come off as he somehow manages to pull it off. His clothes are not the only thing that have started getting covered in food. He has started throwing food onto the floor when he decides he does not like it.

All his growth goes into his hair. Judah's hair now goes down to his eyes and the mullet in back has started curling when it is dry. When his hair is wet, it becomes one very long rat tail. Also, his hair has gotten lighter with a reddish tent to it. He has only been called a girl once but once is all it takes for it to get it cut. Almost always he has long nails (with dirt in them) since the only time to cut them is when he is asleep in the car (fights it otherwise). His body remains slender in all his active play. He does have a long back thanks to the Rittgers family genes. He also has been working on tooth number three on the upper, front right side. Judah enjoys brushing his teeth or combing his hair just like mommy and daddy in the morning (he even combs my hair).

Judah thankfully is just starting to do two naps a day again. After about two months of fighting one nap, Judah is settling back into two naps on occassion(cross my fingers). Waking up earlier in the morning, he usually is ready for a nap about two-three hours later and then again around two or three in the afternoon. Usually one nap is two and a half hour nap while the second one is a much smaller nap. If for some reason he only does one nap, we try to hold him out until a earlier but long afternoon nap. He knows it is nap time after you read him books and get up from the rocker and he starts to fuss. After you leave the room, he settles down usually sometime during the bink throwing and the crib chewing. The funny thing about nap time is you have to be absolutely quiet when he falls asleep but once asleep, you can move furniture around in his room and he would not even move. Bedtime has been consistent around 8:00pm every night. We have moved his baths to the tub now since he splashes so much. Judah has unfortunately gotten into the habit of waking up once between 3-5:00am but thankfully he falls asleep again.

Every weekend in May we went out of town or we had company. To start off the month, our friend Katie visited for a day to play with Judah. Mother's Day weekend we celebrated Judah's birthday with both sets of families. Everyone stayed in town for church the next day with Judah's baby dedication in the second service. Then we had everyone out to the house for a nice Sunday Mother's Day dinner (the catered kind with paper plates). Next, Tim went to New York City for five days to the National Boys and Girls Club Conference and a technology conference sponsored by Microsoft. While he was gone, Judah and I went up to the farm to hang out with Papa and Gigi (Grandma). As Tim was attending sessions on managing staff, Judah and I were going to garage sales, spending the day with Jacob, beating Uncle Matt at Skip-Bo, and taking four-wheeler rides. Then the third weekend we went down with the Rittgers clan to Kansas City to celebrate cousin Gabe's first birthday. It was nice to have all three cousins together for the first time and watch them play. The following Memorial weekend, we had another party for Judah with our friends. Our out of town friends, John and Beth stayed Sunday for breakfast too. The rest of Memorial weekend was spent resting or eating leftovers with friends.

Mommy has been busy campaigning again for one of our Congressional Candidates, Jim Gibbons. Helping with social conservative outreach, some of my spare time has gone to writing notes and making phone calls. I also finally finished planting my garden. In the small garden in front of our porch I have planted another rose bush (called Laura Bush that Tim and Judah gave me for Mother's Day), some Hostas, a Bleeding heart, Marigolds, and Snapdragons with three hanging pots and two ground pots with Geraniums and other filler plants. The side landscape I have turned into a vegetable garden with peas, beans, peppers and windowsill baskets of leaf lettuce and herbs. Now that I actually have time to keep up my garden this year and make it look nice, Judah is at the stage where he wants to dig it all up.

Tim moved into the Director of Operations position this month at the Boys and Girls Club of Central Iowa. This challenging position is a nice transition after doing the Youth Leadership Institute for 6 years and Director of Technology for 4 years. He finds himself busy with managing staff, meetings, grant writing, and program development. Occasionally Tim has gone golfing on a Sunday afternoon for fun.

Happy 1st Birthday Judah!

Judah officially turned one year old on Saturday, May 29, 2010, at 12:15pm. He celebrated his first birthday with family and friends.

His day started out by opening a gift from mommy and daddy. Then Judah enjoyed his usual breakfast of cheerios and yogurt. We spent the morning cleaning up the house for company and playing outside in the hot sunshine (the weather was the same when he was born). For lunch, we went to Mustard's for some BBQ with cousins Chase and Ryan and Judah enjoyed French Fries and chicken fingers for his birthday lunch.

At 4:00pm after nap time our garage and yard turned into a war zone with sidewalk chalk, soap bubbles, Badminton Shuttles, toys, and lots of spilled lemonade. With five families totalling ten kids, our guests enjoyed our barnyard of cupcake animals, sticker animal balloons, and animal hats. Everyone had a chance at hitting the Badminton, playing Hop Scotch, and riding little tyke cars. Good eats of Sloppy Joe sandwiches, fresh fruit salad, chips, fresh veggies, and birthday animal cupcakes along with good conversation topped off the evening.

Judah enjoyed his party immensely. At first he ate soap bubbles. Then he attacked his presents, taking apart the ribbons. Being so excited, he barely ate his food of pasta and cheese. Instead, he found every cup sitting on the floor and spilled out everyone's idle lemonade. Once we got out the cupcakes to sing happy birthday, he grabbed two cupcakes (a pig and a chick for each hand) at once putting it into his mouth, laughing. Judah enjoyed the activity that he was uninterested in opening the fun gifts: books, clothes, and a jungle animal game.

Bed time barely went unnoticed except for the fact the kids started to get fussy, the Badminton net fell down, Shuttlecocks and Frisbees were all on the roof, chalk was all over our clothes, and empty cups were laying all over the garage . Kids went home with a hat and balloon while the parents went home with sticky, sweaty, and tired kids. Judah enjoyed being the center of attention so much that he would not fall asleep until 10:30pm. Mommy and Daddy quickly picked up the leftover food, washing out the garage again before the ants found the spilled lemonade.

Here are some other fun scenes of Judah's Birthday! Good times were enjoyed by all!

Celebrating Judah!

This weekend was a big weekend for all of us but especially Judah as we celebrated his first birthday and his baby dedication with family.

Starting at 4:00pm (after nap time) on Saturday, we celebrated Judah's first birthday with both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Our house was transformed into a barnyard with animal hats, a red barn cake, and animal balloons. Judah particularly enjoyed looking at his "Happy Birthday" banner and barnyard-themed plates. Cousins Jacob, Caleb, Hannah, and Isaac made sticker animal balloons, played with the barn and farm set, and banged on all the musical toys when they arrived.

The adults mingled, watched the kids, and played a little farm bean bag toss themselves. Then at 5:00pm, everyone enjoyed Sloppy Joe sandwiches, vegetables, chips, fruit, and of course homemade chocolate birthday cake. Judah just ate his vegetables and pasta for his birthday supper but he did taste cake for the first time. He took his time touching it and observing the red frosted chocolate cake before finally taking the plate and dumping the cake upside down on the floor.

After dinner, Judah opened his gifts following the reading of the Barnyard Dance (by Sandra Boynton). He tore through the wrapping paper (as the other kids observed and helped) to find several fun toys: a John Deere Combine and tractor book from Papa and Gigi, stacking blocks with shapes and a book from Grandpa and Grandma Kreis, a tractor with animals plus a laughing duck from Cousin Jacob, and Lego-type Fischer Price farm blocks from the Book Cousins. Daddy and mommy gave him a farm-maze puzzle, blocks, books, and a frog towel and washcloth set.

Overall, Judah had a good time just interacting with his company, playing, and enjoying the new toys. The evening turned out to be fun and everyone had a good time. While parents took tired kids home/hotel to bed, Judah, himself finally fell asleep for the night. However, the cake and the excitement kept him up several times throughout the night.

The next day on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 9), Tim brought me breakfast in bed (eggs, sausage, and homemade muffins) before Judah woke up. When Judah woke up, we got ready for church. Then we met family at church before the second service for Judah's baby dedication. Tim also had corsages for the mothers to celebrate Mothers Day. During the service six families dedicated their children to the Lord as part of the service, vowing to raise their children in a Godly environment. Taking up two rows, we sat with family members for the rest of the Celebration Service of testimonies and baptisms.

After church and family pictures, everyone returned to our house for a catered meal of Felix and Oscar's Italian pasta. Seating twelve people at our table, we enjoyed each other's company before people took off for home or a long nap.

With everyone having a good weekend, a lot of memories were made! Here are a few:

"Springing" into 10 Months!

Spring is here in full bloom all around us from the daffodils in our garden to happy birds chirping away getting fat on worms. Warmer, longer, and sunnier days allow us to be outside more and more. And Judah does not want to miss it. He himself has seemed to blossom socially and developmentally this month just like spring-time.

In particular, Judah just took off walking; I tell people he is walking at ten months and I get this surprised look like "already" and "oh my, you have your hands full!" On a Monday (April 13) he took his first step. On Tuesday, he took 4-5 steps by himself. By Wednesday, he was taking 10-12 steps and finally by the next weekend he was walking across the room. Judah just walks constantly across the room from one thing to another. Rarely does he stop to play with a toy but instead goes from one toy to another. It is as if his walking has become his entertainment. Perhaps his favorite thing to walk after is Maestro. He especially likes to walk up to Maestro and attack then proceeding to follow him as he walks away. Like sibling rivalry, Maestro and Judah continue to play this game over and over. Maestro has yet figured out that he should move to higher ground and Judah just thinks it is so funny to chase him and pull his tail or his hair. Judah has officially worn out his first pair of shoes (little black soft soled shoes) with all his walking.

This new means of getting around has allowed Judah to see his world in a whole new way. He can now reach things on tables (and so now I am moving things again out of his reach yet again). He has learned how to open cupboards and cabinets which we quickly put safety locks on. He figured out how to turn on the radio and control the sound. He also discovered the picture frames in our room, pulling them down to look at.

Judah does still play some with his toys, hopping mostly from one toy to another. We are slowly transitioning the toys out with more age appropriate toys. At church, Judah is at the age now to switch to the older nursery but we have yet to do so because he seems to like the people in the younger nursery and knows where to get the toys. He does like to push his car and a walker around the living room at home. Judah observed his first science experiment when I put two pop bottles together full of blue water with a special gadget to allow the water to make a tornado. Other times, we spend our time making forts and playing underneath them.

Judah is a happy little boy who talks and chatters, chatters and talks. Mr. Social often carries a conversation with you as he walks around. This month he officially said his first words (both Tim and I heard him) of "woof" and "cat." Maestro certainly does not go "woof." He does however like to hiss back at Maestro when Maestro is hissing at him. We are practicing the "High 5" signal and he mastered the "So Big" trick, putting his arms in the air. He finally mastered waving hello and goodbye but the wave from the wrist looks like he is posing as the high school prom king. He also lifts his shirt up and exposes his belly giving you just enough time to tickle his belly button. Occasionally he has become a little flirt especially if he thinks people are laughing at him. If we are with a group of adults and something is funny causing us all to laugh, he thinks we are laughing at him and will purposely laugh or try to be silly.

Since the weather has become warmer, Judah has relished all the outdoor activity. We continue to stroll to the park and around the block. Judah took his first ride in the swing at the park; he loved the wind blowing in his hair. In the driveway, Judah has started throwing his balls. Most of all though, Judah loves to help me in the garden by picking my flowers (I just planted), eating dirt, and digging in the mulch. Many a time, I have put him in the Excer Saucer while I plant so that he will stop picking my flowers. Judah is still unsure at times of the grass. He will play with his ball only to have it fall in the grass where he stops short of getting it. We did take some days to go enjoy the flowering trees and flowers at Grays Lake and Waterworks Park this spring. Walking among the blossoms and breathing in the soft sent of flowers, you feel like you are walking in an avenue. Judah got to experience the petals falling around him from the trees and sitting in the daffodils.

The weather has changed so much that we are still going between heat at night to some shorts during the day. Judah though has officially transitioned into big boy pajamas. He has also started sleeping with his green blanket (with silky edges). Bed time has become associated with reading books and then laying him in the crib with his blanket. He especially likes it when you wave it over him first. Then as we tuck him in and say, "good night little Pookie, I love you and love you (from the bedtime story of Goodnight Little Pookie)".


Judah has been in a period of no naps due to teething from the top two teeth still making their way through. At the most, he will take just one nap a day, usually in the morning for a couple of hours. Other days, I try and try to put him down for a nap letting him scream or play in his crib for a half hour or more. So I put him in his swing and put him in front of the television to watch Baby Einstein for thirty minutes. Finally as a last resort, on a few occasions, I have loaded him up to take him for a drive in the car where every time he falls asleep within the first five minutes. In fact one night I used this method at 2:00am in the morning only to have him be awake when I arrived home (grr). By that time, I am so tired myself, that I drive back home and carry him inside in his seat and crash on the couch until he wakes up a half hour later. Also, he has started waking up early in the morning sometime between 3-5am, hungry, as if in another growth spurt.

His teeth are not the only thing that are growing. Judah has outgrown another stack of clothes in time for summer. He is now wearing twelve month clothes. He even seems to have grown just a tad bit taller causing him to hit his head underneath the table. At the table, Judah has really started eating more and more finger foods including transitioning to whole peas, cut green beans, cut carrots, and peach slices. In addition, he started cottage cheese, grapes, potatoes, beef, egg yolk, and lentils.

Tim's workload increased with wrapping up the Youth Leadership Program for the school year with the last few classes of the school season and planning ahead to graduation along with orientating next year's students. He took on additional administrative responsibilities with the Boys and Girls Club in addition to his full schedule including helping out the interim Executive Director. Tim spent about four days in Dallas attending the annual National Leadership Conference.

With the weather turning warmer, we saw more company or traveled ourselves. Judah celebrated his first Easter weekend in Cedar Falls. The following weekend, Grandma Kreis visited a few days, followed by Aunt Amy, and then by the weekend, our friend Christy stayed with us on her way back to Colorado. Then the third week, Uncle Matt and Aunt Hilary hung out a few days with Judah and I since they had a concert in town. And finally we were able to nab Miss Lynn over from campaigning to visit for a day. By the end of the month Papa and Gigi visited us too.

My whole life changed drastically this month as Judah started walking. Most of my time was spent chasing Judah, moving things out of reach, and getting him from something. With what time I did have, Judah and I started herb, vegetable, and flowers seedlings for the garden. Also, we finished up our Thursday night small group sessions for the year. On Friday mornings, Judah and I went downtown to the Des Moines Public Library for story time. And finally, the Reeves came over a few times to play and enjoy the nice weather with us.

Lookout world!

First Easter!

Judah's first Easter celebration was full of eggs, church, and family. We went to the Rittgers farm for Judah's first Easter weekend.

Arriving on Thursday evening, we hung out with family where Judah spent time playing with cousin Jacob. On Friday, we took Judah to his first Good Friday Service at Prairie Lakes Church where he fell asleep and then roamed the halls. On Saturday, Judah met his Great Grandma Anna Rittgers when we went to the Lutheran Home for a visit over lunch. Great Grandma was entertained by Judah playing with her Easter Basket full of the grass and cousin Jacob sitting next to her talking. Then in the evening we celebrated birthdays with both sets of Grandparents.

On Sunday, we celebrated Easter Sunday at Walnut Ridge Church with the Kreis family as we took up an entire row. Afterwards, we headed back out to Lee and Sandy's place for an afternoon full of festivities and a home-cooked feast. After dinner, Judah, mommy, and daddy enjoyed a nice, long quiet nap. Once awake and bundling up from the cold weather, Judah then participated in his first Easter egg hunt where everyone scurried to get candy-filled plastic eggs. Judah on the other hand while hanging onto his bucket and eggs, preferred seeing the horses and sheep for the first time. On Monday, Tim helped Larry build a dock for the back pond. Blowing around, the finally got it finished. Judah then took his first official tractor ride around the pond . Finally we packed up to return home.

And of course, the holiday weekend was complete other fun things. Judah enjoyed his own Easter Baskets full of farm-theme toys from Gigi and Papa and outdoor toys from mommy and daddy including bubbles. He also had fun matching daddy for both the Good Friday Service and Sunday morning. In addition, we colored Easter eggs as a family this year starting a new tradition. Judah really liked to crack the hard-boiled eggs and stick his fingers in the dye. Happy Easter Judah!