A few more videos

Walts favorite noise to make



getting a bath at Grandmas house

Thanksgiving

I figured I should probably enter my "Thanksgiving" blog before Christmas rolls around, so here it is.

Over Thanksgiving this year Walt took his first long road trip. We thought it would be a good idea to travel during his sleep times, which was good for him, but not so good for us. I feel too old to miss a night of sleep! Overall, Walt did good, he was very happy when he was able to get out of the contrapment that made it oh so difficult for him to move around. He's got a lot to do and a lot to see, he does not have time to be "stuck."

Walt opened his first Christmas presents and it was very cute. He never gets overly excited about new things, but he did really enjoy tearing the paper! Another first for Walt is that he got a tooth! It must not have bothered him too much, because we kind of found it accidentally. Shortly, after he got his second and is sporting two teeth! I got bit last night and it did not feel good! Who would have thought that two little teeth had so much power?

Walt enjoyed being at Grandpa and Grandma Lighthisers and got to meet some of his extended family. He even got to meet his great grandma Hengeveld!

A few things that Walt did not like - Aunt Rachel and Uncle Ted's train that goes around the christmas tree. All the other kids seemed quite excited to watch the train. I sat Walt down with the other kids and the first time the train went around he started crying! He never did really warm up to the train. Maybe, next time! I actually think that is the only thing that he really did not like or that scared him.

Here are some Thanksgiving photos. Walt's first Thanksgiving and you get one guess what his mommy and daddy were thankful for this year?

The new moms of 2009!

Trying to get the boys to all look at the camera at the same time - not possible.

My little Turkey!



Yes, the cutest boy you have ever seen getting a bath in Grandma's sink.

Some pretty boring videos of Walt

This is for people who miss him.

Snow storm

An October snow storm has kept up us cooped up. Walt was getting a little stir crazy so we thought we would take him outside for a bit. He seemed to enjoy his short time out - there was no fussing so I can only assume. Anyone want to come clear our cars? A garage sounds like a really good idea about now.

Our poor bikes - this kills Chris to see them this way.



The Camry





Chris' car under some drifts.

Daddy not sharing....again

Walt likes to get his little hands on anything that he can and thinks his daddy is pretty funny.

Movember

Hi,

I have decided to join a global movement that is bringing much needed attention to cancers that affect men. I’m doing this by growing a Moustache this Movember, the month formerly known as November. My commitment is to grow a moustache all November and I am hoping that you will support my efforts by making a donation. The funds raised go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG).What many people don’t know is that 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 18-35. Facts like these have convinced me I should get involved. I'll post pics on the blog.

To make a donation, you can either:

• Click this link http://us.movember.com/mospace/27391/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account , or

• Write a check payable to ‘Movember Foundation’, referencing my Registration Number 27391 and mailing it to: Movember Foundation, PO Box 2726, Venice, CA 90294-2726.All donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. The Prostate Cancer Foundation will use the money raised by Movember to fund research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer. The Lance Armstrong Foundation will use the money raised by Movember to fund:

• The LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance program which has the goal of improving survival rates and quality of life for young adults with cancer between the ages of 15 and 40. • Research initiatives to further understand the biology of adolescent and young adult cancers.For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please go to http://us.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs.

Thank you

sleep

Walt has decided that he can no longer can sleep through the night. I used to brag about what a great sleeper he was, because he used to sleep most of the night very consistently. I'm not really sure what happened, but it is no longer. I will let you all know that I value sleep.....a lot! I'm not very happy about this new thing that Walt is doing. Fortunately, I have a very helpful husband that doesn't mind that much getting up with him at night. Part of this is because he has a new show he is watching on DVD that I don't watch, so he gets to watch that while he feeds Walt, but he still has his moments. Last week we decided that we were just going to let him cry it out. We were going to be strong and just get it over with. Chris was the strong one and I lasted about 7 minutes. We've (I) decided that he was not ready yet, so we continue with the interrupted sleep.

Sometimes, I like to take Walt into bed with us, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Walt tends to be a bit of bed hog, which I don't really mind, but papa is not a fan. He got kicked in the face the other night and little Walt was sent back to his crib.

Our lack of sleep has reminded me of another one of Chris' crazy ideas. I think it was last summer when Chris decided that he no longer needed 8 hours of sleep. He was going to train himself to only need five hours of sleep a night. You know, for obvious reasons.....??? I don't really think he needed more time during the day to do things, I think he just thought it would be "neat," yeah neat! Anyway, that lasted about a week, I think. I don't know if Walt has us in training right now, but it's not working. We just want to sleep a full night again. This is what we want the little butt in the air, sound asleep!

New Videos

Here are some trial and error videos of Walt sitting up. Motherhood at its best-no one was injured in the making of these films.

Demands

I've been getting demands for more Walt on the blog (all from family). So, I thought I would add a few pictures. Every day Walt seems older and older and is forming into a little boy. Here are a few more pics to appease to the demands. Speaking of demands, ol Walt woke up at midnight and 4 in the morning last night wanting to eat, that never happens. Whats up with that?

Rice Cereal and cuteness

Walt had his six month check up on Friday and got an excellent report. First....big news! Walt is finally on the charts!! He weighs 14 pounds (3rd percentile), 25 inches tall (7th) and his head his 17 inches (24th). That's right, 24th percentile, our baby has a big head. I feel like this might hinder him from sitting up, it's got to weigh a lot. He is going to need a strong neck-that's for sure.

He also gets to start rice cereral. I've been wanting to start him all weekend, but realized we didn't have the little bitty spoons. Chris thought we could use our regular spoons, but I convinced him that would not work (he has a big head, but I'm pretty sure his mouth is normal size). So, we finally got the bitty spoons tonight and tried the cereral. Yuck! I thought I better try it before I gave it Walt, just to see what it is like. It was so gross. I remember reading in one of my baby books when giving your baby new foods you should not make faces at food you don't like and even if you don't like it pretend it is really good so your baby will be excited about it. It was our first food experience and I couldn't help it - I made a gross face, I've failed! I asked Chris to try it, but he wouldn't touch it. None the less, I still tried to talk it up to Walt and it just so happens he does not like it either. We got about three spoonfulls in. He did really well with the spoon. We'll keep trying, maybe he will learn to like it. We captured a few photos and you can tell how much he likes it.

I feel like all the sudden Walt has grown up a ton...probably because he is a whole half year.

Our handsome little boy - doesn't he look old?

Rolling with the homies

Labor Day

Summer is coming to an end. You can't really tell except the mornings are cooler and it starting to get darker earlier. I won't complain and will enjoy the warm weather as long as I can. I feel like it is the end of summer and we are finally doing summer activities. It has been a weird summer for us. We are usually busy and try to be outdoors as often as we can. However, Walt has slowed us a down a bit. There were fewer bike rides and no camping trips, but it is all worth it. We are looking forward to next summer and doing a lot of outdoor firsts with little Walt.

Back to the end of this summer. Walt went into our pool for the first time today. He didn't like Aunt Larissa and Uncle Brian's pool earlier this summer, but it went better today. I wouldn't say he enjoyed it as much as he tolerated it. There were no tears so it must have not been too bad. There was, however, a lot of sunscreen and Walt is not a fan of the rub down.

Chris finally biked a century on Saturday. He went 100 miles on the surly road bike. All I have to say is what a STUD! He was pretty tired on Saturday night, but hasn't complained about being too sore. Really, isn't he manly!

We also attended our first wedding of the summer on Saturday night. Walt went to Sara's house and we got to enjoy a night out! It was very fun. I love wedding dances--Chris not so much even though he does have mad skills without moving his feet.

Well, a new season is upon us. We'll see what fall has in store for us.

Walt walking already!!! (well, not really..........at all)

well, Walt isnt quite the walking prodigy all you suckers who read the title thought he was. But he is a very good stander with assistance. He is getting close to rolling over, he gets on his side and just gets a little stuck, especially when he lies inbetween mommy and daddy and rolls to daddy's side because daddy is a bit of a fatty. sheesh. bye now.

Changes

This one cracks me up! It just looks like chaos. Walt is just rolling with it and Landon is not appreciating his head lock.

The Lighthisers are going through some big changes. I started work today and Walt is now spending his days with Miss Sara and baby Lane. Our first day is down and I think it went pretty well. There were many tears prior to the big day and a few tears this morning (by mama, of course) but all in all we have survived. A new era has begun. I think we are going to be just fine and we will enjoy our evenings together. I basically stared at him all night and soaked up all of his smiles. He is turning into quite the happy boy.

I think last week helped ease us into the transition. We spent a week long vacation in Tennessee with all the Nunnikhovens. I had some time away from Walt, and he got to enjoy time with his Nana and cousins. Walt was able to meet all of his cousins for the first time last week. How fun for us! Walt was quite the trooper. He seemed to be entertained by his cousins and I think he liked watching them. Lucas (3) and Noah (almost 4) were surprisingly big fans. They often wanted to know what "baby Walt" was doing and if he was crying why. They also thought it was hilarious when he had dirty diapers and had the tootles. I was surprised how much they wanted to help and that they were so interested. It was so nice to see my whole family and spend such good quality time with everyone. Let me tell you--the Nunnikhovens have some cute kids!

I do have to brag about Walt just a tiny bit. It is such an ego booster to walk through an airport with Walt. It is amazing the attention this little boy gets. I'm sure all babies get this attention and I just never realized, but it is quite something. Of all people, and why this person makes it extra cool, I don't know, but the pilot of our airplane commented on how "perfect" our Walt was and told us that we should be making more babies. I'm pretty sure this is best compliment that I have gotten in my whole life. Friends and family have to say your baby is cute, but when random strangers tell you its a little more believable. Okay, that is probably enough of my pride swelling.

Off to bed I go because tomorrow is another day of our new routine that we are still getting used to.

4 eyes x 3 =12 eyes

well, the Lighthisers got some new spectacles recently. I need them, amanda barely needs them, and Walt was messed with whilst asleep, I believe by the Thompsons. jerks.

A few pics for the kids (thats you)

The Doctor

Walt had to go the doctor again today for immunization shots...poor guy! It's a rough time for Walt and for mama. He gets shots every month because he is on an alternative schedule. I'm not sure it was the best decision, but in all reality it is only five minutes of agony.... for the both of us. He was just too little at two months to get all those shots.

I've decided that Walt has three different cries. One is "I'm in serious pain, please help me." I only hear it on doctor day, which is a good thing, but it is one sad cry and the one that makes mama almost tear up. Then there is, "I'm really mad, fix it!" Also, not a fun cry, but we can deal with it. This usually occurs when I'm driving and we have lost the paci and he wants out of the car seat. There is not a lot I can do about this cry and we try to fix it when feasible. The third cry is just a whiny cry, "I'm not sure what I want, do you?" This one kind of makes me laugh and sometimes he gets a response of, "Your just fine." Hopefully, we will not hear the first cry for another month and we'll see if any new ones develop.

We also found out that Walt is still gaining weight even though he does not always like eating. He is now 12 pounds 5 ounces. Not too bad! We saw some of his NICU nurses on Saturday and they were all very impressed on how big he was. We also saw some babies that he was there with and he has some good growth on them. He is doing well and we are thankful!

Who pities the fool?

Walt, that's who pities the fool!

Hoops

We just had one of those perfect summer evenings. Sweet corn for dinner, time in the park and gelato. The most entertaining part of the evening was playing in the park.

For quite some time now (years) Chris has aspired to be called "Hoops." This is an interesting nickname that he has wanted for himself, as I have never known him to play basketball or particularly care for it that much. He has a dream of being good one day. Just like I have a dream of being in the Olympics. Well, tonight we decided to shoot some hoops in the park (thanks to Rod and Julie for the basketball). How to sum up the night? Hmmmm...well, I have never seen so many air balls in my life and they were not from me. We actually played a game of HORSE. I had H when Chris lost. I will not shatter Chris' dreams of being called Hoopsy Baby, but we have a long ways to go. It was a little embarrassing as the group of young, athletic -looking teens looked on. I think Walt was proud though. He followed that tye-dyed shirt all over the court.

We also took Walt to the play area. I sat him on my lap as we gently swung back and forth. I've decided that Walt is a very apprehensive baby. I'm not sure if we are seeing his personality come out or what the deal is. As we were moving a couple of inches and I firmly held him he had a look of shear terror. He does know how to smile and smiles at Chris and I all the time. He also likes his favorite toys, but when we do new things with him--he is not a fan! It really takes him a long time to warm up to the idea. Chris will be singing to him and making faces at him and he will just look at him like what is going on--after awhile he may crack a smile if we are lucky. We'll see if this continues, but now I would say he is a rather apprehensive child. We'll work on him. Who knows maybe tonight we started his love for basketball and someday he will earn the nickname Hoopsy baby!

Mama loves you

Here is another video. It's sideways because we are not very techy.

Amanda happy hour

boy I tell you what. sometimes I dont know what to do with this kid. I have a lot of admiration for the mrs. taking care of him all the time. she attended a modest happy hour with a friend and I went to Carlsons. I couldnt even enjoy my PBR or the Fast and Furious, I guess it's not as easy as I thought. Then I see this smile, love him lots.

walt video, since we can't figure out facebook video, sheesh.

here's a tasty little morsel of walt and the seahorse, even though I'm not all that fond of anything equestrian or all that nautical. Anyways, Walt seems to enjoy it.