Idaho!

On Saturday, June 11, Jacob and I left our house at 4:45 in the morning to drive to my sister Cindy's house in Ripon. It was just the beginning of a LONG day. Two days before Jacob had come down with a fever, so we were all praying that he'd do okay on the drive. We had to pull over twice to deal with a meltdown, but he did better than we thought. At one of the stops a black and white cat came right up to the boys and let them pet her. I put some of Jacob's unused formula in the cap of his bottle, and the cat drank it up! This cat was SO cute! William tried to sneak the cat in the car, but Cindy told him we couldn't take it. We still had a couple of hours left to drive...


On Sunday we all went to church. I got to hear Ryan Kron (an old softball teammate from Escondido) preach the sermon. I don't know how Jacob was in the nursery because when I got there after church, he was sleeping on one of the girls. I guess he was tired out from the trip even though he slept 11 hours the night before. On Sunday, we also got to watch Joshua give the calf a bottle--it's momma wouldn't let him nurse and kept kicking him. It was pretty fun to watch. Even Jacob thought it was interesting!

Michael even got the calf to suck on his finger for a while!

Here is a picture of all 8 cousins in one room!

The de Jong kids were pretty obsessed with William and Michael's I-Pod Touches, so they did that pretty much whenever the could. Jacob just thought it was fun to have people to crawl over, hair to pull, and arms to help him stand.

On Monday, Cindy and Deb took the 5 older kids to the waterslides while Jacob, Johanna, and Simon, and I went to McDonald's and rented two movies. I had so much fun with the three of them.


Since Jacob has recently begun being scared of the bathtub, Johanna volunteered to take a bath with him. He was still pretty scared, but at least he calmed down a little to take this cute picture!


Jacob cut about two teeth while we were there (he now has 3 on top and 3 on the bottom). They must have been bothering him because he did this face A LOT!



On Tuesday morning the kids all played croquet!


There were only 6 mallets, so Johanna didn't play. She and I played Uno Attack instead. Then all the kids came in and wanted to play....Luckily, my sisters and I had plans to leave the older 7 at home and go shopping at the mall in Boise! We all got something, and it was fun to go to the mall for once.


We did lots of other things, too--went out for ice cream, made a fire and roasted marshmallows to make s'mores, watched a bunch of movies...Jacob slept very good the whole trip. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who got tired out from all the excitement...


The last day we packed a picnic lunch and went to the park.


On Friday, June 18, we packed everything up again and headed home. Jacob was much better on this trip and William did such a good job of entertaining him. I was ready to be home although it was such a nice trip. I am so grateful that Cindy offered to take me, and Deb and her family were such generous hosts! It went way better than I imagined to take an almost 10-month old on an 11-hour drive to Idaho!

Now it's Monday morning, and I still haven't unpacked although Jacob tried to do it for me!

Nine and One-Third Months!

Because Jacob's nine-month check-up wasn't until today, I have waited to do his nine-month update until now. Here are his stats:

Height: 31.5 inches (over 95%)

Weight: 24 lbs, 6.5 oz (about 92%)

He must've learned a lot these past few months because his head circumference went from 75% to almost 95% in the past three months (of course, the girl could've measured it wrong; he was VERY squirmy and DID NOT want her to put anything on his head!).

Teeth: only three--two on the bottom and the third one is to the right of where his two front teeth should be. I check every day for the two front teeth, but they STILL have not broken through, yet.

Skills: He still does the combat crawl and is quickly gaining speed. He is starting to pull up on things, but he mostly just uses his arm strength to pull his upper body up. If I stand him up next to something he can stand for a long time, but I have to stay next to him because he will just decide to lean back and fall on his head. He is starting to wave and often will give me 5 if I ask him. He can also get to a sitting position from his tummy and vice versa.

Sleeping: He sleeps about 9 to 10 hours at night depending on when he wakes up. Some days he wakes up at 4:30 to 5:00, has a bottle, and 20-30 minutes later goes back to sleep until almost 7. If he doesn't wake up until 5:30, then he almost never goes back to sleep although most days I put him back in his crib for about 30 minutes anyway. He usually goes to sleep around 8:00. Depending on when he wakes up, he usually takes two naps every day from about 10 to 12 and 3 to 4:15.

Miscellaneous: He wears 18 month shirts and one-piece outfits; most of his pants/shorts are 12 months. I have had to trim his hair around his ears and the back of his neck. It is still a very nice strawberry blonde color, but I think it will be blonde by the time he is two. He is a very social little guy and loves to smile at anyone who talks to him. He loves going anywhere, but I think his favorite place is the church nursery. He also loves to go on walks in his stroller.

Jacob wearing some klompen and showing off his best flirting technique.

Sometimes I am in the other room, hear Jacob crying, and come back to find something like this. He was completely stuck!

I happened to catch this the first time he ever did it. I wouldn't call it pulling up yet because he isn't standing, but he has figured out that he can reach a lot of things that are NOT on the floor. I guess I'll have to be more careful where I put the remote from now on!

Nine Month Update coming soon!

I realize that I haven't done Jacob's 9-month update yet, but he doesn't go to the doctor until June 1. Since I can't write his weight and height, I'm going to wait until I get that information. Here's some pictures until then...

Combat/Crocodile Crawl

Over the last few weeks Jacob has learned to crawl. He does the combat crawl, but I think he looks more like a crocodile, especially when he turns around in a circle. He is getting faster and is also starting to come to me when I call him. He LOVES this mobility, but he is starting to get into things I don't want him to. His favorite thing to suck on is the plug of any appliance. He also loves any cords he comes across. Naturally, the computer room has become a place of intrigue and curiosity for Jacob.

Here are a couple videos of him crawling.

Jacob has also recently taken up studying Algebra 2/Trig. Here he is learning about multiplying and dividing rational expressions. I guess he wants to impress his daddy.

Bathtime Fun

Within the past few weeks, Jacob has really begun to love the bathtub. He'll sit and play for quite a while splashing, laughing, yelling, and putting the toys in his mouth. I've started giving him a bath almost every night just because it's fun for him and relaxing for me. My sister Cindy gave me the idea of bringing a book in the bathroom and sitting on the toilet next to him while I read. Of course, I don't get much read, but I'm really beginning to cherish these bathtimes. Here a few pictures and videos and Jacob's bathtime fun.

8 months--66% of a year

It's hard to believe that Jacob is now 8 months old and 2/3 of a year has passed. Each month seems to go faster. He continues to change each week.

Eight Month Stats: (as well as I can guess)

Weight: It seems impossible, but two scales have said that he weighs 22 pounds--that would mean he gained 5 pounds in two months? I wouldn't believe it, but he definitely has gotten much more chubby. His upper thighs are pretty "rolly." However, within the last two months I did start giving him solid food (which he LOVES), and he started drinking formula, so maybe it is possible. I also stopped using the infant seat carrier about three weeks ago because it was getting too hard to carry/lift. I won't get an official weight until June 1, his 9-month checkup (9 days late!).

Height: I don't know at all. I suppose I could measure him. I'm pretty sure he's around 29-30 inches. Next month will be more exact.

Size clothes: Almost everything he wears is 12 months, especially shirts. He went pretty much from 6-month shirts straight into 12-month shirts (probably because he only had 1 9-month long-sleeved shirt).

Skills: He loves to feed himself and almost has the pincer grasp down. He does an army/combat crawl or rolls to get to wherever he wants to go. He hasn't learned to go from tummy to sitting up yet, but I'm okay with that. He can give 5.

Teeth: still only two on the bottom. I'm VERY surprised the top two haven't made their appearance yet. I check every morning to see if they have sprouted.

Here are a few pictures of his photo shoot at JC Penney last week:

I purposely didn't buy the standing up one because I thought it was deceptive. He can only do that if you hold him up. He can't do it at all if you set him up next to something. He'll just fall over.

Five Birthdays! (and Easter celebration)

Yesterday the Van Duyn family celebrated five birthdays! The actual dates range from March 25 to April 1, and the ages range from 8 to 64! This was the first time all five were together to celebrate. Since it was close to Easter, we also had a fantastic Easter dinner cooked by my brother-in-law Bill--lamb shanks, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, asparagus, etc. It was SO good! Here are a few pictures of the night.


All five of the birthday people.



William Kamps turned 12 and Ella de Jong turned 8 on March 25.




My brother Mike turned 34 on March 27.
Annetta de Jong turned 10 on March 28.
My dad turned 64 on April 1--no fooling!



Just because they are cute! Jacob loves his cousin Johanna!