Frog

For all you animal rights activities, no frogs were injured during the filming of this video.  The frog was released a couple of minutes later...although Jacob tries to look for it every night before bed...

Comparison!

Jacob--April 2010 (8 months) 

John--April 2012 (9 months) 

Nine Months!

On April 7, Johnny turned nine months old!  I can't believe how fast time has flown!  It really does goes faster with the second child.  Yesterday, we went to the doctor.  Despite having to get another shot, it went really well.  Here are Johnny's stats:

Height: 29.5 inches (almost 90th percentile)
Weight: 22 pounds (almost 75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 47.5 cm (95th percentile--Zylstra or Van Hofwegen head?)

Teeth: 4--front bottom two have been in for three months, top front two came in last week!
New Skills: crawling the regular way, pulling up to a stand, clapping
Likes: smiling, flirting, brother Jacob, bouncing, turning off power strips (he's doing it right now), feeding himself, eating in general, any attention from anyone, splashing in his bath, being outside in his car
Dislikes: getting in his carseat--he is SO strong that I have a hard time getting him in--doors closed in his face, being alone in a room,  being held down, diaper rash, dirty diapers
Sleep Schedule:  At night he sleeps from about 8 to 6:30 getting up once for a bottle.  I've tried to make him cry it out, but he'll just wake up in another hour.  I think I get more sleep if I just get up and give him the bottle.  He takes a morning nap around 9:30 to 11:30, and he takes another from around 3 to 4.

see my front two teeth?

Johnny's car--Jacob is teaching him how to share!

Blessed: My Life in Videos

Sometimes I get so tired out from raising two very active boys...and other times I realize how blessed I am to have two healthy children! Here are a few pictures and videos of my charming kids (who get along fairly well for the most part). Jacob is quickly becoming my little helper and a good big brother, and Johnny melts my heart with his huge smiles!

 

Sometimes I wonder when I should interfere...Johnny definitely is going to be pretty tough!

And the sweetest one by far:

Free Saturday Fun at the Dairy (Impromptu Photo Shoot)

This past Saturday I wanted to take Jacob somewhere fun...so we went to Pake and Beppe's (and Uncle Mike's) dairy for an hour or so.

Jacob was pretty excited when Larry started up the tractor and gave him a little ride!

 While the boys were busy, Johnny and I had to find something to do...take pictures!

Check out the drool!

When Jacob and Larry were done riding the tractor, I tried to get a good picture of the boys together...

No such luck!  But I did capture their personalities a bit...Jacob loves to mess with his brother, and Johnny just smiles and thinks Jacob is the best brother in the whole world!

almond hulls

Jacob wouldn't let us leave without "driving" the tractor again!

Last picture (apparently this turned into a photo shoot!)

Seven Month Mini-Update!

On February 7, Johnny turned seven months... I just thought I'd create a quick post with some updated pictures and information (mostly for my benefit!).

New skills:
He's sitting up VERY well! He also reaches for toys and is starting the get the pincer grasp down.  He likes to hold his own teething biscuit or Baby Mum Mum and gnaw on it.  He LOVES to eat but sometimes has to stop halfway through the burp (He gets SO excited that he loudly sucks in air before he takes a bite!).    He's also VERY skilled at getting my hair in both hands and pulling it toward him.

He's starting to sleep better at night now that he has a full tummy.  He usually goes a 6 to 8-hour stretch, but the he cries until I feed him...He's also starting to be more regular with naps and actually sleeping a good 45 minutes to an hour and a half at a time.

He has two teeth (came in when he was 6 1/2 months) on the bottom, but he still acts like he is teething (drool, gnawing on his thumb, sticking out his tongue, biting his bottom lip etc.).

Other than that, he's pretty happy.  He did get the flu for a few days a couple of weeks ago, and that was NO fun!

Here's some pictures!

drool!

tongue!

biting bottom lip

I love this bottom lip!

crying, but look at my teeth!

sitting up and proud of it
(and I AM the world's best little brother!)

Grandpa's 100th Birthday!

On January 27, my grandpa celebrated his 100th birthday!  My dad and my uncles hosted a party a week before to celebrate him and gather as a family.  We had around 80 people there--that's a lot of Van Duyns in one room!

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures...

We brought the Zylstra family birthday bear to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jacob's Grandpa-Great!

Lots of old pictures of Grandpa through the years

The little kids sang "Jesus Loves Me" and "Happy Birthday"...Jacob wouldn't join them!

the whole group

Adolph Van Duyn

My mom and dad with Grandpa

my brother and sisters

brother, sisters, and spouses

Johnny was SO excited to celebrate with Grandpa-Great!
(He was also a little crabby because his teeth were almost through)