The boy

The boy has learned to climb. Observe:



Next week's video: Our trip to the ER...

Climber (by Krista)

So Will has become a little climber. Lately he has been pulling himself up on just about everything including his crib which is all the way lowered (Mike edit: The crib bed surface gets lowered, effectively raising the crib rails). He is a little monkey!

I was doing laundry one day and he decided to join me.



We bought a walker toy for him and he soon discovered a new use for it!



Don't you like the weights at the bottom?

Last night he was so desperate to get into the tub.



I love how much of a monkey he is but at the same time, in Mike's words, "Little boy, your going to give your mom a heart attack!"

Boating Time!

We're putting the boat in the water on the 19th...of April... Or as Reeder likes to call it "Boat Ahoy". We're scheduling dates this year which is a little bit tougher than the "call everyone when you're in the mood" method we've previously used, but I think it will work out for the better. I've already reached out to some people to schedule boating dates but if I haven't talked to you yet, call me (Paynes, Algonquin Pankaus, Elmhurst Pankaus - I'm talking to you). My summer is fairly busy but unlike last year, I want to make relaxation time a priority and scheduling dates ahead of time is part of that.

As usual, I'm excited and cannot wait to get the season started. I'm a little frustrated with time commitments I have with other things (serving at church, school, etc) but there's nothing I can really do about that at this point. I'll be done with school soon enough and then we'll see a whole new side of life...I hope.

That's it for now - but seriously, call me if you want to set some dates to go out.

Much to Say

Will is growing in leaps and bounds now. I (Mike) can barely keep up. We're starting to baby-proof the house since he's army crawling so well now, we had to lower his crib since he started standing up against things and holding himself up. As if those two things weren't enough, he's decided he has a lot to say now too. I put together a short clip of just a few minutes at our house last night. I guess everyone said it would be noisy and until now I just associated that with crying, but the squeaking and other noises make things interesting too.

Other stuff that's going on with him... He's taking a bottle from both Krista and I without a problem now and that makes both our lives easier. I can help out with the morning/evening feedings and Krista gets more flexibility without having to find a place to breastfeed when they go out during the day.

Mad makes me laugh!

So I (Krista) decided to take Will's 5 month old photo shoot. I cannot believe what a busy month it has been for Will. The day he turned 5 months he got his first tooth. A week later his second tooth came in and he began to army crawl. A week later he decided it was time to sleep through the night...for 11 hours! That was my favorite milestone. Will is such a busy and determined little guy. He is constantly on the move and does not cuddle despite the fact that he does like to be held.


At the end of the photo shoot I wanted to try to get a picture of Will army crawling. It didn't happen the way I wanted it to. He just decided he was done and got mad at me.


This picture makes me laugh every time I see it. What a cute baby boy!

Sick...again?

This has been a record year for me. I've had the flu twice since coming back from Colorado (which was great). Then, middle of last week I noticed a rash on my neck and it turned out I have shingles. I mean seriously - who gets shingles! Apparently I do... So I'm on high dose meds, keeping my neck and shoulder covered and doing everything I can to avoid the nerve pain I've got with it. I'm basically keeping my distance from everyone I can right now - by Monday night I should be seeing some good improvements - assuming the meds are working.

Other stuff going on - gotta give Grandpa's car back soon and I hope Steve can find a new car quickly enough that I don't end in a jam without a way to get to or from work. I guess I'm lucky that his car was available and that my timing with Steve buying a new car worked out so well. I'm in the busiest part of the year for work, but at least it is for projects I enjoy. I'm knee-deep in VMware and storage projects and I really do enjoy this stuff. School is an easy term for the next eight weeks and I'm incredibly grateful for that. I just finished a senior project course last term and it really wiped me out (I'm sure it contributed to my flu sessions). So for the next eight weeks I'm looking to just do well in school, as always, and refresh myself as spring hits and then it's back into heavy school-work again.

Just keeping my head down as life comes and goes. That's all I can do until I'm done with school.

Wow, Will is almost 5 months old. I can hardly believe it's been that long. Will is finally getting over a major cold. He had a fever for three days along with a stuffy nose and now has a terrible cough. It has been a week. Poor little guy was so miserable and still isn't eating as much as he was before. He has discovered that he likes the pacifier. Since this discovery life has gotten much easier. He doesn't cry all the way home from work anymore. He falls asleep for naps much easier and over all is just a much happier baby. Here are some pictures that I took for a mini-at home-photo shoot.