Category Archives: Parental Babble

Comments from Mommy or Daddy to Little Raz

Sep 24 2005

6 month dr appt and more

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Hey there Sweetie –

Yesterday you had your 6 month doctor’s appointment…. the first doctor’s appointment without our Dr. Beth Brown. It was sad, but Dr. Glawenski was very nice. Grandma and Grandpa went with us, but Daddy had a lecture he had to go to… we missed him.

fish tank small

The doctor walked in and IMMEDIATELY noticed how loooong you are! She said many times how adorable and wonderful you were. And even this doctor used the word “perfect” during her assessment. I am always quick to agree. 😉

Here are your statistics:
Length: 27 inches 90%!!!!!! (This is a jump!)
Weight: 16 lb 4 oz 50% (following a normal curve for you)
Head Circumference: 16 3/4 in (following a normal curve for you)

You are now eating 3 meals a day of baby food, but Dr. G said that we could just give you our food, her consistency. She mapped out a daily diet for you that included Breastfeeding first thing in the morning and last thing at night. At each meal we will give you some fruits, veggies and cereal followed by a little formula or breastmilk.

6 mnth visit

You got three more shots – you cried while the nurse gave them to you, but you stopped as SOON as I picked you up. You are such a tough girl! You got a sticker again for your bravery.

After your visit, Mommy joined Daddy for an awards luncheon where Daddy was honored with 2 scholarships. I was (as always) so proud of him. You would’ve been too.

After that we joined Gma & Gpa and took a walk on the Erie Canal. You were in a bit of pain though, so I ran and got you some Tylenol. I think that helped a lot. We all went to Babies R Us after that, and Gma & Gpa bought you a high chair! You tried it out in the store! You looked like such a BIG girl! It was so fun!

new high chair

Then we came home and walked to dinner – we ate outside at the Big Apple on Park Ave b/c Gma & Gpa have never eaten on the sidewalk like that. Then we came home and Gma gave you a bath while Daddy & Gpa put the highchair together.

You were sound asleep by 8pm and slept through the WHHHHHHOOOLLLLLE night. I think you were quite tired.

Again, we are SO grateful you are so healthy and happy! We love you little one!
*Mommy & Daddy

Sep 16 2005

1/2 year old!

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Happy Birthday Little Peanut! You are 6 months old today!
And what a joy you are!

6 mnth small

I hope you had a FABULOUS birthday! I got to spend the WHOOOLE day with you! Lucky me!! We danced this morning and giggled alot. We played for a while more before you took a short nap. When you woke up, we headed over to play group at Pamela and Berkeley’s house. Everyone was there: Joanne and Walter, Melissa and Casey and Christine and Lucas, as well as of couse, Pamela & Berkeley and us. It was pouring rain outside!!

When we came home we learned that our street and our basement had flooded! Sigh…

Today you rolled from your back to your belly for the first time ALL by yourself! And you did it many times!! You are such a STAR!! Now you roll all 360 degrees… from you back to your belly and back to your back again! And we CHEER you on!!

Grandma & Grandpa arrived from Minnesota today. They were so excited to see you! They had seen you only a couple weeks ago, but they already missed you! Grandma fed you carrots and peaches for dinner and gave you a bath. She also held you for an hour or so after you fell asleep.

We are all SOOOOOO thankful for you Little One.

Happy Dreams. We love you to pieces,
*Mommy

Sep 8 2005

A few more firsts

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Hey there Baby Girl –

I apologize – I am a bit behind in logging MANY things that have been going on in your life! Let’s see if I can catch up a bit.

1sts:
First eating – You had your first peaches yesterday (and seemed to love them!). Grandma Luehmann fed you your first applesauce while we were in Lowden last weekend – again, you loved it! I think Miss Kristin is going to try some veggies today.

applesauce

After Grandma fed you applesauce, she also gave you a bath in the sink!
sink

Another first – last night you spent the whole night in your crib. You woke up a couple times, but all but once, you put yourself back to sleep. Nice work!

On September 1st, you sat up all by yourself. You were lying on my lap, and you just sat up. You sat there by yourself for over a minute! We were sitting outside in the grass. Auntie Amy thinks that’s why you did it – You are SUCH an outdoors girl! You LOVE trees and grass and fresh air! I love that about you!!

Trip #4:
Last weekend, you and I flew to Iowa so that you could meet Great Grandma Elloise Segebarth. She is living in the Clarence Nursing Home these days. She is 91 years old. We invited Auntie Amy and Elisabeth to fly from Seattle to join us, and they did!! We also invited Grandma & Grandpa Luehmann to drive down from Austin MN, and they did! We all stayed in the Lowden Hotel B&B. We were the only guests for the weekend, so we left all of our doors open and shared the whole house. The innkeeper, Elizabeth Norton, made us beautiful breakfasts.

ElMayaMe

We celebrated Grandma’s 63rd birthday while there. She said it was the best birthday she has EVER had!! Nice, huh? It was also the first day of school in Austin, and Grandma & Grandpa just retired from teaching this summer, so they were afraid they might feel a bit sad if they were in Austin and weren’t teaching. Instead they came to see us! How fun!
gma Elisa
gpa hats
gladys

Auntie Amy made you giggle and giggle and giggle… and your giggling made the rest of us giggle!
auntie amy

Trip #3:
Before that trip to Iowa, we took your Trip #3 – A Tour of Michigan. We left on Thursday August 18 and headed to Grandma & Grandpa Tatro’s brand new home in East Lansing. It took us a surprising 10 HOURS to get there! SIGH… You are not a big fan of your car seat, so you didn’t exactly enjoy the trip. We learned that it is better to travel with you at night so you are able to sleep.

tatros

You and I scouted out Michigan State’s bookstore as well as Grandma’s new office. We also explored some of the local shops including the local Target. Now we have a much better sense of where Grandma & Grandpa are living. We all ate out at Mongolian BBQ (a favorite place of your Daddy’s and mine). Saturday night, your Daddy and I ventured south to Ann Arbor to go to Charles & Debi’s tiki party. You hung out with Granma & Grandpa.

The next day we ventured westward to visit Uncle Mark and Aunt Bianca in their Grand Rapids home. They called last night to let us know they have officially purchased a house again in Jackson, so it’s good we got to see the Grand Rapids home before they moved again. We had breakfast, went to church, and just hung out. It was a good time.

markbi

Then we headed northward to a B&B called…ummm… (I forget… I’ll have to look it up). After staying the night there, we finished out trip north to Macinack Island! The three of us took a horse & carriage tour of the island and learned all kinds of fun things. The Michigan trip was long but wonderful! It was so great to spend such quality time with family!

macinack

Your first trip to the cabin:
Let’s see, what other adventures have we been up to? Oh! I know. Between these two trips we spent the day down on Canandagua Lake with Judi & Jim! Daddy got to go tubing, and you had your first lake swim. You did not like it at all!! The water was FAR TOO cold! I’m sure before long you will be diving right in.
life preserver2
Judi’s and my friend from work, Cindy came too with her family. We all had such a grand time! Thanks Judi & Jim!

life preserver

Upcoming adventures:
This weekend (tomorrow) we are heading to the Adirondacks for Laura & Alan’s wedding… I’m sure we’ll have many more adventure stories to tell. And Grandma & Grandpa Luehmann are coming HERE to watch you for a week (9/16 – 23)!! We can’t wait!

All of these adventures are SOOOOO much more wonderful because you’re here, Peanut. Thanks for making our lives so much fun! We love you to pieces!
*Mommy

Jul 16 2005

4 Month B-day!

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Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Little Peanut
Happy Birthday to you!

Today you are 4 months old! I got to spend the WHOLE day with you! It rocked! We went garage-saling in the morning… (you made so many people smile, even after you fell asleep in the baby bjorn). We came home, played a little while, and then we took a nap together. It was so very nice. We listened to the thunderstorms… they don’t seem to scare you at all. We met Daddy for church at 5pm – it was almost unbearably hot in church tongiht – no air conditioning, 86 degrees outside (hotter inside) and 100% humidity… yikes! but church was great as always. Came home and everyone ate dinner including you. Daddy took you for a little walk, and then you and I took a bath together. This picture was from your bath:
4mnthbathtime

I tell everyone who asks (and some who don’t) how you have made EVERY aspect of my life better! On this your birthday, thank you for giving me such wonderful gifts – all your big smiles, your giggles, the tight way you squeeze my finger, your chatter, the way you help me keep my priorities straight, our walks around the block, the people I’ve met because of you, my lessons in how to be more efficient, how much closer Daddy and I are because of you, how I see God in you and connect with Him more, the way Daddy & I try even harder to be better people because of and for you, your honest reactions to life like when you get your face wet in the bath, did I mention your giggle?, the way we snuggle together for a nap, our precious feeding times (even at 4am). I’m sure there are many more things… Thank You Little Miss Maya. You are the most wonderful blessing!

You are the little girl I’ve always dreamed of
I knew it from the start
I saw your face, and
That’s the last I’ve seen of my heart!

I think you gave me my first hug tonight – it was WONDERFUL! I will treasure the memory always.

Happy Birthday Peanut!
All our love,
*Mommy & Daddy

Jul 4 2005

July4

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July4Small

Originally uploaded by April Luehmann.

Happy 4th of July, Peanut…

Here you are in red, white & blue. We didn’t get to watch the fireworks this year, as you were already sound asleep… but we will… no worries.

When you woke up this morning and I got to hold you, I told your Daddy that EVERY day feels like Christmas with the 2 of you. I love you so much!

Happy Dreams,
*Mommy

Jun 14 2005

Daycare Day 1

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Dearest Little Peanut –

We just dropped you off at Ms. Kristin’s for your first day of daycare. (I cried… it was very hard to leave you there.) I think you know this already, but I love you with my whole heart! I wish I could spend my days with you, but right now Daddy is going to school to be a nurse, so I need to work. I enjoy working as well – it challenges me, and I grow in many different ways. I think it is really important for me to keep growing as a perosn not only so that I can be the best Mom for you and the best wife for Daddy, but so God can use me in the wonderful ways He does.

You looked so beautiful today. I think Ms. Kristin and her family (Mr. Tom, Matthew, Hannah and little Gregory) will be very dear friends over time. God has a wonderful way of making things turn out so much better than we could ever imagine!

KristinMatthewNLittleOne

p.s. The day went great! Ms. Kristin says that you are a totally chilled out baby. You were alert and happy, only “squacking” when you were hungry. Little Matthew (Ms Kristin’s son in the picture above) seems to have a little crush on you. He is 5 years old. Ms Kristin helped him hold you for a minute today.
One more sweet story from the day: This morning I brought Ms Kristin 5 bags of breast milk for the day (each containing 2 oz of milk). I stopped by at 11:30am to feed you myself and see how you were doing. You had already drunk 4 of the 5 bags!! When we were trying to figure out what to do next, I suggested that I would just take you home with me for the rest of the day. Ms Kristin immediately looked sad and said, “Really? But she just got here!” I said, “I guess I could go home and bring back more milk from the freezer.” She smiled big and said, “Yes, if you don’t mind, let’s do that!” Isn’t it GREAT that she loves to spend time with you too?!?! You ended up drinking 15 oz of milk while at her house! I think you’re in the midst of a 3 mo growth spurt. Thursday is your 3-month birthday, you know.

Love you Sweetie!
Your Mommy

May 16 2005

Happy 2nd Birthday!

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Hey Little Peanut!

Happy Birthday! We are in Redmond with Auntie Amy, Uncle Hakon, and your cousin Elisabeth. I sang happy birthday to you this morning as it is your 2nd month birthday! When Auntie Amy walked in the door she hugged you and sang it to you again. When Uncle Hakon walked in the door a little later, he too sang it to you! We had lasagne for your birthday dinner, and Auntie Amy made the best tiny little cookies (I think they were tiny in your honor. 😉 )

Your Daddy called a couple times too! He also remembered it was your birthday! Today was his first day of nursing school. He had a great day! He likes his classes, professors and classmates. We are all so excited for him!

We walked down to Laurie’s to pick up Elisabeth from daycare (you rode in a beautiful buggy), and Elisabeth was SO excited to see you!!

Here is a picture of you with your cousin Elisabeth.
Cousins

Happy Birthday Peanut! We are all so thrilled you are here!

We love you to pieces!
*Mommy

May 8 2005

Mother’s Day

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Hey Beautiful Little One –

Happy Mother’s Day – It’s our first together, and I can’t tell you how HONORED I am to be your Mom. Your Dad left a note in the shower to play track 3 on the CD. It was Taylor’s “Whenever I see your smiling face,” the song I consider your Daddy’s and my “our” song. But I sang it to you and the words still fit! And as I sang “Whenever I see your smiling face, I have to smile myself because I love you” to you, you gave me the BIGGEST smile! I almost cried!

Here is a picture from a couple days ago when you took a shower with Daddy. You seem to really love the water. We took a bath together last night.

Showering with Daddy

Friday night (May 6) was your first night sleeping in your crib in your room. You slept really well! Last night you woke up almost every hour… Sadly, I think you’re having a hard time breathing. You’re fighting a virus right now along with thrush. I hope you feel better soon. Your cry hurts my heart.

Anyway, thanks for being so wonderfully you, Little Maya!

We love you,
*Mommy

Apr 28 2005

Night and day…

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Hey Little Peanut –

You grow more amazing every day! This past week (your 6th) you seemed to begin to differentiate between night and day. Yesterday, for example, you were awake much of the day. And last night you set a record for time in between feedings. I fed you at 8:45pm and then you and I took a bath together. You were quite fussy after the bath but went to sleep by about 11pm. You didn’t wake up again to be fed until 3:15am!! That is 6.5 hrs between feedings – Nice! And then you didn’t wake up again until 7am… to do some digesting.

Anyway, you are growing so quickly and so beautifully. So many have complimented your cuteness – You have SO much character! In your cries, in your pouty face, in your huge smiles, in your raised eyebrows and pierced lips. You are indeed a sweetheart!

Before Bathtime

But you are calling me now.

I love you Little One.
*Mommy