Davey's First Christmas

What a wonderful time we all had with our family and friends this Christmas! We had nonstop gatherings from Saturday through Christmas night. Davey has such a great disposition, that he loved to be on the go. Of course, his nap schedule is a little messed up now from all the trips in the car...but the babysitter can deal with that next week! I was a technology Christmas for all of us. Four Wiis were given...to both of Josh's sister's families, Shannon's kids, and JOSH! (I was totally anti-video games before playing this over Thanksgiving and HAD to get one!) My Dad got an iPod...so did Kaleb, a neice and nephew on Josh's side, and JOSH! (Funny story how he ended up with both...I gave up hope of ever finding a Wii before Christmas, so I bought the vidoe iPod nano....and then my mom found a Wii the very next day!) And I got a PDA so I can be super organized in the new year.

Davey of course did not know any different...he did a great job of helping up pick up all the wrapping paper. Whatever he paused at while crawling across the floor was something he couldn't have! He got more stuff than he will ever know...but that is the fun of it, isn't it?? He got lots of clothes since he is ready for the next size, lots of toys with annoying sounds and songs, and an awesome wagon to ride in. I think his favorite thing was that he got to spend a lot of time with Grandpa Jan. That is his favorite person outside of me and Josh...and even then it is a close call! My dad is the only person (besides me) that can make Davey cry when he leaves. Dad just says that it is about time a grandkid likes him better than my mom! :)

The last picture is of Davey's latest accomplishment...pulling up! He stood on his own two feet with the help of the dinosaur today for the first time! Luckily the camera was close. Walking will be here before you know it! Josh and I are actually looking forward to taking down the tree and Christmas decorations a little early this year so we can really child-proof the house. It is almost impossible to do this time of the year!

3 More Days of School!

I can't wait for Christmas Break to finally arrive. Somehow I have a ton of shopping left to do and no gifts wrapped....but as long as I survive the next three days, I don't care! The family get-togethers start next weekend and don't stop until Christmas. It will be great to see everyone. The pic above is me piled up with Davey and his cousins Eliza and Rachael.

Saturday morning we got our first snow....and freezing rain...Davey couldn't take his big eyes off of the window...wondering what all that white stuff was outside. Since it all turned to rain by the afternoon, we did not play in it. We will have to wait for the next snow. The last time it snowed here was the day we took him home from the hospital. How things change!

Davey is crawling around like a mad man. Christmas is the worst time to have a mobile child that has not completely figured out what the word "NO" means! He loves the lights on the tree...tries to get them everytime...we have electric candles in each window...he wants to hold them... He is also become an expert with his tongue! He sticks it out to a little point when he laughs now! He eats many solid food now. Pretty much anything on our plate in tiny pieces. He gets better at feeding himself each day. He would love to get his hands on the cat, Alba, but she is too fast! He squeals whenever she gets close.

Though he has been jumping like a Tigger from about 2 months old, I finally found a Johnny Jump Up for him. It says I can use it until he is 24 lbs, so I have a while longer with it. We should have bought it sooner...he LOVES it! I had a video...but it is having issues uploading...

The new challenge is to get Davey to smile for my camera. He has a great smile, but my camera has some sort of stutter flash that always makes him squint or blink. So about 80% of the pictures taken have him looking stupid in them! And of course, most of those have his two fingers in his mouth! Also up there are a couple from Sears this month...I have to leave it to the professionals!

Long Time...No Write

So much has been happening and I have been leaving you all in the dark! (Okay...I know there are many out there waiting on my every blog entry, but since this sort of serves as Davey's baby book, I need to be better at keeping up with this!) Somehow November has come and gone! How can this be? Life is busier than ever. Sometimes I am fine with it...other times it feels like I never get any real rest. I guess that is just part of being a mom.

Davey now has forward motion! It is not the prettiest crawl, but if you turn your back for too long he will undoubtedly get into something that he shouldn't. This picture is proof as we were putting up the tree, Davey darts toward the electrical outlet where the lights are plugged in.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Three meals, three different location, and lots of time with Davey. It was rough going back to school this week. Luckily Christmas break will be here soon. Spring semester will be the tough part. Davey loved trying all the Tukey Day treats like sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. And of course my father allowed him to chew to his little heart's content on a turkey leg bone.

We are keeping our eyes peeled for teech poking through, but none yet...just a white-ish ridge on the bottom. Regardless of being toothless, Davey is starting to chew and even eat three green beans today! Of course, they were sut very small and took him a long time to eat.

This weekend we are going to buy a new car seat for Davey since he has grown out of the infant carrier. I won't miss trying to lug that thing into the base, but it is convinent to carry him in the house when he is sleeping. Hopefully this seat won't begin with 2 months of screaming from it like the infant seat did!

Happy Halloween!

The Shaw family had a great time trick-or-treating last week. We took a dog walk through Vernon and visited with the families. The great thing about a small town is that we got full-sized candy bars! (Some folks thought Davey was old enough to eat them...I didn't correct them!) Chloe the dog was a pirate (same as last year) while Davey showed off his bouncing abilities as Tigger. Everyone loved it!

Though I don't have any pictures this year, Davey also took part in his first toilet papering of the Vernon Courthouse lawn. Each year the people of our little town show up with their families and we bring 100's of rolls of TP. As a community effort, we cover the trees with TP and have a great time. Though it is a strange tradition, we have such a great time. Next year, Davey will like it a bit more. Then the people working off their community service hours pick up the mess! I know...this might be good evidence to horse-laugh Southern Indiana...I won't have it any other way.

Here are a few pictures that I go taken at Sears when Davey was 6 months...a little delayed, I know. I did much better at not going overboard and buying too many. I told myself that since Christmas pictures were coming soon, I didn't have to go crazy.

Fall Break

Here are some pictures of our trip to Garden of the Gods in Southern Illinois. We had a great time. We were hoping to camp out a night or two, but with the much needed rain and almost freezing temps at night, we decided against it. We hiked about 5 or 6 miles and Davey was great through it all. We also cruised around University of Southern Indiana which is Josh's alma mater.

In developmental news...Davey can finally roll over! And this week he can very easily get up on all fours. Crawling will be here soon! We better child-proof the house! He has also become good at wrapping his little arms around my neck and squeezing. Gotta love baby hugs! Halloween pics to come soon!

Boiler Up

Davey wanted to give a quick shout out to our friends heading to West Lafayette this weeknd for the game. We are sad that we couldn't make it. We will be headed to Evansville vincinity for Fall Break. Here is Davey in his Purdue outfit...though it is almost too little for him already! It is almost impossible to catch a smile on camera these days. My dag-gone shutter speed is too slow! This is best as we could do!

Finally Fall

We are loving the cool evenings and mornings here in Southern Indiana. The leaves are just starting to turn and that means that we are able to get out earlier and get some dog walks in! This week we made a big purchase of a backpack baby carrier! (I will have a picture up next time.) Davey loves it more than the stroller and survived a 4 mile hike already in it! Since Josh has a lot more balance than me with a pack, he totes Davey around in it. After much research we decided on getting a brand that I had never heard of (Sherpani) and have no regrets! We will see if my opinion changes after next weekend though...we are going camping in the Shawnee National Forest for a couple of nights. We will see how we all survive that!

We are also enjoying Davey's eye being goop-free for one week! Last Friday he had the tear duct operation and we saw instant results with no recovery time needed. Of course I had to complicate things and come down with a kidney infection the night before and ended up in the ER...and then we had to go back to the doctor so more help the next day after the surgery! Three hospitals in three different counties in less than 24 hours...I think that is a record!

School is keeping me very busy these days. I am thankful that my mother-in-law takes Davey for a little while each Saturday so I can get all the week's grading finished in all one swoop. Luckily this is a short week. Full day Monday, short day Tuesday...of course conferences force me to stay there until 7 pm and then 4 pm those days...but then Wednesday through Friday is Fall Break. We are planning to head to Evansville, Vincennes, and Garden of the Gods over the break. I also hope to visit my Grandmother since she just got through hip replacement surgery. I hope to post some Fall Break pictures as soon as I can!

6 MONTHS OLD!

Click on the black screen and then the play button to see the video!

It is hard to believe that half of a year has flown by since Davey was born. (I feel like another blog entry has started almost the same exact way...) It is crazy to see how much can change in such a short time...both with how much Davey has grown and how Josh and I have adjusted to him. Everyday when I get to the sitter's to pick him up and see that smile, I wonder how I lived without it for so long.

He got to meet a lot of my college friends and their babies over the weekend. A thank you shout out to Susan, Kramer, and Phill for throwing a great CCH reunion. Also thanks to Lissa, Elliott, and Emma for not minding a few more people in their house for the rest of the weekend. We had a great time! (Lissa is holding Davey and her daughter Emma in the pic above. Check out her blog with the link to the side!) I wish we could get together more often. It is a treasured memory for me.

Davey now has a new love...my hair. One night, while nursing, he would not settle down and was just throwing his arms around. I then realized that he was searching for my hair which was pulled back. Of course most of the time he gets a hand full ad pulls...luckily all those years in guard has given me a scalp that is not sensitive. He has also discovered that it given him great joy to suck on my hair when I am holding him. It completely grosses me out, but most of the time I don't realize he is doing it.

Today we visited the ophthalomologist (eye doctor) and found out that Davey will in fact need tear duct irrigation surgery. I am not sure when it will be, but I will be thankful to get his goopy eyes fixed once and for all. I hate that he has to go under for it, but it won't be for long. I actually had the same procedure done when I was a baby. Gotta love genetics! I will let you all know the date when I find it out.

I am hoping that the video I uploaded works. Blogger has added a video feature now! This is the first time that Davey really gets his laugher going. He has giggled here and there, but never like this! It will brighten your day.

Sitting like a Big Boy!

Davey is growing and changing each day. Now he can sit on his own for minutes at a time. Well, at least as long as he doesn't start getting over excited and rock back and forth. He has always been so strong and stiff backed, that it doesn't shock me that he can do this so early. Of course...he can't roll over yet...he told me that he will get there when he is darn well ready. (I am trying to get him to not use such harsh language! :) He loves being at the sitters since there are at least a couple of other kids around for him to watch. I am so glad he is the only infant, because he still requires a lot of holding time.

The other pictures are of Davey spending time with his dad on the golf cart. Joshs parents gave us thir old one so I could use it to haul around my gardening stuff. Of course, Josh and Davey has spent more time in it...and I don't want to talk about my pathetic garden this year!

We have all been passing around a cold...or dealing with allergies or something. A purchase of a cool mist humidifier has done wonders for Davey's nights. He has always been a champion sleeper, but lately has woken up with a snotty nose. But of course, he also wakes up hungry! The babysitter and I can't seem to get enough food into him quickly enough! He eats cereal, he eats veggies, he eats fruits...he tries to eat anything we are eating, too! Josh's favorite thing is to watch Davey try to drink from our glasses. Davey goes wild! He knows exactly what to do...though gets quite wet in the process. We will keep practicing!

We got our new fridge in yesterday and I celebrated by actually cooking supper last night! It has all the features I wanted, and others I didn't know about! Of course, since it comes before we actually redoing the kitchen the monster is taking up 1/4 of the space. But I don't care! It is sooo many steps above the dripping hand-me-down we were dealing with.

School is fine. ISTEP drained us all this week...I am glad that is over and I can get back to actual teaching! Fall break will be here before you know it!

Reasons to Celebrate

Man is it difficult to post each week when you have to work! It seems like it has been forever. School is going well, though with my new schedule of leaving school right after the bell I haven't figured out how I am supposed to get any papers graded!!

Davey turned 5 months old on Labor Day. We had a great long weekend. Hannah came back to the US after being in Japan for 3 years. Now she is off to England for a stint. Davey was happy that he fit into his Japanese outfit (which is meant for one-year-olds in Japan!) Of course our little antique festival went on that weekend, too. I found the most unique bed for Davey ever! It is an old Murphy bed (you know it pulls up into a cabinet) but made for a toddler! Too cute!

You also see another Labor Day tradition in the picture with Davey, Josh, and Josh's dad David. For 74 years the men of Vernon have gone out to camp and play cards and do other manly things in the woods. Josh's grandfather was one of the orginial guys. Now Davey is part of the tradition. When Josh found out that we were having a boy one of him first comments was about him being the next generation of the Cherry Park Campers. (Actually in the picture Davey is screaming...not smiling...)

Then the last picture was taken just this past wekend at the Courtfest in Scottsburg (my hometown). There you see my mom and dad set up to sell jewerly that mom makes at the festival. I think she ended up doing quite well and I got to see a few friends from high school. It is always fun to have a chance to show off babies to each other!

Josh is filling his weekends with golf scrambles while I struggle to stay on top of the mountain of ungraded papers and dirty glassware from labs during the week. It has got to get easier, right?

One Week Down...

School finally started for me this week. Teacher days on Monday and Tuesday and the kids came on Wednesday through Friday. We actually got out two hours early on Thursday and Friday because kids were getting overheated on the bus ride home. No one complained! Here is the annual First Day of School picture. Davey had a really good week with the sitter. This is the first full week he has gone and survived better than me! Don't get me wrong...it is nice to have lots of other adults to talk to and talk about other things besides poopy diapers.

This weekend was the Leota Frolic. This is a tiny festival where I grew up. My mom set up a booth to sell the jewerly she makes. My brother-in-law raised funds for the 4-H group by getting into a dunking booth. The picture is of him in the water after my nephew, Kaleb, hit the target. It is a great time full of homemade ice cream, fried fish, watermelon eating contest, and hog calling competion. And of course next weekend is Vernon Days...more info on that later!

Davey is growing each day. He will be 5 months just next week. It is unbelievable. He loves his veggies and now has tried some fruits. That is all fine and good until it comes out the other end! I miss the days of only milk! Now here I go again about poopy diapers...moving on...

My sister and bro-in-law in Chicago bought a house in the suburbs to hopefully start a family soon. Congrats to them! I am also SOOOO EXCITED to see my friend, Hannah, this weekend! Three years in Japan is a long time. But now she is off to Enlgand with her hubby...good thing Josh and I already bought the plane tickets to come and visit over Spring Break!

Saw on the news this morning that red heads make up only 2% of the population. I reminded Josh to take note what a special wife he has! :)

Sorry..can't get the paragraph to come out correctly!

Last Week of Summer

I can hardly believe that school starts on Monday for me. And actually that is considered late for this area. Today Davey had his first offical play date with some cousins of some sort...once removed...or something. My mom, aunt, cousins, and kids all came to my house for lunch. In the picture you can tell that we got all three of them to cry for the picture. Of course Davey was the easiest to set off!

We are starting veggies now and it is a lot better than that nasty rice cereal. And Davey likes it a lot better. He can clean out the entire container in 7 minutes flat! This week is squash! Next week we will get crazy and go green with peas.

Also you see the train that was parked right outside our house. We love trains and I tried my best to find the engineer so that I could get a picture with Davey in it! Maybe next time. Luckily there are only one or two trains that go by in a week and they run during the day.

I go to school with my friend Jill to get my classroom ready. Of course I still need to sort through all the mess from my maternity leave!

Time Flies By

Davey has reached another month old! It seems impossible that he is already four months old! He continues to be bright-eyed and animated in ways that cracks me up. He is getting much better about the changes that have to take place for me to go back to work. He takes two bottles during the day and actually made it three hours at the sitters without crying! And he has figured out that the car seat is part of his life and does not scream constantly like he did when he was younger.

We went to a friend's wedding last night and loved a reason to get dressed up. Of course I was more hectic getting both me and Davey ready instead of just me. The pic above is of him before we left. I was getting dress and looked back to see the sweetest boy tuckered out. I know it is rude to be better looking than the bride...but Davey looked ADORABLE in his shirt and tie. (Thanks, Susan!) He was actually quiet during the ceremony and loved watching the kids dance at the reception. I think Josh was happy to now have Davey because now he has a reason we can't slow dance!

School starts August 20th for me and I can't believe it. Maybe I will have really bad kids so I won't feel bad for yelling at them because I really miss my son. Take that back...I want good classes no matter what!

2 Wonderful Years

Yesterday Josh and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. While Davey was at the sitters (doing much better) I packed a picnic lunch for just the two of us. You see in the picture where we at it. This is at an old grain mill from the 1800s. They carved a hoe through the rocks so the river could flow through and turn the wheel. It hasn't worked for about 100 years, but it is still neat. The river is the same one that winds around Vernon and right behind our house.

It is a little bit of a hike to get back there, but Josh and I have done it many times. In fact, the reason I picked this spot is because the first time we went there was the moment I realized that I loved him. Ahhh! Isn't that sweet? And you can also see that beuatiful flowers Josh gave me when he came home from work. I think he was trying to make up all the times he didn't get me flowers!

Baby Sitter Blues!

I took Davey to the sitters for the first and second times this week. In fact, I am writing now with him there. A wonderful lady is watching him that lives in Vernon as well. I could easily walk there...if only Davey liked his stroller more... Anyway, she is watching a few other kids and we figured that taking Davey there a little at a time will make it easier on both of us. On Tuesday I took him there at 9:30 am and came back at 12:30 pm to find him sleeping. That would be sweet...but he was sleeping because he had cried for the hour before that! :( Hopefully today will go better. He got a little nap in because woke up eariler than usual...that should put him in a better mood. I have been working hard to guilt Josh into letting me stay at home next year. This is an impossibility finacially, I know, but it is worth a shot!

Isn't that boy have the sweetesst face ever?? The picture is of Davey helping Josh match socks...he is advanced for his age! jk Of course I came out to find Josh carrying him upstairs in a full laundry basket. And just as it usually goes with fathers...I protested, but Davey loved it! He got a ton of new things because we went shopping with my parents and Aunt Janice yesterday. Now we are ready to sort blocks and play in the Exersaucer! Not to mention all the great clearence clothes for next summer. I am jeolous of all you mothers of little girls! What cute clothes you have to choose from!

In other news...of course about Davey...he went to the doctor Friday because I suspected he had thrush. I was right. Thrush is just a yeast infection in the mouth and can create a raised diaper rash and irritation when eating. It has actually cleared up a lot since last Friday and he never was really that uncomfortable with it. My sister, the child-rearing guru, told me that all 4 of her kids got thrush at about this age because they are taking the occasional bottle and getting good at putting things in their mouth.

Dog Walks and Rice Cereal

Davey and the dog both love to go on walks around Vernon. Here he is facing out in the carrier. We looked at backpack carriers last week and we may be purchasing one for fall camping. I just hope he starts to like his stroller soon. It is way too cool to be stuck in the house! We try our best to get out and walk each night. P.S...sorry that my son looks like Blossom in that picture. Josh flipped it up so he could see better.

Yesterday, my sister Shannon, her four kids, my parents, Davey, and I went down to Louisville to get pictures taken. I am hoping to scan them in so you can see them...well, actually all of you can have on if you want! I think I ended up getting about 60 pictures of him! Come on a sympathize with me moms...how could I chose from each of the sweet pictures. I told Josh that we are just going to have to start passing them out everywhere we go. Any time someone comments on our baby...they get a picture! And what about leaving them with our tips at restaurants? I thought of that one, too!

The place we went was AMAZING! Here is their site...they are called Portrait Innovations and they have locations everywhere. Listen to this set up...no setting fee...and for under $10 you get one pose ine every size imaginable. And since it is all digital, you instantly look at the proofs and choose which you want and then you leave with all your pictures. They are up front with all the prices and as you eliminate ones you don't want, you price goes down. Shannon told me the last time she got professional pictures of the kids it was over $600! And guess how much it was for over 60 pictures...only $90! That is almost as cheap as snapshot pictures! That is another reason we left with so many...Shannon convinced me it was a deal of a lifetime.

And so you also get what we tried out today...rice cereal. Davey actually eat a significant amount and was great at opening his mouth (as you see in the picture). Of course we ended with a mega-mess at the end, but I think we all had fun with it.

3 Months Old!

A quarter of a year old already! Can you believe it? Davey continues to be a great sleeper at night, though sometimes chooses to not take any naps during the day! Josh and I tracked down the lady in our little town that will be watching him during the school year this week. I think I am going to start taking him there a day or so a week so they can get used to each other...and so I can get some stuff done around the house!

Fourth of July was pretty lazy for us. With being on stinkin' Eastern time, fireworks aren't until 10 PM around here! That is too late for me and Davey. So we had a cookout at my in-laws for lunch and bummed around....but that isn't too different than any other day! :)

We have gotten in a better habit this week of taking Chloe on dog walks. We usually make about a 2-mile loop up to the cemetary and back. (To those that may think this sounds creepy, please keep in mind that BOTH of Davey's grandfathers made/make tombstones for a living!) The river circles the cemetary and Chloe can run free and take a swim. Davey now faces out in the carrier and loves to look up at the trees. I will have to get a picture of that soon. I am also hoping to catch on video Davey "talking". He now babbles to himself most of the day and is adorable.

Lazy Days of Summer

People ask me sometimes what we do all day...and most days I have a hard time answering them. Since Davey hates his car seat and therefore his stroller, we are pretty much homebound during the day. In fact we are down to condiments in the fridge! It is getting pretty bad.

I have been spending much of Davey's nap time teaching an online Pre Algebra course for the Indiana Virtual Academy. It offers classes during the summer because many high schools don't. However, I am having to update the program myself since the programmers in Indy don't have the time. At least it pays well!

One thing that has gotten better is that we have found the magic bottle! Davey now loves to drink from his Nuk Orthodontic bottle. Here's the kicker...it is the bottle that has a nipple that is flattened on the bottom edge. It is just like the pacifiers. Well...our lovely son only likes the bottle when it is put upside down in his mouth. Hey, whatever works is fine with me! I have also started mixing the pumped breast milk with formula...I am finished with pumping...it takes too long!

Here is a picture of Davey in his Bumbo seat. This is a cool invention. He has been able to hold his head up for about a month now, but he doesn't have the balance to sit up yet. This seat bridges that gap. Though he doesn't sit in it for hours, he usually likes it long enough for us to get through a meal. And whenever I can eat with both hands free is a plus! He has also recently discovered sucking on his hands (which he is also doing in the picture). Not quite to the thumb yet. Since he gags on pacifiers, I am glad he has found something to entertain him.

I want to put in a shout out to my friend Erin! It was great to see you and Clark last weekend! Why didn't we take pictures? Thanks to the Bartlets for the awesome lunch! We are hoping to go somewhere professional for his 3 month pictures in the next week or so. Hopefully they will go well.

Video Troubles

Ihave been trying to upload a video of Davey for about a week now and I guess I am just not smart enough! So let's try this...the video is in Goggle videos and I think you can watch it by going to this site...
Davey Smiling at 10 Weeks

We shall see if that works.

Davey went to his first concert Friday. We went to the Lawn at White River State Park to listen to a Led Zepplen cover band backed up with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. It was Josh's Father's Day present from us. All three of us thought is was great.

We are now trying to be consistent on giving Davey a bottle at least once a day. You would think that would be easy! But no, he is a picky child and so we have about eight different bottles around the house hoping one will be a sure thing. I am not holding my breath.

More Vacation Pictures

Trip to the East Coast

We took our first Shaw family vacation this past weekend to Philadelphia and the Jersey shore. We got a great last-minute deal on aaa.com...you should check them out! Why Philly? Well, in college I lived in Ocean City, NJ for a summer and wanted to return. (7 years later! How time flies!) And of course Philly has great food and history. It is a great city to walk around in see a variety of sites.

We went to the first establishment to serve Philly cheesesteaks (Pat's King of Steaks)...there I am with Davey eating one in South Philly. And then across the street is Pat's competitor Geno. He makes better steaks in a cleaner restuarant...but has some strict fews on migrants. Does anyone remember seeing him on the News demanding that patrons speak English? He now sells bumper stickers that say "English Please".

We toured the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. We found the LOVE sculpture in JFK Park. We went to a restaurant in the orginial City Tavern where the founding fathers came for a drink. I had braised rabbit!

Davey saw the ocean for the first time. Well, at least he had the chance to see it. The store I worked at on the boardwalk hasn't changed a bit. We ate big sliced pizza and water ice (it is like an ICEE) from the boardwalk.

We had decided that we need to invest in a small airplane because Davey did wonderfully on all three plane trips we took there and back...however as soon as we got him into that car seat of the rental car he started to scream like at home. I have tried everything...I guess we will just have to wait until he grows out of that stage!

Some more pictures will follow