Random Updates

Lots of updates, Friends! Let's get started.

Howie observes the fury of Hurricane Ike from the safety of his crib. Ike visited St Louis with a vengeance Sunday morning. I woke up at 6:00, and it was raining torrentially, and continued to do so for a few hours. I was amazed at the strength of the wind and how forcefully the rain was coming down! I can't even imagine what it was like when it came on land in Texas. Josh and I put Howie in his crib for a nap early Sunday morning- when I came in later to check on him, I found him standing up and looking out the window. No surprise when it's raining and howling that loud.
Poor Howie had some bad falls! He's had many falls since he's started walking, but this one was definitely the worst. There's nothing that makes you get that horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach like hearing your sweet baby's head go thunk right into the concrete outside. I no sooner picked him up and brushed him off than he fell again and hit in the same spot. Poor Howie. I watched him pretty closely for the next couple of hours, and he seemed OK. It's starting to look a little better now.
This is my most common view of Howie these days... clinging to my legs... he is seriously a mama's boy right now...

Howie getting ready to forage in the cabinets for some pots and pans to play with. The kitchen is one of his favorite places to play right now. Unfortunately for my ears, we have stainless steel pots and pans, which make quite a clatter when Howie throws his blocks or the refrigerator magnets in. But what the heck... if he's happy, I don't care.

My little nephew John just celebrated his first birthday this past weekend! It was a wonderful party! My sister Emily and brother-in-law Rob have just moved to the St Louis area this summer, so Howie and John (who are exactly 11 weeks apart) have been able to hang out a lot!! Their favorite things to do are chase each other, put fingers in each other's eyes, mouths, cheeks, etc., and take toys from each other. They're getting to be good friends!! Josh and I are so glad that Em and Rob are nearby.

Mom and the Birthday Boy
Below: the boys sporting their matching sweater vests!

Grandma allows Howie to pillage John's cake before the cutting... questionable, Grandma...
The frosting bandit
Dad, Birthday Boy, and Uncle Glenn, getting ready for the big candle blow-out
This would have been a great pic if Howie had been looking, but alas, the siren call of frosting was drowning out the voice of the photographer. Don't worry- Howie got his fair share of birthday cake and enjoyed every crumb.

Things have been pretty busy around here... Josh got sick, I got sick, Howie mysteriously remains unsick despite the prevalent sharing of everything in our household... gotta love that baby immunity!

This video is to prove that Howie's paci love is still alive and well.

Howie has always had a love for picking up random things and carrying them around. Even before he was walking, he loved to hold onto particular things... sometimes very weird things. When he was younger, he loved holding onto keys (predictable- what baby doesn't like keys?). Now he's moved onto bigger and better things, and keys hold no allure. You give him keys, and he will immediately throw them, as if to say, "While this used to be cool and interesting, I am waaay past it now." Just for fun, the other day I compiled a list of things I saw him pick up and carry around with him for a significant period of time. Those things include:

1. A small can of tomato paste.
   
2. A 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper, which, mind you, is half his size.


3. A small jar of medium-grind black pepper, as pictured below:



4. A jar of fennel seeds.


5. A jar of grill seasoning.


6. Some stuffed bowling pins in the shape of animals- in particular, the pig pin.


7. DICE-these are Howie's all-time favorite toy. Don't worry, all you moms out there- while they may be the ultimate choking hazard, I never let him put them in his mouth. Howie now knows on which shelf we store his dice, and he routinely stands under that shelf and whines until one of us grabs the pile for him.


8. Random books- his favorite one day was The Strong Willed Child, by James Dobson. Maybe that's a sign for me.


9. My shoes. He loves my Crocs and running shoes.


10. Fridge magnets. He was most taken with one that was heart-shaped, and one that resembled a horse.


11. A full-size basketball. As you can imagine, for someone his size to carry a normal basketball is like an adult carrying a horse. Talk about heavy!!
    

Howie's developing these funny little idiosyncrasies that make us laugh so much!! It's fun to see him growing and changing.

We've recently gotten a home phone for a couple of reasons: a. we are unimpressed with cell phones and wary of their long-term effects, and b. I hate holding them up to my head for any length of time, and I find speakerphone annoying. Anyway, I called AT&T to get everything set up a couple of months ago, and somehow my name was recorded as Betsy Besch. Funny, but wrong. Lo and behold, a few days after our phone was hooked up, we started receiving random phone calls for Betsy Besch. Obviously I could tell instantly that they were telemarketers since any real friend knows my last name, so I was able to bring most of those conversations to a close pretty quickly. My favorites were when telemarketers claimed that they had been given my name by a friend, but still called me Betsy Besch... I'm happy to say that we have now been placed on the Do Not Call Registry.

These are some pictures from our trip to Branson, MO, a couple of weekends ago with my parents, my sister Carrie, and my sister Emily and little John.

We had some big rain in the middle of the day, but it turned out to be pretty nice after all. The little boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

There you go- a snapshot of what's been going on here lately!! Have a great day!

Howie Welcomes His Dad Home By Name

Howie's First Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

This video was taken on a very important day in our house... Howie's very first peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which was a HUGE hit!! Howie, there are many more where that came from, my friend!! This was also the day where Howie first took significant notice of the train that runs behind our apartment several times each week. It's a good example of how Howie is growing up so much!!

"YUM!! This stuff is GOOD!!"

Labor Day Fun

This was an eventful Labor Day! We spent a lovely morning at the zoo, soaking in the wild animal vibe, until it was just too dang hot and the Labor Day crowds were too big, at which point we headed home. Howie thoroughly enjoyed visiting with his grandparents and Aunt Liz, as did Josh and I! We all had a wonderful time. Vacations always come to a close too fast.

Visit with Nana, Bible Bill, and Aunt Liz

Josh's mom, dad, and sister Liz are in town with us for Labor Day weekend!! We're having a blast!! Here are some pics from today- fun in the sandbox...

Howie vs. Spaghetti: Spaghetti Wins

Howie is Walking!!!

We can't believe it, folks- Howie is walking! It is the most amazing thing!! He came home from his vacation at my parents' house walking like a champ!! This has completely changed our lives, as you can well imagine... suddenly nothing is safe in our house! We used to not worry about piles of stuff sitting around or basement doors being left open since Howie was relatively immobile, but now he's walking, so we've had to pick up piles lest he slip on them or wreak havoc on them. So this is actually a good thing. It's so heartwarming to see him on the move. It seems like overnight he's transitioned into a toddler, and I'm so happy for him. He's loving life in the fast lane. And he's so easy to entertain now!! Just set him loose and let him entertain himself. We're definitely having to keep an eye on him- the other day I saw him casually carrying my cell phone around with him. I have no idea where he found it, but I know that we are not those parents who are getting their 3 year old a cell phone, so that is one toy I made him ditch. We're so happy for him and so thankful to the Lord for this huge development! He's still having frequent falls, so expect to see him looking a little banged up for the next few weeks.

In other news, Howie has had the privilege of hosting his cousin John over the past few days! My sister Emily and little John stayed with us for a couple of days, and it was such a funny thing to watch the two boys interact. They did their fair share of poking and following each other around and taking toys from each other, etc. John is also walking, so there were several times when Emily and I both held our breath as the boys walked around, weaving like drunk people (they're still quite wobbly). You get the point. Today Em and I took the boys to Great Clips for hair cuts. Picture us walking in with 2 toddlers- actually, Howie walked himself in with in his Cardinals shirt, diaper, and bright green Crocs. I asked the man behind the counter if they cut such small people's hair, and he asked me, "Do they sit still?" I thought, "Is this a joke?? Do they LOOK like they ever sit still for more than 30 seconds? Does this man have any contact with children??" I probably stretched the truth just a bit and said that they could sit still well enough- after all, they had both gotten haircuts before, so it had happened in the past... we got all ready and he took Howie first. Howie was supposed to stand up in the chair, and he did not like that at all. I think he thought he was at the doctor's office or something, so I held him and the man started cutting. This was obviously a difficult job since Howie kept trying to alternately crane his neck to see what this stranger was doing and also swat at the man's hands to keep the scissors away. I pinned down Howie's hands and tried desperately to interest him in National Geographic, but that was basically in vain. After much struggle and many attempts at distraction, Howie was done. Now it was John's turn. John was also instructed to stand in the chair, and the barber got out the clippers to start on the back of John's hair. John obviously wanted to look at and hold that mysterious thing making the whirring noise, so needless to say, John's haircut started out pretty rocky. John then decided to start jumping up and down in the barber chair, which didn't help matters. Somehow the barber managed to finish cutting, which was nothing short of a miracle. Em and I left, both amazed that somehow we had loaded everything into the car and accomplished our goal of getting haircuts for the boys. We got dinner at Pei Wei, which is this really yummy Chinese place- that was also a circus, but lots of fun. I'll summarize that by saying that Howie had such a great time that he walked out with 3 pieces of rice on his leg, a sesame seed on his forehead, and some more rice in his shoe to be found later. We had a wonderful time together- the fun to be had with a cousin!!