Catching Up

It's been a while since our last update, so I'll try to recap the last couple of weeks as best as I can. All you parents out there can attest to this, but we are seeing firsthand how amazing it is to watch your child develop. It seems like a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. A couple weekends ago, Courtney was gone for a lot of the weekend. I can't remember what exactly, but I think she went to a mom2mom sale, then went to see Mamma Mia at the Wharton the next day. Either way, Levi and I spent a lot of time together and bonded quite a bit. Courtney took the following video on Sunday while Levi and I were watching football. As you can see, he's getting more and more vocal.

We've tried "tummy time" with Levi, and he doesn't seem to enjoy it all that much. But lately we've been getting him to do it more often, and on the 15th he even rolled over for the first time. I ran to get the video camera, and of course he just looked at me and didn't roll over again. In fact, he's only done it once since then, so I don't think he's real solid with that "skill" yet.

Our house has been full of sickness lately. The Friday before Christmas Levi got the flu and had to come home early from daycare. Aside from the puking and the diarrhea, it didn't really seem to bother him all that much. That Sunday I must have caught it, because for the entire day I was either 1) sleeping, 2) puking, or 3) pooping. Not fun. Thankfully Courtney is a great nurse and helped us both get back to full health quickly. Courtney avoided it, but a couple days ago she must have ate something bad at Olive Garden (note: don't get the minestrone soup) because she's been under the weather.

Levi and I a couple days after our bouts with the flu.

Christmas was crazy, as can be expected with a 5 month old. We were on the go for 5 straight days. On Christmas Eve, we went to a church service at Robbins (our old church) with Courtney's parents. On Christmas Day, we started a tradition of celebrating at home with our family. We slept in as late as we could, because we realize that this will probably be the last Christmas for a while where we won't be woken up at 5 AM. Levi seemed to enjoy himself. He liked the wrapping paper more than the gifts themselves. He actually liked the wrapping paper a little too much, as we found out later.

From there, we drove to Battle Creek to celebrate Christmas at my Grandma's house with the extended Chapin family. We were a little worried about Levi because he had been having issues with "strangers", but he did a great job. He seemed to enjoy having everyone around, and he especially enjoyed his new Dalmation stuffed animal courtesy of his Great-Grandma Chapin.

A baseball rattle and a stuffed animal...it doesn't get much better than that.

After that we stopped at my Aunt Judy's house to celebrate Christmas with the extended Vinckevleugel (yes, that's my mom's maiden name) family. Then we drove back to my parent's house to open gifts, play games, and finally go to bed. There is nothing funnier than playing "Loaded Questions" with my dad late at night. He isn't the best speller in the world, and to help he'll sometimes draw pictures. Not to pick on my dad, but here is a sampling of some of his answers.

For two things he's allergic to, he put "poizin iviey and galick".
For a song that makes him thing of the 70's, he put "Starkie & Hutch".
And for the funniest word he could think of, he put "poop" (mine was "turd", so the apple didn't fall far from the tree). I love my dad, he's the best.

Anyway, we spent the night at my parents on Christmas. The next day Courtney was changing Levi's diaper when she called me to come and take a look. In the middle of a very poopy diaper, there was a speck of something green. Courtney didn't know what it was, but I did as soon as I saw it...wrapping paper. You know the video above of Levi chewing on the wrapping paper? Apparently he started solid foods that morning as well. As we were laughing about it Levi surprised us with some more poop, catching us off guard and getting poop on my parent's carpet. Thankfully poop is my dad's funniest word so he wasn't too upset.

Levi enjoying more gifts at my parent's house.

The next day we celebrated Christmas with Courtney's family. Levi's mood had soured a little, but overall he was pretty good. He got some more cool gifts, including a book of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes. Did you know that some of them are pretty messed up? I'm not so sure I want "Wee Willy Winky" anywhere near my kid, and the end of "Sing a Song of Sixpence" is pretty bad as well..."The Maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes, when down came a blackbird, and pecked off her nose". Ouch.

Levi and Mom showing off his new Curious George books courtesy of Aunt Marnie and Uncle Ryan.

Levi and I checking out some R rated nursery rhymes.

Grandpa Terry and Levi.

Levi getting some love from Grandpa Terry and Grandma Carla.

The day after that we drove to Detroit to celebrate Christmas with the extended Schlosser (Courtney's mom) family. This is where we went to Olive Garden and Courtney ate the funky minestrone soup. Anyway, this was fun as well, although on his 5th day of travels Levi seemed to be wearing down a little. He wasn't in the best mood, but was still pleasant enough that I think we'll be invited back next year.

Levi settled down long enough for this picture w/ Aunt Marnie, mom, and cousin Kelly.

Levi and his second cousin Callie. Don't know what he did, but Callie isn't very happy.
Bonus points if you can find Carla's ghost-like floating head in the background.

Levi with his Great-Grandma Schlosser, before he started screaming.

So now we're home and trying to recuperate from the holidays. In the last couple weeks, Levi has started sitting up a lot more without much help from us. He's also started grabbing for anything he can get his hands on, and then promptly tries to put it in his mouth. He's been very fussy the last couple of days, and all signs point to him starting the teething process. Should be a lot of fun for mom and dad.

Sitting up all by himself in his bath!

If you've read this much, you're either closely related to us or really bored. Anyway, thanks for reading, and the Chapin family hopes that you had a great Christmas with your respective families.

The holidays are exhausting!!

Then and Now

I'll be posting more about our Christmas adventures with Levi soon, but I wanted to post these pictures in the meantime.

Me and my Grandma Chapin, and...

...28 years later, here is Levi with Grandma Chapin.
Still looking good, Grandma!

Five Months!!!

Levi turned 5 months old today. This past week has been very exciting because we've been noticing all the new things he's been doing. It really is amazing how fast kids develop. This past week he started sitting up pretty good, pushes himself up when he's on his belly, and he even rolled over a couple of times. Of course when we got out the video camera to capture the moment, he just looked at us. He's also getting a lot better at using his hands and grabbing things he wants, like dad's thumbs or the strings on his sweatshirt. He's also become quite a talker. At Life Group this past Saturday, he sat on Courtney's lap and cooed the whole time. When other people would talk he would coo louder, as if he wanted to make sure he was the loudest in the room. He's such a cool little dude and we're so thankful for him.

Sitting up all on his own!

It's only a matter of time before he's crawling all over the house.

Working on flipping over in his Charlie Brown outfit.

He still loves his Johnny Jump Up!

Splish, Splash

Today Courtney was giving Levi a bath, and he started splashing around the tub. It was the first time he had done something like that, so of course we had to videotape it. The tape doesn't do it justice of course, but it seems like we have a regular little AquaMan on our hands.

There weren't many pictures this week, so that should make up for last week's monster post. Enjoy!

It must be nap time since Levi is wide awake...

Can't see it too well in the picture, but his hair is really big.

Rocking the Tigger bathrobe...

What a cute pair, don't you agree?

Winter Already

That didn't take long, did it? We speed through fall here in Michigan, and now we're already in winter. I tell Courtney that every winter is the "worst winter ever", but I really think this one might be the worst. Seriously. It's only snowed a few times and I already hate it.

The playoffs start this week in the fantasy football league that I run. It's a pretty big commitment but a lot of fun, so I'm sad to see it drawing to a close. The winner of the league gets their name engraved on a plaque and they get to keep it for the year. As the defending champion, I've gotten pretty used to having the plaque hanging in the office for the past year. I did make the playoffs so there's a chance I'll win it again, but I get the feeling it'll be going somewhere else this year.

The Jerk Store called...

Levi's first Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. We enjoyed the holiday with both the Chapin and Freed sides of the family. A lot of people got to meet Levi for the first time and he wasn't always happy about that. We hope he grows out of the "scared to be held by new people" phase, but I'm guessing there will be more of the same at Christmas. We were also excited to find out that Ryan and Marnie are having a baby girl, so we're going to have a niece in April! Well, I'm sure there's a lot more to share, but Courtney is making caramel corn and I need to go grab some before she packs it all up. There are a lot of pictures because of the holiday and everything, so hope you don't mind. Enjoy the pictures and video!

After like 100 years, my grandma got new carpeting in her house.
And I didn't even notice until I saw this picture.

Levi with his Great Grandma Chapin and Annie.

The Chapin clan (minus Dad)!

Levi with his Grandma and Grandpa Freed.

Levi looks a little freaked out with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Schlosser.

Us with Courtney's grandparents.

Potential Christmas Card photo...

Court and Marnie with their Grandma.

Levi with his parents-to-be Uncle Ryan and Aunt Marnie.

Levi enjoying his Johnny Jump-Up (thanks Stephanie!); Prince looking very perplexed.

Levi sporting his Christmas gear.

Mom and Levi were enjoying a nice Sunday nap together on the couch before I woke them.

Just hanging out after a bath.

Getting geared up for baseball season already.

Levi showing the world how much he loves his new Johnny Jump-Up.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

OK, so I'm a few days early with that. But for all 3 of our loyal blog readers, we wanted to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving. We are truly thankful for our many blessings, with our little guy being at the top of the list. We're going to be pretty busy on the actual holiday itself. We're heading to my Grandma's house in BC for Thanksgiving dinner. My grandma is an amazing cook and I cannot wait to eat another one of her Thanksgiving dinners. After we finish watching the Lions lose and drop to 0-12, we'll head to Williamston to have dessert and finish the holiday with Courtney's family. Unfortunately we can't celebrate too long because I have to work the next day. It's one of the perks of being on-call.

Levi is going to meet a lot of new people in the next couple of days, and we're wondering how that is going to work. Starting last week he has had a difficult time with anyone other than Courtney or me (and we're assuming the ladies at daycare). Our parents found out the hard way last week, as Levi started screaming at the top of his lungs within a minute of being picked up by one of them. Hopefully he'll outgrow this soon. Thanksgiving could be real interesting...

This week it was hard to pick some pictures because there were so many cute ones. Hope you enjoy them!

The one time Levi wasn't crying during "tummy time"...

Why does this picture remind me of the little brother from "A Christmas Story"?

Levi w/ Grandpa C, in between crying outbursts.

Levi looking cute, Dad looking dumb.

Levi getting in his equestrian practice.

Gotta give Prince a little love since he's been so neglected since Levi was born.

"Nope, don't need my pacifier guys. My hand will do just fine."

What's the over/under before his first haircut? 2 months? A week?
What a mop this kid has...

Courtney keeps telling me one of these times Levi is going to throw up on me when I do this.

4 Months!!!

Levi turned four months old today! Our little guy had a check-up at the doctor today, and everything is great. Here are the pertinent statistics:

Weight: 15 pounds, 2 ounces (56th percentile)
Height: 24.5 inches (36th percentile)
Head: 40.4 cm (10th percentile)

He was in a great mood and was enjoying his visit until they cleaned out his ears. I don't think I've ever seen him that mad, and he's been mad a lot. He actually hated that worse than his shots. But all in all the appointment went well and we are thankful for a healthy baby.

It is amazing how quickly babies start developing and growing. Just in these past few weeks we have noticed how much more aware Levi is of his surroundings. He loves his hands and is always trying to put them (or anything else he can grasp) in his mouth. He also tried out his exersaucer for the first time, and even though his feet didn't touch the bottom he still loved it. By the end his shirt was soaked in drool, which we took as an indicator of how much he enjoyed it. On Sunday I tried to put him in it again, but he was much more interested in the football game on TV. That's my boy!

Levi practicing his "guilty face".

He looks like a 2-year old with all that hair.

I think we're going to get a lot of mileage out the exersaucer.

Nope, his shirt isn't two-toned....that's just his drool.

Levi was pumped to be in a picture with Dad. Who could blame him?

OK, he's slightly less pumped now that Dad is stealing some of his thunder.

Mom, if you don't feed me I'm going to eat my bear...

Some live footage of Levi in the exersaucer.
I never realize how high and whiny my voice was until I hear it on tape. Yikes.