eating

with his four month pediatric visit just around the corner, we wanted to try giving ledger a little bit of food.  our doctor asked us to try feeding him a few days before we saw her next, so one afternoon we gave it a try.  we took some milk and mixed it with baby rice cereal, got a brightly colored spoon, and got to the task of feeding our son for the first time!  he was a bit confused by the whole thing at first but quickly began to understand as we put the spoon in his mouth and he got to taste the rice cereal.  he wasnt too sure what was going on- why were we putting stuff in his mouth?!?  pretty strange, huh?  after trying to suck on the spoon the first few times, he started to get the hang of it.  at first there was far more rice cereal on the bib than there was in his mouth, but little by little he started swallowing and getting more comfortable with the whole process.  he only had about two ounces the first time, but it was a great start!  i think the pediatrician will be rather impressed!

athlete?

as our boy starts to explore the world around him a little bit more, we have been trying to give him different toys to play with to see if he likes them or not.  he's had a few that are of no interest whatsoever, but there have been a few that he rather likes. being equal opportunity parents, we even tried out a sports toy.  diana and i are not exactly sporty, so it is with fear and trepidation that i even offered ledger a soccer ball.  one of my biggest fears as a parent is that my child will really love sports and then i will have to go to all of his little league games and pretend to be interested!  gah!  no thanks!  fortunately he only seemed mildly interested, holding it for a while, but quickly moving on to staring once again, mesmerized, at the ceiling.  hey, anything is better than a soccer ball, right?

birthday treat!

how depressing.  for the first time in my life i had to actually work on my birthday.  boo!  i was pretty disappointed, i had to work from noon til eight so i didnt even get to have a birthday dinner.  i was feeling pretty sorry for myself when i got home, but then i was given this little surprise and everything was right with the world again!  diana had been visiting her mom earlier that day and had gone for lunch with her to hacienda, one of my favorite restaurants in the world!  she came home with a big container of salsa and a huge bag of chips for me as a special birthday treat!  now thats about as good as it gets!  my woman knows how to treat me right!  thank you, diana!
oh, and here's a picture of my birthday prize!

zonked

the whole time we were out getting groceries our little boy was wide awake, even mumbling to himself in the back on the way home.  then, when we get in the house and start unpacking the groceries, he falls fast asleep!  he sure is a goofy one...

chicky toy

we've had this toy attached to ledger's car seat for a month or two now and he has never payed any attention to it.  we would try and get him interested in it, playing with it and trying to draw his eye to it, but he just didnt care.  well, recently he has been fascinated by it!  he finally noticed it and has actually been grabbing for it all on his own!  it is so cool to see these little steps that he is taking as he becomes more and more aware of his surroundings and taking the initiative to try and interact with it.
(check out a video of it here!)

mom nap

though it has been so amazing and life changingly fantastic to have ledger, there are certainly some drawbacks.  you know, like no more sleep!  diana has been a trooper, getting up with him in the middle of the night when he needs to be fed and taking care of him while i'm away at work. but there are certain times when the lack of sleep just creeps up on you and can knock you out big time!  here is one of those moments where sleep just crept up on both of them.  a few minutes before i took this picture the two of them were both laughing and playing- and then boom! both of them were out cold!  so cute!  your shirt is right, with such a beautiful and well behaved son, you are a winner in deed.

reflecting

this is one of ledger's favorite toys right now.  i got it as a gift from one of my students, which was really sweet of them.  its a little snail that plays music and has a light up face.  ledger is mesmerized by it!  he loves it whenever the head lights up, but has recently been more interested in the reflection on the snail.  i can just imagine what he is thinking: 'who is that baby over there?!?'  he just keeps staring at it.  they say that babies dont understand that the reflections are themselves, but ledger sure is interested in it, whoever it is!

post feeding daze

whenever ledger is feeding he cant seem to stay focused, instead  he wants to play games, he is always peeking out and once he sees that we are looking, he buries his face again! he's supposed to be eating, but instead he's busy being super cute! when he is finished he always has this adorable face- as if he were so involved in eating that he is totally confused about what is going on when he comes back to reality!  so cute!

being cute

that boy of ours, he just spends all of his time busy being cute!  i think he gets cuter every day!  as the weeks go by, ledger is growing more and more of a personality and getting more and more curious about the world around him.  he loves watching our dog and looking around.  he used to fall asleep when ever we would take him out anywhere, now he is wide awake and alert, taking in the sights!
for more cuteness, check these pics out!

hanging at the cabin

after all the fun at the rc track, we walked back to the cabin and just hung out for a few hours.  brains had to leave as it started to get dark, but the rest of us were up for a campfire.  about ten minutes before the ice cream shop was going to close, diana and barbara got a huge craving for the frozen treat, so the two of them and jeffry lee took the cart over to the shop and made it just in time!  while they were gone, aaron and i got to have a great conversation and reconnect a bit.  as the night wore on aaron called it quits, he said something about having to work the next day... i dont know, seems like a lame excuse to me!
(more pics)

rc racing

when we came back to our cabin we took advantage of the field across from our site.  it is filled with three different race tracks for remote controlled cars!  aaron, a long time lover of rc cars, just so happened to bring his for just such an occasion.  he brought it out and tore around in the sandy tracks for a while, making the tight turns and getting some major air on the built up jumps!  i remember coming out to sandy pines years and years ago with aaron and messing around with rc cars, even driving them around the park as we followed behind on a golf cart.  its so cool that the park now has tracks dedicated to rc cars!  kids these days are so spoiled...
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friends at sandy

soon after we got back from the pool aaron arrived at the park.  we gathered everything together that we needed and headed over to my mom and papa's trailer for a grill out.  papa was working, so i had to be the night's grill master.  i had to wrangle some brats, hot dogs, and even some meatless dogs.  after the guys went to get a few extra treats from the store, we were ready to go!  we all gathered around the table and dug in.  my mom even joined us for the fun and prepared a bunch of extra yummy treats for us as well- thanks!  we had so much fun just catching up and being silly- we have got to do this again, and soon!
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slippidy slide

that afternoon we had invited a bunch of friends to come out and have fun at sandy pines with us.  jeffry lee was able to miraculously get out of work early, so he was the first to join us with brains coming along soon after.  the five of us headed over to the water park to cool off in the pools.  mom came by as well to take care of ledger so we could have some time to enjoy.  we went down to the adult pool to swim since the all ages pool was pretty packed.  mom brought ledger down to the adult pool for a minute and actually got herself kicked out!  ha!  apparently someone in the pool decided to tattle on us, went and got the life guard, and mom got a talking to about bringing ledger into the adults only pool area.  oops!
after a bit of swimming, jeffry lee, barbara, and i headed over to the water slide.  now, i have always refrained from going down the water slide in years past.  not entirely sure why, but i have.   well, this time i didnt refuse when they asked if i wanted to go down it too.  low and behold, it was super fun!  i ended up going down it a second time because i had such fun the first time!
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getting ready

in the morning we took turns getting ready.  since there wasnt a bathroom in the cabin, we had to go down to the public bathroom for showers and running water.  while diana was over there ledger and i just kicked it at the cabin.  he seems to be getting pretty used to that little chair of his!

mema songs

that night, as we got ledger ready for bed, mema helped me get him to sleep.  when i put ledger to sleep every night, i swaddle him up and then i hold him and sing to him.  usually i sing him an old hymn from way back when.  my favorites include 'amazing grace', and 'be thou my vision'.  so when mom helped me out i asked if she would like to sing with me.  as we began to sing 'blessed assurance' i was reminded of all the times growing up that we had done that before.  we used to have a piano in our living room for many years and my mom was a virtuoso at playing anything and everything that came from that old blue psalter hymnal!  she would always play the great hymns for us.  granted, i was a little boy and wanted to play, not sing!  i would sometimes put up a fuss saying that i didnt want to sing, but by the second verse her playing had drawn me in and i joined her in those classic tunes.  as the years went by the piano moved to the basement and those times of singing grew less frequent.  but as i grow older, its those old hymns that i cling to and love more and more.  without those wonderful times of familial song, i would never have learned them and loved  them so much.
though this was just a small moment for mom, focused mainly on that beautiful baby in her arms, for me this time of once again singing praises to God was a special moment that reminded me of mom's love for me, and now also for my son.  though i may not have loved those singing times back then, the memories of that time continue to bring joy to me now!  i will continue to sing to ledger and hope that my mom's example will pour out into his life too.

family reunion

one of the events that we were able to be in town for was the dykhouse family reunion!  our family always used to get together every christmas: grandpa and grandma, all twelve uncles and aunts, and a couple dozen cousins!  as time went on and the cousins got older, married, and started having children of their own, the family got to be just too big to gather together in someone's house.  we tried renting a school gym for a few years, but finally decided to call it quits.  instead, the family now gathers once a year at a park in byron center for an evening of family fun!  they have been doing this for a few years now, but i've never been able to be in town for it until this year!  we arrived and were able to see everyone for the first time in years.  it was really great to be able to catch up and chat with everyone!  and the best part was getting to show off our little  guy!  i got to have some great conversations with my cousin jeff, and caught up a bit with uncle paul and aunt dide.  we will totally have to make it next year!

ledger at the lake

that afternoon, after papa went to work, diana, barbara, and mema all headed to the lake with ledger.  it was his first time putting his feet in the water!  it was hilarious, the little look on his face, he was a bit confused about it all but still wide eyed and interested!  unfortunately we didnt have any waterproof diapers for him, so he only dipped his feet in.  after a few minutes of playing in the water, ledger and i headed back to the comfort of the air conditioning in the trailer!  an hour or so later we headed back to pick them up from their sunbathing.

papa's projects

monday morning when we got rolling, we headed over to mema and papa's to see papa before he had to head in to work.  when we got there he was busy at it, fixing the walkway that had rotted out.  he replaced it with some really nice new wood that would be stronger and less likely to rot.
though he was finishing up, i got to help him for a few minutes and in so doing i was transported back in time!  though i have a house of my own to work on and do repairs, and have worked for two summers building stuff and working on diana's mom and david's place, the moment i started helping papa i was transported back to that eager child excited to help daddy build stuff!  papa, ever the perfectionist, would rarely let me do the important stuff, instead i was the assistant.  i would faithfully watch him work, trying to anticipate what tool or piece of wood he might need next.  i always understood what he was doing because he was thorough in explaining it to me as we worked, and i learned the importance of doing a job right.  his wise words: 'measure twice, cut once!'  though he wouldnt let me do everything, i still learned so much from watching and helping.  as i got older he would give me more and more responsibilities in the different projects i would help on, but it was his trained eye for detail that always guided the work.
as he finished up this particular job, i found myself once again anticipating what he would need next, where to lend a hand or steady a board; and it filled me with such happiness and appreciation for what he taught me, consciously and unconsciously.  as i remember these things, i store them away for when i will have the opportunity to be the daddy in different projects with ledger.  i look forward to guiding him as he takes the role of my helper.  man, this whole fatherhood thing is so awesome!
(more pics)

ledger and papa

ledger sure does get excited when he gets to see his papa!  when papa took him his little eyes got so big and he really came alive.  ledger showed off his latest dance moves and papa was really impressed!  i think ledger knows that he's the one to carry on the brink name, and can tell that papa is proud of him already!

a relaxing sunday evening

we were so excited for our camping trip that we made sure to leave nice and early.  turns out we were a bit too early because when we got to sandy pines we had to wait an hour before we could get the keys to the cabin!  well, we headed over to mom and papa's place instead.  ledger got a change and a feeding, and then we were off.  they gave us the keys to the cabin and we went and unpacked, getting comfy for the long stay. we were in a different cabin then we were in last time, but it was still a really nice one so we didnt complain!
jill, tim, and the kids werent staying out at sandy that weekend but they still wanted to see us, so they came out to share a fun evening and dinner.  the kids were pumped to see miss barbara again and the girls wanted to play with her right away!  we had a great time seeing everyone, but before we knew it it was time for ledger to start getting ready for bed.  we excused ourselves and went back to the cabin.  ledge fell asleep quickly in the pack-n-play, thankfully!  it was still pretty early and i was wondering what the three of us would do for the rest of the night.  i soon got my answer as both barbara and diana got ready for bed and immediately zonked out!  thats all right, i was pretty tired too from the long day, so after playing on my phone for a while, i headed off to sleepy town too!
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sis pick up

we had so much fun staying at the cabin in sandy pines that my parents offered to reserve it for us again!  we are in!  this time though, we thought it would be fun to invite diana's sister barbara!  so sunday we headed over to her place to pick her up on the way to grand rapids.  we dropped off poco for her dad to watch, gave ledger a little time to play and eat, and then off we went for our three day adventure!
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tum time

every day ledger spends time on his tummy, and every day he gets stronger and stronger!  when we first started doing tummy time he had a hard time keeping his head up and would usually look around for a few seconds and then rest it back again on the mat.  over the course of these three months he has been working harder and harder on it, and now can look around with ease, he even started sticking his rump in the air-which im told is the first sign of crawling.  keep it up little man!
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