random ledger

i take too many pictures.  well, that used to be a problem.  diana would get annoyed with me for taking too many pictures of normal everyday things and events.  'really? you're going to take a picture of that?' she would ask, rolling her eyes.  well, now that we've got something to take tons of pictures of, she doesn't seem to mind quite as much!  as i post on the blog, i don't always have a specific place to put all those random pictures, so i have been dumping them on my pictures page.  they don't always get a link from the front page of my site, so i just wanted to make sure that you weren't missing out on them.  so, here is where you can click over and see all the random pictures of ledger that don't really tie into a specific post, but are too cute to keep to myself.  check them out here!

basket rider

a new fun toy that ledger has recently discovered is the old laundry basket!  now with ledger mobile, its a lot harder to keep him in one place- he's always scooting away as fast as he can.  but we have discovered a solution: a laundry basket!  i put him in there the other day and he totally loved it- he would wiggle around, grab the sides, smiling and laughing the whole time.  he especially loves it when i pick up the basket and carry him around the house!  we haven't really tried it much since, but this could be a good way to keep him busy and stuck in one place long enough to allow us to at least go to the bathroom.  hmm, i may have to give that a shot...

crawling!

he's been doing it on and off for a few days now, but i finally had my camera handy and snapped a picture of our little guy moving around on all fours!  way to go, ledger- you are getting to be a big boy!

work baby

diana had an appointment at 4:00 the other day.  i knew i wouldnt be able to make it home in time to take ledger and still allow her to make it on time, so instead she dropped him off at school so i could take him.  the kids were already gone by then, but i still got to show ledge around the school a bit and got to show him off to all my coworkers.  they always have to sit and listen to me talk about him and all his cute baby stuff, so they were quite excited to actually see him again.  after making the rounds i went back to my room and got my stuff together so we could leave.  i set him down for a minute and let him wander around the room a bit- which he loved!  a new place to explore!  as i was behind my desk grabbing my coat, i snapped a quick picture of him on the other side of the desk rooting around, having a great time checking everything out.

lube food

after ledger got to show off his new moves to mema, we headed across the street for lunch at the quaker steak and lube.  ledger was the star of course, with everyone paying attention to him and every cute move he made- even catching the eye of different waitresses and everyone else!  diana gave him a crayon and gave him the chance to play on his place mat- i don't think he's ever done that one before!  it was great to catch up with the parents and give them another chance to see ledger, even if it was only for a couple hours.
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bass shop stop

its been over two weeks since we last saw mom and papa, so you know what that means!  we got a call from mom saying that they were going to be about a half hour away shopping at the bass pro shop with uncle ted and aunt joni and asked if we would like to meet up with them while they were there over the weekend.  barbara had mad plans to come and visit us too, so the four of us piled into the car and met up with them at their hotel before they checked out.  we got a chance to walk around the place for a few minutes, showed ledger the indoor pool, chatted with ted and joni before they headed out, and even got to stop up in mom and papa's room to sit for a minute.
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bath friend

one of ledger's favorite activities is bath time!  we've long ago ditched the infant bath set up, now we just plop him on a little pad in the sink.  it takes him a minute or two to adjust to the water, but when he does you better watch out because everything in a six foot radius is about to get soaked!  during bath time we introduced him to this little froggy friend, a washer hand puppet that uncle chad got for him for christmas!  ledger was mesmerized by it!  he just kept staring at it and poking it in the eyes (strange, i know...) and laughing at it when we would give it a voice.  a little bath and a show!

cold walk

we had a bit of warm weather the other day, so i figured ledger and i should take advantage!  as our little guy gets bigger and bigger, it was time to ditch the old baby carrier and stroller.  we finally got to take out the more portable stroller that we got from the guys at our baby shower.  i bundled ledge up nice and warm, and we went for a little walk around the block with stink dog in tow.  our little bundled up guy seemed pretty happy to be out enjoying the sights on our warm winter walk!

sippy

ledger's new favorite thing in the world is water.  oh, delicious water!  he loves to just sit in his chair with a sippy cup.  he had a hard time at first learning that he had to tip it back to get any water out of it.  i would try to tip it up for him, but then he would just let go and allow me to do all the work!  i figured out how to outsmart him though- instead of tipping up the cup, i pushed his arms higher as he was holding it.  and it worked!  now he's got the idea and just loves gulping that water down!  he's got the hang of handling the battle now, but he still needs to work on getting all the water in his mouth instead of on his shirt...
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scooch

uh oh- he's mobile!  ledger kind of took his sweet time learning how to crawl.  he mostly just wanted to sit and play, if something was too far away he would just want mama or dada to bring it to him.  well, that's all changed now!  he's still not much of a crawler, but he has learned a very strange form of moving: he sits on his but, leans forward, and scooches himself with his left hand.  its hilarious!  he usually keeps his right hand straight up in the air, as if he were a cowboy trying to last all 8 seconds...  it has been so much fun to see him move around and stuff, but now gone are the days of setting him down in the living room and feeling safe running off to the bathroom for a minute!  there's no chance that he's where you left him these days...

fridge play

as ledger gets bigger and bigger, he's betting better at playing.  it used to be that you would give him something and he would reach out for it and thats about all he could do.  now, though, he's reaching, grabbing, pulling, and playing- which is a lot more fun (most of the time...).  diana set him down next to the fridge and pulled down a few magnets to his level and he had a blast!  he was a little confused at first because those pesky things didnt want to come off too easily.  but he soon got the hang of it and had a great time playing!

shoppin with dada

every once in a while i have an errand or two to run when i get out of work.  i always like to stop home and take care of those tasks with ledger.  its a chance for him to get out of the house, i get to spend time with him, and the wife gets some much needed quiet time to take care of anything she couldn't during the day.  well, sometimes those errands are important, other times they aren't... this time it wasn't so much something i needed to do, but rather something i really wanted to do- i took ledger to the used movie store!  got to train them up right, you know?

redesign

i thought it was about time to spruce things up a bit, so i did a little website redesign.  hope you enjoy it!

stink tv

this always cracks me up!  usually our stinky dog pays no attention at all to screens, whether its phones, computers, or tvs.  he always seems to know that they are not real, they are just images and sound pumped through screens and speakers.  but every once in a while they get him, every once in a while there is some animal or something that makes a noise and it startles him because it actually sounds real!  well, i was watching a movie the other day and there were a couple dogs that where barking and whimpering at each other- and i tell you what, that stinky dog of ours must have understood what he was saying because he jumped up so fast that it startled me!  he stared right at the tv, with his ears perked up, and seemed like he was ready to pounce!  i thought it was hilarious and rewound it and played it again- he flipped out the second time too!  sorry poco, i guess i'm just being mean, but i thought it was hilarious!  (in case you are wondering, the movie was 'hugo')

short and sweet

it must have been too long since christmas, because it was time for another welcomed visit from mema and papa!  i'm pretty sure my mom cant physically go much more than four weeks without seeing ledger or she would explode...  they came down to visit sunday after church in grand rapids, arriving here at the house by around noon.  we hung out around the house for an hour or so playing.  they even treated us to a feast at the local red lobster (or as the cool kids call it 're lob').  but soon afterward they had to head back home.  i tell you what, these visits are far too short for my liking- and i'm pretty sure mema would agree!
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another battery

ugh, it happened again.  after just replacing the battery in the saturn a couple weeks ago, it looks like its time to replace the one in the grand prix too!  when the car first wouldn't start i had no idea what the problem was, i would put the key in the ignition and turn it and the thing would make clicking noises.  my first thought was that the ignition needed to be replaced, which got me worried about trying to replace it because i have no skill when it comes to cars.  i got a hold of aaron, a car guy, and he said that it wasn't the problem, instead it was probably just the battery that needed replacing.  i hadn't thought of that myself because the car lights were working and everything when i would try to start it.  he explained that the battery might have enough power for the lights, but not enough to turn over the engine.  ok, well i can fix that!  so i made another trip to the car parts place and got myself a second new battery in as many months, and took care of business- volia!  a running car!  man, i'm staring to get a false sense of confidence about fixing cars- two problems, two fixes!  i'll be sure not to let this go to my head and try to fix something that's actually hard...

phone games

diana and i have found some fun little games on our phones for ledger to play with.  they are just simple games that involve him simply touching the screen and hearing an animal sound, but he sure does love them!  every once in a while i just think about how incredible these phones are and i realize that these are the sorts of things that i had wished i had when i was a child- we're livin' in the future, i tell ya, livin' in the future!

troll hunter

as a lover of film, i have seen my fair share of movies.  ok, i'll be honest, i have seen so many movies its probably more like three or four shares...  because of this, it is rare for me to be completely surprised by any of the films i see, but recently i saw one that just blew me away.  i realize how stupid this sounds, but i fell head over heels in love with the movie 'troll hunter'!  even though it sounds like a cheesy saturday night movie that would be on the syfy channel, its actually really amazing!  after watching it, much to my wife's chagrin, i have become obsessed with it.  for a week or two after seeing it i would spend every free moment trying to learn more about it, reading interviews with the director, reviews from other people, production stories about its filming.  basically anything and everything troll hunter related (i know- obsessed!).  well, this became a bit of a joke between the wife and i- she thought it was really funny how much i loved this movie and would gently rib me about it every chance she could.  she didnt love the movie as much as me, but appreciated my joy in learning all about the film (like i've said a million times- she is my dream girl!).  now that i've read pretty much all there is to read on the subject, i still get asked by her jokingly if i am reading about troll hunter every time i'm playing on my phone!  it warms my heart to laugh with her about my strange interests, and it delights me to no end that she loves me anyway!

more toys!

ledger had been having a blast with all of his toys, but was starting to loose interest.  fortunately, alanna, my sister-in-law, has a boy thats about a year older than ledge and they offered us a bunch of his old toys- yes please!  so now ledge has an overflowing wealth of fun toys to play with.  diana had the great idea of splitting his toys up into three groups- one he can play with now, and the other two groups we can substitute in when he is starting to loose interest in his current crop- that way they will always seem new to him.  well, we recently swapped out the first group of toys with the second group, and he is loving it!  he spends most of his day just tinkering and playing with the new stuff!  and when he's done with those?  well, we've got that third pile of toys to swoop in and save him from a boring afternoon!  thanks again, alanna!
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a night out

it had been a while and both diana and i were feeling it.  it had been a week or two since the two of us had any real time together outside of the house.  feeling those winter blahs, we decided to do something about it- we packed up our boy and headed out to get something to eat!  someone had given us the wonderful gift of a gift certificate to panera bread, so we took full advantage.  it was wonderful to be out- out of the house, and out of our house clothes...  diana and i had the chance to have a real live conversation, and we got to introduce ledger to a few new foods- some cheese broccoli soup and little bits of bread from the bread bowl!  he was absolutely thrilled!  although, as you can see, he's thrilled just by seeing a new lamp... 'la luz!'
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