Verena's Visit

On Friday, September 19th, my "German sister" Verena came to stay with us for a week. I lived with her family almost 10 years ago and was their au pair (the French word for nanny) for a year. At the time, Verena was 15 and her brother Serge was only 10. I was like a part of their family, and we've remained in close contact ever since! When Joe and I went to Germany this past spring, it was with Verena's family that we stayed for a week of our trip.

We spent the afternoon out in our backyard after Fischer and I picked Verena up at the Greyhound station at the end of our street.

This was the first time Verena (or any of our German friends, for that matter) had met Fischer...when they saw us last, I was almost 7 months pregnant! Of course, Verena and Fischer got along immediately--he liked her smiles and grabbing her long hair!

On Saturday, we all went to Algoma to see Lake Michigan. Joe tried a bit of fishing from the pier while Verena, Fischer and I walked around a bit. There was a wine festival going on, but it seemed crowded, so we just enjoyed a walk along the boardwalk on the beach. Fischer slept in his stroller the whole time.
When Joe had finished fishing and we had had enough of the beach, we met back at the car. We ran into Uncle Mike and cousin Kaylee in the parking lot! Mike said that Auntie Terri and her brother Mike and sister-in-law Debbie were at the wine fest. What a small world!

Sunday we went to Bill's Restaurant for breakfast--yummy pancakes and omelettes! For the most part, Fischer occupied himself well by chewing on his burp cloth, but after awhile, he became restless. Fischer got to enjoy a little dab each of maple syrup, strawberry topping, and raspberry topping, though! Joe walked around with him and made silly faces until we were all done at the restaurant.

Later on Sunday, Verena and I went grocery shopping, and Fischer and Joe went to a friend's house to help him shingle a roof. When they took a break, Fischer tasted some of Joe's apple. I think someone's anxious for him to do more than breastfeed!

On Monday, Verena went to see Barak Obama speak at the Resch Center here in Green Bay. She said it was a great speech. I had to work all day, so Fischer was with me at Bright Beginnings. When Joe came in in the afternoon to do his van run, he brought Verena along so she could hang out until it was time for me and Fischer to go home. She got to see what his routine is like at the center, and agreed that he likes it at daycare.

That evening, we were hanging out in the livingroom at home, and I was playing with Fischer on the carpet. He has such good control of his head, now, that he enjoys all different kinds of play. I spent some time pulling him up to a sitting position, and lowering him down to a laying position again. He loved it!
Dancing with the Stars was on, and Fischer was looking at the TV, just gesturing and talking away. We think he liked the music, and the close-ups of people's faces as they judged the dancers. It was this evening that we filmed him rolling from his tummy to his back! (See Fisch Finder on the left of the blog page) He rolled once to the right and once to the left before we got the camera ready, then he rolled once more on video, but didn't want to do it in the other direction. At least we got it once! He really enjoys tummy time, and doesn't seem to tire too quickly of holding his head up and looking around.
On Tuesday, I didn't have to work until the afternoon, so Verena and I took Fischer to the Baybeach Wildlife Sanctuary. The last (first) time Fischer was there, he slept the whole time. This time, he was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!
We got to see the ducks and geese, a sleeping cougar, a couple of bobcats, a pair of wet otters...but the highlights were a porcupine and a deer! One of the zookeepers was feeding the porcupine banana chips--he was so cute! He'd go up on his hind legs to "beg" and even obeyed the zookeeper when she asked him to get down off of the barrel and get up onto the log.
The coyotes were restless--it was probably almost time for their lunch. But we did get one good picture.
When Fischer became a little restless in his stroller, Verena picked him up to get a better look at some of the animals.
We stopped by some little girls who were feeding a deer. The two girls were so excited and animated, that Fischer didn't seem to notice the deer at all because they were more interesting to him :)
The deer came to check out Fischer and Verena, though. We've never been that close to a deer!

Fischer was so tuckered out towards the end of our visit to the sanctuary, that he didn't even want to nurse. Once he had his diaper changed and was clipped into his carseat, he zonked out.

Verena and I went for lunch at HuHot, and Fischer slept the whole time! In fact, when I dropped him and Verena off at home so I could go to work and she could watch him for a few hours, he was still asleep. It was quite an eventful day!

Later on at home, we enjoyed hanging out and laughing and smiling with our little boy--who's also taken to sucking on his bottom lip (as seen in this pic).On Wednesday, Grammy Pam came for a visit. And she thought she could wait to see Fischer until Thanksgiving--yah right! Grammy came while Verena was home with Fischer and I was at work in the morning. We hung out together until Kristy and Flora arrived for our weekly coffee. We all went downtown to Kavarna and ate and had coffee and tea, then we ventured to the Broadway Farmer's Market.
It was the last one this season! What gorgeous weather we had all week for Verena's stay. Wednesday evening was absolutely perfect for spending time outside! Kristy bought some raspberries and gave some to Flora to snack on. We were all so busy checking out all of the sights at the market, that we didn't notice until we got to the car how absolutely covered in raspberry bits and juice Flora had become!
Grammy Pam got this photo of us just before we all parted ways. Isn't Kristy's baby bump coming along nicely??? We look forward to meeting the newest member of the Enz family late in December :)

Wednesday night was our last night with Verena and Grammy, too. So we just had fun hanging out at home. We got these adorable pics of Fischer and Joe making faces :)


Oh, and here's another update on our little Fischer man...he's been sleeping in his crib at night! When his swing broke on Thursday night (9/18), I saw it as a tragedy, but Joe called it an opportunity. I had been struggling with how to make the transition, and I guess the chance presented itself. So, with the swing's motor shot, it was indeed the perfect time to make the change.

Fischer's bedtime (at the latest) is 9:00pm. So, by then, he's had a bath and been changed into cozy jammies and a disposable diaper (we use cloth at home except when we're on the go or for overnights). I turn only his nightlight on in his room, and feed him what I hope will be his last feeding of the night in his room with soft music playing. Then, when he's had his fill, I gently place Fischer on his Boppy pillow in the crib. The pillow keeps him a little elevated because he's still so stuffy at night. I've faithfully kept this routine for Fischer for over a week, now, and I must admit, there are good nights and not-so-good nights. But for the most part, he will sleep 3-5 hours, wake and want to be fed, then sleep another 1-2 hours. So not too shabby! Sometimes, though, when I'm feeding him for the "last" time at bedtime, he will want to be nursed a little more and I have to settle him in a second time.

Even though some nights are utterly exhausting for me if he's up a lot or is hard to settle in the first place, I wouldn't trade our quiet times together for anything. Hey, it also keeps my milk supply up, too!

Go Pack Go!

Lately we've been pretty busy with just the day-to-day stuff--wake up, get ready, go to daycare/work, get done and go home, unwind, and go to bed! It's enough to keep us all occupied! On Sunday, we met up with Grandpa Ken and Uncle Nate for a late lunch at Atlanta Bread Company. Fischer had just eaten before we left the house, so he was quite content and was happy to sit on Daddy's lap across from Grandpa and Uncle Nate. He observed them alternately, and when Nate or Grandpa would pause in his eating, look at Fischer, smile and say "Hi", Fischer would light up and say a few things himself or just blink lovingly or flail his arms a bit. Sometimes when he smiles, his scalp moves back and his ears move up!

Later on Sunday, we watched the Packer game. Fischer is fascinated by the TV--he'll even arch his back to try and watch it over the top of his head if it's behind him! We watch a little with him, but he's far too young to process all of those fast-moving images. He did get to watch the game with Daddy, though.

After the game, our former roommate and friend Jess came for a visit. She lives in Milwaukee, and doesn't make it up to Green Bay very often, so this was the first time she's gotten to meet Fischer. She was just in love with him--despite the fact that he spent a good chunk of the time farting loudly, making pooping faces, grunting and generally filling his pants! She hung out with us for a little while before she had to drive home.

This morning when I was dropping Fischer off at daycare, we were the first ones in the baby room--the other kids were on their way over from our opening classroom. I put a bib on him, and placed him by the mirror on his stomach on the Boppy pillow.
When I turned to see him as I was putting his bottles and other things away, he was just so darn cute, I had to run to the office and grab my camera. These are some of my favorite photos to date! What a happy guy :)
Fischer continues to be "great" at daycare (his teachers' words). He loves to greet other kids in the morning when we arrive with one of his big grins and bright eyes...that is if he hasn't fallen asleep on the ride in! The good news is, though, that he's not only such a good boy at daycare, he's a good boy all the time. He's begun laughing, now, too. He does it at random like when I was taking his arm out of his shirt the other night. Fischer has been experimenting with his voice a lot--getting louder and more expressive. Grammy Pam can attest to his conversational skills--they had quite the talk the other night on the phone!

Oh, I almost forgot to sum-up our last two or 3 coffee trips. Two weeks ago, I brought Fischer along to coffee in Appleton so our fellow coffee-girl Nicole could meet him. It wasn't such a good evening for us, because Fischer hasn't been to coffee in Appleton at night before. When I met up with Kristy during my maternity leave, we were able to get together during the daytime, and Fischer was still sleeping most of the time! Anyway, he was in a strange place after an unexpected carride--both ways--and couldn't wind down like he's used to at home. Nicole enjoyed meeting him anyway, but we had to cut coffee about an hour short! Poor Fischer--I'm sorry.

By contrast, last week's coffee in Green Bay was an absolute dream! Fischer slept in his carseat while I ate and drank my coffee. Then, just as I was done, he was ready to eat. So I nursed him, and when he was done, took him to the restroom to change him. Kavarna is such a family-friendly place :) He was so happy and content! On the way back from his diaper change, we stopped and chatted a little with Alex, who owns Kavarna with his wife Linda. They have 2 little girls themselves. Alex has seen Fischer plenty of times, but never so alert as he was that day :) Alex said, "He looks like a Fischer." And I said that I hope he likes the water. Alex said that he's sure to have "strong feelings" about water one way or the other. I guess we'll have to see...so far we know he LOVES baths! After Kavarna, we went to Brenda and Troy's new house. We got to hear Troy practicing with his band in the basement--Fischer seemed to like the music. He also enjoyed a walk out in their backyard in Brenda's arms as Kristy and I picked and ate some plums from their tree--yum! What a GREAT night!!!

Last night for coffee, Fischer spent time with Daddy so he could wind down at home. I'm sure "that crazy neighbor lady" stopped by!

Get Your Motor Runnin'

This weekend Fischer's getting over his first cold :(.
His eyes have been extra goopy because his nose has been pretty stuffy. I aspirate it every time I change his diaper, and he's actually a pretty good sport about it. I've found the 'secret' is to slurp the snot right after he sneezes!
We actually had to call his doctor last night because one of his dirty diapers had a little bloody mucous in it. After answering lots of questions and taking his temp, the doctor on-call said we'd only have to bring him in to be seen if it happened again or if his temp went above 100. He's had 2 dirty diapers since, and his temp has been normal...so we're in the clear. *Sigh of relief!*
He's a little 'serious' in these pics because he was soon to need his mid-day nap. It was kinda bright outside, too for his little crusty eyes. We still got some cute shots, though.

Look how big Fischer's gotten! He's now growing into the 3-6 month clothes we have. There's no fitting into the 0-3 stuff, and the items marked 3 months fit perfectly right now. We've been putting everything into bags for Kristy and Tom as he outgrows them so they're stocked for their little girl or guy who is to arrive sometime around Christmas!Today our friends Scott and Donna came over for a visit with their Harley. They came with stories of their weekend in Milwaukee at the Harley-Davidson 105th anniversary party. However, the main purposes behind their visit were to A) get a pic of Fischer in the saddle bag, and B) to finally have Joe and Scott smoke their "welcome Fischer to the world" cigars! It's about time, right?

Born to be wild? Guess we'll see!

Gone Camping--Labor Day Weekend

This weekend the 3 of us headed up north to my hometown, Tomahawk, WI to camp at my Dad's on the Tomahawk River. It was the first time Fischer's been camping overnight. He loved watching the fire while Joe snuggled him in his "Big Shirt".

Fischer's Uncle Nate got us a new tent this past Christmas, and this was our first time using it. Quite an upgrade from the dinky one we've been using the past 4 years! We had enough room for our queen-sized air mattress, all of our gear, and room to spare! This was important, as we brought along Fischer's travel swing and to change his diaper at night, I used one of our lawn chairs. All of that fit in the tent--AND we could stand up straight inside of it! Thanks, Nate!


Fischer enjoyed himself immensely--he especially spent a lot of time on Dad's lap making faces and blowing "raspberries".

The next morning, we caught up with Grandpa Ken at his house. Both Grandpa and Fischer were all smiles!

After our visit with Grandpa, we loaded back up into the car and headed east to Townsend and Wabeno where we stayed with Kristy's in-laws the Enz family at their cottage, the "Pink Castle". The last time I spent time at the Pink Castle was Memorial Day weekend...one week before Fischer was born. So this was his first trip there "on the outside." Near Wabeno there's a place in the Checquamegon-Nicolet National Forest where Joe and his brothers and friends have been camping for years. Joe spent a few hours there catching and releasing trout and chubs, reporting that camp looked good, despite the water being very low.Next door to the Pink Castle live Frank and Olga (Kristy's hubby Tom's honorary grandparents who speak German). They enjoy visits from Kristy, Tom and Flora when they're up north, and this time, we brought Fischer, too. Flora played with a balloon once she warmed up to Frank and Olga again, and also busied herself playing with Fischer's carseat.

Their dog, Buddy, was very excited to have some company.

Fischer was very well-behaved, despite the heat. He enjoyed hanging out on Dad's lap. It wasn't long before he was very content in just his diaper--it was in the high 80's. We almost got Flora to kiss the baby. She did talk sweetly to him and he blew raspberries at her and flailed his arms and legs :)
We had a very nice holiday weekend. Our only not-fun part would've been Fischer's stuffy nose last night. He got upset because he was so congested--and the nose aspirator (aka snot-sucker or booger-bulb) didn't make him any less upset. We got through it, though. Tonight we're winding down with a bath and some good books. Fischer is 3 months old tomorrow!