Vacation Adventure - Day 10!

Yesterday was an extra exciting day because Brian got to spend it playing with his only other boy cousin - Nolan! (No offense to cousins Haley, Erika and Krista, each of whom Brian loves very much - but sometimes, a guys just gotta do GUY stuff ya know?!?) He also got to spend the day with Aunt Ann and Uncle Seth which made the day great fun!

Nolan was an excellent host who was more than happy to share his toys with Brian - who was more than happy to take him up on his generous offer!

Nolan knows his way around a camera having been the subject material in more than a few pictures himself!

Thanks to the Hansen family for the fun day - we are looking forward to your next visit with us in Illinois!

***Daddy Update: Because Daddy and Henry got back into the marina sooner than they anticipated, they were able to use the additional time to do some more hiking yesterday and today. They will camp under the stars both nights before making their way back to Salt Lake City to return their canoes and then on to South Dakota.

Vacation Adventure - Day 9!

Brian attended his first concert yesterday afternoon with Grandma and Mommy. The local group called "We Found Sound" is a concert show choir made up of about 50 kids ages 8 - 18 who must all go through an audition process to join. We went to their first of three shows and they did a great job! It was just a little over 2 hours long, part of which is when Brian does tend to take a nap so it was anyone's guess as to how long he would last or how much fun HE would think the experience was! Below are the results of the experiment.

At the beginning of the show........................

....through the majority of the show......

....and as the show came to a close.....

....so did Brian! Judging from the way he kept clapping and giggling, Grandma and Mommy determined that he enjoyed the show and all the hard work the kids put into doing it!

Vacation Adventure - Day 8!

Today, April Twenty EIGHTH and also day EIGHT of our vacation and would you believe - the day that Brian turns EIGHT months old! We have been blessed with wonderful weather on our trip and yesterday was no exception. To enjoy it all, Brian, Walter and Mommy took a nice long walk so we could all soak in the sunshine and fresh air.

****Daddy Update: Daddy and Henry made it back to the marina where they started their trip from this afternoon. Since this was the first time they had cell phone reception and were able to call, Mommy and Brian were happy to hear they made it safe & sound and are having a terrific time! Thanks to the generosity of a boater on the lake who offered to tow them in, they were able to shave 1 1/2 days travel time off that they would have spent manually paddling their canoes back to the marina! My arms ached just thinking about that - and I got the feeling Daddy and Henry didn't have to think too long before accepting the offer of a tow either!

Vacation Adventure - Day 7!

Yesterday was a very busy day for Brian, Grandma and Mommy as we where able to visit with lots of people! Our first stop was for lunch in Faulkton!

Brian gets some giggles in with his Mommy's Cousin Kathy......

.....and shows Great Aunt Bev how he can bounce.....

....and shows Great Aunt Corrine some of his favorite toys!

Then, we traveled on to Cresbard to spend some time with Great Grandma Irene! Brian has been anxiously awaiting showing her how well he can "patty-cake"!

As a special treat, Brian (and Mommy and Grandma) got to go to the Hotel to have dinner with Great Grandma and some of her very good friends Mrs Perry, Mrs Gabler and Mrs Bower (who unfortunately was on the other side of the table when this picture was taken so you can't see her.) Brian slept like a log when we got home after his action packed day!

Vacation Adventure - Day 6!

The Huron SD Lions Club organization has a pancake feed that we happened to be in town for. So, yesterdays adventure was going to feast on yummy pancakes and sausage! Well, truth be known, only Mommy feasted - Brian brought his own food and had his own fine dining experience. It's probably a little bit rude to bring your own food to a restaurant but hey, Brian is his own man. After enjoying their dinners, Grandpa and Brian chat with the others at their table about the events of the day.

This photo was either going to be a terrifying experience or.......as it turned out, a lot of fun! When Brian met the Lions Club Lion - he was very brave so to everyone's great relief, no tears where shed. Another plus was that the Lion showed great restrain in not eating him out of retaliation for getting her whiskers pulled on!

Grandma was able to sneak in a break from her duties to chat with Brian as well!

Vacation Adventure - Day 5!

I believe I mentioned before that Grandma always has the best toys! Brian is therefore thrilled that he has two Grandma's, and BOTH of them have great toys at their houses! It's a total win win situation! Before getting some time in on the exersaucer though, Grandma gave Brian his first music lesson with the toy guitar! Who knew we had such a gifted young musician on our hands!

Vacation Adventure - Day 4!

Yesterday was also known as "Spend the Day with Grandpa Day!" Grandpa will be out of town attending meetings for quite a bit of our visit in South Dakota, so, when he is able to be home - he and Brian are taking advantage of lots of play time together! Below are some highlights of their day.

Vacation Adventure - Day 3!

Yesterday, Brian had some special visitors when Mommy's cousin Cindy and her son Andy stopped by for a visit! Andy will be graduating from High School in a couple weeks and they were on their way to tour South Dakota State University where he will be starting college this fall. Daddy would have enjoyed being here to chat with him since he will be studying Construction Management. Before they got here though, Brian got some practice time in working on his standing up skills (with the assistance of Grandma and the sofa that is.)

Daddy Update: As of 9:30am (Utah time that is), Daddy and Henry were at their starting location with their canoes all stocked and ready to go. They where having a temporary delay because it was raining at the moment so they were hanging out in their hotel waiting for the storm to pass. As soon as it does though they will head out on their quest for fun and adventure!

Vacation Adventure - Day 2!

I don't believe that I mentioned this earlier, but there was a fifth traveler in the van that went to South Dakota. Walter, Brian's dog also got to came along. This means that exactly 7:31pm on Friday night, Jem, Brian's cat, began HER vacation and is currently savoring having the house all her herself! She has promised not to, but please notify us if you should see her having any wild parties over the next 2 weeks. Meanwhile, back in SD - Brian insisted on showing Grandma how well he can ride the dog.

Daddy Update: He and Henry arrived safely in Salt Lake City this morning. They had already picked up their canoes and were on route to Lake Powell where their vacation will be spent canoing, hiking and exploring the beautiful sights along Lake Powell's many finger lakes! Before he left, Brian told his Daddy that he would try very hard not to do anything really extraordinary or amazing until he got home. I think Mommy and Daddy were thinking in terms of extraordinary and amazing as being Brian crawling or saying his first word. Both are things we are hoping Daddy will be able to see and hear first hand. However, Brian said he's not making any promises about not doing anything like that. He has however decided that he will put off riding a bike or starting a paper route until some time after Daddy has returned home. He's such a good boy!

Vacation Adventure - Day 1! (Saturday's post)

I wonder if it felt strange for Brian to wake up Saturday morning in South Dakota, considering that he fell asleep in Illinois! If it did, he didn't let on. Our group loaded into the van and left at 7:30pm as planned, and with a few stops to rotate drivers so the others could snooze - we made excellent time in our road trip to SD arriving at 6:30 Saturday morning. In case anyone was wondering - Brian always appeared to be "sound asleep" when it was his turn to drive so he missed his rotations. Fortunately he will have the chance to make up for his missed shifts on the return drive home! After spending the day relaxing and napping at Grandma and Grandpa Hansen's house, Daddy and Henry left about 7:30pm for the next leg of their vacation. I feel like they are the newest team on the TV show The Amazing Race! They will drive straight through to Salt Lake City Utah where their backpacking trip will officially begin. Depending on how the cell phone signal is where they are traveling, I will pass along updates on how their trip is going as I get them. In the meantime though, Brian and Mommy will be having their own vacation here in South Dakota. There are lots of people who we are anxious to see and visit with again so our adventure will unroll for us each day!

My "Be-Be" - My Friend

I believe I have mentioned that Brian is rather fond of his pacifier. He has two that he rotates between but at nap and/or bedtime, he gets to have them both. One immediately goes into his mouth and the other is played with (or clanked along the slots of his crib. This motion has earned him the nickname inmate #101 though!) Apparently there truly is something very soothing about these little things because within just a few minutes, he will generally fall right off to sleep!

Travel Update: Brian, his parents and their good friend Henry will be leaving after Brian has his dinner this evening. Even though he has proven to be a very good traveler, we thought he might enjoy the 12 hour drive to South Dakota even more if it happened when he was getting ready for his regular bedtime.

Tool Of The Day!

Today Brian will be pulling his hammer from his toolbox! As is always the case with tools.....you must first inspect the tool to ensure that is the right one for the task you will be working on. Brian demonstrates how that is done in the first photo.

Once you have confirmed that you have made the proper tool selection, you are ready to go! You may not want to suck on your tools, but hey - to each their own!

Brian would like to say a special thank you to all the folks who have commented to him on how much they enjoy his "Tool of the Day" segments. Even though he has now worked his way through his personal indoor toolbox, have no fear! Brian and his Daddy are putting together a new weekly segment that they will be introducing when we all return from vacation. Rest assured, for this new segment, there is an endless supply of tools that Brian will have at his disposal to show and tell you all about!

Face Update

This weekend, Brian and his parents will be going out of town for a couple weeks. Just because we are away from home though, there should not be any noticeable change in his blog postings. Brian will no doubt continue to have lots of news to share with all his friends and family. Before we leave though, Mommy double checked with Brian's doctor about the rash/blotchy marks on his face. She assured us that the chances he is having a reaction to some of his baby food is extremely minimal. She also said that given his recent increase in drooling (still no teeth visible yet), combined with the fact that his pacifier is normally not far from him (which again she said is nothing to be concerned about) result in a little face that is rarely ever dry, and therefore, a bit irritated. The doctor suggested a lotion for us that will work as both a moisturizer and also a water repellent to help his skin heal. She said again that all of this is very normal and nothing for us to be concerned about. So, if you have noticed his face being a little pinker than normal in some of the recent blog photo's - that is what is going on!

Election Day!

Not only is today tax day, it was also election day here in DuPage county, and Brian did his part to make sure his parents got out to cast their vote. Brian accompanied Mommy (to be available in the event that she had any questions she needed his input on). In exchange, she gave him her "I Voted Today" sticker! If Daddy is not wearing a similar sticker when he gets home from work, Brian will insist on taking him to the polling place himself......as long as Daddy drives that is.

Fluff - n - Fold

Is there anything cuter than a baby in a laundry basket? Brian's face is clearing up nicely. We think that he was having a reaction to some baby food. Since he is such a great little eater, he was sampling quite a variety of new flavors of jar foods. When he got some blotchy marks on his face, Mommy and Daddy went back to the food options that had not caused him any problems and things appear to be back to normal.

From the Archives

Brian's Mommy and Daddy didn't take any new pictures today, so, from the archives - here's another cute one from his 6 month photo's!

Sleep Over with Grandma and Grandpa!

Since Brian's Mommy and Daddy went to see a play last night, he got to have a sleep over with Grandma and Grandpa! This is generally a win win situation - for Brian and for his Grandparents! Below are some highlights from their evening.

Grandma gets applause from Brian as she prepares his dinner.

There are always really cool toys to play with!

And, no over night stay would be complete without getting to enjoy a bath!

Pet Safety

Brian spends a good deal of time with his cat Jem and his dog Walter. Since Jem isn't quite as interested in a lot of physical interaction, Walter was the "patient" for today's pet safety tips.


Tip # 1: Check your pets tags to make sure you are working with the correct pet.
















Tip #2: Remove all your toys (ie: "Bebe", the remote, etc.) as not to tempt your patient into wanting to play with them.



















Tip #3: If you keep a smile on your face and a giggle on your lips, your patient is much more likely to remain relaxed.

Brian's Tool of the Day!

The tool that Brian has selected from his tool box as this weeks Tool of the Day is the Screwdriver! Brian prefers his Flathead Screwdriver to the Phillips simply because it also works great for picking his teeth......oh wait, he doesn't have teeth yet!

Nap? I Don't Need No Stinking Nap!

Brian doesn't always think nap time is completely necessary.

However, after a few minutes in his crib, he changes his mind!

Brian's Mommy and Daddy continue to appreciate that their little boy is such a terrific sleeper! He takes a morning and an afternoon nap, both which average an hour or longer. Bedtime then comes between 7:00 - 8:00 pm and he sleeps until between 6:30 -7:00 the next morning. We have always had a large pool of friends and family who have volunteered to babysit Brian anytime. But, now that we have made his incredible sleeping habits public, I have a feeling that our pool of volunteers will grow even larger!

Photo Session - Pose #2

Here's another picture from Brian's 6-month old photo session!

Sleep Position #436

It seems that every time Mommy or Daddy peek in on Brian at nap and/or night time, he has discovered a new sleeping position. This position appears to be a favorite at the moment as we have both seen him in it quite a bit lately. It may not look comfortable to his parents, but it seems to work for Brian and thats all that matters so - bring on the sandman!