October

Hello everyone!

It's October! Month of fall colors and cooler weather. It's also a month when I get to go to complete stranger's doors, ring the doorbell, and yell "Trick or Treat" and they GIVE ME CANDY!! How awesome is that??!! This year, I'm going to be Buzz Lightyear. I can't wait!!! Lila is going to be Tinkerbell. I'll post pictures afterwards.

We have a lot of stuff going on, but I'll tell you more about that next month. Let's get to the good stuff!!

PICTURES!! Everybody loves pictures. :)

Goofing around:

Daddy reading us a story: 

 Me and My handsome self at cousin Kayla's wedding:

 Yeah, I guess Lila looked cute too:

Lila was looking at Maga's necklace. It has a stone for each of her grandchildren (4). 

We went to a corn maze and got a pumpking for Halloween:



I don't know about Lila, but I had a GREAT time!! I came home soooo dirty and it was awesome!

I'll talk to you later!

Love you,

DJ

Gearing up for Fall

Hello again!

Fall is pretty much here. The weather is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter, and I'm getting bigger! I'm speaking clearer and can contort my face into hundreds of expressions. 

I'm working on my manners. In fact, today at church, I met a very nice lady. When she told me her name, I reached out my hand for a handshake without her doing it first and said "Hi, Harriet" without any prompting from Mom or Dad. Then when it was time for her to go home, I told her, "Goodbye, nice meeting you." Mom said I make her want to cry sometimes. :) I'm just trying to be a good boy.

Lila is still doing well. She is 9 months old now! Can you believe it? I'm sure to some of you that is unbelievable. Well, believe it. She's into EVERYTHING!!! She still doesn't seem to understand that my dinosaurs are off limits and that she can't eat my legos. Who's bright idea was it to make sisters anyway? Grrr...She walks around while holding the furniture, so I've had to find new hiding spots for some of my toys. Mommy said that since Lila can stand so well on her own, it's only a matter of time before she figures out how to walk by herself. Then we're all in trouble! 

She had her 9 month doctor appointment last week. They said she's 16 pounds and 27" tall. Everyone calls her 'Peanut'. Now I know why! She might be little, but she's perfectly healthy.  

Here are a few more pictures for your enjoyment. :)

That's about it for now! Talk to you later. :)

Love you,

DJ

I'm a big boy now...

Ladies and Gentlemen....children of all ages....I would like to direct your attention to the center ring. We have an announcement to make!!!

DJ IS POTTY TRAINED!!!

WoooHooo!!!! Party!!! *applause and cheering*


It's true! I'm potty trained!

See! No more diapers. :)

Daddy and I went to the store and I got to pick out some really super cool underpants with Thomas and Friends trains on them. Then Mom and Dad set a timer and every time it would 'ding' I got to try to go potty. On the 2nd day, I actually did it!! Once I did though, I finally figured out what it was they wanted me to do and the rest is history. :) I'm so proud of me!!!

 After I was potty trained, we went to the zoo. I saw monkeys, lions, a sea lion, lots of fish and butterflies, and a giraffe! I had so much fun. 

 I got to sit on a giraffe statue:

Grandpa was showing me the sea lions:

 

We found a HUGE turtle that I could sit on:

This is me on the way home. :)

Then we went to the beach with our friends and played in the water and sand. I even played football with Colton. He's much better at it than I am, but I sure tried.

 

Lila is doing well. She's 8 months old now and has 4 teeth! The 4th one just came in yesterday. She's getting so big and ALWAYS wants MY toys!! Grrr...

Here's a picture of Lila playing in the grass:

This summer has been so much fun!!! The only sad part is that we didn't get to go everywhere we wanted to go and visit everyone we wanted to visit. Fall is right around the corner so we'll get there soon if we haven't seen you in awhile. :)

Here are a few more pictures just for your own enjoyment. :)

CHOCOLATE!!!

Love,

DJ

Summer time...

Hello again!!

It's hot. I suppose I don't have to tell you that! This summer is turning out to be the best summer of my life! Ok, this is only my 3rd summer, but it's great!!

I got to spend time with Great Grandma Berding and Grandma Aletha (see previous blog post), I get to spend time with Great Grandma Phyllis, we went swimming at Lee Lake (in the pool...the lake is too mucky), spent time in Detroit Lakes with my Great Grandparents, and just finished a week of vacation with my Mom and Dad! They had the WHOLE week off! Can you believe it?! It was so much fun.

We went to visit the Walz's and I played with Hannah, Hailey, Kaitlyn, and Zach. We made such a mess!

Then we went to Daddy's work and visited the people that he knows. I don't have any pictures of that, but it sure was fun!

The rest of the week, we just hung around the house and played. One night we had a picnic in the backyard.

The picnic in the backyard ended tragically when a squirrel decided to have convulsions and fall with a sickening thud onto the ground. Then after 15 minutes, proceeded to get up and stumble around. It died during the night behind our shed. It was sad, a little gross...but mostly sad. :(

I can say all kinds of new things now! Mommy and Daddy are teaching me my name, where I live, and their names so that if I were to get lost, I can ask for help. So far, I remember my name, their names, and that I live in Minnesota. I'm very vocal and will tell you the same thing over and over again until you get it through your head. Then I'll change my mind. :)

I drink from a "big boy cup" now. Mommy makes me have a sippy cup in the living room or the car, but I get to drink from a regular cup at the table. I'm getting pretty good at it too.

I pray every night at dinner "Jesus patzi Amen". (patzi is Pizza) Maga took a picture of my lunch. This is how much I eat for lunch every day. I usually eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast, but don't eat much for dinner. Lunch is my favorite meal! I'm eating mac-n-cheese, hot dog, yogurt, applesauce, and milk.

A couple of weeks ago, our cousin Kaydence came to visit us. Here she is in the picture with me and Lila:

We  had so much fun that evening! She and Lila kept trading plugs and I made sure they were aware when they got too close to my toys. I had a good time showing them how to play with their toys though.

I like to show Lila how to play with toys. Here is a picture of me showing her how the Fisher Price Little People Barn works:

And the Grand Finale!! Here are some more pictures of us. :)

Love you and hope to see you soon!!!

Love,

DJ

All things new...

Hello again!!

So many new things have happened. We have a new cousin, Regan. We found out about two more new cousins are on the way!

On June 3rd, I was officially 2 1/2 years old. Dad heard that if they measure me when I'm 2 1/2, then double the result, it'll give an approximate adult height for me. Right now, I'm 36 inches tall so that will put me at 6 feet tall when I grow up!! We'll see if that works. :)

I am being a good boy for the most part. I've been having some jealousy issues with Lila lately now that she's mobile. I'm talking more and more and putting big sentences together now! Apparently that impresses Mommy. She's so easily amused when it comes to me. Haha! I sneeze and she thinks its cute. Moms...gotta love 'em! Here's my Mom, Me, and Lila...

Over Memorial Day weekend, we went to Iowa! I got to see my Grandma Aletha and Great Grandma Cecelia as well as Aunt Katy, Cousin Kaydence, and lots of other people. :)

Lila had her 6 month appointment and is 14.5 lbs and 25.5 inches. She's a little peanut! She is getting more and more interactive every day and always wants my toys! In the past couple weeks, she has gotten 2 teeth and is working on 2 more, learned to crawl (army crawl mostly), get up on her hands and knees, and now she can sit up! She's fast and smart. I just might have underestimated her. She just might give me a fair challenge...

Great Grandma Phyllis is visiting us this summer. I'm having so much fun playing with her while Maga babysits me. I really missed Gate Maga Fiss (Great Grandma Phyllis). This is the first time Lila met Grandma. She smiled at her right away and wanted Grandma to hold her. It was really cute.

That's about it for now!

Love,
DJ