Ten months old!

Today Lars is ten months old. Already! Still as chatty and curious as ever. And moving. Can walk while holding on to things, and has been frequently trying to stand on his own for a couple seconds at a time. If you ask him to say "lalala" he says "lalala." 

The other night he burped and I said, "wow, that was a big burp!" And he looks at me and says "bup!" So now if you ask him to say "burp" he says "bup!"

Lars currently has four teeth and is working on a couple more.

He loves cottage cheese, and most every finger food (soft carrots, hunks of banana, cheese, puffs, avocados, bread, etc). Blessed to be still breast feeding too. He's probably gained about a pound in the past month.

Upset because he wanted to hold/eat the sign.

9 months and Minnesotans

Today we had Lars's 9 month appointment (turned 9 months on Sunday). He is healthy and meeting all milestones, but needs to gain some weight! He is 68th percentile for head circumference, 17th percentile for height, and 6th percentile for weight. So we have to give more calories to our little boy who is constantly moving!

In addition to being on the move/climbing on everything, Lars likes to talk, wave, try new foods, and is working on getting his 4th tooth. He has also been loving spending time with a lot of grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins.

In related news, we are Minnesotans again!  The process of moving went very smoothly, and we are enjoying summer in Minnesota (though there are even MORE Mosquitos than I remember). Because Steve hasn't started his job yet, and because we've been driving around to various family functions...and because we have been really slow to unpack, we still feel like we're visiting at times. But grocery-shopping, getting MN driver's licenses, walking around town, and going to Lars's appointment are helping us to feel more like we live here (WE LIVE HERE!).

We've got an 8 month old on our hands here

Yesterday Lars turned 8 months old. Some words to currently describe Lars would be: fast, active, curious, expressive, chatty, and keeps-us-on-our-toes!

(Not sure why the picture quality is so awful. Sorry)

Two posts in one day.

Oh hello! What's this? Two posts in one day? Well we have some Christmas-newsletter-worthy news to share! You may recall last February we announced that this would be our last semester at Geneva.
It had been a pretty quiet semester regarding any news about where we would move to, until last week when we had to do what most people have to at least once in their life: choose between a really good opportunity in Lithuania and a really good opportunity in Long Prairie, Minnesota. For us, that was a really tough decision, as our hearts are attached to both places and the people in them.
After a lot of prayer and fasting and thought and discussion, we came to the decision that we are moving back to Minnesota!
There is a discipleship program for college-aged students starting up at a camp there, and they've asked Steve to come and be involved in the development of it. We are excited to be back to Minnesota, a place we haven't lived in many years. We are excited for Lars to grow up close to his Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc. And we are excited for this new discipleship program! It is going to be really great.

Seven months!

As it turns out, I am not doing a great job at updating this in a timely manner. On April 23rd, Lars turned 7 months!
He is such a joy! Army crawling everywhere, cutting teeth (ok, that hasn't been exactly joyous), talking/jabbering like crazy, going for lots of walks, and trying new foods every three days are what our days have been looking like. For my own memory, I'll probably want to know down the road that Lars cut his first tooth on April 11th, and the second one about a week later (the bottom two)...and started army crawling around the same time.
He is still a little peanut, hovering around 16 pounds, and was 26 and a quarter inches last month at his 6 month appointment. I know he has grown a bit in height since then.
He is a very active baby. Doesn't like to sit or lay still for very long! Always on the move. And loves people. We are blessed to be able to eat lunch and dinner together over at school with Steve most days.

6 months old and on the move

Lars is 6 months old today! A half year just flew by. We are quite busy these days, with so much to explore. Lars loves to get around by rolling and scooting, and does quite well. He is good at grabbing toys (or anything really) and putting them in his mouth. Everything must go into his mouth for inspection!
This past week we started feeding him small amounts of food outside of his usual diet of breast milk, and has done great (still rocking the breast milk, though...and hope to continue for at least another half a year. We are very blessed in this way!).
Lars loves to laugh and converse. His favorite sound to say is, "ma ma ma ma ma." He's working on "da da" and "pa pa" as well (in addition to a whole multitude of squeals, roars, and other fun sounds).
We continue to be amazed at how quickly he learns, and look forward each day to what new skill he will develop.
His 6 month doctor appointment isn't until after Easter, so no stats here today (but will post when we have them).
Here is our monthly photo adventure, with his Steelers shirt he's growing into, and blue blanket that came home with us when he was born. This child does not sit still! Too much to do! Places to go, etc :)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Lars tried his first food today: avocado! He did great. Steve got a cute video of it, which I may or may not post here another time. Until then, here are a couple of pictures:

Spring!

So gorgeous outside today. Sunny and 50. Tomorrow is supposed to reach the low 60s. We went for a family walk around campus.

Goals

In honor of it being March, my goal for this week is to get Lars out for a walk each day. He likes the fresh air, and seems to prefer napping outside in his stroller, than being cooped up inside. I enjoy the change of scenery as well.
So far, so good!
Here we are on campus (still in the 30s and breezy, so put the canopy up)...also took a panoramic shot:

February 24, 2013 -- Lars's Baptism

Hey everyone,
Here are some pictures of Lars from today. The person at our church who normally records every service was sick today, so we ended up just having a friend use Steve's phone to get a video of Lars being baptized. Hopefully it works!

Steve and Lars before church

Me and Lars before church

Steve reading from 2 Timothy 3:14-17

Lars, about to be baptized

Pastor Marc baptizing Lars. Lars didn't mind the water at all!

After church with pastor Marc...Lars opted to nap at the same time.

Woke up for a family picture :)

Loves

And the video (may need to turn the sound up):

Here is the Scripture that Steve read (this is the NLT, Steve was reading from the NIV I think):

But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.

You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. 

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 

God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.2 Timothy 3:14-17

And, here is what Pastor Marc asked the body of Christ: Do you, as members of the body of Jesus Christ, promise to guide and nurture Lars, and support Steve and Laura as they do so, with love and prayer, with the fellowship of the family of faith?