Ryan:
- He's becoming more a voice in our family...that's not to say he hasn't been the full-center of our attention for years, but it is to say that as we all center our attentions on Elise, it's like having a third adult at the table to share with. His observations of her are amazing. As are his observations of the world and how things work.
- His imaginative play is really taking over. So that translates to delightful conversations between his toys and imaginative play where beds become boats and Cali is a tiger. Just today, Ryan performed surgery on Baby Polar bear's foot. Good news: Baby Polar bear is going to make it.
- The little guy is a stud. Yesterday at the bowling alley he was very concerned that the lane next to us keep their bowling balls to themselves. That means our little guy was moving around 14 lbs balls with no pinched fingers. He balances, leaps, flies and runs. And knock on wood, he has not retained any of my klutz gene pool (If he had, we'd have been to the ER for accidents 5 times by now.)
- Swim lessons at school are going great and he jumping and touching the bottom of the pool on his own, as well as swimming from the teach to the wall unassisted.
- His favorite terms this week are "Actually mom, _______" and "You didn't realize it but ____" and he's getting very good at the sad face, devastated tears and the "You hurt my feelings."
Elise:
- Little Miss has moved onto solid foods and loves it. Sweet potatoes, Rice cereal, bananas, pears and apples so far. No clear favorite yet, which may make her like her father since he's not picky like me. Thank goodness!
- This week has been a lot of little "O" faces where she blows on us and coos. She's also grunting back at us with the same cadences we use and mimicking what Ryan does with some of her toys in the dj station.
- Sleeping was getting better for a while, then a week into solids things got weird again. Meanwhile my milk suply is way down, so I am on a "Nursing Vacation" the last three days. Basically this is a hippie's way of saying I stay in my pjs all day, nurse her on demand frequently and take herbs that make my sweat smell like maple sugar. It's working though...and good thing. The stress at work is making me come up a bottle shot everyday that I am in the office. Good thing she's started solids to supplement!
- She's rolling over, trying to pull herself forward, sitting up fully on her own to play and pulls herself up to standing. We'll see if she walks or crawls first.
Us:
- Max is finishing his course work for a VERY intense two semester class for his Masters degree. 220 hours of observations and 30+ papers all due by April. He's close on hours and has been stepping into the shoes of the Athletic Director lately (Yes, Max now attends Hockey games Johnny, you'd be so proud!) It's been a ton of work but some really enriching opportunities have been extended to him including a symposium on healing racism in Grand Rapids as well as the chance to help sit in on meetings about the additions to the high school. He also made it to an annual coaching seminar this week and is headed to Louisville in March for another strength and conditioning conference (this stuff obviously overlaps football :)
- Work is ______? On any given day it is a variety of challenges, fun, frustration and more. It's always fast paced, but the clients are really smart and the work is really leading-edge. A client I used to work with at Stryker has come back to me through a new position, so my focus covers Spine, Orhtopedics, Healthcare Reform and now Cardio. It's nice to get into another sector of medical (though I refined my focus before maternity) but if you had asked me 10 years ago if I'd care about the world of International Cardiology I'd have said "huh?" I am still in the office three days a week, but that means work on my days "off" with the kids and nights/weekends to free up those days to be home. All in all, I am super fortunate to be able to do this. Just trying to find the rhythm.
- We're super excited to be welcoming some newbies to our "family!" Billy and Emily are expecting their first and Staci and Craig are expecting their 4th! And one other group close to our hearts is too...but we're still under the cover of secret on this little newbie..and NO it is not Max and I.
So that's what we look like 7 months in to this man-to-man coverage call our family. We hope everyone reading is happy and healthy.
Courtney, Max, Ryan + Elise
PS. As I am updating this, I am being prank called by 2 6th grade girls....15 minutes later they are singing any song I request. The most entertaining blog update I've ever written.
Images from my "Legends of the Fall" shoot with Ryan...Something about Ry in this big faux fur blanket reminds me of the movie. Freak ice storm...it was beautiful and so was our boy!
The very first bite of rice cereal. She took to it quick!
The superhero and the tiny dancer.
Big boy in his big boy room.
I plan to take this photo of them every year. And yes, Elise's head is almost the size of Ryan's. They ARE Kerry's after all.
Sweet Elise in front of her new rug.
A superhero must take time to strengthen his mind too!
Ryan was super excited to wear his new bowling shoes from Grandma and Grandpa. He had so much fun. Tonight we buy his won bowling ball!
This is how I think our boy will look when he's 14.
Who needs P90x when you are the dog for your child's dog-sled? I removed the photo of them both face first in the snow after a fall. Max did not look like the father of the year that he truly is in that one.
Ryan learning how to be a man in the snow by learning to shovel like his daddy.
Literally walking in daddy's footsteps.
The Great and Amazing Standing Elise.
The kids have really been starting to build a relationship lately.
Ryan reading a story to his little one.
At first glance this is not impressive. But when you realize that on his own our kid figured out how to take a race kit meant to be used completely differently and built a stable three tiered.
Valentine's Day at the Kerry's. I made this for Ryan based on his drawing of a person out of his PJs.
Ryan making his Valentine's for his class.
Max and I got a date night out! It was to a charity event for the cancer ward for Devos Children's hospital. Tons of fun!
Our silly boy!
