Cider Mill

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I spent Saturday away from my wife and child in order to go tailgating, watch U of M beat Wisconsin in the Big House, then play some beer pong with Mark and Kelly. So, after church, on Sunday, we all went to the cider mill. Mark and Kelly left an exhausted Simba behind at our house, and we headed to a small mill in Northville. It wasn't as large as the orchards that we're used to going to, but the cider tasted just as good, and the large line moved pretty fast. Once he woke up, Jake really seemed to enjoy looking around and being out in the fall weather.

Jake @ 6 months

(Please click on the picture for 6 month photos, or here to view some other new photos from September.)

Jacob has been having a pretty good week so far. First, he had his 6 month checkup on Monday where we found out he's doing great. He now weighs 17 and 3/4 pounds and is just over 26 inches long. You can see he's right around the 50th percentile in weight and length.

On Wednesday, Jake moved up from the various cereals we'd been giving him and got his first couple spoonfuls of carrots. Michele said he seemed to like it, and she didn't even have to mix it into the cereal.

Today is Jake's 1/2 birthday. Both grandmas called to wish him a happy 1/2 birthday. Since we were out all day and most of the evening, he'll have to hear the messages in the morning. Michele sure did get a kick out of them though!

Tonight was also an Open House at Michele's school. All week Michele had been bumming about not getting to see Jake since he'd be in bed by the time she got home. Instead, after taking some 6 month photos, I packed him up with his food and headed to her school. She was very surprised when another teacher pointed out that they thought they saw me in the parking lot! We played around for a little bit, then Jake and I left so she could do her thing, and also so I could get the little monkey down to bed.

Jake has been doing better and better with sleeping through the night. We have to get up a few times each night to pop his pacifier back in. We're afraid that if we let it escalate, he'll wake himself up. We both know that eventually we'll have to stop running in when he whimpers, but right now, we're not quite ready to risk it!

In other huge news, Jake has a new friend to meet. Jessi and Harlan welcomed their baby girl into the world yesterday! Isabelle Josephine was born on September 20, 2006 at 5:46 pm via cesarean delivery. She is a healthy 7 pounds, 12 ounces and is 20 and 3/4 inches long. The whole family is doing well. Michele is frantically trying to figure out when we'll get to see them! We'll get a picture up as soon as we get one (if, of course, it's OK with her parents).

HVSH CCN Reunion

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On Sunday, we headed back to Commerce Township to Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital. Along with an Open House, the Complete Care Nursery (CCN) also had a little reunion for any patients that had been cared for there.

Jacob seemed to be doing as well as most of the other kids whose parents we recognized. It was great to see how well all the children there were doing.

We also got to see a lot of the nurses that cared for Jake and for Michele. It really seemed like Jacob recognized the voices of most of the nurses because he was ALL smiles when they would pick him up and talk to him. They said a lot of the young kids still remember their voices or smell, and will respond the same way.

In other news, Alison made it through a full day of school without having to change her "light". Meme was very proud as that meant she had behaved and NOT talked when the teacher was talking.

"Why haven't you updated the blog?"

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"Why haven't you updated the blog?" There are two simple answers to that question: Fall TV and Football Season! It's just starting to ramp up, and I'm having trouble getting back into the routine while adding Baby Time to that already hectic schedule. OK, so it's easy to fit Baby Time in, especially now that Jake is starting to get a "regular" bedtime. He's sleeping pretty well through the night with only a few whimpers. We no longer use a monitor, and he's still able to get in touch with us when he needs us.

Last weekend, we headed up to Grand Blanc where Abbey Park held their annual Grandparent's Day celebration. Great Grandma Remenicky (GGR) was in very high spirits, and had a great day. She told me it was the best day she'd had in a while, and that was before everything got started. They have a picnic lunch, arts and crafts, little games for kids, COTTON CANDY, and a moon walk.

After the party we made a very brief stop at Meme and Papa's to say hello. Alison is getting into the whole school thing. Not surprisingly, she's having a pretty easy time making new friends. Hopefully, though, she'll learn to stop talking when her teacher is talking. Otherwise, expect her to have to carry a citizenship journal like her Uncle Mark was required to carry. Here are the pictures from her first day of school... she was SO excited.

Labor Day 2006

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On Sunday we headed up to Mt. Morris for my Uncle Bill and Aunt Vickie's annual Labor Day party. We don't usually make it since we are usually up at Brian's dad's. This year, however, Michele was a little stressed about starting school and didn't think spending the weekend in Oscoda would help that out. I'm bummed that we missed out on all of the fun with Brian and Di, and the delicious potato brats at the annual craft fair, but we had a lot of fun in Mt. Morris. Hopefully I'll have a link to all of the Woodruff fun when Brian gets around to updating his blog again. That is, if he hasn't still disowned me as a friend for not making the trip up.

Aunt Lynn, Michelle, and Amber were all in for a visit from California and made it to the cookout. It was great seeing them again. The visits are always too far in-between, but are always welcome. Uncle Bill grilled up some great steaks, and they had some of the world's BEST corn on the cob to go along with the other sides.

We had games of cornhole (Mom and I went undefeated), basketball, and then the night ended with a great campfire. Of course, as Michele says, "It's not a campfire without smores,", and they did not disappoint.

There was some debate as to the rules of cornhole, so I'd just like to point out the following official rules. Please note the following rules under Rule 5: Section C, Item 3; Section E; Section G, Item 1:E.

Click here to see pictures from the fun weekend.

Michele gets to meet her students tomorrow and Alison starts her first day of kindergarten! I'm sure there will be more stories to post soon!

In case you didn't catch the pilot, Justice looks like it's going to be a pretty good show! I think this fall I'm going to be up to about 20 hours of TV per week. It's a tough job, but someone has gotta do it.