Sporting the mohawk

It took a while (like 9 months) but the boy is finally starting to get a full head of hair. His blonde locks are long enough on top now to allow a practical joker like myself to make it into a mohawk. He has a natural clump there so it doesn't take much.We washed his hair when he was a little baby, primarily for ceremonial purposes I suppose as there wasn't much there.Anyway, we enjoyed another fun day on the lake on Saturday.I'm in Texas now until Thursday and Shelly, Anderson, and Daphne are enjoying a few days with her parents in Wakeeney.

Mike
Killeen, TX

Chick magnet

The messy face and the message on his shirt pretty much sum up this picture.

So "the book" says babies about this age (9 months) begin to crawl into a quiet area of the house and poop. Well, we believe his little area will be here under the dining room table as he has now begun to go under there for a little "private time".Guess we can expect him to be a little more secretive in his pooping experiences now as opposed to him grunting out loud in church as he works one out on Sunday mornings. Or at least we hope. Nothing like singing "Amazing Grace" while your baby is grunting so loud his face turns red and he begins to shake a bit.

I've always been freaked out by the "Jack in the Box". I just don't like the suspense of not knowing when Jack will pop out and scare the bejesus out of me. Here the boy expresses his frustration with it by laying it down and beating the crap out of it. And I don't blame him.On Sunday afternoon we did a little babysitting. We have about 3 babysitters we use these days so we figured we should keep someone else's kid so we'll know what babysitters go through. So we kept cute little Harrison, 2-month old son of my co-worker, Darrell and his wife Jennifer while they went to a movie.Anderson grew out of his activity mat a couple of months ago when he began to crawl but fortunately we still had it and it kept Harrison entertained. He was a good boy and it was fun to reminisce about memories of when Anderson was that little. Ah, the good ole days of just letting them play on the activity mat without worrying about him crawling into the laundry room and eating the dog's food.

Finally, we messed up this video by not turning the camera the right direction but if you don't mind turning your head it's pretty funny. He loves music and will often dance when he hears a song he likes. Turn your speakers on.
Mike
Manhattan, KS

Lake pics

We finally got the boat on the water and have enjoyed it several times over the past 10 days. Here are a few pics.In these pictures, Anderson waits patiently while we untie from our dock slip and prepare to get underway.With the Skipper at the helm and the First Mate nearby we leave the dock behind.The boy has a great time each time we go out. These were taken when we docked onto a vacant beach we found.But after some playing and some sailing he sometimes gets a little sleepy and just naps right there on the boat. This was under the table in some good shade but before we figured out the canopy comes up and shades about half the boat deck.To cater to the needs of our little beach boy while we're not on the lake we bought this little swimming pool last weekend for use in the back yard.We all look forward to many more good times this summer.
Mike
Manhattan, KS

July 4th weekend in Oklahoma

Last weekend we enjoyed a nice relaxing few days in Oklahoma with my family. Stayed with Shelly's sister in Wichita on Thursday night then finished up the trip to Porter Friday morning. Enjoyed our annual family whiffle ball game and fireworks extravaganza Friday night.

Here's the story on the pictures below. Well, this was my outfit back in 1972. My mom found it, washed it, and Anderson wore it to church on Sunday. Who knows, maybe one day his son will wear it.And these were during our cookout on the 3rd, just before everyone got their chairs ready on the lawn for the game and fireworks. My family was looking very patriotic, including little Daphne.On Saturday, we went down to my grandma and grandpa's house. They have newborn baby kittens!The boy hasn't been around too many cats but he does see them on occasion. So I think he was surprised to learn that this one was pink and also a little cool to the touch and didn't move much. But he played with it nonetheless, and didn't even get scratched.In preparation for our upcoming times on the lake with our new boat we went to Bass Pro Shops and bought Anderson a life vest. Pretty snazzy huh?He also got a Spiderman truck. He just loves mashing down on that darn horn.On the way back to Kansas we stopped in Oklahoma City and stayed the night while visiting my sister Mandy, husband Matt, and cute little Viv. Mandy is due with baby girl Violet on July 21st. Had a great time in the hotel pool.Looking like a tiny version of Michael Phelps, Anderson emerges after a good pool workout.We also had the opportunity to give baby presents to Mandy and Matt. Even little Viv got something.And we were all impressed with Shelly's wrapping job.And finally, Shelly's backyard garden has produced its first two items, a scrumptuous pepper and a yummy cucumber.
Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Dog bites and knee slappin' good times

Just a quick update and some random pics before we load up and head to Oklahoma this evening. Gotta get this grand baby down to see his Granny and Papa!Daphne and Anderson are like best buddies. Here, Anderson waits patiently for Daphne to wake up so they can play in the living room.Now this picture isn't as bad as it looks. Yes, it is well documented that Daphne has been know to bite the hands off small children who bother her. But she treats Anderson differently by only chomping down with her gums. Here, Anderson decided he could wait no longer and decided to hit Daphne in the nose to wake her up. Shelly snapped this picture in mid-chomp.But his immediate reaction after the chomp was to giggle and smile while still looking guilty.Our weekly date night was to attend the Country Stampede music festival on Sunday afternoon at Tuttle Creek State Park (same lake our boat will be on next week). It's one of the largest outdoor music festivals in the nation. We saw The Bellamy Brothers and The Lost Trailers while the babysitter had Anderson for about 5 hours. Here we are looking like we just got off the tractor.Tomorrow night is our annual whiffle ball tournament/fireworks extravaganza in Porter. Pics from that next week. Enjoy your weekend!

Mike
Fort Riley, KS