Category: Updates about Andrew

Dec. 25: We’re having a terrific Christmas with Mom and Dad Dotzour and Ben and Melanie in Texas.  The weather is beautiful (sunny and in the 60s), we’re all happy and eating well, and we’re taking photos aplenty.
Check out the gallery for photos of Andrew’s first Christmas (so far!).  Looks like he was pretty good this year, because Santa brought him fun toys and clothes.  Merry Christmas to you all!!
Love, Althea
PS See also some pics from earlier this month…

Dec. 18: It’s been so fun to have a baby this December.  It’s really gotten me in the Christmas spirit.  Andrew is doing all sorts of fun things these days…starting to sit up (and tip over), smiling, sometimes giggling, reaching for things he wants, eating paper, all sorts of good times. 

On Dec. 17, we gave him his first solid food (his first sold non-food was a chunk of a map at Mayo clinic).  He was really intrigued by his rice cereal, and although it was all over his hands and face and chin and bib by the time we were done, I think some went down his throat as well.  He was reaching for the spoon and crossing his eyes as the spoon came close to his face.  Such a cute kid!

We got a Christmas tree and took pictures of the search and the decorating.  Andrew loves coming out to the living room in the morning when the tree is all lit up.  It’s so sweet to watch him reach for it and turn his head to look at it when we move. Photos of the tree and Andrew and a party with friends are in our gallery.  We’ve had so much snow this December.  it’s been really lovely.  Pictures of Andrew eating, being outside with Dad, and doing all sorts of other baby things are in the gallery.
We are doing a fondue Christmas get-together at our place with my family tonight.  Then on Friday we head to Texas for a week.
We’re so looking forward to it!
Merry Christmas!

Nov. 29:  Our little guy is five months old!  Hard to believe…he’s getting so big.  He is starting to sit up (with a good deal of support), and he’s getting to be more accurate and determined when he’s reaching for toys (or hands or glass things).  His giggle comes a bit more regularly.  Especially when he’s tickled or gets a zerbert to the belly.

Three new albums in the gallery this week.  One of assorted photos (mostly of cute baby), one of our Thanksgiving celebration, and one containing some photos of our trip to Chicago.

We had a really nice Thanksgiving with my family.  We “broke in” Terry’s kitchen and had a feast with about 12 people.  Mom made a 20 lb turkey plus a whole additional turkey breast.  And lots of other dishes.  It was delightful.  Last night, Bryan and I had a wonderful dinner of leftovers.  I especially liked the Swiss corn bake.  mmmmm  Andrew’s not eating solids yet, so he was entertainment, and actually, he slept through dinner while we all ate.

That evening, we took Thanksgiving dinner down to Monroe to see Grandma and Grandpa.  We hadn’t visited them since last summer, and it was so nice to spend a bit of time together.  I love my grandparents:)

On Sunday, we went down to Chicago for another day of stuffing ourselves full of amazing foods.  We went to brunch at the Four Seasons, and then while Mom and Dad went to the planetarium, Michael, Lisa, Joey, Bryan, Andrew, and I shopped around on Michigan Ave.  It’s so fun to window shop and explore a big city at Christmas time.  There were so many lights and decorations, and it was a lot of fun to see. We capped off the day with a huge dinner at Ron of Japan.

On Monday, Mom and I went down to Janesville to visit Mum and to share Thanksgiving leftovers with her.  Andrew is a great traveler, but I think a week or so of a dull schedule will sit well with him.

Our next adventure will be picking out a Christmas tree!
~Althea

Nov. 14:
Lots of fun photos of Andrew are up in the gallery this month!  We had a great visit with Granny Lu and Granddad the weekend of Nov. 4.  Photos
of Andrew playing in the leaves, of our walk out to Token Creek Park, and of him trying out a push-up at the Pancake House are in the gallery.
The little guy is getting more engaged by the day, and he’s even started to laugh now and then.  He’s ticklish, and he let out a good chortle the other day while I was dressing him and wiggling my fingers on his sides.  Such a wonderful sound!

Andrew is big enough now to start having fun in a jump-up we have hanging in doorways.  We also just got a saucer from Vicki that he’s really enjoying.  He can spin around, and just last night, he started reaching for things (like cords!) that aren’t toys for babies.  It has begun.
Pictures from the last two weeks are in the gallery, and they include a wonderful set of images of Andrew making a wide assortment of faces to the camera.
The little guy has had a stuffy nose for a few weeks, and he’s drooling like mad.  Good thing we have plenty of burp bibs:)  Hope you enjoy these late fall days.  I can’t wait for Andrew to see his first snow!

Oct. 31:  We’ve had a busy couple of weeks!  Bryan, Andrew, and I took a great trip out to Washington DC the weekend of Oct. 21.  Grace and Tim’s baby John was baptized, and I get to be his godmother.  Photos of the weekend are in the gallery.  Then on October 27, Joey, Andrew, and I went out to Maine to look at colleges.  Again, Andrew was a wonderful traveler, and Joe and I had a lot of fun together.  Lots of photos of Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby are in the gallery.

Today, we had a full day.  This morning, we visited Karen’s house and got a nice photo of the whole daycare gang.  Then at noon, Andrew had his four-month checkup.  He weighed in at 14 lbs, 2 oz and measured 25.5 inches long.  He’s good and healthy, but the vaccinations he had made him pretty unhappy this evening.  We made a quick stop at a friend’s Halloween party.  Photos of lots of babies in costume are in the gallery.

Bryan’s parents come up for a visit next weekend.  Our maple tree is in its full color, so we’ll hope for nice weather for them.  Happy Halloween!

October 18: 
Our sweet little guy is getting so big!  He’s probably about 15 lbs now…still coming in at about 24 inches long.  We’ve had a fun-filled month so far, and we’ve got lots more activities in the future.  We had a terrific visit with Granny Lu, Granddad, and Aunt Melanie a couple weeks ago (see pics in the gallery).  Then this past weekend, Gathering Waters had our big awards celebration followed by the national land trust conference here in Madison.  On Friday, we head to Washington D.C. for John Patrick’s baptism.  I’m so excited to be his godmother.  Then the last weekend in October, Joey, Andrew and I are going to head to Maine so he can visit Bowdoin College.  I’ve just uploaded some pictures from the last few weeks including some really cute ones of Andrew in his pumpkin hat.  Happy fall!

Oct 9: We had a wonderful weekend visit with Bryan’s parents and Melanie.  Photos (lots of them!) are in the gallery.  Melanie also took some great pictures of the pets.  Andrew has been smiling more and more.  Some of the first pictures I got of his smile were on Sept. 30 (see pics).
He is getting more and more interactive, and he’s making lots of goos and is looking all around.  Each day is so much fun with this little guy!

Sept. 27:  Andrew is now 14 weeks old!  I weighed him yesterday, and he came in at 14 pounds, 7 ounces (fully clothed).
And last week he measured 24 inches long.  We went on a driving trip up to Northfield for the weekend.  I had a meeting for my alumni committee on Friday and Saturday.  Andrew and Bryan explored the Carleton campus and town and came to visit me for nursing breaks.  On Sunday we drove up to St. Paul to visit Maretta and to see her beautiful campus.  St. Kate’s is really nice, and as I haven’t been up there since we dropped her off last year, it was fun to see the campus now that it is “hers.”
We missed our Happy Bambino group for the second time this week, which is sad.  I had so much fun with our friends there.  We have a dinner planned for this Saturday, however, so hopefully that will provide a nice opportunity to get together.  Photos from the past few weeks are available in the gallery (and if you missed them over the last week, we also have some Babler family photos as well.)  Hope all is well with you!
~Althea

Sept. 22: We woke up singing happy birthday to our little guy who is now three months old.  He’s over 14 lbs, and last night (I almost feel like whispering this) he slept over seven hours.  I haven’t had seven hours of uninterrupted sleep since well before he was born, and I must say that I feel like a new person.  He’s also gotten so interested in his hands that he amuses himself for up to 20 minutes after waking up just by playing with and even sucking on his hands.  He’s adjusting well to our new schedule of work.  I went back on Sept. 15, and he is getting along with his daycare provider, Karen, well.  At first he wasn’t liking to take a bottle from her, but that seems to have sorted itself out.  Karen watches three other babies (most closer to a year), and she said that yesterday Andrew was really smiling at one of the others.  We’re heading up to Northfield this weekend so Andrew can see his future Alma mater (just kidding).
New photos will be forthcoming next week, but in the meantime, you can see some Babler family photos that we had taken in late August and some photos from Andrew’s perspective.

Baby Center.com update

How your baby’s growing: Is your baby strong enough to hold up his head now to see what’s going on? [HE SURE IS!] Better joint flexibility allows many three-month-olds to wave and kick more forcefully, too, and to open their fingers and bring their hands together.

Chances are your little charmer is still bestowing smiles on everyone he meets this month, but he’s getting pickier about the company he keeps. In large groups or with people he doesn’t know very well, he may need some time to get comfortable.

The temporal lobe in your baby’s brain — which handles hearing, language, and smell — is bustling with activity this month. Make the most of it by talking to your baby, playing music, and reading out loud.

Andrew is 12 weeks old this week!  Photos from September 4-11 are in the new Fall album of the Gallery (click here).  Photos from late August including a visit from Granny Lu are in the summer album (click  here).
Andrew has developed so many new skills these past few weeks.  He can reach for toys (every once in a while) and pull them toward him.  His smiles are coming  more frequently, and  he’s engaging more and more with the people and environments around him.  He’s wearing his 3-6 month-old  clothes now, and he weighs 13 lbs 10 oz…and ever growing boy!
I go back to work on Sept. 15, and we’ve been doing trial runs of day care so he can get to know Karen and they can start to develop a relationship.
Last weekend we had a picnic with some of our new friends.  Photos are in the gallery.