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pssst, don't forget to scroll up & down for new & previous posts about travis
my updated roster till the end of the year ...
november 28-29 weekend; no plans
november 30 in the really early am travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
november 30 in the pm work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
december 1-3 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
december 4 in the am work @ client site in cedar rapids, in the pm travel back home
december 5 weekend; dentist appointment
december 6 weekend; no plans
december 7 work @ home office; in the pm doctor's appointment (post snipsnip consult)
december 8 in the early am travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
december 8 in the pm work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
december 9-11 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
december 11 in the pm travel back home
december 12-13 weekend; no plans
december 13 in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
december 14-16 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
december 17 in the am work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia; in the pm travel back home
december 18 work @ home office
december 19 weekend; drop off pepper for christmas vegetation; travel to san antonio, tx
december 21-25 spend time with family & friends in san antonio, tx
december 26-27 weekend; travel back home
december 28 in the am travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
december 28 in the pm work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
december 29 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
december 30 in the am work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia; in the pm travel back home
december 31 new year's eve
january 1 new year's day
january 2-3 weekend; no plans
so far, the client in cedar rapids is going live with phase 1 in the week of monday to friday december 14 to december 18, so it makes sense for me, and a collegue, to be there, a lot, to give them that warm and fuzzy feeling. and of course, to rectify any issues that may crop up.
we're gearing up for the holidays. later this week it's thanksgiving, the day after it's black friday and a month from then it's chrstimas. fun and exciting times, but also hectic and stressful times.
to travis, none of this matters, he is just going his merry way :-)
i was happy to come back from a almost 5 days in cedar rapids and the good news is that i am home till the monday after thanksgiving (the bad news is that on that day i need to get up 3am to catch a red-eye flight).
so next week i will be able to spend some qualitime with our baby boy, who is still doing very well, as you can see in the following pictures.
finally got denise so far as to use my camera to take pictures of me holding travis, so here he is, asleep in my arms:
don't mind the bed (or is it bad?) hair, this was pretty much right after i got up:
arching his back is preferred way to roll over from his belly to his back:
or he just lays there looking at the world around him, with all sort of plushy toys nearby:
contrary to popular belief, travis does not have his grandfather's blue eyes :P:
travis enjoys the hell out of himself by reaching for, grabbing his feet and then try to shove them in his mouth:
even with his binkie in his mouth he smiles, the problem is that his smiles come and go so fast that it is nearly impossible to capture them on camera, hence the more serious look, but trust me, he smiles more than he is serious-looking:
almost like this, but not quite:
the other thing travis gets a kick out of, is looking at his right hand ... he can stare at it for long stretches of time ... maybe it's a sign for things to come ...:
mother and son, right after a nap:
more news later this week! :-)
sunday, november 22, 2009
a little later than anticipated, but i didn't get around to writing this blog on sunday, then yesterday i was at my hotel in cedar rapids quite late while i had to prepare for today, so this is why i am only now posting this.
last week, again, i wasn't home much because i was out of town from monday afternoon to friday evening, and all during this time i missed spending time with travis. of course, i also missed spending time with pepper and campion and denise, but it is a strange thing, watching a baby develop. i never thought i would get as attached to him as i am, even though i still think i am doing well with being away from home as much as i am.
tj is still developing nicely. he has now discovered that he can make himself laugh and the thing that does it, is him grabbing his own feet. he will giggle, laugh and than laugh so hard he makes himself almost choke and cough. but then, right after he has composed himself again, he grabs on to his feet and starts all over. and it never seems to get old.
a couple of weeks ago i have been starting to teach him the g-sound, that gutteral, cat-gutting sound dutch people make and he seems to enjoy making that sound. in the beginning he would try gurgling after i did, but now he initiates when i hover over his swing or play pen and for some reason, the ggggggggggggggggggg makes him giggle as well, probably because it tickles his throat. (sneezing makes him giggle as well!)
anyways, it won't be before friday evening that i see him again, so, just like you, gentle reader, i will have to do with the following pictures ...
travis sure does have blue eyes:
of course, the blue binkie makes it come out even more:
on the scale last saturday, weighing in at 22lbs 11.5oz (10.305gr):
travis "washing his own hands"; really he was trying to catch the water:
smiling at his momma:
belly-time on the floor. he is starting to understand some of his squeaky toys:
although, preferably, he wants to put everything in his mouth:
all play makes this little boy tired:
travis' (monkey) feet:
poetry in motion:
sporting a tommy pullmyfinger onesie, clearly thinking he's a winner ... (and he is):
a close-up from the first tooth that broke through his gums:
intently staring at the ceiling fan:
next week i'm going to be home for thanksgiving, so there's a much higher probability of getting some good shots of travis and the whole family.
tuesday, november 17, 2009
another week went by, a week that i mostly got to spend at home, enjoying some quality time with travis. his development is awesome to see: he reacts to his name, he makes eye contact and keeps eye contact throughout the room, he initiates play, he gives kisses and what i find most adorable, he loves to laugh :-)
as part of our live more healthily, we try to go on daily walk around the neighborhood, because it's also good to expose travis to the "great outdoors": 
on the scale earlier this week, weighing 21 lbs 13oz (9894gr), while on friday he weighed 21 lbs 15.5oz (9965gr):
for some strange reason travis has taken to licking things, much like what cats do:
but he is starting to enjoy bathtime; there is no more screaming and thrashing. he still doesn't like he fat rolls being scrubbed, but overall he enjoys the warm water ... and his hands, of course:
he is gnawing away at his hands as a way to assuage the teething pains. i can clearly feel the rims of the bottom teeth when he bites down on my finger or hand, but i understand the soothing effect it has:
sitting up, although still supported, also goes better and better:
in this picture you can clearly see the fat rolls i mentioned earlier:
asleep on his tummy on the floor, lookit those fingers:
arching his back is another feat travis has mastered and he uses it to roll from his tummy to his back:
extreme close-ups of travis drinking his bottle of formula:
on saturday we all went to sears to have our very first family portrait taken and these three thumbnails below are the three best and only of which we have selected to be printed (with soft focus and vignetting):
i'm not gonna tell which one, because i still want it to be somewhat of a surprise to see the real deal in full size (because these thumbnails really pixellate when you enlarge them).
the next two weeks i will not be able to spend much time with travis or the rest of the family, because i am spending a large portion of my time in cedar rapids. after that it's thanksgiving week, for which i will be home, but after that i'm going to be in cedar rapids all the way through to christmas.
and speaking of how time flies, it really does, doesn't it? only 2 years ago i was still single, living in a nice bachelor apartment in downtown rotterdam, and now i am happily married, working and living in the usa (permanently legal now), stepfather to two teenagers and father to travis ... who'd've thunk?!
sunday, november 8, 2009
this week marked the beginning of a new era in the weird wirtz household ... we're gonna live more healthily. this is mostly spurred by my health issues, issues that only started after i moved to the united states. my cholesterol count at the end of august was 277 (which was slightly down from a year ago, so those centrum cardio pills may actually work, a little). also, my triglyceride level was too high and there was also a concern about my blood sugar levels. in researching, denise found that a possible and probably very highly likely cause is high-fructose corn syrup, a sugar subsitute that is used in pretty much everything; just take a look at this list of foods and products that contains hfcs!
high-fructose corn syrup is thought to be responsible, in part, for:
- high cholesterol ldl level
- high blood sugar level
- high triglyceride level
- increase in belly fat
- weight gain
this is interesting, because i have all of these symptoms and the even more interesting part is that, if anything, my lifestyle improved after i moved here. when i lived in europe, i traveled as much, if not more, ate in restaurants more and when i was home i didn't eat as healthy as i do now. the one thing that i did do, on a quasi regular basis, was play squash, something i have not done since i moved stateside. that said, i have found a fitness club that offers squash, so i will make an effort to play squash at least once a week, as my travel schedule allows, of course.
next to that, my wonderful wife has taken it upon herself to shop more health conscious. with that, she is dropping all food items that have hfcs, making her own breads, making homemade pizza, stocking up on meats and chicken, making lunchables for the kids. on top of that, she has made laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent and regular detergent. perhaps all this effort also has a positive effect on our budget (not that it needs to, but it's always nice to be able to tuck away a little more in savings :-)
anyways, i had to steal a bit of travis' corner (but this change in our lives is quite significant and i'm sure it will benefit tj too!) so now we go back to this week's regular schedule: pictures of travis ...
... a glimpse:
a focus on winnie the pooh:
and a focus on the feet of the pooh onesie:
travis asleep on the couch after his bottle:
travis trying to pull my finger in his mouth, while simultaneously drinking milk:
a hand:
eye lashes:
asleep in his crib:
saturday was halloween, or all hallows' eve, or all saints' eve, so naturally the kids dressed up.
campion went to a halloween party at a friend's house, but before he left i made him pose:+small.jpg)
pepper was a sheet ghost this year (she was a sushi roll last year, so this year she didn't want anything elaborate) and for travis we had a pumpkin onesie:
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despite the drizzle we did go out for trick-or-treating:
the first stop on our walk around the neighborhood was the club house where travis was gaga'd over:
and pepper blended in and out:
we saw a ghost go up to several houses, only to disappear and then return with candy:
coincidentally we ran into a former class mate of pepper, ariana:
again this ghost:
and again, getting creepier as it got darker:
until the ghost was eerie and fleeting:
upon returning home travis was both excited and tired from his first halloween, so right after his late supper we put him to bed, and he slept like a rose, an orange rose:
and one last one for a good measure:
sunday, november 1, 2009
pssst, don't forget to scroll up & down for new & previous posts about travis
oh my, the roster till the end of the year ...
october 31 weekend; halloween
november 1 weekend; no plans other than haircut day (and sleep 1 hour longer because of DST)
november 2-6 work @ the office and/or work @ home office
november 7-8 weekend; no plans
november 9 in the early am appointment at urologist (for snipsnip consult), in the late am work @ home office; in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ holiday inn express cedar rapids)
november 10-12 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
november 13 travel back home
november 14-15 weekend; no plans
november 16 in the am work @ home office; in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
november 17-19 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
november 20 travel back home
november 21-22 weekend; no plans
november 23-24 work @ the office and/or work @ home office
november 25 pto
november 26 thanksgiving
november 27 pto; black friday shopping in the middle of the night!
november 28-29 weekend; no plans
november 30 in the am work @ home office; in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
december 1-3 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
december 4 travel back home
december 5-6 weekend; no plans
december 7 in the am work @ home office; in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
december 8-10 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
december 11 travel back home
december 12-13 weekend; no plans
december 14 in the am work @ home office; in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
december 15-17 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
december 18 travel back home
december 19-20 weekend; no plans
december 21-24 work @ the office and/or work @ home office
december 25 christmas
december 26-27 weekend; no plans
december 28 in the am work @ home office; in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
december 29 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
december 30 in the am work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia; in the pm travel back home
december 31 new year's eve
january 1 new year's day
january 2-3 weekend; no plans
yup, that's a lot of cedar rapids. client is going live on friday december 11 with phase 1, so it makes sense for me, and a collegue, to be there to give them that warm and fuzzy feeling. and of course, to rectify any issues that may crop up.
tons of pictures, a lot less words ...
travis is getting the hang of eating off a spoon:
and he is becoming more and more pleasant (if that was even possible *wink*):
four days ago, weighing in at 21lbs 4.5oz (9653gr):
travis is now understanding that there is nothing to fear when he gets a bath, so no more screeching, no more thrashing:
as you probably have noticed, he is deeply in love with his hands:
with a little support, travis can actually sit up by himself, sometimes for up to a minute, sometimes he falls over pretty much immediately:
when being held, he does a lot better:
travis' big sister trying to get travis to grab and hold on to miffy:
eating again:
love his tongue in this shot:
apparently travis liked what he was eating, a lot:
he has taken a liking to (trying to) grab his feet:
sometimes it works out:
sometimes he grabs both feet, sometimes he just chooses one:
a couple of days later, on the scale again, this time weighing 21lbs 4oz (9638gr):
in the bathtub, loving on his hands:
see how he takes a hold of denise's arm?:
dead focussed on his hands and fingers:
travis likes being sung to and/or his arms being moved all about:
you can tell, he lost a lot of his black baby hair and it is slowly coming back and a lot lighter. it's also harder to give him that baby curl:
travis can haz intenz focuz:
sometimes he looks, well, special:
and no, the sock puppet didn't scare him at all, he was mesmerized by the sound, though:
travis in a hawaiian outfit, size for 6 month olds, and yes, he has outgrown it every so slightly already:
travis in another hawaiian outfit, size for 1 year olds, and this fits him much better. and he looks cool in it, too:
sitting by himself, watching cartoons:
travis is doing excellent, still only fussing when it comes time to eat, or when he has a lot of pee in his diaper. strangely enough, when he's sitting in a diaper full of (green) poop, he is happy as he can be, all smiles and giggles ...
since a couple of days he sleeps through the night completely, even if he gets to go to bed at around 10pm, so he is transitioning into sleeping a lot more during the night and being awake more during the day.
denise is also adjusting his feeding schedule, so he gets more solid foods like rice cereal, oatmeal, fruits and vegetables, supplemented with formula. growth-wise we have nothing to fear, other than maybe him being to "fat" so that our insurance can drop him because of a pre-existing condition: obesity! *rolls eyes*
it is true, in america health insurance companies can actually refuse to insure a baby for being too fat. the usa really needs to join the civilized world by offering universal health care ... but that's a rant for another day on another platform ...
sunday, october 25, 2009
i have not been home a lot last week, so all pictures are from yesterday.
for lunch he had pureed bananas:+003+small.jpg)
and he loves the mess it makes:+006+small.jpg)
see, there's his "oooooooooh" face:+008+small.jpg)
after the solid food he gets topped off with formula:+010+small.jpg)
in the evening we went to the fair and because the temparature called for it (46F, 7C), we dressed him up in a winter outfit: +001+small.jpg)
at the fair, travis seemed just as excited as the other two kids:+010+small.jpg)
very alert, by way of all the lights and sounds at the fair:+061+small.jpg)
he was watching the pirate ship when denise and pepper went on it for a ride:+134+small.jpg)
and while he was enjoying the spectacle i was able to snap some pictures of him giggling and laughing:+138+small.jpg)
+142+small.jpg)
of course, all this excitement made him a very hungry boy:+320+small.jpg)
when we got back home we found that his feet, despite socks and shoes and two blankets wrapped around him, were ice cold, but it didn't seem to matter to him.
we fed him a last bottle and put him down for the night and he fell asleep like a, well, baby ...
oh, en voor morgen, een hele fijne verjaardag (z)Us, groetjes en knuffels van ons allemaal :-)
sunday, october 18, 2009
time flies, even when i'm not having fun, like: not being home much, not spending time with travis, but sitting in meetings and working all day and night, about 907 miles away.
but, it makes being home all the better, espcially with the world's bestest baby waiting for me. as you will be able to tell from the following pictures :-)
we started travis on solid feed last weekend and his first "dinner" was rice cereal:
he likes the rice cereal, hence the big smile, while eating, and having his food all over his face:
even looking a little sad and disappointed when the spoonful doesn't reach his mouth fast enough:
travis is also getting closer to holding his own bottle, but for now he still pulls the bottle to his chest with both hands, though if we angle him just so in the couch he can actually pretty much feed himself:
(i guess this makes us lazy parents *wink*)
even when he is asleep, sorta, he will finish the bottle:
he also seemed to like bananas:
as demonstrated here with a big smile:
although in this shot he looks distracted or aloof:
and now he even looks angry (maybe a little milk added to the mix would have not made it so dry ...):
yesterday, travis got a bath again, and before cleaning him he was weighed and he has officially passed the 20lbs mark, as he hit 20lbs 1oz (9100gr):
he has taking quite a liking to his own hands and even when he is getting a bath he is trying to squeeze a hand into his mouth:
proof that he can almost sit up supporting himself:
this is a shot for a friend of ours in hawaii (on oahu) and the onesie travis is wearing bears the state fish, humuhumunukunukuapuaa:
he is growing fine and apart from the occassional hissy fit, he still is very pleasant and easy-going, which is best shown, and heard, when he laughs/giggles, which is quite frequently.
sunday, october 11, 2009
pssst, don't forget to scroll up & down for new & previous posts about travis
like mentioned in the previous blog i posted minutes ago, here's my updated travel roster.
october 3 weekend; drop off aunt lauri @ airport
october 4 weekend; travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ holiday inn express cedar rapids)
october 5-8 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
october 8 travel back home
october 9 work @ home office
october 9 drive to south pittsburg, tn, to drop off pepper for vegetation
october 10-11 weekend; no plans
october 12 (columbus day holiday)
october 13 in early am travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ holiday inn express cedar rapids); in the pm work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
october 14-16 in the am work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia; in the pm travel back home
october 17-18 weekend; no plans
october 18 travel to dallas, tx (staying @ the adolphus)
october 19-20 work @ client site in dallas, tx
october 21 travel back home
october 22-23 work @ the office and/or work @ home office
october 24-25 weekend
october 26 in the am work @ home office; in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
october 27-29 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
october 30 travel back home
october 31-november 1 weekend; no plans
rest of november undetermined (but likely a lot of time will be spent in cedar rapids, ia)
maybe sometime in the last weeks of october or the early weeks of november grandpa pete will drop in for a visit.
and no worries, my calendar for november will be filled in short notice.
so yeah, life has been pretty hectic for the last 2 weeks, so hence the lack of updates of late. and the hecticness/hecticicity ain't over, yet ... i will be posting a new scheduling agenda after this one.
last time i posted, i dropped off my parents at the airport while simultaneously traveling to cedar rapids for the week. i came back on friday and within 2 hours we left to drop off pepper for a weekend vegetation with her dad. the next day i picked up aunt lauri from the airport; she'd be staying for a week and i would be home for most of the week as well (only 1 client visit, on monday, in downtown atlanta). on sunday me and aunt lauri took the drive to south pittsburg to pick up pepper again. denise stayed home, because she put her back out earlier in the week and i didn't want her to be constricted in the car seat.
of course, travis took to aunt lauri straight away, although i do have the impression he is liking mommy (denise) the best.
alright, on to the good stuff, the pictures.
on saturday we weighed travis before his bath and he was about 19lbs (8618gr) but still not liking the process:
in the bath, after his hair is washed he is actually liking it:
and here's a tender moment between mom, pseudo-grandma and travis:
after his bath aunt lauri fed him his late night bottle:
a couple of days later, a day before his pediatrician appointment, travis got weighed again, this time an accurate reading of 18lbs 15oz (8590gr) - at the pediatrician he came in at 18lbs 16oz (8619gr):
making faces in the bathtub:
afterwards he went from pleasant ...
... to "unpleasant" ...
... and back in seconds, but some of the faces he makes are just priceless.
giggling on momma's chest:
sticking out his tongue:
on tuesday we let travis sleep in (in our bed) and he looked so content and at peace:
on thursday we all went to colonel poole's bbq in east ellijay in the appalachian foothills, where they have a pig hill of fame:
this is almost the full thing as pointed out by pepper:
we know travis is teething, he has been "frothing at the mouth" for a while now, but, according to denise, him trying to chew on her chin is a clear sign:
we must find a teething ring ...
other than that, travis is doing well, growing like cabbage, comfortably in the 95th percentile in weight, length and head circumference. and he still is a charm!
friday, october 2, 2009
a day after the begin of fall and what a begin it was.
my parents arrived back at our place after their tour across the southeast of the usa. during their 2 week, 2400 mile driving tour they did not have much rain, just the occassional shower. but when they came back they evidently brought the rain, because it would be raining pretty much non-stop for the next 6 days.
we had plans to visit downtown atlanta, stone mountain park, fox theater, the pool and whatnot, but only on thursday my parents and me ventured downtown atlanta. when we left cumming the sky was overcast, but it was dry and the weather forecast called for 50% chance on precipitation. when we came above ground after the marta ride to peachtree center we noticed it rained. and quite hard as well. looking at the skyline we saw that the tops of most skyscrapers were disappearing into the clouds. nevertheless we made our way to the westin observation deck on the 72nd floor (for free on account of the bad weather) and yes, we couldn't see much at all. we only saw bits and pieces of the surrounding area when the wind blew the clouds apart. still, we walk around peachtree center, did a tour of the cnn center and we walked through underground atlanta and ended our walkaround at the state capitol. after that we went home again, in the rain.
our plans to go to the fox theater and stone mountain on saturday fell through. of course there was an upside to all this is well, because it meant that my parents could really maximize their time with their grandson.
on sunday last week, travis weighed in at 16lbs and 15.5oz (7697gr):
after that shower he was in an extremely good mood, so i managed to capture him smiling and in full laugh:
after all that he crashed and slept like a rose in his play pen:
when oma was back, she pretty much monopolized travis and he did not mind it in the least; he took quite a liking to her, being comfortable to be fed by her, smiling, giggling and laughing at her and sleeping in her arms:
on saturday evening, before his bath, he got weighed again and the inaccurate reading said 17lbs and 12.5oz (8065gr):
travis did not particularly like this bath, so he cried through most of it, even after his big sister made him a mohawk:
mom and oma tried to make him feel better, but he could just not be consoled:
then, while getting his bottle he relaxed again:
on sunday morning pepper and campion made us a french toast breakfast:
for dinner, my parents treated us to asian cuisine at pacific spice:
yesterday, came the dreaded day for goodbyes. my parents were to fly back home and i had to leave for cedar rapids again. because of the rain and the subsequent floods we left a little earlier than i would normally had left, just to be sure we made it to the airport in time. that we did. and my parents' flight actually left on time, but my flight got delayed for more than 3 hours, which in turn led me to be stranded in minneapolis. the hassles of getting the second leg of the trip re-booked, getting my bag pulled from a luggage hold, waiting for the bag to come to bag claim and the relatively hassle free calls to get a discounted hotel room are all part of the joys of travel, i guess ...
but at least i was able to get to a hotel, with my stuff, so i could charge anything that needed to be charged (phones and laptop) and even i got to be a little bit re-charged by a nice shower. (sometimes it's the little things in life that matter most.)
and of course, after we left, the wonderful usps delivered travis' passport:
in the next few weeks i will start the process of getting him a dutch passport as well, so that by the time he turns 18 he can make the decision to be either a dutch or a us citizen.
it is weird, travis, having to leave you and then be stranded. i wish i could stay home all the time so i could be near you every minute, because every minute i am away from you is automatically not my best minute. it doesn't really matter that you are in the more than capable care of your mother; it's just that i don't like not being with you. who'd've thunk that i'd care so much. that makes you a lucky little man, travis, because you are surrounded by people who adore you.
tuesday, september 22, 2009
it's been quite a week and a half.
on the day of my previous post i started feeling pretty bad and i was quite under the weather till sunday with very weird symptoms: muscle ache, joint ache, headache and exhaustion.
on friday my sister and her husband, ursula & harm, arrived in atlanta to stay with us for a couple of days before they would go on their driving trip in the west of the usa (las vegas, hoover dam, grand canyon, zion, bryce canyon, antelope canyon, las vegas, death valley (?), sequoia, yosemite, san francisco, pacific coast highway, los angeles, las vegas).
of course they were very curious about travis too ... so i took a few picture of them ... the first four are shots of right after they arrived at our house:
on saturday we went to the north georgia premium outlets to do some discount shopping, mostly for harm's benefit, because you can see from the pictures he has lost considerable weight, so he doesn't fit any of his clothes anymore. brands like polo, hilfiger, boss and quicksilver are about 50% to 66% cheaper here than they are in holland!
this is a shot of travis and his mom patiently waiting outside of the tommy pull-my-finger store:
my sister trying to persuade travis to smile because she really is not a stranger:
and this is travis looking his smartest, NOT!:
on saturday night (and sunday night) ursula and harm decided to forego our comfortable eddie bauer inflatable queen bed and stay at a hyatt place near the north point mall. my sister has trouble sleeping and she's had that for a long time and the conditions in our house are not very conducive to getting a good night's rest if you have trouble sleeping. while they were doing some more shopping at the mall i took a picture of travis comfortably asleep in our bed:
later that day ursula fed travis his bottle and i think the next 3 pictures tell a story:
on monday morning i drove ursula and harm to the airport for their flight to las vegas and i left for cedar rapids at the asscrack of dawn on tuesday.
the three days at the client were quite grueling, but i survived and i was happy to be back home on friday afternoon.
the next two pictures i took later that afternoon when travis was asleep in his playpen:
today we didn't do much, i slept in, denise didn't feel right for the most part.
tomorrow we'll all go get our haircuts, except travis, because he finally is losing some hair, so now he has a few bald spots on his head.
next week is going to be exciting and fun. my parents are returning on tuesday from their drive around the southeast of the usa (charleston, savannah, tallahassee, panama city, new orleans, natchez, memphis, nashville, chattanooga, galtinburg) and i know they are already looking forward to staying with us for a week.
i have a couple of days off so i can actually spend some time with them and i'm sure we'll venture out and explore things around where we live.
saturday, september 12, 2009
it is here, finally, my "green" card:
and it indeed is not green, but what's in a name anyway?! before the expiry date i still have to jump through a few hoops to get it extended and i have not yet looked at the requirements, but in another half year or so i will get those ducks in a row.
on saturday my parents arrived in atlanta for their 3 week vacation. i picked them up from the airport and drove them to our house where they would stay for two nights before embarking on a long but very interesting drive through the southeast of the usa.
it goes without saying that they were extremely excited to see travis and i hope the photos below convey my parents' pride.
at the kitchen table drinking, talking and watching travis eat:
mom giving travis the bottle:
as a birthday present we gave my dad a bootleg dvd, cocksucker blues:
travis still eating/drinking:
after a change of clothes travis was all smiles and giggles:
the next day travis was very pleasant again:
it is really cool to see how he is reacting to facial expressions:
and when he laughs, the whole world smiles:
on sunday evening my dad also got to hold travis. he was quite apprehensive about it, because he has a shoulder injury, but i think he was more nervous than anything:
travis has no difficulty showing off his "sixpack":
both my parents and travis:
on monday morning i drove my parents to the car rental place in dunwoody, made sure my dad understood the technical stuff of the car and showed them the way to get to 85N in order for them to set course to athens, augusta and first destination charleston.
the rest of their trip takes them to savannah, tallahassee, panama city, new orleans, natchez, memphis, nashville, chattanooga, gatlinburg and after all that they are coming back to our place to stay for another week.
and this friday my sister and her husband are arriving in atlanta and staying for the weekend, before they start their 2.5 week vacation in the west of the usa. so travis gets to see his auntie and uncle and later on his grandparents again.
and later on this month, or else early next month, denise's aunt is coming down from vermont to spend some time with all of us.
wednesday, september 2, 2009
first of all, denise and i had our interview at ins (department of state, immigration and naturalization services) earlier this week and i was told to expect a green card in the mail by the end of this week :-)
the interview itself was kind of a farce. first of all, the woman who interviewed us had a very, very thick african accent, something which caused denise to ask her to repeat a question, two times. then, we learnt that the interviewer thought that denise was rene. we get that a lot, i am dennis and my wife is rene ... *rolls eyes*
but, the end justifies the means *grin*
and now, without further ado, pictures of young travis.
the first three are pictures of travis in three different singlets made by the mother of an ozzie friend of ours, patty:
denise made them a collage that we will have printed and then sent to his mother. The story behind these Wizard of Oz shots is directly attributable to patty, beruthiel, and ... interestingly, Pat's mom. The singlets that Travis is wearing in these shots were made by Pat's mom...and Rene & I were beyond touched by such sweet generosity -unfettered by the thousands of miles and undivided despite continents and hemispheres. Ele & Pat made a beautiful card with the main face decorated with what is unmistakably signature Patty's art (and we're still trying to pick apart the symbolism within that artwork). Ele has not only a brilliant and beautiful mind, but remarkable penmanship...and while I also deeply admire Pat's likewise amazing mind - his penmanship is...well, I'll just say it was challenging to read. In any case, this is what we put together for them - and while I'm posting this here, my plan is to print each segment of this triptych and the compilation onto quality photo paper as a gift to Pat's mom. I know this isn't going to be a “surprise” like their gifts to us -- but it's done with all the love in the world...from all of us here.
mother and child asleep:
i just adore how travis puts his little fist on the chest he is laying on:
when we gave him his bath yesterday i was finally able to catch travis in a full smile:
a photo taken with flash to show his eyes are still (very) blue:
and here's a few close-ups:
travis on the scale and as of saturday august 21, approx 10pm est, he weighs 15lbs 1oz (6832gr):
a shot of denise cleaning travis' ear:
travis sporting his boxing face, yeah, he is tough alright:
today i was able to finally to shoot a series of shots where travis smiles:
one more week and then opa and oma are going to be visiting us. and i just talked to my mom and i get the impression she is kinda excited, sorta ... 7 more nights :-)
sunday, august 23, 2009
almost another week's gone by, so here are some more photos of an everchanging travis. i'm pretty sure he grows on a daily basis, getting more focus with his eyesight, getting heavier, gaining control of his muscles and i was glad to spend this whole week not traveling so i could actually bear witness to the changes.
this is travis, calmly asleep in his crib:
and the following is pretty much the same shot, but then in black&white:
friends of ours in san antonio sent us a portable play pen and so far he likes it:
we think that wherever he falls asleep he is content:
last night denise gave travis a bath again and this time he weighed in at 13lbs 14oz (6293gr):
during the bath he gets better and better, very little fussing and crying:
i believe he is starting to enjoy getting baths:
of course, the transition from warm water to cool air still doesn't sit right with him, but once he's curled up inside a hooded towel he's enjoying life again. also in this picture you can see his eyes are still bright blue, but sometimes it also looks like they are turning green:
taken earlier today when he was sitting in his swing:
i tried to get him to smile, but everytime he smiled and i pulled up my camera, the smile was gone. yeah, he definitely got that from his mother! and he has such a wonderful smile, his entire face smiles, but i will persist, i will get a (series of) picture(s) of him smiling like there is no tomorrow:
as you can see from below agenda, the next two weeks i will be away from home, but at least i got family visits to look forward to at the end of the month and the next month.
saturday, august 15, 2009
pssst, don't forget to scroll up & down for new & previous posts about travis
still pretty busy at my client in cedar rapids and in fact, i might have to get more busy for them, because things are not going as smooth as everyone hoped. luckily it is not just me, or us as the software vendor, that is the problem, but a combination of a lot of factors that make this project kinda convoluted. but still, the people are nice enough. the bad thing, however, is that delta doesn't offer a direct flight to cedar rapids in the evening anymore, nor does it offer a connection through cincinnati. this means my travel time will increase with a couple of hours, because now i have to connect in either detroit, minneapolis or denver!
august 15-16 weekend; no plans
august 17 work @ the office and/or @ the home office
august 18 in the am work @ the home office, in the pm appointment for initial interview green card, in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
august 19-21 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
august 21 travel back home
august 22-23 weekend; no plans
august 24 in the am work @ the home office, in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
august 25-27 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
august 28 travel back home
august 29 weekend; my parents arrive in atlanta for the start of their vacation in the usa
august 30 weekend; no plans
august 31 my parents leave for their 2 week vacation in the southeast of the usa
august 31-september 4 undetermined
september 4 my sister and brother-in-law arrive in atlanta for the start of their vacation in the usa; denise's sister kat and her boyfriend/partner arrive in atlanta for a holiday weekend
september 5-6 weekend; no plans
september 7 labor day; my sister and brother-in-law leave atlanta for the rest of their vacation in west usa; kat and partner leave for home
september 7 in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
september 8-10 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
september 11 travel back home
september 12-13 weekend; no plans
september 14-15 undetermined
september 15 my parents return from vacation to stay with us for a week
september 15-18 pto
september 19-20 weekend; no plans
september 21 pto; my parents return home
september 21 in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
september 22-24 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
september 25 travel back home
september 26-27 weekend; no plans
you can see that most of the "undetermined" has magically disappeared. the good thing is that the "probably pto" has turned into pto!
after a tough couple of days at my client in cedar rapids i came back home late thursday night to start my long weekend as a single parent. denise had her year 2 residency at the airport renaissance hotel for three grueling long days leaving me to take care of baby travis and bigger babies pepper and campion.
i hoped that i would have time to wait around for travis to smile and on friday i came really close to one:
but his smile disappeared quickly to be replaced by him sobbing and/or pouting:
on saturday we went to the pool. in hindsight it may not have been the best of ideas, because it was sweltering hot (96F - 35.5C) and there is no shade to be found anywhere around the pool. so, this is travis lying in his stroller sweating profusely:
but, it has to be said: he not once fussed or cried!
campion also came to the pool and he brought his guitar to entertain (or annoy, even though we didn't get complaints) himself and others:
pepper wanted to show me that she can swim, and she can, but she spent more time on the waterslide than doing actual swimming:
this is her coming out of the pool after sliding in face down and feet and first:
(love the fact that i captured the drops of water splashing off her hair!)
i am a big fan of reflections, that is not a secret to anyone, so when i saw that pepper's shades were reflective i couldn't resist the urge ... and she even let me get that close with a camera, only to be disappointed to find out she can't see her eyes:
ultimately, campion joined his sister in the water, so i was able to snap this shot of our 3 kids, chillaxin' at the pool:
i'm not sure why campion is showing disapproval here:
here's the two oldest babies:
after we got back from the pool, travis' onesie was pretty much soaked from all the sweating, so i laid him on the giddy-up-and-go to let the airco cool him off. then i brought him over to the couch to change his onesie and diaper. after i put his new diaper on i let him cool off a little more, so here's nekkid baby:
after denise got back on sunday she picked up travis, laid him on her legs and lo and behold, he smiled, big, and i managed to miss most of it:
(the bastard ... did i mention already that he is grounded for, like, the first 25 years of his life? *wink*)
travis calmly falling asleep in denise's arms:
everyone survived this weekend, nobody got really upset about anything, so i guess that's a good thing. next year's residency will be harder, because then denise is going to be gone for a week and a day ... but maybe we'll turn that into a mini vacation.
sunday, august 9, 2009
even though i am not home i was clever enough to take with me some pictures i took over the weekend. it was a very short weekend at home so there's not much to tell or share other than that travis is doing pretty good overall. still a happy baby, unless he wants, needs, to eat or has a full diaper.
since now we know he smiles, it has become my goal to get as many pictures of him smiling ... of course, he takes after denise *grumble*mutter*grumble* the second there is a camera around. so this shot is of him where i thought he was going to smile:
and he almost did, but not quite:
and this one is actually pretty close, but not as good as the one in my previous blog post:
on saturday evening travis got a bath again, and as is customary, we weighed him and as you can see he is now 11lbs and 15.5oz (5429gr):
during his bath he is quieter, he is getting used to the sensation of warm water:
but he still does not like the transition from warm water to cool air:
once he's dried, diapered and dressed he is all smiles again:
although once he needs to get a fart out, his demeanor changes, if only for the shortest moment:
once the fart is out, all is right as rain again:
this is it for now ... more this weekend, hopefully. by the way, this weekend will be interesting, because i will be a single dad: denise has her second year residency from friday to sunday, so i shall be taking care of travis all by myself, assisted by my lovely assistants campion and pepper, i'm sure.
tuesday, august 4, 2009
i'll start with some pictures.
travis lying on the couch with that freaky binky in his mouth:
an exercise in focus:
and i don't know whether i like the color version or the b/w version better:
and here's travis' feet in jazztoes:
of course, after all that lying around and eating and farting and pooping and peeing, he's gonna be wiped out:
since he is starting to really smile from time to time i am wanting to capture his smile, but those smiles go across his face so fast it's still near impossible to catch. this is the start of one:
and this is an almost smile:
but he really smiles with his whole face. and once we know what we can do to make him smile and to make him keep the smile, you will see pictures of it, believe you me.
as of today we're a complete family again. yes, pepper is back from vegetation, woohoo. so today, travis took his first long car trip, a total of 7 hours in the car and really only when we were within 10 minutes from home he started to really fuss. other than that, he was happy just snoozing and watching the landscape go by.
and he still remembers pepper, even though they only spent 2 weeks together before she had to go to her dad's for 6 week.
of course, she was excited to see travis and she immediately wanted to feed him, but she had to wait till we got home. but once we were home she got to bottle feed travis:
yes, denise made the switch to formula. the pain while breastfeeding from her left breast was too much. the other factors were that the blocked milk duct wasn't going away, even with antiobiotics, and even if the antibiotics would have worked, it would not have been a guarantee for it not to happen again. she at least breastfed travis for 8 weeks so he got pretty much all the antibodies he needs, so now we continue with formula. which means that i get to feed him as well :-)
and travis is still doing fine: eating well, sleeping well (still gotta work some more on his days and nights) and growing well. he actually passed the magic 10lbs mark! and to prove this we gave travis a bath and the first thing denise always does, is strip him to nekkid bebeh and then put him on the scale. as you can see, he weighs a whopping 10lbs and 9.5oz (4805gr):
after that he got his bath, during which he still cries when his hair gets washed, he fusses when his body gets washed and then cries when he gets taken out of the water he is finally getting comfortable in, but after getting dried and powdered and baby oiled and diapered and dressed, he is content again:
travis and his alien binky:
priceless:
also priceless:
a close-up of travis eating/drinking and his awesome ("awesome, A S O M E, awesome") hair:
denise thought that after getting a nice bath and a fresh diaper and some food he'd be happy and smiling, but it still needed her playing some tricks on him to get him to laugh, but the first one i captured is gold:
in this one he's not so sure anymore:
i love that he looks at me straight through the camera lense, and i adore that you can see the sarcasm in his expression already:
in closing, a ga ga shot:
figured it had been a while since the last time i posted and it's probably gonna be a while before the next one i can post, because, sadly, i leave on monday afternoon for a trip to two clients, one in san antonio for one day and one in lakeland (close to tampa) for three days, having me back home late friday night.
saturday, july 25, 2009
it still is a strange thing, traveling for work, and therefore not being able to see, smell, feel and hear travis. when i'm gone i also can't take pictures of him. as it so happened, i went one full week without taking a picture of him, which is a nice reprieve for him and denise ;-)
but yesterday and today i took quite a few shots, partly to make up for lost time and partly because he is becoming more and more expressive and i want to capture all those changes.
health-wise everything seems to be going well for him: he's eating good, gaining weight (slowly but surely), he's sleeping pretty good (although still better during the day than at night) and he is very active in working his back and neck muscles (he can arch his back and neck for a full minute ... before flopping around like a fish on dry land).
denise has run into some bad luck, though, with a blocked milk duct in her left breast, which makes breastfeeding excruciatingly painful. and so far the solutions (hot baths, ibuprofen and continued breastfeeding) do not seem to help in alleviating the pain or removing the clogged milk from her breast. not sure what we (although it's really denise's decision) are going to do about it: continue breastfeeding or switch to formula?!
anyways, here's the united expressions of travis ...
sound asleep in his crib:
still asleep, but from another angle:
looking quite paranoid:
travis during baby-robics:
his elvis presley face:
we call this the bill engvall:
gimme gimme gimme some food, woman ...:
... or else i'll just chew on my arm:
a burp's gonna come:
his o-face:
"i am so tired i could sleep ... oh wait":
still waiting for blue steel, though ...
all day long i tried to get a few snaps of travis smiling, but i wasn't successful, obviously, because otherwise you would have seen a smiling travis right here.
i promise i will try again tomorrow and later in the week when i'm back from cedar rapids.
sunday, july 19, 2009
on travis' front there really is not much to say, other than more of the same. he is finally growing, both in length and in weight, he still isn't crying much, but he still has trouble going to sleep at night, although he is getting better at it. or, we are getting better at spacing out his meals and naps, so that come bedtime he can sleep for a good 4 hours :-)
so without further ado, i give you pictures that you cannot resist because of its staggering amounts of awesomeness :P
earlier this week, i was letting travis fall asleep on my chest and the cutest cat in all of atlanta decided to join us:
on thursday night travis got a bath again. this is travis right after denise placed him on the couch to take off his onesie and diaper. you can tell he has his doubts:
this is where denise unbottened the onesie and where he shows mixed emotions; he likes getting nekkid, he does not like his bottom cleaned:
undoing his diaper, which was very shitty this time around:
once the diaper is off and his butt cheeks and crack are cleaned he is a bit happier, although he still fears the cold wipes:
all clean, although, since he doesn't get a new diaper, he looks kinda paranoid:
he doesn't like the bath much; he likes the warm water, but once the warmness of the water has dissipated the cool air touches his skin and that does not sit well with him:
all dried up, diapered, clothed and pacifiered everything is right with the world again:
he's something, that boy of ours!
we know he recognizes faces and voices now. when pepper calls, to tell us that she would rather be home because she misses travis, and we hold the phone to his ear and she calls his name he stops what he's doing and first listens intently, then looks around for her. it quite amazing!
he's also already very strong. sometimes when denise changes his diaper i tell him to squeeze my finger and when he does his grip is strong like a vice. unfortunately (for denise, campion and pepper) he also holds on to hair like that *grin*
yes, travis is quite the little boy :-)
friday, july 10, 2009
pssst, don't forget to scroll up & down for new & previous posts about travis
i know, i know, i promised this over a week ago, but sometimes it takes a little bit more time to hammer out all the details ... and they are still not hammered out ... but, even though we're in the middle of summer, or maybe because we're in the middle of summer, things are heating up travel-wise, regardless.
july 4-5 weekend; no plans
july 6-10 work @ the office and/or @ the home office
july 11-12 weekend; no plans
july 13 in the am work @ the home office, in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
july 14-16 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
july 17 travel back home
july 18-19 weekend; no plans
july 20 in the am work @ the home office, in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
july 21-22 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
july 23 travel back home
july 24 work @ the office and/or @ the home office
july 25 weekend; pick-up pepper from south pittsburg, tn
july 26 weekend; no plans
july 27 in the am work @ the home office, in the pm travel to san antonio, tx (staying @ hilton san antonio airport)
july 28 work @ client site in san antonio, tx
july 28 travel to lakeland, fl (staying @ hyatt place lakeland center)
july 29-31 work @ client site in lakeland, fl
july 31 travel back home
august 1-2 weekend; no plans
august 3 in the am work @ the home office, in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
august 4-6 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
august 6 travel back home
august 7 work @ the home office; denise's 1st day of uop residency in atlanta
august 8 weekend; denise's 2nd day of uop residency in atlanta
august 9 weekend; denise's 3rd day of uop residency in atlanta
august 10 kids' first day of school
august 10-14 work @ the office and/or @ the home office (or possibly go to client site @ tampa, fl
august 15-16 weekend; no plans
august 17 work @ the office and/or @ the home office
august 18 in the am work @ the home office, in the pm appointment for initial interview green card, in the evening travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
august 19-21 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
august 21 travel back home
august 22-23 weekend; no plans
august 24 in the am work @ the home office, in the pm travel to cedar rapids, ia (staying @ cedar rapids marriott)
august 25-27 work @ client site in cedar rapids, ia
august 28 travel back home
august 29 weekend; my parents arrive in atlanta for the start of their vacation
august 30 weekend; no plans
august 31 my parents leave for their 2 week vacation in the southeast of the usa
august 31-september 4 undetermined
september 4 my sister and brother-in-law arrive in atlanta for the start of their vacation
september 5-6 weekend; no plans
september 7 my sister and brother-in-law leave atlanta for the rest of their vacation
september 7-11 undetermined
september 12-13 weekend; no plans
september 14 undetermined
september 15 my parents return from vacation to stay with us for a week
september 15-18 undetermined, probably pto
september 19-20 weekend; no plans
september 21 my parents return home
september 21-25 undetermined
don't worry about the "undetermined" in this list, i am pretty confident they will get filled up pretty quickly. still working for 66% of my time for the cedar rapids client and now there's at least 3 account managers that (seemingly only) want me for any on-sites for their new and/or converting clients. being in demand is not a bad thing, i suppose ...
wednesday we had red beans and rice for dinner and as you may or may not know, beans are good for gas. and poor travis got quite a whiff of it, too, because all of thursday he was crying and fussing and screaming, even up to a point of screeching. his poor tummy had a hard time digesting the red beans and rice he ate through proxy of denise's breast milk. but by friday afternoon things were already much better and he returned to his normal, relaxed self.
on that thursday campion was brave enough to try and console his little brother by giving travis a supplemental bottle:
and in between eating and crying there were a few moments where he was quiet and still:
so friday was our usual day for shopping and by noon our family was reduced to just three people, because campion headed to spend a day with a friend of his in a cabin on the chattahoochee river. denise and me just vegged out and watched a movie in the evening, white oleander, which i had never seen before. good movie, and even though the cast is almost all female, it is not a chick flick. definite recommended viewing!
yesterday, saturday, was independence day and what do you know, i happened to shoot the red, white and blue:
and this is our stud muffin wearing a pacifier he got from his opa and oma (and it's my favorite binkie):
in the evening we watched boogie nights, a movie denise hadn't yet seen, and it was fun seeing the dress anomalies of the late 70s and the early 80s together with a soundtrack filled with "wrong" music. and just like the night before, travis slept from his last feeding till past 4am, so we're slowly getting him to the point of sleeping longer at night. this will give us some much needed reprieve, too.
got up at a decent hour today, early enough to catch almost all of the wimbledon final and after that the day just babbled on. when travis was asleep on his giddy up and go i took a few pictures.
at total peace with himself and his surroundings:
sly product placement:
after dinner it was time for travis' bath and for the first time he was actually not squirming like a madman when denise put him on the scale, so we were able to get a good reading:
yes! he's 8lbs 6.5oz (3813gr). after his bath travis felt frisky and ballsy, so he showed us how he felt:
after which he made a dramatic face, like he was going to tell us something very very important, and he was only going to say it once:
after denise dried him, diapered him and combed his hair, with a part on the side, i just had to climb a chair and shoot it:
with that said and done, we're gonna end our sunday by watching a movie ... think i'm gonna pop in the illusionist, so watch for a review (or at least a thumbs up or thumbs down) later this week.
i said in wednesday's blog that i'd post my agenda, but i had a hard time establishing firm dates, because of the fact that friday was a day off for a lot of people, so now i will (hopefully) publish my new agenda tomorrow. and it's a tough one, so you consider yourself forewarned!
sunday, july 5, 2009
travis starting to really enjoying bath time:
travis still really enjoying his right hand:
travis laughing after getting a mani pedi and a rubdown:
travis eagerly awaiting the food to be deposited into his mouth:
travis taking a nap in his playpen:
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