A few Days in Minneapolis - Visiting with Ben, Marianne, and Ryan

I'm in Minneapolis this week for work, and although I've got long days of consumer focus groups, I was able to visit with Ryan, Marianne, and Ben yesterday!! I'm staying right by the Mall of America, and they stopped by my hotel after a visit to the mall. Ben stayed up later than usual - he was still in a good mood well after 8:00, which was impressive. It was so nice that I got to hold him for a long time (usually when I see Ben, I've got Jack!), and I got to hear him really laugh which was cute. After Ben zonked out, we brought dinner in from TGIFridays, played a game of Carcassonne, and chatted until 11:30... it was a great visit :)

Ben was all smiles

Marianne, Ben and me (Aunt Jenny!) - Ben's all ready for bed in his comfy jammies...

I'm heading to Delafield tonight, where Jack and Andy have been staying with their Grandma and Grandpa Graham. I'm looking forward to seeing the boys - and rescuing my parents from having to get up with Jack... Ben's got to teach him how to sleep through the night! We're going to have a fun early-Thanksgiving this weekend in Delafield, and we're really looking forward to it. All three cousins (Jack, Ben, and Andy) will get to play together - they haven't been together in such a long time.

Mid-November Activities!

I'm posting pictures of a bunch of different activities in this post. Yesterday, the boys and I went to the Children's Museum for the afternoon and had a really fun time. Andy spent a lot of time in the water-play area and got himself pretty soaked. He also enjoyed driving the crane and fire truck as usual. Jack was awake and alert at the beginning - even riding some of the stuff with Andy. But by the end of the afternoon, he was taking a nap. Last night, Andy and I put up our Christmas tree and decorated it. He loved putting up all of his cool ornaments - and got to stay up extra late to finish it! This morning, we went to get his haircut (he really needed it!) and he sat very nicely for it this time.

As you can see in these pics, he got his first big goose-egg bump on the head yesterday. At day care another child hit him in the head with a plastic hammer. The story I got from his teachers and from Andy is that Andy was sitting in his chair playing with some toys. The other kid wanted to sit where Andy was sitting - Andy wouldn't move, and got hit in the head. So not fair! I was very upset to see that he got hurt, but he's so tough that he barely even cries when it happens. At least we had lots of fun stuff to do yesterday to keep his mind off of it.

Jack is in the process of getting his first tooth! I can see it coming through today - I'm guessing it will be here very soon! He slept great last night though, so it must not be bothering him too much. I have some cute pictures of Jack and Andy sitting together. As you can see, there's not TOO much difference in size between the 2 of them :)

Also, a couple of shots of my vacation from last week to California! My mom and I had a very relaxing, warm trip. Thanks to Sandy for helping Chris with the kids. They had so much fun that they didn't even get a chance to miss me!

Happy 6 month Birthday, Jack!

Jack Kenneth Reinsel is growing up so fast! Yesterday was his 6 month birthday and he is doing wonderfully. Here are some things interesting things about Jack...

• Jack can now sit up completely on his own for long periods of time. He likes playing with toys as he sits now - frequently putting the toys in his mouth. He also likes to grab onto Andy if Andy is sitting next to him.
• Jack can roll over both ways, and especially likes rolling from back to tummy.
• Jack is eating more fruits and veggies - bananas and sweet potatoes continue to be favorites. He also likes his oatmeal and pears.
• At his 6-month appointment today, Jack barely cried during his shots. He's a brave kid, and very mellow! Jack checked out great! He is 21 pounds, 10 ounces (97%)for weight, 28.1 inches for height (94%) and 44.5 cm for head circumference (91%)
• Jack is down to 2 naps per day - one around 9 and the other around 12:30. He usually goes to bed around 7, and wakes up once to eat.
• Jack is quick to laugh, especially when you tickle him under his arms. He is a very happy baby.
• He still loves jumping in the jumperoo but he's definitely gaining interest in other toys.
• No teeth yet, but the front bottom teeth look like they might be getting close.

Here are some pics from this week of the 6 month birthday boy!

So smiley, even after getting his shots. This was about 15 minutes before he went to bed.


Jack loves sitting up and holding onto toys..

And then chewing on his toys!

Here's Andy showing Jack how to put the balls in the giraffe.
And believe it or not, Andy took this pic of Jack and I... good enough to post! (Jack's a little drooly though)

It's already November?

We can't believe it's November here already, but are trying to take advantage of some of the pretty nice weather. This past weekend we went to Delafield to hang out for a couple of days - it had been a couple of months since we were there. No big plans - we went out to breakfast on Saturday to our favorite place and spent a lot of time outside (Andy pedaled his bicycle, raked up some leaves, and watched a big tree get cut down). Jack and Andy got to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Graham, Great Grandma and Grandpa Dickson, and Great Uncle Jim. Andy played some trains with Jack and they rode together on a blow-up space ship. Check out the pictures...