clowning around

Here is a video of Von finally able to hold his little clown toy and interact with it more...which simply means find a way to stick it in his mouth. I realize these videos aren't all that exciting, but I also know how precious they are to family/friends far away. We wish you all could see him in person!

tiny sucker

When Erin visited when Von was just a couple of weeks old, she tried and tried to get him to suck his thumb. Of course, he was too little, but I think he got a taste for it! He's been trying for a couple of weeks now to suck something on his hand, and it's so cute! I finally got footage so Aunt Erin could see that her hard work paid off. :)

3 months and 5 years

It's difficult to describe to out-of-towners how the Waldo Canyon fire impacted our city and each of us on an individual level. It was consuming--coverage on tv was 24/7, and we watched every moment we could. The smoke and the ash in the air were constant reminders of the nearby devastation, and when we were out, other people were tense, spoke in hushed tones, and were always looking over their shoulder, as though the fire were creeping up on us. Which it kind of was. Anyway, I mention that because the fire started on our 5th anniversary and just past Von's 3-month b-day. I had been planning to blog about both events, but the fire was a huge distraction. [The above picture is Von during the heat wave. We'd put a cool washcloth on his head to cool him down. It seemed to work!]
So.
On Von's b-day, we measured and weighed him the best we could. He was about 14.5lb and about 25.25in. On our anniversary, we had planned to leave him with Polly while we went out, but she ended up on pre-evacuation status and I believe went to a friend's house that night anyway (thankfully, her house was unharmed by the fire. Praise the Lord!). So we took Von with us out to sushi (big, fat wonderful dinner!! I hadn't had sushi since before I was pregnant. YUM!). The hostess was gracious to seat us at one of those platform tables, so I wrapped Von up in his blanket and set him on a cushion next to me. Aaron called him our Spicy Paco Roll. :)

 Here he is in an outfit from Aunt Carrie. Aaron pretends to straight/loosen/tighten the tie, and it's adorable. I love it. :)

Happy father's day!

Happy father's day to the love of my life!

Von and his little friend

Von is starting to interact with us a little more. In addition to smiling nonstop, he has started to reach out to touch my face and my hair. He loves the little gym and has gotten very good at batting the hanging toys. Here is a video of him with his favorite toy--a soft Haba rattle. He usually smiles and smiles while playing with it, but today he was getting sleepy, so he was a little more mellow. Enjoy!

Family time

We had an amazing week when Aaron's Grammie and Aunt Kathy came for a visit from Iowa. Oh, the fun we had!! We talked and talked and doted on Von, talked, doted, doted, and doted. This morning he woke up wondering where his fan club was--the auntie who would walk him all over the house to look at everything and calm him down and the Grammie who could magically rock him to sleep. He took a 2 1/2 hour nap this morning, which tells me that being doted on for days on end must be very exhausting. :)

As an added bonus, Aaron's parents came for the weekend so we had lots of Hunt family fun! And finally, Kathy, Verla, and I visited my grandmother (Marmee) yesterday. Enjoy the pictures!

 Great Grammie and Von

 Great Aunt Kathy and Von

 Grammie and Grampie and Von

 Everybody doting on Von

 Four generations of Hunts

 Von soaking up the love!

 Two great-grandmothers with Von. We're just missing Grandma Liz!

 Our first family picture: too bad I didn't shower or do my makeup!

A fun time was had by all.

So, so sad

This morning, Von woke himself out of his nap with a HUGE sneezing fit. After about a dozen aDORable sneezes, I grabbed the camera to try to record it, but of course as soon as I turned it on, the sneezing stopped. And this is what followed. It is not for the faint of heart! But even crying, he is just so cutie, I had to share. You might like to know that after this, he fell right back to sleep. :)

Happy baby!

Von is such a happy baby! I finally got some footage of him talking and cooing. And as a bonus, I caught him sneezing! Now as you know, I've always believed that Aaron is near perfect, except for his sneezing--he has a loud "Aaaaaahh" part of the "Ah choo!" and it startles me and is super loud. I've always hounded him to stop sneezing like that--I was convinced that he did it like that on purpose to scare me. Until Von came along...As you'll see from the way he sneezes, this "Aaaaaahh" is genetic. And totally cutie when a 2-month old does it. :) Enjoy!

Smiling and Rolling Over

When Von was 7 weeks, 6 days, he rolled over, tummy to back. I got it on tape but couldn't find out camera cord, so I had to order another one. It finally came in, so now I can share the few videos we've taken. Enjoy!

Smiley Face

So last night I actually was able to catch Von rolling over on video! I might try again because what I got was a slow, methodical roll, while he has had several fast rolls. But the wonderful thing about last night's video is that he smiles. I have had to order a new cord for the camera to upload the video onto my computer, but once it comes, I'll upload it.
This morning I was able to catch a smile on my camera phone, which was shocking because it takes several seconds to take a picture. I'll hopefully get some better quality pics with my real camera.

Big milestone!

So over the last week or 10 days, Von has started smiling. He smiled at Aaron several times one evening and has been smiling ever since--usually right when he wakes up and is refreshed. I have yet to capture it on camera, though. The other thing I'm trying to capture on camera is his rolling over! A friend loaned us a baby gym with a mat, and we set it up today. Von was totally not interested, so Aaron put him on his tummy. He screamed and rolled over, right to left. I thought it was a fluke, but when Aaron put him back down, he did it again! Just as I started texting some of you to tell you, he rolled over left to right! I think it's the real deal! I'm going to try to get a video of it if I can figure out the camera.

Six Weeks!

Von is now 6 weeks old! I canNOT believe how quickly time has flown. I treasure every day and love to see how he's growing. Although some is bittersweet--for example, when we would go outside, as soon as the sun hit his face, Von used to stiffen his back, close his eyes, and tuck his chin under, revealing his triple chin. It was so funny that EVERY time, I would laugh out loud. Yesterday we went outside, and the sun barely bothered him. My big baby boy is growing up! He measured 11lb, 4oz at his 6-week appointment, which means he gained 2 2/3oz EVERY day the last 2 weeks. He's turning into a chunk!
These pictures are especially for Aunt Caitlin.<3