Camping and Beaches!

Hello,

Yesterday Willow reached 17 months old. She also got sick for the first time since she left the NICU (not counting a half-day runny nose last fall that we WAY overreacted to). She has a stomach bug of some sort with fever and diarrhea. It started last night. I took her to the doctor this morning; she basically said we should just wait it out. Unfortunately (VERY), I also had to go to Wausau, WI today for work. For two nights. So here I sit in my hotel room wishing I could be home with poor Willow. I mean, I really feel like crap. This working-mom stuff is for the birds! :(

I couldn't really skip the trip though - I'm attending a 2-day training for a new software. OK, enough complaining. And props to Josh the superdaddy for staying home with the little patient.

Here are some photos from the last few weeks.

For the fourth of July, our friend Nick came to visit from the Twin Cities. My brother and his girlfriend Penny were also in town. Somehow I didn't get any photos that whole weekend except a few from when Josh, Nick and I went to the beach. Here's the three of us:















...and here's a video of Willow. We spent the whole time trying to prevent her from eating rocks and sand, but we all had a blast. Willow is a true Schaefer and really loves the lake. She doesn't seem to think it's too cold.



The weekend after that, we went camping in the Porcupine Mountains state park (the Porkies). It was nostalgic for me, since my family camped there a lot when I was a kid. We met Sharon and her parents Jean and Dave there. We only stayed one night but had a lot of fun. I took a lot of photos!
































Watching the sun set over the big lake. Scouty always enjoys a good sunset. She loves scenery too and I think that might be strange for a dog. She's a a sensitive soul.




















Then last weekend, we took Thursday and Friday off and headed to Minnesota again. Josh had a reunion with a bunch of college buddies. On the way down, we stopped and visited our friends Nate and Lauren in Eau Claire. They are the parents of Ellen, Willow's NICU friend. Ellen is doing great and has quite a jump on WIllow in the height department. The girls were so cute together; they both have just learned to walk.















I hung out with Sharon and Amy. We had a great time in the hot, humid weather. Willow had her first boat ride, and we almost witnessed a tornado. We had a lot of girl talk and played at a playground.




















We also visited Josh's family for a couple nights. I didn't get many photos of that time, but here is a cute one of Willow wih her Great-grandma Eva.




















Willow is walking all over the place now - her skills have greatly improved since the last post. She really loves to sing these days too - "Twinkle Twinkle" is the one real song she sings. She doesn't say all the words but you can definitely tell what song it is. The verse that ends "like a diamond in the sky" is usually "da da da da da da dyyyyyyyy". It's the cutest thing.

Here's hoping her little tummy is feeling better soon and Josh gets some sleep tonight.

Great Grandma Lois

Hi everyone,

The sad news of this post is that my Grandma Lois passed away last Friday.

Don't worry, there will be happier stuff after this, but I have to mention Grandma first. She was the best Grandma. The kind that you can actually relate to. Not just another old lady. I miss her so much already.

So, we were in Minnesota last weekend and Monday and Tuesday for her funeral.

Great Grandma Lois really loved Willow too. Lots of people told me that at her funeral. She would talk about her all the time and show everyone photos.


Here are some photos of Great Grandma and Willow from last October:





















This one is sort of self-explanatory...Willow had a big poop blowout while Grandma was holding her. I can't remember if Grandma got poop on her jeans. As you can see she was a good sport about it!



















And here's a photo from just last month, at my Grandma and Grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary in Duluth. I'm really glad we got to see her then.

















While in Minnesota, Willow also got to meet her new second-cousin-once-removed (I think), Aubrey.
















She helped out Great-Great-Uncle Don by mowing the lawn at the farm. Doesn't she look like a tough chick in this photo!















And she got to sit it Grandpa's porch swing/chair. Grandpa was telling the story of how my parents gave him and Grandma this chair back in the 70s. It's the coolest chair. I wonder if they still make them like this anywhere.















Willow is still not a proficient walker - she'll take a few steps if she feels like it, but crawling is still her preferred method of getting around. She's got quite a personality and a sense of humor too. Some of Willow's favorite things at age 16 months are:

Being chased
Dancing (while being held)
Walking (while holding on to your finger(s))
Swinging
Paper, especially tearing up napkins/tissue
Flipping through magazines with her thumb
Being naked
Sheets
Baths
Splashing
Yogurt bites
Bananas

Her vocabulary now includes mama, dada, quack, moo and ball. However she is quite inconsistent with her words. She'll say a word for a couple days and then not say it again for weeks. She definitely said ball earlier this week, which was a new one. She pointed to a ball in a book and said "ba". She did it a few more times after that too.

Willow's other new trick this week is pointing to her ear. You can ask her where her ear is and she points to it.

She had a check-up on Wednesday too. Her weight is up to 17 pounds 12 ounces. Still very small. That's between the 0 and 5th percentile for a 13-month old, and it's below the chart for a 16-month old. Well, she is still following her own curve, so the doctor isn't concerned and neither are we. She's getting to be a much better eater just the last couple weeks. During the day she is eating less milk and more food.

OK, here are a bunch more photos from the past few weeks.


Splashing in the pool is awesome on a hot day...
















Until you get so crazy that you splash yourself in the eye!
















Here's Willow having her first taste of ice cream. It was a hit, as you can imagine.



















Josh entered his first bike race - the Chain Drive. It was a 16-mile mountain bike race. He did it with his friends Marty and Chad. He had a blast and is already planning to maybe do more races later this summer.

















At the finish, we happened to see one of Willow's NICU nurses, Amber. She was in the race too! It looks like Willow was very happy to see her. :)















One of Willow's favorite games is to play peek-a-boo around this one corner in our living room. She crawls over to it just giggling with anticipation, and then hides behind the corner and peeks around. It's so funny.























Willow loves cars, trucks and motorcycles. She makes the cutest motor sounds - "vroom, vroom". She only has one wooden motorctcle and a baby-toy-like car. A couple weeks ago we were at some friends' house and a little boy there had some "real" cars and trucks. Willow was glued to them. I guess we'll have to get some better vehicles for our little motorhead. In this photo you can see her making her motor sounds.
















Here is her serious face.



















We've started brushing her teeth. So far she doesn't mind, which is helpful.




















I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July weekend!