Elephant Ride

Here is Alstan on his elephant. He's either waving or saluting in the last picture as we are going on vacation on Friday and probably won't be posting for a while. I may try to get one or two pictures up at Grandma and Grandpa Van's.

More Eating Pics!

These are the last ones. The first meal is a big deal.

Meal Time

Alstan did pretty well eating for the first time. He was definitely interested as he was grabbing the spoon and taking it to his mouth. He really wanted to help mom out by shoving the spoon in his mouth, but he didn't always want to give the spoon back. The second time he tried eating he was able to swallow better.

Alstan's First Meal

We decided to start giving Alstan rice cereal. Of course, we planned on sitting him in his newly assembled high chair (good work assembling, Mom), but we had tornado warnings so we had to move downstairs and have a "picnic".

These first set of images aren't of him eating, but of his mom getting ready for him to eat. As you can see, she is milking the bottle to get just the right amount of milk mixed in. Have you ever been to Culver's and wondered if they had to milk the cow to make your Concrete Mixer because it was taking so long? That's what it seemed like for Alstan, Janette, and I as we waited.

Roll Over

Alstan is rolling over occasionally now. In this video I only caught the last half, so he started on his belly and made it to his back. Jessie and I cheer whenever he does it, but I don't think he understands what we are so excited about.

Jump Around 2

Here's an update of the Jump Around video. He's an expert in his jumper now and he loves screaming when he's in the jumper. He does that all the time when he jumps.

We have to put shoes on him now too because with the wood floors he was snagging all his socks and even scrapped and bloodied one of his toes. Of course, he was playing so he didn't mind.

Desktop

Here's another new desktop background. Jessie stole the last one for her profile so I needed to make a new one. I think I should start naming my works of art! I think I'll name this one "Alstan in the Mist".

Bouncing is Tiring!

Alstan fell asleep in his jumper for the first time this morning. The funny thing is that when Jessie picked him up to take him out he started bouncing as soon as he started to wake up.

Playing

Alstan is playing around in the guest bedroom. He is very curious about the teddy bear when we go in there, but when he gets close to it he doesn't quite know what to do with it. He also wants to play with the remote control all the time, I guess that is what he sees his Dad playing with.

Comparision

Here is a picture of Grandma Van, Dad, and Alstan as babies. The picture of Alstan and his Dad are around 4 1/2 months, but I'm not sure when the picture of Grandma Van was. The picture of Grandma Van and me were in my scrapbook and the piece of notebook paper was my handwriting when I was a kid explaining the black and white photo.

ScreenSaver

Here's a new screen saver of Alstan.

Bath Video

This is the last post of the night. A little clip of Alstan playing in the bath tub. I had to switch the video back to the blogger one because flickr (the one that lets me do full screen clips) only lets me post two videos a month.

Goofy and Goofier

I'm not sure which is Goofy and which is Goofier, but they both made some funny faces for the camera. By the time we got in the car to go home, Alstan was worn out from playing with so many people. He slept all the way from Fond du Lac to Mineral Point. We even made a stop in Madison and he did have his eyes open in Target, but he went straight back to sleep when he got in the car.

Map Reading

Alstan is map reading with Grandma Zielicke. In the last photo he's pointing which way it is to Minneapolis! I think he can already follow a map better than his mom. It won't matter though, by the time he can drive I'm sure maps will be an obsolete thing that only his ancient, old Dad still uses.

Carrie

Alstan is playing with Aunt Carrie after his bath time. During and after his bath is the best time to get him giggling and laughing. Jessie found out that you shouldn't tickle him and make him laugh without his diaper on though as that can turn on the fountain.

Traveling Bathtub

When I went to Walmart to get the jumper I also got the beanbag and his new traveling ducky bathtub. He's a little small for it so we had to work together to keep him sitting upright even though it looks like we're manhandling him.

Playing with the Cousins

Alstan's cousins came over to play with him too. We got him a Johnny Jumper for the farm and it's kind of big for him, but he doesn't mind. Also, look closely at Darian's front teeth in the first picture. Both were hanging on by a thread and grossing all his Aunts out. It gave Alstan something unique to look at.

Picture Barrage

I haven't added new photos in a little while and Jessie was taking a bunch of photos when we went to the farm, so there are a bunch of posts coming tonight. Enjoy!

The first couple images are of him sitting on his new beanbag. He likes to sit up now, but isn't quite ready to hold himself up. The beanbag gives him just enough stability.

Welcome!

Please welcome our newest poster, Jessie Van Overmeer (a.k.a Mom). Below are her first two posts on Alstan's board. It only took 129 days!

Babysitting

Coltin took the job of being second in charge for babysitting Alstan. (A bit of male bonding time!)

Day at the Park

Alstan spent the day at the park in Madison with mom and Aunt Nette on July 5th. Isn't that what summer days are for?

Four Month Measurements

Here are Alstan's measurements at four months:

Head Circumference: 42.5% (80th percentile)
Weight: 14 lb. 6 oz. (50th percentile)
Height: 24.5 inches (40th percentile)

He got longer from the last time, when he was in the bottom 25 percent and his weight is still right in the middle.

Feet!

Alstan has found is feet! He likes to try to get them to his mouth or pull his socks off far enough to eat at his socks.

He turned four months old a couple days ago and he's behind on his first milestone! Most four month olds can roll from their belly to back now, but Alstan isn't really interested in that. He's actually closer to rolling from his back to his belly than the other way around. I could never do front or back flips off the diving board (lots of back flops) even though I really wanted to, so this issue may be hereditary. Tomorrow he has another doctor's appointment so I'll post his new length and weight. He'll also get another set of shots, and I'm debating whether or not I should kick Jessie out of the room before he has them.

Nap Time

Alstan, Mom, and the teddy bear were all taking a nap on the couch, but Mom heard me coming and opened her eyes right before I took the picture.

Cartoon

I'm starting to make my cartoon characters for the next year and decided to make Alstan first. It looks like his hair is thicker in the cartoon, but it's kind of hard to make wispy baby hair. Maybe this is a preview of what he'll look like in a couple of years.

Jump Around

He's not quite ready for Badger football games yet, but he's working on it. For those who aren't sports fans, they play Jump Around between the 3rd and 4th quarters at Badger home games.

We just broke out the jumper today and he's already getting the hang of it. The funny thing is when I was editing this clip he was bouncing with the music.

Concentrating

This is a rare, never before captured image of Alstan and his dad both concentrating at the same time. Jessie and I were playing Rummikub on the Fourth of July (I know, we're party animals) and Alstan was helping me out.

P.S. We beat Mom!

Bath

I always thought Anne Geddes photos were cruel and unusual punishments to babies who couldn't tell their parents how ridiculous they were being yet. This one probably fits into that category (Sorry Alstan).

Laughing

I know there gets to be a lot of pictures of him laughing, but they are my favorite. And know that Jessie has a new camera that takes pictures much faster there will probably be lots more pictures of Alstan smiling. We can actually just take a picture and not have to predict what he'll be doing in two seconds when the camera actually snaps.