AC's Valentine's Day at Schwartz Schateau

Wow, lots of videos this time. First up are the videos from our recent visit to the Schwartz Schateau (see what I did there?) near Glen Arbor - thanks again Mike and Jackie and Phoebe for having us. The first and second vids show AC playing with Phoebe and Izzo, the dog. Arthur loved Izzo who was great all weekend. Izzo let Arthur touch her without running away (like our cats do). Izzo also let Arthur crawl all over her and actually seemed to enjoy it.


This next vid shows AC trying out his new sled. We thought we'd go for a 2 or 3 mile hike in the snow -- we got all geared up and wrapped AC in a blanket. However, the sled was quite tippy and Phoebe was steadying Arthur the whole time (thanks Phoebe). Anyway, we hiked for about 10 minutes and decided to turn around and go home. Shortest hike ever!


This last vid is loooonng, so perhaps of interest to grandparents only. It shows a typical evening in our household - playing ball, AC dancing, and AC acting strange. The funnier stuff is his dancing which you can find at around the 5:30 mark of the video.


We hope you enjoy the onslaught of videos. There are also some new photos on our Flickr site - follow the "Arthur month 14" link at the upper right of the page. And remember, to view videos you have to visit the blog at toddsherwood.blogspot.com.

AC feels a dope groove

Greetings from AC-land. Things are going very well here as Arthur starts learning to use a sippy cup and expanding his vocabulary to "ba ba" and "na na". Last weekend we had some music going and Arthur actually started to dance, or so it appeared anyway. I grabbed the camera and, of course, he pretty much stopped. You'll catch a couple of glimpses of him dancing in this vid, but mostly it's shaky video as I dance in an effort to encourage him. Clearly I should no longer attempt to dance while recording or, better yet, we need to get ourselves a steady-cam with motion stabilization. Good idea. Bonnie and John are probably in Australia right now and we hope they're having a great time. Remember that the videos can only be watched by visiting toddsherwood.blogspot.com. So long...

AC had his 1st birthday!

And we celebrated with an awesome African-animal themed birthday cake and a great ham dinner. Thanks to all who came and shared in AC's 1st birthday. We wish others could have made it too, but maybe for a future birthday. The first video here is long so be prepared.

This next video was taken about a week after AC's birthday party and shows Arthur playing on his rocking horse Patches. You'll hear us talking about what a big boy Arthur is becoming -- he has started sleeping in his crib, eating "real" food, and he's now in the toddler room at daycare, having graduated from the infant room.

We have also posted some birthday pictures and other pictures on our Flickr site (find links to the right). The pics of Arthur with other little kids and in the tub-of-balls are from his Saturday morning gym class. Bonnie will recognize the locale. Thanks again Bonnie for coming up and being here last week.

Until next time....

Arthur's 1st Christmas

Arthur spent his first Christmas with the Sherwood family in Tekonsha. The family tradition is to open gifts on Christmas Eve, and we didn't get started until 7:30ish. Well, AC was pretty tired by the time things got started so he was a little subdued. He's also still a little young to understand just how excited he should be. You'll see that he was more interested in ribbons and crinkly paper than in his gifts. Next year will probably be a different story. He has enjoyed the two gifts he got from his grandfathers. Grandpa John gave AC a set of golf clubs which Arthur has found make great weapons around the house. Grandpa Clayton gave AC an old fashioned top which Arthur loves watching spin, and he even comes close to working it himself.

This video was taken a few days after Christmas. It shows Arthur and me playing chase and having a great time. However, he had a little accident at the end of the video....just to put everyone at ease, he was fine. He didn't even cry.

See you sometime next year. Happy New Year!

Finally, some vids of AC walking!

Well, Arthur has actually been walking for a few weeks now but we've been slow to get any decent video of it and even slower about getting it posted on the blog. Anyway, the first video here is a funny video of Arthur and Spike managing to find some common ground. You'll see Spike avoid Arthur more than play, but he does play some which is encouraging. And Arthur got a real kick out of it and it's so funny to hear him laugh...


In this second vid, AC shows off his walking skills as I ready myself for work. You'll hear me giggle like an overly giddy new father, so be prepared. Our next posting will probably involve Arthur's first Christmas and opening presents. Until then....

Little AC is 11 months old!

It's hard to believe but our little boy will be 11 months old tomorrow. He's walking everywhere and struggling to get down when we want to hold him but he doesn't want to be held. When did he start becoming so independent?

We've added a few pics to the "Arthur month 10" link, and we've also added both the month 11 and month 12 links. Sorry no new video, but we do have new photos.

Until next time...which might be Christmas themed videos of AC opening some presents and playing with new toys!

AC's 1st Thanksgiving

Here's a nice photo of Arthur in Tekonsha sometime after Thanksgiving dinner.










And here's some video taken just before and during Thanksgiving dinner. Arthur had a great time. While he didn't have any turkey, he did have some sweet potato puffs to keep with the Thanksgiving theme.

This second video is largely of Verli Dee's and Sheryl's visit. Verli Dee was one of my best childhood friends and Sheryl was one of AC's Aunt Jane's best friends. They both grew up just two doors down from AC's Grandma and Grandpa Sherwood's house. AC continues to improve his walking and he can walk nearly as fast as crawl now so the whole crawling thing will probably come to an end before too long.
Until next time....

Arthur gets baptised & starts to walk!

Arthur was baptised on Sunday the 22nd of November and, of course, we took video of the event. Now....I'll warn you, this video is long and the sound quality is poor and you can't even see things all that well. Nonetheless, here it is. And we promise to never quiz anyone about whether or not they actually watched it in its entirety. You can zip to roughly the....6 or 7 minute mark (roughly) where you'll find some video of the dinner afterward (not that the dinner video is any more exciting or anything, but at least you can see people a little better).

Arthur has also started walking. This video is a little dated now (sorry for the slow posting job being done by the blog master). This was taken right around the time AC stared getting himself up off his hands and knees. He's actually progressed considerably since this video was shot and he no longer needs his "walky thing" to help him walk.
Until next time....

AC's first Halloween

Arthur really likes going to the mall and playing in the play zone. Everything is padded and there are usually lots of kids. He made a couple of friends on this day and also showed some new behavior by trying to escape the play zone. We're not sure why.


In this video, AC goes trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Not much happens here but you get to see Arthur dressed up as Yoda and he's pretty darn cute. He'll hate this video one day, but oh well, that's part of our responsibility as parents -- to embarrass him in public.


AC is getting closer and closer to walking. At least in our opinions. You might think we're crazy to think so after watching this video since he never really walks. But, there are signs....he's close. Of course, we're not sure that's a good thing or not. But it's awfully cool seeing him progress even though he's progressing toward making our lives more difficult.
Until next time....

AC's latest visit to the big city of Tekonsha

We had dinner in Tekonsha on Sunday the 24th and, of course, had to take some video to commemorate the occasion. You'll see AC getting closer to walking by standing on his own. He does this more and more. He can't go anywhere yet, but he does stand on his own. He is also getting more teeth - he looks a bit like a jack-o-lantern with his two front bottom teeth and one on top. Oh, and we're celebrating Cathy's new job! She starts on Monday the 9th of November as a full fledged nurse, and we're very proud of and happy for her. Until next time....

It's been a while....

Sorry we haven't posted much lately. Just to make you thankful of that fact, we're posting a longer than usual video this time (someone didn't feel like doing a lot of editing). Arthur keeps getting bigger and more steady on his feet. He has a third tooth coming in - this one on top. Soon he'll be able to chew. He hasn't expanded his vocabulary beyond da-da-da-da-da, but he sure does like saying that.

We also added a few pics to Flickr (click the Arthur month 10 link). Until next time....

AC was rooting for MSU!

Which is very untrue since he has no idea what's going on yet, but his dad was happy with the outcome of the game the other day. This post is mainly a way of letting you know that we've posted a few pics of Arthur on our Flickr site (see the "Arthur month 9" link) and, of course, to get a jab in at the UM fans out there (I gotta boast when I can because my opportunities are generally few and far between).

AC is now nearly 9 months old! Hard to believe. Until next time...

AC goes to Florida!

AC took his first airplane ride to visit Gramma Bonnie and Grampa John in Florida. He was great on the plane - he slept the whole way there and the whole way back. While in Florida, AC got to meet his Great Grandma Bette (whose husband Arthur is named after) and his Great Grandpa Henry (John's dad). Unfortunately we didn't get a photo of the four generations (Bette, Bonnie, Cathy, Arthur) sitting together. Next time we must do that - let's all remember!


Here's a video of our travel day to Florida and AC's first meetings with his great grandparents.


AC also got to go swimming for the first time. He was a little apprehensive at first, but he really seemed to enjoy it once he got used to it. Every day after this first day he got quite excited when his new swim trucks were being put on him.


Only a week or so after returning from Florida, AC has expanded his vocabulary. Here's a video of him saying "Da Da" for the first time. He is too saying Da Da.

AC crawling & standing & flirting like such a big boy

Arthur had a great Labor Day weekend at Gramma & Grampa Sherwood's house. Here he is with all of his latest girlfriends. These are Tim and Tony Jenkin's daughters and AC was on cloud nine flirting with the whole group. You'll find a few more pics via the "Arthur month 8" link to the right.


A few days before, AC had fun with his favorite toy. We think it's so strange that his favorite toy (right now anyway) is this timeless classic (the plastic doughnuts on the post). I guess that's why it's a classic - even today it makes for a great toy.

And here's a video that shows that it won't be long before he's walking.
This starts a couple of weeks ago when he first pulled himself up onto his knees and peeked over the rail of his pack-n-play. The same day, we got some shots of him taking his first crawling "steps" (in a forward direction anyway). Then, only ten days later, he was pulling himself up to stand. He now crawls all over with little effort and we can't turn our backs for a second or he's into something. Where did our little sleeping blob of flesh go? Oh, and on September 5 & 6 in Tekonsha, even though we don't have video, he pulled himself up routinely and steadied himself for extended periods. Ahh, he's changing so fast. Until next time...

AC tries his hand at race car driving

Here's a shot of AC after winning a recent race at Michigan International Speedway. He says it was fun and exciting, but one race is enough for him. Now it's on to something else. And after all, how challenging can race car driving be when you win your first and only race....and you're only 7 and a half months old?

AC gets his first real haircut!

OK, first let me apologize because we're posting two new videos that are LOOOOONNNG, much longer than our usual vids. I wanted to get them posted but didn't want to take the time to edit them so they're being posted in their original length. All I did was add titles and credits. So be prepared because they're both around 4 minutes long.

This first video was shot on Sunday August 16, 2009 (Happy Birthday to Cathy by the way - she turned....drum roll please.....40 on Sunday the 16th. And Congratulations to Cathy because she has just finished nursing school and we're very proud of her.) After coming home from Cathy's bday dinner at The Real Seafood Company, we decided to give Arthur his first real haircut. He was such a good boy. He looks so grown up and mature at times while getting his haircut that's it's kinda scary. Right afterward we put him in his first bubble bath. He seemed to get a kick out of that. Here it is.

This next video was shot on August 7, 2009. It shows AC and Cathy playing on the floor. It's long, but he was having so much fun and laughing that I couldn't bring myself to edit anything out. So you get the whole thing. Enjoy.

AC shows he's related to his dad...

AC continues to grow bigger every day and he gets more and more fun all the time. He's starting to show signs of crawling by getting up onto his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. He's now 7 months old, by the way. Can you believe it? We've posted a couple of vids this week. One shows AC falling asleep in his crib - kinda funny. I missed several of his head bobs but got at least one in this vid.

This second vid is just a hodgepodge of various things. There's a short stretch showing AC burb up on Bonnie. That's followed by....just stuff. Enjoy.
P.S. Special thanks go out to Aunt Jane and Cousin Johanna for coming down last monday to babysit for The Squibs while daycare was closed for summer break. It was much appreciated. Until next time....

Sunday breakfast on July 19, 2009

Bonnie & John came to visit AC and to go to the Art Fairs a little over a week ago today. Here's the video we shot while at Sunday breakfast the day after the art fairs ended. To see the video, be sure to visit us at toddsherwood.blogspot.com. Until next time...

We've posted AC's professional photos

This is just a quick post to let you know, if you're interested, that we've posted some professional photos of AC on our Flickr site. You can find the full batch by following the "AC daycare photos from May 2009" link to the right. And remember, you can get a better experience by going directly to the blog website rather than simply reading the email message. You can find the blog at toddsherwood.blogspot.com. Until next time...

AC the Michigan Jumping Bean

Here's a quick video of AC in his new jumper activity center thing. He seems pretty tickled with it so far. AC has a clean bill of health by the way, so there are no worries following our last post. Everything is just fine.
Until next time...