Stanford Mall with the Lawsons
This past Saturday Janet took Derek to the mall with her so Matt and I could get a few things done around the house. This was Derek's first experience riding in a car and going out without mom or dad. He did fantastic. Janet's two boys, Caleb and Asher, decided to skip their naps so Tim brought the boys to mall and they all hung out. Here are several pictures Janet took of the adventure. Thanks again Janet and Tim for watching Derek!

Weeks 15 & 16

Several times we have caught Derek giggling. Apart from smiling it is a new favorite way to have him interact with us. It is hilarious to watch us when he giggles because we will continue to do whatever it takes to keep him giggling. He is such a happy boy!!! In addition to giggling Derek has been exploring the higher pitched noises that his voice can make. I cannot even mimic him because the pitch is so loud. Jogging with Derek is so much fun. He loves to chat during the run. It is super entertaining to listen to him and before you know it the run is over. Derek loves to play naked! When that diapers is removed he goes nuts, moving all over the place (arms and legs). Often we let him play naked and he wiggles all over the place. Don't worry we are always prepared for him to pee (learned that the hard way :)).
One morning I was checking my email and when looked over to see what Derek was up to, this is how I found him. Ever since then he has been trying to roll over from his back to his stomach. He tries so hard, but his arm gets in his way and he needs a gentle push from us to get him onto his belly. When he makes it to his belly he gets so excited. I can tell he likes the way things look when he is in this position. He smiles and chats as he looks around. He keeps working on this new trick and before long he will be rolling over by himself.

Derek's stomach muscles have also gotten much stronger in the last few weeks. Since discovering his feet, he is constantly lifting them in the air and rubbing them together. They are usually only on the ground when he is standing.

Derek seems to prefer standing now to sitting. When we try to have him sit he will stick out his legs keeping them straight and making it hard to be in the seated position. He loves the new view he has when he is standing. He will stand anywhere.

Over the past few weeks we have introduced Derek to several new toys. The first thing he usually does with them is put them right to his mouth. It has been neat to watch the transition of playing that goes on in the "gym." In the beginning Derek used to get so excited over the lights and squeal with delight. Now he is able to grab onto the toys and interact with them while chatting and squealing.

I have also noticed that Derek is using his hands and fingers in a new way. He is not just holding objects anymore, but feeling them. He holds onto his bottle and feels your hands, face, clothing etc. So neat to watch him explore and learn!!

Visit from Family

This past weekend Derek was able to meet some more relatives. My aunts, Karen and Lisa, and cousin Jennifer flew in from out of town. They wanted to visit us and explore San Francisco. My cousin Christina and partner Courtney live in San Francisco and drove to Menlo Park so we could all hang out. We went out to dinner together. It was great to see them and have them meet Derek. Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Great Auntie Karen, Courtney, Great Auntie Lee Lee, cousins Christina and Jennifer (L to R)

Great Auntie Lee Lee and DerekChristina and CourtneyGreat Auntie Karen and I with Derek

Half Moon Bay Brewery
There is nothing better than spending the afternoon with good friends, good food and good beer! This Saturday we headed to Half Moon Bay to hang out at the brew pub with the Towery family. We spent most of the afternoon there. The weather was amazing and the boys were too.

Family Run
Matt, Derek and I went on our first family run this morning. We ran about 2 miles and it felt GREAT to be back running together. Matt and I started our relationship years ago at Circle "A" Ranch (2001) chatting during early morning runs and running together has been a big part of our marriage over the years. So running this morning togetherfelt like old times. Derek LOVED jogging with us. He was looking around and enjoying the ride. He even fell asleep for the last mile! We ended our run at Peet's coffee. The funniest part of the run was that along the way we lost the coffee money. So we sadly walked home without coffee, looking for the money along the way home. I put Derek down for his nap and Matt retraced our steps. Along our route he found the money and came home with our cappuccinos. It was a wonderful morning!

3 Months of Sweetness!

It is hard to believe that our baby boy is now 3 months old! The time has gone by so fast. I LOVE staying home with Derek and I am SO grateful to be able to. Derek has changed so much in the last 2 weeks and continues to be such a happy boy and full of smiles.


We have gotten into a great night time routine. After his evening feed Derek has some playtime and then we give him a bath. After the bath we read and pray together before putting him down. It is quite amazing that during the day Derek does not nap for more than an hour at a time, but after the night time routine he will sleep for about 2.5 and we wake him up to feed him (around 10:00 pm) before we go to bed.
Derek loves to take baths. He likes kicking and playing in the water. He is not so sure whether he likes getting water in his face, but he does not cry. One night, shortly after learning how to grab things, he took his rattle with him in the bath. It was so cute.
He still loves being read to. He looks at the pictures and sometimes starts talking while we read.

Derek loves to grab onto things, especially his rattle. He grabs it, shakes it and takes it with him in car seat. Everything that he grabs goes right to his mouth. He has also started to notice his legs and feet. When he is on the changing table he brings his knees to his chest (while squealing with delight over his sports mobile) and then has this look on his face as his hands touch his knees and feet like "hmmm....what are these?" It is fun to watch him and see him learning so much.

Derek is a happy baby. He is always smiling, giggling and talking to us. When he is carried he looks around turning his head and observing everything. He LOVES standing and usually prefers to stand rather than sit. In the last 2 weeks he has gained almost full control of his head.
Derek is now consistently sleeping 8 - 9 hours a night. This change has been AMAZING! We are so grateful for the extra hours of sleep. It has made a huge difference in our lives. We put him down around 7:00/8:00 pm after the bath. Then wake him up at 10:00 pm and feed him while he is half asleep. Then he usually sleeps until 6:00/7:00. He has gotten really good at putting himself to sleep. He still does not take a pacifier, but does soothe himself with his thumb. It is quite cute. One morning after sleeping 9 hours we went in to wake him up we found him almost at the bottom of the crib. He is a wiggler and a mover! For the most part when we get him up in the morning he has a huge grin on his face and is so excited to see us and start his day.

We have a park right behind our house. Derek and I have enjoyed several trips there. He loves to look around, put his feet in the grass and feel the wind in his face.
Derek continues to take a bottle from anyone and we are so grateful. This has given us such freedom in leaving him with babysitters or allowing me to go out and Matt to feed him. It has been so fun to watch him look up at Matt as he feeds him the bottle. Now when he is being fed a bottle he puts his hands on it like he is holding it.

Go Padres!

Derek is now rolling over on purpose!

Here is a great video of Derek laughing with Dad. Make sure to watch it all the way til the end!

Derek loves to play with his Dad. It is so sweet to see.

We continue to love having playdates with Janet and her boys. Here is Caleb counting Derek's fingers. Caleb loves "Baby Derek" (as he calls him). During our playdate Caleb heard the train off in the distance and said to Derek, "Baby Derek that is the train. It goes choo choo." It was so sweet. I know Caleb will teach Derek many more things this next year.

Week 12
This week Derek started grabbing a rattle or dangling object. It is so cool to watch his hand eye coordination develop. I can just see his mind thinking about grabbing the rattle, learning how to open his fist and wrap his fingers around the object. The minute he grabs hold of the object, it goes straight to his mouth.
Ellen and I continue to meet weekly for playdates with the boys. Derek loves playing with Bryce. I also have joined the Stanford Mom's group and I am learning so much from the other mothers. Thanks Ellen for inviting me!
Derek watched his first Gator football game this week. It was fun to dress him in his Gator outfit! Can't you tell by his face that he already LOVES the Gators? :)
I took Derek to visit my class from last year at Trinity School. The students were so excited to meet him! I got some great responses and questions from the kids - "Mrs. Buman you look so different than the last time we saw you!" (Had a belly then!) "He is soooo cute!" and "Why did you name him Derek?" (I had told them we had not decided on a name and we were waiting until he was born to choose it). It was great to visit them. They gave me lots of hugs and made me feel so loved, but visiting also made me so grateful that I have the opportunity to stay home this year with Derek.

Derek continues to gain more and more control of his neck.

Derek loves to listen to us read him books. Here he is listening to Dad read to him. We are very thankful for all the books we were given. Derek has a great library!

Another huge accomplishment is that Derek slept 7 hours straight four nights this week. And one night he slept 8 1/2 hours. This has been a huge blessing and we hope he continues sleeping these long stretches.

Go Gators!
We are so excited with the start of the football season. It was so much fun to introduce Derek to the Gators and watch the game with him. We started off the morning watching College Game Day and then the Gator Game. We sure do miss being in Gainesville, but are cheering on the Gators loudly from California.

Celebrating 7 Years of Marriage

This year Matt and I celebrated our anniversary in Boston. My parents babysat Derek, while Matt and I went out. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Joe's American Bar and Grill on the waterfront and then walked to the North End for dessert. It was so fun to reflect back on the last 7 years we've spent together and all that we've done. We feel extremely blessed with all the places we've traveled, the cities we've lived in, the friends we've made and the experiences we've had. All of them have made our marriage so full! We are both grateful for these last 7 years and all the tools we've learned about marriage. As we enter this new stage of life, raising our little boy, we are thankful for the years of practice we've had to work on our marriage.

I love you Matt more and more each day! I love how you come home from work and play with Derek. I love how he looks up at you and smiles. I love how you sacrifice for our family. I love how you cherish me, encourage me, and make me feel like the most special woman in the world. I love that I married my best friend!

Gelato in the North End!

Our wedding day - August 15, 2003. We have such fun memories of that day!