It's Christmas!

As one would guess... Boden had one fine and dandy Christmas. Because we're so spread out- he's been having a bit of a prolonged Christmas... a little here at the homestead with ma and pa. Some down with Bedstefar and Barb. Quick trip to the west slope to be with Grandma and Grandpa Mac, and Great Boppa... and a just a touch of Grandma and Grandpa Petersburg- and look what you got.

In no particular order of significance, Boden was lucky enough to get his first ATW (all-terrain wagon), a

moose suit, one jim-dandy bugling elk, an Auntie Mylea hat, a talking dump truck, magical puppets to make his parents get to work- and a very large assortment of clothes and other spoils.

The action started early- before Christmas day in fact- when the little super genius began tearing into presents ahead of time. But, after holding the kid off, reading the Christmas story early in the morning with the family and graciously allowing his poppa a cup of coffee- it was on. Unfortunately, his great Boppa introduced him to a cup o'joe as well- but we're hoping it won't stunt the little guy's growth. Besides, I'm guessing he'll grow up a coffee snob.

Now we're all back home and waiting to get back started into the regular ole swing of things. Of course- we couldn't get here without a quick stop along the way for a major blow-out of the shorts along the highway... but hey- let's spread a little Christmas cheer at Starbucks- shall we? I told you the boy was a coffee snob.

That is all. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

The Bo-Hawk Expands

Enough Said. Okay, I'll say more. Boden's hair is certainly getting thicker. If it the boy hasn't visited a bath tub in a bit, it actually will start to flop over and look like he's trying one nasty comb-over.

But- But!... on those fine days (every other to be exact), when Mr. B. is straight out of the scrubbing place, this is the final result. Very fine head of hair if you ask me...

Moving Along

Steph and I have been thinking that Boden might decide not to crawl. We both know that crawling is a normal part of baby-hood... but Mr. B. really doesn't like his stomach so much. At seven months, he really doesn't show a whole lot of ambition to get up on his hands and knees.

We think that our thoughts might be confirmed with some recent events. It seems that if you'll give him just a little support, Boden would be happy to run around just about every where on his two bowed legs. And just today- he's figured out that if you're not willing to help, he'll just roll on over to whatever it is he wants.

The real genius in all of this is the multi-pivot rolling it takes to get hither and yon. It might take the little fella a few starts and gos to get the right angle on the chewy thing- but by-golly, he'll get there. We spent a good half hour tonight watching the goober steam roll everything in sight. Its a sure sign... he's not messing around with any of this crawling crap.

Carry on.

What's in there?

We happen to believe one of the many indications of Boden's super-geniusness is his shear curiosity for just about everything. And I do mean everything. There's a reason we think he's going to be left handed...

But I digress. The curious little bugger has discovered that anything that looks like a basket must contain toys. And more specifically- toys for Boden. He's figured out that there is a bunch of stuff that must hold all kinds of stuff for him... pockets, bags, the refrigerator, lamp shades- you name it. We've only caught the toy basket on camera, but its funny to watch.

Life should be so good for all of us. By the way- watch out for stuffed otter butts.

Mr. Snotty

One of the quirks that has developed with Boden over the past seven months- is that he has a propensity for colds, ear infections and snotty noses. Of course- this might be the same with any little kiddo... but it sure seems like a lot here. The little guy can positively identify the saline bottle coming to get stuck up his nose- and he's fairly tired of being gagged with antibiotics. But he's getting tougher by the day.

The upside to this all- is that Mr. B. has really started to enjoy the time steaming in the shower and letting the boogies drain out. Unfortunately, the ole camera doesn't work well in the foggy environments. But we thought we'd pass along what we could.

Hope you enjoy!

Christmas, Christmas Time is Near!

Mr. B is getting his share of the holidays this year already. We had full intentions of making him wear a little head band with feathers the other day. But instead- we settled for prune "hand-turkeys" that the grandparents got. So they didn't taste that good- but Stephanie made the best of it.

Also- Boden got to go on his first Christmas Tree hunt...er- ladder fuels reduction trip. My friend let us remove some nasty undergrowth and help protect the forest around his house.

Anyhow, after a little fried turkey at Auntie Lisa and Uncle Dennis' house, Boden is fat and ready for fudge and sugar cookies. I think it'll work out just fine for us here at the Petersburg house. If only we could do something about the 5 degree high for the weather, we'd be in really good shape.

Hope all is well with you guys. Merry Christmas!

Sweet Taters... hmmm, Rice Cereal... hmmm, What's not to Like?

I think that Boden is progressing in the food department. The problem is that the kid has decided to combine all of his fun into one glorious event. Not only can he eat with gusto, but he can fling with gusto, flail with gusto, and babble with gusto... All at once! We're feeling fairly fortunate that Boden is a big open-mouth smiler... It provides ample time to get ye ole sustenance into the oral cavity. We can only provide the opportunity and guidance. What he doesn't with it is his own personal choice...

Wrestling 101

Prior to becoming an old, washed up, has-been... I used to wrestle. Wrastling came later in life... that's a whole different story. This is a public forum. At any rate- I was hoping that Boden would inherit something that wrestlers call "mat-sense"... its kind of the instinct to put you where you want to be and when you want to be there. Its a hard thing to teach. However- the very earliest inklings of mat-sense will generally entail- and usually in the strongest of urges- to never, ever, ever turn you shoulders to the ground. We're still working on this one. Its fairly apparent that Boden has the fine physique, unparalleled athletic ability and intestinal fortitude to become a tremendous wrestler- But he's got to keep his shoulders off the mat! He'll get there. Counting the lights is only fun when your six months old...

Hunk O'Man

Mr. B just turned six months here recently... It's gone by super fast. I thought that I should update you on all the latest significant developments.

The feller is starting to stretch out just a bit- but he's kind of a little bugger still at this point. He's growing- that's for sure, bu

t right now, he's kind of taking after his momma in the size department. We'll see... the little guy started eating bit of cereal and some fantastic sweet potatoes in the last ten days. Protein shakes start in December... That ought to bulk him up a bit.

The Bo-hawk is alive and well. The only really change to it is that Boden's hair is kind of sprouting in a stripe, so he's looking a little like a british rocker. Not a bad look. Its coming back en vogue.

Curiosity is kind of the driving force right now. Most thoughts contain some sort of paraphrase along lines of "hmmm.... I wonder if the __________ can entirely fit in my mouth. If not, I bet I can bang the _______ against the _________ and find a way to pee on it!" It happens. Not lying here. The boy is focused. I can tell you that many of Boden's favorite things are coffee cups, anything flashing, most dangly things, and items you can gag on. All of which have a niche in life.

Boden has graduated to size 2 diapers. Big step, I know. And we just moved him up to the 3-6 month clothes. Like I said, he's taking after his momma at this point, but I can see that the bone

structure is there to pack on some significant muscle mass... In addition- we sort of think he's going to blow off this dumb ole crawling bit and go straight to the walking. He's got focus, I'm telling you. And... Uncle Todd- I think we have a south-paw. I'm not certain yet, but if I was a betting man... We might be switching our athletic goals from a linebacker to a left-handed pitcher. They're hard to come by.

That's about enough for this rambling. Hope you enjoy the boy...

Breakfast with Bedstafar and Barb

Yes, yes... Boden's shirt does say "My First Danish Shirt". Appropriate for his first breakfast date with grandpa. I'm not sure who is more fun to watch in this video, Lars or Boden.

Boden the Curious

Boden's camera infatuation has been well documented to this point. He recently was able to actually attack the camera- I think it was in an effort to intimidate and send a message to the paparazzi that's been following him.

In some places he could be charged for this kind of outburst- but we'll let it slide this time. If it happens again... I think we're looking at whoopin's.

Hmmm... Goodie.

We had a first today. Stephanie thought it was high-time that we start the boy on some cereal. I was in complete agreement, seeing that the boy is a little dinky at this point. He needs some meat on his bones! So- she bought whatever that cereal stuff is, I mixed in a little protein shake powder, glucosamine and a few raw eggs... and what do you know- he's looking bigger already.

The initial shock of something different was pretty significant- but I think that Boden could suddenly feel his already bulging muscles growing to a spectacular point- at least for a baby. We'll see how this goes. Carbo-loading is coming next. Bacon on the ole baked potato. Hmmm.... bacon.

Pardon the Indecency!

Mr. B. has graduated from the super-bitty baby tub... all the way up to the inflatable duck! Its true, bath time is big time now...

Boden really likes the bath time- especially if he can somehow avoid the soap and the obligatory lotioning that follows... But momma has the final say-so. Anyhow- pardon the graphic pictures here... He was in the pool!

What to do when you can't make snow-angels?!

We've tried a lot of different things to keep from going stir crazy here. It can be a challenge- especially when the snow piles aren't quite big enough to sled down and the snow is just a little too deep to make snow angels... at least for Boden. Believe me. We tried. It didn't go well.

We've had assorted activities. Some more exciting and successful than others. While always trying to appropriately foster Boden's chances of becoming a multi-milllionaire professional athlete through his undeniable and exceptional athletic ability, we are attempting adequately guide his brilliant and ever-expanding mind.

Of the chosen activities over the last 48 hours,
we've attempted the ole pull the blanket on our head trick, stack all the toys around us and knock them own one by one game, the "do absolutely nothing to my hair and see if they all stand up" grooming technique, and are doing our best to instill a sense of passion and faithfulness to all sports teams Colorado through adequate couch-potatoe time (with the exception of CU of course- that would be stupid). Boden might just make a living as a SportsCenter anchor... I'm not sure- but you should hear his quips during the highlights.

At any rate- we hope that you've had fun in the snow too...

The Gigglefest Continues!

Its amazing what you can think of when piles of snow is coming down (24" at last picnic table count, by the way)

Stephanie has discovered that a fake sneeze makes the boy laugh.  Of course- its hard to time out. Between finding the darn camera, keeping Elway the dog from licking my arm, and trying to keep the little bugger laughing- this is a little unsteady... But its funny!  Hope you like it...

The Laughing Fits

We have discovered that its incredibly difficult to capture Boden's laughing fits.  It generally entails one of us continuing to make a fool of ourselves while the other scrambles around the house looking for the camera, deleting something that's already on the memory card and getting into position so that the little guy doesn't discover he's being filmed.  Once you're caught- its all done.  

But- Grandma Nancy was in last week... and she played the one to look like a silly lady while the rest of the family took care of the madness.  We got just a little of the laughing fit- but not all of it.  So- we hope you enjoy.  Its really pretty contagious...

Happy belated birthday Great Grandpa!

Pumpkin Patch

Boden got to take a field trip to the pumpkin patch with good pals Wyatt and Atley...we are thinking he might think its more fun next year, but it made for a good photo op. You'll see in one of these photos that although Boden is not eating solids, he was almost willing to chew his way through a pumpkin to get away from Wyatt when we tried to pose them together. Wyatt was pretty chill about the whole thing. Isn't Atley the cutest little pumpkin!

Four Generations

Hi folks-

I thought that I would share a picture with you that has become an instant classic and favorite.  While my grandparents have 

great grandchildren out the wazoo... They've only had two Petersburg great grandchildren- Soren and Boden.  This past fall we were able to load up, fly to Minneapolis, jump in a car and drive down to Iowa to visit great grandma and grandpa.  Of course- Boden's grandma and grandpa Petersburg were also in attendance- and we were able to get a four generation picture of the Petersburg boys.

Of course, great grandma was well into the action as well- they decided little Mr. B. was alright- even if he didn't fully appreciate the corn.  And check this out- there is proof that Boden's momma did phenomenal with the trip- She's a pretty darn good momma.

At any rate- I hope you all enjoy...

Winter has Arrived!

We went super quick from fall to winter this year- who knows- maybe it'll go back.  But we're not holding our breath.  Mr. B. here has been thrown right into this cold stuff.  We thought we'd ease him into it with a trip to the ole pumpkin patch (more on that later)- but it went from corn stalks to snow piles in no time.

Boden's first day to school in stinkin' cold weather was in the 6 degree range- right out of the blue.  We thought it was just a passing thing... you know, half a foot of snow, see your breath, stick the tongue to the flag pole- but here two days later we're in the middle of getting some feet of snow.  Not sure how much yet- but we're at about two feet with a day to go in the storm.

He really didn't mind it at all when we launched him off the deck into a pile of snow.  Stephanie was a little uncomfortable with it- but we sent the dog in right after to fish him out...  Just kidding.  We're only allowed to look and not touch at this point.  But it would be fun.  Maybe next winter.

Anyway- that is all from the home front.  Since we're all stuck inside with the snow (oh yeah, except for the guy shoveling- several times), you're bound to get a few more blog updates in rapid succession.  Stay warm!

So We've Been a Little Slow...

Okay, Okay- we've heard from the peanut gallery that we need to get on it a little bit.  Please forgive us- a lot has been going on in the last month.

Mr. B. is in the throws of teething.  Combine that with a serious slobber-knocking, snot-bubble blowing, huck-a-lugi cold... and the beginnings of an attitude- and it's been a bit of a ride with this little feller.

As of today, Boden is about 5 and a half months.  He's starting to really expand his personality beyond his super genius, chick-magnet capabilities.  He's really a happy little bugger- and he's become fairly infatuated with trying to get everything in sight and in reach- directly into his mouth.  He did have his first roll-over extravaganza on October 1st, went to his fourth wedding of the season (go Bedstafar!) and has become the happiest man at the local daycare.  Mr. B. has also taken his first airplane flight (wooing the flight attendants of course... anything to get bumped up) and took a stroll on the family tractor and golf cart back in Iowa.  AND- he's figured out how to have laughing fits- at least occasionally.  He's been busy.  So much to accomplish.

Anyway- we thought we would throw you out a new video a couple of pictures.  The Bo-Hawk lives on!

New Tricks Daily

For one day- we experienced a truly unique phenomenon. It would seem that Boden decided to try and play the air Mouth-Harp. There's yet to be a video game to come out that could exploit this particular niche (like guitar hero), but perhaps we're on to something. The only dilemma is that Mr. B. seems to have a bit of laziness about him, and will only perform with the use of someone else's finger. I don't quite understand him. I've raised the boy to be more motivated than that.

The Ladies Man Strikes Again!

Recently- Boden was dedicated at our church and as part of the festivities, he invited all of his phat friends over to hang. It turned out to be quite the shindig until things got a little out of hand...

As you can see- Mr. B. is having a few words with Courtney. He's not looking for anything serious- just a good time with a hot little lady. Courtney's sister Samantha is going out with Soren (at least that's what we believe, if such a thing happens in heaven). Seeing what was happening from across the room, Atley abruptly butts in trying to snag the attention of this hot hunk of man. Thankfully, there were adults near by to keep things tame- but you can get the idea of what could have happened here. Could of been ugly... I'm telling you- this guy has more moves at four months old than I could have ever hoped for...

My Toes, My toes!

Mr. B's world is rapidly expanding. It would seem that he's seeing much farther beyond his crib, mommy's shoulder and the pacifier that's coming his way. In the last couple of weeks, Boden has discovered two major things; his toes and his lungs. Thankfully, his little dunlap has yet to prevent him from seeing down the length of his legs- and the decibels have increased substantially.

There's really no better way to demonstrate these to immense discoveries than to let you see a little bit for yourself. Admittedly, there does happen to be "daddy-assist" documented here- but don't hold it against me. Enjoy...

SOREN'S DAY

September 21, 2007, our first son, Mr. Soren James Petersburg, joined us down at St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver. Stephanie and I had been waiting so long to meet the little guy, and had endured months of anxiety and wondering and what-ifs for Soren to arrive. At 11:39, Dr. McDuffey (yes- like the duck) delivered the little guy and we were all, quite frankly, ecstatic...

We had found out months before that Soren would face some problems. Without going into too much detail, Soren had been diagnosed with

something called hydrocephalus, in utero. It was later re-diagnosed to include something called Dandy-Walker syndrome. The good doctors did their best to re-assure us, and let us know that most often babies that are diagnosed early can be fairly well treated. We all spent months watching and praying, and realizing that Soren's condition inside Stephanie was not improving, but remained hopeful and prayerful that God would work us a miracle. When Mr. Soren joined us, he hit the ground doing amazingly well and with seemingly no difficulties whatsoever. For a few hours, we thought that God had answered our prayer.

Just before mom and dad and new son were ready to go back to the room, Soren stopped breathing and we all made the trip to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit- the NICU. We hoped that Soren just needed a little regulating and some early help, and all things would return to normal.

For several days, the little fella went through all kinds of testing- you name it... blood tests, x-rays, CTScans, eye exams- whatever the good doctors could think of. On the 24th, the docs believed they could see in the images that Soren didn't have hydrocephalus or Dandy-Walker, but something incredibly rare called Lissencephaly. The problem was that all of the the hundreds of blood tests that should have confirmed the diagnosis from his brain images came back negative. We were told that we were in "uncharted waters." That's not a great feeling.

After about six weeks in the NICU, we were able to get in touch with the expert on lissencephaly out of the University of Chicago. After he took a look at everything, we were informed that little Soren was very likely the 20th child, internationally, to be diagnosed with a freakishly rare thing called "lissencephaly with cortical changes- group C." The reason no body knew about it was obvious- and in all of the scientific literature out there- exactly one paragraph had been written about it... mostly as a side note. Almost a year and a half after that news, we received additional information from the University of Chica

go that Mr. Soren was in even rarer company- He was one of three children ever found to have the specific genetic "misspelling" in his DNA to cause the darn thing.

Stephanie and I spent about seven weeks in the NICU with Soren. We saw truly amazing things happen in there. What we realized is that God did give us a miracle- and that he had different and better plans- even if we didn't agree with them. He did answer our prayers- they just weren't always the ones that we really hoped he'd answer. God sustained us, he blessed us, and he gave us 51 of the most incredible days with our little boy. We were able to spend more hours than any parent ever has with their newborn in 51 days. We saw God's army organize, we saw His power through prayer and through the goodness of others. We literally had God answer our very specific prayers within an hour at times. We received His grace and could see God glorified through all that had happened- and we both can say that we have been so incredibly blessed through it all.

Soren had little question mark ears, and macaroni pinkies.

He had sandy brown hair the color of Stephanie's and had perfected the open-mouth breathing technique. We got the most fun out of bath time with the little guy. He'd wake up and scream, and smile just a little. Stephanie and I would go back to the Ronald McDonald house la

te at night and struggle to even want to wash our shirts because we were so excited about the drool marks from our son across our shoulders. Soren is truly amazing to us- and perfect in every sense of the word for his mom and dad. We have felt so fortunate that we were chosen to be his parents.

Soren's care-givers were amazing. They made him their own son. Becky and Patty and Terri sang to him and rocked him and held him for all they were worth. His other nurses did the same, and Dr. DeMarie treated him better than any other baby in the place. His care was phenomenal-

We were able to bring Soren home on November 8th, and had him at home for a little over 36 hours. We are so thankful that he was able to leave his impression on our home and our lives. Mr. Soren is dancing now- and better than he ever could have here. He left a few hand-me-downs for his little brother and taught his parents all kinds of things. God has been good to us-

Soren would be two years old today. We hope and plan to make September 21- Soren's Day- special every year. Last year we were able to share the news with our friends and family that Soren was going to have a little brother. This year, Stephanie and I spent the day making memory boxes to take back down to the NICU- for families in circumstances similar to ours. We hope that Soren's day can be a day to serve, to remember our little guy, and a day to be thankful and to glorify our God. We hope it can be for you too.