Michigan - Week 1

Carsten had stayed awake for the majority of our traveling, so we got on the Eastern Time Zone schedule pretty quickly. He did a good job taking naps, and I usually had to wake him up from his afternoon nap because he was sleeping too long (I think he was in his night-time sleep mode).

As expected, we had a wonderful time with Andy's family in Michigan our first week in Michigan. It was a joy to see Carsten interact with his cousins, especially the twins who are only a couple of months older than Carsten. I think one of my favorite memories was when Carsten chased Vivienne across the kitchen where they both stopped at the step down to the family room. They stood there for a moment until Carsten very casually pushed Vivienne down the step. Don't worry, she was just fine. I think it sticks in my mind because it seemed to be a 'what will this do?' moment for Carsten. Another similar moment was when his 4 month old cousin was in the jumperoo, and Carsten enthusiastically started bouncing her (see photo below). We won't encourage this behavior, but I think it goes to show that kids will come up with stuff like that on their own without prompting.

Carsten helping Julia jump.

Carsten also loved watching and chasing after his older cousins and really seemed to enjoy the new environment. He did not have too much stranger anxiety, and I think it really helped that Mom and Dad Huisman had come with us from Switzerland directly, so he knew them really well before we traveled to Michigan. Mom and Dad have a wonderful yard which was fenced in and since the weather was absolutely beautiful the entire time we were there, we had a ton of fun playing in the yard. Here are quite a few photos of cousin play time:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord :)

 My brother took a job in Holland this summer, so we were able to see him while we were there. Thanks for hanging out with us so much Luke! Carsten enjoyed it very much :).

Uncle Luke and Carsten!

 Feeding 3 toddlers is a challenge, but at Bonnie's B&B, we managed just fine :). So amazing to watch!

Carsten got to play with Andy's old trucks.

Love this :).

Great photo of 4/6 of the cousins!

All 6 grandchildren! Quite a challenge to get this photo...

Uncle Jeff with the boys!

We had so much fun, and it was fun to see Carsten enjoy playing with his cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents. Thanks everyone for taking time out of your schedules to see us! :)

I should also add that Mom and Dad Huisman were amazingly helpful with Carsten, especially when I wanted to get a few things done like some shopping and a haircut. What an amazing treat for me to have babysitters! :)