Step by Step

It's official.  Xavier took his first unassisted steps!  We didn't catch it on video but I'm sure we will soon.  He is 10 months and 3 weeks old.

A few other items of note about Xavier:
-  He loves to eat sweet potatoes, carrots, corn, peaches, and bananas
-  He is not a fan of tomatoes
-  He loves to give and get zerberts
-  He loves to sleep with his butt up in the air
-  He loves the feel of Dad's beard
-  He hates hates hates sombreros

Halloween!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!  

It turns out our neighborhood is a great place to trick or treat so we invited the Riveras over to celebrate the holiday with us.  We had a great time getting and giving out candy all night long.

Camdyn, Reed, and Xavier:

(Xavier is supposed to be Elmo but hated wearing the part of the custom that went on his head)

As an added bonus here are a couple photos from early this morning while Mom was still asleep:

As always, you can see all the photos on my Flickr Account.

The Latest Photos

We've posted the latest photos to Flickr which include our trip to Pullen Park with the Hartnetts (many weeks ago) and the pumpkin patch (last Sunday) with the Riveras and Heyels.  Xavier loved the merry-go-round at Pullen Park and playing with the pumpkins in the patch.

A special thanks to Sara and Barbara for taking a few of the photos!  

Catching Up

Wow.  It's been over two months since our last post.  So, first, we owe an apology.  We've done a horrible job at keeping this updated, and a lot has happened.  Here is our effort at catching everyone up...I'm sure to miss something, but here goes:

- We made sure Xavier got to his first baseball game at Wrigley

- We sold our condo in Chicago in less than three days on the market for above our asking price!

- We moved to Raleigh, NC and moved in temporarily with our friend Kursad, who already had a temporary roommate (Gabrielle).  It was such a full house!
- Sara quit her job at Lyons Consulting Group as of July 30th
- We bought and moved into an awesome home in a great North Raleigh neighborhood

- Sara was hired at Storr Office Enviorments as Marketing Manager starting on Sept 16th
- After many weeks of almost crawling, Xavier now zooms across the floor usually looking for anything dangerous

- Xavier is now 9 months old.  He is 21 pounds and 28 inches long.  He has two bottom teeth with four more poking through on the top.  He loves swings and is still an unbelievably happy baby.

- Xavier is in daycare and is already "graduating" to a new class next Monday!
- Anthony is still working for Ontario Systems but now he has a home office again.

Next week we are looking forward to a quick visit from Grammy and Papa Doudt AND a visit from Aunt Katie and Uncle Jay!!

Peek-A-Boo!

Can you guess where Xavier will pop out next?

More photos and videos are on my Flickr page.

We Have a Tooth!!

It's official, Xavier has his first tooth!  We can feel it popping up on the lower right side of his gums but we can't quite see it yet.  He's drooling all over the place, as he has been for a while, but he's still a happy baby:

Jump Around!!

Xavier enjoying some pears and blueberries



And playing peek-a-boo with the laundry basket


You can see more photos of Xavier eating and jumping around here.

Xavier at Six Months, Cedar Rapids, and More

First things first, Xavier had his six-month checkup today and here are the necessary stats:
Height: 27.25 inches (75%)
Weight: 18 pounds (50%) - we swear he feels much heavier!

Here is a very sweet photo of Xavier looking up at Grandma Wally


A couple weeks ago my brother-in-law, Eric, commissioned me to take photos around Cedar Rapids.  He is building a new office for his company Geonetric and wanted some photos of Cedar Rapids to display when it's finished.  Despite the rainy and cloudy conditions I think we got some good shots.  You can check them out here on my Fine Art America page.  Here is my favorite shot

I also spent some time out in Boise, ID for work.  It was just a day trip but it was really fun going back to where my professional baseball career started.  I was able to take a few shots while I was there.

Flickr Update Goes Wrong

So Flickr updated their website recently, which is usually a good thing, but it's meant pretty much all of my links to photos over the past three years are now broken.  I've gone back and updated some but not all.  When I have time I'll try and go back and update all of the blog posts.  :(

On a better note, I have two new photos sets posted (that should work):
Park at Adams & Sangamon



Agora Sculpture in Grant Park.

Super X-Man!!

Holiday Weekend

Thought I would post a few photos from our Memorial Day weekend.  As usual you can check out more of the photos on my Flickr page.

Xavier looking like a ninja:

A stop light in black and white:

Candles in the funky Lincoln Square shop, Homesoul:

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles ... and Rolling Over

Xavier is just a couple days away from turning five months old!  He is growing up so fast.  Last week, on May 16th, he rolled over from back to belly for the first time.  He now rolls over all the time and even prefers to sleep on his tummy!    

This past weekend we took Xavier on a trip to North Carolina for Chris and Stephanie Hall's wedding.  He did SOOOOO well with all the travel - cars, trains, and planes!  On the flight down to Raleigh, he ate and then slept during the whole flight.  Other than Sara's arm falling asleep and some discomfort sitting in the airline seat, it was easy!  :)  On the flight back, he was a little more fussy but really that was only for a minute and then he ate and slept.  Again, really pretty easy.  He was super smiley (as usual) and happy and flirting with all the girls around us.  Here is a shot of him on the flight down: 

Chris and Stephanie Hall's wedding was on Saturday.  We were lucky enough to stay with Allie and Mike Hartnett (and their adorable baby boy, Harrison) and so we shared a babysitter for the wedding.  We had a fantastic time.  The wedding was beautiful and we of coursed danced the night away.  I'm pretty sure we didn't leave the dance floor for longer than a minute or two (to eat cake probably).  I hear we were referred to as the "Tall Footloose Couple."

The rest of the weekend was filled with catching up with friends and good food.  Our friend, Shannon got Xavier a new book...as you can see it's a big hit:

We had a great time and it was sad to say goodbye to Raleigh and all of our friends:

But we were glad to get back home to Chicago and we all went to bed early (Xavier sleeping on his tummy of course)

Photos of the Rookery Building and more

I have wanted to tour the Rookery Building for quite some time but just hadn't had the chance until last Friday.  It is an amazing building and often overlooked with so many other fun tourist sites, buildings, tours around the Chicago downtown.  If you get the chance you really should check it out during your next Chicago trip.  The quick 30 minute tour costs just $5, but is offered only on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon.  The main lobby atrium is open to the public free of charge Monday - Saturday.

I have many Rookery photos for sale on my website.

Here is one of my favorites of the Oriel Staircase:

While downtown, I took some time to walk around and get more shots of the Red Flamingo sculpture and the Daley Plaza Picasso sculpture:

Finally, I made a quick stop at the Chicago Cultural Center.  Wow, that is a beautiful place too, and all free! These photos are on my Flickr account

New Photos For Sale: Skyline, Construction, and Comiskey

I've posted some new photos to my Fine Art America site for purchase.  I have many Wrigley Field photos and I needed to even it out a little, so I finally got to Comiskey Park (sorry Dad).  Luckily I still pay my Professional Ball Players Association dues so I was able to get a free ticket to the game.  On the way down to the South side I stopped by a construction site and got a few shots of a backhoe which turned out pretty well.  On the way home I spent time at the North Ave beach and got a different view of the skyline.  It was a busy and successful night!

Click here to check out the photos.

X at Four Months

Xavier was pretty excited to go to George's Ice Cream shop.

More fun shots of Xavier on Anthony's Flickr page

Here are his stats at the four month mark:
Weight - 15 pounds (in the 40%)
Height - 26 inches (in the 85%)

He's long and (sorta) lean and happy.  He's sleeping well at night and still doesn't always like the daytime naps.

Time-Lapse Photography

Below is my first attempt at time-lapse photography.  Time-Lapse is the process of taking many photos, at set intervals, of the same fixed view so you can show movement or change over a long period of time quickly.  For example, I took a photo every second for about 5 minutes that resulted in 270 photos.  When made into a video the 5 minutes turns into 18 seconds.  I've noticed that TNT and ESPN use time-lapse when they go to commercial during NBA basketball games.  It can be a really cool effect.

This is looking out the back window on the Brown Line from Southport to Irving Park (thanks to Sara for the idea).  The music is my own creation using GarageBand on my Mac.  I think I might try this again sometime, only I want to take photos over a longer period of time and maybe at a different time of day so there are more people on the platforms and better light.

Busy Weekend

The Doudt family made a quick (overnight) trip to Indiana this past weekend and got to see quite a few family and friends.  We first saw Grandpa Marc, who got some quality snuggle time with Xavier.  We then hung out with Grammy and Papa Doudt where Xavier also got to meet Kadee Howard.  I should also mention that he slept through the night without waking up (8pm-6:45am)!!  We are so proud of our little man!

On Sunday we continued our busy trip with a breakfast stop for donuts and coffee at the amazing and awesome Concannon's Bakery.   Our next stop was Neil and Gina Behrman's house to introduce Xavier and for Sara to get a tour of their cool home (used to be the Morgan's house).  Up next was a visit with David and Megan Haynes so we could meet their new baby boy, Hart, who is so adorable.  As you can see in the photo below, Hart and Xavier seemed to be sizing each other up and ready to square off in their first competition (one of many I'm sure).  :)

On our way back home to Chicago, we made our final stop of the weekend to visit Great Grandma Doudt.  She was so excited to see Xavier again and hold and love-on him.  Xavier chatted up Great Grandma and loved being held by her.

Xavier did great the entire weekend with all the driving and meeting everyone...He is such a happy boy and great traveler! You can see more photos from our weekend on Anthony's Flickr account.

First Nikon D7000 Test Shots

First Nikon D7000 Test Shots, a set on Flickr.I recently upgraded my camera equipment (I made the big switch from Canon to Nikon). Here are a few of the first photos as I learn the new gear.

Likes and Dislikes at 12 Weeks

After 12 weeks (tomorrow) of living, Xavier has grown to like and dislike quite a few things.  Here are just a few of those things:

- LIKES looking left and sucking on his left hand
- DISLIKES looking right
- LIKES riding in his Baby Bjorn as Mom and Dad walk around Chicago neighborhoods
- LIKES riding in his Baby Bjorn as Mom does squats and lunges
- DISLIKES tummy time for longer than 5 minutes
- LIKES to be swaddled
- DISLIKES to be swaddled
- LIKES eating
- DISLIKES anything that gets in the way of him eating
- LIKES looking at the bathroom faucet and toothbrushes
- LIKES Mom and Dad's (questionable) singing even though we rarely remember all the lyrics
- DISLIKES wearing hats
- LIKES Mom's dancing
- LIKES Dad's funny faces and noises
- LIKES bath time
- DISLIKES garbage trucks waking him up
- LIKES looking at the drapes and lights
- DISLIKES napping for longer than 30 minutes
- LIKES the movie La Bamba
- LIKES playing with Eric the spider, Leo the lion and Crabby the crab
- LIKES watching basketball with his Dad

- LIKES watching the Muppets with his Mom (on the TV or the laptop)

- LIKES the Muppet's Mahna-Mahna song

Another One Sold!

Another print sold on Fine Art America!  It's exciting every time!

Xavier's Stats, Photos, and Old Videos

Xavier's stats at his two month check up -
Weight: 11-3 lbs (in the 25th%)
Height:  24 1/4 inches (in the 85th%)

Photos -
Sara took some photos of Xavier (not) enjoying tummy time.

Xavier made his first trip to Iowa where his cousins Elise and Mady loved holding him and even helping with bath time.  They are going to be great babysitters!!  Grandma Wally also got some good snuggle time in.

A couple photos of Xavier riding in his Baby Bjorn as we walked around Andersonville.

Videos -
Sara found this video on her phone of Xavier snorting and cooing.  Xavier was two days old and we were still in the hospital at this point:

And to show just how awesome Xavier is, at five weeks old he rolled over from his tummy to his back.  Sara got video starting half way through this historic moment:

Our Little Man is Two Months Old!

Keeping with tradition, we're posting this a day late.  Yesterday, Xavier turned two months old.  He celebrated by going on two adventures with his mom and dad.  In the morning we walked around Andersonville.  We got some coffee (none for Xavier) and some donuts (he would "eat" that later).  In the afternoon, Xavier went on his first L ride as well as his first bus ride.  He slept through both.

Here are a few photos (a few taken by Grammy Annie):

  

One Month!

In keeping with our previous update, we are not on time with this post.  Yesterday was Xavier's one month birthday!!  He is now 8lbs 12oz, 22 inches long, and still amazingly adorable.   Here is a photo of our man from yesterday...this is his milk-coma face.  :)

Great Grandma Doudt

Great Grandma Doudt, a set on Flickr.  4 Generations of Doudts!

Xavier is 3 Weeks Old!

Technically he turns 3 weeks old tomorrow but we couldn't wait.  Plus, he's sleeping right now so we're taking advantage of the "free time" to write up this post.  

Xavier had a pediatrician check-up today and he is already up to 7lbs 12oz!  He is certainly a good eater.  He's also grown a 1/2 inch, now up to 21 inches.  

We would also like to send out a big THANK YOU to both of our Mom's for helping us out with our little man and bringing all sorts of great food. 

More photos are coming soon (Anthony's first try at professional looking baby shots) but here are a couple to tide you over:  

Xavier Week 2

Xavier Week 2, a set on Flickr.Posting this a little late as he's already 5 weeks old, but this photo shoot of Xavier at 2 weeks is pretty great. A big thanks to Grammy Edie and Sara for their assistance.