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.