Visiting Poppa & Grandma

Climber Baby

On Friday, in one swoop, Blake figured out how to climb stairs. For a couple weeks now he'd been eyeing them but hadn't made any big moves yet. Grandma was unloading the dishwasher & could hear him playing over by the stairs. When it got quiet she went to investigate. She stepped just a bit around the corner, no Blake -- maybe he made it up a step? Stepped further around the corner, still no Blake -- looking around the living room wondering where he crawled to. Stepped all the way around the corner to find him six stairs up!

  
And he did it with a ball in each hand!

 After watching him climb a few stairs, it's a good thing he kept going that first time -- when he's done he tries to sit back (his escape when standing) which would have sent him tumbling down the stairs.

 He's pretty pleased with himself.

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"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Mazama 2013

 Lost River, Mazama, Washington

Memorial Weekend (year four?)

JERPS, Mattney, Davlyn, Leviza, Bandy, Ashlic, Grantly, Johnann

First agenda item: rerouting the stream

We got the same camp we had last year, a favorite because a small offshoot of the river runs right through camp -- easy dishwashing & beer cooling. We arrived this year to find the stream all dried up. Not that they need one, but this provided a great reason for the boys to play with the river & they set to work diverting it through camp again. They dug channels & moved rocks about 100 yards up from our campsite & within two hours we had water running through camp again. I had visions of waking up to everything underwater in the morning but the stream followed the boys wishes & flowed through camp, rejoining the river another 100 yards or so downstream.

Camp life is good.

This was Blakey's first camping trip -- it was also his cousin Myles' first camping experience. They both did great.

Sleep & keeping them warm were the most challenging aspects. Our first night was a bit rough, as it was trial & error to figure out how to keep Blake comfortable. Each night got progressively better & we surprised ourselves by staying all three nights! His Patagonia fleece bodysuit proved to be worth much more than its $4.99 price tag & has solidified its place as the best Goodwill find ever.

While there was an occasional overwhelming moment with juggling everything, it was outweighed by how much fun it was to watch Blake experience it all. If he could tell us, I imagine his highlights would be hanging out with everyone around the campfire (he got lots of quality play & snuggles with Auntie Boo & Ashley) & playing in the dirt. Early morning was one of my favorite times, as he snuggled with us or crawled around the tent, the sun streaming in the open tent flap.

Inevitably most photos are of Blake, but I did get one or two from our hike also.

Myles loved playing in the dirt. One night after dinner, he got himself especially dirty & David suggested he take a bath in the dutch oven that our dinner had recently been cooked in! The boys each had a turn in the cooking pot, enjoying it & all the attention immensely.

We did get in a little biking on our favorite Sun Mountain -- it was a first for me to pull Blake & the first time he'd been on mountain trails. The bumpy ride seemed to make him sack out in the trailer even more than usual.

By the last night, the stream through camp had a full-fledged waterfall & beverage cooling pool.

Of course a boat race was next.

The rules: boat must have an opening, must complete the race with its two bottle cap passengers intact & the passengers cannot be secured inside in any way. The entries were pretty creative, including a party barge (the milk carton). The competition was fierce, with lots of hollering & swearing (& one minor injury) as boats got stuck along the way. I don't remember who won, probably because it was hotly contested.

All in all, it was a big success for our first camping trip as a family of three.

Oral Fixation

Everything these days is going into Blake's mouth. I picked a gorgeous week to take vacation & we spent a chunk of time outside today. Lots of crawling around & exploring & tasting everything along the way. Leaves are particularly interesting, so I gave him spinach & lettuce leaves from the garden. He especially liked dunking the lettuce in his pool water & then sucking on it.

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"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

9 years

Quiet Sunday evening, bone-tired (what a strange expression...)

It's been a really busy weekend -- yesterday we had 3 kids for 9 hours & today I helped host a bridal shower. More on both of those later, but right now I need to catch up on events from a couple weeks ago!

May 22nd was our ninth wedding anniversary.

That special day was photographed by Jim Garner, who I wanted so badly for our wedding that we planned the date around him (I found him from my friend Jessica's wedding). It was by far the most expensive part of our wedding and we have over 900 gorgeous, fun photos to show for it. Sidenote: this was right before the digital revolution, so all our wedding photos are 35mm, which I am looking forward to transferring to digital soon! Since 2004, Jim has become a world-renowned photographer, making him pretty much financially unobtainable for future photo sessions. Last summer my friends Katie & Rob (whose wedding was also photographed by Jim) saw a Living Social deal for an affordable photo shoot with Jim. Being generally wonderful people, they gifted the deal to us for our arriving baby! I waited for the perfect time to use it...after the baby acne was gone, once Blake could sit up, etc. As timing would have it, we ended up booking the shoot on our wedding anniversary.

We showed up on the 22nd with a few photos from our wedding & new baby in tow. Jim got a kick out of it, exclaiming multiple times about how he couldn't believe it was 9 years ago today!

Sometimes I can't believe it's been 9 years. We've done a lot in that time & have gone through changes.  There have been glorious, easy times & really, really tough times. This 10th year of marriage is a big one, as we raise our son together & learn & grow in parenting & in our relationship. The joys, struggles & growth of the past 9 years has helped prepare us for this & the transition to parents has been fairly smooth for both of us. Obviously Blake being a relatively easy baby is a big help, but I also credit the work & communication we have poured into our relationship for more than a decade (we've been together almost 13 years!). I'm really proud of us & have so much joy for the little family we have built. Number 9 & 19 have always been my numbers -- here's to celebrating 9 years & to the future ahead of us!

8 Months

Somehow, our sweet Blake is 8 months old today.

I can hardly believe that the big baby who now takes up my entire lap is the same teeny baby I held in one arm last fall. We don't know exactly how big he is, as his last well check was at 6 months, but he's well over 28" tall & more than 20 lbs. He still doesn't have any teeth!

Every day seems to bring new developments...

• Crawling for 6 weeks now, he's very fast & efficient.
• Just in the last week he's started pulling himself to his feet, on the table legs, the couch, my legs, the crib rails. He's now doing it consistently & is thrilled with his new skill.
• Understands the signs & words for "milk" & "eat." When you sign either to him, he makes eager little grunting sounds & wiggles in excitement.
• New sounds & pitches are coming out of his mouth constantly. He especially likes to say "da-da-da" right now (much to Levi's delight), while I am encouraging him to sound the occasional "ma-ma."  :)

He is still the most charming little boy around, sharing a smile with everyone he meets.  People (& animals) fascinate him & he wants to "say hello" to everyone he encounters -- just tonight he was craning his neck to get a glimpse of the solicitor at the door. Little people are especially interesting. He loves to spend time with his cousin Myles & the other babies in our PEPS group, though he has no concept of personal space & wants to pet & climb all over everyone. While he smiles without even thinking, his giggles are harder to come by.

He makes us laugh every day with his funny little antics  -- he especially likes to blow raspberries. Last week we were out driving & he was crying in the car. Levi blew raspberries to try to distract him -- he stopped crying long enough to blow a raspberry in response, then went back to crying.

Other favorites include:

• Helping unload the dishwasher
• Bouncing on your knee to the song "this is the way the cowboy rides"
• Banging his stacking cups on any available surface
• Green peas & black beans
• Rolling plastic containers across the wood floor
• When Grandma arrives on weekday mornings
• Playing in dirt or bark, taste testing select pieces

In case anyone thinks he's too wonderful...he still rarely sleeps through the night. While his wake ups are brief, for the most part, he is in a phase of not wanting to go to sleep unless he is being held & rocked. A people-person, even in sleep. :)

We love you, Blakey!

There's a lot of standing happening over here...

 

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"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."