a first: the cold

we knew he was bound to get sick for the first time at some point.

the cold that is no doubt from all that splashing in our cold neighborhood splash pad.

at least he's still smiling. and thank goodness for humidifiers.

Yes he does.

8 teeth!

8 teeth=almost a 3rd hand in Eli's world.

(don't worry, he's not going far with a domino in his mouth)

weekends are meant for loosening up...

Clothing optional-style.

Splashing

jumping on the bed

His favorite place to stand.

Lately he's been bouncing quite a bit while holding onto the rails and making baby squeals of joy. It's quite the sight to wake up to.

playing

evening walk

martian mother and child

Gotta love photo booth.
I think I laughed for a solid 10 mins.

Eli mostly just looked at me like I was crazy.

(an attempt at) camping

 It was a nice idea. Moon's weekend between rotations, free for family time. Why not test out camping with the baby? The only night we could do it was Saturday, so we planned to find a place not too far from Portland. No reservation. Trying to keep it simple. What we couldn't plan for was the 100 degree heat. Hottest day of the year so far. And hottest by a good 10 degrees. But we were still going. So we went and put up the tent and decided to throw on swimsuits and hike to the falls where we could dip in the cool water. The hike proved to be a bit more than we anticipated, though Eli slept the way out and we managed the heat. The water was great. We felt refreshed and headed back. A minor injury and a lost baby sun hat later we were back at camp. Moon's ankle got twisted. He was able to get back without too much pain, but was limping a bit. We were clearly not thinking this would be more than a birkenstock kind of hike (I was thinking more "walk in the woods" actually). So we had a very nice dinner at our campsite and I attempted to put Eli down in stuffy, hot tent and then I realized this was a bit crazy. We tried. But injuries and hot, hot days remind us why we love our climate controlled comfortable homes with beds and furniture we can prop said injured ankle up on. So I suggested we bail. And Moon kind of agreed. And Eli happily sat in his carseat talking to his toys while we packed up camp and called it good. The hike really was pretty amazing. And we enjoyed all of the camping gear we took with us (Eli played in tent, we used stove for dinner, etc.). It lead me to wonder if we're onto something... could daytime camping be the new thing? We drove home along the Columbia River to a really, amazingly beautiful sunset. With the AC on. And didn't look back... except to look at our darling, little baby who was clearly never going to go to sleep in that tent.

crawling

About an hour ago, with mommy and daddy standing by, getting dinner ready with Olympics in the background, our little man crawled clear across the floor for the first time. For the gold. It was perfect. We always knew he had it in him ;).

how to finish a project

1) come to terms with the fact your baby will interrupt your sewing

2) when he wakes from nap, cuddle him, change him, and then put him into his chair with a cracker.

3) and hand him some remnants of fabric while at it.

4) it helps to be within 10 mins of being done with project.

Feels so good to complete something (other than laundry and dishes ;).

baby in a box

Eli's carseat arrived today. And with it a great, big box!!

a day in our life...

It starts out simple enough. 

Eli wakes up and then promptly sits down to memorize the African Nations on his trusty globe. (we've memorized all but Africa at this point ;). 

Then we go to the library. And if Eli reads me five books to my satisfaction, he is rewarded with some swinging at the nearby park.





He also gets to play in the grass.

Then we return home to lunch, where he is fed a strict diet of brain enhancing edamame and water.

Yeah, that's about how it goes down around here... ;)

splash pad

This is about a block from our condo, and Eli loooves it.

Wakeful playtime

I usually nap with Eli once a day (usually afternoon). I find it helps him sleep longer, I need the rest, it's such a sweet and important time for me to have with my otherwise very active baby, and I'm just a better mama to my baby after even just a short nap. I use his other nap to do something fun (like clean ;). When I wake up it's usually to a baby who has been rolling and climbing all around me. I love these playful times with my happy, rested, silly boy.