Bathtime!!

Mama counting down to picture "one"

"Two"

"Three!"

Oh Henri

Gentle rubs

Henri look this way

But the next morning when Eli is at school we get to play with his toys...

Til our little hearts content.

Brothers

Post nap photos-- grabbed my phone to capture a bit of their brotherly antics

from the trip

Snow in my parents backyard.

To Albuquerque which was cold but without snow.

Then we landed back home with enough travel under our belts for a while! (And by "a while" we mean approximately 10 years! Ha. Ok, the boys were awesome travelers but Moon and I are tired! No sleeping in on these type of trips).

(And then all of the sudden Portlands 50 degree highs felt warm!)

In the snow with my aunt Lisa.

Albuquerque 

Oh Henri.

Then bathtime.

He still fits in these arms, curled up in his bath towel, clinging to the bath toys that emerge from the tub with him and his shiny, clean self.

Painting

Beach time

We found ourselves staying on the Florida side the last few days of our trip. And then went from beach, sand, sun to freezing temps and snow in CO! Oh and another time change. Nothing like 5am wake up to awake little people. Good coffee helps so much while browsing through phone pics. Some sweet memories.

Daddy on long phone call to southwest changing our travel plans yet again!

 

Baby's first Christmas

And it's a southern one.

Complete with big porches to play on.

Muggy "winter" days.

Lots of smiles from all the sweet, southern folks who are very chatty with our baby.

And hearing "ya'll" more than he's used to.

Oh, and that pacifier!! You'd think he's had it forever, but no, added to his life the day before the trip! He loves it. 

Happy 7 month milestone little man! Your sweetness has won us all over...

(Don't tell Eli you were playing with his truck).

Jacksonville Beach Florida

We are staying just twenty minutes or so from the Florida border. And in search of Trader Joes and Whole Foods (no offense Winn Dixie), we set off for Jacksonville Beach. We made a little time for beach play once all the shopping was out of the way. These boys have now touched the Atlantic and Pacific!

I've got Georgia on my mind...

Eli was super excited to fly and had all his gear and snacks in his own bag 

Shopping at the Winn Dixie morning after we arrived. Fire truck cart! Well we tried. Eli seemed to really need both wheels and Henri really didn't care about the whole thing. We kind of looked like fish out of water...

(I believe our cashier, whom my husband had a hard time understanding, said at one point, "wow ya'll buying a lot of produce!").

This is literally across the street from us! A great park with a dock for boats and the water right there. We will start exploring soon but are glad to give ourselves a couple days to adjust. These boys are such good sports about it all--they seem to be getting on local time well and did great on the long travel day out here. 

thoughts on sharing a room

Well, sort of. They have slept only a couple nights in the same room, and several good "stretches" otherwise. My wise husband realized that maybe Henri would sleep better in another room than ours. First night it worked great. Colds and bedtime issues have been in the way of keeping it up along with the prospect of upcoming travels throwing things off. But when Eli was a babe he wasn't out of our room (and bed) until about 15/16 months--Henri really is a different sleeper and we think he's ready. Plus these boys need to start practicing the "sharing a room" routine. We'll see how it goes...

Over the next couple months we'll keep trying it out.

And the boy himself playing with big boxes on the top bunk, a hideout, alongside of bear (who is in hibernation on the top bunk because we don't have room for him elsewhere). I'm glad this bed has become the "toy" we hoped it would be. He loves it! And he has never gone on top when put to bed, so he seems to understand where to sleep and when to play.