6 Months and then some

Wow! 6 Months already! How did that happen? Tonight Josh and I looked through all the photos of Ezra taken since he was born. "He was so little!" we kept saying. Lots of ooohs and ohhhs. I know he is still "little" and we'll once again be saying that when he reaches a year. But for now, we still are amazed at how much has happened in such a short amount of time. Welcome to the Club I hear many of you saying. :)
We have had a great month. See photos posted for proof! But my initial thoughts are thoughts of pure amazement for Ezra. We are so in LOVE and WONDER! Ezra is wowing us with his incredible mobility skills amongst others. He has been crawling for over a month and pulling himself up onto everything. He is also smiling with abandon, exercising his giant will (also with abandon), and talking sweet baby talk with a "buh " sound every once in a while. His new favorite form of communication is talking in a very high pitched, breathy voice. Think elderly/the godfather/bronchitis sounding baby talk. Example on the "Baby Voice" video. On another note, we love to post these pics and videos for our friends and family (especially for those that live far away)! We hope you enjoy- we know we do.



Photo #1: Yikes. Sometimes it hurts, you being so cute.

Happy as a clam when standing up.

You mean I have to sit down for these things?

Arrggghh, fine.

But I'm not going to like it!

Eating paper. Again.Which leads beautifully into our next photos. 6 Months means food!


Ezra is eating incredibly well. Among his first favorites: Spears of avocado, banana, quinoa flakes with sweet potato. Last nights green beans went just okay. We are for the most part skipping the purees and starting out with finger food. It's a way to feed babies (actually it's about babies feeding themselves) called "Baby Led Weaning." It makes incredible sense to us. If anyone's interested, here's a short radio interview about it(and of couse the web is full of info, too):
http://www.thetakeaway.org/stories/2008/oct/01/baby-led-weaning-when-your-baby-skips-the-puree-and-feeds-himself/

Doing our best to exercise those little mouth muscles!

The end of January also brought cousin Josie's 1st Birthday! Happy Birthday Josie! You are the best cousin ever!!Birthday cake for Miss Josephine

"You see here, Josie, I just really want to thank you for inviting me to such a swell party."


Mini Movies=Fun

Here's our boy drinking. Listen for his giggle, too!

This clip is of Ezra climbing around. Love to watch him move.

Oh, for the discovery of the voice. Josh and I just laugh out loud every time we hear him doing this! Watch the "Baby Voice" video...

And last but not least, Ezra and Clara finally got to play together this week. We love Naomi and sweet Clara!
Learning to share
Clara is helping "baby" play:)
Little Friends (Clara made Ezra smile all afternoon)

Guess what I found?

What should I find, but Ezra STANDING UP IN HIS CRIB this morning when I went to fetch him from his nap!

Here he is digging in his book shelf...little monkey.

And here is a short video of him pulling himself up to standing. Shucks, he's cute.

Five Month Fancy Moves

Thanks Jenn and Ian!

His first mohawk. Oh yes.

5 Months

Once again, we had a tremendously difficult time getting Ezra to sit still for his photo. Or stop eating the card. Such is the busy body life for a super active 5 month old. We absolutely cannot believe it. Ezra is crawling! He sits, he spins, he pulls himself up to standing every once in a while (climbing on Mom and Dad is his favorite). At 5 months he is 17# 14 oz and 25 1/2" long. He's a machine. He's a smiler. He's a spirited, strong, determined baby boy. But things are moving so fast for Josh and I...What happened to our little infant? Guess we just get on board and see where he takes us:)

5 Month card eater.

He is up for anything. Even snow storms.

Some of his moves.

The First Christmas for Ezra

Christmas. Only 3 weeks past, but feels like months ago already. How does that happen? We had a wonderful season of celebration. We had Christmas with Imma and Grandpa Salminen here in McGregor. Grandpa built Ezra some very fine wooden toys. Hooray! Thanks, Grandpa. And Christmas with the Rude's was celebrated in Crookston. We all managed to build a giant snow fort, complete with chandelier. It was so lovely, we decided to eat Christmas dinner inside of it! Don't you just love magical moments arriving spontaneously...

Here it is! The guys actually snow-blowed the yard to get all the snow together. In MN, no home is complete without an antler mount.

With the yard then being shoveled down to the grass, why not a game of croquet? Of course we all know who won. FAIR AND SQAURE.

The back yard really did evolve into a lovely gathering spot.

Kristen, Josie, myself and Ezra hanging out inside the quinzhee.Dinner under the chandelier.

And what's Christmas dinner without a few games played afterward? Josh and Natalie: speed scrabble champs 2008. Better luck next time ya'll.With all the activity inside, it really did heat up.

Ezra really loves his sled!

Opening presents with Grandma Salminen. He is a paper eater. Watch out.
He would eat the styrofoam peanuts, too, if we let him.

Florida

I must post these pictures before Christmas strikes. We had a great time down south even when we had to work! And that's not that hard when it's a balmy 74 degrees. Sigh.
Here are some highlights.

OoooOO! Finally Ezra and Hannah meet!

Our last day in Naples was warm enough to be a beach day. Pure delight.

Ezra just loved being without clothes. (still does)

Makes me misty eyed.

Here he is sporting his toughest of looks.

Playing with Rachie! We are so glad you are now in FL, Rachel :)

Yahoo! The Thatcher family. We went to Solomon's Christmas program in Everglade City. Way to go, Sy.

Fishing in the Thatcher's back yard for snook and tarpon.

Josh 2. Natalie 0.

Disneyworld! Here we are with more Rude's. It was great to see them.The boy and I staying warm on a chilly day at DW.

Josh says that when Ezra asks to go to Disneyworld, Josh will tell him he's already been there. (Four months old doesn't count!!)

Here are 4 generations. My Uncle Bill and Pa, Ezra's great grandpa. It was wonderful to spend time in Ocala with everyone. Carmen and Jose celebrated their birthdays with a fun party.

Ezra with Great Grandpa

And Ezra and Bill sporting the same fashionable hair styles.

The Almost Crawl

This weekend my mom and dad were over to celebrate Christmas. Ezra had lots to show them! The crawl is knocking on our door. (!)
Lots of rocking back and forth. Man oh man, is he ever excited and determined! Take a look at this movie...it's only 2 minutes long, but I was having trouble editing the audio and the song runs for another 7 minutes after the film is finished. Not to worry when you see the 9:00 price tag. It looks like my new and glamorous editing skills were a bit too much for quicktime to handle, so forgive the opening ( and over all quality!). I'm new at this:) and will gladly accept any tips.

With all of that, enjoy the show.

4 Months

Well this one is a bit late as we were just leaving around the 4th for two weeks in Florida. Then I couldn't find my camera... You wouldn't believe all the new things he is doing!! Josh and I can barely believe it. He sits, he rolls, he gets up onto his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. It's the "almost crawl." He scoots backwards, though. He is moving across the floor now when we put him down. At only 4 months old this is just plain nuts. We've got photos of Florida, too, coming soon...

So the 4 month photo shoot was an entirely new ball of wax. Instead of just sitting there like a nice pacifist, this time he scooted and thrashed. He did not want to lean back into the chair, but insisted on sitting up (or sitting very forward). A difficult position for the photographer to work with. Not only that but he insisted on eating the 4 month card. Lots of gumming and drool.
Here's proof.

Growing

Up late and as always, whenever the clocks strikes oh, about 9:30 pm, I find myself in the constant company of a particular thought: "I should be in bed." This thought parks and stays for a few hours. And I want to write about Ezra so awake I'll stay. This week he grew up. He is strong. He is vocal. He is leaving the infant stage in physical ways and it almost makes me want to post an obituary to his baby-ness. He will be 4 months on the 4th. I know, I know that is still a baby. But things are changing so fast! I suppose all parents navigate this space; the space of mourning and rejoicing at the same exact time. Parenting is vast and complex, but commands an introspective respect. I find myself wondering so much these days. As in wonder-ing. Being full of wonder. And so I close this night with a toast. To wonder, To Ezra Monroe!