11 Months!

Ezra turned 11 months old on the 4th of July! We had a great time at the cabin. You'll see him going down his new slide on the 4th in the "walking" movie I finally made (and it's full of his new tricks and growing-up skills). Obviously he was having a good time!

11 Months

Ezra and his dad are like this (index and middle finger twisted tightly together).

And for Father's Day Dad got a Burley! Though Ezra loves it like his own and so does Mom (especially for cruising around camp all day).


Okay! Watch this video and be filled with joy...at least the first 30 seconds:)

Ezra Walks and Other Antics

Ezra walks on June 4th. His 10 Month B-day!

Ten Months

He walks! It's almost been a month and I keep saying to myself, "must post, must post, as soon as I ______." Fill in the blank with a) get some good video b) get my camera back from Chicago c) get some free time... d) any of the above. I finally told myself to get on it or else I will completely miss month 10 and so without further ado, here is the cutest 9 seconds ever...


Walking at 10 months


We have been so busy this month and here it is almost the 4th of July (and Ezra's 11 month b-day.) So, though we somehow failed to take the official "10 Month" photo, we have gotten a few of every day living. Ezra's walking has been fairly selective. He first walked to Grandpa Rude. How darling! Then it was to Josh and I and now he walks wherever and whenever he pleases. Still in small distances, but walking (and falling) a ton!

I have also put off posting until I got my next movie made...hopefully I'll get that up soon. It's like when you need a good chat with a friend, and you think, "I'll call her/him when I know I have at least a half hour to talk." And the phone call never gets made. I think you know what I mean. So, for now:) here are some snippets. Better late than never!

Milestones:

Says: "mama", "dada", all-done ( "ah-dah") and lots of "ba" sometime "BBBBAAAHHHH" (for ball or any round object). He also makes a cat noise. Basically a high-pitched "eeeeoooowww." He is really putting things together.

Still climbing: For those of you who have been in our home, you know that ledge that drops 12 feet down into the living room? If he can get away with it, he'll climb up onto a chair and then onto the armrest so that he can grab the ledge, pull himself up and look over. Can you say "heart attack?"

Loves reading: fastest page turner you'll ever meet.

Also plays ball. See other video.

Here's some photos.

This is Ezra's new "camera face." He knows we want him to smile and this little squinty face appears. It's been hard to get just a simple smile on record lately!

Jerry had a retirement party in Grand Rapids. Congrats, Grandpa! It was great to gather with everyone. Noah and Ali, you were missed! Notice Kristen's growing belly:) And Happy Birthday to Cassie.

Grandma Rude and her boy.

Can his smile get any brighter?

Getting into (and able to open) just about everything...
His preferred method of getting off the couch: over the armrest.

Playing around at the cabin.

Cooling off after a sauna.

Helping move the fire pit. Gosh, he's such a hard worker.

Here he is playing ball, saying ball. SO cute!

9 Months

Well Ezra has sailed into this 9th month like a wild baby beast, unleashing his energetic infant fury on anyone who dares cross his path. Does that sound harsh? It's not meant to. It's just that he is CRAZY. Does that sound bad? It's not meant to either! It's just that he is so full of energy and curiosity and mischievousness (and downright friendliness to everyone he meets) that Josh and I can only lean over to each other and politely tap the bottom of the others chin to close these ever dropped jaws we seem to carry around. I don't think we ever imagined baring witness to this kind of " baby activity" (to put it mildly) by our 9 month old! Amidst all that fun, he continues to be of the all around best nature.

What's somewhat difficult for Josh and I to handle, is that every mischievous thing that Ezra does, he does with a giant smile! He wants to play! For example, this morning he began chewing a big chunk of packing Styrofoam. I naturally gave him the this-is-not-a-good-idea look, and then told him that "we don't eat Styrofoam," to which he smiles the widest smile you can imagine. As I approach him to take it away, he begins chewing furiously, and giggling all the while! By the time I get to him (a mere 6 feet away) he has a mouth full of Styrofoam and he is laughing like this is the funniest thing he's ever done! All day long folks. This is our day. Not to mention the climbing up onto everything while lacking the full ability to get himself down (though he can get down from most chairs and the couch).

He's talking A LOT these days, too. Most of the time it is a continual babble, with lots of "oooohhhh" and "mmmmm-BAA!" (crescendo on the "ba"). There's "mama," "dada," and a high pitch squeal for his response to "what does the kitty say?" Very endearing. All of it! We can't get enough of our little boy. And it's so very fun to share this with all of you. I made a little video montage from last month. You'll enjoy suitcase hopping, his first swing experience, the "no knees crawl" (or the "downward dog walk" as I like to call it) and object permanence box mastering among others. Enjoy!

Yes, those are onions up his nose.

If he's up high on something like a chair, or counter-top, or anywhere else deemed unsafe, he's a happy boy.

First canoe (outside of the womb).

Rock picking on Lake Superior. One of his favorite hobbies.

See that sad face and the sock hand? Ezra's first bleeding-profusely experience. A little cut on the finger tip. There would be no band-aid staying on, so we had to tape a sock onto his hand. It got the job done and didn't slow him down a minute. Maybe expect for...

Meal time.

This is a stick, my son. A necessary tool for all boys. Very versatile.

And cousin Josie and Kristen and Tom got to come over and hang out. Ezra's favorite thing!

Ezra Monroe Stars in The Adventures in Mobility Movie (not to be missed!)

Uncle Noah takes Ezra's photo with mad skills

Here's a link to a few photos on Flickr from Uncle Noah of Ezra donning his best Elmer Fudd look (not to be missed!). Noah and Aunt Ali are ultra talented photographers and we gladly glean from their talent. Thanks, guys!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28951353@N04/sets/72157616982034710/show

8 Months

Happy Eight Months Old, Ezra!

Sitting, but not for long-

Can anyone believe it is April already? For those of you not in Minnesota, this is what we awoke to the morning of April 1st. No joke. Another 6" of snow. But the snow fall was so stunning, it was hard to stay mad. It's still cold out, but inside we are having a blast! Ezra continues to amaze and make us laugh. Things are really starting to click for him. He is a very smart boy...

April showers?

Getting into the kitchen cupboards

Smiling with mama

The guitar! One of his new favorite things...

Ezra is a climber! He would be happy if he could figure out a way to get off the floor. So, here he attempts to climb onto the shelf via his toy basket. It works, but not without some kind of unfortunate toppling over.

He moves this little step stool over to the kitchen chairs in order to climb up on them! More danger.
Climbing up to look out the window.

This was his very excited face to see Dada home from work:)

Our very own Pooh Bear.

And last but not least, we leave you with a few movies. The first, another major accomplishment of this last month: Crawling down the stairs. Though we have taken many movies of him booking it straight down the stairs in no time flat, we thought we would show this one for the "colorful language" of Ezra's at the moment. And those chubby little legs! Oh my goodness.

Crawling Down the Stairs and Other Things to Use Your Lungs For

And last but not least, we leave you with a short, but very funny (at least Ezra thinks so) clip of a little game we like to play called, "I'm gonna get you!"

I'm Gonna Get You!

Ezra Walks! With help from his cart...

Ezra is beginning to get the hang of walking. Whatever is around the house for him to push around, he gladly will. Here he is with his little cart.
7 months and 9 days old. We are amazed at our go-getter!

7 Months

Welcome to another monthly update. Seven months already! When it comes to eating, Ezra is immersing himself .

He looks rather proud of his good eating here, doesn't he? Mmmm, oatmeal.

He's climbing on, over, under, and around everything he possibly can. If something moves, well then he'll walk behind it, pushing it along (cardboard boxes, his walker, his little cart, and whatever chair he can seem to move around).

Hooray for Carrie and Jill! Ezra and I had so much fun that day. Thanks for visiting us...

What a love.

These monthly photos are just getting harder and harder to take. He won't sit still and insists on eating the paper. Such is life when you are only 212 days old.

You'll notice a red mark around his right eye. Our kid is a bruiser! He's very tough, but when he takes a digger, it is a digger.

Oh, he loves his Da-Da.

This month he weighs 18+ lbs and is 27" long. And is the most adorable little Ezra Monroe.

This video is the CUTEST thing ever. Josh is getting him to laugh...makes me do the same every single time I watch it!




And Happy Belated Valentines from Ezra-

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)