Memorial weekend part 2

From my iphone

Singing baby

^^ His new "thing" is to sing or talk when we clap or act like something great happened ^^

Pulling up

He officially pulls himself up to standing position now but only every now and then. Can't leave him alone in the house anywhere anymore! Here we go!

This is gonna be a favorite

If I were the scrapbooking type, this would be in contention for the cover. That baby is just too silly these days!

Memorial weekend part 1

I went to Grand Rapids 4 days earlier than Jared to spend some extra time with family and because I have no other obligations this summer other than to attend mom/baby social events and hold down the fort at home.  Elliott began crawling the week before and he's been wearing out his new skill ever since!  He still crawls with what we call his "peg-leg" by sticking out his right leg straight and pushing off with his foot, but he can move pretty quickly considering he just learned how.  He also pulled himself up for the first time a few days ago on the most dangerous place in the house, of course, the all-brick hearth.  We have also been eating our way through Grand Rapids which is an easy trap to fall into these days with new restaurants popping up every other week.  Fresh healthy vegetables, I promise we'll meet again...but probably not for another few days.  For now I'll suffer through duck fat fries and fresh cheese curds.  For exercise we walked up and down the stairs at Lake Michigan once while we were having our family memorial visit.  Tough work!

I'll be posting in several separate posts to get all the photos and video in from our memorial week(end) trip.  Here goes...

^^His new "smile" which is really more like a happy grimace^^

 ^^Loves himself a power scooter^^

 ^^New second cousin (or something like that?)  Ellis^^

Crawling videos continued

 

Crawling video

First crawls ever!

Crawling!

I feel like we've been waiting for this day for MONTHS, so it seems extra exciting to me (although I'm sure in reality it's the same level of excitement for every mom) to see Elliott finally crawling forward and with purpose.  I felt like I wanted to bake him a cake and have a celebration for his crawling milestone.  He has had a full day of firsts including his first day at the pool, crawling, and going to the library for the first time.

Mama's poor arms are very sore from all the action today; I can barely lift my left arm up, but I have been trying to get back in shape this week so I can call it part of my mommy workout plan.

Yay for crawling!  I'm sure I will be singing a different tune by this weekend ; )

Mother's day

Officially my first Mother's Day as a mama to this little booger.  It's been a rollercoaster year since this time last year when I was pregnant and we were moving into our new house!  He is so sweet and happy.  We are a lucky mom and dad!

So many fun memories already and we are excited to celebrate his birthday in a few months and take him with us on some trips!  He has become such an active and curious little baby that  I know he'll have a blast this summer with everything we have planned for him.

^^ On the day he was born ^^

 ^^ What a big baby now! ^^

talking 10 months continued

One more of him talking to himself

talking 10 months #1

Chatterbox!

new best friend

Watch out Daphne, you may have your work cut out for you!

save the date(s)!

I'm going pinterest-crazy tonight with first birthday ideas.  I'm going to try to rent a pavilion at the park on the lake on this side of the state for some weekend date after his actual birthday, and we will celebrate his real birthday in Grand Rapids.  I'm thinking a picnic theme for Grand Rapids and a nautical theme for Lakefront park.

I'm hoping to go all-out for his nautical party and then have a low-key "normal" cookout birthday with family and a few local friends.

So, save the date for Saturday, July 13 if you'll be in Grand Rapids!

(Parents that happen to be on the east side for his Lake party are welcome as well, but it will mostly be for other moms and their kids)

I already got him a seersucker vest birthday outfit that he will wear either in his 1-year photos that we're hopefully getting done soon, or at one of his parties.

Lunch buddy

Our typical mealtime : me eating standing up at the counter while a little babe scoots over to me to tug at my skirt for attention. Or he's just never seen a skirt before and he's delighted at flapping the fabric around. Either way, it's the cutest lunch distraction.

Oh hey there

Just showin off his thighs to the world. They are something to be proud of, after all!

busy livin

We have all been keeping busy over here, but mostly with fun things.  Walking club, playgroup dates, park visits, grilling outside, and a few events here and there.  The March of Dimes was lots of fun (Thank you everyone who donated very generously!!  Jared got attention at work for all of your support), and we have been visiting a few parks around the area and therefore getting our sunburn on.  We also tried out a community church on Sunday which was okay but we will continue to look and see what happens.

 ^^ About to be on the move ^^

 ^^ Sleeping on his tummy with his butt in the air (not pictured) is his new favorite sleeping position.  Of course I know this because I sneak into his room at night and snap pictures ^^

 ^^ Mommy bought me a sunhat that looks a little...feminine.  Oops! ^^

 ^^ At the March for Babies walk at the park.  Elliott is prepping for the stroll by carbo-loading with a bagel ^^

 ^^ Not all of us made it the entire way ^^

 ^^ More bread - bad mom! ^^

 ^^ At the Tot Lot - where everything is baby-sized and the sidewalks are squishy.  He is not a fan of sand; don't let the photos fool you.  He will barely put his hand in it before he jerks it away ^^