A Busy Month

Sweet Pea,
June has been a very busy month! You started officially crawling, you turned 7 months on June 8th, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, we celebrated your first Father's Day and then to top it all off, you started pulling yourself into a standing position. Wow! You are growing up so fast.

About a week before you turned 7 months, you started crawling. You had been heading toward this since before our trip to Chicago, scooting and rolling around to get where you wanted to go, and then one day (I think June 2) you just took off: (POST VIDEO HERE)


On your 7th month birthday we went hiking in Discovery Park with Ben, Tammy and Hannah. It was really fun. And then I sprained my ankle. For like the 6th time in two years. Awesome. Here we are before the big injury:






To get ready for Father's Day we went with some of our PEPS friends (Amy and Sophia and Emily and Ashley) to a pottery painting place and made Papa a mug with your handprint on it. You loved wiggling your fingers in the blue paint and I had to work hard to keep you from eating the paint. Here are some pictures of our adventures:







And here's Papa proudly showing off your gift:




Also, this month Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. You had a great time with them and they really spoiled you. In fact, they gave you so much attention that you never wanted to take naps or go to bed at night. This was a little frustrating for me and papa because you have been a really good sleeper/napper for a few months now and everything in the house definitely functions better when Papa and I get sleep! Maybe next time Grandma and Grandpa come visit I'll put your pak-n-play in the guest room so they can get up and play with you in the middle of the night when you don't want to go back to sleep! Here they are loving on you:




For Father's Day we went to Golden Gardens to spend some time together as a family enjoying the sun - which had finally decided to make an appearance for the summer. Papa and I decided to dip your toes in the water - your first feel of the ocean (I guess it's really Puget Sound, but the ocean flows into the Sound so it's kind of the ocean...). You did not like the water AT ALL. You started screaming immediately and clinging to my neck. It was freezing so I don't blame you. Next we put your feet in the sand and you did not like that either. I think you were just tired (from your lack of sleep during Grandma and Grandpa's visit) but I was hoping we didn't make you permanently afraid of the beach:








After that we had a Father's Day barbeque on the back deck with Auntie Amy, Grandma, Grandpa, Ben, Tammy, Hannah and Heather:








The day Grandma and Grandpa left (June 19th ) you pulled yourself up to a standing position on the side of the couch for the first time all by yourself! You were so proud:




Also this month we finally got a chance to have you play with Emma and Samara. Auntie Amy has been their nanny for about 4 1/2 years now. I've gotten to see these two grow up and most of what I know about babies and taking care of babies has come from watching Amy take care of them. I've loved getting to know them and play with them over the years and hope to continue to know them. Here they are loving on you:




Also in June we planted a veggie garden. I've been talking about having a vegetable garden for years and this year I decided it was time to just do it. So we went to Swanson's and bought a bunch of veggie starts (tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchini and peppers), pots and A LOT of potting soil. I wanted to start with a container garden this year and if it is successful perhaps next year I'll try to figure out how to make an actual vegetable garden in our back yard. Here's what the plants looked like on day one:




Phew, that's a lot to do in one month! I can't wait to see what July has in store for us.

Chicago and Michigan

Sweet Pea,
Last weekend you went on your first airplane trip! We went to Chicago for Eli and Alison's weeding and then to Michigan to see my friend from high school, Elizabeth (Bowhead) and her triplets! All my mommy friends told me that I'd feel like I could do anything after our first airplane trip with a baby, and it's so true! Before the trip it felt like a big day when we'd go to the grocery store, now that seems like a walk in the park. Needless to say, I was very nervous about this trip - about what to pack, about how MUCH we were packing, about how you would do on the airplane, about whether you would be able to sleep somewhere other than your crib, about how you would do with all the people who would want to hold you, about how I would do with all the people who would want to hold you etc. But all my worrying was completely unnecessary because you did great with everything!

The airplane trip to Chicago was 4 hours and you only slept the first 15 minutes. After that you wanted to be up looking around - and squirming around! You didn't fuss at all, but my arms were pretty tired at the end of the flight. Luckily Papa was there to hold you too. We even changed a very dirty diaper on our laps! Once we got to Chicago, it took us 2 1/2 hours to get from O'hare to Evanston - we had so much stuff and had to figure out how to get it from baggage claim to the rental car bus, onto the rental car bus, off the rental car bus and into the rental car. Everything definitely takes longer with a baby! I had a bit of a headache at the end of the day, but you seemed perfectly happy and unfazed.

In Evanston we visited with Eli and Alison and walked around the Northwestern campus. I showed you all of my favorite spots:







We also went up to Glencoe to see where Papa grew up and the beach where he used to play:





We had a great time at the rehersal dinner in downtown Chicago (what a vibrant city!) and Papa gave a really good toast. The wedding was at a nature preserve north of the city and was a lot of fun. The weather started off very dramatic - it looked like a big storm was rolling in. During the toasts I took you on a walk in your stroller (to try to get you to take a nap) and while we were out walking the park's tornado horns went off. Papa came running out of the pavilion to get us, but luckily it turned out the horns were just to signal that there was some lightening in the area. Suprisingly after lunch the weather completely cleared up and we spent much of the rest of the wedding day on a blanket in the grass with all of the other moms and kids while the dads played frisbe and volley ball.



After the wedding weekend we drove to Grand Rapids, MI to visit Elizabeth, Troy and the triplets.



They are so cute and it was great for me to see where my best friend lives and what her life is like. You loved looking at them run around and they were all very interested in sharing thier toys with you. Papa and I were so impressed with how calm, cool and collected Elizabeth and Troy are with their kids. We hope we can be like that when we have some brothers or sisters for you.

The plane trip home was a bit long - we took a tiny airplane from GR to Minneapolis and then changed planes for the tirp home to Seattle. It was a long day and you were ready to not be held in our laps by the end of it, but you still did great. Really, Papa and I can't believe how lucky we are to have such a great baby!



Hopefully our next trip will be in the fall to visit your great-grandparents!

Mommy