Babies at the BBQ

A cute photo from our holiday BBQ last weekend with a group of friends. All these babies are in our congregation right now, and range in age from 7 to 22 months. They are all totally unique--amazing how many differences even at this young age. They all look zoned out for the photo...normally these kids are pretty smiley when they get together, but it was getting near bedtime and they were all exhausted. And hot. Have I mentioned Ohio is a jungle. But we still get out and enjoy the outdoors.

Words of Comfort

We had a nice holiday weekend, though our 4th held rather a modest level of celebration and zero fireworks. I'll post a pic from a cute BBQ we had with some friends yesterday, if somebody emails me a copy (hint...hint...=)).

Anyway. I had a day last week where I thought, "Life is pretty great. No problems--just happy mellow existing." As I opened my scriptures randomly to read a few verses aloud to Lo, my heart felt no great need of comfort--and yet I felt pleased to discover that comfort is exactly the feeling that washed over me as I read Helaman 22:13/Isaiah 60:21, the first verse that caught my eye. It promises: All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. I know in my mind and heart that these words are Truth; Prophecy; Counsel; Command. What a gift from God to have these words. The interesting thing to me is that I did not think I needed comfort at the time that I started reading scripture. I did so in a sense of absent-minded duty. In fact, I felt pretty hunky dory before reading the verse. But how much better I felt afterward, not even realizing how much my happiness could increase until suddenly it did.

There might be people out there in the world who feel pretty great. They might be genuinely happy, just strolling through life without any great need of comfort. But I wish to reiterate that God always gives good gifts to them that ask, and there is always more good, more comfort, more peace to be had. So give it a try. Read some scripture TODAY.

a rare sight

I am loving some things about where we live. Apparently Ohio is renowned for birdwatching opportunities, and I've seen some interesting birds just by walking out my apartment's front door, including cardinals and other types I've only seen in books before now. Today on our walk, aside from viewing the usual 10-20 Canadian geese, sparrows, and red winged blackbirds, Lo and I saw a wild turkey and its chicks! We stood just a few feet away from this hugest bird. The turkey momma (? it still had a big fan tail, so I'm not sure if it was a girl turkey or a boy?) swayed its head and the chicks scuttled and pecked near the big turkey's feet. How awesome.

I did not have my camera, but this googled photo is what it looked like, only there were taller weeds all around nearly camouflaging the birds from my view.

Random Sampler

A couple funny new things about Lo that I don't have pics or videos for, but figured I'd post anyway to make sure it gets recorded. Just this morning he started head bobbing to a song or rhythmic speech. Pretty cute. I was saying the "Charlie Chaplin went to France, to teach the ladies how to dance" rhyme when Lo first started to bob his head. Then I tried out a bunch more songs and rhymes and he kept doing it in time to the beat.

Second cute thing: yesterday at Walmart I made the customary swing by the goldfish, and normally Lo doesn't show much reaction to them of any kind--positive or negative--but this time he showed definite horror. It was hilarious; he shuddered with his whole body, frantically started waving his arms, wailed and tried to get away. Darlene, remember when Brooklyn did something similar?? I wonder if it is some kind of milestone. Lo certainly didn't fear fish a week ago, but suddenly something clicked in his awareness I guess.

Another development (this one scary for ME) is the discovery of our STAIRS!! His highlight of the day yesterday was playing on the stairs (with me holding onto him of course). He practiced going up and down...and made a beeline for the stairs a few times when I took my eyes off him for a second while we were in the living room.

Lastly, walking along furniture. He is pretty unsteady and doesn't do more than a few steps at a time, but can move along half the couch to reach something he sees. Also he is able to get down from sitting on the couch pretty effectively going feet first. But I still keep my hands nearby to "spot" him when he tries that trick.

Watermelon

What else is summer for. The other day, we cut a few long "sticks" of watermelon and thought we were so funny.

We aren't raising a vegetarian

He likes it all: Steak.
Chicken.

Turkey puree.

as promised

We got a photo of The Teeth.

Belated Father's Day Post

I guess it's fitting to post on Father's Day a few days after the fact, since my gift to my own father arrived a few days late...Sorry Dad! I dropped it in the mail a few days before the holiday, if that counts for anything.

Lo and me gave his "DaDa" some cute gifts of the food, media, and hand-crafted sort. But I'll refrain from explaining them all on the blog.
One "fatherly" thing Jerry did recently cracks me up. Our treadmill broke (both treadmills, actually). And so instead of getting a new one, Jerry spent a couple weeks tinkering with the wires and sensor on one of them, and it now runs fine, though the runner needs to simultaneously waggle a wire as he or she jogs. Jerry says he got this fixer-upper frame of mind from his own father, and I realized my dad has done similar "jerry riggin" (HEY! pun just realized...) so it is reassuring to me in some respect that at least one noble trait of fatherhood has proven itself able to span both cultures and generations.

Friendly Neighborhood Giveaway

I have tons of crafty friends. One of them taught me to make the cutest baby hair bows, and I loved them so much, it even seemed tempting to perch them on my baby boy's noggin. But I resisted the impulse, and gave the bows/headbands away as baby shower gifts. Applause all around.

Anyway, this friend is doing a GIVEAWAY on her blog for 3 SETS of these darling bows. It is not just any ol' giveaway, no, but a bribery of sorts...and so now that I've piqued your interest, go check it out and win you some BOWS! Totally worth the 2 mins. it takes to enter.

Growing

That Lo is blossoming lately. Just over the past couple days, he figured out how to pull himself up to a standing position against the couch or on just about anything. It has resulted in a few instances of bumping head, as he does not know how to get down from the standing position very smoothly yet. Another milestone is crawling, which I need to catch on camera soon before he morphs out of this cutest beginning stage. He does a true crawl, with a good rhythm alternating opposing hands and knees--and though it is a bit slow for now, he has gained steadiness so rapidly that I fear he will be speed crawling any day now. The video posted here is him discovering grass a couple weeks ago. I love how the wheels in his head seem obviously spinning as he experiments with poking and patting the prickly green grass. I can see both physical and mental gains this month that seem to really make him "more human" (as Jerry puts it).

I remember my mom saying "Oh, 4 months is so fun," and while it was nice to have him start smiling and cooing more regularly around that time, it was also the time his sleep issues began and it took me a solid month to figure those out. I would have to say all things considered, 7 months is my favorite age so far. He is interactive, playful, and cute with his new little teethies, but at the same time not developing too quick for me to catch up (which is what I think happened at 4 months, and what may happen next month around the time he begins to move more quickly...starting to really need those babyproofing supplies).

Anyway, I'm just musing here. No real point to this entry, but figured I should get that grass video on here before it got too belated.