11Months

Only 1 more month until my birthday.... I can hardly believe it. There sure has been a lot of talk about birthdays around here. My older brother will always get to have his birthday first. He's very excited about it this year. Enough about him though, let's talk about me!

This month has been a remarkable month. I've been on the move....

- Not only did I learn to sit up all by myself this month, I also learned to pull myself to standing, move via scrawl (scoot + crawl), and have even started to cruise along furniture. I've been one busy boy. Watch out Jude, here I come!

- I'm eating like crazy. When people eat in front of me without offering up some of the good stuff, I get really frustrated. Immediately, I let them know with a cry or scream that I want some too. My mom and dad say that most meals I pack in far more than my big brother. (He's not going to be the bigger one for long. - A guy at church even asked if were twins.)

- I've been eating so well that I decided that I was going to go on a long nursing strike. For about a week I had no real interest in my mommy's milk. She really wants to wait until I'm 1 before she weans me.... but we'll see about that.

- Although I'm eating a ton, I still fit in the lightweight category. I'm not sure how much I weigh these days...19 maybe 20 lbs. Perhaps all of this new found movement has me keeping my slimmer figure.

- These days I've got 7 teeth. 4 up top and 3 on the bottom. Any day now I'll even out the bottom with that 4th tooth.

- I love to show off my teeth while giving lotsa kisses. I open my mouth and lean in for the smooch. Now tell me I've got it going on, my mom never refuses my lips. She gives me big hugs and tells me how much she loves my kisses. Even my brother wants in on the action.... he's been giving me a ton of hugs and kisses lately. (Thank goodness he doesn't hold a grudge on me for constantly stealing his toys.)

- Most days I still take 2 naps. I'm not really on a very consistent schedule (which drives my mom crazy). Some of my naps are 1 1/2 hours long... some of them are 45 min. long. Some days I wake up at 6:00 AM and some days at 9:00 AM. Once in a while I only take 1 afternoon nap... What can I say, I just go with the flow.

- This month I've been in the water just about every day. I can't get enough splashing around... I'm a daredevil, unlike Jude. I want to put my face in and blow bubbles or something. My parents are such big fans of this maneuver.

Here are some other shots from my photo shoot....




I got a little bored... I was outa there....

Time to change it up... what about the pillows?

Dog Analogies

Before becoming parents to Jude and Levi, Joel and I were parents to our yellow lab, Jack. We truly are dog lovers so these analogies are all in good fun...

Jude is my little border collie....he's clever, a quick learner, highly energetic, and motivated by toys and games.

Levi is my little Labrador retriever....he's laid back, happy-go lucky, loves to be around people, gives open mouth kisses, and has a bottomless pit for a stomach.

Here are Jack and Levi... both begging for Jude's lunch. (Levi snook up and grabbed the remainder of Jude's breakfast.)

Levi... "How can I get that pizza and melon? Perhaps a sneak attack...?"- Still begging and following Jude around-

Finally, while Jude was out of the room using the bathroom, Levi grabbed the pizza. No shame at all....

Gainesville Gang

This week we were lucky to have JG and Maria in town to celebrate their father's accomplishment of biking across country. He biked (not a motorcycle) from San Francisco, CA to Portsmouth, NH. Here's a picture of us all enjoying a feast at the Buck's place.... with a few additions since our last gathering in Florida. Hartter's +2, Buck's +2 and JG and Maria have 1 on the way!

Goofy in Goggles

Look who got their first pair of goggles... Jude had one request when it came to picking out his new eyewear, they had to be green. We're hoping the new goggles will encourage putting his head under the water.

New Tires

Jude- "Where's Daddy going?"
Ray- "He's bringing the Sienna into the fix-it shop, the van needs new tires. The old tires are getting bald."
Jude- "They're getting kind of wrinkly?"

Orange Stripes and Orange Salamanders

Saturday we took off on a family adventure. We set out to top one of our favorite hikes near Lake Winnipesaukee. Each hiking with a kiddo, we made it to the top of one hot and sticky Mt. Major. Other than the heat and humidity we couldn't have chosen a better day for the hike.


All the way up Jude was on patrol. His job was to make sure that we were heading in the right direction by pointing out all of the orange stripes (repeatedly....). Joel took the zig-zag approach up the mountain, allowing Jude to touch many of the blazes.
Jude was also on the look-out for our friendly orange salamanders. He needed to remind Jack in a sing-songy voice, "Don't eat the salamanders."


We were delighted when we got closer to the top to find lovely patches of wild (organic) blueberries. We took our time getting to the top while stopping to fill our bellies with the berries.
Once on top we had wonderful views of the lakes region.....
Jude got to climb on the rocks....
And Jack continued to sniff about....







Levi rode up on my back and slept soundly on my chest on the way down...

More Museum

It's been fun to visit the museum after taking a break from it for a while. Jude and Levi are playing and exploring differently than they have in the past. Jude was having a blast playing postman and Levi is so proud that he can pull himself up at the train table.

Soccer Tuesday

Joel has been playing soccer on a coed team Tuesday nights. The earliest he plays, this weeks game was 7:00 PM. We loaded up Hercules (our Sienna) and hit the fields. Jude of course had cars to keep him occupied....





Levi was totally into the game.... he loves balls! He was watching a good portion of the game too! Do we have a future soccer player on our hands?