Father and Son Time

Ephraim and I went to his first swim lesson tonight. He had a blast! Since I needed to give him a bath to get the chlorine off, we decided Forrest and Ephraim should bond over a haircut.

This is the "I'm a little nervous about what Daddy is going to do" face.
Helping Daddy hold the cord.
"This is fun!"

Still Need Some Practice

I was inspired by Bethany to let Ephraim try feeding himself with a spoon. Since Ephraim never ate baby food, I haven't been feeding him with a spoon, so I never thought about it.
I decided to try with yogurt for breakfast the other morning.
He had some interesting ways of getting the yogurt to his mouth.

He sure was proud of himself though.

Our Little Gardener

This weekend we spent time outside in our front yard. Forrest pruned our roses with some help from Ephraim and I weeded.
Ephraim tried to carry the rake with him everywhere.
After picking beauty bark out of his mouth for what seemed like the 500th time - he was placed in his baby jail.

He actually had a lot of fun in there and we only had to put the toys he threw out back in a few times.

The Zoo!

Today Ephraim and I met up with Lyndsey and Lexie at the Point Defiance Zoo. We bought a membership for Ephraim's birthday and today was the first time we got to use it.
Ephraim and Lexie standing in the shark mouth.
Checking out the puffins.
The zoo has a great play area. Ephraim and Lexie enjoyed playing in the hippo.
Ducking to get out of the hippo.
Lyndsey and Lexie coming down the slide.
We went down the slide twice, but Ephraim was more interested in the beauty bark.
We hope to go to the zoo often and if any one wants to come up and visit us, we can get you in for free!

What's the Motto at Your House?

Ours is walk softly and carry a big stick.

A Protest

Today Lyndsey and I carpooled down to Olympia to attend the Anti-Tax Tea Party Rally at the state capital. It was Ephraim and Lexie's first time to the capital and the first time protesting.
The kids had a blast playing in the grass.
Two young protesters - starting their political journey early.
There were about 5000 people there. Even if you don't agree with why we were there, it is awesome that we live in a country that allows peaceful demonstrations and free speech.

On the way up to the capital - I ran into my OB/GYN's nurse. It was really funny to see someone I knew in such a random place. (I always knew I liked her)

NWC Decathlon

We spent Monday and Tuesday down in Tacoma watching Ryan compete in the conference decathlon. Monday was chilly and rainy, but we still had a good time.
Ephraim and his Nana (this picture was taken two weeks ago at another track meet. shhh.... don't tell)
Tuesday was much nicer weather and we were able to stay somewhat warm in the sunshine. Emily and her mom Janet were also there cheering Ryan on. He had the largest cheering squad.
Ephraim enjoyed playing around the track.
His aunt Michelle even took him onto the track so he could walk around. I wish I had taken a picture of Michelle holding Ephraim and being surrounded by 4 decathletes - it was pretty cute.
Ryan pole vaulting. I think this is around 13 and a half feet. Ryan placed 3rd overall and got personal bests in the high jump and javelin. It was a lot of fun to get to watch him compete, since we haven't been to many track meets this year and didn't go to any last year.

Easter Egg Hunt

Every Easter I have done an Easter egg hunt for Forrest. It was so much fun this year to include Ephraim.

He found his Easter basket right away.
And played with his new sippy cup.
Wallis on the other hand went straight to egg finding.
And egg collecting.
Ephraim soon joined in with the hunt.
He found several on his own.
And others with some help.
Egg count- Wallis - 8
Ephraim - 4
I don't know if you can really see it in this picture, but his lips changed colors after sucking on the eggs.
Easter egg hands.
Happy Easter everybody!

Birthday Party

On Sunday afternoon we had a birthday party with friends and family at my mom's house. It was a lot of fun and we saw some friends that we haven't seen since October! This is Ephraim's tractor cake. It took me 3 hours to ice it. I think it turned out pretty well since I have never iced a cake before.
Blowing out the candle.
He's excited that everyone was clapping for him.
Sydney eating her cake. She wanted to get messy too, but Marisa told her no.
yum.
The aftermath. I didn't take any pictures of the people at the party. Silly me. It was fun to see everyone. We haven't been down to Oregon in a while - so it was nice to spend time with friends - too short - but really nice.

On My Last Day Being Zero...

*Mommy and I had toast for breakfast.
*We went to Babies R Us. Mommy bought me a book for my birthday (don't tell anyone but she let me read it in the car.)
*We ate lunch at The Pita Pit. I had lots of olives and only made a small mess.
*We went to Target. Mommy bought some clothes and a giant blue ball for me. I carried it in the shopping cart through the whole store.
*I took 2 naps today. Mommy told me she was very proud of me. I don't get why that is a big deal.

*We did laundry. I like to take the dirty clothes out of the washing machine when Mommy is trying to put them in.
*I played with the vacuum cleaner. That thing is cool!
*Mommy is packing my things to go down to Oregon. She tells me that I get to eat cake this weekend - whatever that is.

Just One of Those Days

I can probably count on one hand the times this past year that I have really wondered why did I become a mom in the first place? Tuesday was one of those days. Basically I was overwhelmed, emotional, and Ephraim didn't go down for a nap until 2 after 4 hours of battling him to go to sleep. Instead of whining about my son's sleeping habits - I am choosing to blog about the highlights of Tuesday.

Around 12:30 I decided just to put Ephraim in his crib with the hope that he would put himself to sleep. I gave him a sippy cup, a some books and a pacifier so that if he didn't go to sleep he could play by himself and give me a break. I went in to check on him about 10 minutes later and found this:

He had somehow unscrewed the sippy cup and dumped water all over himself and his crib. He was blowing into the sippy cup and making funny noises. He was having a blast. Mommy wanted to cry (but now thinks it is quite funny and won't be giving him a sippy cup full of water in his crib anytime soon.)

We had lasagna for dinner and decided to give Ephraim some. He didn't know what to think and basically put it all over himself.
After the lasagna - he needed a bath. I gave him a bath in our bathroom (the toilet in his bathroom had overflowed and his bath tub was full of icky towels) and he brought a plastic garden trowel in to the bath with him. It was hilarious and a good way to end a crummy day. I just wish I had gotten a picture of it.

It's Official...

The last night of full sleep I had was April 1, 2008. Why April 1st you ask when Ephraim wasn't born until the 4th? Well - the 2nd is when I was told I was having a baby on Friday - I couldn't sleep out of excitement/nerves and we had to be at the hospital at 7AM on the 3rd to have an amniocentesis. On the 3rd I went to bed at 9PM and was awoken at 1AM and told to come into the hospital to be induced. Sweet Ephraim was born on the 4th and began my year of sleep deprivation.

There are several companies that deserve a shout out for helping me remain sane during the past year:
Twinings - Your Irish breakfast tea makes my morning. It is pure deliciousness and I look forward to it from the moment I roll out of bed to start my day.
Oregon Chai - Thank you for adding spice to my life. Thanks for being a yummy alternative to my Irish Breakfast and for being sold at Costco so I can afford to have the pleasure of drinking you regularly.
Coke - Ah, Coca-Cola. There is no more wonderful beverage than a Coke on ice with a straw. Thank you for creating Diet Coke with Lime so that I could make the transition to a diet drink easier. You are my afternoon pick me up.

Here is to hoping that the next year is filled with more sleep!