Monday, June 29, 2009

Safe? Or Not?

Ephraim's new favorite "play area". Do you like how he emptied out the drawer of most of my cookware so that he could climb in? Don't worry... the oven wasn't on.

New Pool

From June 1st:

It has been so hot lately (and we have no air conditioning) that Ephraim and I took a trip to Target (they have air conditioning) and bought this blow up pool. I blew it up myself and Ephraim started playing in it right away.
Then we went outside with Daddy and he had a blast.
Forrest had fun too.
He would climb out, run around the yard and then crawl back in.
I love the diaper he has on. It has t-rex on it and says "roar"

Friday, June 19, 2009

New Blog

Go check out my mom's new blog for her flower business: Blossoms & Blessings Isn't that a cool name? Don't forget to call her if you have any need for a flower arrangement!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Ephraim the Fireman

This weekend we were busy with two barbecues, but we also spent some time at the local fire station for its grand opening.
Ephraim trying on the plastic hat.
Too bad I couldn't get these two cute firemen to look at me.
What a ham.
He loved climbing up inside the big truck.
See that giant blob above his hand? That's because he wouldn't sit still for me to press his hand on the paper. All of the kids there put their hand print on the paper and it was titled "The Little Lives We Serve"
They had this cool pit of torn up tires that Ephraim loved to play in. I am not sure what they use it for, but it was quite deep and really bouncy.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

How to Eat Ice...

First... check to make sure that Daddy has a good grip.
Second... Lean in for a taste.
Third... Yumm!

Coloring



I bought Ephraim the Tadoodles by Crayola that are meant for toddlers. It is a good thing they are non-toxic and washable. He colored more of his face than the paper.

14 Months

I have been lapse on giving updates on our little guy. I apologize. I will now try to fit the last two months in one post. (And in case you are wondering all of the pictures in this post are by Annie Schilperoort from Ephraim's one year photo shoot.)
At his one year check up Ephraim weighed 24.5 pounds(85th %), was 30.5 inches tall (73rd %) and his head was 17 3/4 inches around (18th %). Since then his weight gain has slowed down and he is about 25 pounds or so. He has grown quite a bit as evidenced by him reaching things on counters that he used to not be able to reach. I need to find more hiding places (or become more organized, but whatever.)
He can be the biggest sweetheart. He loves to snuggle and is really cuddly in the morning or right after he wakes up from a nap. One of my favorite times of the day is to watch him when Forrest comes home. He yells "Dada!" and runs to him with his arms up. He then gets frustrated if Forrest wants to put his cooler and computer down.
Ephraim is not very verbal. He can say:
dada - dad
mama - me
mama - more
uh - uh oh
His vocabulary has not increased much in the past few months, but his comprehension of what we are saying to him has. I can ask him to bring me things, tell him what I want him to do and for the most part he will listen.
It cracks me up, but when he has something he knows he shouldn't have (dog food) and I ask him to bring it to me, he will run and hide underneath our kitchen table. We are working on obeying Mama the first time I tell him to do something - but it is hard not to laugh. He gets the funniest look on his face when I go under the table to get the dog food from him.
What an imp. He will look at me, wait until he knows I am looking and then do something he should not be doing. He has become a climber and can climb up on his window seat and the couch without any help. He likes to climb in the tub as I am filling it, sometimes with his clothes on. In the past few days he has begun to figure out how to climb down stairs, but I am going to keep my gates up for a bit longer - I like having him confined.
You wouldn't think that this sweet face could throw a tantrum - but you would be wrong. He knows how to throw a fit. It is a good thing that my past jobs have made me semi-immune to tantrums. Who taught him that? I would also like to know who taught him to dead weight his body when I try to pick him up and move him. We have already learned that we need to be on the same page with discipline and to be consistent with him - he is too smart and will try something with me that Daddy doesn't let him do and vice versa.
He loves to play with blocks and is fascinated at the moment with putting blocks in and out of different containers. He has this small Christmas gift bag that he will fill with blocks and then heft around our living room.
This kid loves to be outside and loves his baby swimming pool. He loves to help me water our garden every morning. He loves to go for walks and is always leaning out of his stroller or baby carrier to see what is going on.
I love how trusting he is. He will walk off the top of the stairs into my arms because he completely trusts me. It is such a reminder of what my relationship with God should be like.
We are absolutely loving this stage! He is such a blast, and for the most part is super easy.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Weekend Fun

This past weekend, the Arnold clan headed down to Oregon. I forgot to take any pictures the entire weekend which is a major bummer.

Saturday - My mom had some jobs for Forrest to do (build a new step on one of the staircases) and help her replace the battery in the boat. When they tried to get the boat started white smoke started billowing out of the engine. Not a good sign. We were a little bit late for my roommate after college, Shara's 30th birthday dinner. We met the group at Claim Jumper's. The food was good. Forrest and Drew had to have an entire table to hold all of their plates and the restaurant provides a complimentary baby plate with cheese, applesauce, mandarin oranges and turkey.

After dinner we went to a nearby bowling alley. Ephraim joined his dad in the arcade while I strapped on my bowling shoes. I bowled an even 100 which is really good for me. After bowling we joined the Coleman's and the Brownlee's at the Coleman house where the boys played a video game and the mommy's talked. I had brief flashbacks to Super Monkey Ball days right after we were married and was wondering if the boys were ever going to stop playing. We got back to my mom's around 12:30.

Sunday - Ephraim was out of sorts in the morning so he and I skipped church. I am glad we did, he took a 2 1/2 hour nap. He woke up at 1 and we headed down to the dock where my mom's small group was having a BBQ. Forrest and I took Ephraim out on the double kayak. He cried most of the trip - not because he didn't like the kayak - but because I wouldn't let him in the river. I let him splash his hands, but drew the line when he tried to drink the water. Ephraim and I went back to the house and he took another 1 1/2 nap. Forrest and I left my mom's house around 6 to go to his parents to have dinner and Ephraim slept up to Vancouver. We left Vancouver around 9:30. Sometime around 11 I woke up and asked Forrest if he was doing okay and his answer was "maybe". I then tried to entertain him with all of the random thoughts I had until we made it home at 12.

It was a weekend full of late nights, but we are so glad that we went down and got to spend time with good friends