Visit from Grammy Linda ...

We had a visit from Grammy Linda this weekend! We had a lot of fun, and went on many adventures -- to Cannon Beach, to the Columbia Gorge, on a little shopping trip to Ikea. We had a lot of time for hanging out and playing too!

#1 ~ Hanging out in front of the house, enjoying the fact that spring has arrived!
#2 ~ Eating dinner -- mom makes me eat split peas! Yuck!
#3 & 4 ~ Looking good with Grammy Linda
#5 ~ Getting rocked to sleep by the pro
#6 ~ Reading books with Grammy ...
#7 ~ The Columbia Gorge, which Eli slept through
#8 ~ Crib time ...
#9 ~ Showcasing our new kitchen rug ...
#10 ~ LOVE YOU ALL!

Greens go camping ...

First camping trip of the year, as turkey season opens. J did a lot of work to get all of our gear ready, and we drove out to Mt. Hood National Forest Friday night and met up with friends from Jason's work. We set up our new tent and stayed toasty warm! It was palatial for a tent, more like being in a little cabin. Eli was pretty quiet taking it all in Friday and Saturday, but Sunday he was all squiggles and ready to explore! You'll notice he looks a little rough in these pictures ... that is because he cut his first teeth during the trip (three coming in all at once on the bottom right side). He did have a good time though and even though no turkeys, it was a successful and relaxing trip overall.

#1 ~ Mom and Eli in the tent ... what kind of tent is big enough for a playpen, bed, woodstove, and woodpile!

#2 ~ Our little campsite

#3 ~ Eli and Phoebe hanging out. Lynne and John, he's wearing the suit you gave him!

#4 ~ More Phoebe. She had a good time and was a good camp dog

#5 ~ We went for a little family walk and Eli crashed out pretty early into it. He's missing the view!

#6 ~ Our friend Everett and Eli hanging out

#7 ~ Forest view

boat adventure with mom and dad ...

Last weekend we took our boat out on Hagg Lake -- tested out the new motor and tried out the new tent, in preparation for this weekend's first camping trip of the year. Eli was pretty crabby for the whole trip and we think it was a pretty overwhelming experience overall -- he crashed out asleep about halfway through.

#1 ~ in the car seat ready to go ...
#2 ~ hanging out in the tent ...
#3 ~ searching for leftover crumbs ...
#4 ~ EZ and V with the tent
#5 ~ EZ and V at Hagg Lake

Eli out and about town ...

Where can I go and what can I do??? Eli G, testing all the boundaries ...

#1 & 2 ~ Learning about stairs ... curious, but pretty scared of them still ...
#3 ~ Everything is somehow climbable ...
#4 ~ Eli and I went to our friend Jane's birthday party in Lake Oswego. Here is Eli with our friends Carla and Linda
#5 ~ Birthday girl Jane, and her kids Lizzie and John. I was realizing that I've known these guys for 10 years! Crazy ... It was a very fun party, lots of laughing and clapping. Eli especially liked being in a crowd of clapping people and really enjoyed all the over-stimulation ...

Enjoying the outside world ...

more talking practice ...

too busy for pants

Eli is now quite adept at getting around -- most of the time he scoots or does an "army crawl" (in honor of Uncle Declan!) but he is learning how to use his knees too. He is in the process of thoroughly exploring his environment, the world is his jungle gym! Toys are less interesting now, he really just wants to practice standing. He has started to cruise around the corners of furniture, and has transferred from the table to the couch a couple of times, when he's feeling very brave! He's definitely got his own agenda now, and can barely stay still especially for diaper and clothes changes.

We went to Cirque du Soleil last Friday, and Eli was amazed by all the acts. We brought some plastic rings for him to play with during the show, and when the acrobats came out, he stood up very straight and held the rings high over his head, like he was saying "I can do that too!" He really liked being in a crowd of clapping people and during intermission liked to show off his trick of walking with mom's help ...

We went to the doctor last week for the 9-month well-baby check-up. Everything looking good, and we got the latest measurements and percentiles. His weight and height are in the 50th percentile, and his head size ... 100th percentile. He may have the biggest noggin ever. Like Charlie Brown...

#1 ~ He was crawling all around one morning, and crawled right out of his overalls! Too funny, and it slowed him down not at all.

#2 ~ Now he stands up with ease, and he likes to watch the world from inside his playpen. He's currently working on maneuvering around the corners

#3 ~ Falling asleep in funny positions ...

#4 ~ Who says you have to play with a toy the way it was designed?