Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Espen's first big snow! He didn't seem too impressed. He rode around in his toboggan a few times and seemed pretty happy, but when he tried to crawl in the snow, his arms sunk in and he ended up face first in the snow. Needless to say, he didn't like that. His snow suit is a little big, but at the rate he is growing, it'll fit him fine by the next snow. :)

Bear of God

Well, Espen finally lived up to his name and became a "bear" of God on Sunday. Here are some pictures from his baptism. He was SO good during the service and sacrament. I think he was happy to "join the fold."

Getting the sign of the cross from Deacon Bill.

Being annointed with oil.

Being baptised in the name of Christ.

Being annointed with chrism oil. (It smells very strongly like perfume, and he still smells. :)

God's new little lamb.

Godparents Brad and Laura.

Happy, Droolly Bear!

What a Ham!

He talks on the play phone.... (He says, "Hello to all my admirers out there!")



And eats the real one!

SO FUNNY!!!!

Growing so fast!

Well, Espen is just going to town! He now has 6 teeth, and I can see two more bumps beginning to come up, although it will be a while before they come in. He has decided that he really likes crunching Gerber "puffs" with his new teeth. He fusses at mealtimes until he gets to feed himself some puffs. His pincer grasp is really developing and he is getting great at picking up small objects. It is making me a bit of a nervous wreck, worrying about choking hazards. Who knows where he finds half of this stuff. I had to pry a small bit of rubber out of his mouth today that I have no idea what it is from. I had seen it on the floor when we were playing and put it (so I thought) out-of-reach on the end table until I could figure out what it belonged to.

Which brings me to Espen's next death-defying feat: he is pulling up on everything. I am trying to make sure that stuff is out-of-reach, but he is like Stretch Armstrong or something and seems to be able to reach the farthest corners of my tables and shelves. He managed to grab Jason's water cup today and started banging/splashing water all over before Jason could stop him. Too funny. I can't believe how fast he is growing! He was even "cruising" a little today! (using the furniture to get "walk" from place to place.)

His 9 month check-up is Thursday, so I'll have some official stats for you then, but unoffically, he weighs a TON and is SO TALL! :) His crawling is getting faster every day, and I am constantly chasing him down the hall. He likes to make a circuit from the living room, down the hall, into the kitchen in the hopes that he can get there before I do and stick his hand in Sophie's water bowl. :) He hasn't beaten me yet.

He keeps a very busy schedule of playing, although his favorite toys tend to not be toys at all. Here he is with a spatula that he appropriated.

He has a toy cabinet (that you can see in the background) and a toy drawer. He likes opening them up and taking everything out and scattering it across the floor, or throwing the balls under the entertainment center (where they live until the Roomba chases them out). Our living room is in a state of nearly constant barely-controlled chaos.

And finally, yesterday he decided that his tongue is awesome and has been crawling around with it hanging out. He looks ridiculous! :) It has been cracking Jason and I up. Check it out!

Basketball Star?

Here is Espen enjoying one of his new toys. He really seems to like the basketball hoop (with frequent football breaks. :) ). We may have the next big basketball star on our hands. (Especially if he keeps growing the way his is!) The funny thing is that neither Jason nor I like basketball. Ha! Figures. :)

Teeth Everywhere!

So the top middle two have been in for a few days now, and now the two on either side of those are starting to come in. Poor little man is miserable, cramming his hands in his mouth almost constantly, but hopefully they'll pop through soon and help ease the pain. For now, lots of teethers and Tylenol. :)

Here is a picture of one of MY Christmas toys... Roomba! Roomba is a robotic vacuum that makes keeping the floor clean a LOT easier. It is amazing all the little things Espen can find to eat off the floor, so now Roomba does a daily sweep for me. :) Espen is fascinated by it. Except when he can't crawl away fast enough... then he gets a little scared until it nudges him and turns around.

Pouty boy

Espen is so darn cute, even when he pouts. I just had to snap this picture!

Crawling like a champ!

Just wanted to give a quick update on Espen's milestones. He is crawling like crazy (if you couldn't tell from the Christmas video) and getting into EVERYTHING! He is "clapping" (hitting one open hand onto his fist) and likes to kneel to look at stuff. He climbs up over just about anything and has just started pulling to standing, although he falls down pretty quickly. It's only a matter of time now. :) He actually climbed up on my lap to climb onto the couch the other day. He eats like crazy, about 5-6 jars of baby food a day, and his top two teeth are almost in. (I was hoping they'd make it for Christmas... I had a whole "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" blog post planned... oh well.) He's really getting the whole concept of "in and out," too. He loves putting things in and dumping them out. Balls are a big hit with him, and a lot of his Christmas toys involve putting balls in stuff. I will post a video later. He still loves music and is into "Jack's Big Music Show." It's a cute little show with muppets that sing all different kinds of music. He got the DVD for X-mas, and it has an episode starring Jon Stewart! HA!

Here's the picture of his teeth I promised.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been more than a month since my last post. :)

Sorry about that... I will try to do better! The madness of the holidays has slowed and maybe things can return to psuedo-normal. We had a wonderful Christmas and hope you all did too! Our New Years was quiet, as I was recovering from a very nasty bout of food poisoning. I finally got over that, just to catch a cold and end up with sinus and ear infections. Yuck. Fortunately, Espen and Jason have dodged the bullet so far.

So know everyone is dying for adorable pictures from Espen's first Christmas, and I am happy to oblige. Here ya go:

Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Vogel's house.

Espen got a big kick out of opening his presents.

Espen and daddy with Espen's new convertible. BEEP! BEEP!

Espen's favorite gift... a hanger. What a goof!

Christmas morning at home! Yummy presents!

Look at all this good stuff! Someone must have been awfully good!

Hmmm.... Batteries not included???

What's in here?

I think I like Christmas!

Espen loves this ornament. He keeps trying to take it off the tree.

Christmas day at Great-grandma and Great-grandpa Vogel's house.

Christmas evening at Grandma and Grandpa Little's house.

Espen is dwarfed by his pile of gifts.

Our bundle of joy, ready for bed.

A video from Christmas morning (It's kind of long [about 6 minutes], sorry!):









As you can see, Espen got more stuff than we know what to do with! :) He loves playing with his new toys. Keep your eyes peeled for posts highlighting some of his fun times!


Hope you all had great holidays! Let us know what is going on with you!