Elliot at 6 Months

Elliot is 6 months old today! 

We took him to the pool this morning. He loves it now that the water has warmed up and he has mastered the skill of splashing. 

Studying the water

Focused on splashing

It took Aaron 20 minutes to convince me that it is OK that this collage isn't in chronological order.

Salty, wrinkly toes... Delicious!

 Elliot also had his first exposure to grass at the park a few days ago!

Grass...

What is grass...

I like grass. 

And he can totally sit up now!
(or at least stay there for a few minutes before falling. He can't get himself up into sitting position.)

 We have started giving Elliot cheerios and other stuff that we are eating. Usually he ends up with the food tucked safely in his hand and his thumb in his mouth. Why would you bother chewing on food when you have this great thumb that never goes away?

"I kinda sorta like cheerios sometimes"

Elliot still sleeps great at night. We had a rough patch with naps for a while, but he's doing pretty well now. Nap time is pretty much the only time this kid cries.

Nap time Blues

Elliot's current favorite toy is a wrapping paper tube

Working on his bench press

I sure love having a baby around!

Elliot at 5+ Months

We have fun forcing Elliot to try to sit up. He's definitely strong enough, but doesn't have the balance part now. His record is somewhere around 7 seconds, but he doesn't seem to mind repeatedly falling over. The results can be pretty hilarious, as demonstrated by the artfully crafted video montage below:

I love how blue Elliot's eyes look in this next picture. Thanks Lakin for taking awesome pictures!

Elliot hanging out in his carseat during our Patagonia Lake trip 

He's pretty good with loud noises unless he is falling asleep. He started bawling once when Aaron sneezed while I was getting him to sleep- I wish I had gotten it on video because his face was priceless! 

Keeping tabs on the vacuum from a safe distance

I love that little face!

We aren't super gung-ho about solids yet. At this point, I give him some rice cereal for fun if he already needs a bath. He is only mildly interested in food at this point and it is SO MESSY.

Always an adventure

Banana Mush Falls

We finally had a swimming break through! We took him to the heated pool at the clubhouse and had a jolly good time. There were some kids from the ward there that got him laughing super hard by popping out of the water and tickling him. 

Showing off his pool bod

 Elliot LOVES books. To the point where it is hard to read to him because he starts flailing wildly and will kick/grab the book out of my hand. I have the best luck if he's sitting in his basinet. I hope that this keeps going and he turns out to be a book lover like me!

READ ALL THE THINGS

Elliot is a happy, sweet baby! He sleeps from about 7-5:30 every night, then comes and eats and sleeps some more with me in bed. I usually don't get up until 7ish unless he is particularly squirmy. He is much better at napping than before, but it still fluctuates quite a bit. I don't worry about it too much as long as he gets them in at some point. I bring him with me to Zumba and Volleyball at the stake center several mornings a week and he'll watch people and suck his thumb contentedly until he demands to be taken home for nap time. He's a cutie and I couldn't love him more!

Patagonia Lake- A Lovely Trip with a Tragic End

We went camping with the Hays at Patagonia Lake! 

It is just over an hour drive from us, right north of the Mexican border. 

It was in the upper 90's, so I thought the cool water felt great. 

Elliot did not. 

"Why did you get me wet??"

He was not very happy with us. 

 They Hays borrowed an awesome inflatable raft that really made the day! 

Elliot liked slouching in his relatively dry corner.

Cute kiddos in a boat

Yes, he is a thumb sucker

Colby doing some power strokes

Me and my buddy Alice

Aaron and Colby off adventuring 

Trying to will Elliot into loving the water

It is super embarrassing when your mom snaps a picture of you holding hands with a cute girl

Chillin in our new 4-person tent

After the kiddos fell asleep, the Hays introduced us to a neat game called Citadels and then we did some iPhone-aided star gazing on the beach. 

The next morning we woke up, had breakfast burritos and s'mores, and walked along some of the nearby trails. 

Super archy bridge!

I like Robb and Alice in the background

After that, we got in a second round of swimming then headed home.

THAT'S WHEN DISASTER STRUCK. 

We were unpacking when we got home. My fingers shrink when I get cold, so I put my wedding ring in the zippered pocket of Aaron's swim trunks whenever we go swimming.

You can probably guess where this is going.

When we pulled the swim trunks out of our bag, the zipper was open. Aaron's ring was still inside the pocket, but mine was gone. We called the park rangers and had them look around our campsite, thinking that the ring might have fallen out when we had our swim suits hanging out to dry. Nothing. We decided to drive an hour back to look ourselves. We made friends with the new inhabitants of campsite 49 and looked everywhere that we had been that morning. I even waded out and looked in the shallow water where we had been sitting. Nothing. It is either at the bottom of the deep end of the lake where Aaron was swimming, or someone stole it. 

It was a bummer, but worse things can happen. We are going to tell our kids the saga of the Lost Patagonia Lake Wedding Ring and have them swim around and look for it whenever we go back. Who knows, maybe we will end up in one of those "Man Finds Lost Ring in Belly of Fish" headlines!

Aaron is 26!

Aaron is 26!

Birthday Dinner at Chilis

I was particularly proud of my main present to Aaron this year. I built some food storage can rotation shelves! We had been talking about buying some eventually, but they can be pricy. After watching many many youtube videos, I decided that I could make some. The most impressive part was that I managed to keep it a complete surprise- I would work on it when Aaron was at work and hide all the supplies in the garage. 

I thought the bow on the door was a good touch. He was very confused. 

I painted them red to match the pattern on our island

The next night we had cheesecake and ice cream with our friends.

Raspberry Cheesecake!

Happy Birthday to a terrific guy!