7 Months

Dear Ezra,
Just when I thought your smile couldn't get any cuter, your two bottom teeth popped up!  After months of drooling, chewing, and fussy minutes, your little tusks practically appeared over night.  You enjoy rubbing your tongue over the top of your teeth, but thankfully haven't figured out the power of your bite... Your mouth is a steel trap when a spoon makes its way to you (unless it has yogurt on it).  Most of your food ends up either on your cheeks, shirt, or spit in my face. While I know it is only a matter of time until I can hardly keep up with your food wishes, for now you have your momma a little perturbed with all of the food we are wasting! The little bit of food you are digesting has really messed with your bowels.  Your daily poop has now turned in to a weekly poop!  This means you have pretty rancid gas for a week and an extremely loaded diaper on Fridays. I'm not complaining about changing one poop a week, I just get worried that you are backed up! Now that the weather is nice, you like to go on walks and runs in the stroller.  You are always wide awake and interested on these adventures.  I hate that we can't look at each other during our strolls, so I often pull over and love to look at your wide eyes mid walk or run.  You can sit up all by yourself now!  It is fun to watch you sit and explore. When you investigate your toys your face is the cutest!  Your chin is doubled, eyes crossed, lips pursed, and most often drool is dripping from your mouth- it is the most precious face. One of your favorite toys to investigate are your socks, especially in the car.  Thankfully the weather is getting warmer because your socks end up soaked with slobber and your toes go bare.  You love new faces, can't get enough of your cousins, go ga ga for your grandparents, and are always excited when Dad gets home.  But, you are a Momma's boy through and through, and I'm not complaining!  Love you forever, 

Mom

Photo Dump // May

M

Salt Lake City

A few weeks ago we visited Emily in Salt Lake City.  She has been living there for the last year and a half- teaching Montessori, meeting new friends, discovering the best restaurants, and being an adult! It is hard to believe my little Emmy is all grown up now!


In the weeks leading up to our vacation I added SLC to my weather app and excitedly checked the forecast each day, looking forward to the sun!  Several days before we got there Emily told me it had been 90 degrees that day!  I honestly went into a little bit of a panic feeling like Ezzy and I didn't have the proper clothes for that climate (which lead to a shopping spree) and I was a little worried about him being uncomfortable.  The night before we left I checked the weather to confirm temperatures, and verified that it would be in the upper 80s all weekend.  The morning before we left I made Tieba take some of his sweats, jeans, and a sweatshirt out of the suitcase because we certainly wouldn't need it in the warm weather.  Not until we were nearing SeaTac did I realize that I had been looking at the forecast for MAUI!!!!  Only then to notice that it would be 60 degrees and rainy the whole time we were in Utah!  My brain is mush... Needless to say, I would have packed differently had I been paying a little more attention! Great start...

We were lucky to sit next to a really nice guy on the plane that loved Ezzy.  Even better, Ez was a happy panda the whole trip!  I nursed him as we took off, he slept for maybe 5 minutes, and then he was up flirting with the flight attendants the rest of the time. 

Em picked us up from the airport and we headed to Cafe Rio for lunch.  We had a delicious meal and Ezzy was so happy to be reunited with Aunt Emmy!

From there we did a little shopping downtown, checked in to our hotel, hung at Em's house, walked around Sugar Hill Park, and then ate the most incredible waffles ever made!  It is safe to say that we all may have gained 5 pounds over the weekend!  Emily had some heavenly meals planned for us! 

We all ate so much we thought we were going to be ill... Little did we realize that the store bought jar of sweet potatoes would end up making Ezzy sick!

After dinner we dropped Em off at her house and went to our hotel to put E to bed.  He was a little hyped up, but after some singing, dancing, and shushing, I finally got him to close his eyes.  I put him down in the pack and play that we borrowed from the hotel, and got in bed to prepare for what would likely be a wild night.  About 30 minutes after he fell asleep, I heard what I thought was a big spit up.  When I got out of bed to check on him, I saw projectile, waist high, orange vomit erupting from our Taco.  I quickly turned him to his side and again, vomit spewed!  I picked him up and he blasted me with lava.  What was even more confusing was that through all of this he was still sleeping!  More than confusing, it was concerning considering that he wakes up if someone sneezes!  I proceeded to change his outfit and he slept through the entire thing.  This was so strange and I became so worried that I was prepared to hold him the whole night.  After almost an hour of sitting in a chair with him, Tieba convinced me that he was fine and that I should put him down.  Unfortunately, the minute (LITERALLY) I set him down he started puking again!  After holding my treasure for another 30 minutes, I put him in bed with us and he was as happy as a king!  No more puking and of course he was in his pure element being this close to his momma all night long. 

Em spent the night with us on Saturday and Sunday. T was a true sweetie and slept on the floor so we could be in bed with Prince Panda.

Saturday morning Emily surprised me with a manicure and pedicure from a cute little boutique spa in her neighborhood.  I felt truly spoiled!  We had fun getting pampered and chatting.  It was my first time getting my nails done by someone that is Caucasian.  The girl was very nice and did a good job, but no one compares to our girls at Apple Nails :). While we did our nails, T and Ezzy went the aquarium with Emily's friend Keith and his son.  

We then headed to Salt Lake and walked around the Conference Center and Temple Square. 

We have missed Emily so much while she has been away!  It was  nice to just enjoy the little things together. 

Lounging in the living room, 

 escaping for heavenly custard treats, 

walking and talking, 

and visiting Em's classroom.

 We are lucky to have our sister and aunt home again!

 I am proud of Emily and the strong, independent woman that she has become.  I couldn't be happier to have my sister and friend home.  

M

Poop

Ezra poops once a week. 

 Every time I have brought him to Endeavour he has pooped.  Full blown blow out, need a change of clothes, should take a bath- poops. 

He has let me know how he feels about Momma going back to work :) 

M

My Angel

When Ezra was about three months old I thought I was going to crack.  For at least 90 days I hadn't slept longer than a two hour stretch and it seemed like every other baby his age was sleeping "through the night" (6 hours).  I can remember one Friday afternoon going to University Book Store searching for advice (and an excuse to get out of our condo that we had been trapped in all day).  My trip was cut short because Ezzy was so fussy, but I left with what I hoped would give me the wisdom I needed to help him sleep longer.  Of course, it didn't.  I only became more frustrated because with the depth of research I was doing, I found that every sleep strategy can be proven both healthy and abusive, and most importantly, every baby is different- there isn't one way to do it.  My Panda simply doesn't need as much sleep as the rest.

I don't know how it is possible, but three months later, my guy is still waking up like a starving newborn three to four times a night.  A couple weeks ago he had a few days where he was waking up every hour and then refusing to let us put him back in his crib.  As a result, Tieba or I spent almost the entire night holding him or doing the dance between our bed, the rocking chair, and his crib.  He would be dead asleep, snoring and the minute we lowered him into his crib his eyes would pop wide open and he would let us know that putting him down was not an option. 
This made me even more tired than usual.  I would try to nap when he did, but by the time I fell asleep, he would wake up within minutes, making me even more frustrated.  My angel, Kelly, could sense a mental break down in the future and insisted that she watch Ezzy while I take a nap.  Knowing that she had her hands full herself, I refused her initial offer.  She then came over to my house to kidnap Ezra, but he was napping so I sent her away.  Finally that afternoon I went over to visit her and she commanded that I lie down and take a nap.  With some reluctance I let her.  To date it goes down as the most necessary nap in my motherhood history. 

I am so lucky to have Kelly as a sister, friend, doctor, co-mother, and neighbor.  It is rare that 24 hours goes by that we don't see each other, and if more than 6 hours goes by with out talking to her I begin to panic and start sending her rapid fire texts to be sure everything is okay. She is an incredible mom and example to me.  I love her more than anything and hope that we can be neighbors forever! 

M

6 Months

Dear Ezra,
I can hardly believe you are 6 months old already! You are a big boy now!  Rolling over, inspecting your toys, bouncing on your strong legs, grunting, growling, and laughing are some of your favorite things to do! You have discovered a fun new game to play with me, throwing toys on the ground and watching me pick them up.  You especially like to do this in the bathroom when I am getting ready for the day, it really cracks you up.  You love your red football and have fun knocking down towers that I build for you.  While you still prefer milk over any other source of nourishment, your favorite foods are applesauce and prunes.  Ezra, you are so strong and sturdy! Sometimes strangers ask me if you are walking and they always think you are older than you are.  Of course, you aren't walking, but weighing in at 22 pounds, it is no wonder people think you are!  While you may be a big boy, you are still your momma's little cuddle kangaroo.  You love to be in my front pack; doing chores with me and spying on all the people we pass by at the store.  It is your second favorite place to fall asleep and one of the best parts of every one of my days.  You will be strapped to your momma until my back can't handle it any longer.  I love you!
Forever, Mom