TJ Evolution (8 Months)

Every week, we've been taking a short video of TJ on our living room couch. Here is the collected goodness of those efforts: eight months of development in under two minutes.

Enjoy,
Jeff, Ra and TJ

River Tripping

The Flotilla of Folly is a big group rafting trip that some friends of ours have been running on the Descutes River for a few years. We were happy to be invited, and after some encouragement from veterans with kids, we decided to bring along the little guy for a serious adventure. Despite nearly constant rain and a bit of a fever for TJ, we had a blast and are excited to take him again next year when he's more aware of what's happening (and has grown into his life jacket a bit more).


TJ and JT preparing to hit the river.


TJ and Auntie Sara.


TJ performing a safety check on the assorted PFDs during our Sunday lunch break.


TJ checking out JT's rescue vest.


TJ napped through his first class III, Buckskin Mary.


Responsible rafting starts with riding the oar raft, freeing babysitting aunts to relax and enjoy the ride.


Tree, TJ and JT.


Family photo op during a scouting break at the biggest rapid on the river.



...and a few bonus pix from around the house:


Our kitchen could use a touch of babyproofing.
Until then, he explores under close supervision.


TJ sporting a hat knitted by a friend.

Mt St Helens and Adventures in Eating

TJ kicks back in his tube while hanging at the Sandy River.




TJ is well into his phase of pulling himself into a standing position on tables. He's just starting to try free standing, but mostly he is getting good at sitting quickly when a fall is inevitable.



The highlight of August has been the visit from TJ's G-Ma and Aunts from Denver, Carrie and Amanda. On the Monday of their extended weekend vacation, we drove up to Mt St Helens for some sightseeing and a light hike.


Family photo permutation #1


Our nuclear family


Bro and Sis


JT hauls a napper


Shiv demonstrates a scaled-down version of the power of the volcano's blast.


TJ sits on the porch between photo ops.


TJ, Carrie and Amanda commemorate their meet-and-greet weekend.


TJ and G-Ma


The Fam.


Generational transition initiated.


The other big development is that TJ is regularly eating non-milk foods.


Tabletop teething at BK & Tree's.


Banana in a bag


TJ and Ra share some big smiles before an eating episode.


TJ vs Rice Cereal




...and now that Shiv has started playing Starcraft2, TJ has to come to terms with being a member of a single parent household.


Also worth mentioning is that we built a preview of TJ's 8 month couch video. It's pretty wonderful. We will share it when we officially cross over the 8 month milestone and add the last few clips in three weeks. :)