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. :)

Summertime Rolls

Lots of good stories from the summer, so consider this set of pictures worth more than my best 10,000 words...


At the beach ulti tournament, we camped in the back yard of Daisy's rental house. This was TJ's first outdoor overnight adventure, and he did great. Don't you wish you could sleep in a bear suit? (WITH EARS!!!)




TJ went to visit his new friend, Vivian (not pictured), who was born in June. The age gap of a few months is a bit much now, but they'll be good playmates soon enough.


TJ and JT engage in some yell practice.


TJ already has more sports teams allegiances than he can count. (Sure, he can't count yet, but there are still quite a few. Go Blazers!)




TJ and Sara enjoy a backyard BBQ.


Ra said it was time for TJ's first foods, so he enjoyed some avocado. The response was largely neutral with a hint of confusion and a blink of positive.




TJ's second food experience, lime, received a more emphatic response. (Although to his credit, he didn't cry or complain or push it away. He just made faces.)




Ra's phone was dented by some dog teeth, but we thankfully pulled this foot-grabbing gem off of it before the phoneslaughter occurred.




Cuddles.




The chariot bike trailer has made us a fully man-powered traveling troupe. The only challenge has been when we purchased too many groceries, and TJ had to hug a loaf of bread during the ride home.


...and this helmet has made us a mushroom-headed safety squad.



Aunt Carrie and Aunt Amanda are currently out for their first visit to TJ. G-ma is crashing the party too because she can't get enough of this little dude. Pix to come!

Gearhead

You've seen the pool, but it was just the final installment of what shaped up to be a month full of new baby gear...

The exersaucer is great when we're cooking or cleaning up around the kitchen. TJ gets to hang out with us, has lots of toys he can't throw away and generally is able to distract himself when he starts to fuss.


...and of course, it wouldn't work without the approving smile of this guy.



For Ra's BDay, Carrie and Amanda sent this hammock. Ra and I have both spent a lot of time swinging with TJ in the shaded corner of our yard. He loves reaching for leaves and watching the pups run around.


...and sometimes TJ just wants some quiet chill time.
Being a baby ain't all fun and games.



For my first Father's Day, Vince and Migo were kind enough to send a copy of Arkham Horror, a cooperative strategy board game that I've been eyeing for a while. As a bonus, it comes with about a hundred choking hazards!



...and of course, what armada of baby gear would be complete without a baby jail?
Not ours!


Olive and Oz put in some time toward their certifications as guards while Ra worked on weeding the front yard.



Last and certainly not least, we now have a kid who wants nothing more than to pull himself into a standing position and grab everything within reach. We are getting closer and closer to needing full toddler-proofing of this house. Oh joy.

Pool Time

Last week, Ra was picking up some stuff at the store and mentioned that she thought about picking up a baby pool for TJ. I thought, "Oh, great. More baby crap to clutter up our world."

I was wrong.

Best.
$7.
Ever.

Getting ready for splashdown with mom.



Lip sucker.



Standing practice. (Yes, he's started pulling himself up to a standing position on the side of the pool... and on the coffee table... and on the window...)



This pool clearly needs more grass.



After his first day in the pool, he sat poolside playing with the water and sitting quietly for over an hour. I think he would have stayed all night if we didn't have other things to do.



Doing laps, duck friend?



Dorothy and Sydney join us for a dusk skinny dip.



Hug?



This is pretty much the only time he'll let us check out his new teeth.

TJ *hearts* toes

June Highlights

We're starting to hit some serious milestones here in TJ town, so I'll try to catch up with the pictures we have as I update the news as well. June was highlighted by a serious increase in mobility. The video we shared of TJ crawling adjacent to chipping lead paint was the start of his military-style elbow crawl, and by the time we got into July, we broke out the pack-and-play (a.k.a. baby jail) to ensure he didn't get into too much trouble during moments of our distraction. Anyway, enough babble. You're not here to read our editorials. You want baby pics!

TJ woos his girlfriend/neighbor, Sydney, with some tongue toe massage.



Ra took TJ to a wine tasting while visiting Lesley in Bellingham, but they wouldn't serve him, as he was already drunk on milk.



Lip sucking and smiles are a common theme.



Crawling and drool are our other most popular topics/activities.



TJ teaches his new newborn friend Vivian some baby choreography.


For the last Thursday of June, Grandma Vince brought TJ's cousins, Julia and Chelsea, down from Washington with her for an overnight visit. The highlight was a trip to the water tower park near out house.


TJ was confused why we would put him in an uncomfortable swing.
He's clearly unimpressed with this device of fun, as it reminds him of naps.



Similar was the response to the big kid swinging with Ra.



...so I took him down his first slide.
Again, he played the stoic.



So we just let him sit on the ground and jam grass into his face.
I guess that's what parks are best for these days.


As always, give a holler if you would like larger/original copies of any of these shots, as I shrink them significantly for use on the web.

Sayulita Vids

Sure, it's a little overdue, but we still really liked these still shots that highlight our typical days in Sayulita...



...and finally, here is a quick collection of other shots that didn't fit into the theme of our main attraction: