first steps

Ladies and Gentlemen... we have a walker!

I saw Ephrem take a step from one couch to another this morning, and then again about three steps in the evening on two separate occasions.

off to kindergarten

Here is Elijah, waiting for his first bus ride to school. There were two older kids at the bus stop, a 2nd and 4th grader. The bus was a little late, but not too bad.

Ephrem was patiently waiting, too. He'd go to school with Elijah I bet if only he could walk. :)

When the bus finally arrived, Elijah just walked off. He didn't even look back. There were no hugs and no kisses. :)

He only turned around because Ryan yelled "Good-Bye" or "Have fun" or something of the sort. I didn't hear what it was. I was busy taking a picture of Elijah's back and accidentally caught his face. :)

hi

Before Ephrem starting crawling he was experimenting with saying "ma-ma", "ba-ba" (Russian for "grandma"), "da-da" and "pa-pa" (Russian for "daddy"). However, as soon as he started crawling he put speech development on hold. He does say one word a lot though: "Hi!"

The doctor said that this often indicates a very social personality. That is rather evident. He loves being around people, is very interactive, and is not (unlike his brother) afraid of loud noises. When Ryan was drilling holes in the cabinets to put in child locks, Ephrem came over to check out what was going on. Whenever I make smoothies in a loud blender, he always wants to be there as well.

Ephrem says "Hi" to everybody: the doctor, people sitting (all right, standing :)) around us at church, and even an occasional fly flying by.

Ephrem's year old stats

Weight: 22.93 lbs (52%)
Height: 31.3 in (89%)
Head Circumference: 18.03 in (32%)

one year old

Ephrem is one! The proof is in the cupcake!

ding-ding-ding

At breakfast on August 1st:

Elijah: "Mommy, what date is it today?"
Mommy: "August 1st."
E: "So, tomorrow is August 2nd, then 3rd, then 4th, and then - DING-DING-DING - it's Ephrem's birthday!" (Pause.) "Wait, when is Grandma Shannon coming?"
M: "On August 4th."
E: "Hey, that DINGs, too!"

start them early

One of Ephrem's favorite places to be is the pantry. He goes straight for the empty bottles.

dressed up

Mommy and baby, all dressed up.

Daddy and Mommy, all dressed up.

kidding

Elijah (after I said something funny): "Mommy, you are giving me a kid! I mean... you are kidding me!"

two teeth

Ephrem has two teeth! Here's proof. :)

momentous events

July 5th marked a couple momentous events for us. OK, three. First, Ephrem turned 11 months.

Second, he crawled for the first time! He didn't even realize he was doing it. All he knew was he wanted a toy out of his reach, and he would move his knees a few times until he got close enough to go down on his tummy and reach it. Mind you, he still can't roll over from his back to his tummy, at least not willingly (the other way happens once in a while, although I do wonder if it's mostly accidental, or if he actually intends it). This inability to roll over is actually quite helpful during nap times. He stays put on his back in the crib and falls asleep quickly. :)

Finally, Elijah's and Ryan's new kilts arrived in the mail! Here's a picture of Elijah all dressed up in his new kilt with all the trappings. The boy loves it!



(Hey, if Prince Charles can wear a kilt, why can't Elijah? :))

eleven months old

The boys at 11 months old

ten months old

The boys at 10 months old

Ephrem's first tooth

Ephrem has a new tooth! His first one. It's on the bottom left. We don't have a picture of it yet. :)

Disney 2011

These are from January.

The baby elephant was 5 months old, just like Ephrem at the time.

Luke Skywalker?

Elijah seemed pretty scared of all of the characters. :)

six through nine months

I am a bit behind, but better late than never.

Ephrem's 6 mo stats

OK, Ephrem is almost 8 months old, but here are his 6 mo stats since I forgot to post them 2 months ago:

Weight: 22.88 lbs (92%)
Height: 28 inches (90%)
Head: 17.25 inches (47%)

temperature

Elijah, having just taken Minnie Mouse's temperature using an old telephone: "Oh, Baby! You are ninety hundred percent! You are SO sick!"

five months old

The boys at 5 months old

thinking of others

When visiting the doctor for his well child appointment, Elijah was asked to write his name on a piece of paper. The doctor was sitting across from him. Below is a picture of what he did. He wrote his name left to right, but turned all the letters upside down so that the doctor could read them. Then he wrote Minnie to the left of his name, since that's where there was space. :)


The doctor was rather impressed. She said she had had pictures drawn for her upside down, but she had never had anyone write for her upside down. She commented that this usually showed that a child was very attentive to the thoughts and feelings of others.

In case you wonder if he just doesn't know how to write right side up, I can assure you that he does. :) He does write an occasional letter backwards now and then, but we have never seen him do what he's done at the doctor's office.

Elijah - 5 years old

Elijah's yearly doctor appointment comes about a month after his actual birthday, but here are the stats anyway:

Weight: 42.99 lbs (64%)
Height: 44.02 inches (69%)

sleeping without sweatshirt

Last night for the first time in years Elijah went to bed having forgotten Sweatshirt on the couch. We didn't realize it until we came out of the boys' bedroom and saw Sweatshirt in the living room. Our first thought was to take it in to Elijah, but then we decided to wait and see what would happen. Nothing did. We quickly forgot about it.

This morning Elijah came out of his bedroom looking thoughtful. He looked around the living room and his first question was, "Where's Sweatshirt?" I pointed to the couch. He picked it up and did his normal sleeve-to-nose gesture. Then he told me he was looking for it on his bed thinking it must have fallen down at night and couldn't find it.

Tonight he made sure Sweatshirt was back in his bed. I guess we are not quite ready to give it up.