christmas!

Last Christmas..

And this one. My, how he has grown.

Christmas packages! (A perfect place to load your guns)

Ripping like a pro!


The fruits of his labor..


P.S. Emanuel got two cell phones for Chistmas. He is chatting away and pressing buttons constantly!

sick baby

Don't worry. He's all better now (:

Chattin' away

Emanuel has always been interested in all electronics, but just recently he has started 'talking' on my cell phone. He thinks he is just the cat's meow when he puts it up to his head. I'm inclined to agree. And furthermore; I think anybody who could see it would be thoroughly charmed as well, so if somehow you're haven't decided if he is the most darling thing to cross your screen today; here you go!

"uhh, hold on a second. Yes? Can I help you?"


Expect some walking pics soon, 'cause this tot is starting to toddle!

fall leaves

catching up..

Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted. Here are a ton of pictures to help catch up.

This is a picture of Emanuel at the park. He went with some of his friends. Emanuel loves being outdoors.

Here's a picture of Emanuel brushing his teeth. It's never too early to take responsibility for your hygiene!

And here's a lovely shot of those teeth!

We went to the local Greek festival the other day. Here's a picture of Dustin sharing his greek custard with Emanuel, Even though his face looks funny he really did enjoy it. Yummy!

At the same festival Emanuel got a balloon all of his own.

He fell asleep on the way home, but maintained his death grip on the balloon. He surely loved that balloon, He loved it so much in fact that he was, uh, kissing it later that evening and bit a hole in it. And that was the end of that.

We went for a picnic yesterday. We set the timer to take a family picture. I had visions of Christmas cards dancing in my head, but after a careful review, I see that wasn't meant to be.

He wanted Daddy! He has no respect for cameras..

All his teeth are sweet teeth

Emanuel loves the yummy blueberries

rocking horse

His technique is a little odd. But he has fun.

Starting young

Daddy's teaching him the basics. They'll move on to the next lesson when his feet can reach the pedals.

Helping in the kitchen

There are a lot of dangerous things in the kitchen. Emanuel can find them all while my back is turned and be halfway to destruction (of either himself or some random breakable object) by the time I notice. I have started surreptitiously opening "the door" every time I have a kitchen chore that I know he'd love to help with, which would be every time I go into the kitchen. He doesn't know he's being baited, and I can have a little piece of mind to empty the dishwasher (knives), or cook (hot), or any other mundane task that he manages to introduce that dangerous, edgy feeling that I loved so much before I became a mother, into.

summer afternoon at park

Happy 4th of July!

first tooth

Emanuel got his first tooth a few days ago. He's eight months old today, so it was a little late coming, but it's finally here. I figured it would be all the way up in a few days and I could take a picture to post here, but it seems it's not planning to grow any faster now, though it has broken through the rock hard gums that held it under for so long.
Basically his "tooth" is a scratchy spot on his gum. It's sharp though. He made my lip bleed when he kissed me the other day. I think he has gotten to the age when his kisses to mama need to be a little less enthusiastic.

Father's day

Well, yesterday was Dustin's first father's day.He does a great job and is a absolutely wonderful father.

Turns out that the baby crawling is very nice in some ways. I don't think there is anything sweeter than having my baby choose to crawl to me. Out of all of the interesting things to see and do, he wants to come to his mama. It is good for my heart.

beginning of the end

Emanuel is learning to crawl. Right now it's like a get into position and lunge. But he can make it several feet before getting exhausted and stopping, but only for a rest. He's going to be all over the place soon. Do I need to rearrange my entire house, or just get a baby cage, or what? Help! My baby is growing up...

boy blue

little blue boy in the green green grass

control remote

I've got it! But where are the buttons?

Here they are..

now if I can just point it to where it does something..

Tada!

sleeping

squashed nose

I was feeding Emanuel his squash (of which he is not that fond, and who can blame him), and he sneezed right before the spoon got into his mouth, propelling his nose into the spoonful of squash. I had to take a picture before cleaning him up.

bunny slippers

No cold feet for this boy.

5 signs your baby may be teething

5 signs your baby may be teething:
• He looks like the winner of his own personal wet T-shirt contest.
• When he chews on his fist, the expression "self-cannibalizing" leaps to mind.
• You've exhausted all other explanations for his crabbiness.
• You've exhausted all other explanations for your crabbiness.
• When you look in his mouth, you see teeth.

Easter

Yesterday was Emauel's first easter. I'm not sure what the big deal is about "first" holidays, I have a feeling that subsequent ones will be much more meaningful.It's hard to explain the point of holidays to an infant, and all the excitement simply makes him screech. I didn't really get any particular "aww worthy" eastery type pictures, but I'll go ahead and post a picture of him taken on his first easter.

Emanuel and I went out to explore the great outdoors. He really enjoyed his taste of nature. Literally.

Emanuel's eats the lawn. Yummy. I guess I have to be careful to keep him away from the mulch. Fiber rich...