The Thrill of "Open and Close" & Other News

 Ezra, now eleven months old, is a joy to watch.  He is all learning, exploring, and experimenting.

He can be extremely focused.  For example, I recently gave Ezra an empty, cleaned-up apple juice container and lid.  He took the jar and the removed lid and sat for 15 minutes, in intense concentration, trying to understand how the lid fit onto the bottle.  Only after he mastered the skills of screwing on the lid, and then removing the lid, did he move on to more active pursuits.  In a similar way, he was all concentration when I introduced a set of twelve nesting cups.  He was fascinated that some cups fit into each other, and others did not.  He very deliberately tested every cup on their in-and-out capabilities, as thoroughly as a little scientist.

Lately, doors are quite a fascination.  He doesn't like to be alone in a room with a completely shut door, so he will mostly shut a door, and then quickly open it again, assuring that he hasn't been left alone.  Here is a little photo sequence of his open-and-shut game:        

Off to the upstairs bathroom, a favorite place to play.

Mr. Bunny is banished...

...bathroom door is shut...

...door is opened for a quick Mr. Bunny check...

...enough with the door; baby and bunny reunite.

Wisconsin Bovine

 Aside from all the bigger thrills of Wisconsin, the sibling reunion, Circus World, lots of fun family, more cousins, root beer, surprise parties, and fireworks, Ezra and I met some local cows.  A skip, hop, and a jump from Aunt Reva's front door is a cow pasture, and many a-spotted beast.  Ezra was fascinated and then highly entertained by their antics.  One cow took a particular interest in us.  The cow was nuzzling her nose through the fence and sniffing us with great curiosity.  Ezra thought that was hilarious.

    

Cousin Meet-and-Greet

 Ezra met his cousin Camryn (in-person) for the first time during our road trip vacation to Iowa.  Camryn is a perfect lady; she crosses her ankles every time she sits down.  She likes to pose for the camera, and she loves to dance.  She is just precious, and I think the two cousins enjoyed the interactions.  Camryn is quite the mover, so pictures of both cousins together was a little difficult, but we did get a few.   

Just Because

No reason in particular for the photo shoot.  We had an overcast day and the muted sunlight (good for picture taking when you are an amateur like me) seemed a good enough reason.

Here are some of the best ones:

That smile took some serious work (teething again...) 

Sophie, the giraffe, has ears--who knew?

Love the flower.

Eat the flower.  That's my boy.

Ezra-isms

Ezra is a nine-month old baby, which is hard to believe!  I thought this might be a good opportunity to chronicle some of his funnies and personality.

• He adores avocado.  He will eat an entire half right out of the skin in one sitting.  He also likes it made up as a baby guacamole with some cumin, lime juice, and green onion.
• Baby cereal (oatmeal) is a favorite too; just the sight of the box produces a big grin.
• Ezra can say "mama", and mama is code for "Mom, giver of milk, I am hungry.  Can we eat?"  He knows I am mama, and mama = food.  So, my name is associated with some angst (sigh).  
• Speaking of sigh, Ezra loves to copy me when I sigh.  I started letting out a happy, contented sigh as a game between us two, and he would copy me.  Now, sometimes, he initiates so I can copy him.
• He is starting to understand the concepts of "in" and "out" and "open" and "close."  One of his favorite toys is a little red bucket with colored shapes and wooden blocks.  A few weeks ago I showed him how the shapes went in, but he would just observe.  Now, when we play "in", he will help, but of course, "out" is much more fun.
• When Ezra is scared or unsure of a new situation (and I am holding him) he grabs the inside of my upper arm and squeezes.  Apparently, I make a good stress ball.
• I am trying to teach Ezra how to wave good-bye (the open and close fingers kind of wave), but the learning curve is steep right now.  Occasionally, when no one is around, he will practice it to himself, but he has yet to use his new trick to communicate hello or goodbye.
• Ezra loves being around children.  He isn't so interested in babies smaller than him, probably because their entertainment value is low.  He is a regular flirt at church, though, when any little people come into view.  He especially lights up whenever his six-year old cousin comes for a visit.
• Ezra has a distinctly different personality than his baby cousin (of the same age).  He is cautious, mellow, observant, a thinker/daydreamer, and snugly.  Physicality and speed are not his strengths, but he is keenly aware of people, sights, smells, and sounds.   

Cause and Effect

I was hoping to catch some of Ezra's cute babbling, and instead got this (happy accident).  He is making connections!  It is fun to see his little brain processing.  I didn't include the entire video here, but in about three minutes time, he unintentionally (and sometimes intentionally) dropped all his toys and books off the edge of the couch and seemed fascinated every time they fell.  He seemed to be saying with his eyes, "Mom did you see that?!"  Yep, gravity still works.  

Mashingly Good

Ezra is developing his taste for a number of fruits and vegetables, mostly because I am enjoying the homemade baby food thing. I recently discovered that our bamboo steamer makes quick work of several vegetables at once. (Dallin would be proud, I am learning efficiency!) Thus far, I have made butternut squash, apricots, asparagus, applesauce, pears, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, zucchini, plums, and spinach. Zucchini is only thing Ezra turned his nose up at, though he will still eat it, grudgingly.
A highchair tray that is remove-able and plastic (ie, easy to clean) is a godsend. The catch-all silicone bib (ie, ridiculously easy to clean) is GENIUS! (thanks Becky!)

Playing in the Park

Hurray for warm weather!
Yesterday we enjoyed the sunshine on a walk and a park play day.
Ezra (and Mr. Bunny--trusted companion) loved swinging!

Avocado

Ezra and I are having a hard time waiting until his six-month check-up to start baby food. Often, when I hold him while eating something, he opens his mouth wide like a little bird. At dinnertime, Ezra watches us intently and grabs for our food.
Yesterday he was particularly interested/upset by my food so I made a quick avocado puree. Initially, I think it was a shocking experience, but he kept opening his mouth for more, so I guess the faces were for dramatic affect.

Captured Moments

With every passing day our little guy has more and more to say and touch and lick etc.. He can lean against objects but doesn't care about rolling over... go figure.






And here's another installment: grunting lessons. "Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war!" - Shakespeare

A Snowy Day

16 inches of snowfall over the past 24 hours = awesomeness.

Despite not going skiing on a day like this, we still enjoyed a family constitutional, albeit shorter.

Mommy and little Ezra all bundled up

Daddy sports his ubiquitous red coat whilst baby looks on

I'm happy because I can't move!

Future snow buff and adventurer extraordinaire

Little Lion

I wanted to post a picture of Ezra in his adorable coat before he grows out of it!

The expressionless face is how Ezra looks just before he falls asleep, snuggled in coat and car seat.

Preferences

At four months, babies often reach a new developmental milestone: rolling over. It appears Ezra could care less about such milestones; he is absolutely uninterested in even attempting. Doctor's orders are more tummy time to encourage rolling over. In the meantime, we have been practicing sitting up. He seems to like the view better from a seated position anyway, and prefers sitting up to laying on the floor.

Able to fall asleep anywhere, anytime, even sitting up--looks like mommy!

The big kahuna in his executive office chair.

He's happy because he's in charge.

Hello World!

Like Father, Like Son

I was taking pictures of Ezra a few weeks ago and he got this interesting expression on his face that looked strangely familiar. I went digging through some scanned images of daddy and found a picture from the same age with a very similar pose and smile. Funny thing, genetics.

Sitting up (sort of)

Ezra has some great tricks, but he stops all his cuteness as soon as we bring over the video camera. We have yet to capture his babbling because he finds the video camera more intriguing than his own voice. This little still action photo sequence shows his attempts at sitting up (with support). He is still pretty round and squishy, so it doesn't last long. Alas, cuter as video, but I think you get the idea.

Behold Your Little Ones...

**Attention: The following content is rated "UC" for Uber Cute.**

The scriptures contain many references to children, so instead of my usual captioning, I found a few scriptures which speak of our "little ones".


"...and he [Jesus] took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them... And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones." (3 Nephi 17:21, 23)


"Now this is not all; little children do have words given unto them many times, which confound the wise and the learned." (Alma 32:23)


"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." (Mosiah 3:19)


"And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them... Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me." (Matthew 18:2, 4-5)


"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." (Matthew 5:9)