Feb 24, 2013

7 Months Old!

He JUST keeps getting cuter! 
Josiah is 7 months old now.  He is such a joy!
You'll see his bottom two teeth in some of these pictures.  Too adorable! 
Multiple people say he doesn't look like me or Jason and I completely agree!  
I think he COMPLETELY looks like an Eklund! (My mom's Dad to be exact).  Which is not a bad thing at all, 'cause my grandpa was one handsome man!  
Any Eklunds reading this, give me a shout out if you agree!
He is just beginning to sit up.  He can do it on his own for up to 10 seconds, but will quickly topple.  In these pictures, he's helped by a Bumbo under the quilt that Auntie Jen made!
He rolls ALL over the place.  You set him down and he's off.  Never in one spot anymore!
He can do a little army crawl too!
This boy is busy and motivated to move!

We call him Grabby McGrabster because he has the York long arm reach.  Even if you think something is out of his reach... he lunges and shoots out his go-go-gadget arms and grabs it quicker than you can blink!  We've had a few water glasses spilled at the dinner table this way :)
He's interested in anything and everything.  And especially if it's new... he wants it... in his hands.  NOW!
He loves to be tickled and tossed in the air.  His giggles and full blown laughter are still the sweetest sounds.
He loves his big sister... all eyes on her when she's around.  And likewise she likes to entertain him with silly faces, dances and toys.  She's pretty much over the helping with diapers at this point.  But she insists on giving him hugs and kisses every time he goes for a nap and it melts my heart anew each time.
He's definitely a mama's boy.  His eyes follow me wherever I go and he's all smiles when I come into a room.  I can't say that I mind at all.  A friend of mine, when she found out we were having a boy, told me that there is a special bond between Momma and her son that is unlike any other.  I'm starting to get a taste of that :)
He's survived croup, an ear infection and the flu.  This boy's a trooper.  Ella was never this sick and it's caused me to educate myself even more on natural remedies, which we're now employing with MUCH success!
He's given us a run for our money in the sleep department.  After much advice, many trial and errors, and reading 4 books on infant sleep.  I finally came up with a method that worked!  He now consistently (save for the flu-zilla period of time) only wakes once a night to eat.  He goes to bed at 6 or 6:30pm, wakes at 3am to eat and sleeps again until 6 or 7 in the morning.  And with greater night time sleep, his daytime sleep has improved as well.  He now takes two long naps a day, sometimes a third short one thrown in in the morning.  Our house is much happier in general!  

Feb 4, 2013

All the video of Ella's skiing!

We took a lot of video of Ella skiing this past weekend.  So here it is, mainly for all me friends and family!  Please ignore my "awesome" commentary.  I simply wasn't cut out to be a sportscaster!  AND, after watching the videos I realized that you can't really tell how steep the pitches are and how fast she's going, because most of the video is shot from behind her, moving at the same speed as her...  but lets just say, she's skiing pitches I'd never dreamed she'd be doing the fourth time out at 4 years old... and her speed is enough to scare this momma, who is a speed demon herself on skis!  Enjoy!  

Feb 2, 2013

Video Proof! Ella Skis!!

If you've read any of my facebook posts, you've read of my excitement about how much Ella loves skiing and how well she's doing.  I'm always alone with her, so no video.  Then Auntie Erin and Jamie took video but the file was too big it wouldn't load.  Well, I finally have video proof!  I'm not a liar!

This weekend Ella and I headed north for a little mommy/daughter ski weekend.  We're staying with Auntie Jen and we skied at Hermon Mountain... my old stomping grounds.    It's where I learned to ski in second grade, where I spent many a night and weekend, where I later taught skiing and then finally raced throughout high school.  It's simply the perfect place to learn to ski, to go with the family, to get outside and hang out with friends on the nights and weekends.  If you're in the area and you've not checked it out... you're missing out!  (They have tubing too!)

Today was simply a perfect day!  No lines, no wind, sun shining, family bonding and Ella rippin' it up :)  Many thanks to the Whitcombs (Hermon Mountains most wonderful owners/operators) for their generosity today!!  :)  You know what I'm talking about!

Getting ready to hit the slopes with Auntie Jen!

Mommy daughter time rocks!!!  And LOOK we DID get on the coveted ONE pink chairlift!

Riding the chairlift with Auntie Jen.  Ella LOVED the chairlift... quite the upgrade from the rope tow (and MUCH nicer on mommy's back!).  Also, she's my dare devil so she loved how high we went!

Top o' the mountain to ya!
 And for those of you that have ANY idea about Hermon Mountain...  This was Ella's FOURTH time on skis.  She turned four years old less than two months ago.  I could not be more thrilled with how quickly she's picked up skiing and taken to it!  She skied slowpoke, lazy lane, long-view  lake-view AND scenic!  She's a speed demon, and scares mommy with how fast she likes to go... but then again, she probably takes after her mommy.  Most importantly, she LOVES it and is having SO much fun.  She didn't want even want to take a break and didn't want to go home!  Here's a video of her following Auntie Jen down Lazy Lane!  This is the slowest she went all day :)