Happy Half Birthday Buddy!

Winter Solstice came and Ezra started eating food and turned 6 months old this week! He eats homemade oat cereal. I blend up 1/4 c. organic whole oat groats, steel cut oats or regular oats in the blender, then cook in 1 c. boiling water for 5 minutes constantly stirring with a wisk. Then add water, breast milk or formula to desired consistency. Once he got used to the oats we started adding (no sugar added) applesauce. He loves it--almost as much as he loves listening to his voice! We will see what he thinks about sweet potatoe next week. I love watching him try food out and learn to eat. He is so funny! Soon we will be trying Millet and then Quinoa...But the change in diaper contents-- I'm not gonna lie...it's not zesty.

Now and then

He likes to work out with me. He's really good at push ups and leg ups!He looks so cute in stripes too :)Remeber him this summer (Late August 2008)?And look at him now! (Late November 2008 )--Still cute in that hat but a A LOT bigger, filling up the carseat now, LOVING his fingers, and still making funny expressions all the time!And back in July 2008 when we first came to IdahoCompared to this thanksgiving (November 2008)-- Look how much these kids have all grown since July! Amelia and Cash both love to "hold" Ezra and give him love!

Winter is already here! Thanks for the fuzzy warm suit so I can go outside aunt Heather!

This is just a short clip but you can see how determined this kid is to get where he wants to go!

It's Fall! and he's 5 months old!

Ezra is now five months old. He rolls both ways and can army crawl and get anywhere he wants to go. He constantly wiggles and moves and kicks his feet as hard as he can and makes it really hard to change his diaper. The kid has gone mobile on me... I am so scared :) He smiles all the time and still sleeps really well. This fall he got to play with his mini BFF's, take trips to Washington, Utah and Texas, and enjoy fall festivities like Halloween. He is a such a trooper. He loves to be out and about and to be around people, and other little kids...He makes me smile and laugh at least 10 times a day. He will be eating food before I know it...he is always watching me put stuff in my mouth and grabbing for it.For our Washington adventure my mom took us to Seattle and the San Juan Islands as a combined birthday and Christmas gift. It was absolutley heavenly. I loved walking around Pike's Market with Ez showing him all the beautiful fruits and veggies and arts and crafts and the fish market. He was fascinated. He loved riding the ferry and got to meet my good friend Jeanne Belanger and Nana got him some really great books at my favorite book store on Lopez Island. I hope I will be able to return to the islands with Ezra again and again! Maybe someday we will even be able to live there. That would be a dream...

Little Rascal ( I love his expressions)

In Utah Ezra got to meet my cousin Jared Miller (they kind of look alike) and lots of other friends and family... I remembered to take a few pictures...

Jamie and Baugh (my roomate/friends when I was at Utah State) My old BYU roommate and good friend Jenny watched Ezra for me while I was doing a retreat and she also crocheted this adorable little bear for Ezra-- her first crochet project just for Ez!
Halloween was a blast with aunt Mary, Heather, Uncle Ryan, Hadley, Cash and Marley. Ezra was a cute lil punkin!

Too Big

Ezra no longer fits in his little co-sleeper-- well he actually still physically fits, but somehow he has figured out how to get like this in it...

Which is obviously not how he is supposed to be using this bed :)

AND, he now knows how to go from this...

to this.
uh oh.

Ezra Jack Keats

A few weeks ago I was out shopping for books for Ezra. I found this book in a stack of free books in a sweet little used bookstore in Nampa. I grabbed it because of the author's name. I sing this book to Ezra and he loves it. I love the art in this story book and the story itself makes me cry sometimes when I sing it to him because the meaning within the pages is very tender. I had never really paid attention to the words in this song until now and it hit home. It's about a little boy that is going on a journey with the wise men to see the baby jesus. The wise men are bringing precious gifts fit for a king, and the little drummer boy believes he has nothing to offer that is fit for a king. Then he asks Mary if he can play his drums for the baby and she says yes. The ox and lamb keep time as he plays his drums and the most poignant part of the story occurs as he sings "I played my drum for him pa rum pum pum pum, I played my best for him pa rum pum pum pum...then he smiled at me..."
I'm playing my best for you Ezra. I just want you to know.
I love you.
The artwork in this story book is so beautiful. I looked up the artist online and was truly amazed by what I learned about this man and I found his artwork to be truly amazing and inspired. Check him out here. Many of his stories illustrate family life, the simple pleasures and more complex problems, that a child often encounters in his daily routine.
Some of the connections I thought were cool and interesting were:
1-His growing up during the great depression and the struggle between being practical and following the heart
2- Choosing to work to support his family instead of being able to go to school and having to follow his passion on the side, but eventually being able to pursue it wholeheartedly
3-The first children's book he ever illustrated was called Jubilant for Sure
4-Keats first attempt at writing his own children's book was published in 1960-- (the same year Murv-- Ezra's dad-- was born).
He illustrated over 85 books and wrote and illustrated 25 children's classics...
So Ezra and I are officially starting our collection. If you ever want to send Ezra a gift-- one of Ezra Jack Keats books would be a great idea! My goal is to collect all of them for him and to read them to him regularly. I hope they will inspire him throughout his life, and help us create a meaningful tradition which will instill a love of words, art and cultivating his gifts and talents.

About Ezra

Ezra is now three months old... so heres lookin' at you kid!

Things I know about Ezra so far:

1. He is very alert and has been since the very beginning-- that is the first thing people always say about him when they meet him

2. He loves to smile

3. He is already teething and trying to walk (stop it!) at three months old

4. He is a very calm happy baby

5. He has no trouble going to sleep

6. He prefers his fingers and has already given up his pacifier voluntarily

7. When I lay him down he immediatley puts his fingers in his mouth and the other hand on the back of his head

8. We both survived his first flu this month... it was scary for mommy at first but he is fine now

9. He is a MAJOR spitter upper! (gross!)

10. He LOVES music

11. He LOVES to be outside

12. He sleeps A LOT

13. He hangs out with his aunt Heather and his cousin Amelia when I go to work a couple days a week. He started last week. He seems to be making the adjustment pretty well I think

14. When I picked him up from Heather's house the other night he literally spit up on me four times in a row and had a poopy diaper blowout which ended up on my pants and him, and then while I was trying to change him he pooped again and it went everywhere-- a good laugh was had by all. I was a stinky mess in about ten minutes flat! He seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself while torturing me!

15. he has LOONG eyelashes

16. He can push himself up in his bed and peek over the side now

17.He sleeps with his mouth open and slobbers like me when he is alseep!

18. He loves to clasp his hands and try to eat them

19. He doesn't have to wear his boxing mitts anymore because he doesn't scratch his face anymore finally

20.He is one tough cookie! He had to fight pretty hard right off the bat. He is total champ!

21. I LOVE HIM.