Abe at 11 1/2 Months

Abe, at 11 1/2 months finally started crawling and walking, simultaneously. He took his first consecutive steps on 7/27, last Friday. Technically, he began crawling a couple days before that. This comes as a great relief since I have been dealing with a super fussy baby for many months now - his frustration due to lack of mobility. Here are some pictures of him:

He's playing ball with Jude here - it truly is this kid's key to happiness - any sort of ball.

In the morning and after nap, I find Abe yelling angrily at the door from the foot of his crib.

Can you tell he just woke up here?

This is his crawl:

The kid can eat. All the time. And it's messy. When I'm not cleaning up Abe's food mess, I'm prepping for his next meal.

He's mildly entertained by the camera here. And you can see Jude playing ball in the corner.

Look at that drool! He has six teeth - many more than any of my other kids before a year old.

This was the picture I took the first day he started walking. Look at his little toes curling toward the floor to keep balance.

And here he just threw the ball.

Jude's Fifth Birthday

I can't believe it's taken me three months to post about Jude's 5th birthday. My  kiddos have been out of town since Saturday and now that I've read a book cover to cover (in one sitting), scrapbooked, hung out with my husband, watched "Lost", didn't cook, hung out with a dear friend and continued to read "The Emporer of All Maladies", I feel like I can update my blog :).

Jude's actual birthday was pretty busy - here he is blowing out the cupcake he picked out from New Seasons (I had just finished radiation and didn't have much energy to bake):

We ate at the local Vietnamese restaurant (Jude's favorite) and he ordered his rice noodle soup. Abe sat with Grandma Mary for a bit and loved playing with her necklace.

Sissy thinks this is an appropriate face to make for pictures.

Samuel gave chopsticks a try.

We also went to OMSI - Abe kicked it in the stroller.

Yep - a picture of my kids washing their hands in the bathroom. It's important to document moments like these :)

We all held Abe in that restaurant - it was like musical laps to keep him entertained. Now you know why we don't see the inside of a restaurant very often.

Sissy and I. I really wanted to be done wearing hats at this point.

Jude had his party in the bowling alley and had so much fun! Abe, however, did not.

This was Jude's cake - Superman is his favorite right now. My sweet friend Jessica, who blesses people with cakes that look like works of art often, offered to do Jude's cake and I really couldn't refuse since I knew it would bring Jude so much happiness. Jessica posted about this cake and my cancer story here on her blog.

She also made some delicious cupcakes - what a treat!!

At five, Jude loves to dress up as a cowboy, wear belts everyday, wear his red jeans and white t-shirts, stay up at night in his bed with his book light and "read", play with Legos and tattle on Samuel. Constantly. He loves any sort of sugary treat. He often takes some time to play alone - I think it's how he gets re-energized. He loves to suck his thumb with his blanket and be read to.

Instagram.

I had a revelation yesterday that I rarely reach for my real camera anymore - it's always my camera phone. I've officially traded quality in for convenience. I'm not sure it was such a conscience choice - it just sort of happened. I do miss those crisp, clear Nikon photos for sure, but Instagram is just so quick and easy!! And I love following other people on the highly addictive social media app. Here are some of my Instagrams as of late:

Sissy riding her bike, wearing nothing but pink, as usual.

Abe and I making a quick trip to Costco photo lab. Yes - he actually smiles sometimes.

Sissy at H&M. Oh, my. Big mistake - she wanted everything pink in that store.

We also visited Nordstrom's MAC counter - you can see the lipstick samples all over her arm.

It was very tiring.

Here the kids are playing grocery shopping - and Sissy "bought" juice for her kids - she has nine.

I drove Colin's monster truck to Kaiser out of necessity - it took me four times to fit into one parking spot!

The kids playing in Eugen last weekend.

Sissy among the Eugen flowers. I have since given this much too short dress away :).

Feeding the geese.

The ride home from Eugene was very boring for her - she pulled her skirt all the way up and her shirt became a hat.

Sissy's first swim lessons!! She loves them.

This is what Abe does while I put makeup on.

Abe and I.

Oh, all the frill of Sissy. Not just a dress, but a skirt underneath.

Abe gets incredibly bored during swim lessons. This is the most high maintenance child I have had - by far.

Baked oatmeal - one of Abe's favorite breakfasts.

I use the Traeger a lot - it makes the best burgers!

Abe finally crawls!! Well, army crawls.

Jude waiting in the doctor to get his inner cheek looked at.

He was saying here he wishes he was a baby because they never have to do any work.

Lazy summer days - Sissy loves swinging.

Jude entertaining Abe by the pirate ship tree house.

Abe pulls himself to standing almost immediately in the bath every time now.

Time out time for the boys - and this is what they do. Samuel loves these time out moments for some reason. It was before 7 a..m. Someday I will look back at these days and wonder how I did it.