Busy busy week!

We've had a very busy week since my last blog entry. After a trip to Costco last week, we had an extra box sitting around, which Gunnar quickly climbed in and started squealing. Soon after, he started hauling toys into the box with him and we had a few rounds of me pulling the box around like a car. It's so funny that he has all these colorful, interesting toys, and his favorite is the box.

Last Saturday we went to Cooper's 3rd birthday party, and Gunnar had a blast. Justin and I had just as much fun! The party had a pirate theme, and the back yard was kid heaven. Gunnar had fun walking in the grass and playing with his new friends. He especially enjoyed the water table. We had to change his shirt several times because he practially tried to crawl into the trough of the water table. Here are a couple photos of Gunnar playing with some of his new friends.

Another trip to Costco brought us home with more wonderful boxes for playing, and a giant sheep dog. Justin found it at Costco, and couldn't resist. Gunnar absolutely loves it, and regularly flops himself forward into the giant dog. He's also spent some time cuddling with the dog, which is actually very sweet and cute. I wanted to save the dog for Gunnar's birthday or Christmas, but it's virtually impossible to hide in our house because of its size.

Yesterday, Gunnar and I met Grandma Carole at the Sauvie's Island Pumpkin Patch. Gunnar got to check out some of the barn animals, and really wasn't too sure about the llama or the pigs. The hay maze was too much for Gunnar to resist, but he couldn't decide if he liked hay or not. We got some pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, and flowers for the front flower bed.

After Sauvie's Island, Ali and Maddie stopped by for a visit and we had some dinner. Gunnar is finally at a phase where he somewhat understands playing. He had so much fun chasing Maddie around, and he got his first taste of Blue's Clues while Ali and I visited. He was mesmerized by the cartoon, and I quickly realized I'll have to limit his TV b/c it turns him into a zombie. When regular television is on, he doesn't pay any attention, but as soon as a cartoon comes on, he's glued. All that playing really wore him out, and he went right to bed last night. He must be teething though, because he woke up SO many times last night. So this morning after just a couple hours awake, Gunnar began to crash again quickly. He wanted to watch Dirty Jobs with Daddy, so they sat on the couch until Gunnar just couldn't take it anymore and he fell asleep.

We officially have a Toddler!

I haven't blogged for about 2 weeks, and we've done a lot since the last blog. We took another trip to the beach, which was a lot of fun, and Gunnar got to put his little feet in the ocean. I have photos, but forgot the memory card that day, so they're going to be a little more difficult to get off the camera.

After a couple busy days, Gunnar and Daddy had a chance to relax and take a little snooze on the couch.

Monday we went by Grandma and Grandpa's house in LO, where Gunnar shared some mac & cheese with uncle Michael, played with the kitten, and got to swim in the hot tub with Daddy! Gunnar LOVED the water, and didn't even get upset when he swallowed a little water. Just sputtered and sneezed before continuing his fun playtime. Here are some of the photos. It was actually difficult to get photos of Justin when he wasn't squinting to avoid the splashing!

This week Nana and Papa visited from Montana, and we had a lot of fun. Somehow, I forgot to take many photos, but got a few really great ones of Gunnar playing with them. They had a good time with Gunnar, and we rearranged the living room, mounted the TV, gardened, decorated cakes, etc. They also babysat one night so Justin and I could go out and have a grown-up date without sippy cups, teething biscuits and my ginormous diaper bag! We had fun and Gunnar did well, and was snoozing away when we came home.

One day while Nana and Papa were here, Foxy (the pomeranian) walked by Gunnar on the ground, and he said "Hi Doggy." I totally missed it because I was pulling the car into the garage, but Nana heard it, and ever since, I can tell he's trying to say some words. He's trying to say ball, see, more, mommy and dada.

The other big news is that on Nana and Papa's last morning here, we were all mulling around the kitchen while Gunnar was playing with his new refrigerator toy barn (courtesy of Nana and Papa), when Gunnar took his first steps! He turned to walk from the fridge to me, and took 2 or 3 steps! The amazing thing is that between yesterday morning and this evening, Gunnar went from 2 or 3 steps at a time, to being able to cover 4-5 feet before falling. The videos show how we went from barely pushing the cart a week ago, to cruising across the living room today.

Our little helper...

Gunnar wants so much to help us with our daily tasks. We actually noticed today that he doesn't pay attention to his toys long before he wants to get into our stuff. He'd much rather go through my purse or the cupboards than play with blocks.

Yesterday we hit a huge mealtime milestone! Gunnar usually holds an extra spoon while I feed him, and yesterday he used his spoon properly. He dipped it into his shells & cheese and put a shell in his mouth with the spoon! His fine motor skills are getting so much better. Not only is his pincer grasp working very well now, but he can also handle cutlery?! Sometimes I have a hard time believing he is only 9.5 months old. I see some other babies who are over a year, and he has far surpassed their physical development. He's also working pretty hard on his balance. He can now bend down at the knees, grab the big ball, and stand up holding it - all without holding onto anything for balance. He hasn't tried taking those first unsupported steps, but I think it's not far off. I now spend my entire day chasing him, and I can only imagine how much worse it can get once he walks.

I finally downloaded the photos I took from our visit to Adam and Denise's, and I had a couple more of Gunnar and Cooper sharing Cheerios.

Justin finally got some free time to finish the trim in the kitchen after re-flooring, and Gunnar was SOOOO fascinated by the air compressor. He loved it before Daddy plugged it in, but the first nail Justin put in, Gunnar freaked and cried. So Gunnar and I watched the work from the safety of the other side of the couch.


This morning, before we changed Gunnar out of his pajamas, he wanted to chase his ball. He's started this one-legged crawling where he used one foot and the other knee to get around. Today, his method of transportation happened to get him sort of caught up in his PJs, and I got some good photos and video.










And finally, the climbing continues. With all this practice, this kid should probably grow up to be a very good rock climber or hiker or something. Sorry the video is sideways... guess you'll have to tilt your head. I'll definitely remember next time to leave the camera horizontal.







Justin has gone to night shifts temporarily, so Gunnar and I won't see much of him during his days on, which Gunnar already seems to be having a hard time with. Every time Justin comes home, Gunnar begs to be picked up, then won't let Justin put him down or leave. It's exhausting, but hopefully he'll adjust and realize that Daddy always comes back. We don't have big plans for the weekend, and will hopefully have some time to just relax.


On a side note, I think I'm going to start making baked goods (hopefully professionally), so I decided to start a baking blog to show some of the work I've done. I'm going to try to post the first cake tonight. Check it out if you'd like...




www.bethsbaking.blogspot.com