Echo Canyon Kids Daycare

Well, this is my new playroom....I mean daycare. My mommy and daddy worked very hard on it and it really does look great! There are so many toys to play with that I don't know where to start. Mostly I like the blocks and the gigantic legos. My mommy said that she's putting some of the toys away in the box for a rainy day (like that will ever happen here...we've been in a drought for years). I guess I will have to wait until the "rotation" of toys happens to see what else there is. I have made a couple of new friends and I like seeing them a lot. They keep me busy!

Great Gran's Clan

Well my great-grandma got quite a treat because all of her great-grandchildren were in one spot at one time. Now that certainly doesn't happen very often! So...from L-R...Faith, Taylor (on Faith's lap), Shaylah, Declan, Graycen (on Declan's lap), Great-Gran and Gabriel. Great-Gran also came down to Birch Bay with us so that she could visit with me and my mommy before we came home. She played with me, sang to me, tickled me and gave me Eskimo kisses. Those Eskimo kisses were pretty funny!

Cousins

I had so much fun with my cousins! Not enough pictures though, because some people are missing. Anyway, I got to meet a lot of them for the first time and that was pretty neat. I also liked playing with them...especially because some of my cousins are not that much older than me and we could "speak" the same language. It was a lot of fun to play with everyone!

Fun at the Beach

I got to go to visit my Canadian family at the beginning of August and it was a lot of fun! We spent some time at my Grandpa's beach house in Birch Bay, Washington and I went out on the sandbars with mommy. I was listening to all the seagulls, watching other people and their dogs...but mostly I had fun digging in the sand and crawling around. I even tasted the sand a couple of times, but figured out that it doesn't taste very good at all. Anyway, I had a great time and that's all that matters!

Fun with Jewelry

I'm not sure if I like this jewelry stuff or not yet...my daddy hopes not because he says his pocket book isn't big enough to support that habit. Anyway, I had fun with the necklace and boa while taking pictures!

I'm 9 Months Old!

Can you believe that 9 months has come and gone? Life is so much less frustrating now that I can move! I am crawling everywhere...nothing is sacred in our house now. I can pull myself up on furniture and side step a little bit, but mostly I love to bang the furniture with my hands. I have found that the dog bowls are very convenient now. I love to play in the dog water and tip it over. I have also found out that kibble is pretty tasty! My mom and dad ruined my fun though, because the dog bowls have magically disappeared. I love to crawl into really small spaces just to see if I can get in there. The problem isn't getting in, it's getting out. That's still a bit frustrating at times. I have started swimming lessons every Saturday morning and it's really fun. I get to try and blow bubbles, and listen for the "fishes" in the water. I actually like getting my head wet, but in the process I seem to always get a mouthful of water. I am walking when my mommy holds my hands and that seems pretty fun, but it's not nearly as fun as crawling. I am eating everything in sight. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE fruit and I eat grapes, blueberries, pears, plums, bananas, pineapple and anything that is fruity. I'm not fond of kidney beans though as my mommy found out. I am pretty independent and want to feed myself most of the time. It makes for a messy mealtime, but the dogs don't mind because they get half my meal! I have learned all of my consonant sounds so it's not unusual to hear me babbling up a storm. I love to clap my hands and make motorcycle sounds just like my daddy. Everyday becomes more fun now that I can do more stuff! I'm excited to see what other stuff I can do to keep my mommy and daddy on their toes!

Bath Time!

Bath time is truly my favourite time of day! I get to splash around and sing and kick my legs. I used to cry when I had to get into the bath, but now I cry when it's time to get out!

Up Close and Personal

I'm not sure why, but my parents like taking pictures of me up close. They say it's because they love looking at my "Gerber baby" face and beautiful, big blue eyes.

Under Construction

Well, our house is under construction! Daddy worked very hard to take our sun room with all the glass and aluminum down. Now the new room is up! For those who don't know, Mommy and Daddy decided that Mommy should stay home with me. Sooooo, we are opening a DAYCARE! Wooohooo! Now I will have lots of kids to play with and Mommy can stay home with me too. We are all VERY excited. Echo Canyon Kids Daycare will be open for business on August 6th!

My New Pastime

This waving thing is SO much fun! I've really got the hang of it now...one hand, both hands, right or left; it doesn't matter. I LOVE to wave!

I'm 8 Months Old Today

These pictures are courtesy of Grandpa Fred (from Canada) and his visit to Montana!

I am now 8 months old and the new things I can do are so much fun. I have figured out how to wave. I put everything together at the end of May and now I wave at everything and everyone. It makes people laugh, so I get going pretty fast and then everyone giggles. It's fun to make people laugh. I even wave at my mommy and daddy when they come in to get me out of my crib in the morning. Sometimes, I sit on my butt, wave and smile all at the same time. I think that they really like that a lot!

I am standing up against the furniture now without any help. I figured out that I have pretty good balance all by myself! I especially love to stand up against the footstools because they are just my size and I can bang on the top of them. It makes a great sound...just like my drum.

I am all over the map in my crib too. My favourite sleeping position is laying on my back with my feet up on the side of the crib. My parents think it's crazy, but actually it's pretty comfortable. But the bad thing is that I get myself cornered and can't get out sometimes....so I resort to screaming at the top of my lungs in the middle of the night. My mommy is so well trained that she comes in to check on me.

So many new things to learn. I can't wait to find out what's next.

Anyway, that's the update from Billings, Montana.

Have a great day!

C'mon Horsey!

This is my first horse! But it's not like our horse...it doesn't move! No matter how hard I pull the reins, it doesn't budge. It makes noises like a horse and it looks like a horse...I just don't get it. Oh well, I love it just the same and it's just my size. I can stand up against it for balance, I can give it a pat and it makes me smile! It sure is fun to have a horse inside the house, even if it just stands still all day long.

Exploring

Well today was 88 degrees (hot & sunny) and I figured it was time to get down on the grass (well, the grass/sand) at our house. I have never seen grass before so it was pretty cool to pick it up and examine it in my fingers. It didn't taste very good though. I was so captivated by the grass and the tree behind me that I wouldn't look at the camera and smile! Oh well, maybe next time.

Joke of the Day

One of my mommy's patients at the pool found this joke and gave it to her. We think it's pretty funny! Hope you do too. :o)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, today is my mommy's very first Mother's Day. My daddy and I made it very special for her, starting with this card that my dad and I wrote together. Then we gave her a couple of presents to show her how much we love her. I gave her a beautiful silver frame with the word "Family" on it and a Bible verse was on the frame too.... Love one another deeply from the heart. - 1 Peter 1:22-
My daddy gave her a gift certificate to go and get her hair done just the way she likes it. She hasn't had it done that way in a long time because it's expensive. So now she can! We took her out for breakfast AND for dinner so that she didn't have to cook at all. My mommy told me that she loves daddy and I very much. She calls us "her blessings".

I'm Famous

I'm famous! Well, at least here in Billings. At the St. Vincent Healthcare hospital (where my mommy works) in the
Labor & Delivery /Mother & Newborn section there are walls of baby's names. The parents have to "donate" some cash in order for your name to be on the wall, but the money raised goes towards car seats for families that can't afford them. Since mommy's and daddy's can't leave the hospital with their brand new baby without a carseat, this is a really great help to them so they can take their baby home. Anyway, my name is on the wall! I am SO excited because it will be there for a really, really long time and I can go and look at it when I'm older.

Montana in the Spring

Today I went for a really nice drive with my daddy and mommy and the puppies to Red Lodge and to see if the Beartooth Pass was open. It was about 52 degrees and very sunny. Well the Pass wasn't open, so we went the scenic way to Absaroke (pronounced Absorkee for my Canadian family). My mommy got to take some really pretty pictures so I thought I would share them with you. All the ski runs on Red Lodge Mountain were closed, but there was still snow on them. And then I was having so much fun with my dad at a rest stop, that my mom took a picture of us. At another rest stop my mommy and I got our picture taken in front of a creek. I was so enthralled by everything around me that I wouldn't look up to smile for the camera. Oh well, it was a great day for all of us!

MS Walk

Today my mommy and I participated in the MS Walk here in Billings. Many of her clients at the pool have Mutiple Sclerosis, so she joined their walking team. Our team was #5 in all of Billings for the money we raised. My mommy walked 4.5 miles, and I got to ride in the stroller. It was REALLY cold out, but at least it wasn't raining.

I'm 7 Months Old Today!

Well, my mommy was a little late on my 6 month doctor visit; in fact she was exactly 1 month late. So that gave me a little time to grow! My currents stats as of today put me in the long and lean category which is why I am wearing 12 month clothing. I weigh 18 lbs. 12 oz. and that puts me in the 75th percentile for my age. I am 29" long which puts me at the 99th percentile. The doctor says I'm really healthy and I will be very active. My daddy and mommy are very happy about that.

I am sitting up while I play on the floor now, but I still need to be careful because when I lose my balance I fall hard. I LOVE to be upsidedown! Everything looks really cool from that perspective, so I always turn enough to get whoever is holding me to put me upsidedown. I also love Baby Einstein. I especially like the Baby McDonald and On the Go DVD's because they have lots of neat animals and songs. I laugh like crazy when the cows come on. I'm not sure why, but they're pretty funny. My mom is teaching me sign language and I am almost signing for the word "milk". I have FINALLY figured that out! :o)

I am eating really well. I now actually will tolerate green beans and prunes, although they are definitely not my favourite. I am eating the Gerber graduate foods now. They are little puff things that melt in my mouth and I love the sweet potato kind. I can even pick them up and put them in my own mouth; independence a great thing!

My Grandpa Fred from Canada is coming to visit me in 3 weeks and I can hardly wait to show him all of the new things I can do.

Well that's all for now!