4th of July

Good morning America - happy birthday!


We drove down to Menifee, California, for SP's first 4th of July and spent it with family. Uncle Matt, Auntie Susan, Cousin Dylan and Susan's parents (Phyllis and Ron) had recently moved from the Big Island to California and it was our first time visiting since the big move. We had a relaxing day visiting, hittin' the pool and (of course) BBQ! On our drive home, we saw at least 10 fireworks displays :)

A little video of some interaction between the cousins:

Thanks for the great hospitality, we had a blast!

More Biscuits

There's already a video of SP eating a biscuit on the blog but I had to include the one below because I love the way he smacks his lips, so cute!

Books and Banana Chunks

Another day, another example of our little bookworm. He loves books.

Today SP had some banana chunks, it's the second time he's had them and although he doesn't pick them up by himself yet, it seems he really likes chewing his food.

Drum!

We got this cool learning drum for Sean Patrick at our baby shower by Dan's long-time college friend Kevin. We've had it around SP for a few weeks and he's definitely mastered the technique:

Thanks Kevin, he loves it!

Frozen Peaches - A New Frontier

We got these nifty mesh feeders as a gift and I broke them out today. The idea is that you put a chunk/piece of fruit or veggie in the mesh feeder and the baby mushes it around to get it out...and it prevents baby from taking a large bite that might cause choking. Good times.

It was a hot day so it seemed perfect to put a frozen organic peach in there for SP to gnaw. Entertainment and nourishment. Two birds, one stone. This thing is genius.

So he was kind of digging it for a while...

But there is a little clump of mesh at the tip of this device and he kept putting that in his mouth - not the peach. Bummer.

So after a few minutes once the peach had thawed, I just took it out of the mesh thingie and cut it up into small baby-bite-sized pieces. I decided to just try to feed him little pieces to see if he could chew them. Low and behold, this kid knew how to chew! He ate those little pieces of peach like a champ. Now what other soft stuff can I give him...

Rubber Duckie

Sean Patrick got a rubber duckie to play with in the bath today and he quite enjoyed it. As can be seen, little man is now sitting up on the big boy side of the tub - no more laying down for this kid. Oh, and did I mention he's super cute?!

Droppin' the Crib

I noticed yesterday morning when I was watching SP on the video monitor that he could stand up in the crib by himself. It was a shaky stand and he doesn't stand on his own on anything else yet but he was definitely standing in the crib and it made me nervous. So we lowered the crib tonight and SP loved it!

Daddy did all the heavy lifting and the actual dropping of the crib...

...while Mom and SP goof around :)

The true test...what will he think?

Hmm...let me check this corner...

...this is fun!

It got hot and SP was about to get a bath so we took his onesie off. He loves, loves, loves his Taggie book that Daddy bought him while Mommy was in Chicago. It's bascially a soft book with little tags that stick out in all directions. Loves it!

And here's the video proof that SP approves of the dropping o' the crib:

8-month birthday photos

Ok, so these are more like 8-month, 2-week photos...we've been busy lately in and out of town so just getting around to catching up. Enjoy, SP is crawling pretty well at this point and attempting to stand up (not successful quite yet).




Sean Patrick with his favorite toy of the moment, his bouncy penquin from Uncle Ray, Auntie Jackie and cousin Lina. He loves to push the penquin around and try to get the balls to move in the center.



We bought a laundry basket to keep his toys so we can easily remove them from the living room if needed. Since the basket is so light, he likes to pull it over on it's side so he can access all the toys. He's a genius really :)

Here's an example of how he tries to tip over the basket. And he's quite persistent, does not give up easily.

Woopsie Daisy!



Getting back up all by himself...




Bye!

Nectarines

Both my camera battery and memory card were on their last legs so I didn't get any pics of the beautiful organic nectarines I bought (on sale - woot!) but here's the video of Sean Patrick tasting nectarine puree for the first time:

He loved it, of course.

Bookworm

Sean Patrick loves to pull the laundry basket of his toys towards him so he has access to everything at once.



Something that we've noticed is that when he has the pick of all his toys, he will usually pick out his books to play with the most. In addition, he turns the pages so nicely...according to our sitter, Katie (who is a teacher), he's ahead of his age group with the motor skills it takes to turn pages so well. Guess who's a proud mama?



After playing, SP sat and played in his high-chair while we ate dinner. We are trying to get him used to having family dinners as much as possible...although we often don't eat until he's in bed.

Apricots

Not much to say, homemade organic apricot puree...he loved it: