It's birthday time!

I can barely believe my sweet baby boy is a year old today, as of 11:55pm.  Rather than regale the birth story, you can read it here.

12 months and totally "Cool Like Dad"

Erik is literally days from walking, but I'm in no rush.  Not only does he cruise, he stands on his own without holding anything and will walk along if you hold his hands (sometimes only one hand).

Erik is a speed crawler!  I can't believe how fast that kid can move.  Nothing is safe from him!  If he wants something, he gets it.  He's a climber already.

Erik now has 5 teeth, and I think he may be working on number six with all the slobbering and chewing the past two days.  He loves to eat and chew what he can.

Erik has an expanded vocabulary: "ball" and "dog" are his new words, and boy does he like "ball!"  He also calls me "Mom" now sometimes instead of "Momma."  Because, you know, the extra syllable is so much work!  ;)

Erik's favorite toys--guess, quick!--are any balls be can get his hands on.  Anything even remotely round he thinks is a "ball," he just loves saying that word so much I think.  He got a slew of balls for his birthday from Matt and I.

Erik had a lot of new experiences this month--first zoo trip, first swimming pool, first plane ride (we just got home from vacation yesterday!), and more.  He takes everything in stride and is so incredibly curious!  He looks at and absorbs absolutely everything.

Erik smiles and giggles often.  He can clap, give a high five, wave, point, shake his finger "no, no, no!", do "E.T. phone home" and other fun things.  He also sings (including humming) and dances like nobody's business.  He "talks" to his stuffed animals, and loves books.

Erik definitely has Bernardy blood in him.  He laughs when people get hurt.  My Grammy would appreciate his sense of humor!

Erik is just so incredibly happy, I can barely believe it.  I didn't know anyone or anything could be that happy.  His verve for life and curiosity is inspiring!

Here's a look back at Erik this past year (and a little longer)--just click to make it larger.  I love you so much, son!  Happy birthday, my little dude!

P.S. For more pictures and videos, check out my Instagram, linked to the right.

Eleven Months (and two days)!

Erik at his first Caucus on 4 March -- Matt and I are very politically involved and Erik was the talk of the night!

Since I'm posting this after midnight on Monday, I suppose I'm now two days late (barely, considering Erik was born at 11:55pm, but we'll not split that hair right now).  This weekend has been a whirlwind, so I'm finally sitting down to write this post.

My sweet baby boy is one month (ONE MONTH) away from being one year old!  That just blows my mind.

Erik has a wide range of distinct sounds he now makes, and a few words at his disposal: "Mama", "Dada", and "tata" (meaning goodbye, we think).  He also loves to say, with vigor, "ka", "ba", "ga", and the "singles" of each of his words ("ma"--which we think means more food, the way he uses it, "da", and "ta").  He combines them in hilarious ways, which reminds me of the language of the Unas, for Stargate fans.  Apparently I need to find Daniel Jackson to help us translate!

Erik gets closer to walking each day.  I'm in no rush, so I'm not encouraging it at this point, but he cruises everywhere and will walk with someone holding his hands now (he wasn't very interested in that before).  He'll push things along and walk behind them as well.

Erik still loves his baths, and especially loves to splash!

Look at those teeth (the fourth one is just poking through)!

Erik now has 4 teeth and loves to try new foods.  He is good at gumming small smushy foods (bananas, mandarin oranges, etc.), loves his yogurt melts and definitely loves food from a jar--especially when he can bite the spoon!  He seems to love everything he tastes.  It's fascinating.  Cheerios are a big hit with this little dude (surprise, surprise!).

Erik spent over a week sick this past month with a nasty cold.  Lots of humidification (that's a word, right? it is after midnight...) and baths helped easy the process, but it's hard to have so little at your disposal to do.  His energy was so low that it was sad to watch--heartbreaking, even.  I did enjoy the extra snuggles and cuddles, though!

Erik has quite the arm and loves to throw everything, from books to balls to toys.

Erik's new trick, moving from his "beauty queen" wave, is to point at everything.  He does "ET Phone Home!" very well now.  In addition to pointing, Erik wags his finger when you say, "No, no, no!"  That was a cute trick caucus night when folks would ask him what we say to taxes.  ;)

I know, it's the same outfit as caucus night, but this is from Erik's 11 month birthday.  It's so cute I had to put him in it again!

Erik has also learned how to click his tongue.  In fact, most of the time I tell him to say "Dada" now, he just clicks his tongue since that's what his dad does.  It's amazingly adorable that he is so smart to associate those two things!

Matt and I spent a weekend in DC this past month, and the day after we got home, Erik crawled up to each of us, laid his poor sick head on our chests, and called us by name ("Mama" and "Dada").  Of all the amazing things I've witnessed since he was born, that was probably the most incredible yet.  Talk about awe.  I am so grateful to have all our family nearby for occasions like this.  It has been such a blessing, and both Matt and I believe it is very important to have grandparents, aunt(ie)s, and uncles involved in the upbringing of children.

As always, keep up with Erik on my Instagram page (linked to the right).  I post videos and pictures regularly.  Next months post will probably induce some tears... at least on my part.

Inquisitive Erik

Ten months!

How has a whole month past already?  Wow.  My sweet baby boy is growing like a weed!

Erik now has 3 teeth (two on the bottom, and one poking in from the top).  He loves food.  He's fascinated by everything we eat, and is very much enjoying his cheerio and cookie treats.

Erik is a crawling master (he's a speedy little booger!), and is cruising right along.  Everyone who sees him says he'll be walking any day now.  Yikes!

Erik smiles and giggles and talks up a storm!  He says "mama", "dada" and "no" discernably, and I swear he says other things too.

Erik loves to be read to and cuddled, especially by his grandparents.  But not for too long, because that boy will not be contained and he loves to be free!

Erik is an excellent sleeper, and puts himself to bed with very little fuss.

Erik still loves his bathtime, particularly since he's learnt how to splash.

Erik is curious about everything, and love to try and figure things out.  He is very studious and has been learning how to touch instead of grab everything.  He's so delicate and dainty with it... until he decides to slap and grab (it's a work in progress!).

Erik does have a destructive side... he's ripped three keys off Matt's keyboard.  He is fascinated by electronic devises of all kinds.

My baby boy is so sweet.  I adore my little dude!

8 months!

I know, I'm a day late.  Erik has his first cold, and he's so generously shared it with me, so I am doing this as I can. :)

Erik continues to grow like a weed!  He's in 12 month clothes for the most part because he's too long for everything else.

Erik got his first tooth!  I'm sure the other one, next to it, is not far behind.

Erik is very quick with his army crawl, and is well on his way to crawling: up on his knees and rocking, and sometimes taking a crawl or two forward before going back to the belly.

He loves his high chair and seems to still like squash the best of all the foods he has tried.

Erik sleeps pretty much through the night, from about 8pm-7am (give or take) every night.  Yay!

Erik is fascinates by everything.  He studies and manipulates things to figure them out.  It is incredible to watch.

This little boy continues to amaze me every day.  He has the sweetest, happiest disposition, even when sick and teething.  He is so curious and so smart already.  He's learning to mimic others, and he loves to sing.  Every single morning, I come in to find him singing to a stuffed animal.  It's precious!

Erik's 8 month picture is actually a family picture--and as soon as we have it, I'll post!

<3

Six Months

Six months.  Six months!  How is this even possible?  I could never have imagined how much my world would change in just half a year.

Erik is the most incredible child I could ever ask for.  He's growing like a weed and does something new and fascinating every day.  He is so smart and so chatty already.  He is trying so hard to crawl, but he is already mobile by rolling and scooting around.  His smile just slays me.  I am so blessed.

He is so fascinated with everything.  It's such a wonderful thing to watch him learn and explore the world.  It's also amazing to watch him do even simple things like balance when he sits up--who knew watching someone sit up would be so fascinating!

I am also very lucky to be able to take him to work almost every day with me.  What a delight!

Erik is running a slight fever today (to be expected--he had immunizations yesterday and is teething), and still managed to smile almost all day.  It is amazing!

Check out the link to my Instagram page on the side for more pictures, but here are a few (and a video!) from today (well, actually, the last two pictures are from last week).  :)

Four months

It is so hard to believe my sweet baby boy is already four months old!  It seems like so much has changed in the last month.
 
Erik jabbers constantly, with facial expressions to match so it feels like a real conversation!

As it turns out, my little dude is a morning person (my husband and I are not).  He is so sweet, smiley, and cuddly in the morning, however, it's hard to be mad about that.

Erik scoots all over the place, doing the G.I. Joe crawl and pulling himself around.

Little dude is very strong, and can pull himself up to a seated position.  He is doing great at holding his head up, and will sit up all on his own for short periods of time now (he is learning balance quickly).  Still a ways to go yet for unassisted sitting for long periods, but we are getting there!

Erik sleeps for long stretches at a time now, although not always all through the night.

Baby boy is teething, with his bottom two teeth already poking through.

My sweet Erik surprised us recently when he demonstrated his ability to roll from his back to his tummy... off the couch and onto the floor!

Little guy is enjoying trying a bite or two of orange yogurt and banana baby food.  Not going nuts with it yet, but he is the best behaved baby I've ever seen with food: it all stays in his mouth.  I can't believe it.  He really likes his rice cereal, too.  He gets that sometimes in his bottle.

He continues to love baths and water.  He just figured out this past week or two how to splash.  I see swimming in his future!

Bottom line, my baby Erik is so sweet, so precious, and so stinkin' cute that I still have no idea how Matt and I get anything done around here.  Like right now, I'm trying to type this and he is just staring at me with his big blue eyes and it just makes me melt.  :)

My little jabberwocky!

Happy 4 months, baby boy!

A bear butt!

Three months!

It's hard to believe my baby boy is already three months old (also, as of today, exactly 13 weeks).  He laughs and smiles and giggles.  He's already teething, and his first two bottom teeth are finally peeking through.  For over a week now, he has been sleeping 7-8 hours a night (unfortunately for me, when he goes down at 9 or 10, 7-8 hours of sleep still comes too early...).  He is starting to mimic other people (i.e. if I smile, he smiles).  He is starting to push himself up, and getting closer and closer to rolling over.  He still loves his baths, and has learned to kick in the water.  He got his first set of shots two weeks ago, and took it like a champ.

He is an absolute doll.  I love this baby boy so much.  My little dude.  My chub-chub. <3

Follow my Instagram (@cologirl27) for your daily dose of baby boy cuteness!  You can usually find pictures on my Facebook and Twitter (@smarnold89) as well if you aren't on Instagram.