A Few Firsts

It has been an eventful couple of weeks.  Getting a house, visiting a new place, and a few other things. Definitely the most firsts for Esme. To start out with, her first time on kid rides. We had to do something fun the last day before Shannon, Curt's mom, went back to work after a carefree summer, so we took the kids to Jungle Jim's, like an indoor carnival.  Esme was so adventurous! She begged to go on rides and even went by herself which I was still trying to coax Eli into. She even preferred to sit with Curt over her brother.  For some reason they didn't fight over the steering wheel the way siblings do and she liked his crazy driving and crashes.  When Eli rode with him he would chew Curt out when he got jolted and Esme just laughed.

Looks like a date to me

Must've been her favorite, judging by the expression.
For some reason my kids have blank stares on rides and get off smiling and saying how fun it was. 

It might've been Mousie's first carnival ride
too, Eli would want this recorded.  His obsession
with that mangy thing just keeps getting worse.

And Eli gave his first talk in Primary his last day there before we move. He did so well, not as shy as I thought and did better than our practice runs. I had to keep reminding him that even though I was whispering, he had to talk louder. 

Oh, and on the same day Esme looked so cute (not a first for her), I couldn't resist a photo shoot.

And, this past weekend we joined Brian for one of his martial arts trips. A summer camp in Aspen.  I realized he leaves us 4 times between April and October just for martial arts, not to mention regular work conferences.  He goes places like, San Diego, Aspen, Sun Valley, Idaho, Whitefish Montana, Arizona, and we've never gone since driving that far is a nightmare, we just sit around bored waiting for him to finish, and hotels are pricey.  But now that he's "regional examiner" his expenses are paid and Aspen's not too far.

During our long wait for it to be over I ventured into Aspen by myself and it was my first time there, or even in Colorado. Luckily it was a small town and the road practically led us downtown, where there was a playground and farmer's market going on, besides the snooty people shops.  Hopefully Brian was proud, all I bought were these irresistible pastries and some awesome red shoes for Esme at a second hand kids shop.

I think she knew how many calories were involved,
couldn't get her to take more than a couple of bites.


So I found a diner and we had ice cream for dinner.  She wouldn't eat any until I called the pink ice cream "strawberries" and she opened up.  Maybe I should start calling fattening food things like "cabbage" "green beans" or "salad" hmmm....

It's a hard life trying to gain weight. 

Anyway, it was a nice trip. Definitely easier to stay home, but good to see where Brian's going all the time.

As for the last "first". We came home from that trip and the next day went to get the keys  for our first house. So exciting. It is now 11:30 at night and Brian just finished painting two rooms. I'm not too picky, but the peach/cantaloupe color in Esme's room had to go.  Well, the first thing I did was tear out the carpet to reveal some decent hard wood. 

As soon as we got in yesterday they ran straight for the sand box in the back yard, already full of toys to play with. First time playing in their own back yard.

Pretty significant, I'd say.

Tweet, tweet

Esme's going to be a bird for her first Halloween. I was smitten when I saw the idea on Martha. And it gave me motivation to make this cute hat I saw a tutorial for a while back too.  She gives up trying to take it off since it's im-possible.  I can see myself getting addicted to making these.  Another great project to use up scraps. Why am I trying harder with two kids.  I'm supposed to be doing things to make my life easier.

Cutest baby bird ever!  Totally worth it.

Baby Teeth

I was surprised to find a bottom tooth cutting through about a month ago (at 8 1/2 months), number two came 3 weeks later. This time I did not cry. I discovered Eli's on his 5 month birthday and got teary over the fact that my baby was growing up already.

Both kids have been angels. No months of slobbery crankiness or middle of the night screaming fits from sore gums. Just surprise when the first pearly whites come in.

We're Gonna Need A Baby Gate

I got the feeling I should check on the girl yesterday, whose favorite thing is when we put her down to let her explore. I had shown her the stairs a few days earlier and she just pounded them, not yet having the idea to climb them. Luckily she was just on the first step when I found her. I guess she wanted to figure it out by herself.

Eli was so clingy and cautious that we never needed to gate them off. Esme's much more independent and care free. Here he is at the same age:

Look at all those teeth!!! Esme just barely has the bottom two.

Esme Crawls

I finally got Brian to show me how to get videos converted and on the blog. Esme's been really close to crawling for a long time, just rocking back and forth, scooting backwards by pushing back with her arms, and somehow moving forward by going up and down from crawling position to her belly. Just after turning 8 months she figured out how to move those knees. This video isn't the perfect showcase of her new skills, but at least Brian was home so one of us could keep Eli from teasing and man-handling her while the other was holding the camera, plus it shows why I've started calling her "troublemaker."

And yesterday at church I was surprised to see her pull herself up to standing!!!