Fun getting around

Greg has been pushing the limits of his mobility and has been gaining ground every day. We got him a walker wagon so he could practice (courtesy of Uncle Benny) and he has been having fun with it - although we had to weight it down a little to keep it from tipping back - its not the fanciest thing. But hey, it does the trick!



The wagon is also good for teething - who knew!?!


Greg and Daddy having fun (well maybe Greg is having more fun than Daddy!)


Also I have recently been learning how to knit - and this is the first finished project - a diaper soaker - I think it turned out pretty good. My definition of pretty good is that he can actually wear it for its intended purpose! (Although our little friend Jacob thought it also would make a good hat!)

So he doesn't like bananas, but...

He loves asparagus:


And hard-boiled egg yolks:


And green beans and chicken and broccoli and potatoes and pineapple and Orange Ginger Mint Tea! so far...though he continues to reject bananas! I knew that one day he would wake up and start yelling at us to feed him some of what we're having! He still doesn't reach (except for cups), but the squawking abates when we give him something off our plates, so I figure that must be what he means. He also will open his mouth for you to put food in, and does the cutest imitations when we instruct him in chewing. I'll work on getting some videos of that and other funny things he does over the weekend.

For Easter we went over to our friends the Jones' house and played with their two little girls, Sophie and Eva. Eva had something of a little crush on Greg!
(this one will be embarrassing when they're older!)

Otherwise we've just been having a grand old time exploring the world with ever-improving mobility. He has been earning the nickname "monkey" with his climbing antics! Of course his favorite climbing objectives have been moving targets, namely Mommy & Daddy...
The indoor playground at the mall:

AAAHHH - Lemme outta here!!! Standing at the gates and hollering is becoming a favorite pass-time of his

Boo! (climbing under the end tables to get at the phone cords)

travel & food

Well our little monkey has been keeping us so busy we haven't had time to post!

At the beginning of March, Gregory and I traveled to Cincinnati, OH, to visit Michal and Jonathan. What a fantastic trip, but it was an adventure traveling alone with an 8 mth old. We endured some delays to say the least, and killed a lot of time in the airport. Greg kept himself entertained by practicing his crawling and pulling up on furniture. We made the best of it, and it was totally worth it for the visit - I hadn't seen Michal in almost 2 years!



We finally got a picture of all four of those new teeth!


Even though he has teeth, my impression is that Greg is not really ready for solids, but Dan seems to think that his behavioral "issues" (waking up so many times a night) are because he needs to eat food. So in spite of my reservations, I went ahead and offered him some banana. First we tried small pieces. Greg was happy to mash them up and smear them on the table, but didn't really attempt to taste any. You can see what happened to them!


So I thought there would be a better chance of mouth contact if I gave a bigger piece...

Mommy was right again! We are definitely going to just wait until he actually starts asking for food. He is growing and developing just fine as he is, so we do not need to be in a rush to push it on him.

Been a very busy boy!

It has been bitterly cold here lately, but Gregory has been keeping himself and us very busy! In addition to finally figuring out crawling, as you can see below, and getting all 4 front teeth at once (though it is virtually impossible to get a glimpse of them, especially the top ones), he has also been learning how to say a few new sounds: ya, da, and ba. I'm trying to convince him to try "ma" to no avail... But it sure is fun to hear him say more than just AAAHHHH! He also learned to clap, but he hasn't figured out how to keep his hands flat, so its kind of a sloppy clap - all the more adorable! Through all of this growth, he continues to show his charming personality and sense of humor... He lets us know exactly how hard it is to move himself from here to there, and also exactly how much he dislikes the taste of Baby Motrin! He has also had a bit of a runny nose, but stronly protests the use of Kleenex. We are really enjoying him and just love all the funny new facial expressions!

Crawling!!

Here are some delightful videos of Gregory finally learning to put one hand in front of the other! He is still pretty slow, which is good for us, since the living room is not baby-proof! Guess we have to (read: finally get to) go shopping for basement furniture...

First Tooth!

The sharp little tip of Gregory's first tooth, the bottom one on the left, has finally cut through this week, and the second, the other bottom one, is not far behind. Frankly, it appears the top two are also coming in soon! He has been taking teething like a trooper, with the help of his amber necklace, homeopathic teething tablets, and a little baby Motrin when all else fails...

We also took a trip up to Sioux Falls, SD, this weekend for a visit with Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Rod. We went shopping and went to a cool Brazilian steakhouse that was an absolute steal of a deal - $15/person for a huge all-inclusive Sunday brunch - a similar meal (without the breakfast foods) cost about $70 each when we went in Chicago a couple years ago! And that didn't even include drinks or dessert! The fact that there even is a Brazilian steakhouse in South Dakota is amazing enough and definitely was the highlight of the trip. We'll have to do it again sometime...

Otherwise, Dan and I are keeping busy with work, studying, and volunteering and Greg is happy to come along for the ride. Unless the ride is in the car... ;) But he is very social and is perfectly happy once we get to wherever we are going! He is beginning to enter the typical clingy stage that is normal for his age, but so far it has not extended to fear of strangers... He is crawling every direction except forwards - he still can't figure out how to put one hand in front of the other...but he gets around! We decided we'll have to use our tax return this year to outfit the basement as a proper playroom because the living room is basically impossible to make childproof. That will be nice when our friends with toddlers want to come over too...

Well enjoy the pics!

Mr. Personality

That's Greg - he is really expressing his sense of humor lately! He plays with things in the funniest ways - and he makes ridiculous faces! He and I have also been having screaming contests - he screams, then I copy him, and he busts up laughing! Then he goes again and I go again, and it continues... Another new antic is pinching me, though - I don't find that so funny... But the good news is that he's been sleeping quite a bit better at night, so that is a big relief, and restores my patience for the pinching a little!!