Ephraim and Daddy

Pulling Up

Ephraim started pulling up today! He really enjoys standing and playing, but has only been able to do this if we stood him up. He will even take some steps when he is standing and holding onto something. This morning, I went in to get him from a nap and he was standing up leaning over the end of his crib. Later in the afternoon, he crawled over to his train table, held on, and stood up! Following another nap this afternoon I went in to get him and found him standing on the bumper bouncing up and down. I think he was trying to jump out. Today was his first time pulling up and he did it three times and we were barely home today. I know we are in trouble now!!

Music Man

Mommy's little music man.



I swear he was playing that thing with the stick before I got the camera out.

Trouble

Ephraim's new found freedom has gotten him into some interesting places lately. While I was getting dressed, I turned around and saw that he had crawled under the bed. Only his little legs were sticking out. Last week he tried to crawl up the floor lamp and ended up just sitting on the base. I'm so glad we returned those flimsy ones and got nice ones with heavy bases! He really enjoys pulling stuff out of the bottom drawer of Daddy's dresser. He crawled under the love seat and pulled the tag off of it. I guess it is time to start keeping the pantry door shut because this is what Ephraim did while I was emptying the dishwasher.

Second Tooth

Ephraim's second tooth popped through on Sunday, August 3rd. I thought he drooled a lot before but now it is like a faucet is constantly turned on and running out of his mouth. It is my karma for hating bibs so much and never wanting to put them on him. The second tooth is the other bottom middle tooth.

Mommy's Birthday

Things have been so busy. I am extremely behind on postings. Hopefully, I will be able to catch everyone up this week. On my birthday last Wednesday, we went to lunch at Mackie's and bowling with my mom's group We went to Tequila's that evening. Ephraim had fun eating his first pizza at lunch and Mexican at dinner. He hung out in his stroller and watched us bowl and played with Laikyn in her stroller. Here he is in a sombrero at Tequila's with Grandma.

Daddy's Little Cardinals Fan

Daddy says Ephraim is a Cardinals fan! Here are a few pictures to prove it.

On The Move

It's official, Ephraim cannot be contained! Ephraim has been scooting for quite some time now. He has the army crawl down. If you put him on his stomach he crawls away. If you put him on his back he rolls over and crawls away. But, if he is sitting on the floor he is stuck. He would play until he was bored then scream till I came to get him and move him. Yesterday that ended. Ephraim began moving himself from a sitting to a crawling position! He is into everything already. His favorite thing to get into is Zeus' basket. He pulls it out onto the rug, puts his toys in it, and climbs in. Poor Zeus just sits on the rug staring at him with a very pitiful look on her face. Needless to say, we got a few baby proofing products at the store this weekend.

The Chocolate Factory

Yesterday we went to the Chocolate Factory in Dixon Springs, IL. We went with two other mom's from my local mom's group and their kids. It was a bit of a drive, but we enjoyed ourselves. The factory was small and somewhat unimpressive but interesting. All of their candies are hand made and wrapped which is really something these days. We got a tour of the candy making area and watched a worker make some chocolate on a stick and peanut butter cups. We saw the big vats of chocolate mixing and watched them package some chocolate. There were some really good samples too! Ephraim tried his first chocolate and loved it. He was screaming in the store for more! I got him a small tractor on a stick to eat at home but it broke on the drive back. I was very disappointed. He would have had big fun eating that. Here are a few pictures of our chocolate factory adventure. Can you believe those last two of the deviled eggs and pizza are all chocolate!

Toys R Us

Well, we went to Toys R Us today. I can't believe Ephraim's birthday and Christmas are less than five months away! I am so anxious to start shopping. I have gotten several emails from them saying they are having a huge clearance sale. We decided to go check it out. Our Toys R Us is pretty sad and again it was a disappointment. They didn't really have anything on clearance. Ephraim had fun anyway playing with the stuffed animals. He wore himself out at the store and fell asleep with his train on the way home. Check him out!

Ephraim and Laikyn

Laikyn is my best friend, Dana's, daughter. Laikyn was born two months and eleven days before Ephraim. They are so cute together. When they were younger they would just smile and try to grab each other. Now that they are older, they play together. Ephraim takes Laikyn's pacifier and puts it in his mouth. Laikyn takes Ephraim's sippy cup and drinks it. Ephraim tries to take Laikyn's snacks, but she protects those. Laikyn can't stand to hear Ephraim cry. If he even whimpers, she busts out crying. It is the sweetest thing. He, on the other hand, could care less if she cries. Nice, huh. I can't wait till they are running around playing together. Ephraim, Laikyn, and Laikyn's big brother, Grant, had fun swimming together on Wednesday.

Painting

Ephraim and I went to Creation Studios in the Marion Mall with my local mom's group on Tuesday. The kids enjoyed painting ceramics. It was Ephraim's first time painting. Ephraim painted a square tile that we will hang in the kitchen. He painted with the paint brush and his hands. He really enjoyed eating the paint brush, usually the end without the paint. It turned out really well. I can't wait to pick it up after it is fired. It should be available next Tuesday. Here are a few pictures of Ephraim's painting adventure.

Finally Got One

We have patiently been awaiting the arrival of Ephraim's first tooth. Today it finally made it's appearance! I could not believe it. When Ephraim woke up from his nap this morning he started chewing on my shirt. I checked in his mouth, like I always do at least once a day, and there was some little white poking through his gums. The sharp little top of his first tooth was visible. It is the bottom, right, middle tooth. Pictures to come soon, hopefully.

7 Months Old

It feels like yesterday that Ephraim was turning six months old. He is getting so big so fast! He has decided he does not like playing in his jumperoo or exosaucer much anymore. He prefers to be free to move. He is much happier on the living room rug with some toys or in his walker so he can explore the house. He likes to play sitting up but has not figured out how to move from sitting up to laying down very smoothly. As a result, he often prefers to start playing on his belly so he can roll and scoot around. Once last week he got his legs stuck under the love seat. Oops. Here are a couple of pictures taken yesterday.

I can feed myself

Ephraim has been holding his bottle on his own for a few weeks now. I finally snapped some pictures a few days ago.He is getting so big! I can't believe he will be seven months old on Sunday.

Science Center

We went to the Carbondale Science Center today with some moms and kids from my mom's group. Ephraim had fun playing with the Thomas trains, blocks, and the big string instrument. He loved the airplane rocking toy too. He also saw and was able to pet his first rabbit. The science center has a very big, fat, and friendly rabbit. Ephraim sat on the table with it and loved how soft it was. He had lots of smiles for that rabbit. He also made a picture for daddy, who was at work.

scrapblog

swimming

Ephraim loves swimming! We have been swimming at grandma and grandpa Smith's twice this week and Ephraim is loving it. He just kicks and splashes. Jason says he has a great butterfly stroke going on. His face just lights up in the water. I think we have a water bug on our hands! Jason is already talking about Ephraim joining a swim team.

babysitting

This week I am babysitting Daniel, Ephraim's cousin. His daycare teacher is on vacation. I have officially decided that I have no idea how those with more than one child ever leave the house. I was really ambitious yesterday thinking we would go to the store. How do you take care of the crying baby who is ready for a nap while taking care of the two year old who has peed all over the kitchen floor and ride on toy because he told Aunt Misti, "No, I don't have to potty" ? It has been an adventure already and it is only Tuesday. Today we stayed home! Some friends from my mom's group came over with their two year old daughters and the kids enjoyed playing.
Here are a couple of pictures from the pool
yesterday. Daniel said Ephraim told him he wanted to go swimming so we had to go!

Time Flies

I can't believe Ephraim is already six and a half months old. He is growing so fast and changing every day. I am hoping to keep this page updated since I seem to be able to find time to get on the internet daily but can't find the time to write a thing in his baby books.

A Quick Catch Up
Ephraim was born December 20, 2007. He was twelve days early. Luckily, we had most things ready for him. Jason had to install the car seat while we were still in the hospital before we could take Ephraim home. Pretty much everything else was ready for him though.



The first two weeks went quickly with the holidays and Jason being home with us everyday. Before we knew it, Ephraim was two months old. At eight weeks and two days, Ephraim went on his first big trip. We drove to Rochester, MN to see his Uncle Joseph wrestle at Nationals. This was a difficult trip for Ephraim. He did NOT like being in his car seat for the long ride. We stopped often and got him out but this did not make things much better. It took us so long to get there, because of all our stops. Ephraim's grandma and grandpa left a few hours after us and still arrived a few hours before us! He enjoyed the wrestling meet. He helped his Uncle Josh meet some new girls. He went shopping with mommy and Aunt Megan. We had hoped to take him swimming but it just did not happen.

Ephraim's third and fourth months went by quickly too. He attended his friend Grant's birthday party. He got four Easter baskets for his first Easter. He loved the mall Easter Bunny and smiled pretty on his lap. He started sitting up for a few minutes unassisted during his fourth month. He was also rolling over both directions. He started some solid foods around four months and loved them from the beginning.

During Ephraim's fifth month, he went to Aunt Chris's high school graduation and party. He went swimming for the first time at Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house. He LOVED it. He had fun kicking, splashing, and dipping his face into the water. Also, he made his first trip to Michigan. This drive went more smoothly because we traveled at night. Everyone was very happy to meet Ephraim. He took his first trip to the beach where he loved the sand and thought the tide was hilarious. Ephraim began scooting around on the floor during this month as well as sitting for long periods unassisted. He began laughing more during this month as well. He has always been a vocal baby and some of his sounds have started mimicking words during this month. His favorite is uhuh. He always adds this at the perfect time too. "Ephraim do you want to go to bed?" mommy says. "Uhuh," Ephraim Says. He also says "mama" "mmmmom" sometimes.

So far during Ephraim's sixth month he has been to Aunt Abby's baby shower and Aunt Megan's LPN graduation and party. He meet his new baby cousin Emma, born July 2nd and enjoyed his first Independence day. He loved the family time and fireworks. He was mesmerized by the lights and noise. He smiled and giggled quite a bit. He is sitting up so well. He hardly ever falls over. He is trying very hard to crawl and I don't think it is very far off. He gets up on his knees and puts his hands down and digs his face into the floor pushing forward. This is very amusing.

I guess that catches us up for now. Ephraim is a very active and curious baby. He loves his toys, Zeus, and hanging out with daddy. I am very excited to see his developments in the remainder of the second half of his first year!