We are glad that fall is here! The weather is getting cooler...cool enough for long sleeves, although Ezra's intolerance for sleeves just means that I end up rolling them up pretty early on in the day (see the following pictures). These are just some pictures I've taken over the past few days. Ezra's buddy Aiden and his parents came over for dinner the other night and they had fun playing together and pushing each other on Ezra's Toy Story walker. They were very cute pushing each other back and forth. I love the determination on Aiden's face.
Deer in the headlights? I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of these looks over the years.I love this sweet face.
Being shy.
Blueberries galore
Ezra and Chad reading...and yes, this was the best picture pose I could get from both of them.This baby was so tired after a morning of playing that he kept laying down on the living room floor, and when that wasn't comfortable, he would crawl a few feet and lay down again, I guess trying to find a comfortable spot. It seems like Ezra has been watching more TV lately. Maybe it's because he has learned a new skill...That's the power button that Ezra now turns on and off constantly. I have had to unplug this TV or he would be standing in front of it all day long, turning it on and opening and closing the DVD tray.

Random pictures & video

Sometimes, he just looks like such a little boy...not a baby anymore.
...and sometimes he just looks like an old man. Here, we were at the apple orchard with friends and Ezra was hot and ready to go.Ezra does not like to be constrained. These days, he kicks his leg out of his high chair while he's eating, and today I got lots of strange looks as Ezra refused to sit in the front of the basket facing me at Target. So I tried to strap him in, which I've never had to do before...he just wiggled around and stood up, then freaked out because the strap was still around him. I thought that at least he hadn't started standing up in his high chair yet, and then sure enough, today at dinner, I look over and he is standing up. The other night I put him in pajamas that were long-sleeved and the sleeves bothered him so he pulled half of his shirt off. He's done the same thing with jeans and overalls (pulls at them like he can't stand to be wearing them).
Visibly distraught because his mean mother has strapped him in. (IE Making a scene)Freedom!And here are some random videos I've taken over the last month or so. The first one is kind of long. I started recording it when Ezra was pretending to talk on the phone, which he has started doing lately. So I got a little bit of it, and he did it a little bit, but the rest of the video is boring. So, now you're warned.

Shhh, I'm on the phone from Lesley Montandon on Vimeo.

Peek-a-boo! from Lesley Montandon on Vimeo.

Screaming contest from Lesley Montandon on Vimeo.

13 months

Sorry about the lack of blog updates. We are still getting adjusted to being back home, and honestly, there hasn't been much exciting happening these days. I did want to make sure and post about what Ezra is like at 13 months. I learned my lesson about not posting updates this summer when he turned 10 and 11 months old--when I was updating his baby book the other night, I could not remember specifics about him from just two months ago! Lesson learned. I especially wanted to record the events of the last month in Ezra's life because he seems to be so different than he was before he turned 1.

At 13 months...
--Ezra has become more of a picky eater. If he doesn't like what is being served, even if he has loved it before, he will angrily swipe his tray and the food will fall to the floor.
--Is more sensitive in general...he gets his feelings hurt and will sometimes throw a little fit if we take something away, or close a cabinet door he's not supposed to be in, or don't just let him do exactly what he wants to do all the time. I know, we are so mean.
--Is into everything. He enjoys taking things out, putting them back, and repeat. Sometimes he just enjoys taking things out.
--He has learned to play peek-a-boo. In church this morning, he was standing on the seat and looking at the people behind us, crouching down and popping back up over and over again. We should probably move to the back row so he's not such a distraction. It is really cute though. He knows his cue: "Wheeere's Ezra?"
--Has made it all the way through Sunday worship without having to be taken out two Sundays in a row! Quite the accomplishment for him.
--Has started going to bed later. He used to be ready to go at 7, but now he likes to stay up until 8 or 8:30.
--Will still stand on his own every once in a while, but is mostly content with crawling and cruising around...and climbing. He loves his new "Ezra sized" chair, climbing up and down his chair over and over again. The other day he was playing in his room, and I walked in and he had climbed up the side of his crib and was holding on to the top railing (from the outside).

Ezra has definitely kept us on our toes this month, and we've had a blast. Hopefully I'll take more pictures and get back into the blogging mood soon.

Home sweet home

I finally got a chance to post about our summer...we had a blast at camp, and we are glad to be home. I tried to put these pictures in chronological order, so you can see how much Ezra grew over the 2.5 months we were there.

The first day we arrived at camp it was cold, and Chad and Ezra tried out the backpack carrier. He loved riding around in this thing.
Ezra's first campfire...I can't get over how much of a baby he is in this picture, compared to the pictures at the end of the post. Ezra loved playing with his friend Ava. Ava's mom Miriam and I camped together, were cooks and counselors together, and now we have babies just 2 months apart. It was fun catching up over the two weeks she was at camp!Ezra all dressed up for silly songs in his glasses and PJ's.Ezra had a lot of buddies at camp, but Wayland was his best buddy. I can't remember the exact occasion that Sarah was helping me with Ezra, but I had a lot of help from friends when I needed it, especially when Chad had to come back and work. This was a special moment because Ezra is not the kind of baby that just falls asleep on people. Fourth session was the session of Montandons. Chad's brother and sister and their families came and taught, and Barbara came the second week to stay in our cabin and help with the kids. Everybody had a blast. Here's Ezra with Aunt Emily and Aunt Emma...Me and my lovely sisters-in-lawAll the cousins minus LeviLaughing with GrammeAll the cousins, including Levi, with GrammeWhile Chad's family was at camp, we had a little birthday party for Ezra, although his real birthday was still a couple weeks away. He wasn't so sure about his cupcake and took about one bite before he wasn't interested anymore.Ezra with his new Buzz Lightyear walker:Chad and I took a little four-wheeler trip with some friends on our weekend off to a place called Marble Falls. It was the first time I had been there and it was beautiful. This picture doesn't show that there was a third waterfall above these two.Right before his birthday we transitioned to a cup and whole milk...here he is showing what a pro he is with his cup.Love this picture of Ezra and Chad, just playing in our cabin.Taken on his first birthday. I just called his name and he turned around already smiling like that. Crawling across the dining hall deck. We are getting settled back in to life at home. Everything is unpacked, the house is getting clean, and we are getting back to normal. It is great to see all our friends and be back at South Plains. I think Ezra is having a hard time adjusting to not having someone to play with all the time, not being outside all the time, and not having something to watch all the time (like the 200 campers in the dining hall at every meal). The first couple days he only wanted to sleep in his pack-n-play, not his crib. He is doing better though.

Sorry this was mostly the Ezra show, but that's what most of you read this blog to see anyway. Enjoy!

Happy birthday, Ezra!

July 28, 2009, I gave birth to the sweetest, happiest, most precious baby boy in the world, and now he's one! It's been a while since I updated, so here's the latest on Ezra.

He has 7 teeth. Maybe 8. I don't really know because he won't let me look.
He is crawling fast, pulling up on everything, and trying to stand by himself.
He is drinking milk and water from a cup (straw or sippy...he has mastered both) and eating table food. His favorites are macaroni & cheese, bananas, pancakes, green beans, yogurt, pizza, cantaloupe, spaghetti, and turkey. He isn't a huge fan of sweets. He feeds himself great with his fingers (left handed).
He is saying mama, dada, bye (cutest wave ever), dog, Ezra, and tries to imitate our sounds. I can tell that he understands more and more of what we say everyday (including the word "no.")
He is very much a people person. He loves being around people at camp and will go to pretty much anyone. Lately though he has gotten more attached to me, so if someone else has him I have to make myself scarce. He reaches out for me almost every time he sees me. I love it.
He is the happiest baby I have ever met. My favorite game to play with him is "I'm gonna get you" where I crawl around after him and he gets so tickled that he collapses on the ground laughing before I even get to him. He also loooves to play with Chad and gets very excited when Chad enters the room.
Just today he started trying to stand on his own for just a second or two at a time.

Instead of posting new pictures, I thought I'd do a little slideshow of my favorite pictures and videos from the past year. It's about 7 minutes long, so get comfortable. Maybe pop some popcorn first. Happy first birthday Ezra! This year has been a blast!

Happy birthday, Ezra! from Lesley Montandon on Vimeo.

Some videos

Okay, one more post. Here are some videos that I've taken lately. They're nothing too interesting if you're not family probably. I think my favorites are the last two. Enjoy.

Ezra & daddy playing drums from Lesley Montandon on Vimeo.

Puzzle from Lesley Montandon on Vimeo.

Happy boy from Lesley Montandon on Vimeo.

Ezra and the hat from Lesley Montandon on Vimeo.

Lately

I've been meaning to take pictures of Ezra in Bible class pretty much since he started at 4 months, but just remembered the other day to bring the camera. He LOVES Bible class. I teach his class on Wednesday nights and he gets excited when any of the little flowers/clouds/fish/etc. pass in front of him (they learn about creation in Bible class).
Last weekend we visited Tyler to see Chad's family before we left for the summer. Ezra had a hard time during the traveling. On our way to Tyler we stopped at Erin's house to take a little break and feed Ezra. We had given him a full bottle in the car, and when we got to Erin's house we gave him a couple containers of food. During the second container, he started gagging and threw up everywhere. By the time we got him and everything else cleaned up, he was crying pretty hard, and he felt hot, so we took his temp which was around 101. There wasn't much we could do except just keep going on to Tyler, and we got there without much more excitement. Anyway, we could just tell he didn't feel great that weekend, and I guess in a moment of weakness I let him try a popsicle at gramme's house, which of course he loved.
Sorry, this post is really random. That was pretty much the only picture I took in Tyler. Sorry.

Ezra has been really cracking us up lately. I know it's one of those things where we think he's hilarious and it's really not that funny, but it's my blog so I get to share. He likes to mimic high-pitched noises and singing. So we do a lot of high-pitched singing around here these days. He has perfected his army crawl, pretty much using his left elbow and left foot only, with his stomach dragging the floor, and I'm not sure he'll ever learn to crawl for real because he is so proficient at this. The last couple mornings we have walked in to him sitting up in his crib. Last night when I was about to go to bed, I turned on the video monitor just to peek at him and he was awake, sitting up in his crib, just looking around in the dark room in complete silence. It just struck me as really funny. We're enjoying watching his little personality unfold. He is a super happy baby and is in a good mood about 90% of the time, but he also has quite a little temper if he doesn't get his way. He has also started to really prefer me and Chad, and he will get upset if one or both of us is not in view or if we hand him off to someone else. I know a lot of moms kind of like if their kid gets upset when someone else is holding them, but it's not fun for me at all. I want Ezra to be a friendly baby. :)

I guess that's about it. We are leaving in 5 days so this will probably be my last blog post for a while. Who knows how much things will have changed in 2 1/2 months?

Two recipes

I have been meaning to post this first recipe for a while. I had this crustless quiche at a brunch a couple months ago, and it was delicious. And this is coming from someone who has had an aversion to eggs ever since the summer of 2001 when I was a cook at Blue Haven. Something about that smell at 6 in the morning having to scramble 36 dozen eggs for 250 people just gave me the dry heaves. Anyway, I think I have finally gotten over my egg thing, and only 9 years later. Try this quiche! You won't be disappointed! I also took it to our ladies' Bible class brunch a few weeks ago and it was all eaten up by the end, and a few people asked for the recipe.

Garden vegetable crustless quiche I like this recipe because it is pretty much foolproof. Instead of using the egg substitute, I just use 9 eggs. Most of the time I don't have the right cheeses so I'll just put in whatever I have. Once I completely left out the cottage cheese and it was still good. Just use whatever veggies you want.

Sour cream jam muffins I just made this next recipe today. These muffins are delicious. The recipe makes about 8-9 regular sized muffins. Also, all I had on hand was fat free sour cream and it was just fine. Yummy!

Here are some pictures from the past few days. Just like every baby, Ezra loves remotes, cell phones, keys, etc. We gave him his own remote without batteries and he seems to like it okay.

A couple days ago Ezra started getting allergies pretty bad. It runs in the family. I felt so sorry for him...he has been sneezing a lot, has red and watery eyes, and his nose runs...a LOT. I bet you guys have really been wondering where the pictures of this season's garden are and how it's doing. It's great, thanks for asking! This year we planted basil, chives, dill, flat leaf parsley, a couple different kinds of peppers, spring mix lettuce, spinach, radishes, broccoli (pests got it), bok choy (pests got it), cucumbers, strawberries, rosemary. Last year we planted a honeysuckle plant that is blooming beautifully right now and smells so good. Basically all the herbs are doing well and we had a nice salad last night with the lettuce that's springing up. We have a couple strawberries popping up...but I think the birds and/or squirrels might get to those before they get ripe.

I guess that's it. Thanks for reading.