St. Louis

We decided to get away for the weekend, so we pricelined a hotel in St. Louis! It was so fun. Our hotel was right downtown across the street from the arch. First thing Saturday morning, we went to Soulard Farmer's market, which was so great. We got some of the best pastries I've ever had for breakfast and enjoyed looking at all the fresh fruits and vegetables. Then we went to tour the Anheuser-Busch facility. The stable where they keep the cyldesdales is the most impressive place there, for sure. Then, in the afternoon we met Lauren, Erick, and Lexie at the zoo. It took us forever to find a place to park, but we had a nice afternoon walking around. In the evening, we took a little stroll across the street and looked around the arch and went down to the riverfront. Ethan did really great, but was so exhausted. Poor kid--we just dragged him all over the place this weekend.

This past week, Ethan finally started scooting. Just today, I think he figured out that he can get somewhere. He's officially on the move! He has also been practicing more sounds and his latest one is "ma ma." He has no idea what he is saying, but it's so cute to hear him say mama. Here's a little video of him in the car on the way to St. Louis.

Poison Face

Last week Ben got into some poison ivy and must have rubbed his eye or something. He looked like this all week...

Good thing we had that wedding to go to. Ben says that the Kirksville locals here say that they have "poison" when they have a poison ivy rash. I guess the first time Ben heard someone say they had poison, he didn't know what to think. Anyway, I teased him all week calling him Poison Face. Thankfully, it's all cleared up now.

Ethan had a big week and started holding his own bottle for us. He's not 100% proficient yet, but it's so nice that he can do it mostly by himself. Yay for the big boy!

Home Again

We are back home after an extended weekend with my parents. We had a great time. My cousin's wedding was beautiful and Ethan did great. He didn't sleep all afternoon and I was really worried about how he would take all the excitement. The only time he got upset was at the end of the wedding when everyone started clapping. It startled him and he started screaming. The good news was it was loud already and only the people around us even heard him! It was so fun to meet all the new babies in our family. They were all so cute!
Ethan had a great time playing with Grandma and Grandpa, going to the park, going on a walk, and getting lots of love and attention! Here are some pictures from the weekend and a video of Ethan playing with Grandpa. He was having so much fun and would stomp his feet and get so excited. We love seeing Ethan enjoy his grandparents!

New Game

Not much is going on here the past few days. We are looking forward to going home to see my parents this weekend. My cousin is getting married on Saturday and no one on that side of my family except my grandmother has met Ethan yet. Plus, three of my cousins also had babies this year that I haven't gotten to meet. It should be a great time.

Here's a fun picture of Ethan today. I couldn't get him to smile, though. There were way too many things to look at and feel outside!

Ethan has also learned a new game in the past couple of days...

Pool Party

Ethan and I went over to Lauren and Erick's house today to swim with Lexie in her little pool. He wasn't so sure about it, but he was a good sport for the most part. Poor guy was so worn out from all the fun that he fell asleep in the car on the way home and didn't hardly open his eyes when I pulled him out of his carseat and brought him in the house.

More kisses for Lexie. Thanks for sharing your pool with us!

7 months

Ethan is 7 months old today. I can't believe it. I know I say that every month, but really, where has this year gone? He is now starting to scoot backwards. He still hasn't figured out how to get his knees up and under himself to crawl. He does great rolling over and pivoting around, though. He is still taking about 3 naps a day and sleeping 10-11 hours at night. He is also doing great on foods and will eat pretty much anything we have tried to give him. He even licked/chewed on a slice of lime the other day. He kept giving sour faces, but went back for more. We have also been trying to get him to practice with the sippy cup. He knows where it goes and can get it to his mouth, he just doesn't realize he needs to tip it up to get anything out of it. He is making lots of noises, too. Oh, and I think that the separation anxiety or whatever is just starting to appear. He tries to get up on my lap a lot now and will sometimes cry when I leave the room. I was kind of hoping that we would just skip this little stage, but it doesn't look like it. Anyway, it's cute for now. I kind of like that he wants to crawl into my lap and likes to be close to me.

Giggles

We hadn't gotten a video of Ethan laughing yet, so we shot this last night. He's so funny when he gets going. I love to hear him giggle!

And here's a cute picture of my tired little guy last night before bedtime...

Grandpa & Grammy

Grandpa and Grammy Schrant came to visit for the weekend. We all had a great time. Thanks for taking us out to eat and everything! Teresa even helped me make a fleece tie blanket for Ethan to play on. I was loving the other one that we have and decided that I wanted another one that was a little bigger. It was a super easy project and only took us about an hour to do. Ethan is enjoying it right now!