Canteloupe, Gate, New Shoes

There is really nothing exciting going on around here, we're just packing up all our stuff in preparation for our move. Dad hurt his back lifting a box last week so Mom has picked up the packing as well as the late-night-Sean-care slack. We are down to two weeks left at Cinnamon Ridge, so the race is on to get everything organized and in boxes. Wow it's a lot of work to move!

Here is Sean examining a cantaloupe as Mom does the dishes after dinner. Cantaloupe is one of his new favorite fruits!

We used to let Sean explore the kitchen under close supervision. However last week we decided that that needed to end since Mom, spaz that she is, dropped a giant glass bowl on the floor and shattered it. Thank God Sean was not injured, but he easily could have been since he was in the kitchen at the time. Hence the gate. Sean just stands at it telling Mom he wants her to come hang out with him. Actually he kind of jumps up and down and moans.

We bought Sean his first official pair of walking shoes today. He won't be wearing them until he's really walking for real, but we know that is probably only a few weeks away. (He is getting more confident in taking steps on his own, and we can tell he wants to do it, so it will happen soon.) Of course when Mom got home she saw a brown version of these online that she likes better, so she is going to go back next week to exchange them.

Here are some shoes Mom found last weekend at the thrift store. What a deal! $6! Yes they are ugly but in a cool way, right? :/

Fun new games

Sean has recently taken an interest in clapping and kazooing (not at the same time).

First Easter

The family (minus the cats) hopped in the car to drive to Webster last weekend to celebrate with the Spoonhower clan (minus Aunt Kim, Uncle Chris, and Joshua, who couldn't make it). Sean had a lot of fun exploring his grandparents' house, climbing up stairs, watching birds and squirrels in the backyard, and getting lots of attention of course.

I don't know how many times Mr. Sean climbed the stairs. He loved it, especially when he had an audience at the bottom of the stairs to smile down upon.

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Taking a break from watching the action in the backyard to take a few steps. Sean's still not walking, which is totally fine with us, but he's getting there.

A momentary smile on the lap of Great Grandma Natale. (Sean doesn't sit on anyone's lap, including those of Mom and Dad, for more than about five seconds.)

Coffee tables are fun!

We went to visit Great Grandma Spoonhower also. She had a set of stairs for Sean to climb, with a super special surprise at the top - a humidifier! Boy was that fun to play with!

Grandma gave Sean a 2-minute bath (he was screaming the whole time, although you can't really tell in the photo). Well, she tried! :)

Dad and Uncle Paul managed to wear down Grandma and Grandpa and convinced them that they needed a new tv.

Great Aunt Karen brought over some cute bunny ears for Mr. Sean to try on. I don't think he liked them.

"Get these things OFF of me!"

A yummy Easter dinner consisting of black beans and rice and some other miscellaneous items. And of course, his new favorite - grapes! Quartered, of course. He can fit about 5 pieces in his mouth at once.

Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Spoonhower for your wonderful hospitality! We hope to see you again soon.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Tooth #3 (upper left) has surfaced! (For reals this time)

Sean's third tooth has finally busted through the crazy gum barrier. You can barely see it but you can tell there's really no going back now. So I guess the upper left tooth has trumped the upper right one and has claimed spot #3 on the tooth list.

As I was just putting him down for his nap, I could hear this awful noise coming from his head, which I think was him grinding his teeth together already. It's not a pleasant noise!

Some recent photos/videos

We are starting to pack up our things in preparation for our move. We came across Dad's Bachelor Bounty headband from a couple of years ago.

Sean loves to look out the window (and put his hand in the dirty windowsill - ugh!).

Sean also likes to try to turn the tv on/off, although he hasn't yet pressed the button hard enough. Once he does I'm sure it will be his new favorite thing. I guess it's good that we don't really watch tv, so we won't care if he just turns it off for us!

Last week when we were all sick there were boxes of tissues lying around. Sean disassembled almost a whole box. Mom reassembled it.

More tissue action. It's so interesting to see how small you can get the pieces!

Mom & Sean both with fevers. :( The weather seems to be matching our mood.

Sean is not a huge fan of his crib. I don't blame him, really. I will be so grateful when he is old enough to sleep in a bed with a pillow and a blanket! Goodness gracious.

I know babies aren't supposed to eat citrus until they are one year old, but Sean LOVES orange juice and oranges. (Remind you of anyone, Grandpa Hogan?) I don't give him too much at a time so as to not upset his stomach, but he enjoys little bites. He also enjoys playing with the peel.

We are loving the nice weather around here! We went to the park last week and played on the swings for a while. That's pretty much all we can play on right now, until Sean gets a little bigger, but he seems to like it.

Sean loves to spin Dad's office chair around.

Sean's new language is explosion sound effects. This is on the tail end of last week's illness, hence the nose-rubbing and the cough (both of which are now gone).

Thank God, we are all feeling better this week!

I forgot to mention....

Sean took his first two steps last weekend! They were very small and unsure, but they were definitely two completely independent steps. :) So far the feat has not been repeated. It's so much easier to just get on the ground and crawl somewhere, then get up again.

Some recent photos

Last weekend we went to Alexandria, VA to visit Julia & Jason, two good friends from ND. We had a delicious brunch at their house and then walked around Old Town for a while. The weather cooperated - it was sunny and cool, a beautiful day.

Here we are playing with a toy at a shop.

You can see the Capitol in the background. (And no, that's not a UFO on the right, we just had a dirty lens!)

Sean was napping in the carrier, so he had the hood up.

Later he woke up so we let him look around. :)

Back in Hunt Valley at a park playground. Sean likes to inspect the chains on the swings.

Playing at home.

An after-dinner mohawk.

Currently we (Jeff and I) are battling fevers (Sean had his turn yesterday), sore throats, etc. Yuck. I have no idea where we got it. We have been more sick this past year than in the last ten years combined I think. Yikes. I guess that's typical when you have a baby....

Around the house

More chatter:

Maybe Sean has a future in QA/durability testing with GE Appliances:

Sean, aka "Force of Destruction," likes to put things into disarray. He likes to pull all of our clothes out of the dresser drawers, take anything out of a box, and pull all the books off of the bookshelf: