Growing Up

The new skills seem to come fast and furious these days. Mr. Ez really starts to be getting the hang of the whole sitting-up thing, and it's kind of bizarre to see how grown up and autonomous he looks when he does it. Of course, he can't get into that position on his own yet, but once one of us balances him he can play happily before toppling over. He's also itching to be mobile. He's starting to get into all-fours position and has learned how to scoot himself backward. Guess we should really start to think about picking up all the stray pieces of glass and nails and Ginsu knives lying around on the floor. (Just kidding. But we do have some major baby-proofing to do, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is a piece of glass hiding somewhere.)

We entertained our friends Kelly and Darrell and 9-month-old Emelia this past week and got a chance to look into the future. Emelia is so adorable crawling and standing! She's also got a good set of lungs on her and enjoys squealing at high decibels, something that I (Ash) am convinced Ezra picked up from her, because he's enjoyed yelling at the top of his lungs in recent days. 

And Ezra's beginning his journalism education early. On Friday, he attended a panel on radio writing that was part of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference. I was asked to be one of the participants (Little did the organizer know that he picked the wrong parent and that Ezra's daddy standing in the back of the conference room, wearing the Baby Bjorn, is the one who should have been up front presenting!). Right as the presentation started, Ezra let out one of his shrieks (see above), which deteriorated into a wail, and the organizer said (in mock outrage), "Whose kid IS that??" I shrank back in my seat, face red, and the whole audience burst out laughing. But on the whole, he did remarkably well and slept for much of it.

Nowadays, some solids seem to be making their way into his digestive tract, instead of just getting smeared onto his face and spat out onto everything in a 2-foot radius. Applesauce is a hit! Hooray! And the poop report reflects that: smelly, slimy, the color of burnt orange. 

Happy belated Valentine's Day, everyone!

Love,

Ash, Gabe and Ez