LOVE is in the barrel....

Elias has been loving mobility! He's made it on all fours, but can't quite figure out how to go forward. The army crawl still reigns supreme as getting into bookcases. (Check him out in his new red diapers...perfect for today!)


Here's him showing off downward facing dog (caught the picture a little late)--another new favorite! Our little yogi...

Elias LOVES his sippy cup! He is also such a good eater! Mama makes him all sorts of good eats including mangos, pears, apples, spinach, beets, celery, potatoes, avocados, and carrots--whatever comes in the organic grocery delivery that week. She has a Beaba Babycook which makes babyfood making a snap! The only dislike is regular cereal.

In other news, we are now just digging out of the snow and another ear infection. We here in the barrel look forward to the end of cold n' flu season, ear infections, and on to some Springtime!

Happy Valentine's Day from our barrel to yours!

Elias' new gear

Now that Elias has newfound mobility and a curious attitude, along has come many battlewounds one should expect with a severe hemophiliac. Mama and Oma have done their best to protect his little forearms and knees with Comfy Crawlers, but after not one but 3 face/head plants (onto hardwood and concrete) we have broken down to getting him a helmet during the "awkward and exploratory" months. There is much controversy surrounding the use of helmets these days in the hemophilia world (Uncle T was in one as a standard until the 1st grade), since they do not prevent head bleeds. However, if they can hold off the nasty knots on little Elias' head, we will don one for now. Plus, long gone are the hard, awkward helmets of the past, but with the Internets helping small businesses we have found this cute helmet! (thanks to Mrs. Zookeeper for suggesting such a site.) Here is Elias showing off one new protective gear....

Celebrations

Excuse our long absence of posting news from the barrel. We have been snowed in and have all been sick in some form or another over the past few weeks including colds, stomach flus, and ear infections. The snow has melted and we think the sickness has finally left us, so out we went to celebrate the day by going to the Children's Museum.

A ride on the carousel

Mama is teaching Elias how to perfect his tendu

Playing in the Babyscape

In the ball room with Daddy...so many different kinds of balls to play with!

In other news of celebration--Mama celebrated her birthday earlier this month. Friends came with a surprise bring in dinner. Thank you! Also as of this weekend (not counting tonight yet), Elias is starting to sleep through the night. However, we are still holding our breaths....

Crawling our Way into the New Year

So the end of the decade marks for our family the end of bleed-free, childproof-less days in the barrel. When Mama came to get Elias today from school, the teacher (who is not normally with the infants, but well aware of our special little monkey) asked if he was crawling at home...well Elias showed off his new mastered skill of crawling for the first time today at school! Now as Mama is a physical therapist, we shall make the correct definition of "crawling." In layman's terms we think of crawling as being on all fours, but for pediatric therapists this activity is known as "creeping." "Crawling" on the other hand is like an Army-crawl, or an inchworm wiggle as demonstrated here by our talented little monkey:

He will crawl for paper, his new favorite material and also in interest of Page. Notice the black furball that is not so sure of Elias' new skill....(although she always purrs when Elias pets her.)

No bleeds were had by this momentous occasion, but some really colorful bruising on his elbow. We had Comfy Crawlers on (by pure luck) all day to hold off our first ER trip.

In other news, apparently Indianapolis had a white Christmas. we came home to the ground dusted in white snow and Elias got to experience his first real snow fall. We all suited up in our warm threads and headed outside the school house for a bit.

We hope that as we all come to the end of this year, you can look back at all the Good Times. We look back at many of the wonderful Blessings such as the addition of a new family member, graduation, passing of the Bar, and new jobs/opportunities that this year has brought to our barrel. We only hope that 2010 and its next decade will do the same with joy, love, and contentment....

Happy New Year's to all who follow our adventures!

The Great California Christmas Adventure: Part 3 (The Final Chapter)

Alas Christmas has come and we hope everyone had a very enjoyable one. Here in the barrel, we were filled with many Blessings including time spent with family, old friends, and a great Christmas stash from Santa!

Paper and bows are more fun than the actual presents!

The Great California Christmas Adventure: Part 1

Well, we have rolled the barrel 2,000 miles west to California--to Mama's home town. Elias once again flew in the airplane like a pro and slept 90% of the time. All the other passengers who walked down the aisle to find a seat on our Southwest plane (and trying to avoid sitting next to a rumbustious baby) were impressed by his good manners.

Today Mama finally got a well deserved and long overdue afternoon of pampering. She got a haircut, color, and facial. She feels like a million bucks and more importantly a woman again! Meanwhile back at the ranch, the boys stayed at home (while t

he women went out) and tired themselves out.

Much more to come as this was just Day 1.

The Great California Christmas Adventure: Part 2

Great times have been had during our week so far on the great California adventure.

Elias was such a good boy this year that Santa gave him two more gifts prior to Christmas at the Southern California Hemophilia Foundation Christmas party. Apparently Santa like the warm weather too. Beats all the snow and cold of the North Pole.

Mama and Daddy got to see one of Mama's oldest childhood friends get married. Mama was also able to catch up with some old friends from her childhood/high school days. Congrats tot he new couple!

We spent some time playing with Opa's hats...

and banging on a drum set made of Oma's pots and pans...

and meeting some of Mama's ballet friends.

We even had our first dentist appointment. Elias showed off the two new bottom teeth he has been working on over the last 2 weeks.
Tonight is Christmas Eve and Santa comes. Christmas Blessings to all from here in the barrel. We hope that you are able to spend it with loved ones and cherish the true gift that Christmas brings...Love.