Springin' Out

We all have a whole lotta cabin fever round' here. This week has brought Indianapolis temperatures above freezing along with some sunshine. So we sprung this wintry cave and headed out to enjoy the first inklings of Springtime.

Out to Lacy Park

Our First Swim Class

Elias really enjoyed his swim class. He was one of the best swimmers of the infants (meaning not crying.) Elias loved to swim on his tummy, kick, back swim, dunk, and jump in the pool! A fun time was had by all and he is definitely following in the "flippers" of his Uncle T.

3/4th of the way to a Year!

Just a quick post here of some 9 month old stats:

Weight: 20 lbs, 12 oz (55%)
Height 28 1/2 inches (60%)
Head Circumference: 46 1/2 cm (83%)

Motor Skills:

• Pulling up in crib, toys, coffee table--but not too steady, and thinks it's quite hilarious

• Able to walk by holding two hands
• Army crawling everywhere (hasn't figured out hands and knees and well, just can't get to pulling Daddy's power cord or to the bookshelf fast enough)
• In and out of sitting to hands and knees all the time--this has turned into a sort of locomotion
• Can get to "downward facing dog" with fully extended legs and arms

Although Mama and Daddy can't leave the room for more than an instant AND many more bruises and goose-eggs are popping up daily, we are thankful to be still bleed-free. We are loving the extra padding of his cloth diapers, Comfy Crawlers, knee pads, and helmet (not pictured here since he figured out how to remove it...)

Other favorite activities:

• Book time
  
• Playing music with his new musical instruments
  
• Bath time--and hopefully soon swimming!
• Peek-a-boo
• Eating :) We are venturing into the land of proteins...bringing on the eggs and meat. (We all enjoyed scrambled eggs and pancakes this Saturday (Elias had mini-cakes).
• Napping with Daddy

We are all eagerly awaiting his top two teeth to come down so that we can all get back to sleeping routine again (although Elias doe not by any means "sleep through the night." TOO BUSY!)

Funny Bubbles

Please be sure to turn up your volume, but not too loud as Mama was laughing quite hysterically. As a premise, she was going to film little Elias playing the simple game of peek-a-boo, and this just happened:

Apparently, Elias has quite the sense of humor!

A Picture Says a Thousand Words....

A Special Thanks to Crowe's Eye Photography for taking these beautiful pictures! (As well as capturing our wedding day as well.)

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....