Sledding!

We went down to Colorado Springs to visit our friends Joe and Rochelle. We had like 8 inches of snow the day before so we decided to go sledding.  By the time we got down there, drank coffee, bought a couple sleds, stopped for more coffee, and found the sledding hill it was around noon and the snow had all but melted!  But there were still lots of people sledding so we decided to give it a go.  It ended up being a lot of fun.  Since the ground wasn't totally covered in snow it was sort of a bumpy ride, but at least it wasn't freezing cold!

The hill was way too big to take Solomon down, but we sat him on our little sled and pushed him back and forth down about 10 feet or so on the hill.  He had a blast.  He kept signing "more! more!" everytime we tried to take him off.

Thankful

 my boys

That's a photo of Solomon and Levi on Thanksgiving.  We went down to Colorado Springs and had a small thanksgiving with some friends.  When I say small I mean that there were only 7 people there.  But we made enough food for about 20 people.  We had turkey, 2 kinds of stuffing, squash/apple/onion pizza, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, green bean/onion/mushroom skillet, bread, a cheesy walnut puff pastry, and 4 kinds of pie.  Delicious!  We just relaxed and cooked and watch the parade.  We also watched some old Christmas Cartoons that I remember from when I was little.  And we played a board game.

I was glad to just take it easy for the day with friends since I had my appendix out last Friday.  Levi and I both had appendicitis in the same year!  It was crazy and stressful and I got a stomach bug from the hospital.  Yuck.  Anyhow, I ended up in the ER before it got really bad or burst because Levi turned into Dr. Levi and was drilling me about how I was feeling.  He remembers what it was like for him and was convinced it was appendicitis a long time before I was willing to go to ER.  Bless him.  And, as Levi pointed out, at least we already met our deductible this year with his surgery.  I would have been madder if it had happened on January 1.  I have my stitches out now and am allowed to lift Solomon into his car seat and out of his chair at the table which makes things  a whole lot easier.  Friends also brought us meals 3 times a week last week and this week which is such a blessing!  And Katie has been my saving grace more than once.

We are so thankful for our health and that I am healing well.

Solomon has been sick with whatever I got from the hospital and was throwing up for 7 days!  He seems to be a lot better today, though.  He hasn't thrown up in more than 24 hours, and his appetite is finally coming back.  He knows 15 signs now and a handful of words.  He knows where his eyes, nose, belly, ears, and hair are.  He has been sleeping a lot lately, but when he's not sick he is just full of determined energy.  We are keeping the house pretty bare of stuff that he can't have so I don't have to keep saying "No." to him all the time because he just likes to get into everything.  He is FINALLY starting to get over his stranger anxiety.  It actually isn't stranger anxiety... it is you-are-not-my-mom anxiety.  But he is warming up to Katie and Laban, Jennifer (my boss), and our neighbors Ryan and Jen.

Okay, this is getting long and I need to switch laundry before Sol wakes up from his nap.  Love you all and miss you.

Road Trip September 2010

We had a great road trip this year to Ohio and North Carolina!  We were nervous at first about how Sol would do spending that long in a carseat... but he was a champ!  This is a video of Sol reading to himself in the car on the way to Ohio...

Cutest thing ever right?  A couple months before his trip I started taking some of his toys and putting them away in a bag.  Then we took that bag on the car trip with us... so I had a whole assortment of toys that were as good as new because he hadn't seen them in so long.  We also took A LOT of snacks.

Notice the crumbs all over him... this was after he ate a granola bar.  We also stopped a lot more often along the way than we usually do.  Sol liked to get out of his carseat and move around a little bit.  We also stopped at a sit down place for lunch on our long driving days rather than just go through a drive-thru.

Here's Sol and Levi at a rest stop somewhere in Kansas.  Who knew Solomon had his own road?  When we (finally) got to Ohio we visited with family and friends for 4 days.  Solomon got to play a lot and celebrate his birthday a lot.

Then we drove down to North Carolina for the Beachy Family Reunion.  There were 5 babies there! Olive and Solomon were the oldest and then there was Esther, Preston, and little Cora.  He was just surrounded by cousins the whole time.

great grandpa and grandma beachy

 

 Then we went back to Ohio for a few days and a very special surprise party before coming home.

 

 

The drive home was harder than the drive to Ohio because we broke it up into 2 days instead of 3 so we had a longer day on Sunday than I would have liked, but it was nicer too because we went up through Iowa and Nebraska instead of Missouri and Kansas.  The roads were nicer, the scenery was prettier, and we made pretty good time.  Solomon endured 60 or so hours in the car in a 2 week period with no complaints, and for that we are very thankful!

Thanks to everybody who fed us, gave us comfortable beds, and made our trip so much fun!

July in Colorado

We have been having lots of outdoor adventures the past few weeks.  This photo was taken near Jefferson, CO where we went camping last weekend.  We went with Renee, Katie, Laban, Popi, Ivy, Olive and Paul (a friend of our cousin Isaiah).  Some friends from Colorado Springs joined us the second night.  Solomon is a professional camper.

We have a hiking backpack for him that also doubles as a highchair and he loves to sit it in and eat (especially if the food is blueberries which are still his favorite food).  He sleeps great in the tent and seems to really like being outside.  He has recently figured out how to point and ask what something is.  He'll point his finger at something and say "Da?"  And then we tell him what it is.  So if you were camping with us you would hear:
"Da?"
"Tree.  That's a great big pine tree."
"Da?"
"Rock.  That's a rock, Sol."
"Da?"
"Mama!  There she is!"
"Da?"
"Tent.  That's the tent where go night-night."
Etc. Etc. Etc.

Everybody went on a hike around this lake:

It is the deepest high altitude lake in Colorado and the water runs a chilly 47 degrees in the middle of summer!  So needless to say there was no swimming, but Paul caught some trout that we cooked up.

We also got Levi's bike outfitted with a seat for Solomon and have been taking advantage of how bike-friendly Denver is.  We've biked to the Museum of Contemporary Art, our favorite sandwich shop Spinelli's for lunch, and to City Park on Sundays for Jazz in the Park.  Solomon is so cute in his little helmet!  (I say little, but actually he is in a 3-4 year old helmet because his head is so big!)

Love you everyone and can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

Our busy little guy.

Solomon is all of a sudden turning into a toddler.  He is standing up really well, loves to walk if he's holding onto something for balance, gets into everything, and says "mama" and "dada" now.  He started saying Dada first a couple weeks ago, and just the last couple days he has been saying "Mama" especially when he wants me to pick him up.  He'll be reading and doing multiplication tables before you know it! (Maybe there's a brain surgeon in the family yet Grandma!)

The kid also loves to eat!  His new favorite thing is blueberries.  He just gobbles them up.  And today we went to Chipotle and Solomon ate an entire chicken quesadilla and a side of rice and beans.  He is also a pro at drinking from a cup these days too.

Last week Levi and I took the girls I watch and Solomon to Apex.  Apex is an indoor pool/waterpark and it was a lot of fun.  Then this past weekend we went camping at Peaceful Valley up in the Roosevelt National Forest.  Hope you enjoy these photos!

Solomon's first hike

A couple weeks ago when Grammy Rose was in town we went on a hike just outside of Boulder.  Solomon went in the Kelty backpack and he loved it!  He did really well and was talking to himself and laughing the whole time.

It was kind of cloudy, and spring had not yet sprung in the mountains, but the views were incredible all the same. 

We also stumbled upon a mountain lion carcass!  It looked like it had been dead for quite sometime, but it was crazy to have found it just a couple feet off the trail.  There are plenty of mountain lions in the mountains here, and we have learned what to do if we ever see one, but most people live here their entire lives and never encounter one, so it was a once in a lifetime thing to see one (even dead).

So we are thrilled that Solomon did so well on the hike and enjoyed his backpack carrier.  I am sure we will be doing a lot more hiking this summer!

Solomon and Olive

It is so fun to watch Sol and Olive together.  She is exactly 2 weeks older than him and such a cutie!  Invariably, whatever toy Olive is holding is the one Solomon wants.