Message to Hannah

Solomon's cousin Hannah is having her third heart surgery today. They are almost the same age. This is his video message to her.
"Hannah, you are so brave and strong. I love you, Hannah".

April

Since it has gotten warm, we've gone to Grizzly Creek once a week. Solomon loves climbing on the boulders and throwing rocks in the creek.

Running by the river at the park.

Oliver is happiest while sitting up. Perhaps soon he will be able to do it on his own.

Happy Boy.

Love this toothless grin!

And here are a few images from our home and creations:

Orchids in rebloom thanks to the care from Jon Ray.

A baby quilt I just finished for our friends Jayme and Jason. They are expecting a little boy in a couple weeks.

Homemade rosemary olive bread.

I made Solomon his own backpack with a stenciled airplane, using an old pair of pants and some scraps of fabric. Now he can carry his own snacks and extra diaper to the park.

Solomon surprised me by climbing up the big slide at the park yesterday. He didn't even hesitate, although he had never done it before. This is his third sliding.

Oliver at 5 months

City of New Orleans by Solomon

Solomon sings, "The City of New Orleans", along with the book we have illustrating the song. Oliver sings harmony. Just kidding, but you can hear him in the background. If you know the lyrics, you can follow him pretty well. If you don't know the song, I'm not sure how much you'll be able to recognize. I wanted to get this on video before his voice changes. Right now all songs are sung in this high-pitched sing-song voice. Despite my own annunciation, he continues to sing "New Morleans" every time. :)

Jumping

Solomon is becoming very aware of things now. He understands that he can see videos of himself in my camera. So, here, he wants to see himself. He comes in front of the camera and decides to demonstrate jumping. It's still very hard for him to leave the ground. It cracks me up to no end.


Solomon has also discovered that he is an "I" and a "me", not just a "Solomon". The other day he also started saying, "I NEED TO..." Sometimes his "need" is reasonable, such as when he tells me he needs to drink some water. Other times, it is not. A few days ago, he started banging a wooden toy snake on the oven. I told him that we do not bang on our things like that. He said, "I NEED TO bang this snake on the oven!" I started cracking up laughing. Then he started laughing to, and we agreed that he did NOT need to bang the snake on the oven.

March pictures

Oliver sweetly sleeping, milk dribbling down his chin. Oliver is now in his crib, sleeping well. Hooray! A week before his 5 months birthday, everything shifted and he started sleeping. He woke up from his nap hungry today, so I nursed him in our bed, and he fell to sleep again. I just left him there, but not before I had snapped a photo.

Solomon woke from his nap saying, "Want to wear deez boots. Day have a zippeh. Like Baba." Thanks Mimi! In this picture he's also wearing the track hoe shirt I made him. He now has clear preferences about what he wants to wear each day.

Oliver peeking out from the Ergo pack. My blue-eyed boy.

On a day this week when Solomon was sick, he insisted on being held all day. The three of us walked the house like this. I had to take a picture. I felt like a Sherpa, climbing the mountain of motherhood with too much gear.

Solomon climbing the rock at Sopris Park.

Solomon playing with his friend Maya.

Cuddling on the floor.

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Guess we're on the floor a lot.


Our friends Karta and Luke came over the mountain from Boulder to visit us. I met Karta Elise my freshman year at IU and Jon Ray met her soon after that. She recently moved to Boulder and came to visit us for her spring break from Naropa University.

Karta and Luke, after hiking up Hanging Lake Trail.

Karta and Luke hiking up Hanging Lake. There was still a lot of snow, which made for a slow and careful hike.

Mama and Oliver's first hike together.

Solomon watches and listens as Karta plays for him.

Karta lets Solomon play a note on her harmonium.

Solomon keeps it up while she plays and sings.

Solomon found a new best friend in Luke. When Luke woke up, Solomon immediately went running to him to climb up into his lap.


Last month, Oliver and I went to Charlotte to visit Mimi. Finally, I'm getting the pictures up!

Mimi and Oliver

Mimi and Oliver. What smiles!

Reading Oliver a truck book from my childhood, although I can bet Mike read it more than I did.

Mimi, Donn and Oliver on the screen-in back porch. What a lovely day!

Me with my little pea in a pod.