Ezra Update: Part 2

December 16 to December 31

As you know, we spent the second half of December in Houston at Tanner's parents house. Ezra was super spoiled by all the attention. At home he spends a lot of time on the floor--not in Houston. He was always in someone's arms, always being played with. He had a wonderful time.

It was also really fun to see him with his cousins. They loved playing with "Baby Ezwa." Logan (4) and Reid (2) were probably his biggest fans. Logan would put his little face right up to Ezra's and say "Hi, Baby Ezwa! Hi, Baby Ezwa!" and poke him in the cheeks like I showed him (for some reason Ezra loves being poked in his chubby little cheeks). Ezra loved it. Reid was also a big supporter of Baby Ezwa. We had to intervene once or twice when he tried wrapping him up (from head to toe) like a burrito in an baby blanket, but Ezra loved the attention. Here are the pictures and movies from those two weeks:

December 18

This was Ezra's temporary bed. He loved it. He was a little sick over winter break with some congestion so we tried to keep him elevated. We propped it up on one side, so he slept on an angle.

December 20

I love his polar bear hat (Thank you, Nancy Vandre!). It was perfect for the cold (brrr!) weather in Houston. It was in the 40's and 50's some days, so we had to dress warm on walks and other outings. Tanner, Ezra, and I brought all of our winter clothes (basically all of our long sleeved shirts and a couple pairs of pants). Things change when you live in Miami.

December 21

Ezra has really missed his Coleman great grandparents ever since leaving Utah. He was so happy to see them again. Whenever Grandma or Grandpa Coleman would hold him, they would play with him, and he would just smile and smile.

December 24

One of Ezra's hobbies over the break was eating his feet. He just loves sucking on those little toes. Toes/toys = same thing. And you can take them everywhere!

Here's a little video of the little toe-sucking buggy baby for you to enjoy.

Oh and did I mention that in December he's been laughing more? He started laughing in November but really started thinking things were funny this month. Here we are throwing something up in the air (okay, it's his diaper I just changed. Gross, maybe.) and catching it. He thought it was hilarious.

Dcember 29

Just cute.

I'm telling ya, those toes are good for chewin'.

December 30

And last but not least, his bear outfit, quite possible one of my favorite hand-me-downs. And the snuggliest.

Ezra Update: Part 1

I've fallen so far behind on my Ezra updates that I'm going to do them in four installments over the next four days. If you keep up, reading one post a day, you will certainly get your fill of the little chunker for the week! (Or maybe you will just miss him more.) This post will cover December 1 to December 15. Tomorrow's post will then cover the rest of December, Wednesday's will cover the first two weeks of January, and Thursday's post should bring us up to date. Woo hoo!

Warning: Many of these updates will only be interesting to the grandparents (especially the videos contained therein).

So updates on the little man the first two weeks of December are that he started army crawling (at 4 months old)! I didn't see him do it at first, because I sometimes just put him down on the rug with some toys while I'm in and out of other rooms just cleaning up, but I started noticing when I would check in on him that he was in significantly different places than where I left him. I had to keep a sharper eye on him, and when I did, I saw that he could move his little body just about anywhere. He uses his arms for direction, and pushes himself with his little legs. I could put a toy five feet in front of him and to the right, and he could turn to aim at it and push his little self over there. We are so proud of him! He is an early mover. He rolled over early, and he army crawled early. We're looking for more big things to come!

December 5

Ezra loves his daddy so much. He especially loves being held, talked to, and played with by him.

December 7

This movie is super cute. He has his little hand in his mouth and he's busy chewing on it while telling us all sorts of nice things.

December 10

Ready for breakfast! He's been loving the sweet potatoes we've been giving him. They were his first solid food (aside from the rice cereal we mix in with his milk). At first he was a little wary, but he decided he liked them after the second or third bite. The biggest challenge for him after that was swallowing the food! He usually ended up with more on his hands and face than in his tummy. Feeding him solids has required a lot of patience both in the time it takes to get them down and in the clean up time needed afterward, but it has been one of the most fun things I've been able to do with my baby. It's so cute watching him catch the spoon as it comes toward him, push it into his mouth, and make funny faces as he slobbers it all back out. I'm sorry if I'm grossing you out. Maybe it's something only a mother could love.

He loves talking! Here he's probably telling me what he thought of the morning's sweet potatoes, or maybe how he doesn't want to go down for a nap. 

December 11

 

I just love him when he's fresh out of a bath. He smells so good and his skin is so smooth and he is so cuddly! And super cute.



He loves the jumper Grandma and Grandpa Coleman bought him for Christmas! I love that he's got his little dino in these pics.

I'm pretty sure he feels like a grown-up sitting with Daddy.

December 12

I just love this picture. He loves rubbing Daddy's beard, especially when he's eating. He'll just reach up and hold his chin and rub, back and forth, back and forth. He does the same with his little legs. He will move them all over when he's eating. He'll just probe around or rub our arms or legs with them.

December 13

Mommy and Baby don't have many pictures together so I threw this one in here so you could know I love him too.

December 15

And that's all for today, folks!

Christmas Break

Time for another update! I was just thinking about how nice it would be for everyone and myself if I stayed current with my posts. I will work on it. I am going to make a goal to post every Thursday. So good luck to me!

Our little family has been doing wonderfully! We were able to visit Tanner's family in Houston over the break, and our trip was an absolute blast! I love Tanner's family, immediate and extended. They are the most loving, most positive, happiest, kindest, most generous people you will ever meet. And they are so fun to be around!

Here's a quick summation of the people we spent time with over the holidays: Tanner's mom, Kaylene, and dad, Rob, who works several weeks at a time in Iraq for BP and then gets a break for several weeks with his family in Houston. He was off for almost the whole break. It was the first time for both Kaylene and Rob to meet our little guy, and they proved their love as grandparents by watching him several times while we went on a few much-needed dates. He was even a stinker for some of the time, but they seemed to love him anyway. They did a lot of work to keep everything running smoothly while so many people were visiting and overrunning their house over the holidays, but they kept their cool, and we are grateful for their love, hard work, and happiness.

Tanner's oldest sister Brittany and her family also live close by, and I cannot say enough about how much fun we have with them. Not only are Brittany and Truston awesome and so good to talk to, but they have four adorable children six and under: Talmage (6), Logan (4), Reid (2), and Lily (almost 1). Ezra had a lot of fun playing with his cousins (especially Logan, who figured out early on that Ezra smiles when you poke his cheeks), and Tanner and I had a lot of fun answering questions like, "Ezra and Lily could get married, right?" Talmage is growing up and he loves to ask serious questions like that, Logan is super silly (he switched teams in the middle of Jelly-Belly Apples to Apples because he figured out where all the Jelly-Bellys were going, Reid is a super giggly smiley little buddy who will always come sit in your lap and lavish in whatever attention you give him, and Lily is the best dressed, jewelry and pink loving baby you've ever met. They are all adorable.

I love this picture! Here are all the cousins measured up against penguins (there were a bunch of live ones swimming around in a tank behind us). Ezra almost as tall as a macaroni penguin. :)

Then there's Tanner's older brother Andrew, who has been living in Houston since he started working at Deloit. It was so good to see him too--we haven't spent much time with him since he moved when we got married, and he was the best at figuring out new moves for the bean game. There was also Tanner's sister, Grace, who just got back from the California Ventura Mission in December, and it was the best being able to see her for a full two-and-a-half weeks! She has somehow both changed and stayed exactly the same. Maybe it's because she has always been so kind and selfless that her mission changed her in other ways. We are so happy to have her back. Tanner's brother Robert wasn't there, because he is serving in the Orlando Florida Mission while he waits for his visa for Brazil, but we were able to talk to him over Skype on Christmas, which was so good. He is really showing all his strengths as he serves and we are so proud of him. Of course, there was Thomas, Tanner's youngest brother, and so far, Ezra's favorite uncle, as he played with Ezra every day, and several times "claimed him" after naps and other such events. He loved pushing Ezra's stroller whenever we went out.

Tanner's grandparents (on the Coleman side) also visited with us while we were there, and it was wonderful to see them. We love them so much and miss living close to them and seeing them every week. Tanner's aunt and uncle, Nathan and Kristin, were also able to come out with Spencer, Joseph, Matthew, Caitlen, Ethan, and Eva, and they brought so much new life to the house while we were there. Tanner and I were even able to get milkshakes with Nathan and Kristin on a special treat night, something we won't forget. And last but not least, Tanner's cousin Bennett and his wife Jazz were able to come out on New Year's Eve and spend two fun days with us. The neighbors did a fireworks show on the street (which even Ezra enjoyed, despite the noise--both Tanner and I wondered if he was deaf until we realized he got a perfect score on the hearing test in the hospital, hates the vacuum with all his heart, and turns his head in our direction when we talk or call to him), we went on a date to downtown Houston, and got some good barbecue and kolaches with them. We were so glad to see them as well--we were able to spend a lot of time with them in Provo, and we have missed them since moving to Florida.

Basically, it was a FULL house, and because of that, we had an amazing time over the break.

Here are some of the things we did:

1. Enjoyed Christmas together! This Christmas, we had two big firsts: It was my first Christmas in Houston and with Tanner's family and Ezra's first Christmas ever! I think we all enjoyed it.

2. Went to Moody Gardens at Galveston. Moody Gardens is a collection of attractions, basically, from a water park to a light show. We were able to see their aquarium, jungle, and Christmas light show. Everyone had a good time.

3. Ate out several times! We went to Fuddrucker's (Grandpa Coleman's treat) and Joe's Crabshack (Grandpa Coleman the Younger's treat). Why do we love eating out so much? Tanner and I are on a pretty strict budget so going out to eat is alway really fun for us. Thank you, Grandpas! We also got authentic Texas barbecue two times--delicious! And we ate a TON of kolaches. After making the discovery that the Kolache Factory sells kolaches at half price after 1:30 pm, we went back again and again, one time even squealing into the parking lot right before they locked their doors at two. Mmm, we love kolaches! I just can't believe we have to wait to have them again until our next visit!

3. Saw the Hobbit! This was our big date. We have budgeted in one movie at the movie theaters per year (unless, of course, we are treated, which has definitely happened more than once, especially with a movie connoisseur for my father), so we saved up all year knowing that it would come out and we'd want to see it. It was awesome! We both loved it. Yes, I am a nerd. (Brittany officially approved of me as Tanner's fiance when she found out I'd watched all 3 extended versions of Lord of the Rings and probably knew more about the background of the making of the films than he did).

4. Read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Talking about being nerds reminded me of one more thing: Tanner and I read the last Harry Potter book to each other over the break, mostly while feeding Ezra or putting him down for naps. It was really fun. We want to read fun books to our kids each night when they are old enough to understand them.

5. Went to the Natural History Museum and saw the world's largest shark jawbone and the world's largest sea turtle skeleton. Super cool.

6. Last thing: Tanner burned his finger the day before we left for Houston. Here is a picture of him soaking it in a glass of water. It looked super weird with the one finger so small and the other two so big!

Thanksgiving

My dad and Debbie came out to Miami for Thanksgiving. It was super fun! We did a lot of things. Here are the photos.

First stop, Vizcaya. It's a mansion built in the early 1900s by a really rich guy, very cool. Part of Iron Man 3 was filmed here (notice the ship).

 

We all went up to Debbie's parents', Bobby and Rosie's, house for Thanksgiving. There are huge beautiful cranes that live on their street. Here is my dad feeding them:

We went to see the manatees. There is a natural warm spring that joins up with a river in Deland, and the manatees like to swim up it in the river to keep warm. There were lots of babies, and they were fun to see!

My dad pushed Ezra around in the stroller the whole time. He is counting his steps every day and was able to get a ton of steps in while talking to the baby.

Daddy and baby

Bobby and Rosie sent us home with bags and bags of fresh oranges, tangerines, and grapefruits! We have been feasting like kings.

Ezra was blessed that Sunday. It was wonderful. My dad, Bobby, and Keith were all in the blessing circle, and Price held the microphone. Ezra was smiling and cooing the whole time.