Baby Trace

I got to take pictures of this sweet little baby just before he was 3 weeks old.

He was still smaller than any of my babies were at birth.

I couldn't get over how tiny he was.

 Like most babies, he loves his hands up close to his face

 Tami was trying to put him to sleep and it was just a beautiful shot. Very Mother-esque I think

 My first head swap. Can you tell?

What do you think?  This is my first newborn shoot, other than my own, which didn't turn out all that great.

More to come on Faith.

Big Sketty- 1 Year

This is my favorite of the series so far. It is exactly what I was going for.
And it is so him!

My baby turned 1 already. How this year has flown by. He has been the best baby and he has made this past year so much fun for all of us. We are all completely obsessed with him--still--and he knows it and works his family. Hudson often mentions that we give Sketty whatever he wants and its so true.

How do you deny anything to that little peach?

In the past month he has put himself on a pretty strict schedule. Funny, because I never pushed a schedule with him, although it would have made my life easier. Most babies get fussy when they're tired, but not our Sketty, so I never really worried about naps and stuff. Now everyday right at noon he is out, no matter what we're doing (except at Church). He'll sleep for 2 1/2 or 3 hours (holy FABulous!), get up and be happy for a long while, and then he goes to bed around the same time the big kids do, between 8 and 9. 

Its so wonderful! Why didn't I push the nap 6 months ago?

He is developing his little big personality and oh, how we love it. He's never been great at spoon feeding, so the other day I was trying to give him something and I kept opening my mouth really big and saying "ahhh" when I gave him the spoon. After a few minutes of this when he was ready for a bite he'd open really big and say "Ahh". Now I know when he's hungry because he'll come tap my leg and and say "ahhh!" Tanner was holding him and blew on a bite before feeding it to Sketty
and now Sketty has to "blow" on his food before he takes a bite. Pretty darn cute.

Sometimes he gets a little sassy and he shakes his head when he doesn't want something. He looks . . . special. . . . to say the least. Its kind of a "Night-at-the-Roxbury-head-bob-to-the-right" kinda thing. Its pretty funny. He shakes his head when I tell him not to do something. That's also his signature dance move, which he'll switch out occasionally with the one-armed swing. But this kid has boogey-fever in a bad way. The second he hears music he's got to move. I love it. I can remember when Bryson started his peg-leg dance about this age and it was the highlight of my day back then. 

He may not be talking yet but he sure is good at mimicking everything. Whenever I tell the kids to get shoes and socks on he'll run for the front door and start yelling and slapping it. He loves to go outside and play. We hooked up the baby seat to my bike and got him his own little helmet for bike rides. Now whenever we go "fast" (in the car, the grocery cart, or stroller) I hear him saying "Weeeee". Its so cute. When we're out in the garage he'll go grab his helmet and start jabbering away, or pulling me towards the bikes.  And if I say anything like "who wants _______?" he runs to me with his hand raised high and begs for whatever's being passed out.

He's so fun right now. Well, he always has been, but he just gets better and better.  He is starting to climb everywhere--although not nearly as much as my other boys-- and I find all kinds of things in the wrong places. Cooking utensils in the boys dresser, toys in my kitchen cupboards, combs and brushes all over the place, shoes strewn throughout the house, the remote in the dryer. He loves to make a mess and get into stuff but he doesn't have quite the same voracity for mass destruction like Hudson did. I couldn't clean up half as fast as that kid could destroy. Stetson is more low key. If I tell him no he'll stop and watch me pick up stuff, then move on to something else. His favorite toys are: the meat mallet, pizza cutter, cheese grater, can opener, strainer, and the tv remote. All super safe. He got his own set of plastic cooking utensils for his birthday but they're just not as fun.
He's learned how to open the doors in our house and now we have to make sure the front stays locked at all times because he loves to be outside. Sadly our backyard sucks and I can't let him out there without walking around with him. I walked to the mailbox with him one day and that took forever.  He has to stay in the car when I drop Hudson off at school because if he goes in I'll never be able to get him out. 
He is pretty territorial of me though. Any time the other kids sit next to me or start snuggling me 
he starts shrieking and yelling at them. They are all really sweet about it and usually get up real fast so he
can have me back. He is starting to wrestle with Tanner every night now and he adds all the grunts and groans that go with a good wrestling match. 

We sure love this little guy.

Here's the breakdown of the other kids' growth compared with Stetson's:

                           Bryson          Brynn         Hudson          Stetson
6 months              18               16.10           18.8                  20
1 year                   19.12             20             24.5                  25

Labor Day weekend

For Labor Day we went to Camp Richardson at Lake Tahoe. It was perfect weather and we got to do lots of things. We camped right next to a couple that had their 7-yr old grand-daughter with them and she and Brynn instantly became besties. Then a little later we found out that two families from school were there and Bryson and Hudson could play with their boys. A little later a family with 3 boys rolled in right across from us. PERFECT!!! The kids had a blast all weekend and it was pretty relaxing for Tanner and I. Except that, taking a newly walking baby is worse than camping with a crawling baby.

Brynn and ShariAnne (the little girl next to us) went everywhere together until she left Sunday

Baby loves playing in the sand

On Saturday we spent the day at the beach with about 5 million other people. It was the most insanely crowded I have ever seen a beach at lake Tahoe. You could not even step in between groups of people on the beach. Crazyness! We bombed out a little early and went out to Grover HotSprings near Markleeville. We met up with Scott and Sueanne there and enjoyed some very HOT hotsprings.
 

I love this one. He loves his Jilly!

Grover Hotsprings are not only relaxing, its a beautiful drive. This is the meadow you get to look at when you drive up.

After the Hot Springs we got back in the car and drove to Walker, NV.  Along the side of the road on HWY 395 S. there is the MOST DELICIOUS burger joint called WALKER BURGER. If you ever find yourself in south shore and feel like driving 45 min to get your grub on you should definitely go.  Its a mom and pop shop that has been there forever and they are the nicest people. When we ordered our food we told him how we had made a special trip from south shore and he was very grateful. After our fabulous burgers he gave each of the kids a gigantic soft serve ice cream cone with sprinkles all over it for free. We told the kids thats called "small town generosity". They were super stoked.

There's no indoor eating, its all out on the patio and the grass. Very quaint setting and the kids loved it.

  

I can't tell you how much licorice this baby ate.

It was permanently stuck to his face

This is my new happy thought. Its so perfect.  Brynn looks like a total rag-a-muffin lately, Sketty's just chill no matter what, Hudson has to be grumpy about something all the time, and Bryson is behind the camera. That's my life right now, it may not sound perfect but it just is. Its real. And wonderful.

A little salt water taffy always makes people feel better

This was the dirtiest baby you've ever seen

He still hates shoes and can't really walk in them . So we go bare
foot and give him a broom as a walking stick.

That's Hudson hiding in the walker playing my phone

Brynn, Kiley and Alyssa. They taught Brynn cheers all weekend and then she taught us for days afterward. Lucky us.

Just too tired to do it anymore.

On Monday we went up to Angora Lakes. I had never heard about it until Sueanne told me. Its these two little lakes on the ridgeline above Fallen Leaf Lake and you have to hike up to them from the parking lot. Its a good little hike but the kids didn't complain about it and it was beautiful once we got up there. There's paddle boards, kayaks, boats and canoes to rent. You can cliff jump if you feel so inclined, or just relax and order some lemonade from the store. I think we'll make it a new tradition.

 

Steady . . . steady . . .

whoa!!! 

BRRRrrrr (we heard the water was about 5-7 degrees colder than Tahoe)

I think he was frozen at this point

My little angel fell asleep at the lake and I was able to change him and carry him halfway down the mountain before he woke up.

This is Fallen Leaf Lake

That's Tahoe behind it.

This is what remains of the Angora Fire that ravaged South Lake Tahoe a few years ago. So sad.