Milestones

We caught a few big moments on camera last week, hope you enjoy them. As promised, I got a video of Paul giggling. Ignore the TV on in the background at the beginning, I am way to lazy to edit this clip down so it's staying there.

And here is the oh so exciting new trick that Paul learned. Seriously, I have been making him practice everyday so he doesn't forget how:

Till we post again, adieu!

Our Baby Monster

Hopefully you aren't sick of all the pictures of baby and our desert surroundings, because we have more! So much more...

We've been trying to spend our weekends doing hikes and outdoorsy things as long as the weather is still good. These photos are from our hiking around the Tucson Mountain Park.

Paul is pretty indifferent to hiking. He just likes that he is up high and moving about. He would like walking around the apartment just as much.

Hummingbird!

 I just get camera happy when Paul is being this cute! He's our little monster!

Whilst putting groceries away, I noticed Paul was babbling and growling. I caught it on camera:

My next mission, as I have chosen to accept it, is to catch him laughing on camera.

Fun with Cousins

I, tragically, didn't have my camera handy to get a shot of the whole Sanderson clan while they were visiting, but when Lisa, Liam, Paul, and I went to the Desert Museum I managed to get some pictures of Liam playing and exploring.

Waiting for a ride!

The Hummingbirds exhibit made Liam nervous, he thought he might get stung.

Lazy Mountain Lion.

Similarly lazy Wolf.

Lisa and Liam in the sunny Sonoran Desert!

I had fun, Paul had a nap.

Happy Pi Day! We celebrated with Lee's delightful dessert.

Some favorite moments: Ian and Miles singing "PE-ERRY!" because they were playing with Perry the Platypus.

Ian and Liam just adored Paul. Ian wanted Paul to be his baby sister, but reluctantly agreed that Paul was his BOY baby cousin instead.

Lee was walking Paul around when Liam noticed I wasn't holding him anymore he got very concerned. "Where's baby Paul?" "Uncle Lee is holding him." "Uncle Lee has baby? I go get baby..."

When I was feeding Paul, Ian was quite surprised and told me "he's biting your tummy!" Uhhh...close enough.

Miles was fairly indifferent to the baby. But he did enjoy playing on our porch. He even got his head stuck between the bars somehow.

All time favorite: Ian running headlong into the glass door. He didn't cry, he just explained to his dad "All I wanted was to play outside!"

Also, thanks Grandma Jamie for the package you sent! We thought we might send Paul to you by post, but the box was too small.

Paul liked sitting in the box...

But got concerned that we might try to close it. We wouldn't do that!

A Grand Camping Trip.

We tried our hand at camping with Paul at the Grand Canyon. There are pros to going to the GC in the off season: not too hot, not too crowded, no bugs, no reservations necessary. There are also some cons: it's cold at night and...well that's just about it. It's a little too cold for me to be sleeping outside. Paul seemed to have no problem with it, but we put him in several layers and blankets and put hand warmers in his hands and footies. He slept much better than we did as our mattress kept deflating and his pack n' play did nothing of the sort.

 Paul handled the hiking quite well, though it wreaked havoc with his nap times.

 You never get over the stunning views, each more amazing than the next.

We hiked a mile down below the rim to "Ooh Aah Point." Luckily for me, Lee carried Paul on the way back up.

 

 Paul was more interested in eating his carrier than looking at the view.

 

 We had to take detours off our trail to avoid grazing Elk. They were all over the place.

We had some great s'mores, went on some great hikes, and we were very happy to arrive come home to a soft bed and a clean place to put the baby down.

Bumbo Boy and a Colossal Birthday

We have introduced Paul to his Bumbo. He really enjoys it, treating it like a throne. He'd like it even more if it had wheels and he could travel about on his own.

 Paul was happy to sit as long as he had Dad there to make funny noises at him.

Blanket monkey is almost as good as a Dad; softer, but not as silly.

We taught Paul this little song, you might be familiar with it. He loves it!

And here is the sleepy little angel and his cuddly duck.

This weekend we celebrated my birthday with Chinese take-out, cheesecake, and a fun filled excursion to Colossal Cave. As the name might suggest, the cave was rather large. The tour of the cave was very interesting, though Paul wanted to stop less often.

Lee and Paul at the cave entrance.

A rock formation called a Dry Waterfall.

Me n' some cave.

Every little nook and cranny had something neat to look at.

Paul was a little impatient and wouldn't let Lee stop moving.

Stalagmites/tites galore!

Paul preferred being outdoors, though possibly he just wanted a diaper change...