a sortof random blanket apology

I went to my cousin's sweet baby blessing on Sunday and it occurred to me that there are a few choice friends of you out there that we would have loved to invite to Boston's baby blessing but were not able to, and I never explained this very well.

Explanation: because our place is so small, we didn't have room here to entertain a post-blessing gathering, nor do we have family really close by who could do the hosting for us. So we decided to ask my aunt and uncle if we could do the blessing there. They graciously agreed. Then we started thinking who we could invite since it was not our place and my parents had volunteered to prepare food. After we had counted all the folks, we had 52 persons who were just family, and quite a few more who we wanted to invite beyond that... ay. But when you are relying on the graciousness of others, sometimes you opt to do things differently than you would otherwise, so as not to take advantage of their kindness. So we decided to just have family since there were so many people.

So there it is. Next time (should we ever again reproduce) we'll make it so we can have a larger crowd, but I wanted to 'splain the reason for what may have seemed a great neglect. I am sorry and we do so love our friends here... next time we'll be better at this stuff. Parenthood is such a guessing game sometimes!

xoxo
L

Happy Halloween!

Here's our little monkey doing a practice run with his costume! (Thanks Melissa for lending it to us!) Now to figure out what J and I should be...?

I love to see the foyer....

Boston is now to the age where making it through Sacrament Meeting in church is doable, but the next two hours are pretty much a chore for him. Luckily he loves to chat with people and is pretty happy as long as he has someone to play with or super sweet toys. Here we are hanging out in the foyer during the general RS meeting. Such a loveable little chunker!

Also some photos of friends we love, just for funs.

books are evil.

Today, instead of napping whilst my baby napped, which I needed desperately to do as a result of a rather sleepless couple of nights (teething maybe? it is a mystery), I got lost in a novel. Robbed of an hour and a half of blessed sleep--by my own self! Curses! This is why I don't read.

Luckily, I still have this little cuteface to hang out with, tired or no. I just do so much better when not tired...

The Bostonius reaches 6 months of age

Well, hello. Boston turns 7 months tomorrow so I figured I'd better get his 6 month post up! Here is an update on his 6 month old self, along with tremendously cute photos.

getting so big!

 

I can't get enough of his cuteness. I just can't.

Physical
Boston basically loves sitting these days. He prefers to sit or stand and play instead of laying on his back. He does love a good investigative session on his belly, but gets frustrated eventually by his limited view and inability to move around, except rotating some sweet 360s on his tum-tum. He likes to walk everywhere and check out a new vantage point, and sits pretty well with the occasional tumble, so I keep pillows behind him still! He loves swimming--splashing around and kicking his legs and wiggling his little bum like a fish. SO. ADORABLE. He eats lots of new foods including sweet potato, squash, banana, etc. He jumps around lots and is developing his leg muscles. I asked Jason what some of his 6 month developments were and he said, "He's become more awesome than anyone would have ever imagined." I think that pretty much covers it. :) At his 6 month appointment, he was 18 pounds (chunky chunkers!) and 25 inches, I think. 50th percentile for weight and just below that for height.

 

jumping

swimming!

 waking up cheerful as always

wearing Daddy's old trousers

 

 eating delicious food

 napping on his side is the preferred method. and feet intertwined between two rails.

Intellectual
Boston loves scratching things with his fingers and trying to figure out what things make what noises. He loves playing with the blinds in the morning and watching the effect of pulling down the strings to shut them. I don't think he's figured out cause and effect yet, but he's pretty fascinated with it. We play a lot of peek-a-boo lately also, and he's starting to realize that if I go into another room, I don't cease to exist. It's fun to see him start to enjoy this game. He gets a super intent look on his face when he is trying to figure out how to grab things and figure out how to insert them into his mouth. He continues to be very curious and can hardly nurse at church in the mothers' room because he is so intent on figuring out where that voice is coming from! I think he's pretty much a genius.

insert hands into mouth

Social
B continues to be a social butterfly. He is now interested in babies' faces and in interacting with them, whereas before he would only look at adults. Now he wants to grab everyone's noses and eat them and stick his hands in their mouths. He still saves his most excited smiles (accompanied with jumping) for Dad and Mom, but he will turn on the charm for all the ladies, as long as their voices aren't very shrill. He seems to react to shrill voices with wariness. He loves crowds and social gatherings and always wants to be a part of the fun... always trying to get someone's attention so he can engage them in a conversation, baby style. He says "ma ma ma" all the time and also "ba ba ba" and also can soak anyone within a 2 foot radius with his skillful raspberries.

 

playing with Great-Grandma R

our little man

Emotional
Boston is still the most happy kid I have had the pleasure of being around. I feel pretty lucky. He shows impatience when I am not feeding him his yogurt cereal quickly enough, or when he can't reach something he wants. He started to whine at me super loudly for a while about getting things that he wanted and getting them RIGHT NOW but I informed him with my look that whining was not an appropriate way of communicating. Haha. He stopped pretty quick when he didn't see results. Phew. He looooooves laughing and will smile spontaneously and laugh at pretty much everything. He loves to laugh with other kids who are laughing. Boston is extremely ticklish and loves to be tickled on his feet and under his neck and also laughs a lot when I am changing his diaper. Funny kid. I think he can tell how much his daddy loves him because he always lights right up when he sees the painting of us that Danelle did and tries to chat with Dad. So cute.  

tickles!

Everyone tells me that this is such a fun age, and THEY ARE RIGHT. What a great time I have with my little buddy.

Les Mis.

While in London, I had the opportunity to see Les Miserables. It was fantastic. AND I was able to see it, albeit standing, for only 10 pounds (roughly 16 dollars). So there I stood, in the back of the Queen's Theater, just outside of Picadilly Circus, for 3 moving hours.

I loved it for a number of reasons. 1. I was able to stand next to the sound booth and talk shop with the front of house engineer. For those of you who care, they're using a DiGiCO SD7, with DPA Cardiod microphones. Everything is in the box-no outboard gear at all. 2. The storyline is moving and touching. I couldn't help but think of my family, my faith, and my devotion to both of them. 3. The performances were outstanding. Jean Valjean was incredible. Bring Him Home was heavenly. I must admit I always thought that song was kind of stupid until I saw it in context and sung with such power and emotion.

So it was great. Though I had to think about the audience. The impression I received about the audience was that they were more into the performances than the message of Les Mis, which I thought was kind of sad. Because the whole musical, in my opinion, is a reflection of one of the last lines of the play penned by Victor Hugo, 'To love another person is to see the face of God.' The musical is about love, devotion, faith, commitment, and integrity... all things that point us to the Master of the universe. Anyway, I hope the message rang through for more than the dude who stood in the back of the room.

London.

So work sent me to London to do a broadcast for the Young Men Presidency. It'll originate from the Hyde Park Chapel. It's historic... Though I'm not sure why, but historic nonetheless. This would be my first trip across the pond (which Laura kindly reminded me that it's actually the Atlantic Ocean). It's been fun. Got to see Buckingham Palace and one a dem guards with the fuzzy hats walk around. I think they wear clogs. Also saw Big Ben and um trees and Westminster Abbey. London is a lot like Boston... or rather Boston is a lot like London only people drive on the other side of the road... which has made me a rather paranoid pedestrian. But now I'm getting used to it.

Anyway, I miss my family. So many moments where I wished L and B were here too. Maybe someday. Enjoy some pictures.