First family vacation

Dear Elliot,
Last Friday morning we loaded up the car, dropped the dogs off at my parents' house, and headed up north for our first family vacation. You did so well and had a really fun time spending time with the Cook side of the family.

I was a bit nervous about how you were going to handle being in the car for 6 hours (each way), but aside from a 2-hour traffic jam from hell on the way home (more on that later), you did awesome. You pretty much just slept whenever we were driving, and were super happy and smiley whenever we stopped for breaks.

"You mean to tell me I'm going to be in this car for 6 HOURS today??"

Lunch in Duluth

Content in the car

Super cute video of you being all around adorable at a Mcdonalds stop :)

The drive up north was beautiful. The farthest I have been is Duluth, so Dad was really excited to show me some of his favorite parts of the state.

We stayed in cabins in a tiny little town about 20 miles south of Grand Marais called Schroeder. We shared a cabin with Aunt Jaime, Uncle Ben and your cousin Maddie. It worked out well having a 'baby cabin' and the two of you managed to avoid waking each other up even once! Thank goodness for two easy babies, right? :)

You slept really well at night, especially considering you were in a new strange place. You did, however, manage to charm your way into a couple of extra late bedtimes and skip a couple of naps altogether because you just couldn't bear to miss out on any of the fun.

Hanging out way past your bedtime in the big kids cabin :)

"Pretend you didn't see that yawn. I swear I'm not tired!"

This is how you look when you don't want to sleep--pretty hard to argue with that smile!

"Does this look like a tired face to you, Mom?"

Eventually sleep won :)

We got to spend a lot of time outside in the fresh air. It was nasty hot and humid in the cities the week before we left (like 100+ degrees!) so temps in the upper 70's felt absolutely amazing. You are so happy being outside--just very calm and relaxed. Our cabins were right on the lake (Lake Superior) and the view down at the little beach was perfection.

Dad going for an evening swim

You and Aunt Jaime

Chillin with Grandma

Getting some love from Mom

That Grandma sure loves you!

Cousin #2 in the making!

 Walking to the beach with Aunt Katie

 The fam

We even took a little hike to see a waterfall, but you were out cold in your new Baby Hawk carrier the whole time :)

We also drove up to Grand Marais a couple times. Man, that town is gorgeous! The first time we drove up, it was just me and you and Dad. We spent a couple hours sitting by the lake and you seemed to really enjoy just relaxing in the shade and watching all the people walking by. Multiple strangers stopped to tell us how cute you are, which is always fun to hear (not that I don't already know it, though!)

When we came back with the rest of the family the next morning, we did more exploring and you had a great time playing in the water with Dad.

It was really great to get out of town and spend a few days with the family. Vacations are definitely different (and involve a lot more work!) with a 3-month old tagging along, but so, so wonderful. I absolutely love seeing you having fun and experiencing new things. Nothing makes me happier than seeing you happy (yeah yeah, so cliche but its true!)

Anyway, we were sad to see the trip end...even sadder when the ending involved quite possibly the worst traffic back-up I've ever been in on our way home:

I just have to say, being stuck in stop and go (mostly stop) traffic with a hungry baby who likes the car only when its moving is really freaking awful. I was more stressed out in those two hours and seven minutes of traffic than I have been since you were born. And you cried more minutes in those two hours and seven minutes than you have in your entire life combined! It was just not a good time. There's nothing worse than hearing your kid scream and not be able to do anything to make it better. My heart was breaking and I was sure you were going to hate me for it. But of course as soon as we finally got out of the car, you have me one of your adorable little grins, and I knew you forgave me :)

I am looking forward to many, many more family vacations to come, little E. 

We love you so much!

XOXO,

Mom

Week 14

Dear Elliot,
You turned 14 weeks on Friday--can you believe it? We had a really fun-filled, summery week together.

Even though it was hot hot hot most of the week, we spent a lot of time outside. You took your first trip to the beach and had so much fun. You weren't quite sure what to think at first (I mean the lake water isn't quite as warm as your bath water!), but once you got used to it you were loving just hanging out and splashing around.

About to hit the water for the first time

Last week you also got to hang out with lots of friends. We've been going to a New Mama group every Wednesday the last couple months, and this week our friends Jenni and Hunter gave us a ride while our car was in the shop. It was your first time driving around with a buddy in the backseat. The two of you were so cute just chillin back there together:

Then on Thursday you got to meet little Lucia. The last time you two were together, you were still in our tummies! 

Before

After

We took two to yoga and then out to a super yummy lunch. It was so fun and special to see both of our precious 'rainbow babies' together. We both kept saying things like, "can you believe they're both really, finally here??"

That night we went to Uncle Brandon's birthday party and you got to meet even more new people. Brandon get so proud to show you off to all his friends--its so sweet. 

Finally, on Friday you got to meet my old boss, Vicki, who was visiting from her new home in Nashville. It was great to catch up, but seeing her just made me wish she never had to move! :)

I am just loving having all this time with you. This has seriously been the best summer of my life so far, hands down. Originally I was planning on trying to get a job starting in July, but the thought of leaving you makes me want to cry, so I think I am going to wait and then reevaluate this fall. I can totally handle being broke for awhile if it means I don't have to miss out on one moment of this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime summer we're enjoying together. 

I love you so much, El. You make me happier than I ever even knew was possible.

XOXO,

Mom

New things

Dear Elliot,
First of all, I need to thank you big-time for being such an awesome little sleeper lately. You've been going down between 8:30 and 9:00 and sleeping until 4 or 5, nursing for 15 minutes, and going right back to sleep until around 7 (sometimes later). I'm not even sure what to do with all this me-time I have in the evenings--use it to catch up on blogging I guess! :)

You are turning into such a little boy. You were sitting up and playing on my tummy this morning and I had to ask you, "did you grow in your sleep last night?!" I swear you wake up every morning bigger and stronger and more and more adorable.

You're doing so many new things lately. It's so amazing to watch you figure out the world and how you fit into it. I've seen you go from this tiny little being who basically eats, sleeps, and poops, to this vibrant little person with likes and dislikes, needs of his own, who is learning how to communicate with the people around him. I love it so much.

Here are a few of the new things you are doing as a three month old:

Expressing yourself. Back in your days as a newborn, you basically had five facial expressions: sleepy, hungry, angry, content, and 'I'm pooping right now.' Now, you are becoming so much more expressive. New faces come out every day as you mimic the looks the people around you make. You even have a variety of smiles these days. Flirty, shy, proud, absolutely delighted, silly, and the list goes on. You have a confused look, a bored look, a frustrated look, a 'I think you are really weird and silly' look. So many distinct expressions for such a young little human!

Our matching 'enough pictures!' faces :)

Lifting your head up/getting stronger. I can't believe how well you can hold yourself (and your big old head) up! Must be all that yoga ;). You also love to stand. There are many times you get super fussy and all that's wrong is that you want to get up and stand. I can now set you down in your Bumbo chair and you can sit upright with your head up for such a long time. You still don't really enjoy tummy time, but when you are forced into it, you try so hard to push yourself around. Still no interest in rolling over, but you just want to be able to crawl so badly!

Playing with toys. You were completely uninterested in your toys until about a week ago. Now you love to put them in your mouth and grab at them. It's super cute because you are still pretty uncoordinated and have to try so hard to get your hands to do what you want them to. So oftentimes this results in you bopping yourself in the face. 

Teething. Not gonna lie, this new thing of yours really sucks! You are drooling all over the place and have to have something in your mouth at all times (your fists, my fingers, your toys, your blankets, etc). I didn't even know a three-month could be teething already, but apparently it can take months for an actual tooth to pop through. My poor sweet boy.

Talking. Okay, you're not so advanced that you're actually saying words yet, but you are definitely trying to! There are times you look like you are seriously trying so hard to tell me something. I need to get a video of it. You do a lot of 'whhoooo!' (think an owl sound), 'mahh' (think 'ba' like a sheep but with an 'm'), and 'gah.' I love our little conversations (but sometimes I wish I knew what we were talking about!)

You are such a great baby, Elliot. I just love watching you grow.

All my love,

Mom

Documenting

Dear Readers,

Ok so I take a lot of pictures. I mean a lot of pictures. Between my iPhone and my regular camera, I probably take somewhere between 25-50 pictures every single day. Sometimes even more. Kind of obsessive, I know, but what can I say? I love love love photos. And I love love love my little guy; I just can't help myself!

Anyway, I'm great at taking pictures, but not so great at doing stuff with them. So I've been trying to come up with ways to organize and use all the pictures I've been taking lately. I still don't have a plan for all my nice 'real camera' photos, but I am pretty excited about what I've come up with for all my daily iPhone/Instagram pics. I've been making weekly collages, using picmonkey.com (really easy to use and free!). Next March, I'm going to turn them into a photo book to document El's first year--a collage for each page. I figure they will make great grandparent gifts too (act surprised in about 9 months you guys!)

I am already amazed at the changes from week 7 (when I started Instagramming) to week 13. Crazy to think what he'll look like and what new things he'll be doing in the weeks and months to come!

Just thought I'd share my idea for organizing pictures, and I'd really love to here what other mamas out there do with theirs, so please share in the comments!

Happy Monday!

-Kristin

3 months

Dear Elliot,
I can't believe I now have a 3-month old! You are growing and changing so fast--from a tiny, floppy newborn to this big, strong little boy. Every single morning I lift you out of your bed and think to myself, "he can't possibly get any cuter." But somehow, you do! You continue to amaze me more and more every day.

I love getting to know you and am feel so incredibly lucky that I get to be your mama.

Look how much you've changed from month to month!

Happy 3 month birthday, baby boy!

All my love,

Mom