First Smiles

Elijah is beginning to smile every once in a while. Real, awake smiles. Because they are fleeting, they are often hard to capture on camera.  We were fortunate to catch the end of a brief smile session recently.  Who would have thought that a simple expression could so easily melt your heart. Sigh.
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A Long-Awaited Trip

joggingI love to run.  Because of a complication early in my pregnancy I wasn’t able to run at all.  It has been over 10 months since I went for a run.  Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change anything.  I was very greatful to be able to carry and birth a healthy baby.  But every time I saw someone out for a jog I would look forward to the day when I could go running again.  Sunday marks 6 weeks since I delivered and the day of clearance to run again.  I decided to cheat and go a few days early.  On Thursday, I put on my running shoes and sunglasses, grabbed my ipod, complete with my obsenely offensive hip hop music that makes a great workout soundtrack, left the baby with Aaron and headed out the door.  As I rounded the corner to begin my run I teared up just a bit.  The long-awaited day had finally come. I ran a mile and a half and it was awesome!

The Many Faces of Elijah

Katie this is for you.  Here are several shots of Elijah’s face over the past few weeks.

Calm alert face (1 week old)

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Touchdown! Practicing for Chief’s season. (1 week old)
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Big Yawn!  (2 weeks old)
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Kissy Face. He makes this all the time, it’s one of my favorites. (2 weeks old)
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Staring face (2 weeks old)
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Sleepy face (3 weeks old)
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Squishy face (3 weeks old)
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Another sleepy face (4 weeks old)
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“I’m Flying Jack” (5 weeks old)
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Yet another sleepy face.  For some reason we always take pictures of him sleeping. (5 weeks old)
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Stretchy face.  He does this every time he wakes up. I love it! (5 weeks old)
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Note- we do actually have more clothes for him than this striped onsie.  Apparently we like to take photos of him on striped onesie days.  We’ll have to work on that.

Plato and Elijah

When Elijah was born Plato (our 2 year old Puggle) stayed with my brother and his fiance Andrea for a week.  He has been fun to watch as he gets used to Elijah.  He is very good overall just a little bit to eager.  He loves the little guy and always wants to be near him and lick him.  He gets so excited when he gets to be near the baby.  His little curly tail wags back and forth. In the mornings the baby and I sleep in and Aaron takes Plato down stairs.  Instead of sleeping on the sofa like he used to now he sleeps outside our bedroom door until we get up.

Below is a picture of the first time Plato met Elijah.  He kept trying to sneak closer and closer to him inch by inch, as you can see.
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Plato sleeping on Aaron’s feet.  I just like this picture so I thought I’d post it.

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It looks like he’s lying on the baby but really he is next to him.  He very rarely is allowed to get this close.
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This is a very common occurrence, when someone his holding Elijah, Plato finds a way to stick wiggle himself as close as possible to the baby, until we yell at him to back off.  Every once in a while he gets his way.
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Looking from a distance.
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Trying to join the snuggle.
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And again…

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And again!

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First Walk/Ride

We ventured out of the house a few weeks ago for our first walk.  Well my first walk, Elijah’s first ride in his fancy schmancy stroller.  Seriously, it’s so cool.  It has a drink holder, wheel locks, a window in the canopy and much more.  I am amazed at all of the fancy gadgets that are available for new parents. Anyway we are enjoying our daily dose of vitamin D.  The weather is beautiful here in the midwest.  It is refreshing to get out doors and enjoy the sunshine.

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