Guess who's talking?!

Our little boy has always been a talker, in a language all his own, perhaps, but a talker. He's constantly babbling to the dogs, his toys and even strangers at the grocery store. His chatter never meant much (at least not to us) until lately...when he said his first word...DAD! It's no surprise that this is his first word, he loves his dad. He loves it when he gets home, feeds him, bathes him and plays with him. Recently, Dr. M has been working with E to increase his vocabulary. During E's bath Dr. M holds different toys up, says the name and waits for E to repeat him. E looks at the toy, thinks about it for a minute and then sounds out the name! He now says, duck, ball, bear, dog and (our fave) turtle! Seriously! It's SO cute! He's growing up so fast!

Summa summa time!

Wow, what a summer it's been! Our little boy is growing up so fast. He's cruising along the furniture, standing on everything and chatting up a storm. The three of us joined friends for a Fourth of July BBQ in Soulard. Though we missed the fireworks to get the little guy in bed, Dr. M and I poured a glass of wine and sat on the front porch watching the sky light up. The celebration continued with a BBQ and good friends again the next day.

It's hard to believe that a year ago, July 5th, we moved to St. Louis. I was almost 8 months pregnant and Dr. M was starting his career. The move has been good for us and St. Louis has treated us well. Of course our world changed the day that little boy came into it, but we wouldn't change any part of it. In fact, we're looking forward to the next couple years in St. Louis and where our lives will take us next.

We recently took a 5 day family trip to Kansas City and Lawrence. We saw Grandma K, GG, Aunt Kaps, Aunt Jamie and a bunch of wonderful friends! It was a long time to be away from home, but little E was such a trooper. He napped well, slept like a champ and made friends with everyone. Overall he seemed unscathed by the long trip, but is happy to be home.

With heat indices in the 100's we decided to set up the baby pool in the back yard. E thought this was the best idea. He had a blast. He crawled in circles, chased toys and laughed for over an hour! We had almost as much fun as he did just watching him.