10 Months Old!

Hope everyone else had a nice Valentine's Day. We did. On the 13th, Uncle Ron and Kevin watched E while Lisa and I went out to one of our favorite seafood restaurants. We lived it up by eating our fancy meals at the SAME TIME (vs. a more typical routine of one of us eating quickly while the other entertains). On the actual holiday, Lisa surprised me with takeout Thai and it was a fun night at home with just the five of us.

The weekend came quickly and with open arms. Friday night found us at Fiorillo's for a family dinner. Saturday morning, I helped the Balyons lay sod in their back yard (which became known as Sod-erday, thanks to Gary) while Lisa went to a church meeting and E hung out with Oma and Opa. That afternoon we cooked and cleaned just in time for Alison, Bryan, and Owen to come over for dinner. Although the Ballou boys did manage to squeeze a quick walk in - had to take advantage of the amazing weather. Besides baby gym, Sunday daytime had us working in the yard (pulling weeds - thanks for all the help Opa and Oma!) and doing small projects around the house. That evening Kyle, Jasmine, and Gavin came over and we hosted another dinner extravaganza. I feel so domestic.

Lisa was off on Monday, so she got to take E to baby gym and then met Opa to get the baby a new pair of shoes! They're "level 2" for crawlers (cross your fingers) and look awesome. Monday night, Nana and Papa returned from Hawaii and stopped by for a couple days. So the "B-team" was back watching E. They all had a great time, though it was sad sending them off to New Mexico again.

The lil'guy hit the double-digit month mark (10 months). Suddenly, he seems interested in crawling and is doing the "rock on all fours." However, he still prefers standing and cruising around the coffee table. He now refers to most things as "Ba Ba Ba." He's mastered "Throw the ball, Evan," and he sure does have a good arm on him (might even be better than mine). And we are very, very close to understanding "High-five"...obviously, a critical skill.