Baby is crawling already! He’s been getting around for a few weeks already, pulling himself along on his tummy by his arms, but today he’s nearly given that up in favor of crawling the normal way. This is the earliest we’ve had one crawling–he is 5 months and 22 days, about 3 days earlier than our previous earliest. Looks like a busy life ahead, if this is any indication.
Nathan
Slow Down!
I’m not ready for this–my baby is starting to get around already! A couple of days ago he started getting up on his knees and lunging forward to grab things that he wants. In my opinion, four months is too early for this–but he doesn’t care what I think.
He’s a Distraction!
No, I haven’t been on here much lately. For one thing, there hasn’t been anything real exciting happening–just daily life. For another, we have a major distraction–this was yesterday during school:
Such cuteness is hard to ignore.
He loves his walker–he can investigate all sorts of things!
Yum! Pajamas!
You caught me!
Sometimes it seems like he’s all mouth.
Busy Baby! (pictures from this week)
“I like my tongue!”
Can I get up now?
This is blurred because he was running towards me at top speed! He goes all over the kitchen in that walker.
A friend sent him this kiwi and he was investigating it tonight.
The second-youngest often falls asleep during Worship!
Baby is Talking!
Our baby is really trying to communicate now. He turned three months old last week, and is getting more fun every day. His coos are more of a growl right now. The other morning I got a video of him, and tonight I actually found time to share it here! So glad for the occasional Sunday that we come home from church before 5:00!
Fossil Hunting
Yesterday at our homeschool writing group meeting, a man showed us a powerpoint presentation about fossils. He has been collecting fossils for several years and has an impressive collection from the local area. My boys badly wanted to go to Gore Bay and search for fossils along the cliffs there, so, since it was sunny and warm today, we went right after lunch. When we arrived, the tide was high, with waves hitting the cliffs, so we sat on top and read some of our books for school before we went down. The tide was still so high that we couldn’t get to the best places, but the boys climbed up some of the less-vertical cliffs anyway. We never found anything that we were sure was a fossil today, but had fun exploring anyway. One unusual thing we saw was an oystercatcher (bird) with a missing foot! I could tell something was strange about it, and when I was able to see its tracks, it had one normal footprint and one that was just a round peg. Poor thing.
The tide when we arrived.
Reading stories.
This one quickly got bored with the stories and found something more interesting!
Climbing the cliff to hunt for fossils
After they gave up on fossils, they cut a few branches of lupine bushes.
Driftwood makes a great boat.
The tide when we left–quite a ways farther out, and notice the shadows. Short days right now.
And these two pictures are just because they’re cute! The first one was this morning when 2-year-old needed something to do during school and I assigned him to “read” to baby.
This one was after we got home this afternoon. I set baby on the couch while I went to do something else, and when I came back he was staring, fascinated, at his booties! They kept wiggling! 
Six Boys
Six boys live in our house. Want proof? Today’s game: tackling (till too many got hurt and came in the house saying they were done!).
Gayle butchered a goat yesterday and a couple of the boys decided to tan the hide.
….And number six would dearly love to join the fun! He can’t wait till he’s big enough.
Working When Baby is Fussy
Cooking a meal can be quite a challenge when baby wants to be held–and according to him, Mom is the only one qualified to hold him! He tends to be fussy in the evening, of course. Tonight, I cooked supper this way:
Isn’t he sweet? I love having him snuggled up to me that way, although it does get a little tiring after awhile.
This is like a Moby Wrap. After my last baby was born, a friend showed me the one she had made. It’s very simple. I just bought a 3-yard length of 60″ wide knit fabric from Joanne Fabrics, and cut it in half lengthwise along the fold. Then, I took one end of each of these strips and sewed them together securely with several rows of stitching:
That’s all! Then, to use, I wrap the cloth around the back of my waist and cross it over my front, then over my back, bring the ends around front and tie at one side of my waist. Put the baby in with a leg on each side of the X on your front and spread out the cloth to support and cover him. Then, jiggle and sing till baby goes to sleep!
Baby’s First Outing
Today was Baby’s first time to leave home. We took a picnic lunch to Gore Bay, and the older children played in the sand for a couple of hours. Esther and Grandma enjoyed taking pictures!
Baby slept happily on the way to Gore Bay and for an hour or more while we were there.
Lots of waves and lots of foam today!
When the waves went out, there was still enough water in the sand to make reflections. 
Daddy, Grandma, and the boys.
Baby was not happy about being in his seat when we left, and cried until he fell asleep (in a couple of minutes!) with this aggrieved expression on his face.
He’s Here!
Yes, it’s been a long silence on this end. Baby decided to wait 11 days after his due date, and my mind was not functioning quite normally, then he suddenly got in a hurry Sunday evening and arrived after only 2 1/2 hours warning! Recovery has been slow, but he’s quite worth it all. Everyone is thoroughly enjoying having a baby in the house once again. They fight over holding him at times. Next oldest adores him; anytime he has the privilege of holding baby he laughs and laughs! He’s only tried carrying him once so far…all the way down the hallway from our bedroom to the kitchen! He got told off pretty sternly; hope he learns his lesson without doing it again.
All the children were thrilled to get to hold him just an hour and a half after he was born!
Why I love homebirth: immediately after he came I was able to clean up and crawl into my own bed with all the family around!
Finally this morning, at 5 days old, he had his eyes open for awhile in the daytime. So far, he had just been awake and alert at night.
