Eamonn's Adventures: 2008

Visit from Grammie and Grandpa

We had a great Halloween visit with Greg's parents in from Boston. Here are a few pics from our trip to the zoo. I will post pictures of E in his monkey costume soon!

We also paid a visit to the studio for some spur of the moment pictures - these turned out a LOT better than the last visit...

Favorite activities

Eamonn's favorite activities this week are (in order of preference):

1. Walking the neighborhood (he can now open the new latch on our front gate which is a problem)

2. Finding Goldbug in his Richard Scarry book

3. Cooking in his new kitchen!!! I bought this off Craigslist and it is AWESOME. He loves it! Woo hoo! Top Chef in training!

Visit with Peachie and Rollie

Greg's second cousins came to California for Boston to celebrate some milestone birthdays and were able to meet Eamonn.

I am including both photos because I think his face is so funny in these - I swear Eamonn is a very happy child - but in front of the camera he is the master of the sourpuss face!!!

This month

I just watched a video clip of Eamonn trying to crawl at 8 months old and realized I cannot believe this is the same kid who now asks for popcorn by name and finds Goldbug before I can - when less than a year ago he couldn't move! I just wish I had enjoyed his babyhood more - the time flew by and my most vivid memory is that we were exhausted - ALL the time. But he sure was cute! And thank goodness we're not as tired now but he still is darn cute.

This month we went up to Cabrillo for the first time...

The next day we tried to pick apples with friends in the mountains (but it was 95 degrees so we left for home after only 1 hour!!!)...

These kids love tractors!

And horses!

Here is Eamonn kicking back with his books before bedtime.

Eamonn reads his John Deere tractor catalog almost daily.

Two weeks ago - new skill!

Eamonn discovered he could step over things a couple of weeks ago and he practiced over and over and over.....it has been so much fun watching him discover how to use his body - first to walk, then climb, then walk backwards, bounce up and down, stamp his feet, step over things, walk on his knees....he pursues each activity with such enthusiasm and delight at the "newness" of it all. The "teacher" and "audience" part of parenting is a lot of fun!

Another lazy Sunday

16 months old

Here is Eamonn post-haircut - hanging out with Dad at the end of a long day - mesmerized by the fan, his shoes, and the play cube.

Halloween Monkey!

Yes, yes, for all you who agree it is crazy to buy a Halloween costume in August - let me assure you it is not too early! Last year we waited until September and I had to drive to 3 stores to find a costume in the correct size. We picked this up today and Eamonn loves it - including the attached banana (it was too hot to wear the matching pants...stay tuned!)

Lazy Sunday

Here is Eamonn waiting for his parents to get in gear and hit the zoo as it opens at 9am. Here is the play by play:
He starts off with the telephone; then he moves on to the fireplace screen (which he knows he is not supposed to touch) - he approaches the screen and we (his parents) can watch the wheels turn in his head - he makes the right choice on camera! Yippee!
Next, if you listen closely you'll hear him show off his elephant, lizard and bird impressions. After a few minutes rocking in his chair he moves on to his tractor - which he sees on the coffee table and says pretty clearly (to his biased parents). Finally he hears Freddy bark and as he heads off to check it out you may catch his dog impression - he pants instead of barks because of Freddy.

Plumosa Park

We took the dogs for a walk to a park near our house - Eamonn loved it but Freddy was "dog tired" due to the heat. The pace of our trip back was a little slower!

Photo session with Ava

We took Eamonn and Ava to have their photos taken before they outgrew their matching outfits. These are the candids I took before the session began. He looks pretty happy here. Unfortunately things took a turn for the worse once he got in front of the "professional". I'll post one or two of those when they come in.

16 months - professional toddler

We've been on hiatus from filming and taking photos of "Big E" (as he is known around the neighborhood) - in part due to my misplacing the camera and not having time to hook up the video camera to download film.

We did manage to find time to hit the beach with Eamonn last weekend during a visit with cousin Xan. We also had a good visit with Aunt Beth - her last to SD before her big move North.

Eamonn loves his sunglasses - he's at the mimic stage now (let's hope it translates to potty training in a year!) - so he likes to wear his hat and sunglasses if we wear ours. I also think he's smart enough to realize it's easier for his baby blues out in the sun.

He is trying to talk up a storm. "Truck" is at the top of the list, while "Car" and "Van" are not far behind. Now that E is mobile he just goes where he pleases and is very good at communicating his wishes (he isn't that demanding.....yet). He is such a creature of habit. Mon, Tues, Wed the nanny Martha arrives by 8am and whisks him off to the park. On Thursday (my day off) I am just starting my coffee when, for the past two weeks, Eamonn goes and gets his hat and brings it to me and then goes and stands by the front door with both arms stretched upwards patting the door.

I get the hint. Eamonn likes to be outside and moving by 8 am.

We had a play date last week and in the middle of it E had had enough - he just picked up and walked out of the room. A few minutes later I went to check on him and he was sitting on the floor in a pile of books flipping through the pages, getting some down time. So endearing.

July 5th! First Steps on film

Happy Independence Day!

We had a nice BBQ in our front yard on July 4th - it was so much fun to watch all these children play together. And Eamonn must have been inspired by the occasion - he woke up from his afternoon nap and started walking! He hasn't stopped.....

Visit with the Twin Aunts

Last month Aunts Beth and Chrissy came down (from LA and SF) for a visit. We had a great time! Here they are on Shelter Island laughing it up with Big E.

Fun video clips!

If I need to laugh I pull up this clip. The story is this - Eamonn has entered a new phase whereby he's mature enough to realize that there are things in the world that can hurt him, so he's started to exhibit fear around things he previously ignored. This means we now try to ease him into new sounds/processes to avoid a blowup (vacuum, hair dryer, etc.). Last weekend we enjoyed a visit with twin Aunts Beth and Chrissy. We cooked a gourmet meal! Eamonn stopped by the kitchen after his bath (translation: close to bed time and a notoriously delicate mood). So I tried to make the food processor fun. It worked - it REALLY worked. Eamonn was hysterical. For so long that Greg had time to walk the length of our house to pick up the camera and walk back to film it. So that is why this clip starts off with the cameraman approaching the kitchen. I didn't realize then that poor Beth ended up stuck in the laundry room while Eamonn put on his show!

Second clip is 2 months old. I took Eamonn to the zoo and it turns out he can speak gorilla. He continued speaking gorilla as we exited the park - even scaring one older lady who jumped as we approached her from behind and Eamonn sounded like a wild animal. It was pretty funny.