Baby Elliott: 7 Months!

Prepare to be overwhelmed with cute baby pictures! Over the holidays, we drove up to Oregon for 2 weeks to spend Christmas & New Years with my family. We had been anticipating this trip since I was pregnant and we realized Martin got 6 weeks of paternity leave through Apple, that he could take them 2 weeks at a time, at any point throughout the first year. Having never been able to take time off from work since I've been living in California, it was a big deal we were finally able to make it home for the holidays! I had missed Christmas dinner at my grandparents, and Oregon winter weather, and Dutch Brothers coffee, and Marco's Place tacos . . . I was counting down the days since I was about 7months pregnant ;) 

he loves his toes

Our trip was full of time with family & friends, board games, good coffee, the best tacos in the Pacific Northwest, and no sales tax. Elliott adapted really well to the colder weather, but had a tough time sleeping through the night the first few nights, probably because of all of the traveling. Speaking of traveling, he did really on the car ride up! He slept a majority of the drive, and we would just stop every couple of hours for him to get a diaper change & nurse. He would only fuss for a bit before falling asleep; the last hour, however, was definitely when he was over it. He cried almost the entire last hour until we made it to my grandparents house in Eugene. It was a rough way to end the trip, but at the same time we were thankful it was only at the end. 

eating great grandma Roeske's face

Christmas morning with grandma & grandpa Roeske

It was so fun getting to see Elliott with all of my family. He and my mom instantly became best friends, and he was always smiling and charming everyone he met. I loved getting to see my parents & grandparents fawn over him, since that is something I really miss about living away from my family - that grandparent relationship. It was also nice to have a couple of date nights just Martin & I, since my parents would basically kick us out of the house so they could hang out with their grandbaby ;) 

four generations! 

Grandma is Elliott's best friend

It was so hard to leave at the end of the trip, but I'm so grateful for the time we had and tried to soak up every hour we had with family. I miss my siblings & parents up north, but we have roots here in California now that would make it so hard to move. That's the bittersweet reality of having loved ones in so many different places, and that's one of the reasons I am so thankful to live in a time where video chatting is easily accessible! 

littlest Duck fan! 

all smiles with great grandpa Shirk

This post feels a bit sporadic, at best, and I blame the lack of sleep & my only half a cup of coffee at 6 AM this morning. I'm sure the photos are what everyone enjoys most anyway, so I'll give some of his 7 month updates & leave you with more pictures ;) 

Currently, Elliott Enjoys: 

- Rolling from his belly onto his back 

- FaceTime with grandma & grandpa Foster 

- chatting - usually "bababa" and "mamama" so maybe mama will be coming soon? ;) 

- playing with a water bottle or the tags on his toys 

- bouncing in his bouncer 

- attempting to sit on his own - he makes it about 10-15 seconds before toppling over 

- anything with mom & dad 

"you mean I'm not supposed to eat my presents?"

Elliott couldn't care less for: 

- Being in the car at night 

- Loud noises (the vacuum cleaner, blender, and hand dryers) 

- Being put down when he's tired

He's still the happiest little hippo, and I still can't believe he's really ours! Here's a video of our little chatterbox :)