Auntie Nora has even lighter blue eyes than Soren!
She captured some really cute expressions -- boyish looks, not baby faces.
Snoozing on my back in the Ergo carrier.
"Cruising" along the cedar deck furniture, in his sun hat with the neck flap.
And in crawling position...video to come. He's finally mobile on his hands and one knee (!).
My sister Nora finally got a break from grad school in Colorado and was able to visit for the first time since December! She totally bonded with her nephew (really, they were inseparable) and we got to hang out with her in Anacortes and then she visited us in Port Townsend (see next post).
With Grannie and Papaw pushing the swing at the 1-year-old "community-built" playground in Anacortes. The large and varied park (more fun and photos to come from many future visits, I'm sure) was assembled in 5 days by volunteers (they helped) and was designed by Leathers & Associates, which does this sort of thing with playgrounds all around the country. Very cool!
On a hot day, Soren chilling in his great-grandma Rees's stainless steel dishtub. Just the perfect size for a 9-mo.-old boy!
Posing in a colorful orange-juice corner when Nora and Grannie took him to the supermarket. Soren LOVES riding around in a shopping cart!
At 7:30 p.m. the same day, Shelly directs and reads in a PT Shorts program titled "The Story Girl" -- short stories by L.M. Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables. This is a monthly free reading series put on by Key City Public Theatre, and she's always thought it would be fun to highlight some lesser-known tales by her favorite childhood author. The press release was submitted with the above photo of Shelly dressed as Anne Shirley on a 1998 visit (pilgrimage was more like it!) to L.M. Montgomery's native Prince Edward Island.
Grandpa Jim and Grandma Gloria also came for a visit in April, their first since February. Of course, Soren had changed an awful lot and had lots of new tricks to show them.
One was his growing competence as a bodhran drummer.
Hands down, it's his favorite instrument. Just tonight he was beating time on it while Jeff played guitar and Auntie Nora played mandolin to "You Are My Sunshine." Oh, yes, Nora has begun a much-anticipated week-long visit with us. We'll report in the next post.
Hmm, thinks Soren. I like having all these relatives visit!
Before the month May is over, here are some representative pictures from April. As you can see, Soren has been standing unassisted for a while, but not unsupported. He still needs to hold on to something sturdy, although for the first time this Memorial Day weekend, he demonstrated free standing (no hands, ma!) for a few seconds at a time. Nervewracking seconds for us!
Here Soren is showing off his wave. It started as a stiff-armed salute (Grannie Annie liked to call it his "benediction") , then the fingers got involved, and now he does the very cute finger flap -- usually pointed back at himself rather than at the departing party. It's the sweetest thing for me to carry him slowly upstairs to bed as he waves goodnight to Daddy, the lights, the fan, etc. These are also the objects he has figured out the ASL signs for, so we're starting to communicate with our hands.
When Grannie and Papaw were visiting last month, they brought with them the newest addition to the instrument collection at The Roost. It's a kit-made hammered dulcimer that a friend of theirs built and wanted to place in a good home. We are very grateful to have it. It's an instrument that sounds good (like a harp, if you've never heard it) no matter whether you really know how to play it or not. Since Jeff and I had gotten lessons from Lorna in North Carolina earlier in the month, we kind of know what we're doing. With our supervision, Soren is allowed to "hammer" on it every so often. The sweetest hammering you'll ever hear!
We'll close with Soren spooning. His current favorite foods: pureed pork chop and peaches (separately, NOT together!).
