lovin' the beach

Come get me, mom!

Unlikely Toy

8 months and cruising

Cruise has really hit an age where he's progressing by leaps and bounds. He's expanding his vocabulary--we get him to say da-da-da-da all the time--and he makes the cutest yelling noises. He's starting to piece things together, like he'll remember when we hide something from him and go back to get it later. He's eating a ton of food (and actually digesting it well).

He's doing what looks like the worm wherever he wants to go and climbing up on (and in) everything in his path.

I let him explore sand for the first time the other day. I was surprised that he only tried to explore it with his mouth 2 or 3 times. He was fascinated by it. I thought it was cute to get the bridge right behind him. Cruise's hair puts the Golden Gate to shame.. he makes it look like a dull brown =). On days like the one when these pictures were taken, I love living in San Francisco. I can't believe how gorgeous it is.

When he hits a rug with his walker he'll lift up the tray with his hands so the wheels go over the edge of the rug. He's also starting to exhibit the first signs of major frustration. When he can't get his walker to go where he wants he clenches his five teeth and makes a noise somewhere between a growl and a squeal. He'll try and try to force his walker to move while he makes that noise. It's so interesting to see him showing such real-person emotions. It makes me realize that I'm actually going to have to start parenting soon. Better start reading some books.

Pace family photos

Here are a couple pictures of the entire Pace fam, sans Eric. It was a bummer not to have him home for James' homecoming. As you can see I'm still a novice at holding a squirming baby in a picture. Cruise wants to grab Isaac's hair so bad. =)

Below that are pics of all the Pace grandchildren.

Summer Break

Eric's summer break flew by, of course... except for his two week externship. Those two weeks were pretty hard--Eric missed Father's Day and my birthday--but I had a great time at my parents' and at my brother's home in Texas. I only have a couple pictures from Texas; hopefully I'll get some more to post from my sis-in-law. We had fun at the pool, looking for Alligators at the Alligator park, mini-golfing, making amazing food (actually having amazing food made for us by Natalie), having a b-day party for me =), decorating shirts and onesies, and hanging out. They were fabulous hosts. Thanks, guys!

Getting presents. =)

For the rest of the break we hung out at our parents. It really was great. It felt like paradise--such beautiful weather and so much relaxation. It reminded me how much I love home. Beach. Family. Sun. Tan. Pool. Golf. Tennis. Spa. Mom's cooking. I'm getting a little homesick just thinking about it. ANYwaaaays.... It was very cute watching Cruise roam our parents' houses in his little walker. After our little apartment I could tell that he was delighted that there's more to life. He would just wander off by himself and I'd find him in a hallway or dining room exploring. He didn't seem like he cared if we were a mile away.






We've had a couple new babies in the family. Eric's brother just had a little boy, Blake. He's adorable:





Here are all the Baker grandchildren:

And grandpa

My brother, Josh, just had a beautiful little baby girl, Laura Rose:

It was so much fun to see all of you!

One more piece of news: Cruise is pretty much crawling. It's a little more like an army crawl, but he's definitely getting around where he wants to. Buff little arms....

I love seeing this face in the morning.

Lakers--feeling you!

Of course Eric and I are watching the Laker games, although Eric's had to miss a couple due to finals, but Cruise finds it pretty funny when dad gets a little too in to it....

Here are some cute new pictures:

Get ready for a grumpy face.

Then he gave me this face about two seconds later: