Baby Outside

This baby loves his toes.

He also loves taking naps in his swing...don't know what we'll do when he's too big for it! (Which will definitely be pretty soon.)

Naptime with Daddy is great too.

Mommy assembled this monstrosity herself.

But it's even more fun with a view of the outdoors.

Alison's coworker owns a show dog, and we got a chance to cheer them on when they showed in Kansas City this week. Emerson had his first view of many different breeds. We saw lots of poodles, but Brisquette is still our favorite!

Emerson is learning to help Daddy with the yard work.

No Time For Naps

 I came home the other day to find Emerson hanging out with Dad, bachelor-style: chillin' in the swing, burp cloth on head, bottle in mouth. This is how they roll while Mom is at work, apparently...

  Stacy came for a short visit (really short!), so we had to make the most of Saturday. We took her to Succotash, one of our favorite local restaurants.

We checked out Bass Pro Shop and enjoyed the "scenery."

 Emerson modeled the latest outdoorsman fashions.

 He was quite impressed with the store's giant fish tank.

 And he made a friend!

 We took a walk and saw the skyline.

 Emerson marveled at the impressive restoration of the 95-foot-high ceilings at Union Station.

 Dad made sure he was safe and sound during all our travels.

 And Stacy took this awesome shot of our happy guy!

That's Sick

 It's been an eventful week. Brandon traveled to Montreal for a conference and got to sample some of the local cuisine. He also reconnected with faculty and students from BYU who were also attending.

 Emerson had his first cold this week and spent several days being very congested. He wasn't too thrilled with the situation.



Fortunately, we had a special visitor who helped nurse him back to health. Grandma Lori came for a fun few days. Here we are at historic Union Station.

It was also time for the baby's four-month checkup. He weighs a whopping 16 pounds, 2 ounces. And he's getting pretty good at supporting his own weight!

Next thing you know, he'll be walking. (OK, maybe not quite yet. But he did accomplish his first unassisted back-to-front rollover this week. Now if we could just capture that on video...)

1 2 3 4

 Here's our happy little man!

 He's getting better at sitting tall. (Please ignore the chaos behind him!)

 He "watched" his first Super Bowl.

 He turned 4 months old. What a big guy!

 He's getting more and more aware of his doggie friend.

 And he's still working on mastering the jumper.

To celebrate Emerson's 4-month birthday, you can watch his favorite Sesame Street video: "1 2 3 4"

Emerson's Big Day

Emerson has loved hanging out with his grandma Cindy for a whole month, but alas, all good things must come to an end. Today was her last day in Kansas City, and that called for an exciting outing. Uncle Spencer was here for a brief visit and wanted to check out the Kansas City Zoo, so away they went.

Emerson hung out at the polar bear habitat.

He took his first train ride (and got a little sleepy).

Mom got off work in time for a late lunch. (And to see the little man streeeeeeetch.)

Here's a video montage of the day's highlights.

Bye bye, Grandma! Thanks for spending so much time with our little guy and for being a great babysitter! We'll see you again soon.