Emily + Indiana Trip

My sister, Emily, graduated from University of Indianapolis on May 2nd. Brian, Colton, and I took a trip to Indiana to celebrate her graduation and visit family. Brian took a couple of days off from work so we were able to spend extra time with everyone.

Emily was graduating with her undergraduate degree- she has another year and a half of grad school and will then be an official Occupational Therapist. Woohoo! This past year was not only her senior year of undergrad, but her first year of graduate school as well. I'm not sure how she does it!

Colton was a great traveller. He got to see all of his grandparents and great grandparents and great great grandparents on the Wake and Dunkel sides of the family. He also got time with aunts and uncles and my cousins. We are so thankful we got to celebrate with Emily and see so many family members! Colton also got to play with my little cousins for a couple of nights while we stayed with them. He loved playing with them! ....and their toys. :)

Here are approximately a million and a half photos from Emily graduating and our visits with family.

Emily Graduates! 

She did it!

Proof: 

All the graduates. Ten points if you can spot her. 

 

Getting her degree :) 

 

Brian, Colton, and I at the ceremony

 

Family at Emily's Graduation

Emily with our parents and our grandparents

 

Siblings!

Siblings and sibling-in-law and soon-to-be sibling-in-law :) 

Emily and Colton

One of my favorites because it's so random/classy

Colton and his Grandpa Brian

I think my dad is tipping over from Colton's weight in this one...

Colton and his Grandma Candi (I had to crop this one strangely because Dyson was enjoying a piece of cake in the background.) 

Emily and Dana

Dana with Colton

Colton playing with his Great Grandma Tammy

One of the reasons I had a kid: so that I could use him to attack Dyson

Colton and Uncle Dyson

Colton enjoying time with Aunt Hannah

My grandparents posing. (Grandpa thinks he's on the cover of GQ)

Colton with his Great Grandpa Rob, finding some shade

Brian and I.... then when we realized my mom was taking pictures...

Hotel and Dinner

Colton got some time with Great Grandpa Rob after the ceremony

He also enjoyed crawling around the hotel

Just checking out the menu at dinner

Cousin Time!

Paxton, Harrison, Landon, and Colton enjoyed LOTS of playtime. 

 

Practicing climbing stairs

Harrison and his Uncle Brian

All the boys

We tried to get a nice one when they were all dressed up. Success? 

Dunkel Family

Emily playing with Colton

Enjoying a beautiful day

Just doing a little laundry

Colton and his Great Great Grandparents!

Colton and Great Great Grandpa Gene

Colton and Great Great Grandma Margaret

Wake Family

Colton got to spend the day with his Great Grandpa Mike and Great Grandma Barb!

Enjoying the grass

Oh hey look, a family photo. (Thanks for smiling, Colton)

Travelling

Here are a few pictures from when we stopped in Geneseo for the night. 

Nicklaus Family

We got to see Brian's uncle Dennis and aunt Sherry! We enjoyed lunch with them on our way to Indiana. 

Colton and Sherry

Colton with Dennis

He appreciated the travel break to crawl around and stretch out his little baby legs

8 Month Update

Colton turned 8 months on May 2nd. That's two-thirds of a year! Crazy. 

• Weight: 19.6 lbs
• Hair: Still mostly bald ;) 
• Wearing: Mostly 12-month clothes, though some 9-month onesies still fit. 
• Foods: Colton has now tried a lot of new foods! And he has liked them all: apples, bananas, pears, green beans, peas, avocado, carrots, chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, cottage cheese, cheese, and puffs. 
• Sleep: Colton sleeps about 10-11 hours at night. He still wakes up occasionally in need of a pacifier. He also normally wakes up about 5am to eat, then goes back to sleep for a couple of hours. 
• Naps: He takes short 45-minute naps 3 or 4 times per day. (I would prefer that he takes only 2 or 3 longer naps, but so far I am losing that battle.)
• Teeth: He is still teething and drooling like crazy. One tooth is starting to come in on the top, but none have actually poked through yet. 
• Other developments: He is starting to go through separation anxiety. 

Colton is crawling like crazy! He is now a very fast crawler and enjoys speeding around the house and getting into things he shouldn't be. He likes to play in the curtains, pull things off of shelves, and knock the baby gates down on top of himself. 

He is also JUST starting to cruise while standing and holding onto things. Occasionally, he can start to move while holding onto the couch. He is getting more and more confident with standing. 

He loves pulling himself up on anything and everything: baskets, doors, his crib, people, chairs, etc. He has a harder time getting back down though, so he'll often get stuck standing up. Then he just whines until you help him down. 

When he goes down for naps and bedtime, he often will pull himself up on the crib railings. We go through several cycles of having to help him get down so he'll go to sleep. 

Colton is so excited each time Brian comes home from work! He immediately wants his dad to pick him up and play with him. 

My days are definitely a lot crazier now that Colton is on the move! I spend a lot of my time chasing him around the house and helping him get down once he is stuck standing. I love staying home with this little boy! 

8 Month Pictures

It gets harder and harder to get him to sit still for photos. 

"Haha, chair- you're so funny."

"Are we done yet?" 

"Aaaaand I'm over this." 

Finally some more smiles. 

"Look what I can do!"

April Happenings & Crawling

We have a crawler!

April has been a big month for our little guy. He can now go from laying on his belly to all fours to sitting, and back again. He is crawling like crazy. And he is pulling himself up anything he can find including stairs, baskets, and us! 

Here are some pictures and videos from April. 

"Cheeeeeeeeeese" 

Pulling himself up on the stairs. 

Look at me! I'm standing! 

Looking so dapper. 

Aaaaand he's done with pictures. 

Sometimes Colton just likes to gaze out the window. 

Baby tantrum. 

 

We have been going for a lot of walks lately due to the beautiful weather. 

A visit from Aunt Megan! 

Nice expressions, Colton. 

We got to see Aunt Laura and Uncle Ken for dinner. Colton helped Laura celebrate her last grad class! 

I've realized that we have very few pictures of me with Colton. 

Another new favorite past-time is wrestling with Dad. 

 

Grabbing Dad's ear is also fun. 

Calming down by looking out the door. This kid loves to look outside. 

Post-bath cuteness. 

Learning to play hide-and-seek. 

Some snuggles with Rachel

.....Do I have something on my face? 

Videos

Showing how he can go from sitting up to all fours and vice versa. (4/17/15)

Squeals and talking (4/23/15)

Crawling! (4/27/15)

More Crawling! (4/27/15) 

Even More Crawling! (4/27/15)

Hitting himself in the head with a toy then crying/laughing.