Cousins

Odin and Dad took a trip up to NJ to visit Uncle Brandon, Aunt Mary and his cousins, Sydney and Brooke.  It was Uncle Brandon's 40th birthday and there was a big party (though i don't have any pictures from the party...it was that good! :).

We did go out and eat sushi, though the kids mostly enjoyed the rice.

 Spent a little bit of time on the boat (while docked), mostly working on getting the kids their 'sea legs' so they can keep balance on the rocking boat.

 We had SNOW up in NJ and while not much, we were still able to make a small snowman.

 The 3 cousins had a BLAST playing together.  Odin still talks about the trip and just this morning was packing up his suitcase for the "next" trip to NJ.

More Foods for Bjorn

This morning Bjorn enjoyed some garden-fresh carrots steamed in water and coconut oil.  He really, really liked them.  Mom had a hard time getting them to the right consistency, so she just chewed them up a bit first and then gave them to Bjorn.  He didn't seem to mind the pre-processing;-)

The carrots were probably the best carrots we've ever had.  Last night Odin helped Mom pull them from the garden.  So yum!

Bjorn's First Foods

Bjorn has been "begging" for food for a while now.  He carefully watches us all eat and even leans in as we put our food in our mouth.  So the other day mom and I decided to give it a try!  We have a munchie (which is a device that allows you to put food inside a mesh holder).  We put some frozen banana in the munchie and gave it to Bjorn.  I think the picture says it all...

Last night we tried some apple in the munchie.  No good, he fussed until we returned the munchie with some banana.

This morning we tried mashed avocado!  I think he LOVED it.

He even tried to take the spoon out of Grandma's hand!

And just feed himself!

Today is Bjorn's 5 month birthday.  Much sooner than I had planned to start solids, but...he just seemed so ready and it is just so much fun! :-)  He's still a great nurser! 

Grandpa Dave B-sitting again

This morning while I was getting stuff done...laundry, making breakfast, dishes, etc...Grandpa Dave watched the kids!  He and Odin found a comfy way to relax in the sunroom.

Bjorn and Grandma

Grandma reading to Bjorn.

Bjorn listening!

But wondering...what is she saying???

Oh, must be something about how cute I am!

The Boys

Some great pics of the boys.  Here is Bjorn!  Bjorn is growing so fast!  Two days ago he mastered the back to tummy roll and enjoyed it so much he rolled back over to his tummy and back again to his back...back and forth, back and forth!  Today he found his feet and loved that chewing sensation. 

Odin continues to shower Bjorn with lots of love and attention.  Today when he got home from playing with his friend Maya, he told Bjorn that he loved him and missed him and gave him a big kiss on his cheek!  

 Odin loves to play his guitar to an audience!

 Just being funny!

Holidays and Trip to NJ

Doing some clean up in the yard and getting some leaves to feed to the worms in the compost bin.

While xmas shopping Odin and I found the perfect gift for Mama...a pot big enough for her in the kitchen... and it's cast iron!  :)

On Christmas morning Odin loved opening up his stocking gifts before breakfast.  Note the goodies left for Santa on the fireplace!

Family picture of us.  Even Bjorn had a xmas outfit on.

Odin's favorite gift was a remote controlled Jeep.  (Fun for dad too!)

After Christmas, Odin and I went up to NJ to visit family and friends.  Odin used his new travel bag on the trip and he really did 'carry his weight' as he packed all his stuff in there.

We got to see Grandpa Jim.

The best part of the trip was staying with his cousins, Sydney and Brooke.  They had a great time playing, though Odin and Brooke were in constant competition.  The next two pictures describe their relationship, ha! 

We got to go on Uncle Brandon and Aunt Mary's boat, but no swimming in NJ.

Odin got to have fun with Grandma Cathy at the same park that I used to play at as a kid (though with different, and safer, playground equipment). 

At a large family and friend gathering we got to see Aunt Lisa and Uncle Frank too!

Hard to believe there are all these kids around...we used to be the kids!  :)