more summer fun

Here is a small video clip of Steven and I having fun at the pool. The Coopers (Matt's Aunt and Uncle and family) are living in an apartment while their new house is being built and their pool at the complex has a neat 6 inch deep area, just perfect for crawling babies! Steven had a blast and was completely wore out after all this summer fun.

Tooth Update: Can you see it? We think the other bottom tooth is not very far behind. We've already gone to the store for more Motrin. I still think he's pretty tough though. Night time really seems to be the only time it bothers him. As long as I give him a dose before bedtime he does pretty well. My tough little guy. :)

a toof!

A tooth, that is. So exciting! This is what I found last Saturday, and by Tuesday it had broken through the skin! My boy is getting TEETH! I can't believe it. I was kind of hoping that he would be a super late tooth popper like his daddy, but 8.5 months it is! If you would though, say a quick prayer that he quits biting his momma. She would like to keep nursing until her goal of a year. Then he can bite his bottles and sippy cups as much as he wants. Oh, and while you're at it, can you say another quick prayer that he will actually start taking a bottle? Kthanks.

This picture is terrible. No light, and very unfocused, but it's the first one I took and the cutest smile and you can actually see that toof tooth bud really well.

This one is just adorable. :)

You can kind of see it in this one.

This one's a little better. Man those toofies teeth are hard to photograph!

crawling!

I finally learned how to upload a video! Well, actually, I've known how, but every video I seem to want to upload is too big and I have no clue how to shrink them. BUT this one worked and it's a GOOD one! Steven started crawling!!!

July 5th this video was taken. Steven and I were just playing on the floor and I thought I saw him do it, but wasn't sure so I went and grabbed my camera. I came back and caught him doing this! SO exciting and I'm so glad I got to see it AND video tape his first attempts! YEA!

Happy belated 4th!

I'm so behind! I've been busy, but I should be better at getting this thing updated.

We had a lovely Fourth of July over at Aunt Katie's house. Fajitas, sangria, fireworks and Quelf made this holiday a great one! What's Quelf, you ask? Oh, it's only the most hilarious game on the planet. Click HERE to read about it. Yeah, there's nothing better than having to call your mother in law "sweet cheeks" for a few hours. :)

Here are some pictures from our fun filled evening.

Drinking with Ashlea ;)

Whoa buddy, slow down!

up

Up! Pulling up and standing up. This is the newest development in the Sternad household! Steven still isn't crawling, per se, just scooting everywhere still. I've tried even teaching him, but he insists on just using his arms and pulling himself across the floor. Hopefully he'll learn soon (why, oh why did I say hopefully?).

The camera just happened to be within arms reach the very first time he actually pulled up so I got some good shots of it.

Standing man!

And here he is trying to find a better toy. Evidently all the other ones on the floor aren't good enough.

So instead of fiding him like this after naps....

I find him like this

Such a big boy. :)

summer fun

What is it about going to the pool for a few hours that makes you instantly want grilled hot dogs and potato chips, an afternoon nap and sparklers? Steven, Aunt Katie and I made our first treck to the neighborhood pool today and we had a blast! Steven really enjoyed the pool! I wasn't sure how he would do, but considering how much he loves bathtime I was thinking he would like it.

When we pulled up to the parking lot we saw that the entire pool was empty. SCORE! Then, right as we were walking in we see 2 large groups of kids coming. No biggie, we just won't have the entire place to ourselves. Within 20 minutes the place was crawling with kiddos. It turned out great because Steven LOVED watching all the kids playing and splashing. He was really the hit of the waterhole! Several kids were coming up and talking to him ("He can't talk yet?!" "Umm, no, he's 7 months old"). Some tried to steal his toys, but we told those kids to beat it please don't take his toys, but other than that we had a great time.

Pre-pool rub down with SPF 50. This is what happens when you put it in your baby's hair. How else are you supposed to get their scalp?!

road trip

Mimi, Steven and I took a road trip to Kansas and Nebraska to see relatives last week! We had a great time! We thought it would be fun since Daddy would be up in the Northeast with Grampy. While on the trip my baby boy turned 7 months old. 7 months! He's sitting up really well (and he gets there on his own, too!) and scooting as fast as any crawler and I'm pretty sure he'll be crawling in no time.

Steven did so well on the trip! I have to admit, I was aprehensive about taking a 7 month old on a 10 hour trip, then another 4 hours on top of that to Nebraska. Steven usually does really well in the car when we run errands; he falls asleep most of the time...

...but with a trip this long I wasn't sure what he would do. We took our time though, and we stopped in Oklahoma overnight. As long as Steven wasn't in his carseat for more than 7 hours in one day all was well.

We had a lovely visit with relatives. We got to see everyone- Aunt Yvonne, Uncle Randall, Kelsey and Jared and Joy and Larry Becker in Nebraska. Steven also made a new best friend- Sadie the beagle pup. Sadie was not quite sure about Steven at first- Aunt Yvonne was really worried, but before long they were having so much fun together! Sadie would actually bring Steven a toy and drop it in his lap for him to throw for her! He didn't, but she still loved him! She gave him so many kisses! It was really sweet.

Here's a picture of Steven with Aunt Yvonne (Sorry for cutting off your face!)

And here he is playing with Uncle Randall. They were pals!

If you know me at all, I've probably told you how terrified I am of tornadoes. I usually have a nightmare about them a few times a month. Late Spring in Tornado Ally was probably not my smartest vacation spot. We were actually in Burlington, KS when a terrible storm came through. The house we were at didn't have power for several hours, wind, tons of wind, rain and hail. We didn't see any tornado warnings before the power went out, but this storm then headed on to Fort Scott and the tornado sirens in town went off twice that afternoon! We had several other pretty fierce storms roll through and as scared as I was, I couldn't help but take some pretty cool photos of the wicked clouds!

Oh and Steven learned to climb steps. FUN.