he walks, he talks

but he's not full of chalk...

Yes, I know, I missed posting for Ezra's birthday. Alas! He did, indeed, have his birthday. We had a lovely party at Grandpa's, and he was given many wonderful gifts. He was not too happy when the cake was brought out, but we calmed him down and then he did eat some of it. And we even managed to get a few pictures of him with the cake in which he wasn't screaming! :)

The big news, though, is that we now (as of yesterday) have a toddler! Ezra had been taking some steps here and there for a while, but yesterday he turned around and walked across the room, and he's been at it ever since. He is just adorable, toddling (or teetering) from one thing to another with his hands held up for balance. He still loses balance and falls a lot, but even over the course of one day I think he's gotten more steady. I suppose it's time to buy him some shoes!

Anyway, I intended to post a blog update on Wednesday, and I had this whole thing written out, so I'm just going to post it now. Feel free to skip all the rest and just look at the photos; this is mostly for my own amusement. It's A Day in the Life of Ezra, the Wednesday version:

Wednesday was a typical non-eventful day for us (nothing particularly special planned), so I thought I'd record it for posterity's sake. Ezra woke up at about 6 and then hung out with Baruch while Baruch got ready to go to the hospital. Then Baruch left and I got up and showered while Ezra hung out in his exersaucer, and then we both got dressed and started the diaper laundry. The weather was quite nice, so we went out for a long walk. When we got home we finished the diaper laundry, and then it was time for Ezra's morning nap (about 9 a.m.). After his nap we got ready and then went to the library for story time, where we heard some stories read and sang a lot of songs. After story time Ezra played with other kids while I chatted with mothers. Ezra seems particularly fond of his "friend" Mordechai, who happens to be one of the few boys around his age who he interacts with regularly. Ezra also likes Sarah, Mordechai's twin sister, but interestingly enough he and Mordechai seem to pay particular attention to each other. Anyway, after the library we went home and Ezra had lunch (bread with hummus, some banana, and some raisins), and then he played with blocks and toys for a bit while I did dishes and then sat and read. He really likes to fill a basket full of blocks and then dump it out, and then fill his wagon with blocks, and then put blocks in the stroller basket, and then put blocks in the breakfront cabinet, and...well, you get the picture! Then he took his afternoon nap, which on a good day is from around 2 to around 4. After his nap we went to the playground, where he "played with" his "friends" Nechama and Talia (older girl twins...actually the same age as Mordechai and Sarah, they are two of three sets of twins born in the same week in our shul, 14 months ago!). At the playground, Ezra likes to go on the swing and to crawl around on the playground equipment. He used to like the slide but for some reason he doesn't anymore. We were at the playground for a while (it was hot, too!), and then we came home and played for a while until dinner time. Dinner was mixed veggies (Ezra particularly likes lima beans), bread, some lentils, and a whole peach! We drew dinner out a bit and then played some more, waiting for Baruch to get home, because Ezra loves to get bathed by his abba! So Baruch came home and bathed him and then we had some family time (Ezra likes to play around on the bed and come cuddle with us a bit off and on) and then Ezra went to sleep!

Whew, that was long!

Anyway, here are some photos from the birthday party. I have yet to get good walking photos, mainly because today was shabbos. But I will try tomorrow (I'm actually going to try a photo shoot with my favorite outfit of Ezra's, so I hope I get some good shots).