What a week. Man.I was soooo excited for all the family time I had coming at me during our long weekend. I just had no idea how, um, up-close and personal it would get. Poor Ezra barfed in his crib sometime in the night on Wednesday, and I woke up to find him covered in dried puke and man... that is a terrible smell. And not the best way to start a long weekend.The rest of the weekend consisted of more puking (once on Jamie and once all over moi -- the aftermath of Jamie's encounter is captured below because since it was the first occurrence, we thought it was funny. Ha! JOKE'S ON US!), lots of snuggling, and more TV than this kid has ever been allowed to watch before.To give you an idea of how sick he was, we started opening presents Christmas morning and at 9 am, Ezra pointed at the stairs, went upstairs and pointed at the crib, asking to go back to bed. On Christmas morning. With loads of gifts left to unwrap. Yeah, it was not good.
Here are my guys watching Shaun the Sheep (excellent suggestion, Stacy!). And if you don't want to see the puke photo, scroll real fast...
because here is Jamie covered in puke. Notice how not only is he covered in barf, but he's holding Magda off so she can't eat it. We are so damn classy around here.And instead of helping him to immediately clean up, I grabbed my camera and began laughing. Yeah. I should have known I'd get my own vomit attack later in the week with that karma coming back at me.
And how do you entertain a toddler while cleaning up the puke? A roll of paper towels, of course.
One of Ezra's favorite gifts Christmas morning was an art easel. He's still figuring out how all the markers work, etc, but it's super fun to watch him explore.
These games of peek-a-boo by the fire are pretty awesome.
And once Ezra's stomach cleared up, I made him a blueberry and banana smoothie. Good thing he's so neat at the table, eh?Oh, and toward the end of the weekend, the virus hit Jamie and I. And the photos ended because there was no time that was not spent in the bathroom or in bed with a fever. Until today, when we can finally eat bland toast and ginger ale. Awesome times, I tell you.
I caught these two napping this weekend while I was cleaning up the kitchen. I noticed it was *awfully quiet* in the living room (Ezra was officially napping upstairs) and when I walked in, this is what I found. It's hard to tell in this image, but I shot this from above -- they are both on their sides facing the back of the couch. I love these two so dang much.
As for the boy? He is Señor Crankypantz this week. We were so lucky for all that sleep last week, because now (apparently) there is another tooth coming in and we are back to waking up several times a night and soothing this poor guy who is having a hard time enjoying life. We even took him to his first holiday party today where beautiful women plied him with cookies, and he still wouldn't smile. I MEAN, COME ON. (At least he had a sharp outfit on, though eh?)
Let's try to forget about the teething though and focus on the fun. Like those two smoochers up there.
Or how Ezra slid down the slide by himself today. About 15 times. Because once he realized he could do it on his own? His world changed and he was thrilled.
Plus, he got to explore this elf cave at the park. What a great fort!
And he got to sit on this spinning chair with Dad!
Magda was great at the park, just watching the other dogs walk by. Very alert, but very quiet. Which we would like more of, please.
And then it was time to leave and someone was very upset about this. Ah well, at least there was that nice moment on the slide...For your internet share how about this article on 
Things are getting a bit better! Ezra's fourth tooth broke through last week, and he instantly got sweeter and began sleeping better. Whew! We needed that!We had a fantastic weekend having our own holiday photos taken, posing with Santa (below), cooking a ton of delicious food, long walks outside in the unseasonably warm weather, a Saturday night dinner out along with time by the Christmas tree. Oh! And the Hanukkah candles.
Obviously, Santa was terrifying. I was still thrilled to get the photo though :)
I like this photo because you can see the new teeth (or nubs) as they are coming in. In this photo, I'm saying, "Hiiiii," and he's waving and saying "Hi!" back. It's my new favorite thing with him.
Ezra also started a phase this week where he wants to do everything on his own. He wants to walk on his own and he wants to push the stroller and he wants to eat everything on his own etc etc etc. This means things are slower going for us, but we're just enjoying the the journey.
Also, on Sunday we were leaving for another long walk and my camera fell off the strap I had carrying it. Oh, the noise it made when it hit the cement. I lifted it off the ground and I took this photo of Jamie to test if all was still working.Yup. Jamie was pretty stunned. (I love the expression on his face up there.)In answer, the camera is fine. The lens has lost its ability to auto focus, so I'll need to send that in for repair. But it still works as a manual focus, so not all is lost.
And Sunday night, we lit the Menorah with Ez after dinner.Pretty rad week.
Hi there! Did you all have a wonderful holiday? I hope so. And I hope you are well rested, well fed and returning to work in a happy and healthy place.Me? I'm still battling a horrific cold. (Yes, I beat the last one. Then this toddler of mine gave me a new one. I really cannot win.) But the time off was much needed around these parts (especially due to illness), and we made the most of our long weekend.The highlight of the weekend (besides a visit from my folks) is that Ezra continues his love of organization and cleaning up. One habit the kid cannot seem to break just yet is the love of his bottle. This drives me nuts because after he's had enough, he loves to turn the bottle over and shake out its remaining contents all over the rug/floor/couch/whatever. Gross. I always take the bottle away and then clean up the mess. Well! Now, when he does it, I take the bottle away and when I turn around, he has grabbed a tea towel or cloth of some kind, and is trying to clean up the mess himself. Who can get mad at that?!? Adorable.The lowlight is the lack of sleep. Seriously, kid. I know you are teething, but you are 1 year old. GO TO SLEEP.
Another highlight was when Meredith stopped by with her pup, Wally, and Ezra was drawn to the dog immediately (duh). I totally love it when friends drop in. When you grow up in the city you reside in, this isn't rare. When you move here in your late twenties, it's a fabulous surprise. As long as you're dressed. :)
We also picked up our Christmas Tree this weekend, and thankfully Ezra likes it, but is not TOO into it (like, pulling it down or eating it).
What Ezra is really into instead, is Magda... who might be a touch freaked out by all the attention. This is Ezra "hugging" Magda.
Poor girl is finding more and more hiding spots around the house. Don't get me wrong, she does like playing with Ez. But she's not as much into the physical hugging part as he is.
And yes, eating with utensils is still a (messy) work in progress.
Here is Ezra with my mom and dad! They drove up from Kansas to spend Thursday and Friday with us.
Magda is watching potential intruders. Ez, as usual, is watching Magda.
My cough has gotten so bad that I am keeping Jamie awake at night (and waking up the kid). So I have moved downstairs and have been sleeping on the couch for the past few nights. I'm honestly not complaining as I think my couch is just as comfy as my bed (seriously), but the living room is starting to look like the sick ward.
Those eyes. I swear.
I suspect I will get this look a lot more when he's a teenager.
And lastly, these two photos just made me happy. We decorated the tree yesterday and today, and that is really fun with a little kid around to see it all for the first time.
For your internet share, 
I hardly got any photos in this week as I was shooting for so many hours on other projects. That, and I only got about 15 minutes of daylight each weekday with The Kid, which I used to snuggle instead of take photos.Above, the boys enjoy the Sunday paper. Or maybe not enjoy it? I'm not sure what moment I caught Jamie in... maybe mid-chew?
And today was my full day with the family. And I got sick as a dog. Which meant most of the play time fell to Jamie... again. (Sad.) But he did a bang-up job!
But besides killin' it on the Dad Front, Jamie also managed to fix the broken refrigerator by himself. So he's just winning Husband of the Year all around. We thought we were going to have to spend hundreds of dollars to have the fridge fixed before Thanksgiving, but then Jamie searched You Tube, ordered a $3 part online, and proceeded to blow me away with his skills.
In terms of kid news, Ezra got a third tooth this week, so there was a lot of chewing on teething toys.
And he started hugging us. A lot. Which is awesome.
I am not gonna lie, it is nuts around these parts.Poor Ez is at that stage where he understands the word "No," but he can't understand the why. And he is pretty pissed about it.I mean, who wouldn't want to crawl into the 350-degree oven? Or french kiss the dog for hours on end? Or eat rocks at the park? Or slowly drip milk all over the couch?
But, that said, he's a lot of fun right now as well. This week, we taught him how to brush his teeth, and he is thrilled with it. Probably because we are encouraging him to put a non-food item in his mouth (joy of joys!). He also is super fun to hide from, now that he toddles around laughing while looking for you.He also is showing a keen interest in keeping things picked up. For instance, he'll play with an item, and then PUT IT BACK WHERE HE FOUND IT (clearly he gets this from Jamie). He loves stacking things and putting items in their proper place. So he's either OCD or he has a bright future stocking shelves at Target. Either way, we are thrilled because hopefully he attacks chores with similar gusto (fingers crossed).
We also blew his mind with amazing pop-up books this weekend.
And the love he has for Magda is adorable.
But it does wear her out!
We should have a captioning contest for this shot.
But overall, a total sweetheart.
This week, Jamie's mom was in town and she and Ezra were thick as thieves. They had such a great time playing together and Ezra fell for her almost immediately. He could clearly sense that, "Oh hey, this one here? She'll give me ANYTHING I WANT!" And it was so adorable to see them playing together.Because Bubie was in town, Ezra stayed home from daycare for most of the week, so he got lots of walks outside, a trip to the park, a trip to the aquarium, a dinner out at a pizza joint and many household errands. He was game for all of it.
Another fun thing that happened this week was that I got a new computer (yay!!!). Getting a fresh, new computer is about the best feeling ever, eh?But besides my own happiness, Bubie and Ezra built a fort out of the padded box. I didn't see Ezra playing in it much, but I did see this. :)
Sometimes you take your kid to the aquarium to show him the giant sharks, the tortoises, the crocodiles and the sting rays and what is he most interested in? The illuminated exit sign. Yup.
And lastly, Bubie made her delicious meat balls Sunday night for Ezra, and while he seemed uninterested in the beginning, she figured out that using a fork was a much better way to gain his interest.We thought he was eating a ton of them until he started laughing and spit them out down his shirt. Boys are so classy.
Yup.
What a week, indeed. We had Halloween (obviously). I'm Cruella DaVille and Ezra went as Jaws*. Or Ezra being eaten by Jaws. Whatever.Ezra also got another new tooth, which brought on a fever and some serious crankiness. Magda had a bladder infection, but we got that cleared up. Other than that, she was a Master Snuggler as the temperatures dropped. Also?Oh yeah. Ezra is walking. WALKING. LIKE A ZOMBIE. It is wildly hilarious and terrifying, but so far, his balance seems pretty great.
He also was gifted 
On Friday, he went to daycare as the monkey (easier to move around in) and we toured Jamie's office trick-or-treating, and one department had this giant wheel you could spin for candy. Ezra just liked the wheel. He's not nuts about candy just yet, but he does like Reese's peanut butter cups. I mean, he is human.
Yeah. Did I mention the crankiness?
And poor Magda. As Ezra starts getting more and more balance with his walking, I fear she will be chased to the ends of the earth. But maybe she'll love it...
And lastly. You guys, I SUCK at these haircuts. Today I thought I would tackle the back with a razor with a claw/clip attachment guard thing in an attempt to clean up the length a bit. OMG, do you see that up there? I AM TERRIBLE. But whatever. That's what he gets for all those damn wiggles. At least he can't see it.(My friend Leah the stylist is horrified. I'm so sorry, Leah!)*The photo of Ezra and I was taken by the lovely Erin. Thanks lady!