Oh hi. We are all sick as dogs again. Hacking, coughing, sneezing, earaches, fevers, sore throats and pink eye. All in the last six days. Well... moreso for Jamie and I than Ezra, anyway.The bad part of this is that we were, again, mostly stuck indoors trying to recuperate. Hence using paper bags to entertain the child. Thank god he's easy.
Earlier in the week, we had some fresh snow, so I dressed Ezra up in his snow pants and we took him out in the backyard to play fetch with Magda and to pull Ezra around on the sled. My god those overalls are cute.
Look at her mad hops! I love this girl so much.
I love this photo -- I love how Magda is trying to pull the sled with Jamie.
And of course, we ended up with bags on our heads. Because why not?!
And today, I had a shoot for a local orchestra who had a performance after our shoot. So Jamie brought Ezra for the beginning of the performance, and as you can see? He was spellbound.
Well, we were healthy for about a week and a half. And it was glorious!And now we are all sniffly again. The big difference this time is that Ezra seems to have sort-of learned to blow his nose. This is an enormous help, as he is no longer totally afraid of the kleenex like he was before.The other thing that has changed is that this particular cold seems to have killed Ezra's appetite. Which means lunch can sometimes consist of three tablespoons of peanut butter and a few craisins. But the good news is this kid loves his peanut butter (and is not allergic) and I figure it's better than nothing. Plus? He smells delicious all day long due to the mess it makes on his face (which cleans up well, but the smell does linger). When he was a newborn, Nyberg would call him "Peanut Butter" as a nick name, and now it is fully appropriate.
The vacuum cleaner makes poor Ezra a little nervous. I love the story this photo tells.
This is him watching the vacuuming from a safer distance.
And then we had Valentine's Day! With Ezra being so little, we just let him have a Reese's peanut butter cup (or two) for his present. But the grandparents? They will use any and all excuses to send candy, presents and any other form of spoilage. Ezra loved all the ribbon and paper and boxes.
The cellophane paper my mom sent was a huge hit as Ezra loved the crinkling noise of it.
And his bubie sent him a book (and clothes), but right now books are among his most treasured items. We've read this one a ton already.
Ezra's favorite thing about Valentine's day, it seems, was the box that my gift came in. Something about the size and the foam inside that held the earrings fascinated the kid and he carried it around all morning.
I love this shot of the kids "watching" dogs walk by the house out front.
Just look at that belly. And those slippers are THE BEST. They turn any pjs into footed ones and they stay on! If you have small ones, 
Eventually, we did get this kid dressed to head out for some exciting errands (I mean, who *doesn't* want to buy a new mattress on Valentine's Day?), but we fed him his "lunch" first.
And that was our weekend. Because it's Presidents Day, he and Jamie have today off as well, but due to illness, I'm not sure any of us are making it out of our jammies, so I'll leave the camera be. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!
Oh, you know, just enjoying his seventh bowl of blueberries in the last hour while sitting on the step. How adorable is he? Man, I am smitten.This was such a fun, full week. We had Ezra's first time sledding, the beautiful snowfall, lots of Magda time playing in the snow, a successful professional haircut (more on that later) and a daytrip to Northfield, MN, which was lovely. Oh! And dinners and brunches with friends and lots and lots of sleep.We are living large over here, and I am trying to soak it all in before the next illness arrives...
This was Ezra being pulled in his "transportation sled" that Nyberg graciously gifted him. Oh, how he loves riding in that!
And this is the boy on one of his first sledding trips down the (small) hill on a saucer. What fun!
Kinda happy, eh?
And here is a shot of him riding down the hill with me.
I shot this on our walk back home. So much snow that day!
After we got back, we played with Magda in the back yard. She has such mad hops!
And Ezra just cracks up watching her play. He is so entertained by dogs ... it melts my heart.
Then on Saturday, we ventured to Burnsville for another try at a professional haircut. You guys! We found the best kids barber in the city! His name is 
This is Ezra saying goodbye to Bob (who we now call "The Child Whisperer") when he was all done. AMAZING. I'm actually excited to return.
After the haircut, we traveled down to Northfield, where I was stunned by the beauty of St. Olaf's campus. It's located in heavily wooded hills, and the architecture is lovely. This was the first building built at the college (Old Main), and it is so gorgeous. Interestingly, near the campus is one of those huge wind turbines. It supplies 1/3 of all the power used on campus, which I think is fascinating.
Yup.
The rest of the campus features... "this kind" of architecture (forgive me! I don't know what it is called!), and it is so, so pretty. I think this campus should be in any movie or TV show about university life. Just so lovely.
I shot this from the car on the way home. With all the snow, it's kindof bleak outside, but I mean that in the best way possible. The whiteness and lack of color is just breathtaking to me. And yes, that photo up there is in color.
Magda had lots of naps this week because due to my heavy shoot schedule, she was in daycare for 3 days straight. Poor girl was exhausted.
And a final shot of the boy and his new haircut. And you can barely see his newest (and sixth) tooth just to the left of his top two.
This week started out rough as Ezra was sent home with Pink Eye, which meant a lot of altered work plans and a lot of disinfecting the house until he was no longer contagious. But... there was an upside...Since that day? The kid has slept 13 hours straight each night.Also? We got Magda 
Ezra being home during the week days meant he was here when the mail arrived. Ah, the magic of bubble wrap!
And Magda's new dog bed came in this huge box! Which provided about an hour of entertainment.
We also made it out to Sunday brunch with friends, which was rad.
And I snapped this because I am just totally in love with those cute little legs.
And here's my guy just hamming it up. Maybe next weekend, we'll gather our courage and make it out for a professional haircut. We'll see...For your internet share of the day, how about 
We had a pretty great week, but weirdly I didn't take many photos of it. I largely attribute this to Ezra being so much fun and in such a great mood that I really just played with him and left my camera in the closet. I know that is such a lame excuse, but after all of our sicknesses, it was good just to be healthy.Also, Ezra has hit the "climb and wrestle" phase. So pretty much he is climbing on me or trying to wrestle me to the ground at all times. Or he's bringing me a book to read to him. Because of these activities, you can see how snapping photos has gotten a touch more difficult. I did snap a few though, and you can see those here... 
This photo was taken with my phone and you can sure tell (especially looking at his sweater).
On Saturday, we began the day at our wonderful friends Claire and Stan's house. They made us an outstanding brunch (where Ezra ate SIX sausages, french toast, berries with fresh whipped cream and potatoes). They also had lots of toys there and their granddaughter, Evie. You can see Ez playing with the tool box here -- pretty cute.
The weather was so nice this weekend that we finally headed out for a walk (with Magda!). Ezra likes to pretend he is in charge of the leash. We all know that is not the case.
This is one example of how the images turn out when we wrestle. You can see how much fun he's having... but no way am I getting these shots in focus.
This one looks like he's posing for his senior photo. Except for the dog hair on his sleeves. Or his thumb sucking...
And this is Magda during our headphone session last week. Every studio shoot I do with her includes images of her yelling at me. I love them all. 
What a week it has been.Ezra was home sick on Monday and Tuesday, then he went back to daycare on Wednesday -- otherwise known as the day I came down with his symptoms. I've now had this cold for six days with it barely easing up. Ezra has the energy of a tsunami, but his nose is still runny (and chapped), and Jamie came down with a much milder version yesterday. And did you hear? It hasn't gotten above zero for about the last two days here.But, as you can imagine, we are a bit itchy with cabin fever due to all the illness. So this weekend we went out on short, easy trips. And then we came home, collapsed and ate tons of soup and watched a lot of TV. Below are some images of our time in, and some of our time out. If you are healthy right now, do not take it for granted. My god, the illnesses just keep hitting us hard this winter.
Distraction No. 1? Puzzles.
Distraction No. 2? Hiding in the curtains.
Distraction No. 3? Snacks. This was yogurt and sausages. In case you can't tell by all that grime stuck to his face. (ew) And yes, his nose is scabbed over. Poor kid. (And yes, it's also covered in vaseline as we try to get it to heal.)
We went to the mall on Sunday morning so we could sip coffee and let Ezra run around inside. Instead? He slept.
Then he woke up and started making out with the window displays. As you do.Can't imagine why we're sick, can you?
Adorable, but pretty crusty. The battles that have gone on in this household in an attempt to get that nose clean are legendary. And we are losing this war.
On Sunday I opted for Distraction No. 5: Baking a cake with Ezra. He kept going back to the oven to check and see if it was done yet. Yeah, he's probably kissing that just like the window display.
On Monday, we opted for Distraction No. 6 by taking him to the aquarium. On our way in, he sat down and refused to get up.Toddlers are fun like that.
But don't worry! We got him up, and he had a wonderful time!
And lastly, just a shot of these shoes. We actually got these free at a clothing swap at our daycare, and I have LOVED THEM. They are so easy to get on and off, and they are warm enough for this cold. Now, if it snows more, we'll switch to the winter boots we got him, but for now these are perfect.For your internet share, I kept seeing 
Yesterday morning I was making the coffee and I glanced at the thermometer outside. It was -18 out there. Yikes!Needless to say, we all hunkered down and stayed inside having soups most of the weekend. We also taught Ezra how to play some cards (War). He didn't really understand because... you know... counting. But he sure loved slapping down the cards. And he liked watching us shuffle.
I remember just last month when he couldn't reach the railing. Look at him now!
We had a birthday party to attend on Saturday morning, and Ezra loved the blue iced cake pops.
Curled up so tight that her tail covers her eyes. What a sweetie.
My kid is back.I'm not sure if it has come through in the last, oh, three or four posts, but we've been having a hard time over here. There's been a lot of illness, a serious lack of sleep, some teething etc etc. Through all of this, Ezra has become... shall we say, the "Luke Skywalker" of the family.And by that, we mean he's been a whiner. It was going on for so long that I was seriously worried that this was just who he had become and that "no" was his answer for everything (bright future in IT at a major corporation at least!) and that we had some serious lessons in "bucking up" to work on.But then! Then the New Year started and he slept. And slept and slept. And he started eating EVERYTHING again. Like, last night? For dinner? He had three helpings of salad (!?!) and a full bowl of lentil stew (which has curry! and paprika! and all kinds of nutty spices in it!), a big slice of naan and then on top of that he wanted some oranges for dessert. A toddler who smells like Indian food? I'll take it!I seriously could not be more relieved.Not because I think this will last (hahahhahaha! See? I'm learning!), but because I know this little guy that I love so much, who is easy going and loves to laugh and sing to himself in the car and eat all of the things -- I'll know he's not lost forever next time. I'll know that I just need to be patient. And that right there? That's an important thing to learn.
This is Ezra playing with his rad new dump truck that the amazing Matt and Bryan gave him for Christmas. And he's in a totally fabulous jammie set from Ina in Norway!Yeah... I am just now seeing how much the dog hair is sticking to those clothes. I could photoshop that out so you all thought we live like Martha Stewart. But now you know the truth. Magda owns the couch. She is the queen. As if there was ever any doubt.
On Saturday we went to a local gallery to see a WONDERFUL photo exhibit of 
Just a straight-on shot so we can all admire that cute hat.
This was taken Sunday night after that big dinner. LOOK AT HOW HIS BELLY IS STICKING OUT. It's like he's growing a child in there. It makes me laugh. I love a fat, happy kid.