Bath Time Fun

As I have said before Gunnar LOVES bath time. He really just loves the bathtub in general with or without water.
Last night my brother Paul was giving his 7 month old son Zane a bath. Gunnar kept going back to the bathroom checking things out and kept looking over the edge. Apparently he just couldn't live with the fact that Zane was getting a bath and not him, so he dove in head first. Luckily I was able to grab an ankle before he bumped his head, only his sleeves on his shirt got wet. Paul then invited Gunnar into the tub with Zane, and Gunnar could not have been more delighted. They really had a great time jabbering and splashing. We not only took pictures, but a short video just to have around in case we need to blackmail either of them in the future.
They were to busy having a great time to look at me for a picture, but they are still just to cute.

After a bath, Gunnar's second love would probably be dolls. He found my brothers old "my buddy" doll which is about the same size as him and has been dragging it around. Today he was pushing it around on this little scooter/bike that is at my parents house, I wanted to get it on camera (because it was so cute). But, as soon as I grabbed the camera he threw Kevin on the ground. Apparently he was done pushing him around and didn't want to share anymore.

 Gunnar must have felt bad for pushing Kevin because he then picked him up and brought him over to me. He then insisted that I hold both him and Kevin on my lap. Silly boy.

Baseball and Birthdays

It has been fun being home and being able to see Ezra and Owen. They change so much in-between my visits, and I hate missing out on the fun things in my nephew's lives. So, it was great fun to get to see Ezra's first coach pitched baseball game. My dad is helping coach his team, and Ezra is an awesome little player. He informed me at the end of the game "B...I hit the HIGHEST ball!" He was so proud of himself of hitting his pop fly (luckily for him, no one can really catch).
Owen loves taking pictures and when he saw me with the camera he quickly kidnapped it and was the photographer. He didn't do to bad for being 4.
Owen, the man behind the photos. 

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Ezra ready for the ball. 

Ready to hit the ball.

 My dad, "Poppa" as the kiddos call him coaching from the outfield.

On April 22, Ezra will turn 7. On April 27th, Kyle will turn 26 and my mom will turn ?? (I'm not telling), and on the 30th, Gunnar will be 1. So without Kyle we had a little birthday party. It was just our family, but we had a good time. We had a hot dog lunch with cupcakes for dessert. Gunnar got his first cupcake to himself. He was so tired I thought he might fall asleep in the high chair, but he had to polish off the cupcake first. He then was wide awake most the rest of the afternoon. He enjoyed opening gifts, and overall we all had a great time, spending time together as a family.

After gifts we all went outside and played. Ezra's new football from his Great-Grandma MiMi and Charlie was a hit.

Gunnar loves the slide. Apparently Ezra thought he was taking to long because a few moments after this picture was taken I see out of the corner of my eye Gunnar flying and bouncing on his bottom across the grass. Ezra said he just gave him a little push.

This is Gunnar's cousin Zane. He is about 7 months old and the same size as Gunnar. They have really enjoyed each other. Gunnar has tried to toughen Zane up a bit, and it is so fun to hear them "talk" with each other.

Gunnar really didn't nap much during the day. When I thought he would be tired and ready to call it a day I found him out in the kichen playing with the silverware holder and alphabet magnets. He played for more than 30 minutes in the kitchen alone.

A father's love...

A father's love....
My dad has been having to play plumber around here lately. Last night I was cleaning the bathroom and I used one of these:

Now, mind you I don't get commercials in Germany, but for some reason in my mind I can perfectly see this commercial that plays and I am positive I have seen. In the commercial this really happy lady (way to happy to be cleaning a toilet) is using this brush and one of the reasons she loves the brush so much is that you can just leave the pad scrubby thing in the toilet and flush. Apparently, it isn't flushable, because this was my dad today during his lunch break:

He never said much about it, just worked away.  He tried plunging, using the "snake" and everything else, but the toilet had to be pulled. Unfortunately the kitchen sink started leaking tonight and he has that to fix now too!
You know your dad loves you when he has to pull the toilet from the wall because of a commerical you dreamed up in your head and he doesn't say a word about it.

My little boy.
Gunnar is all boy. He loves being outside. The weather hasn't been so great, but today was a nice day. My mom has a ladies Bible study here on Wednesday nights and they just started a study on praying for your adult children. Since it isn't something that really applies to me yet, and Gunnar isn't really into sitting and listening we went outside and played. My parents have a huge yard, and the grass was mowed yesterday which means it only had one days worth of doggy poo, so it was Gunnar's little piece of heaven today.
I sat him at the top of the slide and he let go and flew down. He bumped his head at the bottom, but it didn't faze him, he was ready to go again, and again.

Why do kids think a slide is more fun to climb up then go down? I thought this was something the learned from other children...apparently not!

Gunnar and his doggy Oma.

Gunnar loves the swing. He would probably sit out there all day. He loves staring up at the sky, and watching the dogs while he swings away.

This bear was my Papa and Grandma Loeber's in at their Connell house. The bear has stayed around and now is in my parents yard. It has transformed from a panda bear to a brown bear, but is still a great toy and picture prop. My sister and I used to love going out and sitting on the panda. (By the way, the bear is very heavy, moving it is no easy task from what I hear).

Gunnar is really into waving lately. He waves bye-bye to Kyle when we talk on Skype and today when he was sitting in the grass he was waving at me. He probably wanted me to leave him out there with the dogs. (He has his hand turned the wrong way, and will straighten it out, but this also looks like he was giving me a thumbs up).

Fun with TP

This past weekend my parents went with me to Eugene to Grandpa Max's memorial service. The funeral was very nice and we enjoyed getting to spend a little time with the family. We also got to enjoy the pool in our hotel. Here is a picture of Gunnar and I getting ready to go to the service.

Gunnar, my dad and I all had a rough night Saturday and were not feeling well all day Sunday. Luckily my mom hasn't gotten anything, but the rest of the family seems to have. We all are feeling a better today, and hopefully are totally better tomorrow. Today while I was getting ready Gunnar was enjoying himself in the bathroom....

 Here is a picture of his tooth. His second tooth started coming in about 4 days ago and you can see it too!

Ham.

Thought that I would beat Beth to it!
 It is a lot to take in at once, but here it goes!