18 Months!

So the little munchkin we call Eben is 18 months old tomorrow!  Most moms would say, "I can't believe my baby is already 18 months old!"  Not this mom...I can't believe he is only turning 18 months.  Ever since he was about 15 months, everyone he meets assumes he is 2 - he's tall and doesn't look very babyish anymore...so in my mind he is 2 or close to it.  But his inability to communicate very well and the fact that he cries more now than he ever has, reminds me that he is only 18 months and still working on things like that...

His speech is starting to take off...kind of anyway.  He says maybe about 10 words now - his favorites being "No," (a very strong favorite word right now) "Up," "Boo," and "Bubbles."  I cannot wait until he can start speaking like 100 words because I have a feeling his crying/whining/fussing will settle down a bit!

He may be more fussy than he's ever been, but he is also more fun than he's ever been.  He plays like a little boy, sometimes making sound effects.  He also does things just to make us laugh and has at least 30 minutes of total goofiness a night.

 Yes, our tree was up until January 23rd...oops!

Eben has since gotten a haircut - the big news about this is that he DID NOT CRY!  He got a little annoyed, but he sat there like a big boy, not in momma's lap, enjoyed his first sucker, and got his adorable sideburns cut off (even though mom and dad specifically told the hairstylist to NOT cut off his sideburns). 

Here are a few videos as I am doing some catchup.

1. Eben opening a gift at the Breker Christmas - a Thomas train set.  It was actually Logan's gift that Eben had to join in on and Eben stole it from Logan (but they both got the same thing).  This shows how Eben reacts when he gets excited about a new toy:




2. Eben spends about 30 minutes a day just running around the circle of our house, over and over again - through the kitchen, down the hallway, and back around by the playroom.  He has developed a silly run where he raises his knees high - hard to explain....but I kinda got it on video, just not as good as he often does.  He's just so fun :)



3. And our little boy now eats with a spoon all by himself - well he eats oatmeal all by himself every morning, which is an awesome start! This is a video of the first day I let him give it a shot.  ...notice his missing sideburns...  :(

I'm Back!

So it's been about 3 weeks since my last post...mostly cause we were super busy in Fargo, but also because most of the people that read this thing were in Fargo hanging out with us.  We had a great trip back home - 2 whole weeks - and also enjoyed 4 nights in Minneapolis...2 night stuck there in the beginning due to a massive blizzard in ND and 2 nights at the end for my friend, Krystle's, beautiful wedding.  Christmas is officially over for this family with boxes of gifts on their way to our home for us to enjoy. 

While home, I took some pics of a friend's baby, Charlie.  Now this was my first time shooting a newborn with very limited  props as I have all of my stuff in Ann Arbor. Also, he was a month old and it's best to shoot a newborn when they are less than 2 weeks.  I used all natural light indoors. So I decided to just do naked baby shots with simple black and white backdrops.  Charlie slept for much of the shoot.  When he woke up, he didn't really want much to do with the camera after a little bit, but all in all he did a great job.  I certainly have a lot more to learn, but was happy with the results as it is my first.  Here are just a few of my favorites:

I also did a shoot of my adorable nephew, Logan, and threw a bunch of Logan and Eben in there as well.  Also did some of grandparents with the boys, my parents alone, and Dane's newly engaged brother and his fiance.  It was a fun time!  I posted a bunch of them on Facebook, but here are just a few for the blog:

 Logan is 18 months...exactly one month older than Eben.

 LOVES trains lately.

 With a mouthful of food, haha.

 Logan's "Mean Face" - too funny.

 The best pic I got of the two of them looking.

 Haha...oh Eben...so sensitive sometimes.

 This weird wired basket I found in my parent's attic was only present to attempt to keep both boys in the same spot for a little bit.  Worked...kinda, but it's pretty ugly.

 Grandma and Grandpa Breker with their boys.  So proud.

Eben had a bit of trouble being with anyone other than mommy and daddy...best shot I got with their uncle and aunt.

 Engaged Couple!

 Wish I could have gotten a better pic, but Eben was NOT having a good time taking pics by this time.  This is the best one that he wasn't crying in, haha.

 LOVE this pic of my parents.

 And this one too...

 A quick shot of me and Eben...not the best, but oh well.

 A great mommy.