Another sunny day means another day at the Oregon Zoo. I never quite realized how cute baby elephants can be. This one kept trying to find his footing on a sloped piece of concrete. A couple of times it looked like he would slip over and was, in many ways, just like any other baby. A baby that could kill you if it fell on you that is.

Oh, and this is the best photo I could get, because I had find a gap through this group of people. Baby elephants apparently attract quite the crowd. That’s Kei in the orange hat.

Samuel now sleeps in his own crib. At least he does from about 7:30pm until 9:30pm. Then he wakes up to eat before going back to sleep in his crib until about midnight. After that time he wakes pretty much every hour. Instead of dragging myself out of bed each time, I give in and he sleeps with me – still waking up every hour or so.

Until he’s on solid food. At that point he will officially have the ability to sleep through the night and all bets are off. Assuming I can put up with a few tough nights of sleep training, that is.

Apart from the fact that this will greatly relieve my sleep deprivation, it seems a shame that he’s not making the most of the adorable bedding.

OK I get it – autumn is beautiful blah blah blah. I am grudgingly enjoying the colours outside my window and the unexpected gift of October sunshine. Just waiting for the bubble to burst and the rain to start. How pathetic is that?

I could spend hours watching Samuel watch other things. It never ceases to amaze me that just a month or two ago he was waving his arms around aimlessly. Now he’s reaching for things and pulling his binky out of his mouth (and sometimes getting it back in). Toys are suddenly very interesting too – especially the kind that are easy to chew on.

This may well be one of my favourite parts of the entire renovation – right up there with the shower screen, walk in closet and outlets every 5 feet. As we were framing out the new addition, it became apparent that Thomas would have a funky little cutout in his bedroom behind the door. Converted attics often have these little nooks and crannies but I wanted to make the most of it. This little space seemed like the perfect oppotunity to add a built in bookcase.

It wasn’t cheap, but in my mind it was worth every penny. Thomas’ books have a place to live and our living room now contains only a few favourite children’s books for impulsive reading. The best part though is that Thomas’ room is now a sanctuary – no toys or noisy distractions, just books. Oh and the fact that we can now see all his books means we are less likely to be exposed to the same ones over and over and over – although I have to admit that I occassionally hide some of his current favourites just to give myself a rest. I don’t think I can read about Toy Story one more time.

I have been giving the boys a bath together most nights to save time and water. It involves a little bit of juggling and quite a lot of balance to hold Samuel correctly in the water while trying to prevent Thomas from splashing him. It also means I could do with a few more arms so you’re unlikely to see a photo of them in the bath together until Samuel can sit up.

So I took this photo of Thomas doing one of his favourite things – taking a bath – and Samuel doing one of his favourite things – watching Thomas.

In case I haven’t mentioned it – WE’VE FINALLY MOVED UPSTAIRS. Well enough to be a little more comfortable anyway. Thomas loves his brand new yellow room and we love that it contains nothing but a bed, books and clothes – no toys to distract him at bedtime.

The downside? A dresser that has suddenly become easier to climb and has fallen over twice while Thomas was climbing it and/or opening all drawers at the same time. We are going to bolt it to the wall and, in the meantime, have had a few conversations with Thomas about balance.