Surfer dude
Tyler is interviewing in New York and D.C. this week so we decided to come have some fun in the sun (and sand)
The days of relaxing at the beach with a book are gone. Otis LOVES the sand and water. As soon as we get to the sand he starts trying to dive out of my arms so he can sink his teeth into it.
waving "hello"
Great view of his one tooth
Playing in the sand with Grandma Mimi
So happy to have our panda back- which means, the rest of our things finally arrived from London. Otis is 8 months and at such a fun age. He's zooming around all over the place and keeping us on our toes.
He's so fast- I was eating a donut the other day while I was holding him and in one speedy motion he grabbed a piece and stuffed it in his mouth before I could even blink. But it's not just donuts that he loves...we were just out on the grass and I looked away for a split second and looked back at him and he was chewing on something. I swiped it out and it was dog poo. Sick. But he seemed to enjoy it. I cleaned it out as good as I could, gagging him as I did. If he did swallow any, it wasn't much, so I'm trying not to worry about it.
He's standing up on anything and everything he can. He seems to be especially attracted to sharp corners. He loves people and will stare at strangers until he can get a smile out of them. He's just learning to wave to say hi. He loves books and will look at the pages intently.
This is what we see when we go get Otie in the morning now
Otie conveniently decided to start standing up on things and crawling when I was in Kentucky watching he and Owen while Heidi had the babe
bath time
This picture is classic Otis the whole trip- always watching to see what cool Owen was up to and trying to do the same. Owen is so much fun. 
getting ready for Bath time
Oh sweet Sadie! I was definitely lucky in Kentucky to be able to be there when she was born. I LOVE this girl (and her mother) and can't wait to see them again. 
I meant to have this pic first, but couldn't figure out how to change the order. Sadie was born 11 days early thanks to the magic of castor oil and Heidi doing lunges around her neighborhood.
The trip to Kentucky was the best. I thought I was going to die of exhaustion trying to feed, bathe and keep up with a toddler and my new crawler. I don't know how people do it. Unfortunately for the Maxfield's, Otis wasn't going through the best stretch of sleeping and I think he kept them up in the night more than Sadie did. But we're back on track now and he's sleeping through the night.
Here is a video taken the day Otis started crawling
We're back in Utah. Ty is on the job hunt and has a few good leads. I think he's applied to jobs in almost every city in the country so we could really end up anywhere at this point. We're happy to be around friends and family and have been having alot of fun. Otis is getting really close to crawling- he gets on his hands and knees and can scoot backwards and hop forwards, but mostly likes just going up into a pike on his head like down-dog in yoga.
Otie turned 7 months. As you can see he chewed through the first "7 month" sign, so we had to make another one. (p.s. the panda bear is somewhere on a boat getting shipped over with all our stuff, I really hope to have it and everything else I need before the 8 month pic!)
He loves (mostly chewing on) this IKEA Atlas. It's the perfect size to set in front of him
he got his first tooth!!
We had a great Easter with family
spent some time at the beach
lots of giggling with Grandma
He could bounce in this jumper all day
Otie's buddies planned a little going away party for him at Hampstead Heath. These people really know how to picnic like pros, the food was delicious!
They surprised us with some nice gifts, including a little picture book for Otis
Otie and Pearce- looks like Otis is about to punch him in the face
Otis and Cate
Can't wait for the reunion in New Zealand!
Other friends we are going to miss dearly is everyone the London North Ward.
Jean and Peggy are some of my favorite people in the whole world. Peggy is almost completely blind and would always ask me to bring "Otis William" right up to her so she could see the "dignified young lad"
This video doesn't do them justice, but they were always reminding Otis that they were his "English Nannies"
Otis is loving real food. He was never too keen on rice cereal- he would eat a little then just spit it out or blow his lips together. Sweet potatoes and zucchini, on the other hand, he will basically inhale and he gets frustrated because I can't get it to him fast enough.
Not the best video, but a little example of how he used to blow his lips together instead of eating the rice cereal
My favorite way to travel is to wake up not knowing what you're doing that day or where you're sleeping that night. We happened upon this barn in the countryside that had been converted to little places to stay. There were sheep out the window, we had brown water and owners were a really cool old Irish couple who brought us homemade scones when we arrived. It felt very authentic. The last morning we woke up to see this huge rainbow- it was perfect.
We travel at a much slower pace these days, with frequent stops at parks to play, McDonalds to eat and the side of the road for Otie to have a break from the car seat.
Waiting to catch the DART train into Dublin
Hike to Glenda Loch
Trail to Upper Lake
