Elliott 5 months

Our little man turned 5 months last week! I can say that this past month went by faster than any of the other months.  We have been busy enjoying the summer days.  Although the weather varies a bit more here we have had some really nice sunny days in the last month. We have done a bike ride to Luzern, had visitors from Iowa, and I have continued to work 2 days a week.  I will just post a lot of cute pictures this month with a summary of what Elliott has been up to.

Smiley man, earlier this month before his 6 teeth came in. Yes, 6 teeth!

Hannah loves her little brother, most of the time.... just don't try to play with my toys!

Hannah loves "coffee"

Elliott wishes he could have a sip of Daddy's coffee

I am getting good at sitting

Elliott sitting and reading his first book

Hannah taking a picture with baby brother- aka sitting on Elliott.

5 month activity:

*as mentioned above, Elliott now has 6 teeth, two on the bottom four on the top. Thankfully he hasn't been too fussy with them.

*he currently has his first real cold, which has made him a little more fussy, but generally still happy.

*he has slept through the night for 4 nights in a row 7 pm to 6:30 am without needing to nurse!... we hope this is the new normal.

*he started to eat a few solids at the end of the month and is loving it. With all of his teeth I am hoping he can do finger foods sooner than Hannah.

* He rolls from tummy to back but not back to belly.

*He can sit unsupported for about 1 min, sometimes longer. 

* He still takes about 3 naps 1 hr to 1 hr 30 in length... 

* He is such a smiley baby, he smiles with his whole body!

That's all until next month... it is a big month, Hannah turns 3 and Elliott 6 months, and we will have been in Switzerland 2.5 years!

A day away and a weekend in Ticino

This past Thursday was a catholic holiday so John had the day off of work.  Our friend Tammy, who has been watching the kiddos while I work, watched them the whole Thursday holiday so John and I got to go on a kids free hike.

The blue routes are the more difficult Alpine routes

 There is a mountain, Chaiserstock, that John has been wanting to hike to the top of ever since we moved here. The weather has been warm for a few days so we were hoping the snow would be melted, at least enough to make the hike doable. We initially drove up a VERY narrow road to get to the small cable car that took us part way up the mountain....
this was a very small cable car that would only fit 4 people, usually the cable car we take can fit at least 10 people if not 50. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful, but unfortunately there was still quiet a bit of snow. Which meant that we zigged and zagged a bit more than if we could have clearly seen the path. Unfortunately we came to a point in the trail that was steep and looked like a rock slide had occurred.. and  I got a little to scared to cross the loose rocks... it didn't help that we probably were two of the first people trying to hike up this 2500 meter. We still had a great time, got a bit of a sun burn, and gelato at the end.



We are so thankful to Tammy for watching the kids so that we could have some quality time alone.

hanging outside the house 

Hannah probably stealing some of Dai's food

Hannah and her friend Trini

This past weekend we went to the Italian part of Switzerland to stay with our friends Dai and Trini in a small house up in the mountains. We were a little nervous because it is quite a bit of work to pack two kids up to go stay in a mountain house, which you have to park and walk 5 minutes down a trial to get to, but it ended up being a good adventure.

Our view from the house, Italy is on the south side of this lake

The highlight was during our hike we stopped to bbq for lunch next to a river. It was a hot day so the water looked nice, but it was SUPER cold. I could only keep my feet in for a minute, but Hannah, who last year would have never gone in, loved hanging onto Johns, Dai's or Trini's hand and getting dipped in the water. It was so fun to see her have fun doing something that last year she would have never done.  She is growing up!