Things That Happened in August:

August had many good and some sad events, but it also marked the end of a very busy summer, and we are really looking forward to a fun and slightly slower fall. Here are some of the things that happened in August.

* Peter and I celebrated four years of marriage on August 4th. We went to a movie, ate dinner out, and had a lovely time at a B&B while Mom and Brian had Eric overnight. It was a special anniversary because so much has changed since our last anniversary. A year ago on our anniversary, we saw the first pictures of our baby. We've since moved to Sioux City, Peter's started his first job out of law school, we had our first baby, and life has just expanded and changed so much. We had a lot to celebrate and be thankful for.

* Eric went to his first Iowa State Fair! Not surprisingly, he loved the animals, (especially the sheep - I think they looked the most like dogs) best, but he thoroughly enjoyed looking around at everything. Peter and I enjoyed it even more, because we were watching him enjoy it.

* Carla and I took Evan and Eric to the park to play. It was Eric's first time in a wagon AND in a park swing. He thoroughly enjoyed both! I'm glad he's big enough now!!

* Eric stood on his own without holding on to anything a couple of times. It was only for a few seconds and he seemed really surprised and proud of himself!

* We finally bit the bullet and let Eric cry it out in his crib. Going in there every so often wasn't working. The stubborn little guy would just get angrier with us if he saw us. He really wanted to air his grievances...so finally, knowing all of his needs were met, we just let him cry until he fell asleep. The first night, he cried himself out in about an hour and a half and stayed asleep most (but not all) of the night. The second and third nights he cried for slightly less time and slept for most of the night. The fourth night, he put himself to sleep fairly quickly and slept from 7:45pm until 7:15am! Now, he usually falls asleep on his own within 20 minutes, but usually less and has been doing really well sleeping through the night...napping's still a struggle, though. We'll see if we make any headway there.

* Eric has started dancing when he hears music. He's always loved music, and now he often starts bouncing up and down when he hears it! ...very cute!

* We celebrated Eric's best friend Evan's first birthday! It's so hard to believe our little godson is a year old already! We love him so much!! I regret that we didn't get a picture of the boys together at his birthday party!

* I was finally able to start attending some playgroup gatherings and both Eric and I are really enjoying them. It's been great to get out of the house together and meet some other moms and their kids and babies. We've gone to a couple parks and to the farmers' market and look forward to even more fun times with our new friends.

* Eric has started communicating more readily and has started using sign language and trying to form some words. He signs "milk", "all done", and "bye-bye", and has said "Mama" and "Dada" indiscriminately, as well as "ba-ba" (for bye-bye) and "ba" (for ball). It's so fun watching his little brain working trying to get it right and figure it out.

* We sadly, and rather unexpectedly lost my Deda this month. While we weren't expecting it, we're comforted knowing he's with Babi again. His funeral honored him and brought his whole family together, something I know he would have loved.

Here are some pictures from the month.