Bunch of Paynes

We've had a full week complete with beautiful weather, family picnics, and special friends, so there are lots of pictures to share . . .

Our friends, Steve & Jean, were on our team in China. It was great having them stay with us for a couple of days! We enjoyed a picnic at a nearby park after church on Sunday.

Slightly random, but shows one of the things I love about living in Seattle. It's common to see piles of free stuff in people's yards or on the curb. I love free stuff! We happened upon this yard during an after-dinner walk through the neighborhood and I found some great plastic plates for camping!

Earlier in the week, some of our dear friends, Tricia & Andrew, came to stay with us for a few days. It was wonderful to spend time together! Rooke loved all the attention.

How many people does it take to figure out a parking meter?! (I know you can sympathize with this picture, Dad)

We enjoyed a picnic together as a family during one of Ryan's study breaks. We found an amazing park close to our apartment that has an incredible view of the mountains and a little beach. We've already been back twice.

Practicing sitting up by himself . . .

Look at those blue eyes!

Getting ready to take a bath . . .

Kaye-K and Big Daddy got this Jumper for Rooke because he loves to stand up and wiggle. He hasn't quite mastered the art of jumping, but loves turning in circles and it serves as a nice resting ledge for his arm while gnawing on his fingers!

"Look at me sitting up all by myself!"

Our son is on the move! He hasn't figured out how to crawl, but he is trying to get up on his knees and is doing really good at getting where he wants to go by rolling around.

Of course, if he can't reach a toy, there's always the toes!

I've started using the jogging stroller this week! It was so much fun! Rooke is big enough and strong enough to keep himself from bobbling around. It's not obvious, but he's in the stroller in this picture.

Playing with Mommy

Some friends from Eugene were visiting last weekend. They have three kids and the youngest girls were infatuated with Rooke! It was fun to watch them "mother" him.

"Happy Father's Day, Daddy!"

We had a great day together yesterday. The "daddy bag" is a special tradition passed on from my family. Every year we gave our dad his father's day present in this bag. This was Ryan's first "daddy bag" gift.

Rooke wasn't helping Ryan open the cards and gifts as much as he was trying to put everything into his mouth!

The book was part of Ryan's gift and starts a new tradition for Father's Day. If you know Ryan at all, you know he loves books. Each year, Rooke will give Ryan a book that is just for the two of them to read together. I'm looking forward to seeing what Rooke will pick out on his own when he gets older.

It was such a beautiful day, we went to the park with some friends and enjoyed the sun!

Our son has some pretty funny expressions!

"First, I would just like to say that my drool is clean and can easily be washed out of the pillow . . ."

Rooke squirms and wiggles all the time, but lately he has been willing to sit still long enough to look through a book together.

Rooke is five months old! His current hobbies and interests include: drooling, sucking on fingers and toes and anything else that fits in a little mouth, drooling, rolling around, pooping really loud during church, drooling, and high-pitched screaming when something doesn't go his way. We love him!

I melt when he looks at me like this with his blue eyes

He had just rolled back onto his stomach and was so proud of himself!

Since we typically post pictures of our faces, we realized that you were not getting to enjoy Rooke's developing mullet. His bald spot is starting to sprout some growth, but the new hair is going to have to work hard to catch up to the thickening red mullet!

Ryan went to get Rooke from his nap and found him looking like this! Apparently, he slept with his face on his hands (look at his fingers). Poor kid.

Rooke loves riding in the snuggly, as long as he gets to face out so he can see everything.