Stories about Gus

Jon and I took Gus to the "tiny park" near our house the other day. We call it the tiny park because it only has two swings, a slide, and a little monkey bars / climbing thing. But that is perfectly fine for our Gus, as he usually spends most of our time there on the swing. We were pushing Gus in the swing, Jon in front and myself in back, as per Gus's instructions, while he shouts out "Gus go high. Gus go bigger high. Gus go SUPER HIGH!"  By this time, I already had to lift my arms above my head to push him, so I think any higher and he would have been over the crossbar ;)

We were in the US visiting family for 3 wonderful weeks in July. We all had a great time seeing everyone, and Gus especially loved playing with his cousins. He of course had a special fondness / adoration for his cousin Ben, who is 3 years old. One night, he chased Ben for ages, round and round and round the house, trying to give him hugs. And, of course, knocking him over and falling right on top of him when he did manage to catch him!

We were lucky enough to be able to take Gus to the Olympics this month. We saw the women's trampolining qualification round and finals. We had told him ahead of time what we were going to do, so he kept talking about going to the 'Lympics to, in his words, "see people". An accurate description, to be sure, although maybe not as detailed as one might expect.

He did seem to enjoy it, though. Once there, he realised that the people were "jumping up and down and spinning!!" (He always said it in a very excited fashion--probably it would be more accurate to add a few more exclamation marks, actually.) We were very high up in the arena, though, so I was getting pretty nervous as he tried to run around in front of the empty seats next to us. I wasn't too disappointed when Gus fell asleep in my lap after the first round and slept through the whole finals! That way, he got to experience it, and then I got to actually see some of the competition, rather than just worrying about him the whole time!

And of course, the best part of his whole day was that we got to ride on "big green bus! And big choo choo train! And little choo choo train!"

We also watched a lot of Olympics on the television. I figured I can justify having the TV on for hours each day for two weeks every 4 years. We taught him to say both Go GB! and U-S-A! and now when we turn the TV on, Gus asks "Watch GB?"  He especially liked watching "Tom [Daley] jump in water." And the horses, but I couldn't keep the dressage on for more than a few minutes, even for Gus.  

We also spent a week in France with Jon's family. The house we were staying in had grape vines on the back patio, and we were allowed to eat any of the fruit there. Gus loved it. He got quite good at only picking the purple ones, although he did also enjoy picking unripe ones to throw to the birds. Oh well, I'm sure they appreciated it.

***

  As you can see, we have been pretty busy these last couple of months. Glad to be getting back into the swing of our normal routine, though, and hope that will extend to the blog as well! 

What I did on my Christmas vacation

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, I have just been on vacation!  I spent the last 3 weeks visiting my wonderful family back in the US. Now I am back to the real world, trying so hard to get back into the swing of things where washing dishes and laundry and general cleaning must be done--by me! A few of my/Gus's favourite things from our trip:

****

Gus's absolute favourite game while we were there was the "where is it?" game. He started making a sign for where (arms out from the elbows, palms facing up) the last couple of weeks before we went to the US. But when we got to my parents' house, he was having some separation issues (new environment + jet lag = a little boy who did not like his mother to leave his sight even to use the toilet), so my mom picked up on this and started a game with him of looking for me when I left the room. Where's Mama? Is she under the couch? No.

Oh my goodness, he loved this game. They would look in one place, and he would shake his head back and forth (long hair going every which way!), then point to a new place to look. After a while, he would play it pretty much any time he saw my mom, and she never knew what they were looking for if he started a game.

He now also loves to shake his head no, which I think he largely learned from this game. Usually he shakes his head because he really doesn't want whatever is on offer, although I think sometimes he does it just to feel his hair move around.

****

At our house, the garbage can is locked away under the sink, so Gus doesn't really ever see or use it. At my parents' house, the garbage can is just tucked away at the side of the kitchen, but freely accessible. Gus was very interested in this. At first he just sort of looked at it or tried to take things out of it, but he soon learned what it was for and how to use it. He thought throwing things away was one of the best things ever. I remember one day he found a scrap of paper on the floor. When I told him it was garbage and he could throw it in the bin, his face just lit up and he raced out to the kitchen to take care of it. We did have to watch him closely though--his definition of garbage was not always the same as ours!

Really, he just loved (loves) putting things in and taking them out in general. He is great help with the laundry, and he does like tidying his toys, although keeping them tidied is a different matter. He spent ages putting various toys in the laundry baskets and pushing them around. He comes up with the funniest games sometimes!

****

We had snow a few days before we left. I was really happy about it--I am a snow lover, although I don't really like to go out in the snow. Mostly I like to look at the snow, then curl up in the warm house with a cup of tea and a book. I did take Gus out in the snow a couple of times. He seemed to like it, although he wasn't really interested in doing anything with it. We went for a walk with him in the stroller, and he seemed to have a great time looking at the world covered in snow. However. Every single time we walked to the river near my parents' house, there were no geese! We saw them plenty of times while driving past, so I think they may have been avoiding us.

****

Gus loved spending time with his cousins (ages 10, 6, 2, and 3 months). He is a pretty quiet guy when he's around other children, often just watching the action. So he did a lot of watching. The older girls were really good at playing with him, and he started to become more comfortable and join in. And I think he learned a few things from Ben (the 2-year-old). Especially about climbing!  The two of them were very sweet together; Jon and I took them on a walk one day, and Ben took Gus's hand while we were in the street. So adorable!  

My mom has a little old-fashioned cast-iron stove that her dad had made for us grandkids when we were little (Grandpa Dave was a pattern maker so could do cool things like that). All 4 of the big kids really liked playing with it. They made many a dish together, often made using the birds from the nativity set, although one day I kept being served shoe soup--not really my favourite. Gus certainly enjoyed "tasting" all their creations!

Gus wasn't really sure about baby Luke, though. Luke still couldn't control his body very well, so he often made kind of jerky motions. And he is very vocal--lots of squeaks and squeals!  Gus didn't like that so much.

****

My favourite thing Gus has learned in the past couple of weeks is kissing. I die!  We ask him if he wants to give either me or Jon a kiss, and he either shakes his head no (which we love anyway) or leans in a plants a wet one right on our lips!  I don't know where he learned that kisses go on lips, because we generally don't kiss him on the lips. Jon thinks it might be because he often kisses his reflection in the mirror, and that is obviously a kiss on the lips. I don't know, but it is super cute.

I'll leave you with a picture from this evening: Gus reading his book. While sitting in a box. Obviously. And I just noticed, it looks like the duck is listening very attentively!

Animals on parade

Gus loves animals. All types--big or small, furry or feathery.  We're really lucky that we have a little lake near the house (about a 10 minute walk away), and on our way to the grocery store and playground, that is home to many a water fowl, including a pair of swans and their babies. One of his favorite activities is to go down to the lake and watch the ducks. Although he does seem to think that it is a good idea to walk into the water to try and get closer to them. Yeah, I have to hold on pretty tightly there. (Oh, did I mention that Gus is walking? A lot? And has been for a month now? Sorry blogworld, I am neglectful. I am hoping to [record and] post a decent video of his bipedal talents any day now. She says for the 25th day in a row.) And I swear that he can say duck. Sure, da is the "word" he says most often, but when he says it while looking at the ducks, I do like to think that it is intentional.

Gus petting Jon's childhood dog, Flopsy. Who just died last week.
We'll miss you, Flopsy!

We also have many cats that roam the neighborhood. Which I generally don't think of as a positive thing about our house. But Gus certainly rates it highly. The other day, there was a cat in our back yard, and Gus and I sat together for about half an hour, just watching it sit, and clean itself, and chase the ants. It was very sweet. Gus, I mean. Not so much the cat. I mean, the cat was pretty regular. I am not really a cat person.

Gussy looking at the geese when we went to the farm last month.
It's really difficult to get a picture of a baby
while wearing him in a sling on your front.

So last weekend, Jon, Gus and I were in Bristol for a wedding on Friday and had all day Saturday to have fun. Knowing his love of animals, we decided to take Gussy to the zoo. Oh. my. goodness. did he love it!  It was as if each animal was more exciting than the last. He actually had a bit of a cold (which of course he came down with the night before we left for a long weekend, but it didn't seem to hold him back too much) and was kind of sleepy by the time we arrived, but he would not let himself fall asleep when there were amazing animals to be seen. We saw flamingos, lions, several types of monkeys, penguins, and seals, and walked through the butterfly house. Probably some other things too, but those were the ones that I remember him liking the most. It is just so lovely to see his little face light up with pure delight as he looks at the various animals. Jon and I kept saying to each other, "I am so glad we brought him here. Look how much he likes it!" I had thought that just a morning would be more than enough time for such a little one to spend in the zoo, but when we had to go to meet some friends for lunch, I felt so guilty making him leave a place where he was clearly having so much fun!  And he did fall asleep eventually--as soon as we walked away from the animals to look for a place to change a very wet diaper!  Guess we'll postpone that nappy change for a little bit :)

Knowing how much he loves animals, I am really very tempted to get Gus a pet for his birthday in a couple of months. Nothing big--I am not up for the responsibility of a dog and, like I said before, am not really a cat person. But maybe something little, like a guinea pig or hamster or something. Does anyone know about these animals, if they are good for toddlers and easy for moms to take care of? Or is it a silly idea for me to bring a pet into the house? Do I really want one more thing that I need to clean?!

6-day-old piglets at the farm.
Maybe we should get on of these--they are so cute!
Nevermind they grow up to weigh about 400 pounds!

I see London, I see France

Luckily for you, this post is not about underpants :)

We were recently extremely blessed to be able to spend a week with Jon's family in the South of France. Provence, to be exact. I now know why the British are all so obsessed with holidaying in France.  My favorite part? The temperature was in the 80s every day, nice and sunny, and NO HUMIDITY! Being from the Midwestern USA, I did not know that such a thing was possible. It was like a whole new world opened up to me. We sat outside for hours at a time, and it was enjoyable. I didn't feel like I was going to suffocate. The house didn't even have air conditioning, and that was OK. Sorry, we did do more that just marvel at the lack of humidity for a week straight. I'll try and move on.

There and back again

My poor neglected little blog! I can't believe it has been over a month since I last posted.

Our trip to the US has come and gone. It was a great time. Although poor Gussy had a bit of a hard time of it at first. The plane trip was fine (the Moby wrap made the journey super-easy again, and he slept a lot, which is always good!), and jet lag wasn't an issue, but he is not used to having so many people around. In England, when we all get together with Jon's family, there are 10 adults and Gus. In the US, just my immediate family is 8 adults and 4 children. Then add in the aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends and their kids; it's a bit of a zoo!  We arrived to my parents' house at about 3pm Illinois time, which was basically bedtime English time. So he was pretty sleepy. I knew my brother, SIL, and their three kids were coming over for dinner, so I decided to pop into the shower quickly before they arrived. And of course, they get there just as I turn the water on. By the time I got out, Gus was crying his little heart out.That's pretty much how the first few days were: (mostly) happy to have other people around if Mama's holding him, but not so much otherwise. But he did get more and more used to all the new people, and by the end, he spent a large portion of a big family reunion with my parents and sisters, and even fell asleep in my sister's arms!

Gus and his favourite toy at Grandma and Grandpa's--
a toy box/house with a roof that opened and closed!

We saw again how blessed we are to have such an easy-going baby. Apart from his initial issues with the crowds, Gus took everything in his stride. He loved exploring my parents' and grandma's houses. He had no problems sleeping in planes, cars, and strange beds. I even got a bit more sleep than I normally do when I am home, as I occasionally went to bed at Gus's bedtime rather than staying up to the wee hours talking (okay, so there weren't a lot of early nights, and half of them were the "early to bed, but stay awake late reading The Hunger Games" sort of nights, but still, an improvement). He was a bit more fussy than normal, but nothing too horrible. And nothing that couldn't be fixed by a cuddle with Mama!

Gus and Ben

So anyway, it was a great trip. It is so nice to spend time with the family. We got to see my parents run their first 5k (go Mom and Dad!). We had some playdates with my best friend and her son. We met up with my cousin who was born on the same day as Gus and compared notes (but got no good pictures of them together, as Gus kept crawling away to play with their dog!), as well as lots of other, bigger cousins. And Gus and his cousins got on really well after his initial warming-up period. (Well, Gus was decidedly not interesting enough for my very active 2-year-old nephew Ben. Ben would try to play with Gus, rattling one of the toys or rolling the ball, but after a few minutes, Ben would decide that Gus's smiles weren't exciting enough and would give him a shove to try and liven things up a bit! Sorry, Ben; maybe Gus will play a bit more next time!). Oh, and the highlight of Jon's summer trip every year: singing America, the Beautiful at church on the Sunday before the Fourth ;)

But now, we are back home, back to everyday life, and--hopefully--back to blogging!

7 Quick Takes (volume 10)

-1-

We have had milestones right and left these past couple of weeks. The first was really more a milestone for me--I left my baby for 10 hours! Not on his own, of course, and with every intention of coming back to him. I went to a friend's hen do the other weekend and left Jon and Gus to have a boys' day together. A good time was had by all, and I think I was the most stressed of the three of us! I always think I should leave Jon and Gus to have an hour or two alone at the weekends, but I find that there isn't all that much I feel like doing by myself--I would rather spend the time with my family.  So it was a good opportunity for them to spend some time together and good for me to have a break. Next time, it doesn't need to be quite so long, though!

-2-

The day after the hen do, I was playing on the floor in the living room with Gus when he noticed an empty bottle under a chair (it was way too much to ask Jon to have Gus all day--for the first time--and keep the house tidy as well, especially when I don't do a very good job of tidying, and I have practice every day!). Anyway, Gus was really excited to see that bottle. Of course, I just wanted to shout, "I'm right here! What do you want a bottle for?"  Poor mama :)

-3-

As for milestones number 2 and 3, Gus started crawling and pulled himself up to stand for the first time on the same day. Where has my little baby gone?!  He had been army-crawling and bum-scootching for maybe 2 weeks already, but this Tuesday, he was up on his hands and knees and there was no stopping him. I, of course, am getting even less done than normal around the house. I feel like I need to watch him all the time. We have tried to baby-proof the main areas where he goes, but he keeps finding things that aren't really suitable for him that I didn't even think of. Constant vigilance!   

-4-

Our trip to visit the American family is getting close now--yay!  I am so excited. We haven't seen everybody since Christmas, and Gus has grown and changed so much since then, I can't wait to show him off ;)  The one thing I am not excited about is the flight. Gus and I will be going out first, with Jon joining us a few days later. Anyone have any suggestions for ways to keep a newly-crawling 7 month old entertained for an 8 hour flight? Please??

-5-

Do you know what I hate? Scented laundry detergent. Ugh. It is so awful. Laundry detergent is the most difficult part about cloth diapering. I use Ecover for my regular clothes, but apparently that is not very good for cloth diapers because it doesn't rinse out properly. Or something. So last time I bought the Tots Bots Potion, specifically designed for washing diapers at lower temperatures. But I didn't really think it was worth the price tag (not least because nowhere on the packaging does it tell you how much to use!), so I thought I would just go for some standard biological detergent. In the UK, they have two types of detergent, bio and non-bio. I do not know what the difference is (something to do with enzymes?), but I normally use non-bio. I read that bio works better on the diapers, so I thought I would try it. But I could not find any unscented bio detergent in the shop. Isn't that weird? They only have non-bio unscented. I bought one that said "with essential oils", hoping that it would mean the scent wasn't too awful. But it is. I just took the clothes out of the wash, and my head still hurts, just from hanging them up. Yuck yuck yuck. I don't think I can use that again. I might try the Rockin Green next time. What do you use for your nappies?

-6-

Gus is asleep in the bed next to me as I write this. He keeps moving. A lot. I don't notice it in the night when I am asleep, but today during his nap, he was practically up on his hands and knees at one point, before lying back down, completely asleep! He's obviously very excited about his newfound crawling abilities!

-7-

All week, I kept thinking of things I might put in my quick takes today. And now I can't remember any more of them. Oh well! Hope you all have a lovely weekend. And happy second birthday tomorrow to my nephew Ben! (That's way better than the card that I haven't yet put in the mail, right?)

Don't forget to head over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes fun!

7 Quick Takes (volume 3)

Man alive, it's been a long time since I last wrote.  There is a lot on my mind, but I can't seem to sit down and write it out, so I thought I would do a Quick Takes today just to do an update.  Hopefully I can write more in the next couple of days!

-1-

We had a great Christmas!  The three of us travelled to the USA to visit my family, and it was definitely worth it.  We were a bit worried in the week leading up to the trip, as Heathrow was completely shut down due to snow only 6 days before we were scheduled to leave, and it took several days for it to get all the snow cleared and the planes back in place.  But the day that we left (Christmas Eve), almost all of the planes were going, and the airport actually seemed pretty quiet, although our flight was completely full.

-2-

Gus did really well on his first flights--a good indication for things to come, I hope, as he will be making that journey regularly! I would definitely recommend flying with a newborn.  He mostly slept the whole way, although we did walk him up and down the aisles a bit (I guess we were lucky there were no long periods of turbulence).  Breastfeeding was a little tricky, trying to get a comfortable position where I wasn't flashing anyone and Gus wasn't kicking the man next to us!  We had an empty seat next to us on the way back, which made it a lot easier.  And I wore the Moby wrap the whole time, so I could just tuck him into it while he was sleeping and felt secure enough to get a bit of sleep myself (when I could get comfortable!).  I also liked to put him in it when the seatbelt light was on, as his only harness otherwise would be my arms.

-3-

Everyone was so excited to meet him, as well.  He was the star of the show wherever he went, and he hardly had a moment to himself!  His cousin Ben (18 months old) was especially sweet.  One day when Ben was over, Gus started crying.  Ben saw Gus's pacifier laying on the table and brought it to him, then noticed Gus's blanket and brought that over as well.  He was so proud of himself for helping to comfort the baby!

-4-

Gus is developing by leaps and bounds.  In the two weeks we were in the US, we all noticed changes. At about 7 weeks, he started really smiling a lot more, and in reaction to people.  Really exciting--and absolutely adorable! Also, from about 8 weeks, he has really started discovering his hands.  They are always in his mouth, sometimes the whole fist (or both!) and sometimes just the thumb. It was really sweet the first morning that I woke up and saw him lying next to me, just sucking away on his thumb, happy as could be.  And this week (9 weeks old), for the first time I took him out for a walk in the carrier, and instead of falling asleep within a few minutes, he kept his head up and looked around at the world.  It was probably 15 minutes before he decided to rest his head and go to sleep.  He is so curious.  Oh, and I almost forgot, yesterday he started rolling onto his side!  He has done it quite a few times now, so I don't think it was just a fluke, but I also am not sure if it is something he can do anytime he wants yet.  I thought maybe he would continue and roll onto his front, but it seemed his arm was in the way and he couldn't figure out how to get over it.  He didn't seem too fussed about it, though, and I am sure he will make it over soon enough!

-5-

At the moment, I am quite pro thumb-sucking, although I am afraid I am going to live to regret it!  My theory is, if he sucks his thumb, he can comfort himself as needed, rather than me deciding when he needs comforting and how.  I also fear that if I use a pacifier too much, it will be used in place of actually attending to his real need.  This probably wouldn't happen, as I hope that I am a pretty attentive parent, but I do fear becoming lazy.   We do use the pacifier to help him go to sleep, as needed, though.  The sucking really seems to help him settle.  

-6-

I still haven't ordered a stroller or cloth diapers, and Gus is 2 months old!  I really need to get on top of that, but they are both quite big expenses, and I hate to spend so much money in one go--I think Jon is rubbing off on me in that respect! I am planning on getting the Quinny Zapp Xtra stroller, which is suitable from birth to about 3-4 years old, has a seat that is forward- or parent-facing, and can be used with the carseat we have.  I haven't decided about diapers yet.  I think I might buy about 6 in two or three different styles and then get a few more of our favourite after a month or so.

-7-

Pictures from Christmas!


Gus's first Christmas

Our family (oops, Jon's glasses are falling off!)

Four generations (my mom and her mom;  I don't seem to have a copy of the one with my dad and his dad, but will post it later)

Cousins