What's New with Gus this Week?

I've never really spent much time with a toddler before (well, besides my sisters, but I was still just a kid myself then), so I didn't realise how neat it is to watch their understanding of the world just blossom. Gus has learned to do all sorts of new things just in the past week or two.

One thing he is doing all of a sudden is expanding his use of tools. He knows what various items are used for and wants to try them out for himself.

• He got out his little brush and was brushing the hair of his stuffed animals the other day; he was just toddling around, brush in one hand, teddy in the other. 
• We've removed the tray from his high chair and pulled the chair up to the table with us for meals. I think this has made him feel very big, and coincided with his insistence on using a spoon for every meal, even if we're just eating sandwiches! Although he still prefers to eat his yogurt with his fingers :)  
• Today he was insistent that I give him a fork to use and then spent 10 minutes stabbing at his food. And making a huge mess while not actually putting anything in his mouth, but that's par for the course (although I do think being at the table has reduced the mess a bit). Luckily for Gus, I finally ordered his Christmas present yesterday--a ridiculously overpriced set of children's flatware that matches our silverware exactly. Too cute!  
• We had some friends over yesterday, and after they left, I noticed Gus was trying out some more tool-using skills. Our Advent candles had been on the dining table, and I knew that one of the other babies had knocked them onto the floor. No big deal. What I didn't realise was that the matched had also fallen off the table. I waved goodbye to my friends, walked the five feet from the door to the table, and saw Gus underneath. He had gotten one of the matches out of the box and was holding it to the candle, trying to get the candle to light! Luckily, he hadn't learned about striking the match yet, so there was no fire. But let me tell you, after I put the candles back on the table and lit them (so that he could see but not reach), I definitely put those matches on a high shelf out of sight! 

going to see the neighbors' chickens

Gus has also learned a few new signs this week. He can now say food and please/thank you. He uses the please sign when he wants something, which is really very useful, except when he doesn't have a word/sign for the thing he actually wants! Then he just signs over and over, with me none the wiser about what he is actually asking for. Poor thing; I do try my best. He has also learned the sign for diaper recently, and sometimes walks over to the diaper mat and does the sign. I usually take this to mean he wants his diaper changed, although he does sometimes just walk away uninterested before I can get the things ready, so I am not sure. One of his favourite words is still hat, and he loves to point them out, whether they are on a shelf, in a picture, or on a stranger walking down the street. He might think that people with white hair are wearing hats, though. Luckily he is not really at the stage where other people readily understand what he is saying!

The cutest new "word" he has learned this week is growling like a bear.We got a new book out of the library last week--Say Hello to the Snowy Animals!--so now (along with Ten Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle) we have two books in the house that have a polar bear growling, so I think that is where he picked it up. Although I have a feeling Pa had a hand in the teaching of this trick as well :)  All the teddy bears have been busy growling at me these past couple of days.

yogurt, please! (I didn't get the sign in the pic, though)

Everything is a game to Gus at the moment. With any action that I do, he is likely to ask me to repeat it over and over again. For instance, today we were sitting with the stuffed animals, and I made the sock monkey give Gus a hug. We then spent the next ten minutes getting hugs from various animals. Saying uh-oh! or where did it go? is a surefire way to start a long, drawn-out game. And he has taken to making a sweet little questioning motion to go along with where? (hands out, palms up sort of shrug) and putting his hands over his mouth as if in surprise for uh-oh!. Simple tasks are great fodder for games as well. On Tuesday our veg box was delivered, and there were 8 or 10 carrots at the bottom of the box. I gave him a paper bag and asked him to put the carrots in it while I made the breakfast. He spent the next 15 minutes putting the carrots in, then taking them out, lining them up in a row, then back in again. It's a great way to spend a morning!

carrot packing

Books I'm Reading: No Impact Man

I've actually been reading books lately, wonder of wonders--I've read almost three whole books in the last three weeks! Usually I am a novel type of girl all the way, but I have gotten more and more into non-fiction the last few months. One that I have just read is called No Impact Man: Saving the planet one family at a time by Colin Beavan. I was a little wary of it when I picked it off the library shelf; there seem to be a lot of books lately that are basically "do something for a year, blog about it, turn that into a book, get lots of publicity", and there is a little cynical part of me that questions people's motives about those sort of things. But that is not very charitable of me, and I figured at the very least it would have a few pointers for greener living, so I thought why not?

And I am really glad I read it. The basic gist of it is that Beavan decides to spend one year, with his wife and toddler, making as little impact on the environment as possible. He starts off knowing next to nothing about how to do this and therefore learns as he goes, gradually making changes to his lifestyle. This seems a pretty sensible way to do things--you can't cut out everything at once, and it seems a bit silly to research things (i.e. learn how simple changes could make big differences) but not actually implement them until some arbitrary date in the future. But it does lead to some humorous / annoying occurrences. For example, the very first stage is to make no trash, which he chose with the mistaken assumption that he would be easing his way into things. Then he goes and has an existential crisis on day one over blowing his nose, and I am just thinking "Handkerchief. Handkerchief. HANDKERCHIEF!!" I mean, come on, that one's obvious, right? Apparently not to Beavan.

Overall, it was a good book, though. He did well to give background about why it is important to make less trash / use less water and electricity / travel more sustainably and how it works in a real-life family, in both good and bad ways. My favourite part was the continual focus on people and how we choose to live our lives. I sometimes get turned off by sections of the environmental brigade because they seem to want to save the planet for the planet's sake, not in order to improve the lives of the people living on the planet. I'm sorry, but I don't think the Earth would be better off if humans didn't exist. Living the best life possible seems to be at the centre of this book, and leaving the world in such a state that our grandchildren can do the same. That doesn't mean having the most stuff, but finding out what parts of modern life are adding to our lives and what are taking away from them, on both an individual and societal level.

It is all about intentional living, which I love. I'm not all about doing things just because that is the way they have always been done. I want to choose the path that is best for myself and my family, that brings us the most joy and peace in our lives. Of course, having the time, knowledge and resources to make these types of decisions about our lives is a luxury that not everyone has. The ideas behind this are touched on some in the book in the discussion of individual action versus political and corporate action. It shouldn't be "versus", but rather "in conjunction with", as both are important. For instance, I can do my part to help keep our waterways clean by purchasing certain cleaning products, but really, carcinogens and endocrine disruptors shouldn't be in our personal care products in the first place!

I wouldn't want to do what Beavan did for the book. But it has made me think more about how I can lessen my impact and, more surprisingly, examine what it is that I really want out of life.

I am *hoping* to do another post this week detailing some of the green things that I have been inspired to implement because of this book, so watch this space!

Night Owl

I started writing this at one in the morning, as a little boy charged around the room. 

Yep, he does take after me in at least one way, I guess.

After a few days where he was feeling extra sleepy, and multiple naps on Saturday, Gus woke up at 3am Sunday morning and was awake for maybe 2 hours? I don't know, I was drifting in and out of sleep. I am pretty sure I saw him awake and then lie down to sleep at about 5, but he may have been sleeping earlier than that. Either way, we let him sleep in till 10:30 (compared to his regular wake-up time of about 9am). So then he decided he did not need a nap on Sunday. And believe me, I tried! I even took a nap myself, but Gus found it more fun to play on the floor with Jon than nap with me. But Gus was in such good spirits on Sunday, I didn't worry much about it.

Then comes 8.30 pm. Gus falls asleep on my lap on the couch as Jon and I watch Poirot. We cross our fingers that he is down for the night. But after the show ends, I need the toilet--the one thing that Jon can't bring me! I attempt to extract myself without waking Gus up, but, alas, am unsuccessful. Which is why I was up till 1:30 last night.

Co-sleeping is wonderful for our family in many ways, and I am so glad that we have decided to structure our sleep this way. But co-sleeping also equals co-awake-ing. This? Not always so fun. Especially when it means that I am awake, trying to get Gus to fall asleep, and instead he just wants to crawl all over a sleeping Jon, who has to get up in a few short hours!

I decided that trying to sleep in our regular bed was just going to result in three of us awake instead of two, so I pulled the (single) mattress from the bed in the spare room and put it on the floor in Gus's room. (He doesn't have a bed in there, and I was afraid that I would forget about the limited amount of space in the bed in my sleep and one of us would fall off the bed!) Not the greatest idea I've ever had, I must say, because Gus just thought it was a cool new toy and spent ages bouncing on it. 

Oh well. We got to sleep eventually (and let's be honest--1:30 is my bedtime about once a week anyway, it's just that I usually have my "me time" rather than spend it playing with Gus). He actually woke up on his own at 10 this morning, and is down for his regular nap at the moment, so we'll see what tonight brings! 

Good night, good night
Time sends a warning call
Sweet dreams descend on all
Time, time sends a warning call

Happy 1st Birthday, Gus!

My darling Gus,

You're one today! Your Pa and I are so blessed to have such a lovely wee son. You really are a joy to be with--it is hard to put into words how happy we are to have you in our lives.

I love waking up next to you every morning. You usually open your eyes and are off like a flash, racing to check out the first thing you see. But some days we just relax in bed for a bit, alternating between nursing and playing silly games. The best is when Pa is still in bed when you wake up; your face lights up as soon as you see him, and you make it your mission to wake him up if he is still asleep!

signing "more"

There are so many little things you do that are just so gosh-darn cute. You have really perfected the more sign (although you have your own unique twist on the execution of it), and you use it hundreds of times a day, usually accompanied by an emphatic "Dat!" You love to walk everywhere, and we often hold hands and wander around the neighborhood. I love it when you walk backward or sideways, always keeping your eye on me! Or when you try to carry around things that are almost the size of your own little self--you are surprisingly strong, though!

And you definitely have set ideas about what you want and ways to make yourself understood.  The number of times I have been trying to do the dishes or some other mundane task and you bring me your shoes or try and hang off the stroller, indicating your desire to go outside for a walk. I still haven't decided whether it is a good or a bad thing that you know where the fruit bowl is and let me know when you want a snack. I mean, I love that you love fruit and that you can let me know what you want, but you have to eat other things sometimes!

You can say about 6 words, and several signs, either on their own or in conjunction with vocal words. You know hot, and often walk into the kitchen saying "Hot. Hot" about the oven. That hasn't kept you from trying to touch the hot oven yet, but it's a start! And I think I must always say "Up!" on a high note and "Down" on a low note, because it is never just down when you say it, it is "doooowwwwww", soft and low.


You're such a curious little one, always exploring, always testing things out. Never staying still for too long! I do love watching you learn about the world, though. A favorite game of yours at the moment seems to be organising--you move all the stuffed animals from one pile to another, or otherwise place things in very specific spots based on your own secret categorisation principles.

It has been fascinating to watch you grow and learn this past year, and I am so excited to see what you get up to in the months and years ahead. Thanks for such a wonderful year, my love!

All my love,
Mama

A brief thought about holiness

Today is All Saints' Day and the beginning of a wonderful month of remembrance in the Church. At Mass this morning, our priest asked why many of us would consider ourselves to be good or decent people, but few would describe themselves as holy. As it is through God's love and grace that we are made holy, Father warned us against inadvertently underestimating God's love by thinking of ourselves as only good instead of holy. We are all called to be saints, to be holy. I know that I personally have a tendency to think of that as something for the future, but it is also for the here and now. I know that, through God's grace and the prayers of the saints in Heaven, holiness is possible!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween isn't as big a holiday here in England as it is in the US, but I couldn't let such a fun day pass without a bit of a celebration.

I has originally hoped to make Gus a duck costume, seeing as he loves ducks so much at the moment. But I never got a chance to get to the fabric store and pick up some material. I was talking to my mom and sister Kelly on the phone on Saturday and lamenting that I felt like such a bad mother for not having a costume for Gus's first Halloween. They reminded me that we had previously talked about making him a little costume to be Gus-Gus the mouse from Cinderella. I could do that! So last night I cut apart a sweater that I never wear anymore and made a little set of ears and a tail. (I also stayed up way too late making a matching pair of trousers, which I didn't finish. Note: setting up the sewing machine is NOT more trouble than it is worth. Hand-sewing takes forever, even when just making a pair of baby-sized trousers.) We didn't have anywhere to go today except a monthly play / moms' group, but I dressed him up for that anyway.

what a sweet wee mouse!

I dressed up as well--Cinderella, to go along with the theme. I forgot to take a picture, but I pretty much looked exactly like this:

Sans the housework. Obviously. Interestingly, this is the second time I have dressed up as Cinderella for Halloween. The first time was when I was about 7, and loved the movie. My mom made me a costume, again, much like the one above. I even had a little stuffed bird perched on my shoulder. I didn't think to do that this time. Maybe because I had my shoulders full, what with a baby strapped to my chest and all.


We carved a pumpkin yesterday. I was sure that Gus would love squishing his hands through the innards and have a grand old time. Yeah, not so much. I think I disturbed a very important game he was playing, or something, because it took a lot of convincing to get him to even have a look at what we were doing. He picked up one tiny piece, tasted it, spit it out (because it was disgusting, I am sure), and went back to his game. Oh well, I had fun.

Oh wait, that's Gus again.
He's better looking than the pumpkin I carved anyway

Finally, I made a spooky dinner. I made pepper-o-lanterns, inspired by these, twice-baked potato ghosts, and melted witches, aka guacamole with a felt hat to decorate. Now that I am writing this, I realise I should have done something "bloody" with the beetroot in the refrigerator. That probably would have been gross, rather than spooky. Anyway, it was both fun and delicious. I have a picture, but I am a bit embarrassed to post it, due to its poor quality. How do food bloggers a) get proper lighting for dinner shots when the sun sets at 5pm or b) take the time to actually take a nice photo, 'cause I do not like anything to come between me and my food once dinner is ready! 

Spooky!

Hope you had a fun day!

Wordless Wednesday

Is it weird that my son can say 6 words, and one of them is hat?  Maybe it is because this is one of his new favourite things to do:

sometimes this one

mostly this

And have you ever seen such cute pajamas??