It's Hot...

The days of summer have never felt hotter. My 20 + pound personal radiator seems to need more nursing these days, which means our body heat is feeding off of each other to create exponentially stickier, sweatier mother/baby bonding. Gus is embarking on a new era: The Age of Mobility. He's close to walking and is crawling and cruising faster than I could've envisioned, so with all these accomplishments it's no wonder he's needing more reassurance and security from his dear ol' mama via breast-feeding. But man, does he run hot!

Before this hot, hot heat really got started though, we had some visitors. Grammy, Aunt Jame, Maia and Jones came to see us. We had so much fun. On one of the days they were here we took a short trip out to one of the farms on Sauvie Island (only about 15 miles away) where we picked our own Blackberries, Blueberries, and Zinnias - Of course, we picked our own hotdogs and veggie-burgers too ;) There's something pretty great about descending on a blueberry bush with family and a flat or two waiting to be filled!

Gus had such a nice time with Grammy and of course, with his aunt and the Cousins cousins. He seems to be a bit bored since everyone left. We miss you!!!

Sleep deprivation - good times!

There will be no new post on the "Living With Gus" blog for a few days. Last night, Gus broke his previous (and impressive) personal record for not sleeping. We will return with nice photos of our outings with out of town guests.

Love,

Jim

First (well, almost) Haircut!

I finally got up the courage today to give Gus his first ever full-on haircut. I had cut his bangs in the past - what can I say, he has ultra fast growing Italian hair! - and had been gradually snipping here and there for the last several weeks in between his frenetic responses to seeing the scissors coming out... But today, finally today, we made a deal with each other to really make some headway with the haircut: I said, "We're doing it" and he said, "Okay Mama, I'll just sit here in the highchair, squirm around wildly, moan, squeal, flail and demand keys! toys! combs!"

But now it's done and his hair is out of his eyes. And just think, if he's anything like his Papa, he won't need another haircut for a whole week...

Grandpa Ron's going home. After a very brief visit today and a tad longer one a couple weeks ago, he's headed back down to hot, hot California. While G'pa Ron's been here Gus has been spoiled with trips to OMSI (the local science museum), the pool, and parks galore.

Of the milestone achievements Gus made during Grandpa Ron's time here, I'd say that putting his face in the water at the pool today could very well be the topper. On the first leg of Gramp's visit, we headed to a park with lots of fountains and Gus seemed pretty ambivalent about the water - content to watch the other kids (and water-sprays) from the sidelines. Jump forward to today's "swimming lesson": Gus splashed around with Gramps, Jim and me like nobody's business! What a big kiddo!

We topped off the evening with a picnic dinner at Mt. Tabor where, in the true spirit of Portland on a sunny day, hundreds of people gathered wearing huge smiles (and many a tattoo, of course) to enjoy a concert in the park. What a great visit. Until next time, Grandpa Ron - We'll miss you!

Hidden Dangers of Parenthood

Yesterday, Gus "handed" me the lid to the legos. Right in the eye. Ever since he was itty-bitty we've made a concerted effort to teach him the word, "gentle" and the concept behind it. So when, in a perfect storm of angle and inertia, he clocked me in the face with the lid, I tried to hold back the tears. It was just a fluke - After all, he really WAS being gentle so how could I possibly make him feel like he did something wrong by writhing in pain (my first instinct)? Luckily, Jim swooped down with an icepack and a mixed-message catastrophe was averted. All is right with Gus' world, gentle is still gentle. Mama just has a goofy black eye for a while.

He's getting big. All of a sudden, Gus can stand unassisted, climb up all sorts of things (including onto chairs!), laugh at funny situations - he's doing big kid things all the time. Some of his favorite things to do / laugh hysterically at are: "Gimme Five," "Peek-a-Boo," and zirbiting.

Gus' best buddy, George the monkey, has been getting lots of love from him these days. That stuffed animal is the recipient of so many hugs and kisses that it's hard not to feel just a wee-bit jealous! Recently George has been a very useful tool for Jim and me though. One day this week after countless diaper changes riddled with turning and flailing and standing, I decided to start "diapering" George with Gus watching. According to plan, Gus has picked-up on how George lays patiently on his back while I change his dipe, and is now just as patient. Of course, we're now changing dipes twice as often...

A Thought... One Year Later

It occurred to me that I'd need to record life with Gus somehow - I always thought it'd be in a baby book, like the one Mom had made with each of us. When Gus was born I bought a brand new, empty book ready for the addition of a few thousand details.

...So, a whole year and one still-empty baby book later, here we are.

I won't try to re-create every detail of Gus' first year here. After all, I hope to chip away at that baby book sooner or later. Instead, I'll start from this point: Gus, age 13 months.