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October 31, 2004
Happy Halloween!
love, GUSZILLA!
(We took Gus to John's work on Friday, where he got to wear his first costume.)
We're having a great weekend here, with Mom and friends and fall and teeth!
More to come...thanks for all the birthday greetings!
PS. Is it cheeky to take your almost-11-month-old son trick-or-treating when it is obvious that said son cannot eat the candy yet and, therefore, the parents must be eating it?
PSS. Does anyone else worry about running out of candy? Last year we had about 300+ kids come to our door!
Posted by janna at 12:50 AM | Comments (2)
October 27, 2004
Last stretch...
...for many things.
The election looms.
The leaves are almost off the trees.
I am less than 6 hours away from saying goodbye to my twenties.
That's right, Gus. Your Mama's turning thirty. I'm excited about it, too. I enjoyed my twenties... how could I not? A lot happened in the last ten years. I turned twenty in England, graduated from college, lived in Germany, moved home with my Mom and got to enjoy time with her as an adult, moved to Chicago, went to grad school, got a job in the city, met John, brought Zeppo into our lives, married your Papa, bought a house, had a baby...! Having you, Gus, was the most amazing thing that has happened in my twenties. It's amazing to think back to all the things that had to happen in order for you to be here with us, and I'm not just talking about the birds and the bees. All the decisions, chosen paths, not chosen paths...I'm so glad the road led to you.
ps. Today I sat you down in front of your toys. You sat there looking at me. I was shocked at how much you have grown, it was like noticing for the first time that we have this little boy in our home... where did he come from?
Posted by janna at 09:41 PM | Comments (3)
October 24, 2004
Every day something new
Tonight: Sitting up by himself for the first time! I watched Gus do it, but my brain wasn't registering at first what just happened.
Gus on his tiptoes...
Zeppo waiting for food... and waiting.... and waiting...
Posted by janna at 12:00 AM
October 14, 2004
It's Coming!
Top right tooth. One corner is pushing its way out. Our little Gus is about to have a tooth seven months after we thought his first teeth were coming in.
Now let's think about the impact of said tooth:
Good for shaving pieces of food off a chunk o' something
Good for flashing that baby 'toothy grin'
Good for corn-on-the-cob eating (he's half Iowan, come on!)
Bad for painfully coming in
*Potentially* bad for, ummm, nursing... at least at first.
Another new thing: Gus is pulling himself up to standing, at least now when he is sitting. He hasn't quite found out how to sit up from lying down, but the strength with which he pulls himself up makes me think it's not far. Once he is standing, he actually tries to pull himself up on whatever he is holding onto.
Tonight Gus was a sly little bugger...
He crawled his way over to a lamp cord. I said my usual, "Gustav... no, no, no!"
and moved him back to his toys, saying my usual, "These are for Gustav."
He instantly turned around and crawled back to the cord.
'Goooooostaaaaaavvvvv.....'
He snaps his head towards me, with this look of 'what? I'm not doing anything!'
Then, there it was. The mischevious smile. Oh, it was different than his usual smile. It was purposeful, it was KNOWING.
I started laughing. (bad, bad, bad to laugh when trying to reinforce something so serious!)
He then kept going towards the cord.
I picked him back up again. Back to the toys.
I feel like I've made the cord more appealing because we won't let him touch it. There are plenty of things in the house that he DOESN'T touch that I don't care about. How can I reverse the psychology?
Posted by janna at 09:16 PM
October 13, 2004
Fall
Posted by janna at 12:28 AM
Happy Columbus Day
Here's what we did on our day off...
We took Gus to daycare, had pancakes at IHOP, then went to IKEA and finally found a tv/media shelving solution for our cord woes.
Oh, does Gus love the cords. He's addicted.
We came home and assembled and moved and moved and moved stuff all around. If you've been here before, you'll notice a difference.
Gus has the best hair...and a possible top right tooth making its way in. He hasn't slept through the night since, oh... last week. I'm tired, but I love him.
I was talking to a co-worker about voting memories. Not memories of ourselves voting, but of going with our parents to vote. I remember going with my mom to the polling place, a church, about two blocks from our home. There were always very old women sitting at the table, ready to check to see if your name was on the register. Sometimes there was a line. Sometimes it was empty, particularly on voting days where it rained. People can't be expected to vote when it rains, right? My strongest and first voting memory is of the 1980 election, Regan vs. Carter. I went in the booth with my mom and was able to close the curtain by pulling the lever (with some help, I'm sure). This was the kind of booth where the tabs had to be flipped by hand on the panel in front of you. Such a loud, snapping sound...you could HEAR the voting. Talk about visceral feedback! When we got home, I promptly called my grandma. I asked her who she voted for. She said, "Carter." I went on to tell her that she had voted for the wrong person, she was supposed to vote for Regan.
I was six. JUST BARELY six.
It wasn't until I was in junior high that I realized that my own political leanings were similar to my grandma's. Some reasonable things just skip a generation (*wink wink*, Mom!).
I'm excited to expose Gus to voting. He went to the primary with me, he'll be there on November 2nd. The booths are just so lackluster now.
I do predict that Gus will be voting on a computer by the time he's eighteen. Doesn't seem like such a leap, but I think it's going to take a while before they get the system down.
So when will he vote for his first president?
2004: 11 months old (prediction: Kerry by a hair...or a chad!)
2008: Almost five years old (Kerry is re-elected, defeating Arnold Schwartzenager, who miracuously was made eligible to run)
2012: Almost nine years old (Hilary as Pres, Obama as VP, although Edwards may make a run for it too)
2016: Almost thirteen years old (Hilary re-elected)
2020: Almost seventeen years old (Wow...someone who was born in 1974?)
2024: Almost twenty-one years old (Zeppo for president!)
Posted by janna at 12:25 AM | Comments (1)
October 08, 2004
Clear Ear!
It's so so so good.
Gustav's ears are clear! No more ear infection.
*jumping up and down*
The boy has grown, too... 21 lbs (50th percentile), 29 1/4 inches (75th percentile). He's wearing some 18-month clothing. (!)
The main reason for going to the doctor's today, however, was the flu shot. After reading about the shortage, I wanted to be sure to get Gus in as early as possible. The doctors had decided this morning that only kids between the ages of 6 months and 36 months or something like that that were in daycare would be eligible for it since they had to ration it. Yikes. I would have liked to get one just because I feel like I bring home so many germs from being on the train and just being out, but at least Gus is taken care of. He'll need another shot in a month to bolster this first one. Apparently that's the routine for the first time kids get the shot. I would not be surprised if there were no more vaccines left to do that. We'll see!
Posted by janna at 05:54 PM
October 06, 2004
Month Ten
A year ago I was on day 35 of bedrest. I had 59 days to go. I was waking up every three hours to take Terbutaline, the medicine that was preventing me from going into pre-term labor. I was sitting on the couch that I'm sitting on right now. I was getting out of the house once a week to go four blocks to the doctor's office. John would usually drive me around a few more blocks on the way home...ah variety, the spice of life!
Ten months ago was the beginning of waking up every two to three hours to feed, change, and generally stare at a brand new Gus. I couldn't sleep at all those first few nights, I was in such awe. Gus was sleeping constantly. He was always swaddled, had a little hat on, and John and I were sharing my hospital bed.
Tonight Gus went to bed at 7:30 pm. He's still in bed. It's almost 11. He won't wake up until 5:30 am (I hope).
And I've totally jinxed myself. Gus is crying, it's 10:50. That just proves I should never utter such absolutes.
Oh Gus... you sound so sleepy. We love you.
Posted by janna at 10:49 PM
October 04, 2004
Feeling better
Ah Gus.
He's on the upswing. Gus isn't letting any nasty ear infection get him down for too long, oh no. It was a relief to see Gus with his spirits back this past weekend (and his appetite, too!).
We went to two birthday parties this weekend, both for four-year-olds. I found myself trying to imagine Gus as a four-year-old. What will he sound like? Look like? What will his obsessions be? Danny, our lovely daycare provider Christy's son, loves cars. He loves them so much that he wore a race car driver's suit, had a race car track cake, and received loads of car-themed gifts.
Cora, the daughter of the Tiny Hair's drummer, loves Snow White. So much so she wore a Snow White dress, had a snow white cake, and spoke of her love for Grumpy, although she easily admits she is not grumpy herself, nor does she know anyone so grumpy. She explained all this grumpy business with the biggest smile on her face. So charming!
After these events, which are for both the kids sake as well as for the adults, I began to wonder about birthdays. Gus will be one in two months. TWO MONTHS! It gives me flashbacks to looking at my own old birthday pics, the one where I'm in a high chair, I think, and there's a little cake with one fat candle on it. Was I at my Grandma's? Our first house in Treynor, IA? I'm getting those picture memories all messed up now. But Gus will have those picture memories too, andthat just makes me so happy.
Gus just fell asleep while nursing. The favorite question of me these days is, "When are you going to stop?" I interpret this question in two ways: 1. Janna, I'm your friend and since you talk about your boobs more than most people and you still pump at work (which you also complain about occasionally) I'm simply curious as to how long you will keep it up. OR 2. Janna, I don't really know you, but by God, woman, you're STILL nursing?
To both I respond, "I don't know," which means in response to #1: I don't really know, when he seems ready to wean. Maybe when he's drinking cow's milk (aka. milk from another type of mother, tee hee) I won't have to pump anymore and he could nurse at home until he fully weans. In response to #2: Mind your own business, it's not like I'm nursing a ten-year old.
In any case, I know the time is dwindling when I find remnants of Gustav's pasta dinner in my bra.
And I will be sad when it ends.
Posted by janna at 06:32 PM