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July 30, 2006

Pictures of DC


my boy band, originally uploaded by jannacybill.

There's a whole lot of story to go with each picture, and even more lessons behind, between, above and beyond each picture. I learned a lot on this trip.

I learned...
...that you can only expect to drive a six-hour distance per day, and even then it will take you nine hours.

...that I don't always like how I sound to Gus. He was telling me to 'be quiet' a lot, and often in a meanish way, so in the heat of the moment I said to him, "Don't say that to me." That has now become his favorite thing to say back at us when we are telling him to stop doing x,y or z. How do you teach a kid about the difference between mean-spirited and nice?

...that hotel air conditioning can be a beast and can bring on a sudden cough in Gus.

...that I'm so excited to be an auntie.

...that Kent, Ohio is a cute little place.

...that Eli can sleep five straight hours and he's ready for solids. If you held him while you were eating, he would track your food, from plate to mouth.

...that Gus is into storytelling. Gus stood on the stool in the kitchen with Tio Emilio and told him, "Mama makes the itchy go away." He also picked up a new random phrase of "Mama/Papa, it's a bad dream." He would say it constantly, and we never really knew what 'it' was. I love him.

...that my mom is lucky she flew to DC rather than drive with us. Grandma, it's a bad dream.

...that while we loved the trip, we don't need to drive anywhere for a while.

Posted by janna at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)

happy birthday, john


driving on his birthday, originally uploaded by jannacybill.

Here's to another great year with you.

Posted by janna at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)

We're back

We did it. I can't believe it. We actually drove 1,700 miles with two children under the age of three.

Yes, we are totally insane.

We just returned last night from a wonderful week in the DC area visiting family and friends. After doing some calculations, we determined we would save about $800 by driving rather than flying (and that was including gas prices), so it was a no-brainer for us (especially since grad school starts in a month for John, fun fun!). But in the end, we asked ourselves several times, "Was it really worth it to drive?"

Yes and no. We had our van, which made it much easier to get around DC. We didn't have to physically carry everything we needed in an airport and on a plane. But...our children sat in a car two days in a row, each way, for at least 6 hours a day. The novelty had worn off early on our return trip and grumpiness ruled. I don't blame them.

There is much more to tell, with pictures to boot...very soon!

Posted by janna at 07:17 AM | Comments (1)

July 18, 2006

Sorry, Zeppo

It's getting worse. I can't stop calling Zeppo "Gus".

To illustrate how bad the confusion in my brain is, just a few minutes ago I asked Zeppo if she wanted more milk. Seriously, people, it's getting bad. This is happening EVERY SINGLE DAY. I rarely call Eli "Gus", but I think I know why. Who are the two beings I'm nagging the most these days?

I'm a nag, aren't I? I mean, it often feels like an endless stream of, "Don't-hit-your-brother-chairs-are-for-sitting-don't-run-away-from-me-ONE-TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-THREE." Maybe nag is the wrong word. Perhaps I'm just trying to help Gus make it to his third birthday.

During the car ride home tonight, I asked Gus what he did today.

"Be quiet, Mama. Don't talk to me."

Hello, two-year old going on fourteen.

Posted by janna at 08:51 PM | Comments (1)

July 14, 2006

Thanks, Mr. Gus

"You're welcome, Mr.Mama."

Posted by janna at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2006

Eli rolled over!

It's begun.

Movement, not just of fingers or a limb here or there, oh no. Movement of the body, moving to a different location. It's not yet drastic, but being able to flip from your back to your belly is the beginning of the evolution chain. Soon that turns into being on hands and knees, to crawling, to pulling one's self up, to walking, to running, to WWF wrestling with your brother.

How do I stop the evolution? My baby is growing so fast.

Eli has found his thumb after weeks of strugle with his entire hand. He seems to favor his right hand for this endeavor, not sure if that's an early sign of handedness (since Gus is everyday becoming more and more a lefty). When he's in his bouncy seat, he kicks his legs with such enthusiasm that his whole body is bouncing up and down in a somewhat violent fashion. It looks like such fun.

My favorite thing to do with Eli is talk. You can tell him anything and he acts so excited to hear it all. His eye contact is heartmelting, his happiness palpable. He talks back quite a bit, often mirroring tone and facial expressions. He laughs and laughs and tracks your every move if you leave his presence. I have a feeling he's going to start balking at me leaving the room without him very soon...and very soon he'll just get up and follow me. Yikes!

Posted by janna at 06:15 PM | Comments (2)

July 10, 2006

Sweetness


Thirty-one months, originally uploaded by jannacybill.

Posted by janna at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)

Pretend

I spent the last hour of Gustav's wakefulness playing the voice of Mama Fox to his Mama Dragon. Whenever I tried to say something to Gus, he would talk back to the Fox. We were not we, we were mere voices for the dramatic lives of these creatures.

I didn't think that pretend play would be so prominent at this age, but Gus loves it, giving me a new stuffed animal, car or dinosaur to play with everyday. The most amazing thing is that I hear my words coming out of his mouth, or, er, Mama Dragon's mouth.

He tells my Mama Fox that she's in time out because she hurt the baby. Mama Dragon also helps fox find her baby, who often finds himself in the form of a ball or shoe or, um, boob pad. His imagination is that wild. At one point, Gus told me the ball was my baby fox, so I started talking to it. Suddenly Gus says incredulously, "It's not a baby, it's a ball." As if it were my idea in the first place, crazy woman.

As I read books tonight to Gus, he was picking out books for me to read. I reached out my hand to take it, but Gus refused, holding back until I used Mama Fox to pick it up.

I'm finding that this pretend time gives me a chance to act through difficult situations with Gus, such as his dragon hitting my fox. I can act sad, ask why he hit, and he's very articulate in explaining his intentions, and he in turn repeats back any feelings I've expressed about how Fox feels in the situation. If only I could use the forum to get him to stop squeezing Eli's cheeks...

This pretend play made me think of all the times I spent in my basement in Iowa, recording myself acting like Olivia Newton John or making up commercials and playing radio. I could play and play and play for hours, and I'm starting to get the feeling that Gus will be able to do the same thing.

Posted by janna at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2006

Three Generations


Three Generations, originally uploaded by jannacybill.

Grampa Paul was in town last week and met Eli for the first time. We are full of boy here, as you can see. Gus was so excited to see him, too, so great to see.

We went to have dim sum, and for some reason it didn't even occur to me to pack an alternative meal for Gus as we have in the past. Right when we got there, we had a plate of chicken feet. Yes, chicken feet. Gus desperately wanted one, and I never want to deny the boy something when he's willing to try something new, but this was one thing I had to say no to. Not only are there too many bones, mainly I was just not ready to see Gus eat that.

Click on the picture to see more pics from dim sum. You'll see Eli's new chopstick talent. It's awesome. I'm full of pride.

Posted by janna at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2006

It fits him!


Eli_062506, originally uploaded by jannacybill.

This onesie was given to us by Brenda... I thought it would be a while before he could actually wear it.

I'm testing out having my photos at Flickr instead of on my site, that way I can go through pics easier. Does it work?

Posted by janna at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)

July 06, 2006

ILY

gus_ily_062506.jpg

Posted by janna at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

July 03, 2006

Eli's 18 weeks old

eli_063006.jpg

Posted by janna at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2006

Stock tip: Draino

Get your money together, invest today in Draino.

I am experiencing postpartum alopecia. In other words, my hair is falling out. A LOT of my hair is falling out. Every shower is a shocking reminder. I just Googled it, to see how long this will last. "They" say (you know, all the experts out there who appear to have the same descriptive text on all of the sites... your run-of-the-mill plagarism) that I might experience this up to a year after baby comes.

Umm, I have a lot of hair, but not enough to last me through next February.

Posted by janna at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)

He understands everything

Be careful. Gus understands everything. We know this especially well when he repeats stuff back at us. I was eating these delicious ginger sandwich cookies (eat them, people, yum, from Newman's Own), and gave Gus two. I asked Gus if he was going to give John any. That's when Gus brought some new vocabulary out.

"No cookies for you, Papa, it's for special trips."
(I should note he said this while wagging his finger at John)

Special trips = movies in the van time. I never knew if he got it (I mean, what is 'special' about one trip over another?), but he took it and made it his own.

So John asks, "So are you on a special trip and I'm not?"

Apparently so!

Posted by janna at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)