Cheerios!

Because I just can't get enough of watching Linus feed himself Cheerios. He is getting quite good at it. This morning I gave him a handful and none landed on the floor.

He was up early this morning; therefore, we were also up early. Eek! He had his flu shot booster this morning and it went very well. He just cried out in a way that said, "Hey! What are you doing to me?" And then he was fine.

What Should I Read Next?

Some days around 4:30, Linus gets fussy. Perhaps he is bored. I try to come up with different things to do, like stroller rides around the downstairs. This day, I sat Linus in front of his books and let him go to town. He had fun pulling down every single book.

New Cousin on the Way

Linus will have a new cousin next July, as Star and John are expecting. They've dubbed the fetus Bean, after what it looks like at 8 weeks. I'm excited to be an aunt again and for Linus to have a cousin close to him in age. Star is suffering from terrible morning sickness, so these pictures are to cheer her up. I went through four months of 24/7 sickness and now I have the joy of my baby Linus. Hang in there!

Linus likes to grab at our noses, put his fingers in our mouths, and also rock his head around while saying something like, "Iiiieeeyiii." I have to move fast to keep him from banging his head into my lip.

Thanksgiving Recap

We all had a wonderful Thanksgiving trip out east to see Matthew's family and I feel confident in saying that Linus had a blast. Some highlights for Linus include: riding on Grandpa's shoulders, "walking" anywhere he could, sitting on lots of laps on Thanksgiving, seeing all the people at the airport who said "Look at that cute baby" as they walked by, getting smiles from Grandma, seeing all the big kids at Matthew's former high school, playing with cousin Wesley's toys at Grandpa's and Grandma's house, and getting to ride front-facing in Wesley's car seat. At Thanksgiving dinner, Linus dined on Cheerios, squash, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce.

In the last week Linus has taken to walking. He likes for us to hold his hands to support him while he walks around, all with a gigantic smile on his face. Turns out Johanna is doing the same thing. In other Johanna news, she cut her first tooth on Thanksgiving!

He was rather fussy yesterday. We think he misses all of his adoring fans.

Travel Plans

We fly out tomorrow morning for Thanksgiving out east with Matthew's family. I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to blog before we get back next Friday evening, but I promise I'll post some photos when I get a chance.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ugly

No, Linus isn't ugly! I'm talking about an Ugly Doll! Linda gave me one for my birthday, but as you can see, Linus has adopted him. Fortunately, I'm good at sharing. The Ugly Doll's name is OX, not as in ox, but as in hug and kiss. Ugly Dolls are all the rage in particular circles and boy is this company raking in the bucks. He is made of fleece and is like a small flat pillow. Linus likes tackling him and chewing on his ears or feet.

Paper Work

We've been discovering how enthusiastic Linus is about helping us with paper work. Last weekend he helped Matthew with preparing envelopes for recycling. Matthew sat on the floor with him to tear out all of the cellophane windows and Linus was more than willing to assist. They worked on this task while I prepared dinner and took photos.

Yesterday's play date was at our house and Johanna's dad even joined us for a bit. The coolest thing happened: the babies "talked" to one another. Linus looked over at Johanna and babbled something and she babbled back. It was so cute. The play date included gentle hair pulling, grabbing at faces, wanting the same toy, napping, sharing pacifiers, and much talking by the moms.

Bubbles

Friday night after dinner I took a bubble bath. Matthew brought Linus in to see me before tucking him into bed. Linus got really excited about the water and bubbles. Matthew let him put his hands in and splash around. He got into quite a splashing frenzy. In the end, Matthew had to put dry pajamas on him. And yes, I had Matthew run get the camera so I could take photos.

Table Food and the Pancake Pig

Last Friday the library celebrated Children's Book Week with pancake-themed story time and visits from the Pancake Pig and Little Critter. I adore the Pancake Pig from If You Give a Pig a Pancake. She's fun. So we went more for me to see the pig than for Linus. On Saturday we were eating dinner and had Linus in his high chair at the table. He was eyeing our food, so I gave him a taste of plain rice. He liked it okay so I put some on his tray. It helped that it was sticky; it made it easier for him to hold onto it and get some in his mouth. We had fun watching him manipulate the rice with his fingers.

I think he is teething, only because he was fussy all weekend and he is usually such a happy baby. My rheumatoid arthritis has moved into my jaw, so I joked that maybe Linus was having sympathy pain. Matthew suggested it was the other way around. In addition to being fussy, he isn't eating as much. Maybe he is working hard to have a tooth in time for Thanksgiving!

Catalog Shopping

Here's Linus from a couple of weeks ago, checking out the Lands' End catalog while I read through the mail.

Fast forward to today, when Linus displayed a new talent: making clicking sounds with his mouth. Another new talent is that he takes his finger and uses it to move his bottom lip while talking. That is the best way to describe it. I don't know what to call it. It is very cute and silly.

Play Date and Election

Linus didn't make it to the polls with us last night because he was worn out from a fun afternoon of playing with Johanna. He also got to hear Alex play music. I'm very tired this morning. I didn't sleep well because I was thinking about the election. In general I'm feeling pretty pleased with the results. I'm in shock that Steve Kagen beat out John Gard for Congress. Wow! That was such an ugly campaign and the Gard supporters don't play nice. They never have. Hee, hee; John Gard will be out of political office for a while. We are really happy that our Democratic governor was reelected, the first Democrat to be reelected for governor in 33 years. I'm sad that Kathleen Falk didn't win the attorney general seat. She'd be a great attorney general. Also sad that the marriage amendment passed. The death penalty one did too, but the governor will veto it. Anyway.... lots about the election and less about Linus, but Linus will be impacted by who is in office, so it is relevant to this blog.

At the moment, he is squealing in his crib. He is supposed to be napping.

In this picture that Alex took, Matthew was excited to see this vintage Fisher-Price toy. He remembers one just like it.

Haute? Hote?

Sunday evening Linus kept saying, "Hote. Hote. Hote" Or was he saying haute? At one point it sounded like he said oak. He was so cute when we returned home, looking around the house and smiling at everything. Once again, he was a riot during his bath in the kitchen sink. He flat out refuses to sit down. Matthew tried to make him sit, but he planted his feet firmly down and refused to bend his knees. When Matthew finally got him sitting, Linus started to cry. We couldn't help but laugh, and then Matthew held him standing for his bath. The photo is from that night. We played with him in his room after his bath.

I went to the Friends of the Library book sale last night during the member preview and got an awesome bargain and Linus' library has grown. I got him 18 board books and several story books. The board books were 4 for $1! I spent over an hour and a half crawling around, digging through box after box, hunting for the best books for Linus. I really enjoyed picking books for him. Some rhyme, some are classics, some have great vocabulary words, some have incredible pictures. I also ran into Johanna's daddy there. He was picking out books for her.

Today is election day. We are voting for the full slate of Democratic candidates, and voting no on both amendments (bringing back the death penalty and banning civil unions). We'll bring Linus to the polls with us tonight.

Linus' First Craft Extravaganza

We had a fun weekend in Madison at Sara's and Billy's for our annual Crease Craft Extravaganza and my birthday. As you can see here from Linus picking out stamps to use, he got into the crafting. For much of the time, Susan played with Linus while Sara worked on Susan's scrapbook for her. Linus also modeled his lobster costume. He got to sleep in the room that has the six baby turtles swimming around. He watched them while trying to settle down for his naps.

The adults enjoyed lots of food like peanut butter pie for my birthday, a pomegranate, chips and dip, and pumpkin pies from McDonald's to celebrate Sara having quit working there six years ago. Let's see, how long ago did I work at McDonald's? 15 years.

With all the talking, eating, and baby kissing we did manage to squeeze in a bit of crafting. Stephanie stamped words onto mats for collage frames, Sara completed two layouts for Susan's scrapbook about her dog, Lucy, and one layout for herself; and I completed three scrapbook layouts. Matthew played on Billy's computer and ate Halloween candy.

New Playing Skills

About a week ago Linus figured out that if he slapped the face on his toy, it plays a song. So now he goes after it and slaps it repeatedly. He is definitely in his pre-crawling stage. If he is motivated enough, he'll go from a sitting position to his belly and reach and reach for things, like my shoelaces. He's also learned that if he pulls on the blanket, it brings the toys closer to him.

Fall Fashion

Here Linus is sporting the sweater from his great-grandmother over a turtleneck, a perennial favorite. Paired with khakis, he's looking quite dashing, just like his papa.

Off to get flu shots today.