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.

Baby's First Halloween

On Sunday we carved pumpkins. We decided to carve Linus' to look like Winthrop-Linus'-Monkey. Matthew did most of the handiwork on it. When I cut the top off I let Linus touch it. The other pictures are from today. I fed Linus at 2 and then got him into his costume for pictures and trick-or-treating at Matthew's work. All that silliness wore him out.

Visit with Family

Stephanie, Brian, and Brandon came for a visit last Friday. It was like Christmas around here with all the clothes, puzzles, blocks, and the Graco "Entertainer" they brought. All these things were Brandon's when he was a baby. Linus figured out the Entertainer pretty quickly. He obviously likes the mobility of being able to turn around the table and play with everything. Brandon fed Linus peach yogurt and played peek-a-boo with him on the couch. Brandon does a good job of explaining toys to Linus and is very good at remembering to keep little objects away from him.

Art for Linus

Linus has an original hanging in his room. The artist is David Berger, Matthew's longtime friend and the Intinerant Philosopher at our wedding. David has a Ph.D in philosohy and is working on another Ph.D. in the classics. Needless to say, he knows his Greek gods. It turns out that there is a Greek god named Linus. To learn more, check out this entry: Linus.

Pretty neat! The picture is really special to us.

Awareness

Linus has become more aware of his surroundings. One example is that he has started to notice patterns on his clothes. When I took this photo, Linus was checking out Bucky Badger on his bib. He's also started listening to the radio when it catches his attention. About two weeks ago he got really excited about a bassoon concerto. When we look at the fish tank together, his eyes appear to be following the two remaining fish.

New Trick

On Saturday I sat Linus down in his crib in front of his mirror toy to play while I washed my hands. I came back about one minute later and he was kneeling. He'd pulled himself up, put his feet back, and kneeled!!! I yelled for Matthew to come see. We enjoyed watching him chew on the crib and Linus was obviously pretty pleased with himself.

After a while, Matthew went and grabbed the tools and lowered the mattress a couple of notches. I had Linus sitting on my lap while Matthew worked on the crib and Linus intitiated peek-a-boo with Matthew through the crib slats. Then when Matthew made eye contact with him, Linus wiggled around very excitedly.

(Blogger won't let me post photos lately. I've been trying to post this since Monday. I'll add the cute photos later.)

Beautiful Morning

It doesn't matter if it is cold and rainy outside, for we have our very own sunshine residing in our home and hearts.

Finger Food?

The clinic gave us a great handout listing appropriate finger foods for various ages. Oddly enough, for Linus' age it listed apple sauce as a finger food. Hmmmm. We gave him some mashed banana, but it was too difficult for him to pick up. When I realized it wasn't a successful finger food, I put some in his mouth and it was too chunky for him. We'll try again another time. We received a couple of little mesh food sack things. You're supposed to put soft food in it for baby to gnaw on to get through the mesh. I tried banana in it and I really don't know that he got much. He did squish some out and get it on his nose, though.

Favorite foods continue to be fruit: bananas, pears, apple sauce, peaches, and now plums. He leans forward and gulps it down. He is still allergic to carrots. I gave him some squash with a bit of carrot in it and he got the same rash on his face. No more carrots now until he's a year old.

Snuggy Baby

For the last couple of weeks, my main craft project was sewing sleep sacks for Linus. I'm pretty proud of myself for creating pattern pieces out of grocery bags and figuring out how to construct them. I used left over fleece from my stash and Lyz also generously contributed some. The buttons are from my button jars. Since new fleece sleep sacks run $20-25 each and used ones on eBay are running about $10, I saved us quite a bit of money. In addition, Linus' sleep sacks were made just for him by his mama. I dubbed them Snuggies, because they will keep him snuggy warm.

When I layed them out for this photo with Linus sitting by them, he fell backwards and then pulled one up on him like it was a blanket. Adorable!

Prep Cook

Linus has become my assistant in the kitchen. Now that he can sit without tipping over much, I have him sit in the middle of the kitchen floor while I'm cooking. I give him measuring spoons, a hand mixer beater, measuring cups, etc. to play with and he has a grand time. It it pretty common for me to discover a little pool of drool on the floor when I pick him up. Talk about incentive to mop more often!

I baked cookies on Saturday. It was a fun weekend activity. It was nice to have Matthew home all weekend for us to putz around the house together.

Lawn Mower's Peek-a-Boo

Last Friday I had the most fun I've ever had while mowing the lawn. Linus was playing on a blanket nearby. As I approached with the mower, I'd say, "Peek-a-boo!" and he would smile and laugh. Then I'd turn and mow in the other direction and he'd keep watching for me or grab a toy until I returned into his line of view and say, "Peek-a-boo!" and get him laughing again. It was a blast. He also watched me plant bulbs and it made for a wonderful afternoon.

I took this picture that day and this is the response I got when I asked, "Are you a happy baby?"

Duck Soup?

On our way back from the park on Sunday we stopped to visit with our neighbors who were out in their yard with their duck, Dilbert. Sue held Dilbert up so Linus could check him out. Linus reached out and held onto his beak. He didn't pull hard so Sue said it was okay. He let go, but then a bit later reached out, grabbed the duck's beak, and proceeded to put it in his mouth! Sue and I backed away from each other and we were all laughing really hard. Linus looked around with an expression that said, "What? What?" Then Mark noticed Linus had a feather in his hand. I didn't realize until I saw the photos that Linus was holding onto the side of the duck with his other hand. Mark was telling us about Polish duck recipes, so maybe Linus thought he'd try a taste of duck. I reminded him that we don't eat birds.

Visit to the Park

On Sunday afternoon we took a walk to the ice cream shop for what we expected to be our last ice cream cones of the year. We stopped at the nearby park and Linus liked checking out the kids on the swings and a little pug dog on a leash. A little girl called over as her swing went up high, "That's a cute baby!" She later came over and wrapped her little hands around Linus' cheeks.

Catch of the Day

Actually, Linus is our catch of a life time! These photos are of Linus in his lobster Halloween costume on Saturday. Linus and I joined Linda, Alex, and Johanna for Pumpkin Palooza downtown. I've never seen so many children in costumes in one place. The weather was perfect for being outside and it was fun hanging out together with our cute babies. Matthew joined us later after he finished working.

Linus had his six-month check-up today. Here are the results of his measurements:
Weight: 17 pounds, 15 ounces. He's in the 50th percentile. (He gained about 2 1/2 pounds)
Length: 27 1/2 inches. He's in the 75th percentile. (He grew an inch and a half)

Fall

We are having some incredibly beautiful weather. The sun is shining and it is warm enough to be outside without a jacket if you are in long sleeves or are one of those warm kind of people. Yesterday Linus and I were out in the front yard watching the leaves fall from the trees and watching the neighbor's dog run around. A Democratic campaign volunteer delivered our yard signs and even put them in the ground for us. Life was good.

Linus' joy in sitting to play is palpable and a very beautiful thing. Poor baby woke up an hour early, sopping wet and cold. Matthew changed him into dry jammies and brought him into bed with us. Sure was nice to snuggle with him and warm him up. He had a bottle and went back to sleep in our bed.

P.S. Babies in overalls are irresistable!

Linus Sitting on Settee

The title of this post is not what this photo is. The title is what I said when I saw how Matthew had Linus sitting on the settee next to him while Matthew put on his boots. He looked like someone posing for a painting. I'm still amazed at Linus' sitting skills. He was sitting on his bedroom floor playing with toys while I changed his sheet and put away his laundry. I kept looking at him and thinking, "Wow! Linus is sitting!" I need to wash a throw rug to put under the quilt he plays on downstairs. The hardwood floor isn't so nice to Linus' head when he tips over.

Linus and I have a bit of a cold. I have a sore throat and wonder if Linus does. He's got the same little bit of runny nose that I do and he has a little cough. Yesterday he was out of sorts, but looks like he feels better today. We skipped baby class today because I didn't want us to infect other little ones. I'm disappointed because it was about infant oral care and I was interested in the subject.

So what is going on in this photo? Linus is playing with Johanna and the new baby in the group, Ana. Ana was born a few days before Linus and recently moved to Green Bay. I got quite a few laughs out of watching three babies doing similar things, like grabbing toys and putting them in their mouths, and I also enjoyed noticing the ways in which they are different.

Silly Goose

For about a month I've had conversations with Linus similar to this: "Are you a silly goose? No, you're a silly gosling! Mama is a silly goose. Do we live at the Wildlife Sanctuary? No, we live in our house." Saturday we all went together to the Sanctuary and bought corn for Wesley to feed the geese and ducks. We also checked out the indoor exhibits. There is a table with animal parts for people to touch and Matthew held out various things for Linus, such as antlers and fur. He had to hang on tight to keep Linus from putting them in his mouth.

It sure felt funny, and great, being a grown up taking my child on outings this weekend. I especially felt it when we entered the zoo and were surrounded by children and their parents.

Six Months Old Today!

Six months seems like such a milestone. I'm convinced that he's at his cutest. He is so much fun right now. He's ticklish and smiley and laughs a lot. Many random things delight him. He is getting pretty good at sitting on his own and has renewed a relationship with some of his toys. I guess they seem new from a sitting up position.

Yesterday I fed him zucchini and he detested it. It made him gag. It turns out that he also doesn't like green beans and I have a great picture of the face he made. When I get it from Matthew's camera, I'll post it.

Here are more photos of Linus and Wesley.