Having Fun in Denver

We are all doing well and getting settled in. I have lots to update you on, but will start with these pictures of us visiting Matthew's workplace, Denver Botanic Gardens, for the first time. We went in the late afternoon on Memorial Day and then went to dinner at an Indian restaurant, which Linus really enjoyed.

Since moving here we've been working on teaching Linus to touch plants nicely instead of bashing them or pulling them. We say, "Gentle touch," and demonstrate. He has been nice to plants for over a week now.

We really love Denver for the friendly people and the fun things to do, like the awesome Denver Zoo and the Museum of Nature and Science.

Our Last Days in Wisconsin

Spring time here is beautiful and life would be great except for my attempting to pack while looking after Linus. The house isn't so child safe any more with everything coming out to be packed. Plus, Linus has started climbing to get to things. It is difficult to keep a close eye on him when I'm trying to shove things into boxes and wrap breakables. So then I give up in frustration and just play. Thank heavens Matthew's parents are coming to the rescue next week!!!

Linus has changed again. Everyone has noticed it. Last night Sue (our neighbor) said, "He's different. His face is different." He plays like a kid plays and has new expressions on his face. Here are pictures of Linus climbing the ornamental bridge by himself (a new skill), "helping" me plant pansies, and playing chase with me in Matthew's office. Linus has also had peanut butter on bread and our friend Lynn shared her potato chips with him at Kavarna. Last week he gave Johanna hugs and kisses and went at her like he was going to tickle her tummy. He watched the handy man and window repair people use tools and he wanted to get involved with the work. He has just started riding his little trike with help. He adores our neighbors and laughs or squeals to them from our yard. Yesterday he kept saying, "Maa, maa, maa, maa," like a sheep. Is he working up to saying ma ma in time for Mother's Day? I'll let you know. I looking forward to hearing him call to me with words and not just crying or fussing.

The movers load up the truck next Thursday and we fly out the next day. It might be a week or so before I can post again.

Dill Pickle

Here is Linus chewing on a pickle and waving to our neighbor, Mark. Mark invited us over yesterday afternoon for the family cookout they were having to celebrate Phillip's confirmation. Mark cans his own pickles and Linus took mine from me and walked around chewing on it for a while. Sue got out an old toy shopping cart and Linus pushed his sippy cup around in it. The weather was gorgeous and my daffodils bloomed. Linus would like to be outside every minute. We go out a couple of times a day.

Car Seat Promotion

We've promoted Linus to riding in a forward facing car seat. We kept him rear facing as long at the instruction manual recommended and then turned the seat around because he reached the height restriction. He enjoys looking out the front window (we have him in the center) and when we are waiting for a train to pass, I play peekaboo with him from the front. Now and then he giggles about something as we are driving around, but I have no idea what is striking his fancy.

Bubble Frenzy

Here is a picture of Linus chasing after bubbles on our deck. It was challenging for me to blow bubbles and take the picture at the same time. It was rather windy that day so the bubbles blew away and none stuck around for Linus to pop them. The weather is supposed to improve this weekend and I look forward to another bubble experience.

Tommorow we are attending the first birthday party for James, Linus' second play date buddy. Then all three babies will have had their milestone properly feted and they can be on their way to all sorts of toddlerhood adventures.

Spring Time Pursuits

It was chilly and windy out yesterday, so we didn't play outside too long, but Linus still managed to burn off some energy. We played ball, I blew bubbles for him to chase, and he picked his very first dandelion. He also poked around at his first anthill, which is what he is doing in this picture.

Linus is turning into a little person more and more. He gives me the greatest hugs. He gives them with such enthusiasm and today he gave me about a dozen in around five minutes. He must have sensed I needed them.

The best way to describe my packing is that it is Linus-driven extreme multi-tasking. This morning for example: he took me into the living room. While he played, I pulled the plastic and tape off of the windows in preparation for the window washer this weekend. Oh, wait, now we are going into Matthew's office. He explores and I pack two boxes of books. Uh oh! He's stuck behind some things. After I execute a rescue, Linus takes us back into the living room. I finish another window while holding Linus. Then I start sorting bags of baby clothes into those I can sell to a resell shop and those to go to Goodwill. Linus gleefully assists by shoving clothes into bags. Not necessarily the ones I intended. Then he runs off with some of the clothes and I find tiny size 3-month pants in his blocks basket and a 3 month onesie in Matthew's office. Upstairs I tackle our bedroom windows and the top of Matthew's dresser while Linus walks around with my Shakespeare action figure, sans feather pen and book, which are choking hazzards. Then I spy Shakespeare in the trash and I talk to Linus about that not being such a good place for the Bard. After this, we head back downstairs to read books and then Linus decides it is fun to cover my face with his new sun hat.

Big Event

A week and a half ago we took Linus to the Big Event for Little Kids with Linda and Johanna. Linus was overwhelmed much of the time by the kids running around, the music, and so many things to see. He got up the courage to pet two gentle service dogs. He saw baby animals, such as chicks and calves. He looked worried when a kid goat kept bleating.

Linus gets very excited when we encounter dogs on our walks. Near us live two mean sounding German shepherds that bark in a very aggressive way. They are behind a fence, so we are safe when we walk by, but I carry Linus near there and we hurry past. Other neighbors just got a new puppy that is really cute. Linus squealed last night when he saw it. From the library I got him a board book with photos of animals and their mommies. He talks to the dogs in it.

Matthew should be getting pretty close to Denver around now. We miss him. These few weeks will seem awfully long when it comes to us being apart. In terms of me getting the house packed and ready for the market, the time will fly by much too quickly.

Hooray for Morning

This is a picture of Linus one morning last week. He ran around his crib excitedly squealing. This is in contrast to how he has been feeling lately. He is taking such very long naps and is only his normal self about 25% of the time. If he is teething, I wish the tooth would hurry up. If it isn't teething that is plaguing him, then what is?

The movers I selected brought some boxes, packing tape, and paper. Linus will be surprised to see it when he gets up from his nap. I'm getting things ready for Matthew's going away party on Sunday. I can't believe he'll be leaving in a few days and I'll be a single parent.

So Big!

Here is Linus playing So Big during a meal. He ended up with bits of food in his hair. It is my fault that he plays this while eating, because I taught it to him while he was in the high chair.

He is still teething and rather fussy; although, I did manage to get us through the grocery store without him getting upset. He had a meltdown when we got home. Nothing seems to help very much.

Political Activist in the Making

Last Thursday there was a state budget hearing at the National Railroad Museum here in Green Bay. Linus and I went so I could register support for two budget items: extending domestic partner benefits to state employees and providing $17 million to clean PCB's out of the sediment in the tributaries to the Great Lakes. Our friend Jessica was there all day. She works for the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters Institute and was handing out granola bars to conservationists who were waiting a very long time to get to speak before the 20 legislators. We brought her a latte, registered my opinions in writing, and visited with some Democrats. Here Linus is posing with Jessica. He attracted a lot of attention. He was the youngest person there.

The last of the three movers have come through and I've met with the last of three realtors. Linus has struggled with sharing me with these people. He is used to having my undivided attention. He's been a trouper, but now appears to be teething more. He slept a lot yesterday and didn't eat any of his dinner. We gave him Tylenol and Ora Gel, but neither helped much. He ate well at breakfast, but isn't fully himself today. He has needed lots of snuggling from mama.

Breaking News: A Tooth!

Yes, Linus' first tooth has poked through. Matthew discovered it last night and it wasn't there yesterday morning. He was in more pain this morning and very upset about it, but is jolly once again this afternoon and more of the tooth is showing. It is the left maxillary lateral incisor (I looked this up so I knew what to call it). We are very excited about this big development.

It has been a crazy and stressful week with us informing friends that we are moving away and I've been scheduling movers, realtors, a handy man, a window and gutter washer, etc. Plus, I'm planning Matthew's going away party for the 22nd.

For a few weeks now Linus has been clingy with me when Matthew is around. The last two mornings he cried when Matthew left for work, and today he cried when the realtor left. I don't even think I'm going to choose her to sell our house, but I guess Linus liked her. I guess he just doesn't like to say goodbye to anyone right now.

No Tears

Linus has his 12-month check up yesterday and when he received his immunizations he didn't cry at all. I was so surprised. He also didn't cry when he had blood drawn for tests. Linus is 31 inches tall and 22.5 pounds. He is still in the 90th percentile for height and 50th for weight. Dr. Gast said all was going well, except that we should wean him from his pacifier. He pretty much only uses it when he sleeps or takes Johanna's from her. Even so, Dr. Gast said we should end the use of it. We're still deciding how we want to go about this.

Here is Linus with Dr. Gast, who saw me through my pregnancy, assisted during the C-Section, and has been Linus' doctor for the first year of his life. We took pictures because we are moving to Denver and will have to find a new doctor. I'll miss him. He wears nice sweaters, our senses of humor click, and his eyes sparkled as he smiled at me when we first heard Linus' heartbeat.

Baby's Second Easter

We couldn't help but reflect on how different this Easter was from last year, when Linus was only two weeks old. This year he ran excitedly to his Easter basket to discover a stuffed bunny, book, and bunny grahams. We let him have an Easter egg in his high chair and he quickly cracked open an end and started pulling the egg apart. We had a nice dinner together, followed with pink cupcakes. I made some mini ones for Linus. He snarfed three down.

Games Babies Play

So Linus turns one and he suddenly has new skills! He plays "So Big" with me. I ask, "How big is Linus?" and he puts his arms up high and I say, "So big!" I tried doing this with him a couple of months ago and he didn't play along. I tried it yesterday out of the blue and he got it. Another skill is clapping. He started clapping a few months ago, but he only did it for about a week and then ceased. Yesterday he started clapping again. This morning the Cleveland Pops was playing a zippy tune on Public Radio and he danced by bobbing up and down, walking a bit while clapping, stopping and bobbing, then walking and clapping again. It was the cutest thing to see.

One photo is of his after-dinner clapping last night and the other is of him enjoying his birthday waffle.

Crabby Pants

Linus was so very crabby yesterday. He kept getting frustrated about things, like my not letting him get into old paint in the basement that I didn't even know was there until he discovered it. He also got crabby when I wouldn't assist him in getting into the kitchen drawers that are too high for him to reach and contain dangerous things such as matches and knives. I know, I'm such a mean mother.

Here is a picture from last week when it was warm enough to play outside, unlike this week. Linus likes to have me help him walk up and down the decorative bridge in our back yard. I have to be careful walking alongside of it because the bulbs I planted last fall are coming up and I didn't have the foresight to realize I'd be helping Linus play on the bridge.

Birthday Kisses

I'm not the only one to give Linus a birthday kiss. Johanna planted one on Linus at his party. That was a really sweet moment and I'm glad Alex got a photo of it.

So today is the big day: my baby is one. Each time I look at the clock, I remember what I was doing at that time on this day last year. Right now Matthew and I were listening to Public Radio and playing a game in between my very manageable contractions. I had already been in labor eight hours. I was excited and feeling good about things. As we all know, my labor got more complicated; but, near the very end of April 3, we had our Baby Linus.

Getting Linus is the best thing that ever happened to me. This kid warms my heart when he takes my finger into his little hand and pulls me along for his adventures. He has started giving me sweet hugs and now and then a goofy kiss. His eyes light up when he sees me in the morning. He's the one I worry about when he is sick, I research for in library books and online, and I miss when I go to the grocery store alone. He's my Linus, the best baby in the whole wide world.

This morning was a bit hectic because we opened presents, ate waffles, and took Linus' 12-month photo on the settee before Matthew had to rush off to work. Then Linus and I went to vote in the spring election. The grandmotherly poll workers oohed and ahhed at how cute Linus is and they gushed when they heard it is his birthday. He beamed at them and then tucked his face into my shoulder in that cute way that babies do. Just now I ran down to answer the door and our neighbor was there with a present for Linus. She remembered his birthday! How sweet.

1st Birthday Party

We had a blast with Linus' birthday party yesterday. We were surrounded by family and friends. We ate lunch together in our living room and Linus was grinning as he looked around the room at the guests, the streamers, and the presents. He enjoyed his lemon cake topped with lemon cream cheese frosting and he had some vanilla ice cream, too. When we measured Linus on the growth chart I made for him, he came in at 29 and a half inches. Then we helped Linus open his wonderful birthday presents. Last night after dinner he was going from toy to toy and walking around with the little cars from Grandpa. When we went to bed, I couldn't fall asleep right away because I was thinking over all the great parts of the day. I'm happy we were able to give Linus a fun birthday party.

We celebrate again tomorrow on his actual birthday with waffles for breakfast.

We have Alex to thank for so many great photos of the party.

Summer? Wait a Minute

It was around 75 degrees on Monday and we had a lot of fun outside. Matthew was pleased to hear that Linus picked moss. He also tasted it. I had to quickly find something summery for Linus to wear. He looked cute playing around in red overalls with a doggy t-shirt outfit that was Brandon's about six years ago. Super cute. I even opened Linus' bedroom window to let some fresh air in.

Now we are back to normal Wisconsin spring weather and it is rainy and in the 40's. Even so, we'll go outside to play later if it isn't raining.

Our neighbor two doors down watches her grandson, Cameron, on a regular basis. We ran into them yesterday and he is a very tall two year old. Maybe he and Linus will play together. The new girls across the street are one and three, but we haven't seen much of them.

(Another Wildlife Sanctuary photo.)

"I Went to the Wildlife Sanctuary...

and all I got was this lousy goose egg!"

Linus and I went to the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday and enjoyed being outside in the gorgeous weather. Sadly, Linus fell on pavement and got a big lump on his forehead and scrapes above and below his left eye. My opening is funny because the Sanctuary is home to hundreds of large Canadian geese. When a bunch of geese called out at once, Linus joined in with the voice he now uses with animals. He enjoyed watching the ducks in an enclosure. He also saw a kestral, some medium-sized fish, and lots of little kids. He walked back and forth across the floating bridge in the lagoon. I let him get a bit ahead of me when he walked down the middle of the bridge, but when he veered off toward one of the sides, I sidled up next to him and took his hand. It amazes me how he doesn't have much separation anxiety in new settings like that, but have Matthew come home from work and Linus insists I hold him while I cook dinner.

The second picture is of him having a snack in the car before we headed home and the third one is of him at dinner time with his new injuries. I asked him to please get to his first birthday without a trip to the emergency room.

Big Dogs

Linus and I went out and enjoyed the 57 degree weather today. After picking up dead leaves and trying to pick flowers that are about a third of an inch out of the ground, Linus decided we should walk in the alley. A few houses down there was a big dog in a fenced-in yard. The dog came running over and barked very loudly. Linus stopped and was nervous, but also curious. He started talking to it in an agitated way so I picked him up to provide extra comfort. Just then, a car drove up to pull into the back entry of a garage and hanging out of the car was another big dog.

Linus was also interested in watching a runner, cars, and the construction workers across the street.

Here are pictures from yesterday. This is the first time Linus had an interest in walking with his sippy cup and trying to drink from it at the same time. In the first picture, he is dropping bark and a walnut shell into the recycle bin. I guess he was confusing it with the compost pile! In the sippy cup picture you can kind of see the scrapes on his nose from falling last weekend and also the corduroy fish overalls I made for him.

Spring Jacket

Linus got to wear his spring jacket for the first time today. We played outside for quite a while and visited with Sue, our neighbor, who was out for a walk. Linus pulled an angel yard ornament out of the flower bed and walked around with it, stopping now and then to suck on its head and survey the surroundings. I wasn't concerned about it getting broken because it was here when we moved in and I'm not attached to it. To him it was a wonderful treasure. Then we came in and he snacked on peaches and graham crackers.

Bed Head

Here is how Linus' hair looked the other day after his nap.

At the grocery store today Linus became attached to a bag of black eyed peas I'd put in our cart. When it came time to check out, he cried when I took them away for the cashier to ring up. To her credit, she moved really fast to scan them and give them back, while saying, "I'm sorry, honey. I don't know the number for those." He insisted on holding them in the car seat on the way home and I ended up putting them to bed with him for his nap. Unfortunately, he can't play with them anymore because I'm afraid the bag will break and the beans are a choking hazzard for sure.

He has been ornery. He cries, so I pick him up. He squirms to be put down. Then he cries harder. Huh?! Is he teething? Is he just crabby? Is he conflicted between wanting me and not wanting me? I suppose I'll never know. Hopefully this passes soon.

Obstructed View

Linus has been cracking me up with his latest activity: walking around while holding something in front of his face. View blockers have included a magazine, a postcard, and an empty pear can. The best was when he was walking with an empty plastic ice cream tub in front of his face and he walked right into the aquarium. He wasn't hurt, but he recoiled in surprise.

He also thinks it is fun to dump out the mega blocks and walk around with the vinyl bag. By the way, Brandon handed down these blocks to Linus and he has started figuring out how to stack them. He can't pull them apart yet, but he plays with them every day now.

Gardening

Linus helped Matthew plant carrots yesterday. Yes; I know that it is only March and we are in Wisconsin. Matthew felt the urge. Linus also face planted. He was squatting in front of the garage and fell face first onto the cement. My little one has a scraped nose and a funny pattern on his forehead. We think the marks on his head are from the hat he was wearing being pushed into his skin when he fell. The tip of his nose is pink and has a scrape and the side of his nose is also scraped. These are the first of many scrapes, bumps, and bruises in his future and I suppose I'll get used to it.

At story time this morning Linus danced to the "Shake Your Sillies Out" song. He looked so very cute.

Here is Linus walking around with his first animal crackers. I couldn't resist buying them because I knew he would like carrying them around.

Sniffles, Writing, Playing, Etc.

I've been remiss in blogging because Linus has been sick. In addition, I've been working on projects, like sewing him a growth chart and making his birthday party invitations.

Linus is back to his normal self, except for his nose that continues to run profusely and, might I say, grossly. He has slimed me a lot this week. He also continues to drool. Now and then I find wet spots on the wood floor the size of a quarter or larger. I couldn't figure out what they were from until I witnessed a stream of drool come gushing out of his mouth.

Last night Linus took the little Magna Doodle from me and wrote on it. That is a first. He also figured out how to slide open the Spiderman Pez. Now that he feels better, he is back to drinking milk with meals and is doing better about drinking more than a sip or two. So weaning is well underway. He continues to be a good eater, but dislikes zucchini. He likes eating avocado at Johanna's house, but not at home.

These photos are from last Sunday when Matthew and Linus joined Linda, Alex, and Johanna at the zoo. Linus fed a giraffe!!! Linda and Alex took these photos.

Sick Ward

Linus is sick; sicker than he's ever been in his short life. Poor kid. So I'm busy looking after him and trying to comfort him. I'm trying to get him to take more liquids, but he is refusing. He won't take ice chips, Pedialyte, water from my glass or a sippy cup, milk, and not much formula in the last 24 hours. He isn't eating much either, although I did get him to finally finish 4 ounces of applesauce. He isn't listless and his fever isn't at 104 degrees, so the clinic said we didn't need to bring him in unless we felt we needed to for peace of mind. It is rather stressful monitoring a baby's illness.

First Museum Visit

I took Linus to the Fox Cities Children's Museum in Appleton this morning. The woman at the front desk cautioned me that I may feel we weren't getting our money's worth since the museum was geared more for older youngsters. I thanked her for warning me but said it was okay because we were looking for something new to do to get out of the house. Plus, I knew Linus would enjoy being around kids. He had a very fun time playing with toy pizza in the kid store, a real stethoscope in the doll hospital, bean bags and fabric blocks in the Happy Baby Garden, as well as watching all of the children running around. He lasted an hour and a half. Then we went to a nearby coffee shop for a snack before heading home. While we were snacking, he liked interacting with a young woman who was studying at the table closest to us. She played peekaboo with him behind her papers. And when he bobbed his head to the music that was playing, she joined him.

Linguaphile

Linus hasn't said anything in English yet, but maybe he is researching languages to decide which he would like to speak.

We had a fun playdate yesterday here at our house. Johanna had a pink barrette in her hair that Linus tried to pull out. I explained to him that it was a hair pretty and I felt a bit sad that boys don't typically wear barrettes. If he wants to, maybe he can borrow some from Johanna. Baby James has very sweet curls and doesn't need any hair accessories.

Linus had a rough day of teething yesterday. Having guests helped keep him distracted. He didn't sleep so well Sunday and Monday, but he slept for over 12 hours last night and woke up very chipper this morning. But, alas; still no tooth!

As an aside, someone wrote a guest column in our local paper complaining about Brit-speak getting into our language lately. Firstly, what do they mean by lately? We speak English, don't we? And that came from where?! Secondly, I love Brit-speak. I especially like the use of "whilst." The columnist complained specifically about the use of tarmac and centre. He said that it made users sound pretentious. I disagree.

Intuition

Yesterday my mother's intuition kicked into gear for the first time. I sensed that Linus was getting into something he shouldn't and sure enough, he was just beginning to get into the spider plant's potting soil. He hadn't even been quiet for very long, but something told me I should check on him. Or in this case, check on the plant.

Frog Friend

There were live frogs at the library story time today and Linus pet one. It was the coolest thing to see his curiosity as he intently watched them jump near him. When he reached out, I took his hand and helped him to gently touch a frog. A bit later he reached out and touched one with one finger. It was adorable!

He fell asleep on the way home and didn't wake up when I got him out of the car, which is unusual since it is cold out. He is napping right now with most of his snowsuit still on. He curled up when I put him in his crib, so I only got it unzipped and one sleeve and the hood off.

Linus is teething again today. He isn't fussy, but he is pulling on his ears, drooling, and chewing on his fingers.

Here are some tongue-sticking out pictures, as I know several blog readers like these kinds of photos.

Toddlerhood

Linus turns eleven months old on Saturday and is sliding rapidly into toddlerhood. He is getting into everything and sassed back at me for the first time yesterday. Yes, my sweet baby boy sassed at me. I'm still shocked. When he started getting into Matthew's cd's I told him "No," and he went at them again. I said "No," and as I started to get up he stood very stiffly, had an angry face, looked me straight in the eyes and hollered the baby talk version of "You're mean! I'm mad at you!" Then he switched gears and moved on to a new activity. Which was a good thing because I was struggling to hold back laughter and least he couldn't see me smile. What a sight: an angry Linus. I know not to take it personally, but I can't help but feel a little bad. That was another tiny step in his gaining his own identity and I'd better get used to it.

In other developmental news, Linus has begun learning how to use a spoon. After he's fed himself much of dinner with his hands, I put some food on the spoon and he grabs the spoon and shoves it into his mouth. Other interesting variations include him putting food on the spoon with his hand or grabbing the food off of the spoon and eating it. He also waved bye-bye to Mattthew yesterday and today. Babies' waves are so endearing. He danced to the sound of the washing machine chugging along and he has started to look at books on his own. In true Linus fashion he does not sit to do it, but squats down and turns the pages.