Quality time

Groma with her two charges - she's been busy tending to my newly established flower garden and - of course - Gus.

Now, they're off to the farmer's market, and I'm dwaddling because I have to go to work.

A not-so-lazy Sunday afternoon

Gus is finally asleep, after not-so-graceously sucumbing to tiredness. Everyone else is pursuing a quiet piece of handiwork - Jacob wrestles with the Guzzi (you may not be able to see it, but that's a motorcycle in pieces in the background), while we "womenfolk" get busy with our knitting. Check out my Mom's industrious knitting project - a multi-colored jacket for Gus, already blocked awaiting its assembly. My project is a sweet little baby bolero, for my friend Sarah's sweet son, who will be making an appearance mid-May. It's a time to be grateful for everything.

An idyllic hike

My Mom and I left Gus with his Daddy and went for a beautiful, sun-soaked Saturday morning hike up John's Rock in Pisgah National Forest - it's a place to recharge and exhale, among butterflies and beautiful flora.

Wake-up call!

This is what awaits us in the mornings now - and keeps me up at night, sometime.

Up I go...

Look Mommie, with both hands...

...one very proud, accomplished baby...

Coffee klatsch

Groma is highly entertained by Gus holding forth about something rather passionately in baby-babble, who knows, maybe he is telling us that we're spending too much time enjoying the fair weather and the excellent cafes around town...but then again, to us, he sounds just too cute.

4 steps to standing tall

When we first moved these two shelves next to the stove, my mother-in-law and I shared a good-hearted giggle about how that might be tempting for Gus someday...

Well, someday is here.

It's his very favorite place to stand up and he insists on it, which makes me cringe not only for his little, fragile self - sometimes my arms are outstretched to rescue my beautiful stoneware and heavy iron skillets.

So, he is working on perfecting his new skill; Four steps, lots of grunt work (literally) and a triumphant shriek when he is fully erect at 30 inches. Then without as much as a pause he fingers around for a new hand hold and teeters with one hand (not knowing brave from bump in the head) along all sorts of sharp edges.

All eyes are on him, all the time.

"I do" - two years in the making

Today (Earth Day) is our 2nd Anniversary - and we do reuse and recycle - and our love is new and wonderful to us, all the time. We are blessed.

Breathless at 7 months

That's sounds like a headline back from when I was pregnant, but I don't think I was ever as overwhelmed then as I am now - in a good way.
Gus is literally keeping me on my toes, by being on his feet - a lot. And I'm still almost always dragging my feet and falling one step behind his busy little body - but enough with the step cliches, as a still-new Mommie I'm obviously grateful that my little boy is so curious and so healthy that he can pull himself up on anything and then proceeds to let go and look for a new hand hold - it's crazy, I mean, he can't even really crawl yet, much less sit, but that doesn't stop him from exploring the whole walking thing... along the way, he falls victim to pots and pans, sharp corners, loose seat covers, slippery cabinet door knobs etc., but even bruises can't stop him from getting back up and taking another step... I'm in awe, and shocked, as well. Just exactly where is this leading to? A bike at 12 months, a marathon at 14 months? Skiing at 18 months? Mount Everest at 3? I hope and pray I'm getting ahead of myself.

So here we are 7 months into Gus' life. Here is what he would "tell" you, if he had all the words yet:
- "If my face is clean, my Mommie's T-shirt is not."
- "Walking is like talking for me - I do it fast and furiously"
- "Daaaaaadaaaaaagaaaaagaaaayayayadaaaaaa" (see previous comment).
- "Anything held by someone else should be handed to me - the sharper or pointier the better"
- "Anything given to me readily, is NOT interesting and is disposed of by me immediately."
- "Groma's laugh is just too funny to me, I giggle without fail."
- "All my grandparents are grand - they never tell me that I have to play by myself now"
- "I like to eat, just not sitting up and from a spoon."
- "If I have to sit and eat, I like applesauce the best."
- "Why learn how to sit? I'm not tired and if I am, I sleep - laying down."
- "If it fits in my mouth, then that's where it goes."
- "I smile and flirt without discrimination - you should see how many old men, stop and fall in love with me."
- "Did I mention that I smile a lot?"
- "I smile whenever Mommie points her camera at me, I know she likes that."
- "My favorite way to see the world is upside down - hanging by my ankles from my Daddy's hands."
- "If you're boring me I start bouncing in your lap, that means 'do something'"
- "I'm a reasonable child. I cry a little, if I'm hungry or in discomfort with a dirty diaper or sleepy, then I wait for a good little while. If you don't do something, it's your own fault, if I proceed to melt down."
- "I give kisses now - open mouthed, slobbery and preferrably on Mommie's mouth in public."
- "What do you mean, I should focus on crawling? I don't see you crawling a lot."

Yep, and he is probably going to tell you all this and more in a month or so.

Morning excercise

Unlike me, Gus has no trouble starting his mornings with a bit of physical exertion - actually since yesterday, it's been an all-day endeavor.

Yup, just barely 7 month old and already pulling himself up on EVERYTHING (safe or not) and then prompty turning on his heels to look for the next hand-hold, just like a little rock climber.

If I wasn't so shocked and stunned (and busy removing heavy dangerous things to safer heights) I'd be proud.

...and truth be told, we have our fair share of setbacks...and the bruises to show for it...luckily Groma is always here to kiss any booboo and make it feel better again

A special Teller (plate)

Since food is much on my mind these days (really bland, mashed up food, that is) this one present holds special meaning for me - my Godmother (Gotti, in Swiss German) sent me this hand-made baby's first plate (Teller) for Gus.

Whenever I look at it is makes me smile, and this morning, it did the trick for Gus as he hungrily partook in breakfast, feasting on apple, orange and banana.

"Danke vielmal, fuer de schoeni Teller, Gotti. Jedesmal wenn ich ihn aluege muess ich lache, es isch en gueti Luhne Teller."

Groma is here!

Gus hammed it up good at the airport, where we welcomed Groma after a 10 1/2 hour flight. He shrieked, bobbed and waved his arms as she walked through the gate - other travelers were looking on, probably thinking I painstakingly drilled that into him - but no, he just felt like it!

Anyways, the next 2 1/2 weeks are going to be very special for Gus & Groma, he is already making the most of the constant attention.

Jacob too, is feeling good. Twenty-two giant bars of Swiss Chocolate will do that for him - it's like an early birthday present for him.

We're excited to have Groma here!

An apple a day

More on our culinary experimentations; As the son of a famously prolific apple eater - Gus is game for the taste of apples - but it has to be a whole apple and he prefers it in his hands - don't worry, I sat right there with him closely monitoring the messy ongoings. He seems to like it, but then again, he also likes to roll the apple under the fridge, fish it back out and see if it has improved in taste...

On tonight's menu: More avocados, yesterday we had a brief breakthrough with the green stuff.

Fingerfood

It's probably wrong, but Gus loves to suck the juice and some of the fiber out of orange slices - and since he is otherwise quite a picky "solid" food eater (though it's too early to label him as difficult) I let him - on a plastified sheet in the living room - I set out a slice and he "hunts" for it, he loves it!

Tonight we're moving on to avocado - high chair, bib and all. So far he's reluctantly eaten brown rice cereal, butternut squash and a bit of apple

Happy birthday to me!

Yep, today is the day everyone's been waiting for. I'm turning 38. What a year it's been for me. Mommiehood makes everything feel different and age simply a number.
I feel younger than I have in years past and stronger than I felt when I trained for the marathon.
It's going to be a good day for the Dinkins family, and I hope it'll be a blessed day where you are, too!

Our Daily Bread

Today we baked bread (in my new Dutch Oven, thank you Cindy and Ronnie) and "worked" (even though it was our day off) to catch up with True South's bookkeeping.
Gus loves to sit in front of his mini-desk and chew busily on a big Sharpie, while deftly mashing the buttons on my calculator.

Portion control

Shhh! Gus is asleep, so I decided to whip (steam & puree, actually) up a batch of baby food for him. Voila! Organic butternut squash, just like the pediatrician & Jacob's Mom recommended. Now if we can only get Gus to open his mouth and enjoy it...