Almost there...(11 months)

Today is Gus' last double-digit "birthday anniversary" for a while. I myself can't quite believe we're already passing this momentous milestone and heading toward that amazing day that marks the time Gus came into our lives one year ago. I still marvel at the rate at which he develops new skills and hones the familiar ones. It's like he waits until I fall asleep at night, and then he gets up and practices walking, talking, fine-motor skills and many more crowd-pleasing tricks, until I wake up in the morning.
Here are some of the new-and-improved skills our pre-toddler likes to show off these days:
- Paddling in the pool
- Mock diving in the sink (sticking his face under water and emerging amidst a blast of bubbles)
- Whipping around on his butt and going down a set of stairs like it's nothing (he just started this one day, like he had finally solved the problem during a sleepless night)
- Crawling up the stairs at a speed that has me huff to keep up
- Saying "tata" "grrrrrr" "kawawa" "ahhhsss" (I know, that one is a bit embarrassing, especially in a quiet store), "gaaa" along with a wide selection of spittle-and-spit producing sounds, including a rolling R, I can't reproduce on the keyboard
- Grating an entire apple with six teeth and eating about half of it
- Signing 'bye-bye" "all done" "stop" and "good job" (still working on "potty" "Mamma" and "I love you"
- Playing his baby piano and ukulele with much delight, drumming on everything else
- Passing a ball (tennis ball, Andy) back and forth with much shrieking
- Playing by himself with lots of humming
- Ullulating with the back of his hand flapping in front of his mouth, while he bellows (this is his favorite party trick)
- Bellowing and whipping his index fingers between his lips to create a babbly stream of sounds
- Drinking out of a cup (with some leakage)
- Eating string cheese like he half-Swiss that he is
- Blowing farty noises on Mommi's belly
- Two words: Kiss Attack - when it's coming you can't avoid it
- Sliding down the slide at the playground and crawling right back up (this startled Mommie big time)
- Walking a good dozen steps, slowly and with tought, sitting down and standing up without support.
- Walking longer distances holding on to an adult hand (this pleases him to no end)

I don't care that others do all this, too - this child is marvelous!!!

One of my favorite things...

..are hand-me-downs.
Like my sister-in-law, Leah, I too once turned my nose up at anything not neat-and-new and store-bought, but three decades later, I love things old and worn so much better than anything new - thrift is my favorite brand, I tell you.
Castoffs given to me by generous friends inevitably end up becoming my favorite wardrobe pieces - there is something inherently good about a "distressed" pair of pants or a washed-soft shirt that someone I love has pre-worn for me.
And then there is that not-me factor. Most of my favorite castoffs are pieces I would not pick for myself and carry to the cash register, either because of cut or pattern or color - but when they are given to me I give them a try - and almost always feel like myself in them.
Funny.
Now that Gus breezes through infant sizes like his last name is Phelps, castoffs have become a welcome infusion into the wild whirlwind that is his wardrobe - what fits one day, may not the next and what looked big one day, is just right the next week - I swear...he is keeping up with the tomato plants in my backyard, and they are making a mad dash for harvest...
The latest box of boy clothes came from my dear friend Brynn. Huge as it was we lugged it home in the bike trailer, loading it up under the "tsk-tsking" of all the SUV-driving post office customers (OK this is where one of those gas-gargling train terminals on wheels would come in handy). Aside from plenty of prefolds and covers to keep us in cloth diapers until potty training and beyond, she packed a generous selection of toddler clothes that had me sit on the floor and day-dream...Gus is pretty much a toddler, and now he's got little boy clothes to prove it.

Thank you, Brynn. No amount of money and time shopping, could have gotten me these kinds of finds. I'm grateful and will take good care of them.
Now on to packing up the too-small, stuff. Cousin Edward watch out. A big bag of big baby clothes is coming your way...

What I did this weekend

- spent time neeked in the backyard...working on my seamless tan
- spilled Mommie's ice tea once
- spilled Mommie's coffee twice - once inside the house
- peed on a tire on Daddy's truck
- Watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics until I almost fell of the couch from sleepiness (didn't make it to the Swiss athletes)
- "Jogged" with Mommie (she runs, I sit) twice, we're feeling fit...
- went to church and charmed everyone in the nursery
- went to dinner with Say-say and Will, ate, made a mess, got loud and still charmed everyone in the restaurant, too
- Shrieked at the ducks in the lake at the music center, helped Mommie & Heather serve up gelato (well supervised anyways)
- practiced walking all the time (this one's for you Daddy)
- played peek-a-boo around the fridge (our fridge is truly free-standing, but that's another post)
- gave Mommie a swollen lower lip - with one powerful sucky kiss
- took some naps (some where better than others)
- cuddled with Mommie in bed

We miss you, Daddy!

Auf Wiedersehen, Daddy!

Today we said auf wiedersehen to Daddy (all that practicing "bye-bye" suddenly held a lot of meaning for all of us). Jacob is off to Colorado to learn about solar energy. We're all excited at the opportunity for him to learn and extend his Jack-of-all-trades knowledge even further, but we're also so sad to see him go.

We all won't be together again for almost one month, and for the next 10 days I'm flying solo with my son. We'll be posting updates on how we make due without Daddy - likely just barely.

Note to Daddy/Jacob: It's only been a couple of hours, but the house already feels oddly empty without you there, so we went to the office to put in a good couple of hours of work...Gus is busy walking from thing to thing and shrieking shrilly at the same time...

We love you and miss you much!

My Mini-man

I'm catching glimpses of the toddler, Gus will be before too long. He likes to do "adult things" now, such as holding on to guardrails, sitting in chairs (look at the cute one his Great-grand Meme found for him), type away importantly on my office computer, complete with mouse maneuvering, sit on the backstoop next to me and tell me a babbly-long-winded stories, dance to bad pop music (he's got that from his Momma) and many more things that keep me laughing all day long.

He is too much fun for one right now.

Harvest

My favorite place to be in the late drowsy days of summer - other people's gardens. They do all the weeding and nurturing - I swoop in to pick them clean. I'm like locust...tell me it's OK to come and take some produce and I clean out your garden plot - eyes and stomach big for all the possible dishes...

Cindy's plot is overflowing with wonderful, sun-ripe tomatoes, sweet blueberries, Jacob's favorite okra, plumb butter beans and Gus' favorite watermelons - and we got it all...

I love summer, it's such an industrious and busy season for nature and I'm in awe of it all.

Happy Erschte Auguscht!

Today is Swiss National Holiday. Born out of peasants' grudges against the ruling royal houses in Europe, Switzerland came into being in 1291 (not a typo, it's an old country) as a loose pact of cantons that no longer wanted to give all their hard earned goods to the rich. These people who were yearning for independence and dreaming of autonomy (sounds familiar), they had to fight some dreadful battles against the various kings but by the time Napoleon came around they had earned a reputation for their smart and skillful warriors, so Napoleon promised Switzerland independence in return for Swiss soldiers (the Pope got his battalion that way, too).

The history goes that three representatives from the cantons of Schwyz, Uri und Unterwalden, met on August 1, in a secluded place called Ruetli (not far from where Wilhelm Tell supposedly shot the apple off his son's head) and swore to come to each other's aid, if the kings send their feared armies against the striking peasants...it was a small act of defiance, but it led to a country that has prided itself for centuries now in its neutrality and it's attention to equality and fairness - a complete novelty and a brave stance on a continent that would continue to give half-crazy kings and queens the right to rule by birth over vast tracts of land and millions of people for centuries to come.

I'm proud to be Swiss by birth and happy to show off my little half-American, half-Swiss family (we're wearing red and white for the Swiss colors, not something Swiss people are very likely to do...that's an American thing)