(it was all Gus’ idea)

Update: When I showed up they were on the playground and he didn’t want to leave. They said he had a moment at the end of class when the drums got too loud but he got over it. (Two days later he brought up out of the blue that he got scared but didn’t call me. I asked if he tried to call me and he said no, that he decided not to.)  It didn’t hurt that he had his little friend Izzy in his class with him and that her older sister (Gus’ crush) Abby was there to play with him outside after lunch.

No party this year since we figure it will be the last time we can get away with it. That said, he’s been saying ‘Friday’ for several days now (a word we didn’t know he knew). And when we ask what happens Friday he says, ‘happy me.’ But what I gather it means to him so far is that he gets to have people sing him the song. Which he LOVES. So we had cupcakes at our playgroup today. And we sang to him a couple of times.

I can’t believe it’s been two years! Wow. I am so going to regret not keeping up on this blog better. So many changes over the past months. I suppose things are going by faster because we’re able to take on more stuff now than when he was a baby and so things are just busier overall. I remember having to literally stare at him most of the time. Now he plays on his own at the other end of the house and I perk up mostly when things have gone quiet for too long.

Yesterday, when he woke up, he looked over at me and said, “I see Mom.” One of his first sentences. He gets plural most of the time. Adds the s when he says, ‘two ducks.’ He loves the alphabet -the letters in the tub and the song. He knows all his letters now and can count to 10: “one, two, three, eight, nine, ten!” (apparently 4 -7 are completely overrated).

We bought him a toilet inset and he’s used it a hand full of times but I think it’s just a novelty for now. We’ve always loved nappy changing times (except for the times when he kicks or pulls at the dirty diaper) so it will be kinda sad to not have those times in the day when we scoop him up and sing songs. Who da thunk I’d miss wiping his butt?

I suppose too, that I think more now about what’s ok to write about him on the blog. Most of the things so far are not really tease-worthy stuff. What are the kids going to say if they read this in several years: ‘you peed on your dad when you were a baby!’ Nah. But I find myself censoring a bit more now that the cool things he does may be closer to personality traits than generic baby stuff.

What are you going to be like Gus? You already have a great laid back way about you. A sense of humour (latest joke: “Dada coffee -yes” “Papa coffee -yes”, “Mama coffee -yes”, “Gus coffee -No!” giggle fit). You also have a sense of focus. And a kindness. So far you don’t throw a lot of fits or worry about what’s ‘mine’. But that will probably change soon. A natural development.

You like dogs and music and dancing and playing the uke and eating nuts (although we suspect they give you a stomach ache) and collecting rocks & sticks and bouncing on the bed and reading to us and running across the room and vacuuming and washing dishes and sweeping (please God, not just a phase!) and fire engines and shoes and swimming.

What else?

Motherhood feels normal now. There’s still tons to learn and improvements to make to myself. The more I do now, the less he has to process himself and the further he can go. The more good he can do. So I need to get in shape. Need to get a solid meditation practice back.

I can’t believe it’s been two years. Feels like forever in some ways. And also feels like this is the first time I’ve been able to really stop and take a step back. He sleeps through the night. He understands when we tell him we’re just popping out for a hour or two. He’s weaned now… It feels strange to think that I really don’t need to be there for any part of the day in particular.

Wow -two years. Happy birthday, Sweetpea.

After spending yesterday with Javin (who is super athletic and although couldn’t walk yet, was super good at climbing things), Gus can now climb up on chairs to reach anything on the table and scale the wooden barrier to the cat litter with ease.

Javin, on the other hand, has decided he can walk.

(of course, there’s still much more trouble to look up to to look forward to)

After an hour of grumbling he was finally happy again.

Then mere moments after this picture was taken, he stepped down off this curb and knocked his head on the cement. He had just navigated it with no troubles, so I wasn’t as on guard as I should have been.

You can still see some of the scars here (on his nose) but I’m amazed at how quickly they healed.

The guilt is still nice and fresh, though, since I keep picking at it.

And it was also the first time we sat in a restaurant as he ran around the tables. I’m sure not the last.

Aunt Lani asked Charles to take a picture of me and Gus for the site today, so here it is. It looks sweet -like he’s snuggling into a cuddle, but really he’s wiggling down to get away.

Then we went shopping and it was suddenly totally apparent what a big deal Mother’s Day is here. The place was empty -except for clumps of men with the their various aged kids, all dressed to the nine, holding flowers as they stood in line at the check out.

And finally, in the late afternoon, Charles broke out the Gus prezzy: fingerpaints. Oh yeah! It was one of those things that looks so twee from the outside (overused in cheesy commercials) but was a stupid amount of fun to actually do.

It started out mellow and then he got more and more into it.

My only job was to make sure he didn’t eat the paint.

I failed. (In my defense, he was obsessed.)

And finally, here’s another picture of Gus and I. Although it looks like I’m holding him down while he screams for DOCs to save him, in this one he really is snuggling in for a cuddle, which involves a lot of babbling talk. He’s not a quiet child.

Ok, so this is actually his second official sign. The first one he did was for ‘help’ when he was stuck in the cupboard (again). But I’m particularly excited about the one he did just now at breakfast (‘all done’) to let us know when he’s full.

Speaking of pouring, did you know that horses only pee once or twice a day? So it’s rare to spot one doing so, right? Well, I’m hoping it’s some kind of good luck thing because as we sat there we watched not one, not two but three horses empty their entire bladders onto the road -about 20-30 liters (or 5 -10 gallons). It was pretty damn impressive, I must say.

(note the ground below the horses behind us)

Then we headed to Portland to visit with Cousins Lena & Kyle and their cuties Lila and Lainy.

Gus went into a kind of toy frenzy and got particularly obsessed with this car. Kept opening and shutting the door and basically stopped being very social. I wouldn’t have been surprised to look over at some point to see him polishing the wheels down with one of his spit up rags. Plastic wrench sticking out of his back pocket.

And then we ended the day with a lovely dinner out with Roberts/Heberds at a fairly family friendly local pasta place.  Maybe it was the excitement of the horses/ cousins/ car, but Gus was being really loud as he ate. Charles thinks he’s that loud all of the time and we just don’t usually care. But in the middle of the restaurant, it was in danger of disrupting other people around us. Yikes. Time to start teaching him about ‘inside voices’ before we take that 15 hour flight to Sydney (where he’ll be wide awake at 3am -wanting to chat to everyone around him and go for big exploratory walks all around the plane). Lord help us.

Today, I just had to share his little plumbers butt action

Oh, and also share that two days ago, whilst Charles was out walking Gus through the orchard… Gus pooed on his shoulders (is that a milestone?).