Amazing

August 12, 2011

:: from our driveway ::

I don't know what is more amazing, the fact that I've been meaning to post this picture since last Sunday, or the sky itself.  Yuuuust kidding.  Drama.  But seriously.  It has been on my mind for almost an entire week, but life just gets in the way. 

Want to know what else is amazing?  Diego playing Super Mario Brothers 3 on the Nintendo NES right now, such a familiar tune, whimpering, "Mama, can you please help me...?  It's just so hard!"  He can't get beyond the first fire-breathing flower-thingy.

And, really, isn't this just the most stunning skyscape? It has everything -- storm, sunset, clear blue.  The layers, the depth!  I could gush for hours.

One of those quiet moments

There is something so luxurious about fresh garden herbs.  This morning I cut basil, sweet marjoram, and parsley in the deliciously warm sunshine and felt positively glamorous.  (The baby was napping and the boys were playing up near the house.)

The spicy-sweet fragrance wafting up was so intoxicating that I didn't even notice the three uninvited hens who wandered in.  Shoo!  Shoo!  They left easily, which surprised me.  I gathered my booty and sauntered up to the house, my thoughts lingering in the scent and the sun.

It felt good.

He's got skillz

Little Jamie is pulling himself up on things.

Un-un-un-un, I can hardly believe it.

Today he played with the cat scratching post.

Meow, meow Schtinky-do!

(That's what I've been calling him)

SIDE-RANT:

"Kids or cats," I grumbled the other morning as I put the offending caterwauler outside at O-dark thirty.  One or the other is always waking me up in the wee hours.  Sometimes I feel like I just can't catch a break.  When one of the usual violators [of my sleep] is zonked, someone else decides to disrupt my zzzz's with whatever-who-knows.  Mrar!

And this was yesterday!

He pulled himself up into this position.

He was laughing hysterically at his brothers, and

smooshing his face into the mattress.

Based on the baby calendars, Diego didn't pull himself up into a stand until he was 9 months old.  Truen was 8 months.  Schtinky is 7 months.  Yowza.  It makes sense, but I'm still a little shocked.  He has loved being upright, standing and stomping, since he was 2-3 months old.

He is also "commando" crawling, getting from point A to point B by pulling with his arms and pushing with his toes.  He is getting up and rocking on his hands and knees and getting up on his hands and feet like a little bear.  I am amazed.  He's already mobile.  !!!  I plan to put up the baby gate on the stairs tomorrow.

What else?

Schtinky-do!

Little JAMIE

• Loves rolling around on the bed right before bedtime, with little coos, mostly face-down and smooshing his face into the sheets
• "Dances" when we whistle or sing, be-bopping by shaking his head back-and-forth
• His favorite activity is holding onto my pointer fingers, standing and stomping in front of me, smiling happily
• Wiggles all. the. time.
• Laughs gleefully at his brothers
• Does full-body lunges and head cranks to be able to see what his brothers are doing
• Turns head to "Schtinky" and "Stinky" (whoops)
• Gets very happy and excited to see his Dada
• New thing: spreading arms akimbo with fists clenched, mostly in the highchair, face tipped upwards with a huge grin
• Sometimes still tenses up when visually overloaded -- he scrunches up and gets so stiff it is like holding a doll (this was extremely common at 2-3 months . . . I couldn't even walk with him facing out or up/down the stairs)
• Bites and pulls my nipple at the end of nursing when he's getting bored or frustrated (yeeeouch!)
• Is getting his first tooth (the same one that Diego is losing): lower front left
• L-O-V-E-S the cats
• Easily rolls out of his wrap (the swaddle), even with his arms down
• Wakes up at 7:00 AM like clockwork
• Has started taking a long morning nap vs. long afternoon nap (new to me -- both his brothers were long afternoon nappers)
• Totally has tan lines in his fat rolls
• Loves to pull hair -- I swear he's going to give me bangs with how much hair he gets ahold of and breaks off
• Snaps my right bra-strap and pulls Blaine's chest hair when we are holding him on our hip
• Will repeat "ma-ma-ma-ma" and "da-da-da-da" (though not reliably)



11 years

 1999

Lexington Apartments (Blaine's place)

I've always loved this picture --

and I still have that shirt.

 2004

Gooseberry Falls, Two Harbors, MN

Photo taken by LSJF

(Lyndi)

 2009

Snowed in and LOVING it --

It ended up being the Four Days of Christmas.

Lovely, just lovely.

2011

Diego's 6th birthday

No longer just the Two of Us . . . 

Now we are the Five of Us

It is nice to be married in 2000, because I never have to do the math.  It is 11 years today (+ 4 = 15 years total, yowza).  I feel happy, settled, understood. 

Our relationship feels like a comfortable and colorful pair of woolen socks on a chill night under the stars.  Immature fights are a thing of the past, his smile and scent is home, and we are just as intrigued by each other and the things around us as ever. 

Only now it includes three bright and bellowing boys bouncing all over us.

Breeching the brain fog

I am still reeling from the past three weeks which included prepping for our county fair submissions, my parents visiting, and a week in St. Paul visiting family and friends.  It was a wonderful time, but now I am wallowing and feeling like I will never be able to catch up again.  I hate the transition back into "real life".  It makes me never want to leave the house again. 

I've had 4 different obligations this week and the boys ask every morning, "Where are we going to go today?"  Finally, today I was able to answer, "Nowhere!" with sweet relief.  I would say that it feels so good, except for the fact that I look around and see nothing but all the work that should be done.  Rubbish and mess everywhere.  Not to mention the 40-some cabbages, 30+ peppers, and 46 tomato plants staring me in the face.  How will I ever get it all done?

Though . . . I did grit my teeth and try to ignore the sandbox-like kitchen floor this morning while I had a tea party and several un-birthday parties with my boys, complete with "birthday presents" in festive bags or tin boxes.  How could I miss out on that??

I say "birthday presents" because they were just items lying around the house wrapped up with love and innocent glee.  Truen was the promoter of this party and when he opened up his "World's Best Mother" trophy and the tiny wooden-handled party knife that we use for play-dough, he was as bright and happy as if he had gotten a real gift.  "Ohhhh . . . a knife!" he said with a smile.  I got 2 plastic checker pieces, a Bionicles claw, and a worn-out Star Wars mini-book.  My favorites. ♥

Meanwhile, the baby is waking up and I owe you a bazillion pictures.

[Written with one-and-a-half hands while nursing the babe] I've been thinking about starting a gratitude journal to record all the little happy moments in daily life.  Because they are there.  In spite of anything or everything else, they do exist; and I really need help trying to remember that.

(This post with quite cathartic in that sense.)

And I am so sad

A first!  Diego has a loose tooth.  Lower-bottom-left.  He is excited and interested about it.  And me...?  A little teary.

White Thunderhead

The view from our driveway last night

Garlicious

Garlic Scape Pesto has officially entered the Halls of Seasonal Delight in our household.  It is absolutely scrumptious.  I've been eating it slathered on buttered toast almost every morning for the past week.

So do yourself a favor, and if you ever run into garlic scapes at the co-op or your farmers' market (available in JULY only), buy a tassel and bring them home to make this.  Yo.  You won't regret it.

GARLIC SCAPE PESTO

• 1 large handful garlic scapes
• 1 medium handful basil leaves
• 1 medium handful parsley
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Add everything but the olive oil to a food processor and run until the ingredients are roughly blended.  Then add the olive oil slowly until the desired consistency is reached.  Feast or freeze, your choice.

And boy, did it hurt

So . . .

I really need to update you all on Blaine's puncture wound.  It is un-un-un-un.

As a sidenote, I'm starting to look at this blog as more than just a tool for connecting with long-distance family and friends -- it has simultaneously morphed into a historical log of our life.  Eventually, I'll have it printed into a blog-book to look back at.

(Incidentally, I have recently been enjoying looking back to the previous year's month of late.  It is so fascinating to see what we were doing and what I was thinking about.  I am also amazed by all "the little things" about the boys that I have forgotten.  I am so glad I have several avenues to help me remember it all -- daybook, kid calendars, kid journals, blog, picture emails.)

And so . . . Blaine's puncture wound.  It is amazing, really.  It happened on Saturday, July 9th.  We were putting up fencing for the tomatoes from a roll that we got from our elderly neighbor (it was just sitting in her trees).  Not rusty, thankfully.  He cut the desired length, then we would finagle it into the already knee-high tomatoes, connect it to the fence-posts he had pounded in, and weave the tomato-tops in as gingerly as we could.

After we were done, and we have 41 tomatoes this year, btw, all started from seed, we wondered if we should put up a fence for the melons in the East Garden to grow on.  There isn't much space, so it would be good to give them room to grow.  Mainly, UP.  We figured it was "now or never" and why not? since we were already in the groove.  So it was decided.  The baby woke up, I went inside to take care of him, and he went to cut another length of fence.

Not long after, I heard some major hollering from outside and saw Blaine effectively bear-walk (bear-hop might be a more apt description) up to the house as fast as he could.  There was a lot of yelling and moaning from him and while I was totally unable to tell what had happened, I ran for an ice-pack pronto-pup.  There was no blood and all parts appeared to be in order, but I could tell there was something was seriously wrong.

And what had happened?  A spine-tingling, scalp-raising 2-inch puncture directly above his right ankle.  Straight in.  Two inches!  With a 12-gauge wire fence-end, just clipped, so it was extra-sharp.  Un-un-un-un.  He had walked right into it.  It was in the grass and he wasn't thinking, he just took a step and schhhhhloop, in it went.  He didn't even feel it at first, and only knew that it was inside his leg when movement was impeded.  He pulled his leg back and that is when it started to hurt.

We iced and elevated and did a saltwater soak.  We could tell it hadn't been broken, so we decided to take our time and assess the situation vs. rush off to the ER.  I consulted a Nurse-Practitioner on Duty over the phone and read about punctures in the various health books and online.  We called his parents and asked that they bring over a pair of crutches and a cane from their well-stocked "for when we get old or injured" collection.  That night was the worst -- it was hard to sleep and he said that it felt as if his foot had been smashed with a hammer.  Yeouch.

It did swell, though not like you would imagine.  It seeped some blood, but not much.  He was able to walk with a cane the second day.  But it was painful, very painful.  He was totally side-lined.  For an entire week.  And strangely, after a few good days at the beginning, he had a few bad days towards the middle-end of the week, with pain and tingling.  Warm comphrey soaks helped with that a lot.  I also applied Dr. Christopher's Complete Tissue & Bone Ointment several times a day to aid in healing.

He went to the Foot & Ankle clinic the following Monday.  They recommended a tetanus shot and a round of broad-spectrum antibiotics, which we went with.  I felt apprehensive about all that, since it was for what could happen vs. what was happening . . . I couldn't help but wonder if we were contributing to the over-use of antibiotics.  I'm so dramatic, I know, but I couldn't help it.  Ultimately we decided it was for the best.  The doctor said that with how close the puncture came to the ankle joint, it would not be worth the risk of waiting to see if an infection would develop.  "An infected joint is a destroyed joint," he said, "and not worth messing with."  And since we would rather work on replenishing the gut with good bacteria vs. fitting Blaine for a prosthetic foot, what other choice could we make considering the circumstances and medical access?  (As you can see, I still feel uneasy about it.)

All in all, he missed an entire week of work.  I am so glad he did, because he really needed that time to heal.  It was almost like a vacation, aside from all the pain and worrying.  He finally went back to work this past Monday and did all his usual duties, albeit more slowly.

Additionally, we thought that he had only 4 paid days off for the rest of the year before the puncture (one week off for the babe's birth, one week off due to a bout with influenza in March), so when he took 5 days off, we were a little worried.  As it turns out, he received an additional week off in June (his 4 year mark!).  So that time is zeroed-out and we are back with 4 days off for the rest of the year.  Ha!  Not that great, but certainly better than zero.

And that is the saga of the 2-inch puncture.  May it never happen again.

The East Garden

 Gorgeous cabbage

(envision sauerkraut galore)

Yellow Wax beans and scallions

East Garden

I took this picture last Friday --

things have already grown so much!

Baby Crockett

Who has the Magic? (I did last year)

Magic- A Belly Grows from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

I have so much to update on . . .

A (real) tornado, an unfortunate 2-inch puncture wound into Blaine's leg, and the most gorgeous garden ever are the most pressing items.  The combination of these three items has kept me hopping for the last two weeks.

But since I don't have the time . . . I'm just going to post this vid instead.  I think my friend Laura and SIL Ashley are going to be the most entertained by it.  I love the playful celebratory nature of the whole thing. 

And pregnancy...?  Magical, def.  Ditto on giving birth.  Though giving birth might actually hold the trump card.  It is awesome.  It makes me feel lucky to be a woman.

Cheeeeeeese Grits

In recent weeks I finished going through The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond.  Maybe you've seen it on my reading list...?  I think I mentioned it at some point, being so impressed with her hearty dishes.  And as someone with a fast metabolism who also happens to be nursing, hearty-n-fillin' is right up my alley.  So neccessary for happy days.

The most fabulous discovery gleaned from it was a recipe for Cheese Grits.  Cheeeese, George, cheeeeeeese.  It is SO GOOD.  Perfect with breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  Scrumptious warmed up over low heat in a cast-iron skillet.  Filling.  Nutrient-dense.  A great accompaniment for pretty much anything.  And it makes a large amount, so there are leftovers for almost a week.

That pretty much fills all my requirements, howz abouts youz?

CHEESE GRITS

• 9 cups water
• 2 cups grits (coarse-grind cornmeal)
• 4 (warm) eggs
• 12 TBSP (1.5 sticks) butter, chopped
• 3 cups grated cheese
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp salt

First, I soak the grits in 1.5 cups of lime water (like the cornbread I make) for 7 hours.  Quoting myself from the cornbread post, soaking corn with lime is a traditional practice, one that releases the full spectrum of B-vitamins; and arguably, fuller flavor as well.

• With soaking, I cut the water down to 8 cups
• Let the eggs come to room temp. and/or soak in hot tap water while cooking the grits
• Pre-heat the oven to 350 F 
• Bring the water and grits to a boil on the stovetop and simmer until done
• Stir in the (warm) eggs, butter, cheese, salt, garlic, and cayenne
• Pour into a well-buttered baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes until hot and bubbly
• FYI: Grits will become firmer as they cool

What led me to soaking grains...?

Again, quoting myself, . . .[from the cookbook] Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Truly, this cookbook has been a radical influence on my understanding of food: as nourishment vs. hunger-filler, traditional ways of preparation, vital nutritional fats, etc. It has given me a sense of direction, not to mention form and substance, to my whole foods gut instinct. (Which is, basically, "If it doesn't occur in nature, or you can't create it in your own kitchen, don't eat it.")


***

Steady Days

I rarely take notes on what I'm reading, but the book I just read, Steady Days: A Journey Towards Intentional, Professional Motherhood by Jamie Martin, required it.

My notes pretty much sum up everything I've learned about the most important survival skills in mothering these six years:

Problem-solving and adaptability

Check it:

• Create a steady routine
• Be flexible and open
• If something is not working, there is a reason -- find a solution
• Adaptability -- things change, work towards keeping up with it all, which will include shifts in your plan of attack and/or solutions
• Find inspirations -- !!!  Yes.  An inspired mother will inspire her children.  (I'm happier when inspired anyway -- def.)
• Analyze what isn't working
• Be intentional and take a moment to decide
• Life with children: constant training and teaching without always seeing an immediate result
• Consider both the problem and the potential solution

The boy-ohs

 We use a wet rag to erease our chalkboards and realized

last Friday that we could do particularly fabulous outlines

when they press their hands and feet to the wet board.

Fun!  A perfect afternoon project.

 My BIL & SIL made these chalkboards

for the boys this past Christmas.

They are old metal serving (or lap) trays.

We use them a lot.

Little Stinky can't participate in the mini-art projects,

but he sure likes to EAT them.  Yum, yum.

In this case, one of Diego's

toilet-paper roll Daleks went straight into the yapper.

It was there for less than 20 second, I swear it.



So thankful

Jamie just started saying, "nya-nya-nya-nya" yesterday.  Over and over and over again.  He's obsessed.  It is the cutest thing ever.

Attempting a camera-grab

I am so thankful for a happy and healthy, wonderfully fat baby.  Sometimes I forget.  Seeing pictures on a blog I stumbled upon this afternoon, Be "THE HANDS AND FEET", hurts my heart. 

It shouldn't be like this.  Anywhere.  Ever.

Massive, a.k.a. "I just can't resist"

I have been collecting children's books from thrift and used book stores for many years, before children were even a tangible glimmer in my mind.  I picked out what attracted me -- books I knew from childhood, fairy tales, classics, beautiful/interesting illustrations, etc.

After 7-8 (or maybe 9-10) years, I have a whole lotta books.  A whole lotta.  Blaine quit saying, "What?  More books??" years ago.  I think he just gave up.

An "upstairs" bookshelf

(the behemoth)

To sum in up succinctly, we have a "sizable home library".

We have gotten many beautiful books as gifts from family and friends over the years as well (thank you so much, we love them).  We also participate in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (a program to distribute children's books in economically-depressed areas), which sends one book each month, per kid, from age 0-5.  Some pretty terrific, others just kind of "meh".

So when a Friends of the Library book sale came up this spring, I started weeding through my collection.  I realized quickly that I would need to go through it several times to get everything, as it was too easy to just say, "Nah!" and put something back the first couple of times 'round.

I was finally satisfied after I went through every shelf four or five times.  I was ruthless and didn't let sentiment control me . . . and pulled out somewhere in the realm of 30-40 books.  Not too shabby.  (I did the book sale too, and some of them flew off the table.  Yesssssss.)

But that got me thinking.  Exactly how many books have I amassed over the years?  I knew it was probably in the hundreds, but I had never actually counted.  So I stewed over the idea for a few weeks, wondering, and finally got my chance to count them all out last week.  It was really fun.

Another shelf in the "book nook"

Novels and novellas

But first: I should clarify the locations of bookshelves throughout the house.  For the picture books, I have the blue monster upstairs and several other smaller shelves downstairs: one in the bedroom, one in the sunroom, and another (just one shelf) for the over-sized books in the living room.

Books for 9-12 readers and classic novels and novellas have two shelves upstairs and are intermixed in the rest of our books downstairs.  This reading level, btw, is what I've been focusing on the past couple of years while thrifting.  (Planning ahead, but I've also gotten much pickier with the picture books.)

So here are the grand totals.  Un-un-un-un.

• Picture books: 527
• Board books: 63
• Children's Lit: 159

I'm sure this will make my family and friends never want to bequeath another book upon us again, but please! don't let that stop you!  We love books.  We are thrilled by anything that is passed along.  Some of our favorites have come from others.

But yeah.  I think I might have gone over-the-top.

(But I know you know I don't actually think that.)

Skyscape

The sky in this part of the country is glorious, something I finally realized last summer.  (We have been here for four years next month, how can it be??) 

These beautiful skies are such a sight for sore eyes and soul.  In a part of the country where very little, if any, natural landscape exists, it is such a blessing to have such a breathtaking view above us.  It leaves me astounded.

On Monday night, as I was returning from my Friends of the Library meeting, where I saw a double rainbow (double rainbow!) I might add, I found Squeeze outside, camera in hand, running for the west-side.  How I love that about him. ♥ 

The sky was un-un-un-un.  Truly inspiring. 

June and July must be the season for tearfully happy, maddeningly gorgeous skies.

Behold ---

Facing west

Southeast

Northwest

West/Northwest

Southwest

(my favorite)

Southwest

Newborn blankie shots

I've been meaning to do this post since January . . . oh well, better late than never.

Look at all my sweet babes!  My MIL makes a special quilt-blankie for each of her grandchildren -- they are so special, I really love them. Neither of the boys have chosen it as their "special" blankie (for which I am thankful, because it would be in tatters by the time they turned 10) but we keep them around and use them frequently.

Lately I've been laying them across our gigantic queen-and-double patchwork family bed.  Or we use them as the play-area during an exciting game of Go Fish.  Or they snuggle down into them while we sit around and chat on weekend mornings.

Diego Kinder Dune

July 2005

Truen Jules Pumpkin

October 2007

Jamie Sterling

January 2011

Diego got the colorful FISH, Truen, the LION in autumn hues, and Jamie's is the sweetest little brown GIRAFFE.  (I'll have to post pictures of that later.) 

Gramma S. didn't have Jamie's blankie done by his birth day (the usual), because she was waiting to find out if he would be a boy or a girl.  She said that she was "going to really pull out all the stops" and make it the most ridiculously girly blankie she has ever done had he been female.

But, you know.  The Borealis men only shoot out little boys.  One girl per generation for the last four generations, and we already have our girl (Borealis cousin) this time around.

Not that I don't love my boys.

After seeing a few of 'em, I've come to the conclusion that we have one boy that looks like Blaine (Diego) and two boys that look like me (Truen and Jamie).  They certainly look like brothers, but Blaine got trounced in the gene dept.  Kind of sad, since I'm so ugly.  Ha!  Kidding.

Aren't my little darlings just darlin'? 

The Boy-ohs

Wow, three posts in one week.  That used to be the regular goal.  Now . . . it seems excessive.

All three of my boys are sleeping at the same time.  I suppose it probably happens about once a week, and you can imagine how I just revel in it.  It feels so good.  I mostly want to just sit and stare.

But I think I'll write an "update" on each of the boys.  I bet my parents and sibs would like that.  Shoot, I will too.

DIEGO:
Age almost-6
(July 30th)

• Re-obsessed with butterflies this summer.
• Love playing with and holding his baby brother.
• Never wants to take a bath alone, or much of anything else really -- he loves people and wants to be around them pretty much all the time.
• Though he does regularly become absorbed in picture books and Blaine's old comics for extended lengths of time.
• Loves to snuggle.
• Still loves to "touch my neck".
• Invites Truen to play by saying, "My guys are about to land and blow up your spaceship!" and anything else along that line.
• LOVES trying to make Blaine laugh -- I often watch him eyeing his daddy while pulling out the old one-liners (or whatever funny quip) to try and get a chuckle.
• Has recently started HATING to see people kiss.  Whether his parents or people in a movie, he is repulsed and will avert his eyes while yelling, "Nooooooo!"  (LOL, he also said he "doesn't like" Uncle Erik because he kisses Ashley.  Riiiiiiiight.) 
• He also told me yesterday that when he gets bigger and has a girlfriend, he's not going to kiss her.  Riiiiiiiiight.
• Is embarrassed by his new hair-cut.
• Is very obedient and helpful.
• Tends to get too wild (his main downfall, sound familiar anyone...?)
• Still says, "schickens" vs. "chickens"
• Has resurrected my favorite nickname of all time, "Truen HisBees".
• Frequently calls Blaine "Da" and in the past has called me "Shaw".
• Regularly pats me to show his affection (and as a reassurance of his love if/when he's upset).
• Favorite color: blue

TRUEN:
Age 3

• Told the Story Hour reading volunteer this week that "the only thing I know how to make is scrambled eggs" when she asked the group if they liked helping in the kitchen.
• He does love to help in the kitchen and makes the scrambled eggs (almost) by himself.
• Frequently shows me affection by kissing my arms.
• Will ask, "Is your armpit available?" when snuggling down for bed or a nap.  (He still loves touching my armpits, of all things.)
• Has been saying, "I want to be alone" when feeling cranky, and frequently re-emerges cheerful and pleasant once again.
• Has been saying, "I'm too tired to walk to bed" and absolutely LOVES in being carried. [Adjustment from being the baby...?  Wow, I just thought of that!]
• Absolutely loves being babied by his daddy.  Squeeze will croon and fuss over him (Diego too) and I can tell, that kid revels in it.  Not much of a snuggler, but that will tip him over the edge and get him nuzzling.
• Always wants to make sure his daddy knows if/when he is hurt.  Again, the "fuss-factor".  Loves it.
• Still wears a 2T (three-and-a-half years old).  Wears clothes that Diego wore when he was two.  Likewise, the baby (at 5 months) is wearing things that he wore when he was 10-11 months.  He's tiny.
• Has the cutest little chipmunk grin.
• Loves to play with his baby brother.
• Very keen on concocting "magic potions" of whatever powder/liquids he finds in the bathroom.
• Calls me "Ma" (no joke!)
• Adores banana chips.
• Favorite color: purple

JAMIE:
Age 5 months

• Very interested in our cats, loves to watch them and will reach out to touch or grab them if they come close enough.
• Wiggles ALL. THE. TIME.
• Pukes ALL. THE. TIME.
• Loves to grab faces and suck on them.
• Smells so good, like a fresh bale of hay.
• Loves taking baths.
• Will grab Diego's face (particularly at night, when he's tired), scream, and suck on it ferociously (latching on in that back-and-forth motion when babies are looking for a nipple).  This pretty much always ends in him (the baby) getting so amped up that the happy screams turn into crying-screams.  It is the weirdest thing.  Diego thinks it is hilarious.
• Sometimes hums himself to sleep.
• Loves to be wrapped (arm-swaddle).
• So soft and fat and sweet-smelling.
• Nicknames "Stinky" (pronounced "Schtinky") and "Voos".
• Wiggles and smiles if he even hears Blaine calling to him from a distance, gives HUGE grins when he sees him.
• Thinks his name is Stinky.
• Understands 6 words: milk, Dada, Brother, Toots/Bay (the cats' names), Stinky
• Takes four naps a day: Two 20 minute morning naps, one 2-3 hour afternoon nap, and another 20 minute evening nap.
• Nap locations vary.  First morning nap: swing.  Second morning nap: my arms/swing.  Afternoon nap: bed.  Evening nap: swing.  (We keep the swing in the kitchen.)
• Gives a HUGE grin as soon as he wakes up enough to look around in the morning.
• Wake-up calls sound like this: "Ahhhhh . . . maahhhhhh . . . awwwwwhhh"
• Loves the reverberations of humming while sucking on his fist.
• His feet go *boing*, up in the air, the second his diaper is off.  He loves holding his feet and sucking on his toes. (and this is actually how we have relatively-peaceful evening meals of late, by taking his diaper off so he can have easy access to his tootsies).
• Sits very well by himself (with supervision).
• Rolls over either way, but mostly to his left, and always starts the roll-over by grabbing his feet and laying on his side.