Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 is a success!  The party consisted of Mom and Gus, but boy we had a good time.  We spent two days baking, eating, opening presents, swimming, and scooter-ing.  Gus hammed it up for the camera.  He was lucky enough to get a nice Leap Pad from Aunt Amy and Uncle Brian!  And a "big truck" from his Nana and Poppa.  Santa brought him a Buzz Lightyear scooter.  His Aunt T and Uncle Chuck got him the biggest ball you've ever seen (those pictures are to come), and his mom bought him the Tebow gear!  Several others gave him nice presents as well.  Thank you for all who love my son.

I hope who ever is reading this also had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season.  And my present? Other than the sweetest, bestest little boy ever?  A Patagonia down sweater.  It is soooo warm!

Present from Aunt Amy

Gus knows how to ham it up for the camera

Santa brought him a Buzz Lightyear Scooter!

Is that Gus Aliff?  Or Tim Tebow?

I think it might be Tim Tebow

Walter looking for his gift

Big Truck from Nana and Poppa

Riding his Buzz Lightyear scooter

Nice Christmas at the playground

Momma's present!  A sweet little boy.

Should have been Jane Fonda's son

On our break from school, I've been try to work out using a video and some weights. Gus decided he'd come try too. But he insisted on stripping down to his wife beater t-shirt and baring his "guns"!

My little Elf

It is that time of year again!

Oh no! Not the snow!  Another brutal winter in a mountain tow.  On the bright side, Gus seems to be adjusting!

Potty trained and Preschool

Gus finished his first full week of preschool. He has moved up from the toddler room. Gus outgrew the toddler room months ago, but in order to move to the preschool room, he had to be potty trained. Well guess what?! He is a big boy now. In order to encourage Gus to continue to "pee in the potty" and to stay in the preschool, I wanted to get him a present. I thought we were going to get a truck, but he had other ideas. He picked out the Buzz Lightyear. You should have seen his eyes light up! He loves playing with his new Buzz as you can see in the video.

Four Corners with the Love Family

We met some friends on a little vacation in New Mexico.  We had a great time spending time with friends!  Gus loves his extended family just like family.  

Halloween 2011

And . . . he is potty trained

Just like that.  Last week, the teachers at his preschool suggested he wear big boy underpants.  I sent him to school in his underpants, and he did it!  Then after a week of staying dry (more or less, no one is perfect), he made it through the whole weekend!  I swear, it was like a switch.  Now we are entering a whole new stage of Gussie.  How much fun was it to take him to Target to pick out his big boy underwear?!  I'd post pictures, put it doesn't seem appropriate :)

Enjoying Nature

Here comes Gus and Poppa!

Momma (me)!

For one of our last nice weekends out here, we went on a little camping trip.  Gus absolutely loves playing in dirt. Anywhere he can bring his trucks to push around, he has a great time.  This camping trip was with me, Nana, and Poppa.  We did some hiking and some dirt playing.  Too bad the campground wouldn't allow campfires. . . something forest fires?

Cousins

Gus and his best friend, his cousin.

Back to School

No. Not Gus back to school. Mom back to school! Poor Gus goes to a year round preschool so he never has time off. We are both settling into the fall really nicely. I'm enrolled to get my doctorate so it is very busy around here. Gus continues his weekly speech therapy lessons and is talking up a storm. He speaks in complete sentences, they just aren't in English!

Gus and I had a chance to go see his cousins for a weekend. Because we got an early start (we left on Thursday) Gus and I got to go to the Children's Museum. You'll see picture of Gus pretending to be a veterinarian in this post, that is from the Children' Museum. 

Riding in a Black Hawk Helicopter

Pilot of a Black Hawk

Pilot of an airport fire truck

Sweet talking the firefighter into wearing his jacket

Don't forget the boots and pants

Dr. Gus caring for a puppy

Dr. Gus giving his puppy a shot

Gus and Maureen on top of the fire truck

Gus on the front of the fire truck

In addition, one of my mentors retired this year and was Woman of the Year of this small mountain town. She got to be the grand marshal of the local parade, which entailed riding on a fire truck. Well guess who she invited to ride on the fire truck?! That's right! Gus and I got to ride on a fire truck in a parade for the second time this year.

I just think Gus is such a good looking kid! I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Trip to Ouray

I took Gus for a week long trip to Ouray, Colorado. I grew up visiting this small town and so I wanted to introduce Gus to the wonder and beauty of the Rocky Mountains. We camped. We swam. We jeeped. And then we went home. 

At the pool in his cool shades

A pool shot

Gus at our campsite

Gus eating gold fish and chilling at the campsite

Downtown Ouray. Look at those views!

Jeep ride to Yankee Boy Basin

Mom and Gus at Yankee Boy

Getting ready to head into the mine

Last days of summer!

Okay. The story behind this ice cream at the pool. I told Gus, "Gussie, if you swim all the way across the pool (33 meters), Mommy will buy you an ice cream. But you have to go all by yourself all the way across." And he did! Of course I held that carrot out there so he couldn't refuse. Every time he'd come up for a breath, I'd yell "ICE CREAM!" My little 2 year old made it all the way across with no problems. And he has done it ever since. Michael Phelps, move over. . . here comes Gus!

Camping

I wanted to post some pictures and videos of our latest camping trip. Gus and I are gearing up for our big week long camping trip down in Southwest Colorado!