Bruiser

As Gus gets older, he acts more like a boy. He's rough and tough and falls a lot. He's already had to get his lip glued together a few months ago. I guess they glue instead of suturing. That was "Gus vs. Door Frame".

For the sequel "Gus vs. the Deck" he caused major panic and trauma to his poor Momma. His cousins were visiting for the weekend so they got to bear witness to this accident. As did my next door neighbor who was outside with me when it happened. Gus misstepped off the deck backwards and bumped his chin. I picked him up and he had a little blood coming out of his mouth. Well, Connie the super nurse had witnessed Gus biting his tongue only a couple of weeks ago. That time, it stopped bleeding within minutes. This time, the blood started spewing everywhere. Heidi ran to get me a towel and she came back with this horrified look on her face. Blood was everywhere! I finally got him into the house and he had swallowed so much blood he started puking blood up.

This is about when super nurse Connie panicked. Logically, it made sense that the tongue is vascular and bleeds easily and a lot. It made sense since he had a big hole in his tongue that it was bleeding hard for a reason. And it made sense that he was swallowing so much blood and the stomach is sensitive to the blood so the person will throw it up. Finally, I knew that they do not put sutures in tongues (or glue for that matter) because tongues heal very fast. Yes, it all seemed to logical. Except I was the mom and this was my baby and it all was happening so fast. I shamefully admit that I called the pediatrician. The pediatrician told me what I already knew. She prescribed Gus to eat Popsicles until it stopped bleeding. Heidi was nice enough to go buy some Popsicles. Gus at about 5 of those little mini ones which stopped the bleeding quite nicely. Eli is such a good cousin, he took the medicine as well and at Popsicles right along side baby Gus.

Hanging out in Pop Pop's van

Playing on the playground

Nearly amputated tongue the day after

Bedtime Ritual

Now that I am going to write more often, I have to think of specific things to talk about that most people don't care about. But if you love Gus and me enough to read this blog, then maybe you will like my boring topics!

Its funny how certain routines have come to be. Seems like I don't set the routines, but Gus and I do it together. Take for instance his bedtime routine. Most nights, Gus gets a bath before bed. Then he gets his PJs on and I make him his milk and take him down to his room. About 6 months ago I bought this over-sized leather-like chair for his room. If you are a new parent and don't have a reading chair in your room, you are missing out on some good times. Here is Gus in his chair. Here he is by himself but usually we are snuggled on the chair together reading. I asked him to model his reading chair with his milk, book and Peter (Peter is the name of his lovey).

Gus lets me read him books like "Goodnight Moon", "I love you because you are you" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear". Yes, I use the word "let" me. I have to bribe him to let me read him these books. If he had it his way, we'd only read truck (ckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk) and train (choo choo) books. His favorite is "100 First Machines". Gus sits on my lap, drinks his milk, and we read book. After that, Gus and I run down the hall to the bathroom. He is so cute, he stops in front of the steps and very gently sets his empty milk cup on the step for me to bring up stairs. Then, he brushes his own teeth. . . with a motorized electric toothbrush. Those boys and their toys!
Finally, after brushing his teeth, he turns it off, and places it on the sink. Then he literally sprints back down the hall to his room and tries to climb into his crib. What a good little boy! He loves going to bed with Peter and his music. He looks up at me and I can see his eyes that he is saying, "Don't let the door hit your butt on the way out, Mom!"

With that, I close the door and night night Gussie! And that is our bedtime routine.

Boy Meets Trucks

As I said before, Gus still doesn't talk. At 19 months, he is a little delayed, but this is his trend. He has a handful of signs that I taught him: milk, water, banana, cookie, more, done, dog, cat, bird. He refuses to learn animal sounds. The only one he will repeat is snake (which says "ssssssssss"). The kid has made up his own words for a few different vehicles. For instance, for train he says, "choo choo" or for fire engine he says "woooo woooo woooo" and finally, for his all time favorite trucks he says, "ckkkkkkkkkk."

I find it so amazing that as a boy he loves trucks and balls. I give him dolls and stuffed animals, but he will not play with them. He only wants to throw rocks and push trucks. Isn't it funny how we don't push gender roles on children, they inherently know them? While Gus is drawn naturally to boy stuff, he has no understanding of "boy colors." He loves to play with his pink car which makes my guy friends cringe.

Gus loves his trucks. He just got a very large metal Tonka Dump Truck from his grandmother. Gus loves this truck because 1) its big with big wheels which makes it easy to push around 2) it carries a lot of rocks and 3) the large wheel give the truck the ability to go down hills very very fast. Gus pushes the truck to top of hills and then gently rocks it back and forth as if he was counting 1-2-3 and then gives it a good shove. That truck goes coasting down the hill very fast until it gains so much momentum that it flips over crashing. Of course, the crashing is just as fun as watching it go down the hill. Gus is all boy!

19 Months

He gets the brow furrowing from his Mom!

Gus loves his tractors (or riding lawn mowers)

My little toddler is 19 months already! We just returned from a whirlwind trip cross country. This time, Gus and I drove to Virginia and back. Well, I drove and Gus chilled in the back seat watching movies and eating lollipops. What I discovered on this 3 week trip is that I have the best little boy ever. Of course, I am a little biased. Seriously though, that kid rocks. He rarely to never cried. In fact, he laughs pretty much non-stop. And he eats EVERYTHING. Each way driving took us 4 days. He sat contently playing with trucks I tossed to him from the front seat and watching Blues Clues.

Gus walks but he won't talk. His only word is "hot". My boy won't even say Momma. Most toddlers his age have at least 3 words minimum. Most have more than that. I believe he won't talk because he doesn't have to. I give him all he needs. He is a well loved little Gus.

Catch-up!

Gus is now 13 months old. That means I failed to tell you about his birthday party. And what a party is was. Grandma Cookie AKA Annie Brooks and I made a ducky cake. He just loves ducks and the their quack. He also had another cake because we were not sure whether we had an ugly duck or and beautiful one. Turns out that everyone loved duck cake including Gus as you can see from the pictures. Best of all the whole neighborhood turned out to celebrate Gus' first year.

Since his birthday, that boy has grown both physically and in his abilities. He crawls like a spider and is starting to walk (with a little help). He is developing a personality, which can only be described as lovable. People everywhere just stop and smile when they see him waving and smiling. Watching Gus grow and develop is almost magical. Every morning he wakes up with a smile and a trucker's appetite. After breakfast its play, play, play until nap time. On Tuesday he goes to story time in the morning at the library. Afternoons are spent playing with grandma and grandpa on days that I work. Weekends are reserved for Gus and me.

To keep him from wearing out his grandma and grandpa, I have Thaneda, a Thai woman who lives around the corner watch him several afternoons a day. I guess no one would be surprised to learn that Thaneda loves him.

As for me, I have moved on from bedside nursing to college professor. Yes, I am an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the a local community college. It is a TON of work but I love it. I work 60 hrs a week, but I love my job. The program is being totally revamped and it great to be at the epicenter of the action. I am writing syllabus after syllabus, while at the same time teaching classes.

So enjoy the pictures of Gus and wish me the best in my new profession. For both of us life is good.

Gus is One!!

11 months old!

I can't believe Gus is 11 months old. He is only weeks away from being a one year old!

Moving away to be closer to my parents is the number one good thing I have ever done for Gus. The situation back in Virginia was what you would call suboptimal. I know I don't talk about how I am a single mom on this blog, but it is a fact. I made a mistake with someone who I thought I knew and trusted. Alcoholism is a bad disease.

So, there I was, 5 months pregnant and on my own. I had a good job, owned my own house, and had money in savings. I guess if I had to, I could have sucked it up and survived by myself. Truth is, when my parents suggested I up and move out here, it wasn't at the top of my list. I had made a home in Virginia. I had friends, I had a job and I had roots. Once Gus came along, I realized that life with an infant was much more difficult than I could have ever anticipated. And no, his father never even bothered to contact me after the birth of his son, much less offer to help out. You could even say I had no other option but to uproot my entire life, leave everything behind and start over. Easy? No. I just had to do what was best for my baby boy.

Funny how things tend to work out for me. Check this out. I move across the country and because I am a nurse I instantly get a job (that was a given). I move in with my parents and I tell myself, "Connie, you can live with your parents for ONE YEAR". I moved in December 6, 2008. This quaint little 3 bedroom house goes up for sale right across the ally from my parents. I knew I couldn't afford it and didn't want to be a home owner again. What happens? This nice lesbian couple from Nebraska buy it in hopes of retiring here in 5-10 years. Their relator is my neighbor and he told them how I wanted to move out but somewhere close to my parents. Bam! I have an affordable house across from my parents. And I moved in December 1st, a week from my deadline.

My passion for being a bedside nurse is dwindling. This spring, I called up the local nursing school and told them I had a Masters and wanted to teach. They let me teach some classes adjunt but told me they wouldn't have any full time positions for another few years when the older faculty would retire. Bam! A new full time professor got pregnant with her 2nd child and she quit. Bam! I now have a full time teaching job.

Back in nursing school in December of 2000, I was looking for a new car. I really wanted a Jeep and bought a Cherokee. By the way, the last year Jeep made Cherokee was 2001 and I purchased a 2001 Jeep Cherokee. Now, it snows out here in the mountains a lot. My 4 wheel drive jeep takes me everywhere I need to go. Who would have ever thought that 9 years ago, I bought my jeep for the very purpose of living and working out here in the mountains?

Things have a way of working out.

Okay, now to Gus. He is a growing boy. He is also perpetual motion. I swear that kid never stops. Sometimes I just sit and watch in total awe. He sits, he stands, he lays down. He puts the ball in the cup, he takes the ball out of the cup. He lays down, he stands, he sits. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

He knows where his ear, his hair, and his foot are. Many people (including my brother) teach their babies sign language. Kind of reminds me of Meet the Fockers. From my research, the main reason for teaching infants sign language is that, in theory, the terrible twos come from kids being frustrated that they can't verbally express what they want. Having seen both my niece and my nephew go through the terrible twos, I have come to realize that the tantrums do not come from not being able to express what they want. It comes from them not being able to get what they want! Anyway, I have chose not to teach Gus sign language. He is just going to have to come up with his own way to express himself.

Little Gus is settling into his new home just wonderfully. I love how babies adjust so easily! Gus is on the waiting list to be in a day care center at the local elementary school. He has to be at least one years old so I have another month or so. I am crossing my fingers that BAM! he will be offered a place.