the EdelHay

Angus at 14 months

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:12:00 +0000

Angus has learned the sidestep. When he's approaching something dangerous or when he's trying to get through a narrow lane, Angus turns his body sideways and cautiously side-steps towards his destination. More recently, he's learned to do this when he wants to hand something to one of us without getting picked up. He gets the item in hand, then inches forward, one side step at a time until his hand is just close enough to hand off the item without getting snatched up in the process.

Angus is getting good at pushing buttons. He knows how to make the glow worm play music. As soon as he hits the tummy button, he does his Angus-dance, which involves standing still and waving his hands above his head wildly. He has also added a new dance move to his repertoire. Angus does a set of high knee fancy-steps, reminiscent of Flash Dance It's super sweet, and pretty fancy. He does it whenever he's happy, excited, wants to get up on a couch, or is just in a dancing kind of mood,

Angus is still a big eater. He's eating tons of bananas. He easily eats 1.5 in a sitting. He loves eating huge strawberries with his grandfather. Sadly, he has started throwing food on the floor. Frequently Angus wants to drink from a real glass (not a sippy cup). But he's still working on setting the glass down right-side-up.

I went to Buffalo for my grandmother's funeral. Angus and dad had a weekend alone together. They went to a 1 year old birthday party for all of the kids in his Peps group and the zoo. They had dinner over at Amelia's house with Amelia, Kim, Hui-San and Nana Mary. They also took Angus's 3rd plane trip without mom. 2.5 hours to LA. Angus slept for half and wailed for half. It's hard to sit still when you can toddle around.

The plane flight was for a visit to Mamie's house. We stayed in LA for a week. Where Angus spent all week with Babette and Terry. He learned the word 'hot.' He and Terry saw watched tons of helicopters. He trick or treated for the first time. He had 4 different costumes -- dinosaur, lion, orange and black outfit, and cow. Angus also had a great time playing with the sand at the Santa Monica beach. He loved sliding on his tummy through the sand. I made giant piles of sand and Angus pushed all of the sand off of the pile. Angus experimented with sticking his face in the sand a couple of times. He got sand stuck everywhere, then he'd make a sour face, but he wouldn't complain. I taught him how to spit the sand out of his mouth by pushing it out with his tongue.

Angus is babbling all of the time now. He's also mastering his first words. He learned to say uh-oh and up from his grandma. He learned how to say hot from his Mamie. Angus really understands words. He'll go pick up the ball and bring it when asked. He knows how to 'find dad' or how to 'go to the bathtup'. Words that Angus can say at the end of 14 months: Hot, Light, This, Uh-Oh, and Up.

When Angus is sleepy, he'll go find his blue blanket. He'll either carry it to his bedroom, or he'll make a little nest out of it and lie down on the floor. Angus is sleeping in a little bit more. Instead of always getting up at 5:30, now he sometimes gets up at 5:30 and then snoozes in bed with mom and dad until 6:30. Sometimes, he sleeps on his own until 6:15.

Angus loves his book of family photos "Who Loves Baby." He carries it around by the handle. He and Amelia fight over it. He and Amelia start fighting a little more. Both want to be held at the same time, both want the same thing at the same time. Amelia is walking now, so they can chase each other.

He's grown more attached to his binky over the past month. When he sees it he gets visibly excited. Then he'll grab the binky and cram it into his mouth. He's starting to get more upset when Alex and I leave in the morning. He recovers pretty quickly once we're gone though.

Angus can play more advanced hide-and-seek now. He loves collecting leaves.

Angus can run now, and he's fast. He's wearing his first pair of real shoes, Merrells that Jan bought him for his birthday. He's a little wobbly in the shoe, but he can still run and get around well. He likes being able to walk on cold, wet, hard ground without feeling it. Angus is working on going up and down stairs while standing. He still needs to hold our hands to do it, but he's got the idea. Angus has also figured out how to climb up onto his play table so that he can look out the window and grab ahold of the brightly colored bug-shaped Gel Gems that we have on the window.

Angus at 13 months

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:17:00 +0000

Angus is getting to be a fast walker. He's also mastered the backward crawl down the stairs. Now he'll get himself in position at the top of the stairs -- feet down, tummy to the ground, and instead of carefully going down each stair, he'll streamline his body so that he can slide all the way down the stairs on his tummy. Angus can get off of sofas and beds by himself. Sometimes he can even climb up by himself.

Angus loves riding the trike that his grandparents got him for his birthday. He rides it around his grandparent's driveway, around the Madison Park playground, and up and down the flat street near our house. His nanny, Chelsie, got him a little red bike bell for his birthday and he rings it all by himself.

Angus stopped using the bottle this month. It was an easy transition. He just got less and less interested in it. Angus loves eating blueberries at his grandparents house. Grandma froze lots of Anacortes local blueberries in the summer and now they're Angus's favorite food.

When Angus wakes up in the morning or after a nap, he lays around in bed, lazing around and enjoying a slow morning start. This is a totally new thing for him. A month ago, he'd be up, ready to go, standing at the edge of his crib as soon as he was awake. Now, he likes a little bit of laying about before he gets going. Angus also started snoozing in bed with mom and dad after he wakes up. It's so warm and snuggly.

When Angus wakes up or when his ready to go to bed, he will carry his blue blanket around the house with him. It's a pretty long blanket, and he has to work hard to keep himself from tripping on it.

Angus's first word was "this". He spent a week going around the house pointing at everything and saying "this", "this", "this", and every once in a while "whatisthis". Angus loves looking at picture frames. He'll go into our library and pick up old pictures of mom saying "this," "this," "this," pointing.

Angus is starting to respond to the word "gentle". When we say gentle, he'll touch things more carefully. He's good at being gentle with art, flowers, and Amelia. Angus and Amelia love babbling to each other. Angus used to be the silent partner while Amelia chatted up a storm. Now, they're both babbling all the time. Angus likes to share his food with Amelia. He offers her his big boy food when she looks at it covetously.

Angus likes knocking over piles of blocks, and he loves opening and shutting the doors on his latch board. He has a whole bunch of puzzles, but he has singled out the crocodile and the giraffe pieces for extra attention. Angus is also getting really good at playing ball. He can dribble the ball halfway across the room. He can throw about a foot away (but not always in the right direction).

At Amelia's house, Angus loves playing with her pooh bucket. The baby inserts square blocks into a little square hole and it counts the blocks with a pooh voice. At home, Angus is enjoying all of his new birthday toys, but he loves the Fridge Farm most of all. He pulls it off of the fridge and carries it around on his shoulder like a boom box while dancing around the house. It sings: "I'm Farmer Tad. Listen to my banjo..."

Angus loves all magnets. He pulls them off of the fridge. He carries them around the house. He holds the magnets up against every vertical surface that's 2 feet high. At first, Alex and I sort of laughed at Angus... silly Angus, the magnet won't stick to the wall. But he's found a whole bunch of surfaces that we didn't realize were magnetic -- the dishwasher, the bathub! He's a little experimenter, and he's finding new things every day.

Angus loves pulling things into and out of containers like his block sorter. He loves putting all of his bath toys into the bathtub before his bath. Dad will line them all up on the bathtub ledge, and Angus will push them into the tub one by one, laughing the whole time.

Angus loves ready "Peek a Who?" and "Grow up", two board books by Nina Laden that let you peak through a cut out before you see the next page. He loves the mystery, and he loves turning the pages by grabbing the cutouts. He also likes the bright, bold illustrations

When Angus gets tired or upset he wails and whines and gets a little crazed. When he gets really upset, He likes to snuggle with me. I'll sit cross-legged on the ground and he'll come sit on my legs, facing me with his head nestled into my chest.

This month, Angus spent an afternoon at the Museum of Flight with Grandma Grandpa and Uncle Owen on a workday. They had so much fun running around in the open space and climbing stairs. Angus also got to see real firemen and a real fire truck with Chelsie at story time at the library. Story time was packed and all of the kids were really excited.

Angus's First Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:50:00 +0000

When we were getting ready for the party, Angus knew that something exciting was happening. Dad was making cupcakes, Mamie was in the house, and there were balloons everywhere. Angus was so excited that he couldn't sleep. Finally, Mamie took him to the car, strapped him into his seat, and drove him to Snohomish. He got a nice nap in and was ready for the excitement of the party.

We wanted to have Angus's birthday party in the park, but it was so rainy that we had it at our house instead. Guests included:

Colleen, Matt and Bram
Eden, Eric and Addie
Mamie
Grandma and Grandpa
Jules and Ian
Kim, Hui-San and Amelia
Lauri and Andrew
Doug, Nancy, Finn and Elijah
Scott and Gigi
Jan and Roxy

Thanks to everyone for coming.

Jordan made pasta and carrot salad while dad made Angus 4 dozen cupcakes from scratch. Angus ate a whole cupcake in one sitting -- no problem. He started by cautiously probing the frosting, and ended by shoving almost the whole cake into his mouth. All of the kids chased balloons around the house. Angus was so excited to have real 4 year old big kids in his house playing with him.

On Angus's actual birthday, he went to the doctor. He got all of his shots. We also took a blood draw to test for allergies because his eczema is so bad. The test turned up negative for all of the allergies -- nuts, milk, egg whites and egg yolks.

See more photos.

Angus at 12 months

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:38:00 +0000

This month we had great visits from Cathy, Russell and Josie, and from Paul, Cat and Felix. It was so much fun to spend time with our old friends now that we all have little smiley monkeys.

Angus loves getting into big boxes, sitting in the boxes and riding the boxes around the house. He'll climb into the pampers box, which conveniently has a cushy layer of diapers at the bottom. Then he'll stay in there to listen to stories or play with toys. Dad and I also drive him around the house in the box, which cracks up.

Angus loves going to playgrounds. Sometimes we'll go 3 or more times in one day. He started out with the swings. Then he discovered playing in the woodchips. Finally, he discovered that he loves going down slides. He'll ride with mom or dad, or we'll help him go down by himself. He thinks it's hilarious and wants to go down over and over and over again. Angus actually threw his first temper tantrum when we had to leave the slide at volunteer park before he was ready.

Angus has started noticing airplanes. When he hears a plane, his whole body tenses up and he looks up at the sky. Once he spots the plane, he watches it fly all the way across his field of vision.

Angus likes playing hide and seek. He'll sneak behind the gliding chair in his room. Then he'll laugh while his dad and I look for him... "Angus.... where's Angus... have you seen Angus?". Finally, when the time is right, Angus will pop out from behind the chair, with his eyes all lit up and a giant smile on his face. Pleased with himself for being so clever, and happy that dad and I are so excited to see him.

Whenever Angus sees himself in a mirror, he zooms right in to look up close and then kisses himself in the mirror. He loves to check himself out in our full length mirror. Then he moves in for the kiss. He also loves any book that ends in a mirror. He'll sit in my lap quietly listening to me read the book. Then as soon as he sees the mirror, he smiles in delight and zooms in for that kiss.

Angus walked for the first time on Labor Day on the blacktop at Stevens Elementary. On that same trip, he figured out how to crawl down the stairs backwards all by himself. At first, Angus could only walk when he was distracted by carrying things in his hands. As soon as he was thinking about it, he couldn't do it.

By the end of the month, Angus was walking all the time. He loves being mobile. He loves going fast. He teeters around with both hands in the air for balance He was so excited to be able to get around on his own, that we had to put new foam corners on the kitchen tables because he kept knocking his head on them doing laps around the kitchen.

what a feeling...

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:35:00 +0000

Angus has developed quite the Flashdance impersonation. When we come pick him up from the nanny at the end of the day, he walks over to the sofa, puts his hands on the cushions, and does a flashdance like high knee dance. It's awesome. He does the same dance when he wants to get up on the couch.

Angus is dancing all the time now. He has a 'fridge farm' which plays banjo music. He'll hit the banjo button then he'll Angus-dance, which involves standing still while waving his hands around. He's even learned how to pull the farm off of the fridge and carry it around the house like a bizzaro country-kiddy boombox.

Goodbye Grandma Brown

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:52:00 +0000

My grandmother Vera Brown died at 7:03 PM today in North Tonawanda, New York. She was 89 years old.

happy halloween

noreply@blogger.com (alex) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:30:00 +0000

I just uploaded a payload of photos to Flickr including this summer, Angus's first birthday party, and autumn to date.

Included is this gem, one of a series of Angus trying on his dynamite dinosaur costume. Despite being soft and fleecy, with red spikes and a tail, the dinosaur was not pleased.

In other news, we will be going to LA next week to spend some time with Mom (mine) and work from our company's LA office. More photos to come from that trip.

Welcome Caden

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 22:18:00 +0000

My cousin Marcia and her husband Rob just had a beautiful baby boy.

Caden Scott Ballentine was born at 7:08pm on 10/7/2008. He weighed 8 lb 12.5 oz and was 21.25 inches long. There are of course tons of photos.

Congratulations Marcia and Rob!

Words...

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:34:00 +0000

Angus is babbling all the time. Every once in a while we can even understand a word. Angus is going all over the house pointing at things and saying "this!" "this!" "this!" Mostly he's interested in all of the lights, paintings and photos in the house.

Other 'words' we think we've recognized:
* that
* water
* mama
* da

Goodbye Aunt Annie

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:35:00 +0000

My Aunt Annie has passed away. She just celebrated her 106th birthday. I have wonderful memories of her warmth and her spunk.

The following is the eulogy delivered at Aunt Anne's funeral:

The Eulogy For My Grandmother
By Richard McGinis

I have spoken to several friends about my grandmother' s
passing. We speak of the history she saw made in her life –
electricity, automobiles, radio. The telephone, TV, two World Wars,
antibiotics.
I joke about her legendary thrift, and my own presumption of
immortality given her genetic makeup.
But her legacy is not about longevity or history. As I have had the
chance to speak to a small portion of the people whose lives she
touched, I have become aware that her legacy is something much more
important. Whether the story is about how she made sure that poor
children in her neighborhood had something to eat during hard times
from the small store she ran with my grandfather, or the sisters she
paid to put through nursing school, or the Sundays she spent
comforting a terminally ill neighbor, bringing food and washing
linens, or knowing how to help my cousin come to terms with the death
of her father, knowing just what to say, and how. Or, finally, the
example she was to the women of our family, by being ahead of her
time as a working woman with a strong belief in education, and the
freedom that it brings. Her legacy, it seems clear to me, is one of a
life led in genuine love and service to others, and her earnest
desire to give others a hand up to a better life, and a better way of
living.
Indeed, this legacy is a very powerful one, a forceful example of the
best kind of life that we can all live when we take a real interest
in each other's well being. As we go on with her in our hearts, we
take with us a vision of a powerful transforming force in our lives,
and the lives of those whom we touch in turn. This vision makes us
all better people, and shows us the way to the fullest sort of life –
a life full of love, love carried into fullest action by a commitment
to powerful values, an abiding faith in a higher power, in each
other, and in each other's basic goodness.
As we go back to our day-to-day lives, let us honor her memory and
bear witness to the strength of her example, remembering that it was
not simply how long she lived that mattered most-it was how well.

Angus walks

noreply@blogger.com (alex) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:10:00 +0000

Angus started walking this weekend! He is still a little shaky but he is spending more and more time on his feet. We shot some video on Monday to document this momentous milestone.

Playgrounds, planes, and pitching a fit

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:28:00 +0000

Angus has started noticing airplanes. When he hears a plane, his whole body tenses up and he looks up at the sky. Once he spots the plane, he watches it fly all the way across his field of vision.

Angus is also loving the playground. He has discovered the slide. He loves banging on it to hear it's hollow metal sound. He loves the anticipation of reaching the top of the slide. And he loooooves going down the slide. He isn't quite ready to do it himself yet, but it's still exciting when viewed from mom or dad's arms.

Angus may have also learned the art of the temper tantrum. After he first discovered the slide, we had to leave. Angus started kicking his legs and flailing his arms while yelling and trying to get to the ground. It's happened a few times since then too. For now, Alex and I are just trying to play it cool, and not let him get a rise out of us.

Happy 11 month birthday Angus!

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:19:00 +0000

Angus at 11 months...

Eating:
- Angus's favorite food this month is cheesy vegetables with meat.
- Angus is drinking lots more water and less formula.
- Jordan accidentally bought 6 lbs of pluots from Amazon Fresh. So Angus's pluot intake is at an all-time high.
- Angus is eating a lot. He has really upped his intake of food. He's both chubbing out and lengthening. He's also sleeping a lot. Hello growth spurt!

Sleeping:
- Angus started getting up at 4:30 am, so we moved his bedtime from 7pm to 8. Now he's waking up around 6am.
- Angus has become a napper! He's regularly taking two 2 hour naps a day, with a snack nap around 5:30. This is quite a change from his newborn days when we could barely keep him asleep for 45 minutes.
- Angus knows when he wants to go to sleep. He seeks out his dad, his bottle, and his snuggly blue blanket when he gets tired.

Listening to:
- "For the Kids" -- Cake covers Mahna Mahna, and Guster sings a song about being clean.

Reading:
- Angus still loves "Spring is Here". He is also liking the vegetable book.
- Angus and his nanny Chelsie are going to storytime at the library most Thursday mornings.

Playing with:
- Angus is loving his new walker wagon. He's even able to steer the wagon a little bit. It's giving him newfound mobility.
- Angus is loving his pacifier. He's getting more attached.
- Water... Angus went to the wading pool and to Lake Washington for the first time. He experienced waves, and sand, and sun, and splashing, and pool toys. He held onto our hands and toddled around the wading pool. He learned how to splash. After all that, he finally has become a boy who loves the bath. He'll spend 20 minutes in the bath now, splashing around.
- Angus loves his new toothbrush. This month, Angus has started to like imitating Alex and I. We got him his own toothbrush and he loves sticking it in his mouth. When Alex or I do it at the same time, it cracks up Angus.
- Angus loves his singing gumball machine -- he knows how to put the balls in and out.
- And he loves anything that bounces. It's fun to throw hard balls at the floor and to see them bounce back. Grandpa raised this to an art form by bringing out the golf balls, then having them ricochet around his tile bathroom.
- Angus loves opening and shutting anything, especially doors. He's discovered where the corner tupperware cabinet is and he knows how to pull out the lids. Also... he likes banging the cabinet doors. The louder the better.
- Angus is getting really attached to his blue blanket. When he's tired, he seeks it out and starts rubbing his face on it.

Skills:
- Angus is still babbling. He's making so many different sounds
- Proclaiming ... Angus sticks his hand out, attracting attention, gives a little speech ( da da da da adja!), then does something impressive like taking a step.
- Standing, standing, standing.
- Clapping
- Angus took his first steps on his own and has gotten really good at walking while holding one of our fingers.
- His jokes and activities are getting more complicated. Angus likes playing hide and seek. He hides behind the rocking chair while we call out... "Where's angus... angus... angus... " Then he appears from behind the chair with a big, happy proud smile.
- Angus has learned how to kneel down and look under doors, which is pretty darn cute.

Events:
- Angus grew 2 new teeth. Now he has 4 on top and 4 on the bottom.
- Eczema is still bad. We use hydrocortisone on his face for a couple of weeks. Applying Vaseline while he's in the bathtub every day is really helping keep it under control.

Inventing games

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:45:00 +0000

Angus has been inventing his own games all day. In one game, he figured out how to knock a little block along the floor with his hand while crawling like a little baby soccer player. In another, he took the clackity ball and rolled it up and down the track for the window. He also invented the 'climb into and out of the diaper box' game.

Alex and I are learning how to invent games too. We turned the 'climb into the box' game into the 'climb into the box, pretend the box is a speedy car and race around the house' game.

Every time Angus figures out a cool new game, he gets so excited and proud of himself. He wiggles and pumps his legs, then he looks at Alex and I and starts clapping. Then we're all clapping, and so happy, and so proud.

He's stepping!

noreply@blogger.com (alex) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:13:00 +0000

Angus is stringing together steps. This morning he waited until he had a large audience. Then he thrust his hand into the air (as if he was going to give a speech). Then he took 3 steps in a row and stayed standing!

This evening he put his new stepping skills on fine display when his grandpa stopped by on the way home from the airport. He was stepping, and clapping, and laughing, and hugging, and stepping some more.

Angus at 10 months

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:36:00 +0000

Eating

lots and lots of cantaloupe
trying meat (chicken, burger) but not liking it
cheese and yogurt
spicy food -- peach soup with chipotle, vegetable chunks from spicy beef soup, pickle
watermelon & peaches
fire roasted corn

Listening to:

jack johnson -- curious george soundtrack

Reading:

Spring is here -- still favorite book
Still enjoying books.
Went to storytime at library for the first time. Started babbling that night.

Playing with:

Angus loves the playground baby swings.
Angus loves pushing chairs along the floor. He and Amelia will push the high chair around together.
Angus loves to jiggle the handle on the toilet. He's also enjoying the bath more. He loves to stare at toys inside the tub, while standing outside of the tub.
Angus is still fascinated by shoes. He loves to pick them up. And when we're not looking, he loves to get them in his mouth.

Skills

Babbling-- Before this month, Angus had babbled a little, but he started really babbling Thursday 7/17. Da da da da da
Standing without support (when he doesn't realize he's doing it)

Events

Angus had his first vacation. He went to Maryland with the Hay family. He took a plane for the first time. He swam in a pool for the first time. He met his cousin Sean for the first time.
Kelli and Eric visited for a long weekend, bringing baby Owen to meet Angus at only 2 months old.
The nanny share was at our house.
For the month, Angus had 2 upper teeth and 4 lower teeth.
The itching gets really bad with the eczema. Angus breaks the skin on his arms pretty badly a couple of different times this month.

it speaks

noreply@blogger.com (alex) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:41:00 +0000

One day, Angus just started babbling. Here are some clips.

baby owen

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:32:00 +0000

Kelli, Eric and baby Owen visited us the weekend before July 4th. Check out this happy picture of little baby Owen. Thanks so much for visiting guys!

Angus at 9 months...

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:38:00 +0000

30 inches long
21 lbs 10 oz

Angus is finally starting to enjoy books. He'll wander over to our box full of toys and books, grab a book, drag it over to me and sit in my lap. Once he's there, he only has the attention span to make it through 5 or 6 pages, but he likes the colors. He likes the way the book has a hinge, and how each page is a new surprise. He really likes "Vegetables" by Sara Anderson and "Spring is Here" by Taro Gomi (which was my valentine to him). He also loves a French ABC book full of little brightly-colored clay sculptures that Pati brought him this spring.

Angus is still a man of action. He loves climbing things. Last week, he actually got one foot on the toy box and used that to climb up onto the sofa all by himself. He does the monkey crawl (on his hands and feet) all the time. Even though he isn't walking, his balance is great. When he stands or sits, he keeps his torso above his feet. He can stand with only one hand resting on something, and he can transfer from one surface to another like a pro. At 30 inches tall, Angus is tall enough to get his hand on top of the kitchen table and try to peer at what's stored up there. Angus loves pulling up on the handles on our kitchen cabinets. Angus loves to play with the dishwasher and the crate full of shiny, metal silverware. Frighteningly, the knives are his favorite.

Angus still loves music. He seems to really like music on the peaceful, folky side. Exciting music can be fun too, but only for one or two songs. Angus also seems to gravitate towards music that he already knows, so Alex and I are working hard to find music that Angus likes that is also pleasing to us after repeated listening. Our new favorite is "Diez Deditos" by Jose Luis Orozco. Thank you Seattle Public Library.

Angus loves being outside. When he's in the crabbiest mood, a walk outside calms him. He likes to hold different kinds of leaves and flowers. He likes to pick at the grass and at the small daisies that live in the grass. He likes to explore the shadows made when the sun comes through leaves that are blowing in the breeze. He likes to stand up at the windowsill in our living room, watching the trees and the birds and feeling the occasional breeze through the window. This month we started putting him in a big frame backpack on Alex's back. It makes him so happy... he's outside. His face is at adult height. He can feel the wind. And he gets a jumbly, bumpy dad ride.

Alex is the new master at helping Angus fall asleep. Alex will sit on the sofa facing the window with Angus on his lap. Angus quietly stares out the window with a soft blanket around his face. They sit there quietly looking out the window until one (or both) of them drift off to sleep.

Angus loves to know how things work (particularly mechanical things). He loves to open and shut and open and shut and open and shut doors. At a birthday party last weekend, he reverse engineered a push toy until he could make it spin right. He likes the pictures in books, but he's even more fascinated by the binding. He still loves to look at our travel clock-- turning it around and examining it from all angles.

Angus still puts things in his mouth, but much less frequently. He still loves his pacifier, but he doesn't use it nearly as much.

Angus loves a good joke. What's cracking him up this month? Mom loudly and repeatedly crunching Cheerios then making Cookie Monster eating noises, and looking at anyone upside down (especially Amelia). Angus likes playing with toys that makes noise. He has this monkey bongo drum toy that sings, laughs and expels a ball. It's a big hit. But most of all, he loves playing with ordinary objects -- cardboard boxes, cardboard tubes, coffee lids, tupperware. He even turned an empty 1' x 1' x 5" box into his own personal walker, by pushing up on it, then pushing it around on our wood floors.

Angus is refining his flirting skills. He cocks his head way over to one side and gives a coy smile. Sometimes the head cock is so exaggerated that he actually ends up laying his head on the table. He likes flirting with people on the street and in cafes. When he wants to be held, he'll crawl up to Alex or I, pull himself up on our pants, then give us the sweetest smile possible.

Angus continues to have trouble with his skin. We just started his second course of medication for the eczema. We coat him in Vaseline three times a day, and everyone's clothes are ruined. Angus has been teething up a storm. He got his fourth tooth (bottom left incisor), and is working on his two top middle incisors. He's a pretty good sport about the pain -- when it hurts, he chews on our wood dining room chairs... but we have also been giving him Tylenol. This month, Angus also made his first trip to the emergency room. The night before we planned to fly for the first time, Angus got a 103.5 degree fever. He was extremely lethargic and could barely sit up. We didn't really realize how strong and personality-filled he had gotten until it suddenly washed right out of him. He had an ear infection. As I write this, he's still recovering. The high fever is gone, but Angus is sluggish and clingy -- not our adventurous little boy. He's also gotten a weird blotchy rash from the Amoxicillin. It looks pathetic, but the doctor says that it won't hurt him.

This month Babette came to visit when I left Angus for the first time (for 2 whole nights). Cathy, Russell and Josie also came to visit for the weekend. Angus got to see what a 15 month old can do up-close and personal. This month we also changed nannies. Allie was wonderful with Angus, and we'll miss her dearly. But we can't wait to meet her little baby-on-the-way. Angus's new nanny is named Chelsie. She had a great time getting to know both Angus and Amelia this month.

Angus's new favorite food is pancakes. He loooves pancakes. For that matter, so does Alex. For father's day, the two of them had pancakes. Angus ate a whole restaurant pancake in a single sitting this month. Outside of pancakes, peas are Angus's favorite food. New foods this month include avocado, tofu, steamed carrots, and raw pear chunks.

I'm writing this a few days early. On Angus's 9 month birthday, he'll be in Maryland spending a week with the Hay family.

happy dia del rey

noreply@blogger.com (alex) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:38:00 +0000

So I just had my first father's day, or as we refer to it in our household, "dia del ray", the day of the king. King day. It has a nice ring to it.

Over dinner Jordan asked me what I have learned as a father.

I have learned how to make music using mashups of melodies and lyrics. This came as a surprise to me since I have never been musically inclined, but it is incredibly useful, and fun.
Naturally, I have become an expert on changing diapers and all manner of related kungfu skills in dealing with a baby. I know how to compel a small animal to sleep. I know how to feed small animals. I know how to protect myself from small animals.
I have learned that small setbacks are a part of the natural cycle of improving oneself, giving me a zen outlook on the occasional bonked head or risky thing put in the mouth. It is less stressful to not hover over your child. Frankly Jordan and I were both surprised that I turned out this way since I am not particularly a mellow person. He needs room to grow.
I have learned how to compartmentalize my work stress and my home stress. This is a very valuable skill.
I have learned how to dead lift a 20lb sack of potatoes with one hand.
Related, I have learned the full value of exercise and a healthy body. I cherish my exercise time now that it is so much more scarce. More importantly, having a reasonably healthy and in shape body allowed me to handle, and actually enjoy, the dive into parenthood. The first few months with a baby are hard on the body, like how gardening is hard on the body, hard on the back and the muscles and you never get enough rest. But what we sow we reap, and Angus has been worth every missed hour of sleep or violently stubbed toe.
I have finally learned to ignore things that don't matter.

Thanks for the pancakes mister Anginator!

learning to fly

noreply@blogger.com (alex) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:21:00 +0000

We're going on vacation! The first with the three of us on a plane. Angus is very excited and has been spending the week testing out all of his new equipment: tent, car seat, stroller, hats. He's also picked up some new threads for his journey, so he can look good on the shore like his dad.

We're going to Washington D.C., Alexandria VA, and the Chesapeake Bay near Cambridge (Maryland). We're all excited to meet up with new buddy Sean and the rest of the Hay/Kilcullen/Sinclair pods. Angus is anxious to show off his monkey crawl, cruising, and climbing skills.

Some things we're packing which we have never traveled with before: baggies of cheerios, many little toys, baby-sized tent, high-tech lightweight folding stroller, foreign language lullaby CDs for the car, half-dozen pacifiers, field guide to poisonous plants.

Many photos when we return. Wish us luck!

Allie's poem for Angus

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:30:00 +0000

Angus's first nanny had her last day with Angus on May 30th. She wrote Angus this goodbye poem...

I love your smile and cute little nose
And how your hands smell like Cheerios!
I love your elbows and your knees
And how cute you were today eating your peas!

We miss you Allie! We can't wait to meet your new baby this fall.

Angus at 8 months

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:25:00 +0000

Listening to: Elizabeth Mitchell in the car to and from Kim and Hui-San's house

Reading: Angus is starting to have more patience for books. He still doesn’t get through a whole story, but he's interested in the pictures. He also likes closing books.

Playing:
*Angus likes to explore. He started by exploring the dry leaves in the front doorway. Then he started crawling beyond the door.
*Angus loves boxes. He loves to push up on them, pull them down, turn them over, pull things out of them, put things into them, and beat the drums on them.
*Angus loves playing with shoes and shoelaces.
*Angus loves things that roll because he can chase them. The clackity ball is still fascinating, and he loves his new wooden car because it rolls
*Angus greets mom and dad at the end of the day by waiting at the corner picture window at Amelia's house. He loves matching his hand up on the window with mom and dad, and blowing
*Angus is fascinated by our cheapo tiny alarm clock that I got in Mexico City. Anytime he's anywhere near our bed, he looks around until he sees the clock, then stares at it and grunts until he gets it. Once he has it, he palms it, turns it around, examines it and mouths it.

Eating: Angus is loving Cheerios. He's eating finger foods like peas, Cheerios, banana chunks, and yam cubes. He grabs giant fistfuls of food, closes his fists, shakes his hands over his head. Then he tries to get as much food as he can in his mouth by jamming as much of his fist into his mouth and scraping his hand against his bottom lip.

Sleeping: Still sleeping from 7:30pm to 5am, then naps with mom until 6:30.

Skills:
*Standing --Angus can easily pull up on almost any surface, including the windowsill, the bench, the recycling basket, the wall, and the side of the pack and play.
*He's a crawling king! He crawls everywhere, and he crawls fast.
*Getting down from a standing position safely.
*When he's hungry, Angus is clever enough to crawl over to his high chair and pull up so that he's standing at the foot of his high chair. When he wants to be held, he'll crawl over to mom or or dad then pull himself up on their clothes and raise his hands.
*We started using hand signs, but Angus hasn't mimicked them back yet.
*Angus learned how to clap. He gets really excited when he claps, and then we clap back.

Events:
*Nanny share is still at Amelia's house.
*For the second half of the month, Angus had pretty bad eczema on his cheeks and arms, including a bad sore on his cheek near his ear. At the end of the month, he started a course of antibiotics and hydrocortisone to get rid of it.
*Jordan had her first mother's day.
*This was the month of babyproofing. Our house has never been more clutter-free.
*Angus sprouted a 3rd tooth -- his bottom right incisor.

coordination

noreply@blogger.com (jordan) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:06:00 +0000

Angus gets more coordinated every day. Today, he learned how to push himself over the edge of the exersaucer so that he can grab things on the floor. He also learned how to bow his back and lower himself while crawling underneath a chair. This is handy because he desperately wants to grab the cords we've carefully hidden behind chairs.

happy mommy day

noreply@blogger.com (alex) — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:18:00 +0000

Angus wrote this series of haiku for Jordan and delivered them this morning in a hand-written card:

you have a garden
i am your little seedling
who needs so much love

i store my love here
i use it to grow up strong
my smile returns it

thank you for my smile
and the rest of my body
it is really good

you are a good mom
the mere sight of you brings joy
you define happy

happy family garden
is filled with dad, me, and you
you did a good job

thank you for your love, Angus xoxo