Gus the Monster

Gus was in his room playing and when I went to check on him, he had torn his room apart. Literally.

He had also some how managed to take his pants off. Which, of course, he thought was hilarious.

Gus is into everything! He is like one of those wind up toys that go crazy and move around everywhere- the difference, though, is that he doesn't wind down! He pulls everything he can reach off of shelves, out of cupboards, out of boxes; nothing can be 'in its place' when he is around. It is exhausting chasing after him- and the tornado the little monster leaves behind. He has started taking 3-4 steps at a time, but still prefers to crawl. He is also starting to get a top tooth- it hasn't broken through yet, but it is very very close.

I have been pretty sick lately. Last Friday I had flu like symptoms, with a temperature that even reached about 104. And then was left with a horrible cough and ear aches and head aches. I went to the Dr. yesterday afternoon after work and I have bronchitis and double ear infections. They also tested me for swine flu, since I had every single symptom and it has hit Kansas. Luckily, the preliminary test appeared to be negative, so there was no need to test me further. Needless to say, it has been a long week. I am so busy with work since the semester is wrapping up that is has been impossible to take a day off, and I am home with Gus half of the time and he is so active there is just no resting for me. But, I am on an antibiotic now, have an inhaler, and have some strong cough medicine for the evenings, so hopefully things will begin to look up. I am exhausted.

Fun Outside

Hanging on tight!

Is that a Gerber cheese puff I see on the ground?

Whhhhheeeeeeee!

On Thursday night our friend, neighbor (and my former student at KCKCC) babysat for Gus once again. He loves her so much. She took some pics of him playing at the park in our neighborhood. She strolled him there to swing; he enjoys it very much. She sent me these pics tonight so I had to post them.

I have had a touch of the flu (no not the swine flu, but thanks to all of you who called to find out each and every symptom I have experienced, lol) but am feeling much better.

The basement is soooo close to being done. All last week we cleaned the floor to get it ready to paint (sweep, mop, sweep, hand scrape every inch, sweep, bristle brush mop, scrub on hands on knees with a degreaser, mop, mop, mop and sweep- no I am not kidding, that is what we did!). Josh and I primed and then painted two coats on the floor this weekend. All I have left to do is sponge paint it tomorrow, and we can be down there later this week! We still have some very little cosmetic things, but at last, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

School is almost done for the semester, unbelievably. Finals are in a few weeks and then I will have a few weeks off before summer session starts. Gus turns one year old on the 13th. So many things coming up! We are keeping very very busy.

"Talking" up a storm

Although only a few words make sense to us (Ma ma, Da da, dahdah (dog), Buh (Buster), Bah (ball), Boh (book)- you can see that many sound very similar), Gus is 'talking' all the time now. We makes so many different noises and sounds and will look at you and say a long 5-10 syllable jumble of sounds. When you don't know what he means, he looks confused and repeats himself. Poor guy. Hopefully soon we will be able to decipher his jibberish. He understands much more than he can say, such as Gus, more, no, drink, sit down, and other little easy phrases like "go get the...ball, block, book, whatever" so communicating is getting easier and easier each day.

Oh where did my little baby go- he is almost a toddler! In a few weeks he'll be one year old already!

Da da?

I asked Gus where Dada was and he started looking around saying, "Da da?" It was very cute. He sure will be happy when daddy has Saturdays off this summer; only one more month of Saturday games to go.

Wonderful Weather

Gus thinks he is a puppy.

Mommy went upstairs for a few minutes and when she came down, Gus was organizing the kitchen cabinets for her.

Decked out for summer.

Buster likes the nice weather too.

That sun sure is bright.

Playing with a teeny tiny blade of grass.

Uncle Nick

This is a short video of Nick sparring at his Tae Kwon Do match on Saturday. He is on the U of I's team and is in the red vest. Not much happens in the clip, but it shows you a little bit of what the whole thing is like. It reminds me of when he was in wrestling as a child. I was very proud of him, but very nervous to watch him. Adult men kick and punch hard! Nick thinks he may have broken his foot toward the beginning of the match, and he ranged from weighing 35 to 85 pounds less than his opponents, but he still did a good job. I enjoyed watching the experience.

Progress

Uncle Nick came down for a Tae Kwon Do Tournament in KC. He is on the University of Iowa's team. He just started the sport a few years ago, but has really excelled and enjoys it. It was fun to watch. Gus was a little restless, but overall did fine while we waited for Nick to spar.

Nick sparring. He is in the red with "Iowa" on the back of his shirt. I took a bunch of pics but they really didn't turn out very good (poor lighting).

Nick got third.

Uncle Nick and Gus.

My buddy.

Papa Randy came all the way down to KC to help us with our basement over the weekend! Boy was he a God send. He helped us cut and hang trim and baseboards, put in a door to the storage area, he carpeted the stairs, he hung wainscoating in the upstairs bathroom to fix the damage from the plumber, hung light fixtures, and so many other little things. Daddy helped too of course, but we would never have been where we are right now without Papa. We should be in the basement next week. Yay, progress has been made!

Gus and Papa had a nice time playing and hanging out together. Papa was pretty busy, but he made to time play with Gus too. Gus loved his mustache.

Playing in the Grass

It was such a nice day yesterday. Gus and I went for a walk and then I thought I would introduce him to grass. He was not sure what to think, or do.

Of course he found mulch, dried up earthworms, rocks and anything else he could try to put in his mouth. Such a boy already. Luckily I was able to divert him from the worm before he could eat it :)

Touching the grass veeeery caaaarefully...

Not really sure what to do next...

Gus was really not wanting to touch the grass. In this picture he was trying to get me to pick him up and rescue him. I thought it was funny because my mom told me that I was the same way as as baby. She could put me on a blanket in the grass and I would stay on the blanket for hours because I was afraid of touching the grass.

Gus is like a little mouse when he runs (crawls) across the room... He is at one side of the room one minute, and the other side the next. He is getting so fast! He really isn't any closer to walking than he has been for the last few weeks, he seems to be pretty content with crawling for now. Once in a while he tries to stand, like in a tripod position with one hand up in the air, and he is really good at cruising between furniture, even taking a few steps to get from one thing to the next, but no sure signs of walking totally unassisted yet.

Silly Morning

Gus couldn't stop laughing at daddy's hat this morning. He thought it was hilarious! Why is daddy so silly??

Crazy smiley face (still laughing at the hat).

So we decided to give Gus a hat of his own to wear.


And he loved it!

Cruising along the computer desk while mommy checks her email.

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day! Gus and I are going for a walk when I get off of work this afternoon. It will be 70 here, so hopefully you will get to enjoy some warm weather wherever you are too!

Easter Weekend

On Saturday, after Josh got off work, we went to Home Depot and bought materials to paint the basement ceiling and then went to Nebraska Furniture Mart to buy flooring, a sectional and a new kitchen table and chairs. Afterward we ate out and Gus learned how to suck noodles into his mouth. He would put one in his mouth and have it sucked in within seconds. It was hilarious!

Daddy and Gus after church.

Mommy and Gus.

Gus crawling away from daddy as he tried to take his picture.

A few weeks ago, Nama and Papa D came to visit and Nama had made Gus homeade oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies. We threw them in the freezer since mommy wanted to wait for Gus' first birthday to give him chocolate. Since Lent ended today we were starving for sweets, so we decided to take them out and let Gus have his first cookie. Yummy!

Kennedy, Gus and Parker

Parker smiling (well not really but it does kind of look like it!). He makes lots of facial expressions, it is very adorable.

Lindsey's thumb and Parker's tiny little foot.

Gus and Brandon got along really well.

Gus with his Easter Truck (Basket) from Gma Sue.

Streeeeetching out.

Kennedy and Gus in their new PJs from Gma Sue.

Batman (look at the cool cape!)

It is just sooooo exhausting being a baby.

Parker looks so much like Kennedy when she was a baby. I remember when Gus was a newborn- he used to put his hands above his head just like Parker is here. It just melts my heart thinking about it.

Monday was my birthday, so my mom made me a cake. I had a really nice time, and it was great to be around the old family on my special day. Although soon I may be stopping the birthday celebrating all together, as the candles are starting to really add up :)

Uncle Nick and Gus got to play over the weekend. Gus sure loves his uncle! On Sunday Mom and I visited Nick at his work, Fin and Feather, and he taught us how to shoot a bow. It was surprisingly fun!

Kennedy, Gus and Parker. Kennedy looks like she is scared to death to hold the little guy. We had to put a toy between Gus and Parker cause Gus kept trying to attack him. I keep thinking about how my mother-in-law Paulette had two kids 11 months apart (Matt and Trish)... how did she do it? That would be like me having Parker and Gus right now. Unbelievable.

Kennedy and Parker. He is so precious that he almost looks like a doll. And look how serious she is, trying to be such a good big sister!

Elton John

We didn't get any pictures of it, but Tom and Tracy stopped by Monday night and met Parker and played with Gus. They couldn't believe how old Gus is getting. Last time they saw him he was a chubby little baby! Now he is almost 11 months old and nearly a toddler!

No big plans this coming weekend. We are moving along on the basement. We have hired someone to come a finish our sanding and mudding and then we will paint the ceiling and walls. After that the carpet, trim and door, and we are done! Yippee! Things should move along quickly over the next month.