I'm warning you lady!

If Gus could talk , here's what he would have sadi to me tonight at dinner:
" Mom, listen to me. I have had a rough coupla days here. From a fever of 102.5 ~ to a rather sleepless night the other night, to some herpe-esque bumps on my lips,tongue and probably my throat ( that I've been rubbing all over you and your milk bar). I know that I have led you to believe that I LOVE avocado. I normally do! But PULEEZE ... if you love me you will stop force feeding me smashed avocado. I am warning you. If you give me one more bite, I'll , uggg, mgm,gmgggmmm, gack !grrr!( chewing smashed up avocado) THAT'S IT! I'm sticking this spoon in my eye!"

We're gonna need to take one of our sick days

Look at these faces. Ohhh my poor boys. Seems that we picked up a case of the coxsackievirus at the family reunion.Millie had it earlier this week...now the boys are all laid up with sickness, just sickness.. Gosh, I couldn't be happier. Gus has had a pretty good run without getting sick. I should be happy that we went just about six months with out even catching a cold. Pretty good for a kid who has 2 older siblings who bring hom a petri dish of goodies during the school year. I can hardly muster up a smile when I look at poor Gus, he's so sad!!! Holden was sick last week ( barfing) and now he is sitting in the other room with a 104.4 fever... suckin' down his 3rd " sick popscicle" ( pedialite pop) . He seems to be handling it better than poor baby Gus. HIP loves his popscicles man.I am just waiting to get this stupid virus! Gus sucks all over my face and lips daily... especially when he's tired. Ohhhh the joys of parenthood. Anyone wanna bet when I get this? I say Monday.

rollin', rollin', rollin',get those doggies rollin'

Our freedom is gone. That's right peeps, Angus rolls. I know most kids roll a little earlier, but Gus is our third kid and we aren't encouraging him to do anything but be a baby. :) ( ie: I'm not ready to have to perform preventative thinking on behalf of my infant son.) I like that I can leave him on the edge of the couch and he won't roll off. Anywayyyyy, I am glad my babe decided to think for himself and roll his little self over. He seems rather pleased with his new skill... oh, except for the time he rolled his face into the fireplace stone. Yeah, that was a little rough on his sweet baby soft forehead. Time is flyin' by. Wasn't Angus born just yesterday? Wait, weren't Millie and Holden born just yesterday?? !

And the World's best baby award goes to...

( in the almost 6 month old category) Angus! Yes friends, I think Gus is indeed the world's best baby. The World's best baby who is amost 6 months old ~ that is. I know lots of babies who would take the award in the other age groups. ( Including the 4 year old twin category) Millie and Holden were rockin' babies. I was a new mom who wanted nothing more than control. For that, I "fought" tooth and nail to get MS & HIP to follow my lead. With a few years of mothering experience, I have learned one valuable lesson: let the baby tell you what it needs. ( cause... noone can tell a baby what to do. :) ) A day with Gus is simple: He wakes up daily @ 7:2o on the dot. I hear him sucking his thumb and quietly giggling. I look over and he usually smiles a big toothless grin and says " baa baaaaaaaaaa hahahahah ( squeal!) I pick him up and inhale a huge breath of his pure babyness and take him to clean him up before his first meal. He smiles and kicks his feet while I change him. He usually wimpers a little bit as I button up his PJs because dammit I'm not going fast enough. I take him to our bed and lie him down on my side. I lie next to him and nurse him into oblivion. He usually falls asleep after both sides are drained. I usually wake up and see him nuzzled up to my boob.. with his thumb in his mouth... his other hand resting softly on my chest. He wakes up with a smile. He bats at Parker's face , smiles and says "Baaaaa baaa baaa baaa" After the morning chats are over( ie: Parker whispers, "I am gonna sleep for 5 more minutes and get up to take a shower"... and rolls over and goes to sleep...) Guster and I go downstairs. A couple of hours later his sister and brother usually join us for breakfast. Gus loves to eat! For breakfast he eats half of a banana, 2 tablespoons of homemade brown rice cereal ( super baby porridge) , blended prunes, 1/4 nectarine, and a gulp of water from his cup. He laughs and feeds himself. He also loves to hold his cup and drink and spill water all over the place. Millie and Holden love to watch. It is quite a site! No matter what time it is... Gus is glad to take a nap. After his breakfast he nurses for about 5 minutes, sits up and stuffs his thumb in his mouth, as if to say: "I've had my fill.. now put me down to rest. I love you. :)" Gus will sleep for a few hours and wake up happy. He never cries when he wakes up. He just lies in his bed happily babbling and playing with "Tickle" his rabbit. Gus is easy going. He is as predictible as the sunshine in the Summer. He laughs at Millie and Holden when they play with him. He smiles at strangers. He lets strangers who only speak Spanish hold him.. and he smiles and laughs at them too. He LOVES Ruby Jones. He doesn't fuss when Ruby slimes him on the mouth. Gus thinks TV is funny. He loves to ride in his slings, and he kicks in delight when I kiss him on the head. He thinks it is fun when Millie holds him( which is a lot) Gus loves his avacado/banana mash. He slurps down sweet potato and chunks of nectarines and peaches. Gus will drink out of a bottle, a glass, a plastic cup, a sippy cup,a sports bottle, and a straw. If Gus misses a nap.. he is no worse for the wear. He goes with the flow, with a smile on his face.Gus goes to bed happily at 8 pm every night( this concept is strange to us.. since Millie and Holden are IMPOSSIBLE to get to bed... always have been.) I'm telling you people, after 3 months of pure anxiety and post partum depression, I sit back and wonder to myself, why do I deserve all of this? I am so lucky. I'm trying not to sound too braggy here. I just look back at my life 5 years ago, and I never thought I'd ever have this pure joy. Millie , Holden, and Gus are so cool. I have the best job in the world.I hope this lasts. Honestly I am waiting for the bomb to drop.. and real life to begin. HA!

Who's my Hollaback girl?

That's right people. Gwen Stefani is MY Hollaback girl. Why you ask? Because she clearly copied and bought the same Rockin' Baby sling for her baby Kingston ( as seen in Us Weekly.)as I bought for Gus. Sometimes it's painful being so cool :) GAH I'm crackin' myself up over here. :)

Thank you sir, may I have another?

HE LOVES IT!!! Can't you tell? Okay. Gus didn't love avocado. He tolerated it when it was blended with mashed banana. Poor guy. My Super Baby food book says that avocados are the best thing to feed babies because of the fatty acids good for brain development. I'm going to try to se if he'll learn to accept avocado if I blend it with yummier, tastier foods.
He was a good sport.. gagging his way through the meal.
My good baby... look at him trying to smile his way through the torture.

The Millie-ism of the day:

Today's Millie-ism is:

"Right now we have tiny heinies... but when we grow up, our heinies are gonna be big like Mommy's."

I think I'm flattered. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that statement, but(t) ( haha pun intended!) for now I'll believe that she just wants to grow up and be like her mommy. :) Ba-donka-donk and all.

He eats solids! ( applause & cheering!)

This year, on my birthday ( July 2) I decided( a little bit against what I wanted, but knew Gus was giving me signs that he was ready) to have Parker feed him his first bowl of rice cereal. ( Like I am the boss around here or something) The kid loved it. Gus had his mouth open like a baby bird the whole time. He would take a bite and open his mouth almost immediately for another go. Parker was careful not to force him to open his mouth, or make a fuss over cereal on his face.( including his eyebrows, eyelids, and ears) I had been back and forth on if we should wait until he was 6 months old and nurse exclusively... or just give him the cereal. Gus LOVES to nurse. I think he'd be one of those 4 year olds nursing himself to sleep at night. I don't have a problem with that so much... we all need security. I however think that I will want to get my life back in order before then. As much of a wannabe hippie I am, I also have limits. I think Gus will surviveif I take his boobies away at about 1 or 1 1/2 years. Gus has been eating whole grain rice cereal and bananas. I am following along in a book called Super Baby Food. Man the author( Ruth Yaron) is SO KNOWLEDGEABLE .. seemingly about everything! She writes about everything from meal prep,eating areas,recipies,food tables,nutritional values,the good bad and the ugly,bacterias( good and bad) cleaning, home made cleaning products, freezing food ( ie: food cubes)... and so much more. I get dizzy when I read it because it has so much info. I bought it back when Millie and HIP were about 18 months. Their diet restrictions ( due to their surgeries etc...) Prevented me from trying anything from the book. This time I will be making Gus' food... so I get more bang for my buck, and I have that elusive control. :) I am getting ready to give Gus avacado. I'm sure he'll suck it down. He seems rather pleased to chew his food, as long as I have his boob ready to go as soon as he is done mashing bananas in his ears.

stylin'

Does anyone else thing that Gus looks like a cross between Squiggy and Mr. T?

This kid has hair that won't quit!


A few weeks ago, in an undisclosed location... A man I don't know( but has some relation to Parker's mom's family) said to me " That kid has a mohawk ." ( REALLY? Oh my goodness... I hadn't noticed! Note blatant sarcasm) I responded to " Man who's name I don't know." " Yeah, his name is Angus... when your namesake is a rocker, you gotta look the part, right? The "Man" said " Ohh like Angus Young right? AC/DC? I said, "sort of...Just kidding, I grew up on an Angus farm, he's named after it." The dude looked me square in the face and said , " YOU NAMED YOUR KID AFTER A COW?" ( that's prime grade,w/traceable bloodline to Scotland ,certified USDA beef to you, SIR)
I said, " Noooooo, I named him after a very special place." Here's my point: ( I have said this in the past, but I'll gladly repeat myself) If you can't say anything nice...don't say it at all. My child is named perfectly for him. His name suits him. I almost blurted out, " Dude , don't make me suckerpunch you in front of your kids." Whoa, did I actually think that? Where did the bad ass mama in me come from? Anyways. If you don't like Gus' name~ Fine... but don't tell me how you feel. It hurts my feelings... and it also makes me think bad things about you. So there.