These first 1,000 days

Just a wee break from festivities to say that many more pictures are forthcoming and that our lovely boy is, according to him "not two-and-a-bit anymore, I am THREE!" (For his third, he requested a "Mary Poppins Party"--hence the chimney sweep get-up in the banner picture). Three means he's been here a bit more than 1,000 days--days we feel like we've lived the best part of our lives in. Happy birthday, Mr. Three--I can hear you singing in the next room and I think I'll go in and join you.

Searching for Green

The Franklin Park Conservatory has been written about here before--we're members and often spend time here, especially in the winter when our little northwest souls are hungary for some green. Pictures aren't always taken because, as a parent, it does get wearisome to always have that camera at the ready. Recently, during a very cold and windy day, we went and I decided to test my iPhone camera. The results were very senior portrait like and made me think of my friend, Emily, who sometimes features funny senior pictures like pictures of her little one, Cooper. I included a lot of them in case the grandparents/godparents/uncles are feeling like choosing from the proofs for a new over-the-mantle number.

Dad has a birthday!

In the last month, Matt got older. It was a chance to talk about birthdays, in general, with Gus (who has one coming up), and Gus decided that he wanted to share Matt's birthday "and also have a birthday," but then, "still have my number three birthday later." So it was Matt and Gus' birthday. Matt wanted to go to this teeny place downtown that makes veggie dogs with all kinds of crazy toppings like Kimchee and also only plays local bands' music and has giant murals of 1980s baseball players. It's like this strange door you walk through and it's a part of Matt's brain. Gus decided to celebrate by wearing a tie and his "Mr. Banks coat" (Gus is obsessed with Mary Poppins).

The Mr. Banks coat with a hint of tie.

Genetics.

Wrinkles and Darryl Strawberry (somewhere in the murals)

The Old Man. Plus, that guy in the background had an extremely entertaining discussion with his girlfriend all through the meal. Who needs the movies?

Busy man about town in his tie and iPhone. Gus actually gained the attention of a table full of post-work downtown business men in their ties and iPhones and engaged Gus in some kind of high finance bonding ritual.

Yellow Submarine and A Red Mullet: Or, Parenting via Inattention and Neglect

OK. So when you have a baby that has no hair for over two years except for bright orange fuzz it's possibly a bit excusable to hold off on that first haircut, and then you sort of notice that he's got the cute wee baby mullet with it's little nape curls, and then, one day, he's running across the playground and there is something flying back from his head in the wind and it's not a scarf. But then, you also have a baby that absolutely.does.not.want a first haircut, or a haircut at all, ever, because he wants his hair "long, on my back, and with the wind through it." He has this discussion, often, and with perfect strangers, often, as red mullets attract a bit of unsolicited commentary. Stay tuned. Also, unrelated (except for a sort of Type B Parenting theme), if you give your son reachable access to a grease pencil and then, you know, focus on doing the dishes for awhile, he may draw a large submarine on your kitchen table. And then there is nothing left to do but label it, photograph for posterity, and ruin a dishrag.

Authorial Debut: Paper and Tape

Recently, Gus participated in a child-written, illustrated, and handmade book exchange hosted by a terrific crafting and homelife blog that I read. Basically, each participating kid writes, makes, imagines, draws (according to the child's wishes and desires) a handmade book and is assigned a partner to swap with through the mail. Our partner was a boy named Joseph from Florida who helped his mom fold a clever sticker book filled with stickers. Gus was so, so pleased to get mail from a peer and imagine what Joseph was like. For Joseph, Gus wrote and illustrated his first book. Gus is a small boy of very big and specific ideas, and he did not want me to help AT ALL except to write down his words for the story (and OH how he wanted to be able to do this, he is so keen to be able to read and write) which I wrote down EXACTLY, and to help assemble his paintings illustrating his story. He wanted to use "lots and lots of tape" which keeps with the thematics of his story--a tale about a girl named Paper and a boy named Tape. His story is pretty funny and strange, and I think my favorite picture is of the lightbulb spreading light in a swirl all around--or possibly the little eyes of Paper peeking from her tunnel. Ultimately, the story is about Gus' deep desire to be allowed to sit on the kitchen table. The first two pictures are of him enjoying his book from Joseph. Hi Joseph!

Kingdom of Bounce

So the rad thing about having a kid along in either a big city or a small town (this is my theory) is that there is always some random, goofy thing to do with them. In Port Angeles, we mainly enjoyed the beach and sitting inside the giant, burned-out, old growth tree (at the 'Moments in Time' trail), but there was also the farm store/small pets emporium/nursery and the pigs at Nash's farm. Also, the endless festivals in the summer for the tourists, and apparently, vampires. Here in the big city there is a giant warehouse that makes its rent by charging a small admission fee to a dozen or so state fair sized bounce houses that are blown up all the time at the premises. They also sell socks in case you forgot your own. Here are some photos (taken under industrial warehouse lighting) from our recent visit. I look at these and mainly think about how long Gus' legs have gotten.

Snow My Goodness

I am a bit behind on posting, but I still wanted to share Gus' impression of the multiple serious storms we've been battered with this winter. The whole country has had a nutty winter, but I would say the lake states and the northeast have been particularly impressed. What we have learned as adopted pacific northwesterners, however, is that if you wait for a nice day, you'll never get to play outside. Check out Gus' awesome snowsuit as he plays hard in snow that would go up over his head if he sank through the drift.

Three layers of socks under those boots.


He demanded a tea stop during our day out.







All of the above are Gus' patented "snow plow" trick. He thoughtfully cleared all the slides at the playground.

'Did Sarah watch you when you were little, Dad?'

Five hours a week, Gus deploys to Miss Sarah's, an amazing woman and mother with an art education background. There, he plays with her redheaded two and four-year-olds, makes bread, paints, carves potato stamps, and has dance parties. He loves Sarah and her kids so much he once sleepily asked Matt, on the way home from her house, if Sarah had watched him when he was little. Sarah does seem magical that way. Here are some pictures Sarah took on a typical day with her kids and with another one of Gus' little buddies who was over to play. I want to acknowledge how incredibly grateful and, well, blessed parents feel when they have found loving childcare to trust. Excellent childcare providers are so difficult to find and when your kid comes back happy *every* time after being with one, it's hard to describe that feeling of gratitude and humilty. Here's to the good ones who make our kids' lives bigger and better!

Travels to see family and say good-bye to Dad

We did a lot of traveling at the beginning of January the long days around Mary Ann's Dad's services. Gus was glad to see his Grammy Lu, his Grandma Kathy, and his Grandpa Dennis and his wife Bonnie, and his uncle Jason along with all of his great aunts and uncles (his Grandpa Phil's sisters and their husbands) and all of his cousins of various degrees. More, he also got to meet Grandpa Phil's closest friends, including his honorary great uncle John, who lives in Tennessee and knew Mary Ann's dad for 60 years and is who he retired with. Not in all of these pictures are Mary Ann's dear friends from college, who all came down for services, honorary aunties and uncles for sure--along with their children. There was a lot of reunion, and it made a hard time really lovely, and Gus is still talking about all the good folks that he met and played with. Most of these pictures come from an event the evening before Grandpa Phil's services where close family got together to remember and share pictures and stories and pizza and (Dad's favorite) cocoa-cola. It was the kind of thing that Dad loved, and we so wish he could see all the pictures.

Gus had such a good traveling spirit the whole time. Here he is showing off what is now a spectacular mullet. Perfect for Eldorado, KS.


The above two are of John exercising his horses in Tennessee, and Gus trying out his seat. Bristol is where Dad retired to have fun on John's farm.

Best accommodations on the road ever--grandma's house! Enjoying the morning with Grandma Kathy on the way down.


Lunch with Grammy Lu and Uncle Jason--obviously lots of fun.

Conducting a chair train with Mary Ann's cousin Genevieve's children Ava and Ella and their Grandpa (Mary Ann's uncle) Rick. Gus and Ava really grew to be best buddies over the trip.

Mary Ann's Aunt Cindy (Phil's sister) and Matt.

Telling stories about Dad--John and his wife Liz, Dad's good friend Chris, and Aunt Pam (also Phil's sister).

Mary Ann's cousin Tammy (Pam and Larry's daughter) and her daughter Chloe.

Aunt Cindy, Mary Ann's cousin Danny (Pam and Larry's son), and in the background--Uncle Bob (Cindy's husband).

Ava and Ella with Mary Ann's cousin Genevieve. Genevieve is Rick and Debbie's (also Dad's sister) daughter and is the same age as Mary Ann. Her girls are just lovely.

Mary Ann's Aunt Susan (Dad's sister) with Mary Ann's best friend of many, many years, also named Susan. They have a special bond.

Mary Ann's aunt Debbie (Dad's sister).

Gus with Tammy's son Christian. Cousins are fun!

Dad's dear friends Steve and Joyce and Genevieve's husband Charles.

Dad's buddies Chris and John.

Mary Ann's cousin Vanessa (Susan's daughter--another one of Dad's sisters) with Tammy's son Christian and Danny's daughter Ashley.

Mary Ann's cousin David (Pam and Larry's son) who had just welcomed his fourth child with his wife Chris. Seated next to him is his sister-in-law, Angie (Danny's wife).

Gus and his new BFF Ava.

Gus and his Great Uncle Rick (Debbie's husband).
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Mary Ann's cousin Vanessa and her fiancee Matt--July Elvis wedding!

Gus and Ava <3