Catching Up and Looking Back

Keeping up with Gus in his second year has proven to be a challenge as evidenced by the lack of posting on this blog. Consider this an effort to catch up.

This past Sunday night, I gave Gus his second haircut. Naturally this made me think about the first time Gus got his haircut.
Back in January, we decided that it was time for Gus to get his first haircut. Or to be more accurate – Gus decided. As his hair grew long and it started to fall into his eyes, and hang over his collar, Emily and I asked Gus whether he thought it was time for a haircut. Gus would grab some of his hair and look at us, and say, “yeah.”

So we made an appointment at Kid’s Hair – the least creative name ever – for Gus to have his ears lowered.

And it went . . . about as well as could be expected. When Gus got into the chair, he was all smiles as he got the apron tied around his neck. And from there, it kind of went downhill a bit. Gus was not a fan of having his hair wet by the spray bottle, and was not exactly sure about the whole experience of having his hair trimmed. Fortunately, he hung in there and emerged a new baby, with a new haircut.
Forward almost six months – and once again it seemed that Gus was in need of another trim. He was dangerously close to emulating his Uncle Jesse’s favored hairstyle – hockey hair, which is known by other names – most commonly, the mullet.

Rather than return to Kid’s Hair, we decided to give Gus a home haircut, and somehow it was determined that I was going to be the one wielding the scissors. I was very nervous that I would inadvertently end up giving Gus a circa-1989 Emo Phillips ‘do, but by some minor miracle, it ended up ok.

At least, my customer seemed satisfied.

Pinky

Linus had a security blanket, my goddaughter Ella has her boppies, other kids have a favorite teddy bear . . . not Guster. For the past several months, Gus has hauled around Pinky. One weekend a number of months ago, Emily and I were cleaning out the storage area and came across an infant tub. One of the attachments for the tub was this blue and pink rubber thing:



We never used the attachment with Gus before, and neither of us really knew how it worked. I have since gone online and seen pictures of the tub – apparently the attachment is used to hook plastic fish and other faux-sea dwelling creatures. Anyhow, for whatever reason Guster took a liking to this thing. And for a while, we didn’t really know what to call it. Then one day, I suggested Pinky, and Gus seemed to like that. So, Pinky it would be.

Pinky went everywhere with Gus. When we took Gus to daycare, Pinky came with. Gus would eventually put Pinky in his locker, but at the end of the day when we would go to pick him up – sometimes he was more excited that he would be reunited with Pinky than the fact that Mom and Dad were there. Gus would sprint to his locker and exclaim, “Pinky!”

Pinky went to the grocery store, to the Galleria, to both Grandma and Grandpa’s in Minnesota, and to Grandma and Grandpa’s in Tennessee. Emily and I learned to care a lot about Pinky’s whereabouts. One time we were on our way to daycare, and got a few blocks down the road, when Gus asked, “Pinky?” In the front seat Emily and I looked at each other, and then Em turned the car around and I ran inside to find Pinky. On many a morning when I would go into Gus’ room he would immediately ask for Pinky, who had invariably gotten lost during the night – either dropped out of the crib, or tucked away in some corner. In a nearsighted, sleepy stupor, I would dutifully reach down and grope the blanket and under the bumpers until my fingers felt the familiar rubber of Pinky. I would then return Pinky to the grateful embrace of Guster.

Now, just in the past few weeks, Gus has been showing signs that he is losing his Pinky dependence. He was more apt to set him down and leave him somewhere, and didn't always wake up asking for him. (Yeah – Pinky’s a him). But he still liked him, and he still went with Gus every time we left the house. So we were a bit horrified this past Saturday when the unthinkable happened – Pinky was lost. It was bedtime and Gus was asking for Pinky, and we could not find him anywhere. We searched everywhere in the house, but to not avail. We had gone to the grocery store earlier in the afternoon, so Emily and I thought he might be there, but then we remembered that Emily and Gus were playing tug-a-war with Pinky during the car ride home from the store. Emily and Gus had taken a walk earlier in the evening while I made dinner, so I thought Pinky was surely dropped somewhere outside. After Gus had bravely gone to bed without Pinky for the first time in months, I put my jacket on and retraced the path that Emily and Gus took on their walk. It was cold and dark, as I examined the snow banks lining our neighborhood sidewalks for a sign of the lost talisman. No Pinky. Oh no! I went to bed hoping that Gus didn’t feel as badly as his Dad did. I just felt like we had failed Gus by losing something that was so important to him. The next day we all took a walk retracing the same path yet again, this time hoping that we might be able to better spot Pinky by daylight. Emily and I braced for Guster’s reaction to his lost friend, but Gus took it all in stride. His peace with the absence of Pinky was aided by a new companion – Saw. Gus had taken to carrying around his wooden toy saw.

We went more than 48 hours without Pinky, but then this morning as we got ready to go, Emily grabbed a canvas bag to pack some stuff for Gus to take over to his Grandma and Grandpa’s house, and – found Pinky resting at the bottom of the bag! We all rejoiced the return of Pinky, who then accompanied Gus to Grandma’s house, and is currently nestled under a sleeping Guster’s arm. Phew.

Pinky and Gus getting ready for Bed.
Happy Valentine's Day, Pinky!Pinky and Gus take on Tennessee!

Saw -- I see you!

Tough Nut to Crack . . .

Today when we picked Guster up from daycare, we were informed that there was an incident to report. Apparently at nap time Gus Man laid down on a cot that wasn't his, and the owner of that cot didn't take too kindly to that and gave him a little scratch on his nose for the trouble. Minor injury and Gus was o.k.

Now the policy at Gus' daycare is to not disclose the name of the offender in situations like this, but Emily and I thought that we might be able to get Gus to let us know who it was. On the car ride home we asked Gus, "who gave you your owie? Was it . . . " and we would name the kids in his class. Gus got quiet as we listed his classmates and then looked at us and just said, "Who? Who? Who?" Apparently Guster taken the words of Jimmy Conway from GoodFellas to heart: never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.

Thankful . . .

Emily and I turned the Holiday weekend into an extra long one (5 days!). I can't believe that the weekend is already coming to an end, but, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we managed to stuff a lot into each of the days.

Wednesday was a free day for us, and we relaxed by visiting JoAnna, Andy, and new baby Brendan at the hospital, getting a jump on some Christmas shopping, and catching a movie (Four Christmases -- you can wait for DVD).

On Thanksgiving we got up early and joined the throngs and ran a 5K Turkey Trot through the streets of downtown. Jesse, Susu, and Steve joined us in celebrating Gus' 5K debut. Check out the dream team:

Gus was a little less excited; he ended up sleeping through the last half-mile. I guess Dad wasn't going fast enough to keep him interested. After a big mid-day nap, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's to celebrate with the largest gathering of Adriaens outside of the Netherlands. Gus looked sharp, rockin' some new threads:

Gus didn't let the Holiday, or the fact that he was dressed up slow him down from all of the work that he felt needed to be done at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Here he is doing a little demo job, and taking measurements:

With Thanksgiving already in the rear view mirror, it was time to turn towards Christmas. First step -- the first batch of Christmas cookies. Gus helped Mommy make a batch of cinnamon pecan treats. Here is Gus helping sprinkle sugar:

And here is Mommy and Gus showing off the fruits of their labor before they go into the oven to bake:

Gus sampling the final product:

Verdict? Delicious!

As you can see, with this family, I have lots to be thankful for. Hope you all had as nice a Holiday as I did.

Mixin' it Up!

For the past few months Gus won't go anywhere without a kitchen tool of some kind in his hand. In a way it's great. If we need a wooden spoon or spatula, we can just sort of wonder about the house and we may very well we'll find one in Gus' room, or the bathroom, or just about anywhere else. Mostly Gus just likes to carry them around with him, but sometimes he puts them to good use. The other day I was laying on the floor and he tried to turn me over with the spatula.

Here is a short video of Gus stirring his water with a silicone brush. Don't even ask me what a silicone brush is or what you use it for. All I know is that in our house, it's Gus' current favorite kitchen tool.

Guster Picturepalooza

Fall means change. The temperature gets colder, leaves turn red, yellow and orange, and kids start a new year in school, and this year, there is Presidential election, which means there will be a change in office. Gus is changing too. It's a cliche, I know, but as Emily and I are learning, it's really true what they say, they really do grow up fast. Since there hasn't been a post in a while, I thought it would be a good time to get the blog up and running again, and take a look at the last three months, to see what Guster has been up to. Since the last post, Gus has become even more sure on his feet, and has taken to running all over the place. He's also finding his voice -- his vocabulary right now includes, mommy, daddy, ball, apple, no (of course), yes, please, milk, help, and uh-oh. He's a funny kid and it's been a joy. Here's a look:

Gus took boat rides.

Gus also took his first road trip to Chicago. Here he is hanging with Steve and Dad.

In Chicago, Gus went to Oak Street beach . . .

and the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Gus went to Mora to cheer on Mom and Dad in road races.

Who is that behind Dad? (couldn't resist)



Happy to be done.

Gus went bowling.


Gus got a new place to put his toys (and a new place to hide)

Gus hosted pool parties at the grotto (Grandma's yard)

This Fall, Guster went to pumpkin patch.
Gus laid claim to all the pumpkins he could.
Riding in a wagon with Noah.

Mom and Dad with their Pumpkin.

Playing in the leaves

I am trouble
Gus loves to carry a big stick. Now we just have to work on the whole speak softly thing.

Biker Gus

Yeah, I got a toy hammer. So what?

Happy to be with Mommy.Trick or Treatin'

Throwing rocks into Lake Calhoun with Mom . . .
and with Dad.

Duck, duck, and The Goose.


Gus enjoying the view.

Gus enjoying the sunset.