Eight Months Old and Crawling!

Teo, 

You are now a man on the move.  Within a span of a few days, you (nearly) perfected your crawling, and now there is no stopping you. 

You still prefer to walk holding our hands, but when necessary, you can certainly get around without help!  And the most likely destination?  OUTSIDE!  In fact, you sometimes cry when I bring you inside.  Then if I set you down, you crawl right back to the door.

Your papa has been working hard on the garden.  He has put in six beautiful raised beds and two trellises.  We still have more to plant.  It is exciting to step out the back door and see so much delicious produce growing. 

You continue to enjoy sand, dirt, gravel, rocks, sticks, etc. . .  Other things you have been showing an interest in are: the garden hose, the stairs in our house (you can climb them with help), the mobile from your Blessingway Ceremony, and the toy cash register in my classroom. 

 Mother's Day at Hendrick's Park.  You rode in the Kelty backpack for the first time.  

 Celebrating Grammy's birthday.

A visit from my cousin Molly, her husband, Jaime, their son, Issac, and my aunt Coreen.

Playing with your buddy, Lucio.

My friend, Kelli G., stopped by for another photo shoot, and once again took some amazing shots of you.  I love the black and white one . . . It looks like you are kissing me, but actually, you are playing a game where you try to bite my nose. 

Kelli posted more photos on her blog:  www.glazenerphotos.blogspot.com

Seven Months Old and Starting "School"

Dear Teo,

You are seven months old!  The big thing that we started this month was daycare . . . You are going to Kristie's house for a few hours in the morning, four days a week.  Kristie, is a family friend of one of the teachers at the Relief Nursery, and she has been working with kids for 30 years.  She is a very kind person, and obviously skilled (she got you to take the bottle on your first day there). 

This transition has been a little hard for you, and super-stressful for me.  After the first two idyllic days, you started to realize that when you see Kristie it means I am leaving, and you have cried pretty intensely about it. 

It has been SO hard for me to stick with this and trust that you will adapt to being there, but Kristie assures me that you only cry for a few minutes and then you play happily with her and the other kids.  This week, I've been standing outside the door after dropping you off to listen to how long you cry, and it's true . . . you stop in a matter of a few minutes.  I guess it will just take some time for both of us to adjust. 

You still go to work with me in the afternoons, which is fun.  You love the train table in my classroom.  You also like typing on my keyboard.

At home, your new favorite thing is to play with is the gravel in the back yard.   You like to pick it up and then let it fall through your fingers.

You have four teeth now, and you are eating more food.  I cook and puree vegetables and fruit and then freeze it into ice cube trays to thaw one at a time as I need them.  It really isn't that much extra work if I just make extra of whatever vegetable we are having for dinner.  

You have a blocked tear duct, which means your eye is often stuck closed after you've been sleeping.  You look like a little pirate when you wake up, which is kind of pitiful, but also pretty cute.  The doctor says that it should clear up by the time you are a year old. 

Oceana loves to come over and help me change your diaper and feed you. She likes to pretend that she is the mother, and her doll is the baby, and I am her dog, and you are my puppy.   Ruff, ruff!

A couple weeks ago, Oceana got her first haircut ever.   Her hair is very long and curly, and she constantly gets comments on how beautiful it is.  She has felt nervous about getting it trimmed, but after exploring the concept with pretend play (by trimming the hair on all her dolls) and watching Grammy get hers cut, she decided she was ready to try it too. 

You haven't met your other cousins (Indigo, Jaden and River) yet, but we are hoping to fly to Kansas in August to visit them.  It has been two years since we last saw them, so we can't wait for this trip.  I'm sure it will be really exciting for you . . . Not only will you meet your aunt and uncle and your three cousins, you'll meet the chickens, the cow, the chinchilla, the two cats, and the two Saint Bernards that live with them! 

Celebrating Dad

Dear Teo,

It has been two years since the accident, and while I have found peace and a great deal of joy in my life (especially since your birth), I still find it hard to believe that Dad and your brother, Sagey are gone.  I wish I could call Dad and tell him about the funny, sweet, wonderful moments I have with you.  And I wish Sage were here, toddling and talking and being your buddy. 

My Aunt Coreen sent out an email with a list of ways to celebrate Dad's life.  My aunts Elaine and Margie and I added some more.  Here is the list:  

Ways to Celebrate Dennie's Life

(1-9 from Coreen)

1. Dig in the dirt.

2. Plant some spinach or lettuce seeds. Maybe throw in a radish seed or two.

3. Eat a HUGE slice of rhubarb pie. If that's not available, apple pie may be substituted as long as it isn't too damn sweet.

4. Eat thick slices of banana bread with just a little butter. If you don't have Mom's recipe, get it from Elaine.

5. Every morning for breakfast have a serving bowl sized serving of hot cereal. It may not taste the best, but it is filling and you'll never be constipated!

6. Work in your yard until you are sweaty and tired. Next, sit in your back yard and drink a cold beer to wash away the sweat. If one doesn't do the trick, have another.

7. Laugh out loud no matter how dumb the joke is.

8. Hug someone you love so tightly you can hear the air escape from their lungs.

9. Live each day trusting that it is your best day ever no matter how painful. Learn its lessons well, so you can move on. 

(10-16 from Jessie)

 10.  If you have the misfortune of being stuck in a hospital, break out and walk to a coffee shop for a chai (dragging your IV along with you).  When the security guard finally catches up to you, act innocent. 

11.  When gardening, pay small children to kill the cabbage moths.  Children might also be hired to change baby diapers or wash your truck.

12. Leave dirt on the carrots.  A little dirt never hurt anyone.  Why the heck would anyone wash a carrot?

13.  Laugh your ass off . . . frequently.

14.  Remember, only boring people get bored. 

15.  Love your family.  And love your kids more than you ever thought was possible.  

16.  Remember, even if the house you build is never finished, your life is your masterpiece.

(17-20 from Margie)

17.  Become who you are . . . And then let go. 

18.  Let others tell the story of your life.

 

19. When the doctors tell you you don’t have long to live, start renovating your kitchen—a ten-year job.

20. Go trout fishing; swamp the canoe and dump your passengers in the creek.

(21 from Elaine)

 21.   meditate often, as he did on:

               the existence of God

               the beauty of the sagebrush desert

               the magnificence of the coyote

               the limitations of traditional medicine

               the pitfalls of alternative medical treatments

               the connections that we make with others

               the bonds that are forged

               the possibility of second victories

 I hope this list gives you a glimpse of who your grandpa was, Teo.  When you are big enough, I'll give you a giant bear hug, and then I'll throw you over my shoulder "like a sack of potatoes" and run you around the house, which is what he did to me when he would get home after a long day at work.  

I am the person and the parent I am in part because of his example, so even though you will not meet him, he will be in your life in some indirect way.  

Loving you, and Sage, and Dad, always,

Mama

Six Months Old!

Dear Teo,

Happy six month birthday.  This has been a big month for you.  You are making lots of new sounds, including a pterodactyl screech when you are excited.  You are ticklish now, and you love when we play "Here Comes the Tickle Bug." 

Papa and I went on our first date since you were born.  Our friend, Katie, watched you.  She used to be a teacher at the Relief Nursery, and she is getting her masters in Early Childhood Intervention, so we figured she was qualified enough to watch you for a couple of hours.  

Our course, she was wonderful with you.  We went out for a nice dinner, and when we got home, you barely looked up before turning back to Katie to keep playing. 

 Last week, your first tooth finally emerged.  I think I even know the moment it happened.  You were in the carseat, and you suddenly shoved both fists in your mouth and said, "Arrrraaaaarrrraaaarrrr!"  I didn't think much of it at the time, but later, your papa noticed your bottom front tooth had come in.   

Since the arrival of your little tooth, we have started experimenting with feeding you solid foods.  The first thing you seemed to really enjoy was broccoli.

One evening while I was prepping vegetables for dinner, I handed you a piece of broccoli and you instantly started chewing on it.  You seemed pretty annoyed when I took it away, actually.  I steamed the broccoli and pureed a bit for you.  You loved it . . . as long as you were able to use the spoon yourself.  You really didn't want my help! 

I am so excited to be cooking for you and sharing delicious, organic vegetables with you.  It will be even more fun this summer when we can work in the garden and cook vegetables we grew ourselves.  

Papa has been working hard to put six raised beds in our backyard.  This will be the first time we have had a garden, and we have a lot to learn, but as with so many things in life, the process will surely be as enriching as the final product.  

Here are a few more photos from this month . . .

Our Birth to Three group, minus Papa because he had to work that night.

Visiting our friend, Lobsang, and his son, Tenzin. 

Big boy at the park.

Sage's Bench

Dear Teo,

My friend, Lupe, and her family donated a bench to the Relief Nursery with a nameplate honoring your brother, Sage.  Yesterday she stopped by the Nursery, and I got a photo of her sitting on the bench,  holding you.  What a special gift, and what special people.

Sage Sebastian Carpenter

The Sweetest Boy

Mateo - 

Well, my dear, you are 5 months old!  You are getting more serious about your attempts to crawl.  Today Grammy and I put you on the floor and you managed to turn yourself 90 degrees and scoot forward just a tiny bit.  The incentive for your crawling was the tubing that attaches to Grammy's oxygen machine.  You are desperate to get your hands on it.

The oxygen machine, and the tubing, are a new addition to Grammy's life since her bout with pneumonia earlier this month.  She ended up staying 3 nights at the hospital.  You seemed to be able to tell she was sick, and you looked at her with a very concerned expression.  She is feeling better now, but she still needs the oxygen and she gets tired very easily.  We've had to put our long evening walks on hold for a while.

You are sleeping through the night, though you like to stay up late - until 10 or so.  When you are falling asleep, you close your eyes, raise your eyebrows, and then make really funny groaning sounds.  I think you are singing yourself to sleep.  Or maybe you are trying to keep yourself awake. 

We took you for your first swim.  You seemed comfortable in the water.  There were a few other babies there, and when you saw one of them splash the water with her hand, you tried splashing, too.

Walking in your big boy shoes.

Some pals from Birth to Three

Your cousin Oceana, helping me bake.

 

Still teething.

 

The sweetest boy I know.