EVENING

We had a busy day today, but the photos from our visit to Nana's are on the other computer, so for now, here's some shots from this evening, hanging out in the baby's room.
Playing with a rattle,
looking adorable,
and fooling around with Poppa and the pets.




Plus another video of Gus watching Luke while playing with the rattle. Who can resist videos of Gus? Not me, that's for sure!

Achoo!

GOOD MORNING ... YAWN

*Yawn* Gus sits with his Momma at the breakfast table, which is one of the brightest spots in the house.

Laura made a little Dead onesie for Gus, so now I'll sing "Eyes of the World" to him.

This one Emily made for Juna Bea and shared with us, and its one of my favorites. That Gus is a real clotheshorse. He's such a lucky little guy ... Today he gets to go to the grocery store dumpster to find a box for all the clothes he's outgrown. Who knows what tomorrow holds!

Last night we were sleepy but Momma was wide awake.

VISITORS

Ben and Juna came by yesterday to visit. June is the most adoreable little girl on earth.We like to joke that though she is quite small now, in a few years she'll be spending her time bossing Gus around. Personally, I can't wait

Auntie Anna came by this afternoon too.Gus was very happy to see his auntie.

SUNDAY MORNING

I was sitting here snapping photos of the baby on my lap this morning, and I noticed something.
Here's August at 6 weeks old.Here's August at 20 weeks in utero. It's not just me, right? You can totally see his profile, especially the shape of his nose - I'm not just imagining it.
Either way, he's pretty cute.

NEWSPAPER

Dave read Gus the news this morning with breakfast.

BIG ORANGE

A lot of Gus's clothes come from Juna Bea. I think this one, with the big orange drawn on it, was made by Emily.What a lucky little guy, to have such a sweet Momma.

LIFE GOES ON

Momma's so beautiful! And look at her little baby!

... And more visits to see Nana and Anna. Too bad this picture is so dark.


. . . And while Momma held the baby I started sowing the seeds for this year's garden. I guess life really is going on, and as much as we're going to fight it, its not so bad.

SLING

I love to carry Gus in the sling. He's comfy and close to me, and I have my hands free to cook or knit or do anything that needs to be done. Dave often takes him during dinner time and they cook together this way, and they've been digging in the garden too!

A SUNNY DAY OUTSIDE

We started taking the little guy outside more as its gotten warmer. Laura often holds him while I start work on our gardens.
August had some special visitors today. Laura's old friend Erin came from South Dakota to meet him. We were all sad to learn her and her husband are not going to move back to Minneapolis, but happy that she visited.

We also had a surprise visit from Craig and Becky the same day. It was bright and sunny out and all of us sat on the patio in the backyard. Here's a picture of Craig holding little Gus.

UNCLE ANDY

Uncle Andy was afraid to hold the baby. I can empathize because as a clumsy person I've always felt nervous around newborns. In this picture you can see Gus' bright red socks - Laura has been knitting a pair very much like them as a gift for one of the midwives who attended his birth.

GUS'S SILLY HATS

Laura has knitted a variety of hats and clothes for little Gus. They're all a lot of fun. I always think about the giant hat Sly Stone is wearing on the back of Sly and the Family Stone's "Greatest Hits" album.
Sometimes I think baby Gus looks a lot like his Grandpa Steve, but I guess that makes sense because people have always said I look like my Dad.

AUGUST'S LITTLE ROOM

Actually a picture from before August Paul was born. Irene is admiring the new nursery, just after I'd finished patching the ceiling, painting, and putting together the crib.

BABY SLEEPING ON A SLING

After you've been carrying the little guy around in the sling for a while and he falls asleep, its hard to set him down. He might wake up, and usually your back is starting to ache a little. Its even harder to extract the sling from under him so he sometimes naps next to us on top of it.

OTTOMAN BABY

Special baby. Have you noticed that we take a lot of pictures of August sitting on the ottoman?

CHILLIN

We didn't get Gus dressed for the first few days of his life, but once we got in the swing of things we realized how much fun it was to put clothes on him. This little sleeper is one of my favorites, it just seems so comfortable.

BLUE EYES

There's been a lot of discussion about what color August's eyes will settle on. People have always said things to me about my bright blue eyes. The same for Paul. I'd really like it if he had eyes like Paul and I (so long as he has his Momma's beautiful smile!) because I'm so often thinking of Paul when I am holding Gus.

Laura once told me she was surprised when she first met Paul (it was at Value Village) that he was so handsome. I think it was his bright blue eyes. I can already see that sparkle in Gus' eyes.



We went to Northern Sun and bought a few patches for Gus' onesies. Laura has been sewing them on. Concluding my reminiscing about Paul's blue eyes, I remember that I was once showing him my new tile saw and he gave me a hard time for now wearing eye protectors. He told me our blue eyes were the best thing we'd been given in life, and I should take care of them. I guess we'll just have to wait and see about Gus' eyes. I know there's some people still holding out for the pretty brown eyes his Grandfather and Uncle Andy have.

THINGS GO ON

August's "Duck Duck GOOSE!" shirt has led to several discussions about our unique Minnesotan way of playing the game - "Duck Duck Gray Duck!"I thought he looked like a Jedi Knight when we took this picture, but just now I realized it makes him look like a Klansman. For the record, Gus does not belong to any secret societies, and certainly not that one.
Zzzzzz......

BABY BUMP?

At first glance I thought this was a photo of me when I was pregnant. Then I looked closer and saw the baby is just wrapped up and sitting on my belly!

NANA AND AUGUST PAUL

I don't think anyone could have been more excited about being a grandmother than my mom. I'm so sorry this anticipated time has been such a bittersweet one, and so sorry for her to have lost her first born special little boy.

KITCHEN TABLE

We don't have a good place for August to sit in the kitchen, so often during breakfast I put him on the table while we eat. I love how fascinated he is with the light from the windows.

NEIGHBORS

This is our wonderful neighbors, Erin and Tim. I'm sure they were very worried about us for a couple days when the midwives' cars were all parked in front of our house. Tim joked that we could tell Gus this is when he was visited by a Civil War general.
Not quite a smile, more of a fishy face.

AUGUST

Grandpa Steve holding baby Gus. August's first name comes from Grandpa Steve's Dad, my Grandpa, who would have been 100 years old today.

GUS AND THE CATS

All the pets are adapting to the new addition really well. I think they've all been more interested in spring's recent arrival than the in the baby, though.