Happy Hiker!

Don't turn around. And certainly don't blink.

You just might miss something. 

This boy is growing WAY too fast and time is going WAY too fast.

This week I finally realized something about my concept of time. In my mind, it's just not possible for it to be March already. In Käthe time, everything stopped on September 18, 2013. Perhaps it's the lack of sleep or the fact that I get to spend all of my days on baby time. I don't know, but it's wild the way time is flying. Some days seem long, but maybe that's because each moment is lived more fully.  Each moment is more precious and savored. But it's still funny to me that my mind can play a trick on itself like that. 

Thanks for the Philly book,
Aunt Erin & Uncle Russ!

I love the stage Ian's in right now. He's fairly easy to calm down into a nap and bedtime, since he just nurses himself to sleep (it's more about how we time the day).  There have been a few days when he was still awake after nursing and upset, but Papa had the magic touch! Now he seems to be back to falling asleep while nursing. 

He doesn't mind riding in the car. He's happy throughout grocery-shopping experiences. He's happy to see whoever we see, whether it's in a store or one of our good friends. He doesn't startle himself awake, usually. And he's really just content to be with us, wherever we'd like to go (not that he has much choice in the matter!).

When I mentioned planning our day, I just meant that I *try* to be conscious of his nap times. I watch him for signals, which normally is when he rubs his eyes, makes a bit of a frown, and brushes his hand back and forth through the hair on the side of his head. Then I try to nurse him before he gets upset and truly agitated. Often he falls straight to sleep and I have to almost beg him to stay awake by rubbing his cheek or tickling the bottom of his feet, but sometimes it takes more rocking or singing/humming.

Sometimes naps get off because of our activities, but I am trying to make decisions that put him first. Sometimes I just miss something. Sometimes I have to make it to keep my sanity ;) Either way, he is a very content baby overall and some of that can be chalked up to being well-rested.

Here's the beginnings of the story: A Boy and His Dog. Ian watches him so intently, studying his every move. Leif trumps everything, including nursing. Well, actually, Ian does not nurse well in places with any sort of activity. It's best if I go in the nursery and close the door, since Leif and Papa's movements are quite interesting to him. And if we're out, I can count on it not being a full session and more like a snack, unless he's really hungry. I've heard babies go through stages like these and then they realize what's most important. He's obviously not wanting for sustenance! 

Ian's realizing that things are more than they seem. He has started lifting the blanket and the mat to look below. There's a clip that is just so fascinating to play with. His determination is fun to observe. 

Ian chose good parents for spending time outside. He LOVES being outside, feeling the wind, the grass, and enjoying a change of scenery. Even in the cold weather, he's happy to be out. We're so grateful.

He is sitting with such confidence and stability these days. Last week I mentioned that he falls forward on his face when reaching for things in front of him. This week he learned to balance himself by placing one of both of his hands on the ground in front of him. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Although he still takes the occasional tumble, it's not always absolutely necessary for us to spot him, though we still usually do. When he's on this blanket with the pad under it, it's not so dire. But today when he was sitting on concrete... then we were spotting him.

Thanks, Aunt Sherri, for the
sleeping jammies!

This week Ian continued to dabble with avocados and bananas. If he was interested while we were eating, then we'd grab one of the two of these. It's not every day. We're letting him lead.

One of his new favorite toys is this kitchen utensil. It's soft on his gums and the long handle is easy for him to hold. He also likes banging it on his high chair, the floor, and on anything else that will make a sound. We may have a drummer in the family...

He's fascinated by my wet, shower hair and looks at me like I'm crazy. He loves Papa's different voices and sounds while reading a book.

As anyone who's talked to me on the phone will attest, Ian has some LUNGS on him. His joyful banter sometimes sounds like LOUD, ear-splitting shrieks!! It's a sweet sound, but I'm sure hard to hear through the phone!

He's also really started having gigggggle fits! I know I said he had them before, but these are just more and more fun. They normally involve something being slightly shaken, like an object he's holding or his arms or belly. Oh, how they make us all laugh and laugh!

This felt chain is one of his favorites, too. He likes to pull it apart and put it in his mouth. Thank you for the hand-me-down, Julie!!

Ian enjoys playing with blankets. He'll lift them up, cover his face, remove them, and smile. He enjoys it when someone puts one over his face and he finds his way back out.

In the car a song will normally do the trick, when he does start to get anxious. Old MacDonald, Down in the Valley, I'll Fly Away, Oh, What a Beautiful Morning, Grandfather Clock, and Twinkle Twinkle are some of his favorites. The farm animals in Old MacDonald normally do the best job, but we have to start getting pretty creative with our animals and their sounds sometimes.

*The following pictures are from my cell phone, but they do the trick. (Thanks, Erin!)

Since the weather was so beautiful on Saturday, we headed out for a family hike. A family my mom taught gave us this Kelty backpack (Thank you!!!) and this was our first time breaking it in. It was finally warm enough that I didn't worry about Ian him getting too cold and we feel very confident about his head control. So, the time was now. AND Let me tell you, he loves this thing! The entire hike he didn't make a sound. His eyes danced everywhere, taking in the beautiful creek, moss, boulders, trees, and waterfalls.

He loved it so much that he fell fast asleep without a peep. 

He napped for a while, but then was back to his observations.

Unlike when we hiked to the Cascades when he was 14 weeks, this time Ian was awake and able to view the falls for the first time. He could also listen to the loud roar of the water.

 We hiked up to the upper falls and played and snacked before heading back down and home.

 It was a really great family day.

Ian's ensemble: awesome hat from Aunt Sherri, mittens & handmade booties from my mom. Thank you!

Happy 24 weeks, happy hiker!!!

We'll have many more hikes in our future.

We love getting to walk this life with you.

Swiss Fondue

It's another cold day and the ground is covered with the snow from last night's dusting. It makes me think of having a Swiss fondue and warming up surrounded by good friends or family and this communal meal.

One of my favorite family traditions is to have a Swiss fondue. On a cold and dreary winter day, there's nothing better than warming up with the distinct smell of the fondue, filled with many cheeses, kirschvasser, wine, & garlic. It's now one that we share with friends, too, though we haven't in a while.

My grandpa, Walter Otto Krumich, came over to the United States from Switzerland when he was seven years old. We have the old, family, swiss recipe and we usually have an evening devoted to it during our winter visit to Pennsylvania. 

 As children, this was always the night that we'd make ourselves scarce while the adults partook in the fondue. We'd normally order pizza and have a sleepover with our cousins, Marianne & Julie. Now we're all older and have joined the adults, but there's a new little crew budding in the ranks.

Bread is left to stale over the course of a day, multiple stank cheeses are purchased and diced, and kirsch is delivered from Virginia, since they don't sell it in NW Pennsylvania.

The table is set with two to three fondue pots, depending on the number of people present. And usually there's a Waldorf salad, prepped and ready.

Then we fill our wine glasses and kirsch cups, grab our fondue forks and dig in!

Grandma's hand.

A typical fondue plate in the Krumich family.

The only rule is that when you drop a piece of bread in the pot, you have to kiss one of the people next to you. This means you have to be very careful who sits next to you. Or, it could be an interesting night! The following pictures are from the winter of 2009.

Blurry, but sweet.

A three-potter!

In honor of Uncle John.
Oh, how I desperately wish I knew what he was saying here.
Fondues with him were always raucous, laughing-fests.
I'm sure he's saying something incredibly witty and hilarious!
We miss him so.

With two patriarchs who have moved on to heaven at either end of the table, my heart yearns to be back at this fondue. Surrounded by warmth and their familiar presences. I wish Ian could have been there to meet both of them, but their lives and the memories and stories will live on through him & through the rest of us.

I think it's time to have a fondue. 

The weekend's coming... it's time for a little warmth and comfort food.

Song for a *First* Child

Song For a Fith Child, by Ruth Hamilton. 1958

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth

empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

hang out the washing and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

and out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

but I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

So true. So teary-eyed.

You can find us rocking our baby.

For we were once roos, too.

Fun Overload!

Is it possible to have a fun overload? I'm not so sure. We'll take all the fun we can get!!

As I sit to write this post, freezing rain is coming down outside and all schools and activities have been cancelled for the day. Ian and I were planning on staying home anyway. These pictures are warming me up and reminding me that more sun and fun activities are coming soon.

This week Ian had his first shoulder ride! He loved his new viewpoint and getting to use his papa's hair as reins. He especially loves looking at himself in the mirror. Papa is so fun! In these photos you can really tell that they have the same eyes (even though it's a bit dark)!

He sampled baby organic oatmeal this week and gobbled it down!!! The consistency was very similar to breastmilk, so it was quite easy for him to handle. He likes having something to eat while we're eating. He also seems to love bananas! The first couple bites always incur a surprised face, but then he's crazy about them. Sometimes we spoon some directly off of the banana and sometimes we place a chunk on his tray. Those bananas are so slippery, though, so we have to roll them in oatmeal after a few tries. I've been doing a lot of reading on baby-led weaning this week and think we may move to that route instead. We'll see what works best for our family!

I am constantly learning that there are SO many opinions out there for everything related to parenting. Sleep, food, nursing, swaddling, diapers.... it's amazing, but also overwhelming.  I am learning that we just need to do what's best for us and our circumstances, and especially for our child.

Ian and the flaming red hair! I love it when the sun catches it just right and produces this flaming look.

His faces and noises are getting more and more expressive and dynamic. Every phase of being a baby is more and more fun. It makes it easier to transition into bigger sizes, reading about feeding other than nursing, and starting to really think about baby-proofing.

He is starting to put his big toe in his mouth! Babies and their awesome flexibility.

One day last week it was warm enough to take Ian outside without having to bundle him up too much. I took out a blanket and let Leif run and explore for a while, while Ian and I played. The playing was only possible when the dogs weren't running within eyesight of Ian. He is so fascinated by dogs and their movements. It's nice to have another distraction in the house, since he doesn't have siblings (yet).

We also have taken many walks, some with our friends and their baby and pup, and some around our property. Ian has sat to play in the leaves, feeling them with his fingers and crunching them in his fists. One time Leif started rolling in something gross right at the same time as Ian fell in the leaves. Oh man. Womp.
Our time outside made me look forward to when we can do activities like this every day. By the time warm weather comes around, we'll be desperate to get outside for him to MOVE.  He already loves time outdoors and for that I am grateful. We just have to make sure our red-headed boy is protected from the sun!

 He is sitting very well, these days. Ian can last for a long, long time before tipping over. Normally the only reason he falls or needs a spotter is if he reaches for something just a little out of his range. Most often, he reaches for something in front of him and leans just a bit too far forward and nose-dives. My hand is normally there to catch him, and then he gets up without a cry. If I make a sound or miss him, then there's usually a good wail! Breathe baby, breathe. I can normally make it without a sound and catch him, though. Don't worry!

This week we finally went to visit the school where I taught 6th grade language arts! It was so fun to introduce my old colleagues to Ian and it did my heart good to see many of them. Ian was, of course, a huge hit!

He's really raising his bum into the air! The beginning stages of a crawl are coming. If on his stomach he will turn in circles, observing the goings on in our home. If we call his name, then he'll turn around to see us. Most of the time he is very happy, but he still needs to be turned from his stomach to his back after too much time.

Squeals, shouts, and giggles fill our home.

He is taking three naps a day now. One around 9 AM, the next between 12 and 1 PM, and a third around 3-4 PM. Each nap usually lasts from 45 minutes to 1 hour. For a couple days before we went to Richmond, he was taking two hour naps. No more! He falls asleep between 7:30-8:30, depending on earlier naps and wakes up three times, sometimes two, finally waking up between 7-7:30 AM.

Always trying new things, Jim threw a blanket over Ian's playard and made a fort. In order to capture this photo, I lifted the blanket on one side and this is what I found. Sweet father-son moment.

Perhaps our favorite memories from this week came from our trip to the Christiansburg Aquatic Center! It's a huge inside facility complete with a regulation size pool, therapy pool, recreational pool (with slide, fountains, and fun dumping-water contraptions), and family changing rooms.

Video Camera Still Photo: Not crazy about me, but look at that adorable boy! So excited for the pool!

We took Ian into the warm therapy pool, where he had his first experience in a pool. It didn't take long for him to start paddling with his hands and kicking with his feet. It's incredible that we naturally know how to swim!

He loved it. He'd squeal and splash. Smile and giggle. He didn't mind the water on his face or in his hair. He was desperate to drink it, but that was not encouraged. Kick, kick, kick! Splash, splash, splash. So much fun.

Since the water was warm, he lasted quite a long time. We went in circles around the pool and used a noodle to assist in helping him float. Surprisingly, he was like lead in that pool. Must be all of the muscle, eh?

We've decided that we need to get some sort of family membership because it was just too fun. As he gets older, this facility will be even more of a blast for him, especially in the winter. We shall see.

Mom & Pheebs, that may have been the first and the last time that swim diaper fits! Glad we got him into it!!! We were grateful to have one to use :)

Happy 23 weeks, little swimming baby!!!

You are just so much fun.