more from the weekend...

august's first road trip

We drove 5 hours to Salmon Arm to visit Nana and Papa this weekend. The car rides went surprisingly smoothly--Aug was happy to sleep for half and spend the other half playing with toys, stopping to eat and stretch his little legs, and admiring the view. He definitely had had enough by the last hour when we came home, though. Poor babes. We had lots of fun with the fam, though, and Augie just loved Nana and Papa's house in the country!

first sitting!

He started doing this in our Mother Goose class this morning. It's 'The Prop' rather than a full solo sit but he's well on his way to wobble-free sittin'! Go Augie!

augie's into books

...eating them, that is. Well, he does love his bedtime reads and pop-up books and not just for chewing. Pretty much everything goes in the mouth these days.

a boy and his gram's dog

Here's Augie hanging with my mom's dog Riley and his Auntie Kari. He thought Riley was pretty damn awesome and of course, he loves all his aunties to bits. Lucky boy.

the famous maxwell noggin

Not the best illustration of it, but we think August's cranium is very similarly shaped to my dad's. Yes, the famous Maxwell clan 'heed'.

Tough time last week. Chris was very sick with bronchitis (thought it was the dreaded swine flu at first), then Augie and I caught a cold bug that we both managed to fight off. Nana and Papa came to the rescue for a few days and hung out with Aug while I got some much-needed rest.

Emperor Augustus has taken to waking up every hour nearly every night and will take nothing but nursing to get back to sleep so I'm running on very little sleep. The ongoing obsession, it seems. Digging into the arsenal of baby sleep books now. Any tried and true solutions welcome!

our little pumpkin

oot and aboot

Augie's loving the fall leaves and colours on our daily walks. The top picture is our street as it nears its full autumn glory.

4 months tomorrow! Little pumpkin continues to roll over with a little more finesse, figure out how to grab things more precisely, and stick anything and everything in his mouth. He loves people and has big smiles and chuckles for everyone. His first Thanksgiving last weekend had a limited menu, naturally, but he loved hanging with his Gram n' Gramps, aunties and cousins. He'll get two Thanksgivings annually with the American one coming up next month, lucky boy!

pretty psyched

What you can't see is that he's butt naked from the waist down, which only adds to his delight.

rosy-cheeked, post-nap augie

month three photobooth!

the gift of gab

All day yesterday, Augie was much more vocal than usual, babbling away while we went about our day. He kind of blew our minds a little before bed last night--for about 5 minutes while he cuddled between us, he turned to each of us, one at a time, and cooed, jabbered, la-la'd, and babbled expressively while looking deeply into our eyes. Once he finished talking to one of us, he'd promptly turn back again to the other, and start up his tale again. He even wiggled his eyebrows for more emphasis and stuck out his tongue to form different sounds. Whatever story he was telling us, he was super psyched about passing it on. We were in total awe. I even teared up a little.

It's incredible to see him go from a tiny newborn to an expressive, loving little baby. We're just so in love with our baby Gus. I can't wait for every new change and day with him.

Oh, and just read this interesting article about baby's language development http://www.babble.com/jump-start-language-skills/

augie's day at the lighthouse

Augie's Gram reminded me that I've been slightly remiss lately with the blog updates, so I'll be posting a bunch of new pictures and tales.

On Saturday we did a small hike at Lighthouse Park. Pretty, sunny day but cold in the forest! We need to find August some long socks or leg warmers to keep those little legs warmer. Much to our amusement on the trail, we ran into the doctor who delivered August. Dr. Mark gave Augie a few pats on the head and we were on our way again.

happy 3 months, our big little baby love!

aug chat from beebs on Vimeo.

Thanks, Kate, for the tip on better video uploading!

Waaaait a second...

Today, at 12 weeks old, Augie decided he's bored with laying on his back and wants to grunt and squirm and roll his way over on to his tummy. He's done it four times today! Apparently back-to-tummy rolling isn't supposed to happen until ohhh, around 5-7 months?? We were already vigilant with him on high surfaces but now we'll be extra cautious and do things like belt him on the change table, etc.

It's not really surprising considering he rolled around so much in utero that he tied a knot in his umbilical cord. I later read a true knot like that happens in less that 1% of pregnancies.

AMH, our little go-go-go-getter.

First time in the Jolly Jumper (just a for a few mins) and he's into it. He beams when we stand him up in our laps and he can flex his legs, so I think he'll like a little Jolly Jumper time every once in a while.

no, really. he's been totally crabby.

Today's lesson has been on the full extent of August's go-with-the-flow, happy nature. Even on a day filled with bouts of inconsolable crying, he still manages to spend a good portion of time lolling around and beaming. His whole body squirms and wriggles in happiness when he smiles like this.

His fave new thing is when you make nom-nom sounds and try to eat him.

*NOM NOM NOM*

teef coming in already?

oh, almost forgot--thank you alex for the sweet little giraffe onesie!

I've already posted a version of this pic of August sitting in Auntie Lizzie's lap, but it's my achilles heel of cuteness.

Those little smiles keep coming even though it seems like he might be starting to teethe already. Rosy cheeks, drooling, gnawing on his hands, extreme crabbiness. I felt along his gums and there seem to be tiny ridges. He's only 11 weeks old. Poor sweetie. Someone told me about some natural herbal teething gel, but if anyone else knows of ways to soothe, let us know.

yep

little boy blue

A few new things have come to light about Aug: he's very much a blondie, has dimples (we're not sure where they came from), and is quite possibly a leftie, if his consistent propensity for grabbing with and sucking on his left hand is any indication.

ps, thank you, Cookie, for the cuter-than-cute blue cap!

New rituals

The plan is to do this once a month as August grows.

The only photobooth in Vancouver we know of is this one at the Pacific Railway Station. When we were all crowded in the booth, Augie and me on Chris' lap, a security guard walked past and said sternly, "Now you behave in there".

augie's love affair with trees

We went for another hike last weekend to Golden Ears. August spent it staring up in wonder at where the tree tops meet the sky. Definitely digs trees and his Snugli. When he fell asleep on the way back, I bet he dreamt about the forest.

First visit with Auntie Lizzie

August's lovely aunt from Portland came to visit and he loved every minute with her: Stanley Park walk, cuddles on the couch, BBQin' in the backyard, getting pushed in the stroller. Lucky baby.

ps, how 'bout that munchkin face in the first shot?

Also known as...

Pikachu, Little Monkey, Grumpy Gus, Gassy Gus, Augusto, Aug, Emperor Augustus, Mon Petit Chou, Honey Bunny, Funny Bunny, Boo Boo, Cutie Patootie, Pooh Bear, Our Little Man...ad infinitum.

We have no shame, folks. No shame at all.

Big trees, blue sky, tall houses, black kitty cat, huuuuuge mountains. Everything is new. Little guy's a big fan of his Snugli.

augie and big papi

(Thanks for the headline Andrew.)

Sox vs Jays last night and who cranes his head in order to get a good look at the game? Yep. August was especially proud when BC boy Jason Bay hit a homer.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Our hearts melt, MELT I tell you, each time we see that little face light up, study something inquisitively, or grin and jabber at his best pal, the kitchen ceiling lights.

He's a real brow raiser

Furrowed, raised, or wiggly, Augie likes making use of his eyebrows.

Latest development: the surefire cure to random fussiness is getting him naked. Yep.

7 weeks

Complete exhaustion.

Not pictured: couscous crumbs on couch from eating dinner one-handed, copious burp cloths, dog-eared Dr. Sears baby book, swaddle blanket, multiple pacifiers, big blanket for whichever of us is on the couch for the night shift.

It's been cool watching August grow. His features are becoming more clearly defined, his hair's getting a little browner and thicker, and his eyes are getting bluer. In terms of familial resemblance, I think these pictures of us as babies show that Augie definitely got a little of both of us. Click on the pix to see them bigger.

ps, Grandma Hall brought Augie that beautiful little silk outfit that Chris is in at the bottom!

just call him chuckles

The focus is off but this picture still cracks me up. Augie in front of the window looking out at the trees, which obviously makes him very, very happy.

Speaking of happy babies...

As you can see, August was very taken with his Uncle Adrian, staring in fascination in Nana's arms as Adrian waxed poetic about broken fuel pumps and the latest baseball trades.

Contrary to the evidence above, Augie isn't much into crying. He has his moments but they're few and far between. That said, most nights he's up every two hours so Chris and I are pretty zombie-like these days. We've figured out our little routine, though, and life is pretty sweet.

Especially when we're graced with one of these beauties...

mutual appreciation society

August and his BFF Charlie hung out the other night and stared in baby awe at each other for a good five minutes. Babies sure do love other babies.

It's difficult to resist both kissing and photographing that sweet little face. Just sayin'.

natural born naturalist

We took August on a short hike in Minnekhada Regional Park on Saturday and although he slept through it (in his BabyHawk carrier, which I highly recommend--comfy and you get to design your own!), he was definitely in his element.

I was pretty sore the next day. The hike combined with my first runs on Saturday and Monday meant achy muscles. Happy to be back in action, though.

before and after

Yes, our little Augie's not so little anymore. Born 6 lbs 8 oz, now 9 lbs 8 oz. That's 50% of his body weight in one month! Needless to say, breastfeeding is going very well.

everything is new

Hah. These look like Augie's first feature interview photo shoot. Just hanging out on his nursing pillow, pontificating.

August is already one month old! The last month has been a surreal and happy blur of learning and serious sleep deprivation. It's been so cool to see him discover the world and change every day. We knew the first weeks would be trying and true enough, there have been some really hard days as we figured things out on a few hours sleep but most days have been the most epic, heart-bursting awesomeness of our lives.

Stuff Augie's into:

Chuckling in his sleep

Furrowing his brow

Making billy goat noises

Sighing sweetly

Smiling (first one at 10 days old)

Being naked

Looking out at the trees

Bath time

Eating! (duh)

just the three of us

Our tired, happy family

cozy times with dad

Yep, it's true. Augie's gonna love his dad's former hometown.

Grandma and Grandpa Hall just arrived from New Hampshire and we're all very happy to see them!

poetics

Augie's talented young friend Ivy wrote him a sweet little poem:

For thousands of years,

people have loved

the world whether

they were pushed or shoved.

Some say it's smooth,

and some say it's mean,

but to tell you the truth,

it's wonderful, I've seen.

Welcome to the earth, August!

We love it and the clever girl who wrote it.

Mom and me giving August his first bath

Welcome to the world, sweet baby August