Saturday afternoon

Last Saturday, that is - because this week has been cold and rainy (we even had snow one day and overnight!). We had a great time raking and doing some spring yard prep, dreaming about what plants to have this summer and where we could hang a swing and where Timo should build a fort and, best of all, realizing that we have a great BIG grassy yard! So please come visit if you would like to play frisbee/t-ball/soccer/basketball/fort-building AND if you like to rake leaves!

I love the age when babies sit happily on a blanket in the yard, grabbing bits of grass and grinning around at everyone.

"Okay, Mommy, where is first base?"

Digging for fossils

the first picnic supper of the year!

Timo? Timo? Timo!

You cannot tear this one away from his new library books!! (And just wait until he starts actually reading...)

Saturday morning

At Timo's initiative and Mattias's willing participation, the boys set up a cars vs dinosaurs battle scene after breakfast. Hawkins was very happy to observe. Timo has been narrating stories for many months (basically for the last 2 years already) but in recent months has started telling them to us more often throughout the day. This weekend he told us several chapters of a story featuring four characters: Card, Jacob, Sally and Nina, who found themselves transported to Jurassic Island, where they met Tom, a camo-wearing helicopter pilot, and had to battle dinosaurs while traveling around the island on various vehicles.

Timo was setting the stage before the battle began

Catching up on the last month... first visitors!

Amidst the craziness of our first month in the 'new' house, we joyfully welcomed some visitors! (Sidenote: we did NOT joyfully welcome the mouse visiting the kitchen and flying squirrels in the attic. However, they have now departed for other "places".) One Saturday it was Joanna who drove up from a couple hours south in SC. Timo was elated to show her all the bushes and forts in our yard, and all three boys piled on her to read books. It was wonderful to reconnect since we had seen each other 1 1/2 years ago. So easy to pick up where we had left off in conversation and compare experiences of working in higher education.

Such a cheerful guy!

Another weekend we had a day and one night with Uncle Chuck and Auntie Jo! (during their week-long visits to friends in several towns of western NC and SC) Timo put Uncle Chuck to work right away building a cardboard shield, and we had a relaxing spring afternoon together, talking and eating copious chocolates from Baxley's on Main St.

We love you two! Thank you for coming to see us!

Ten months old for Hawk

We've had a long, tiring, busy, stressful few weeks since our move (and hence no time for blog posts and photos) - but here we are at the beginning of March and glorious spring days, and this little boy is 10 months old! The daffodils are blooming and trees are blossoming, and Hawk too seems to be learning and doing new things almost daily. Just this week he started...

• banging toys (we've been working on this in therapy)
• scooching himself in a circle
• rubbing food in his hair
• making more jibberish sounds
• waving bye-bye! For a boy who has stiff shoulders and wrists, waving is no small achievement! (I admit it, I teared up.)

eating melon at the dining hall (becoming a regular Friday night feature for us)

Favorites:

• Food: apple/banana/pear-sauce; orange slices; homemade baby rusks; sliced strawberries or melon; sliced cucumber; the crunchy part of romaine lettuce
• Smiling at people! Yesterday a woman followed us down the aisle at the store to say, "Excuse me, I just want to say what a friendly, cute baby he is." And he just grinned and grinned. A few minutes later the cashier said, "Oh, you're so cute, I just want to pinch you!" (and then she did...) He really does make eye contact and smile at almost everyone.
• Being around people and playing. He especially likes going to the church nursery.
• Going for walks in the stroller, although he isn't quite sure about the swings at the park yet.
• Learning to bang toys, and pick them up and drop them, and wave them around. Right now he is particularly excited about his tiny, squishy soccer ball.
• Being tickled on his chest.
• Getting tackles and kisses and funny faces from Timo and Mattias.

See how his fingers are opening up!

And split pea soup is a favorite, too!