The Family Edelhay: Jordan, Alex, and Angus

30 inches long
21 lbs 10 oz

Angus is finally starting to enjoy books. He'll wander over to our box full of toys and books, grab a book, drag it over to me and sit in my lap. Once he's there, he only has the attention span to make it through 5 or 6 pages, but he likes the colors. He likes the way the book has a hinge, and how each page is a new surprise. He really likes "Vegetables" by Sara Anderson and "Spring is Here" by Taro Gomi (which was my valentine to him). He also loves a French ABC book full of little brightly-colored clay sculptures that Pati brought him this spring.

Angus is still a man of action. He loves climbing things. Last week, he actually got one foot on the toy box and used that to climb up onto the sofa all by himself. He does the monkey crawl (on his hands and feet) all the time. Even though he isn't walking, his balance is great. When he stands or sits, he keeps his torso above his feet. He can stand with only one hand resting on something, and he can transfer from one surface to another like a pro. At 30 inches tall, Angus is tall enough to get his hand on top of the kitchen table and try to peer at what's stored up there. Angus loves pulling up on the handles on our kitchen cabinets. Angus loves to play with the dishwasher and the crate full of shiny, metal silverware. Frighteningly, the knives are his favorite.

Angus still loves music. He seems to really like music on the peaceful, folky side. Exciting music can be fun too, but only for one or two songs. Angus also seems to gravitate towards music that he already knows, so Alex and I are working hard to find music that Angus likes that is also pleasing to us after repeated listening. Our new favorite is "Diez Deditos" by Jose Luis Orozco. Thank you Seattle Public Library.

Angus loves being outside. When he's in the crabbiest mood, a walk outside calms him. He likes to hold different kinds of leaves and flowers. He likes to pick at the grass and at the small daisies that live in the grass. He likes to explore the shadows made when the sun comes through leaves that are blowing in the breeze. He likes to stand up at the windowsill in our living room, watching the trees and the birds and feeling the occasional breeze through the window. This month we started putting him in a big frame backpack on Alex's back. It makes him so happy... he's outside. His face is at adult height. He can feel the wind. And he gets a jumbly, bumpy dad ride.

Alex is the new master at helping Angus fall asleep. Alex will sit on the sofa facing the window with Angus on his lap. Angus quietly stares out the window with a soft blanket around his face. They sit there quietly looking out the window until one (or both) of them drift off to sleep.

Angus loves to know how things work (particularly mechanical things). He loves to open and shut and open and shut and open and shut doors. At a birthday party last weekend, he reverse engineered a push toy until he could make it spin right. He likes the pictures in books, but he's even more fascinated by the binding. He still loves to look at our travel clock-- turning it around and examining it from all angles.

Angus still puts things in his mouth, but much less frequently. He still loves his pacifier, but he doesn't use it nearly as much.

Angus loves a good joke. What's cracking him up this month? Mom loudly and repeatedly crunching Cheerios then making Cookie Monster eating noises, and looking at anyone upside down (especially Amelia). Angus likes playing with toys that makes noise. He has this monkey bongo drum toy that sings, laughs and expels a ball. It's a big hit. But most of all, he loves playing with ordinary objects -- cardboard boxes, cardboard tubes, coffee lids, tupperware. He even turned an empty 1' x 1' x 5" box into his own personal walker, by pushing up on it, then pushing it around on our wood floors.

Angus is refining his flirting skills. He cocks his head way over to one side and gives a coy smile. Sometimes the head cock is so exaggerated that he actually ends up laying his head on the table. He likes flirting with people on the street and in cafes. When he wants to be held, he'll crawl up to Alex or I, pull himself up on our pants, then give us the sweetest smile possible.

Angus continues to have trouble with his skin. We just started his second course of medication for the eczema. We coat him in Vaseline three times a day, and everyone's clothes are ruined. Angus has been teething up a storm. He got his fourth tooth (bottom left incisor), and is working on his two top middle incisors. He's a pretty good sport about the pain -- when it hurts, he chews on our wood dining room chairs... but we have also been giving him Tylenol. This month, Angus also made his first trip to the emergency room. The night before we planned to fly for the first time, Angus got a 103.5 degree fever. He was extremely lethargic and could barely sit up. We didn't really realize how strong and personality-filled he had gotten until it suddenly washed right out of him. He had an ear infection. As I write this, he's still recovering. The high fever is gone, but Angus is sluggish and clingy -- not our adventurous little boy. He's also gotten a weird blotchy rash from the Amoxicillin. It looks pathetic, but the doctor says that it won't hurt him.

This month Babette came to visit when I left Angus for the first time (for 2 whole nights). Cathy, Russell and Josie also came to visit for the weekend. Angus got to see what a 15 month old can do up-close and personal. This month we also changed nannies. Allie was wonderful with Angus, and we'll miss her dearly. But we can't wait to meet her little baby-on-the-way. Angus's new nanny is named Chelsie. She had a great time getting to know both Angus and Amelia this month.

Angus's new favorite food is pancakes. He loooves pancakes. For that matter, so does Alex. For father's day, the two of them had pancakes. Angus ate a whole restaurant pancake in a single sitting this month. Outside of pancakes, peas are Angus's favorite food. New foods this month include avocado, tofu, steamed carrots, and raw pear chunks.

I'm writing this a few days early. On Angus's 9 month birthday, he'll be in Maryland spending a week with the Hay family.

So I just had my first father's day, or as we refer to it in our household, "dia del ray", the day of the king. King day. It has a nice ring to it.

Over dinner Jordan asked me what I have learned as a father.

• I have learned how to make music using mashups of melodies and lyrics. This came as a surprise to me since I have never been musically inclined, but it is incredibly useful, and fun.
• Naturally, I have become an expert on changing diapers and all manner of related kungfu skills in dealing with a baby. I know how to compel a small animal to sleep. I know how to feed small animals. I know how to protect myself from small animals.
• I have learned that small setbacks are a part of the natural cycle of improving oneself, giving me a zen outlook on the occasional bonked head or risky thing put in the mouth. It is less stressful to not hover over your child. Frankly Jordan and I were both surprised that I turned out this way since I am not particularly a mellow person. He needs room to grow.
• I have learned how to compartmentalize my work stress and my home stress. This is a very valuable skill.
• I have learned how to dead lift a 20lb sack of potatoes with one hand.
• Related, I have learned the full value of exercise and a healthy body. I cherish my exercise time now that it is so much more scarce. More importantly, having a reasonably healthy and in shape body allowed me to handle, and actually enjoy, the dive into parenthood. The first few months with a baby are hard on the body, like how gardening is hard on the body, hard on the back and the muscles and you never get enough rest. But what we sow we reap, and Angus has been worth every missed hour of sleep or violently stubbed toe.
• I have finally learned to ignore things that don't matter.

Thanks for the pancakes mister Anginator!

We're going on vacation! The first with the three of us on a plane. Angus is very excited and has been spending the week testing out all of his new equipment: tent, car seat, stroller, hats. He's also picked up some new threads for his journey, so he can look good on the shore like his dad.

We're going to Washington D.C., Alexandria VA, and the Chesapeake Bay near Cambridge (Maryland). We're all excited to meet up with new buddy Sean and the rest of the Hay/Kilcullen/Sinclair pods. Angus is anxious to show off his monkey crawl, cruising, and climbing skills.

Some things we're packing which we have never traveled with before: baggies of cheerios, many little toys, baby-sized tent, high-tech lightweight folding stroller, foreign language lullaby CDs for the car, half-dozen pacifiers, field guide to poisonous plants.

Many photos when we return. Wish us luck!

Angus's first nanny had her last day with Angus on May 30th. She wrote Angus this goodbye poem...

I love your smile and cute little nose
And how your hands smell like Cheerios!
I love your elbows and your knees
And how cute you were today eating your peas!

We miss you Allie! We can't wait to meet your new baby this fall.

Listening to: Elizabeth Mitchell in the car to and from Kim and Hui-San's house

Reading: Angus is starting to have more patience for books. He still doesn’t get through a whole story, but he's interested in the pictures. He also likes closing books.

Playing:
*Angus likes to explore. He started by exploring the dry leaves in the front doorway. Then he started crawling beyond the door.
*Angus loves boxes. He loves to push up on them, pull them down, turn them over, pull things out of them, put things into them, and beat the drums on them.
*Angus loves playing with shoes and shoelaces.
*Angus loves things that roll because he can chase them. The clackity ball is still fascinating, and he loves his new wooden car because it rolls
*Angus greets mom and dad at the end of the day by waiting at the corner picture window at Amelia's house. He loves matching his hand up on the window with mom and dad, and blowing
*Angus is fascinated by our cheapo tiny alarm clock that I got in Mexico City. Anytime he's anywhere near our bed, he looks around until he sees the clock, then stares at it and grunts until he gets it. Once he has it, he palms it, turns it around, examines it and mouths it.

Eating: Angus is loving Cheerios. He's eating finger foods like peas, Cheerios, banana chunks, and yam cubes. He grabs giant fistfuls of food, closes his fists, shakes his hands over his head. Then he tries to get as much food as he can in his mouth by jamming as much of his fist into his mouth and scraping his hand against his bottom lip.

Sleeping: Still sleeping from 7:30pm to 5am, then naps with mom until 6:30.

Skills:
*Standing --Angus can easily pull up on almost any surface, including the windowsill, the bench, the recycling basket, the wall, and the side of the pack and play.
*He's a crawling king! He crawls everywhere, and he crawls fast.
*Getting down from a standing position safely.
*When he's hungry, Angus is clever enough to crawl over to his high chair and pull up so that he's standing at the foot of his high chair. When he wants to be held, he'll crawl over to mom or or dad then pull himself up on their clothes and raise his hands.
*We started using hand signs, but Angus hasn't mimicked them back yet.
*Angus learned how to clap. He gets really excited when he claps, and then we clap back.

Events:
*Nanny share is still at Amelia's house.
*For the second half of the month, Angus had pretty bad eczema on his cheeks and arms, including a bad sore on his cheek near his ear. At the end of the month, he started a course of antibiotics and hydrocortisone to get rid of it.
*Jordan had her first mother's day.
*This was the month of babyproofing. Our house has never been more clutter-free.
*Angus sprouted a 3rd tooth -- his bottom right incisor.

Angus gets more coordinated every day. Today, he learned how to push himself over the edge of the exersaucer so that he can grab things on the floor. He also learned how to bow his back and lower himself while crawling underneath a chair. This is handy because he desperately wants to grab the cords we've carefully hidden behind chairs.

Angus wrote this series of haiku for Jordan and delivered them this morning in a hand-written card:

you have a garden
i am your little seedling
who needs so much love

i store my love here
i use it to grow up strong
my smile returns it

thank you for my smile
and the rest of my body
it is really good

you are a good mom
the mere sight of you brings joy
you define happy

happy family garden
is filled with dad, me, and you
you did a good job

thank you for your love, Angus xoxo