September 2010

Little Explorer Mikey still explores by crawling. He continues to stretch his boundaries all the time. For instance, one day at Lion's Park we were playing in the sand near the playgym. Then Mikey looked up and saw the merry-go-round and decided that he wanted to go investigate it. So he just started going across 15 feet of sand, up over the cement step onto the grass, and across 15 feet of grass before stopping to turn around and check his progress. I sat and watched him in awe.

Bye Bye Mikey As we continue through the semester, Mikey spends Monday mornings with Lisa and Lucy. He now knows that when I say, "bye bye," and walk to the door that I'm leaving. He loses it whenever this happens and continues to cry until Lisa puts him on her back in her Ergo and walks outside. Clearly, he doesn't seem quite ready to be without me because his attention span is so long! Of course, he knows when I'm bluffing too. I have been playing peek-a-boo with him to try to get him to practice that he just needs to wait, and wait a little longer, and a little longer still before I come back. One day I was playing peek-a-boo/bye bye Mikey at Rose Park with him. He was sitting on the grass and I was hiding behind a giant pine tree. We were separated by about 30 feet. The third time I hid, I popped out to a baby crawling AWAY from me. Clearly, he was done with that game.

Ah-choo Mikey got his first cold. But he has figured out how to blow his nose so he does that to clear it out when he is awake. When he is sleeping I kept a little eucalyptus balm under his nose.
Around Town
We joined the Children's Museum.
We attend Tiny Tales at the Missoula Public Library.
We discovered a newly remodeled park - Sacajawea Park.
In our adventures to these places we have met some people. Laura and Nya, Brit and George, Michelle and Skye, Ethan and Canyon, Nicole and Marin, and Amber and Corynne are all regulars in our lives.

Uncle Alex's Wedding
At the end of the month we traveled to San Diego to celebrate Alex's marriage to Jenny. The wedding ceremony was incredible! The Hawaiian music, the beach, the sound of the waves crashing and their beautiful first dance - it seemed so personal. I felt like I was blessed to be allowed to watch such an intimate exchange.

On the flight to San Diego I had time to write a toast. It was a surprise to Alex and Jenny but I really wanted to offer them something special on their special day. I am glad I did, too, because on his wedding day I saw my brother for the first time as a man in love with a woman instead of my annoying little brother.

This is what I said (approximately...I have lost my sticky notes that it was written on so I'm typing from memory):

"My name is Julie and I am Alex's older sister. I would like to begin by thanking Jenny and Alex, Margo and Bob, and my parents for planning and hosting this lovely event.

Alex has always had an easy smile. It has even gotten him in trouble when his teachers thought he was smirking at them. But today Alex's smile has been the most sincere it has ever been. And why wouldn't it be? Today he married Jenny, who is a kind person who optimistically welcomes us with a smile. I only get one sister-in-law and I'm so happy it is her!

Lastly, Alex and Jenny, I offer you a song. It is the song I sing in prayer every week at the end of my yoga meditation:

'May the long time sun shine upon you,

all love surround you, and

the pure love within you

guide your way on.'

To Alex and Jenny!"

Papa Time During our trip to San Diego Mike earned himself a new name: Sher-Papa. We think it suits him in those moments when I'm throwing clothes and toys and books and food at him: "here, hold this, and this, and this, and this, and this. Thanks!" Sometimes I feel like I'm burdening him but he insists that it is part of the gig. Always, I am thankful that he eases my load.

Mikey continues to enjoy spending time with his Papa. They spend play time in the mornings and he always seems at ease when we are all together. He really likes Mikey-sandwiches when he gets squeezed between us and smothered in kisses. Mikey now cries when Mike leaves for work.

Standing Baby All month long Mikey was working his way toward being able to walk. He would pull himself up and then let go with both arms and put them above his head like he was signaling a touchdown. As he became more comfortable he would stand up and grab something and start shaking it. This shaking action pretty much looked like he was flapping his wings getting ready to fly. He also learned that pulling himself up had to be a little different depending on the tool he was using to lean on. For instance, he had a couple good faceplants when he tried to pull himself up on something that had a weird center of gravity (like his plastic walker form Great Grandma) or had wheels (like his wooden walker from Grandma and Grandpa Schneider).

Eventually he mastered pulling up on different things and one day he pushed his wooden walker across the floor like he'd been doing it his whole life. At the time I thought that he had all of a sudden figured out the balance he needs to walk. But in retrospect I think he was having a bit of a controlled fall and he just happened to move forward. I say this because those first pushes on the push toys would traverse the room in its entirety until he hit the wall. Now, he can start and stop the pusher wherever he wants.

First Steps On September 30th, two months after Mikey's big crawl across the floor he took his first unassisted steps. We were all in the living room having a normal morning. I was on the couch with my coffee, Mike was on the floor with his, and Mikey was across the room standing and using both of his hands to play with his play phone. Then he looked up at us and took 3 or 4 steps toward us. Our jaws dropped.

Mikey's first shoes: one set of Pedipeds and one pair of Robeez.

Nichole and Dave's Chicken Sandwich

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