The Tao of Link

My friend Richard use to write about his son being like a little Buddha and I had no idea what he meant. Even though I did know Sam and he is a great kid. Now that I have a son, I do. They live totally in the moment. We can all learn so much by doing this. Not that we all act 100% like a baby, but 75% would not be bad. No anxiety about the future. Allowing oneself to feel each emotion entirely. Not caring how he looks as long as he is warm. Allowing all things natural to just be. I mean, my son even accepts the worst smelling farts as a natural part of life. What an awesome way to be.

Season's Greetings

Season's Greetings, originally uploaded by Shannon Marye.

First meals

We gave Link some more apple sauce tonight. Kid likes his apple sauce. He ate it up like he'd never had it before. Of course, it's only the second thing he's eaten, so it was understandably exciting.

Shannon took photos of kids with Santa Claus downtown, including Link. Look for that photo later, I'm sure.

Productive Night

With the emergence of Link's tooth, I thought I should look at solid foods in The Baby Book. Dr. Sears says the right time is when they show interest, which Link has for a while and around 6 months when they can sit up in a high chair and start teething. Well he is already doing those 6 month things so I decided to give it a try. Starter foods included liquefied bananas and applesauce so I chose the latter. I feed Link using my finger and he ate about 2 tablespoons. Needless to say he liked it. I looked for signs of disinterest but they never came so I just decided to stop when I felt like it. This kid is going to be wrestling heavyweight like the Dallenbach boys. No on and off switch. The book says the intestines are not fully ready until 6 months, but I wonder if he may already be there.

Like a 6 month old he really enjoys his jumper and could play in it all day. He is starting to dislike his play gym. Which slightly bothers me because he still has not figured out how to roll over completely (which is the skill most 4 month olds are working on.

In other news. We tried EC tonight and it was successfull. It would probably cut down on laundry a lot if we did it more. You just have to dress more apropriately. Easy access to the bum rather than pants to yank off, a cover to unfasten and then a diaper. Link did all his duties in the toilet though.

Trial by Fire

Bryce and I have realized over these last four months that a lot of "bad" parenting can be great parenting for a newborn. Besides restraining your child, aka swadelling, to help baby sleep all night. We have also learned that shaking the seat, stroller, etc when he is crying uncontrollably can release gas and stop crying. Although you can probably do without the mumbled "Shut up child!" Bryce discovered that a big growl of frustration can throw Link into fits of laughter. In fact all scary growling does. I found out that blaring the music in the car to overpower a screaming can actually eliminate the problem as Link does not care to compete.

Today Link and I did some minor shopping, later in the afternoon after all the black friday stuff is already picked through. He screamed every time he was in his car seat. I was caring the chunk around reminding him softly that he owed me one, but then I realized he has been working on sitting, so I sat him in the actual cart area and he loved it. As well as picking up and putting everything I put in the cart in his mouth, helping get that second tooth to poke through I suppose.

Turkey and Teeth

First Thanksgiving and Link's first tooth popped through. Bottom right.
We traveled down to Carroll to Dustin and Vahida's house, starting at 5 am for the 5 hour drive.
We stuffed ourselves with Thanksgiving goodies (prepared by my mom so almost all from a can, but perfect).
It is a nice day so we walked around main street a bit. They have a great toy store and a good try at art galleries. Closed of course, but mom will be in line at 5 am to stampeed the others.
Yesterday we put up the Christmas tree and built the foundation for our first gingerbread house. Saw a tip for saving Halloween candy for gingerbread (but we didn't go trick or treating this year).
We are doing some rearranging and I have almost all of Link's clothes for the next year in drawers. I think he will stay this size for a while, which makes me happy, because we received the most and the cutest clothes from our boxes in the 6-12 month range. Also, got to pull those bibs out now. He is drooling a lot from the tooth and his shirts are wet. Also will probably pull out those hats. Still see no need for shoes yet though. That will probably change later. Hopefully those big feet will fit in them when he is ready.

Toys

Like most of my earthy crunchy friends I am not a fan of plastic. However, my dislike did not come from my peers but from an excellent documentary on the effects of the hormones in plastic. They do not directly effect us, but the reproductive organs of our children on down the line are at risk. So Bryce and I are fans of non-plastic diapers, non-plastic bottles, and non-plastic toys. For Christmas this year we have purchased for Link a felt yoyo doll, a wood push puppet, a knit ball, etc. If anyone has any cool ideas for toys to make please let us know.
Usually plastic and electronics go together too, so we are not planning on electronic toys.
Lindsey, whose home we went to on Halloween, has a 1 year old son. Her sister, who is not as natural decided to give Lindsey's son an electronic Elmo who sits in a chair and reads. Despite the fact that the Elmo is full of plastic parts, her sister looked past this and only saw the plastic chair. SOO, she threw away the chair and mailed them the Elmo. Lindsey, not being so strict as to throw away everything electronic and plastic gave the doll to her son. However, the point of the Elmo is that he sits in a chair and reads. When they put batteries in they found this out as Elmo without his chair only can say one thing "Opps, I fell down."

Spilled juicne

I spilled juicne o my comnputer ad now the "n" key will ot type whe I hit it but will radomly isert itself whe evner it feels like it.n I had to cnopy ad paste the oe i the quotes.n

Toight we wet to see Where the Wild Thigs Are. Lik was so happy durig it.

Other ew thigs is Lik's life iclude:

1. Drikig the bath water durig each bath
2. Suckig his thumb while breast feedig, at the same time.

Things I love about about my family

Link

1. The way he rubs his eyes when he is tired
2. The way he hugs my breast when he eats
3. The way he flirts by smiling with his head tilted down but his eyes up
4. The streaks of red in his hair
3. The sounds he makes when his is blowing raspberries

NEWS FLASH: Link's amazing strength.
At a retreat this weekend he impressed all the girls and us by rolling from tummy to back. He also can sit by himself (with cushions around him in case he topples) and although he hasn't figured out how to pull himself up, if you stand him up and let him grip onto something he will stay standing for several minutes.

Bryce

1. How every time people complain about their husbands or "men", I can't relate
2. How he is so comfortable in himself, he is not afraid of the feminine
3. How he gets Link to laugh
4. How beautiful he is when he cries in life's most amazing moments
5. How each kiss still feels new.

Break

Today is the first day I really felt like I wanted a break from being a mom and I think Link felt it. He has been fussy all day.

Link likes

Link likes the William Tell Overture and the roller derby scenes in Whip It.

Things I loved that I didn't post about

Jason and Stella, originally uploaded by Shannon Marye.

1. Visit from Jasmine when she came home from California
2. Visiting Sadie, Jason, and Stella's house for homemade apple sauce and Apples to Apples
3. Traveling up and down Northeast Iowa and Southwest Wisconsin doing food photography at restaurants. (Check out the new dishntunes.com/wordpress and see my photos in the photo tours of starred members.)
4. Pub Quiz at Schera's with an awesome team (Katie, Mari, Chris, and Bryce). We got second, but should have gotten 1st on a technicality.
5. Monday nights at La Rana and Koreana in Decorah with Frederique and Brian (and finding out Decorah has a goodwill.)

Birthgroup Reunion

Brenda with Zayin, originally uploaded by Shannon Marye.

Our camera died shortly after arriving, but birth group reunion was fabulous. So much laughter (as always). Peter told Bryce he made all the dads look bad at the Halloween party because of the knitted costume. We had a great one on one with Brenda and Moira and they gave me the best pap smear I have ever had. Besides lying on a comfy bed, I also got to be in control and say when to do what after getting instructions. When Sadie was done with hers Jason said "That was fast, you all papped?" Her response "And smeared."
Link (just like at the Halloween party) was a little overstimulated but was his smiley, laughing self most of the time. Again, AMAZING FOOD. We met Zayin (Moira's son) for the first time. He seems to be on the same track with Link, same weight, skill sets, sounds, etc.
I miss everyone so much, I hope we continue to stay close. Brenda said she was not going to offer anyone any advice on natural family planning so that we can all continue to get together for our next round of kids. LOL.

My son thinks I'm great

Voting for Mom, originally uploaded by Shannon Marye.

The results are in for City Council elections and I did not win. Bryce says "You ran a good campaign, though," which is a joke because there was no campaigning. I turned in my papers when I saw there were three spots running and thought that the incumbents were not re-running. So it would be one of those situation were you vote for three and there were only three candidates. Unfortunately they all ran again, as did Curtis Ruhser, who is probably the most well known person in Elkader because he is the biggest social butterfly and knows everyone. He got the most votes (200+). So who did he bump out of a seat? Betty Landis, the only other women on the board. So now we have an all white male in their 50s council, which is sad.
I didn't really think I was going to win and I was more disappointed when I lost the pumpkin decorating contest than I am about the election. (The artist in me.) However, I am walking about this election feeling really good about myself. I received the same number of votes as Betty and she has been on the council for years. I have only lived here one year. We received only 20 or so votes less than the person who came in third on the council. So I think I might run again another time, maybe campaign. Jakie O's strategy in Strawberry Point was to group up with a few other candidates and sell yourself as a team. It was nice that 5 ran so I wasn't the only loser. I also was a loser at my first attempt at making fudge this week. It has been sitting out three days and it is still runny.

Link at 3 months

Windy Halloween Day, originally uploaded by Shannon Marye.

Halloween was when we found out when we were pregnant and it is about the time Link turned three months. Our awesome son is very sturdy on his legs and sitting up, but is still working on balance. He is weighing in at 21 lbs. He very accurately grabs at things and can pull, pick up and resist pulling. He is a thumb sucker, but not very often. He loves to smile, laugh and flirt. He likes to yell and coo at his toys and can almost roll over (those shoulders get in the way). He has become a very vocal pooper which has made us aware of how much he poops which is all the time.
He is almost out of his cloth diapers so you know what is on our Christmas list. He has become a distracted nurser and can barely eat when there is a lot of commotion which makes him hungry and angry. The thrush/yeast is almost completely gone. We are not giving up until it is gone for a good few weeks.

Halloween

Baby Party, originally uploaded by Shannon Marye.

So you saw the costume, but you probably don't know much about our day. Halloween was super exciting. My favorite holiday. I usually throw a holiday party with wherever I am working, but didn't this year since I am not working in the public spectrum. So we went to a baby party in Decorah, hosted by one of the doulas of our group. It was fun to see old friends from the group and meet new friends and their kids. Some of the people I had briefly met from visiting their art studios, passing them while they stocked fruit at the co-op, or taking my order at their restaurants. It was nice to talk with all of them. The food was amazing (as any Decorah potluck is). I made deviled eggs but dressed them up with olives and avacado. I used my wedding dress, a scarf, and a purple t-shirt and made a Zelda costume and Bryce went as the tri-force (we had a hard time thinking of another character). I think next year we are going to go as Mount Rushmore. Or maybe we will wait until we are a family of four.
After this party we went to Independence to party with Liz and Dani at Pat's Bar. It was fun to chat and see all the adult costumes. Mom watched Link.
The next day we added even more miles to the car when we went to see Mama Mia at the Gallegher Bluedorn in Cedar Falls/Waterloo. I have not seen any version of the show before and I loved it. Great acting. A funny thing happened on the way to the car. Three teen girls were walking in front of us and two were making fun of the other because she thought in the last song they were singing "Waterloo." They other two were not sure what they had sung, but it sure wasn't a song with the name of their town in it.

And the winner is

Link as Link, originally uploaded by Shannon Marye.

We finished it just in time. The pants had to be held together with a safety pin, but we are still proud. See what can be accomplished with just one month of knowing how to knit. Link loved it. Mom went as Zelda and Bryce as the Triforce. We went to a baby party in Decorah, which was a lot of fun and meeting a lot of new families.

Grandma watched Link after the party while Bryce and I dressed up in the 80/90s and went to a party with Liz and Dani.