Little boy, big rage

Augie ended up taking two naps today - he fell asleep at 8:30 this morning while nursing, and then I put him to sleep around 3 so he could make it to bedtime. I woke him up at 4 because I didn't want him to sleep too late and ruin bedtime (my sanity depends on him going to bed around 7/7:30). He was not happy. I held him while he cried and cried and cried, and then Baba tried to calm him, and then we just put him down and he stomped around the apartment, crying, shouting "NO!", and turning blotchy and red. I've never seen him in such a fit. It was sad to see him so upset, but it was also amazing to watch his little being emit so much energy.

We finally calmed him down by putting him in the shower with Baba - he loves the water now. Within a few seconds he was smiling and it wasn't long before he was laughing. He was full of energy for the rest of the evening, and now he's putting himself to sleep, kicking the walls and slowly settling down.

Augie is almost always happy and well-tempered, and his fits and tantrums are short-lived (if powerful). As his mama, it was difficult but also fascinating to watch him get so worked up for so long (10-15 minutes). But what was remarkable was how I felt after he cheered up - it was like I was seeing him again after an absence, or after a full night's sleep. I was elated to be around his smile, his laugh, his dance, his enthusiasm. I suddenly had fresh eyes and fresh energy for his beatific little presence.

On an entirely unrelated note, I just received via email some photos from the mom of the baby we met at the wedding a few weeks ago.

First meeting:

Augie trying to return a hug Sierra had given him a couple minutes earlier:

Trying to climb the tent.

Snuggling and mudslinging

 This is what passes for snuggling in our house: Augie lying on my neck while watching the Germany - Portugal game:

Someone discovered a pot filled with old dirt on the balcony this evening as we were watching the USA - Ghana match:

 

Yes, he did this all by himself. In fact, it's something he really likes to do - stick something on his head and walk around. He definitely doesn't get this from me:

Another day at Terhune

We meant to go strawberry picking at Terhune Orchards this afternoon, but by the time we got there, all the ripe strawberries had been picked! I suppose we shouldn't have planned on successful picking at the tail end of a weekend.

Augie probably had more fun playing around on the old tractor anyway.

Trying to get a height measurement (remember this?), but all he wanted was to go back to the tractor:

So Baba tried to get a width measurement:

My sleeping, dancing Shiva

We've been watching a lot of soccer lately, which has dealt a blow to what little productivity we had around here. And I've been profoundly exhausted the past few days; I don't know whether it's the heat, the pregnancy (I'm almost in the third trimester!), or the stress of finding a place to live in Stockholm - most likely a combination of all three - but I just can't keep up with anything these days, especially Augie.

I wish we could get him to do a bit more of this, especially in the morning:

Here's the World Cup watching pose (Augie isn't entertained with 90 minutes of soccer so we have to throw him a bone every now and then):

And this is how I found him napping yesterday:

Which reminded me of this dancing Shiva:

Chocolate monster

Augie helped me bake cookies eat all the chocolate today. And phew, you should have seen him two hours later - he was still spinning in circles. Over and over and over again.

Reading, reading, reading

This afternoon, Augie brought me a book to read. We'd been listening and dancing to a Music Together CD, so I said to him, "August, I have to turn the music off before we can read." He stood up from my lap, walked to the desk, climbed onto the chair, and turned off the music (by pushing the space bar on the computer). I was amazed! We hadn't ever taught him that - he'd figured it out himself during all the times he's sat at the desk and pounded on the keyboard.

It feels like we're always a step (or two or three) behind him - that he knows more and is more capable than we realize. It's so cool to have him surprise us like that.

Here are some pictures of today's post-prandial reading session with Baba.

And a goofy morning pic with Mama:

Getting back into the groove

I'm proud to announce that, after three days of training, I've passed the Music Together teacher training course! I count this as a huge accomplishment because I haven't done anything related to music since I was about eight years old, and I've been told more than once that I can't sing. But the creator, developer, and trainer for Music Together thinks I can (ahem, if I pick the right key)!

While I was off doing that, James and Augie were getting in trouble together, though I'm pleased to say that we all survived the weekend.

I'm amazed with Augie now: he's definitely in a language-learning phase. He seems to add a new word every day (today it was "rock", other new additions include his variations of "milk", "our car", and "more."). And he wants to read all the time, and when he brings us a book, we often have to read it 2, 3, 4 times before he's happy. While it can be tedious for us to read the same rhymes over and over, it's great brain food for him and it's obvious that he's soaking it all in.

Here are some shots from the days before and after my training:

Baba's in charge

I started my Music Together teacher training today - the first of three ten-hour days of music play and learning. James is in charge of the little tiger. This is the longest I've ever gone without seeing Augie (he was asleep when I got home at 7:30 this evening, so the last I saw him was at 8:15 this morning). I miss him. But I think it's great for the two of them to have so much time together.

So my posts for the next two days will be dependent on receiving pictures from James (probably won't happen) and having some energy at night (probably won't happen).

These two pictures are from Uncle Robert's visit with us last weekend.

Back to Michigan...

...at least virtually, as I found these pictures recently when I was posting about our camping trip. I'd forgotten I'd taken them!

Watching the fish with Grandma:

Dinner with the fam:

Barreling

I took Augie to the university campus yesterday to wander around. Graduation was today so campus was set up with all sorts of tents, chairs, and water coolers.

He carried this barrel to here from the stack you see in the background:

What a goofy face: