Getting out

Dustin is now a pretty easy-going baby, although I wonder at what point I shall stop calling him a "baby."  At day care he's out of the baby room, and into the "wobbler" room.  It's a staging ground for kids who aren't babies, but aren't toddlers.  I suppose this is akin to a "tween" later on in life.  Who knew there are so many subtly different stages we pass through!
There are times that he is fussy, and if we're lucky, we can quickly remedy the fussiness with the typical mama-combatants: food, milk, nap, or diaper change.  More often, the fussiness stems from boredom with our house, and getting out the door is the obvious, necessary, and immediate remedy!

Last weekend Jeff went up to Seattle to spend some time working on coding with his best friend Hasan. Dustin and I, left to our own devices, got out the door a fantastic amount, and had a very fun weekend, as a couple photos below can attest:

A jubilant Dustin at the petting zoo at the Multnomah County Fair. (May 27th, 2012) While pigs and sheep in confined spaces was a real treat to behold, Dustin prefers chasing the neighborhood cat.  Given Dustin's wobbly speed, the cat has very little concern about ever being caught.  But it's guaranteed entertainment, until the cat gets bored.

Dustin pushing a tricycle at Cafe Au Play here in Portland, OR. (April 29th, 2012)  While it looks like he's pushing the tricycle in the regular fashion, he was generally pushing it sideways around the patio. His joy for pushing things is immense: he will certainly be a terror on a trike once he gets going!

Why do they call it Mother's Day?

I was hearing about this really important day called Mother's Day.  It seemed like everyone was talking about it, and they said it was really special for Mom, because it was her first.  But when it finally came, I thought the day was more about me then Mom, so why do they call it Mother's Day?

Let me go into a little detail about how the day went.  I woke up in the morning and Mom quickly arrived to feed me breakfast in bed.  Then Dad got up shortly after that to fry some eggs.  He knows that I love eating eggs, so he made enough for both him and Mom to feed me.  They took me outside to enjoy my bagel while they both looked at me lovingly.  Then we moved on to the morning play, where I got to try out the new hat and toys that Grandma Jean sent.

The morning was quickly fading, and I was getting sleepy, as Mom and Dad were getting all my stuff ready for the day's hike.  They said that we were going to start a new tradition of hiking to a waterfall on Mother's Day.  Just as I was about to fall asleep they loaded me into the car.  There is something special about the car's rumble that just soothes me to sleep.

When I woke up, we were at the hiking spot, and Mom and Dad suited up, which took way too long.  I got to ride in my favorite position on Mom's tummy in the Ergo, or is my favorite position on Dad's shoulder?  Either way, I got to ride in my favorite place.  Dad also taught me a new game of spinning circles.  This dizzy feeling is going to have to be explored thoroughly.

All in all it was a really good day.  I can't wait for next year's Mother's Day, or should we call it Dustin's Day?