Springing

Hallelujah that the weather is warming and we are going outside daily. This past weekend Rivers, along with some other families from our housing co-op, helped us build a raised bed vegetable garden. He is pictured here with his friend Edie, our upstairs neighbor, working the dirt. We are growing many many vegetables and herbs, which is super exciting. We've also been going out to the playgrounds and the backyard a lot lately.

Rivers has been doing weird stuff with sleep in the past month. He used to nurse until completely asleep and then I'd put him in the crib, but a little while ago he started nursing until sleepy but then finishing up while still awake and so I'd just put him in the crib. He used to protest if that happened, but now he's started just talking and singing to himself for anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes until asleep. In the past few days he started cutting out his second nap and instead going to bed very early in the evening and sleeping later in the morning. Not sure if it will be his new pattern or just a fluke.

Birthday Videos

the winter in review

This has been a winter of great growth and exploration for little Rivers, who is now Toddler Gill-Bloyer. We celebrated his first birthday with a small party of friends at our house. Rivers enjoyed his banana bread cupcake and playing with all of his guests, including our upstairs neighbor, Edie. She is about eight months older than Rivers and the two of them have struck up a little friendship, playing together in both of our apartments. Edie refers to him as "Baby Ribbas," and according to her dad, Marc, she stops at our door in hopes of coming in to play every time they go up the stairs to their apartment.

Shortly after Rivers' birthday we flew to Arizona to visit Mom's side of the family for two weeks. Rivers' cousin, Liam, was born at Christmastime, and so the two of them met for the first time. The two of them are, of course, destined for lifelong friendship. Mom and Dad are Liam's godparents, and we were able to be there to celebrate his baptism. He is a very cute, FAT baby (a whopping 15 lbs now at 3 months! This is quite the opposite of Rivers, who now weighs a mere 20 lbs at 14 months). The weather was amazingly warm and beautiful for the entire visit, so we enjoyed hiking, swimming, and outdoor dining. And after many months of cruising along the furniture, on February 4 in Grandma Stephie's kitchen, Rivers took his first independent steps! He hasn't stopped moving since.

The month of February was cold and dreary, as it usually is. Stuck inside, Rivers used the opportunity to get into every nook and cranny of the house. The bathroom has been a favorite place to pull out all the drawers and inspect their contents. But then came March with some warmer days and the promise of the springtime to come. As soon as the temps were in the 50s we started visiting the playgrounds, which Rivers loves. He is very interested in watching all of the other kids playing, and he even tries to interact with them (although this is a bit awkward and funny at this age). Rivers loves digging in the sand.

We now eagerly await even warmer days and even more developmental steps for Rivers. He still has six teeth and he still doesn't talk much. He can say (or really, mumble) "mama" and "dada," but that is about it. He does, however, like to take my cellphone, put it to his ear, and walk around the house 'talking.'

a cute moment

apologies to all those who have been waiting for 3 months for me to post again. a review of our winter activities will follow soon, but here is a little video to tide you over.

First Birthday Wish List

As Rivers anticipates the big one year anniversary of that great birth, there are a few things that he needs. If you are one of those people out there who are inclined to give him a gift, please consider the following suggestions (gently used items are preferred):

1. clothes (longs sleeves/long pants), size 18 mos
2. snow boots (not sure the size)
3. socks, size 12-24 mos
4. sippy cup (must say "no BPA" or "no Bisphenol-A" on package)
5. metal child's fork/spoon set
6. target gift card
7. money for cloth diapers
8. money for college fund

Christmas outside the womb

Last year Rivers played the in-utero baby Jesus for our church's Christmas Eve service. Jason and I traveled around the sanctuary as Joseph and Mary in a version of the traditional Mexican posada, in which the parents of Jesus travel around looking for room in the inn until they find welcome in the stable (and in Mexico, a big welcome party). We then sat down on a bench at the front, which was our little stable, and were handed our friends' baby girl Delaney, who was 8 months old at the time and dressed in a diaper and a pair of white tights. Although I was holding the giant baby girl Jesus, I of course still had a baby in my belly, so the whole scene struck me as pretty strange. This year, Rivers gave an encore Christmas Eve performance as a little lamb with the shepherds who saw the star from the fields. It was close to bedtime, so he was a pretty cranky lamb.

And he was a pretty cranky babe on Christmas morning as well! The videos in this post show just how interested he was in opening his Christmas gift. In response to the hyper-consumerism of Christmas and with a desire to teach our child and ourselves to celebrate the coming of Christ for what it is, we have opted to phase out Christmas gifts from our family's holiday practice. Instead, we have encouraged would-be gift givers to contribute to Rivers' college fund at Christmas time, and then give him gifts on his birthday. We hope to develop some authentic Christmas traditions for our family to practice as the years go on. (We did, however, compromise on a few small stocking-stuffer gifts from the Grandmas, so that's what you see in the video.)

Though we spent Christmas without family here in Chicago, we did enjoy much fun and relaxation with many members of our surrogate family, feasting and playing games on Christmas Eve and Day with the Taubers, Selphs/Blackwoods, Peebles, and Auntie Peju. We look forward to a short visit from Grandpa Clyde and Grandma Debbie around New Years and a visit to Arizona to meet Rivers' first cousin, Liam Isaac Roche, born last week on December 23! We'll spend two weeks with family there.

moving moving