So sweet, such an angel. This child would NEVER do anything wrong.
Are you sure about that?
Just when you think you can leave him alone for a few minutes he surprises you. The other day I had to work, so Hans took the boys up to church to try to get some work done. He put a movie on the computer in the church office and started working on his sermon. Hans was in the same room, but it was far enough away for John to discover a marker...
Hans says John wanted to look like one of those Avatar giant blue thundercat smurfs.
John was pretty proud of himself until Hans had to scrub his face. John says he never wants to take a bath again.
I'm pretty sure only a day or two has passed since I wrote his 9 month post. This month has just been a whirlwind and I'm not really sure why. About a week after Gus turned 9 months he took his first steps. Then, about a week or so after that he started walking. This kid walks everywhere now! He still has a very rigid walk and tends to stiffly pick his right leg up higher than his left. But, if you all remember, he crawled funny too.
One of the funniest things he does is scour the house for a remote or phone, neither of which he is supposed to have. When he gets his hands on one he turns quickly and starts to walk quickly, almost run, out the door so he can go play with his find. He also cries, and I mean big, crocodile tears, when you take something away from him.
Gus will also take anything he wants, and I mean anything. If John is playing with trains Gus will take them. At first John would just give him the trains so he didn't have to hear him cry. I will NOT have a child that gets whatever he wants simply because he cries, so we nipped that in the bud pretty quickly. But I have to say it just melts my heart when I see the boys playing nicely together.
Go Colts! Thank you Uncle Christian for the great outfit.
Don't you wish you could squat like this for hours?
He definitely has his cranky moments, but overall he is a happy boy. He still loves playing in the bathroom, if a rookie has left the door open. And he is constantly getting into the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen. I love to watch him discover new things. His preferred method of checking something out is to put it in his mouth. John was and still is into everything, but he never really put stuff in his mouth, so this is a new thing for me. Gus also likes to stick his fingers in the outlets, so I've quickly learned which ones I'd forgotten to cover.
They may be weirdos, but they are my weirdos. I've just been going through my pictures and thought I'd share a few of my goofballs.
John fell asleep watching "Hero of the Rails", the new Thomas movie. I think this was about the third time my dad had sat through it. What a trooper!
Gus was smiling and laughing and the second the camera was in view he posed like this. He thought his tongue was something special.
What a smile. I'm pretty sure John is telling Hans how to take the picture. John is such a know-it-all.
"Are you listening to me?"
Hans was taking pictures of Gus and John was getting a little jealous. He really wanted to show off his dinosaur. You like that scab between his eyes? I'm pretty sure Gus did that. It doesn't take long to learn how to fight back.
Mr. Potato Head. What's up with that hair, Gus?
I was taking some 'before' photos since I started the Slim in 6 from Beachbody and John wanted to take his 'before' photos too since he is joining me in the workouts. I will say watching John try to do the workout is so funny and it makes the time go by a little faster.
Tonight I was calling John and looking for him everywhere. He was tucked in a corner so I didn't see him right away.
I had originally titled this post "The Preuses Come to Visit" and then realized this wasn't a good idea. You see, there are lots and lots of Preuses and I didn't want to give anyone the indication that there was some sort of family reunion at our house where only certain Preuses were invited. So, last week, Mark, Becky and their four children, Hannah, Paul, John and Anastasia came for a visit on their way home after a 2 week vacation. We saw Mark and Becky on the way to Jake and Ashley's wedding this summer, but Becky hadn't had those twin babies yet, so it was a good chance to see everyone. They stayed a couple of days and all the kids had a great time.
This is Anastasia and John. Too cute!
Sweet Hannah. She is pretty shy, but this makes it look as if she was posing.
She loves the fairy wings. And, yes, we have fairy wings. John found them up at church and ran around for a whole day saying he was Clink...the boy fairy.
This is Paul. Paul and John are a lot a like. They are very cute together.
Doesn't that just look like trouble?
Hugs, so cute.
We had a wonderful time, Mark and Becky. Hope you can come back again.
Gus took his first steps a couple of weeks ago but hasn't really been interested in continuing on with the whole walking process...at least that is what I thought. Every time we would try to get him to walk he would just smile at us, fall to the ground and start crawling. Yesterday I saw him walk the width of my bedroom, but he didn't know I was watching him. I waited until he was done then I clapped for him. Since then he has been walking everywhere. Crawling is still the faster way to go, but he is getting the hang of it all.
John is the kind of kid who only has to hear something once and he will remember it. Whether he chooses to remember and use it is totally up to him. He must have watched something that used the words 'you fools' and committed it to memory. One day we had to put him in his room for something and he got MAD. Hans and I were in our room listening to him scream and then, all of a sudden, we heard, "Let me out of here, you fools, or I will huff and puff and blow this house down." I have to admit we got a good laugh out of that.
John also went through a phase where he asked us if we were stupid. I'm still not sure he knew exactly what he was saying, but the conversation went something like this, "Daddy, are you stupid? I need something to drink." I think we finally got through to him that this isn't something you say, so now he says "Daddy, are you st...." and then stops himself. I'm not sure where he got that from.
Last weekend we had some of Hans' cousins visit and they have four kids. John and Paul, 2, were downstairs playing musical chairs, with four chairs. I think they were trying to bring the chairs upstairs to show us. All of a sudden we heard a crash and lots of crying. When we ran downstairs we saw Paul on the ground with a chair and John standing next to him with another chair. While Paul was being comforted I talked to John. "You know better than that." I said. "But, but, Mom, I tried to tell him it was a bad idea." As much as John thought it was a bad idea, he obviously still tried to help his friend. I can only imagine that I'll hear other forms of 'I tried to tell him' when he gets older.
Sometimes, what was simple with one is not so simple with two and I don't even want to think about adding another kid in the mix. What I've found to be the worst is picture taking. All kids go through phases when they won't sit still or try touch the camera, but you can always get at least one good picture of the family. I tried to get a good picture of my parents with the boys, and I'm sure glad I had my nice camera that takes quick continuous photos. We'll have to try again to take a nice photo, but for now here is how the story goes...
John wasn't ready yet. He had something in his nose he just HAD to get out right then.
Everyone was waiting for John to pick his nose, Gus got a little impatient.
We tried some pictures in a different location. I had no one picking noses and for the most part they were all looking at me, but Gus has his pacifier...so we keep trying.
Gus is getting ready to stretch...let's see where this goes.
Well, it goes where it always goes.
Aside from the evil eye I'm getting from Gus, this is the best picture.
One day, while my parents were here, we decided to go to the Children's Museum. This is always a guarantee of a good time. There is something for kids of all ages and both boys and both grandparents had lots of fun. I love watching John interact with other kids. Despite how rough and tough he seems at home, he is very kind and considerate with kids he doesn't know. He never pushes, cuts in line or speaks harshly to kids in new situations.
Kids at Work
Gus found a PVC pipe and was pretty content.
Gus even decided to stand on his own for a long time.
He watched other kids running by.
He even took his first steps!!
While August was trying to walk, John was crawling through windows.
Concentrating hard.
My dancing boy.
This was actually the best of the series of the pictures of us. Someday I'll get a photo with all of us looking the same direction and smiling...in about 25 years.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my parents drove in the day after Christmas. We had a fun filled week so I thought I'd share some highlights of the week.
Hans and I had a Voters Meeting on Sunday, so my parents took the boys to McDonalds, then back home for some playtime.
They both enjoy the play cube they got for Christmas.
Playing a letter game with Grandpa.
John being an octopus.
Wrestling with Grandpa
Helping Daddy make dinner.
Gus' favorite pastime.
The Movies
My mom and I took John to see 'The Princess and the Frog."
We got there a little early and had to wait to get into the theater. John was so excited to see the movie that he could hardly wait, but popcorn helped pass the time.
Painting
My mom found a crocodile to paint. John loves painting.
The Hat
My dad brought this Cowboys Santa hat and Hans was just fine wearing it until we got out the camera.
