Leo's mornings

Leo is over seven months old now. Where has the time gone? It seems like I just found out I was pregnant.

Every morning I wake up to the sounds of Leo cooing, coming through the monitor from his room to mine. I get out of bed, creep to the kitchen and start making my coffee. I wash my face, etc, then get a cup of coffee ready. At this point he's usually been up about 15-20 minutes, so I creep into his room and hang his mobile up for him (we don't leave it up all the time, it's too exciting!) and give him a couple of toys. I usually do this very quickly and quietly, I don't even really engage him at all. This usually buys me about 10-15 more minutes of wake-up time for myself. All in all, he'll usually play and coo and crawl around in his crib for about 30-45 minutes! I love that he does this and that I have this quiet time to myself every day. Only once in the past few months has this ever been disrupted - one morning he stuck one of his feet through the crib slats and yelled for me.

I can usually tell when my time is up, so I go into his room, raise the lights and get a HUMONGOUS smile. It is like the sun coming out - only 10000 times more beautiful than the sun to me. :) If Matt is home, this impossibly huge smile is somehow even huge-er at the sight of his dad at home in the morning! Anyway, I sing a dumb little morning song, change his diaper, nurse him for a hot minute and then we go out to start our day, usually with some playing and a Skype with one of Leo's grandmas before we have a fruit and some cereal. About two hours after he awakens, Leo will be ready for a nap.

I feel like I've really nailed the mornings. If only I could feel this confident about every aspect of parenting, I'd be set!

We're doing great, all in all. I love this boy so, so much.

The Augsburg Outfit

This Augsburg College outfit was mine when I was a baby. My aunt Sue bought it for me when she was going to Augsburg. For many years afterward, a cabbage patch doll at my grandma's house wore it. My grandma washed it and gave it to me at my baby shower. And now it fits my boy.

It's especially neat because Matt and I both went to Augsburg. That's where we met. Neat!

Fatty in the grass

Look at those arms! My man is a muscle monster. I love this fat happy boy. And he loves the park.

Swimmy swim swim