Birthday Bean

The Baby Bean is ONE year old today! Officially the Toddler-Bean, I suppose. Wow. Hard to believe it's already been a year, and also hard to believe it's ONLY been a year. At this time last year, we STILL hadn't met this amazing little boy. I'm remembering the long birth journey that ended at 11:57 pm; his birthday was very nearly tomorrow, and we thought it was going to be yesterday!


We love our Bean so much... welcome to the world of age ONE!


(bigger retrospective post to come...)

Happy Earth Week

This is a bit late getting out, but our computer ended up with a virus... we think it's cleaned off now, whew.


But I hope your week was happy and full of opportunities to commune with the earth and get your hands (and face) dirty!

Talkin' Turkey

Or chicken, actually. Bean had his first taste of a very local chicken this weekend, with some tasty chicken soup made from scratch by WF. And I mean from scratch! That chicken was conceived, hatched, raised (partly on scratch or tasty corn for chickens) and butchered by WF on our property. Well, OK, he didn’t conceive the chicken in that sense, only in the thinking sense, but he’s facilitated the sustainable flock idea; ie rooster + broody hen = more baby chicks. And then he even made the soup! That’s local, man. And what a good, skilled guy to have around!

Bean appreciates his daddy’s efforts. And will likely tell us about them very soon. We captured this new style of “talking” this weekend, as well. Kinda like gobbling, I suppose….

Still Snowy

Oops, I spoke too soon on the spring thing. Friday was indeed 72 degrees, but I spent most of it indoors. Then, Saturday and Sunday had predictions of SNOW, which did indeed come true. Ack!



We gathered on a beach near our friend’s Spiral Earth intentional community for a lovely little ceremony despite the weather. We’re tough northerners, but this was ridiculous! I suppose it lent a more intimate air to the whole event, a nice day to remember. Here’s to a good communal future!

Spring IS Here

...Maybe.



What a difference 2 weeks makes, eh? We're cautiously optimistic.

Walking and Helping

Bean may still be my "little" baby, but he's sure interested in getting more involved in daily life, even chores!

We present...walking! Maybe the vaccuum cleaner is next?

Easter Weekend

We made it through a busy weekend of car travel and visiting...Both sets of grandparents, Aunt and Uncle and even Cousin A! Lots to see and do, and Bean did very well with the long drives.

It was fun to visit, but we caught a first little glance at jealousy when Bean was sad that his daddy was holding Cousin A too much. HIS daddy!


Cousin A is catching up a bit, but Bean definitely has a head start!


Easter basket time... bunnies? Bah! Let's get at that fake grass instead....



And Bean continues to be a charmer, even with the grandparents he doesn't see as much.




We are so lucky to have such a cheerful little bean!

11 months

The month of Bean's birth is here! He's still my little baby for a just tiny bit longer, soon to be an official toddler! Hard to believe...I really didn't expect this time to go quite THIS fast. I'm not ready for a birthday party quite yet!

11 months has brought some fun milestones: Real clapping. Pushing up into "yoga moves". Actually eating and enjoying some avocado, not just puffed rice and corn (current favorites). Figuring out how to get from his belly to sitting upright (involves the yoga moves). Growing into a whole 'nother square on the "Grandma quilt"!





He's also really starting to show a preference for some toys; anything stackable and sort of "structural"... blocks, bowls, big wooden beads, cars. I try to give him dolls or other stuffed animals, and they get mostly tossed aside. I want to think toy preferences are gender neutral, but he already seems be gravitating toward some typical boy toys. He'll push around wheeled things for a good half-hour on his own, intent on moving them in a big circle, etc. No motor sounds yet, though!

Crawling is still "elbows and toes" but those knees are getting some practice, and he just started pulling himself up on the couch on his own.


Definitely getting SO BIG!

This IS Spring in MN

We're making the best of it. Even Lutsen.