A year ends, another begins...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. Thanks for reading :)

Love,
Us

The Long, Slow Wean

Jude decided to wean himself from breastfeeding yesterday.

It wasn't as sudden as that sounds, I guess. We cut down at nine months when I went back to work, and he started losing interest over a month ago. For the past week we'd just been going through the motions.

Yesterday I was finally able to admit to myself that he had more or less turned down both of my offers. My production is low now, and he doesn't have time for it. The toys on the floor are competing for his attention, and I'm not quite as colorful or fun to throw around the room as they are.

He is telling me it's time.

Meanwhile he's a real champ in the solid-food department. He stuffs his face and stores it in his cheeks for later. I'll see him chewing something an hour after dinner and fish it out in a panic, only to realize it's the same piece of corn he'd been gnawing on while we cleared the table. Naughty.

Last night I put both of my nursing brassieres into the wash for the last time. They have been loyal and dear under-garments over the past year, and throwing them into the laundry basket felt sad. Jono admitted he felt weird about it too, probably because it means Jude isn't so much of a baby any more.

My goal was 12 months though, and we made it. I feel good about it. Yay for us :)

Christmas (Lite)

We rarely decorate properly for Christmas around here. I have invented a few shortcuts over the years.

Our first year we were married our "tree" was a bough of holly purchased from Pikes Market. It adorned our tiny kitchen table in our tiny Seattle apartment. That was all.

When we lived in Honduras we ran into the issue of a national ban on pine-tree cutting, so we ended up buying what was essentially a shrubbery imported from somewhere and trimmed into a triangle shape. Excuse: We were homesick, and we wanted to feel as festive as possible.

There have been a couple of years in between then and now where we went all out and cut down a real tree on a farm. But last year we had just had Jude. He was one month old and we were bleary-eyed and unable to function as normal human beings. So again... no tree.

This year? Jude is old enough now to crawl right up to any novelty item placed in his play area (the living room) and pull it down, or at least pluck off an ornament of two and attempt to eat it. Also, we had a hectic Thanksgiving weekend and ran out of time for the typical tree-chopping-down ceremony that usually happens on the Friday after.

Soooo...behold, our lovely alternative:


That, my friends, is a tropical potted palm that was gifted to us a few years ago. Bethlehem was likely dotted with palm trees rather than evergreens, no? Plus some lovely mardis-gras-esque beads that I have re-purposed as a garland for our fireplace (below). These were purchased way back when for our Hondu-shrubbery.


We have one stocking. You can guess whose it is.

I never go nuts with the holiday decorating, but I do love how simple things look this year. A lot of fuss just adds to the chaos, and that we don't need.

Alfalfa

ONE

So the little man is one. I guess we're parents of a toddler now. (What does this mean??)

On his big day the three of us got up together and he opened his present from Ma and Pa. His hair is all crazy in this shot, and he looks disgruntled. (He has a pretty substantial mullet these days.)

Soon after that Uncle Tyler and Grandma G showed up and we all went out for breakfast together at Real Food Cafe. Yum.

His party was the next day. In streamed grandparents, great-grandparents, two uncles, and one honorary great-aunt-and-uncle (they've been caring for Jude one day a week since he was born, and he loves them).

We had soup. And cheese. And pumpkin cake. And cider. We mildly spiked our coffee with Irish Cream, and it was very festive. Jude had carrot cake with cream-cheese frosting. I didn't do anything fancy with it. It was still in the pan and I kind of messed up the frosting recipe. But it had a giant red "1" on it, and he thought it was awesome. We had to take the customary frosting-smeared face shots, so deal with it :)

Here's the evidence:

*Sigh*. It's been a whole year since all this happened. Wow.

Couch Everest

Jude has gotten the hang of pulling up on a couch cushion we put on the floor for him. We entice him by stacking wooden blocks or cups into towers on top of it. Quick, excited breathing ensues, with an army crawl dash to the base of the cushion. Once he's up on the cushion he uses it to get up unto the cushionless half of the couch and then... the final step to the summit: the cushioned half. Tada!

Here he is basking in his own glory; advancing on Grandpa G who got a few minutes alone with him while Jono cooked dinner and Mom and I ran an errand.

(!)

See him pleased as punch with himself in Figure 2? I should hope that cheeks were promptly nibbled after these were taken.

Oh Ye of the Flowing Mane...

Jude went trick-or-treating for the first time this year, since he wasn't around this time last year. I barely remember those days.

We had two costumes to choose from, but the scary lion was the one he went public with. He is "rarring" in the second lion shot, can you tell? (Sorry these are blurry - there was a lot of movement going on and I dislike flash photography.)

The funniest part of the evening was the part where Jude was going door to door in his costume with six un-costumed adults in tow. (Two grandparents, two parents, an uncle and an uncle's girlfriend). Dorky? Obsessed? Yes.

This is the one he didn't go out in. Tough call.

I might add more action shots later once I can get them from my mom. Thanks to Jan K for the costumes :)

Great Lake Swimmers

We saw these guys (and a girl) play last night at the Ladies Literary Club. It's not just for ladies any more.

I bought their first album a few years ago after hearing it at a friend's house. It made me feel all whispy and haunted and melancholy and good. They're from Toronto, they were captivating live, and I'm getting more of their albums STAT.

Listen here. If you want.

A Hike with Pops

That's his happy sound.

11 Months!

I'm a little late on a 10-month update for Jude, so here's one for 11 months instead.

New Stuff:

• Creeping (aka "army crawl' on his tummy)
• Tooth Sprouting (he now has 1.25 toofers)
• Garbled Word-Saying (he said "uh-oh" the other day after I said it, with the exact same inflection; "momo" when Mona came into the room; "ba ba ba" for bye-bye)
• Move Busting (the kid loves to dance)
• Yelling (at the top of his lungs, for fun)
• "Contributing to the Conversation" (he randomly says some sort of nonsense while we're talking amongst ourselves and acts like it was a normal part of the discussion)

I can't believe he'll be ONE in a month. Little Man.

Our "No-TV Rule"

Ahem.

Jude was real crabby the other day, so we sat him down on the living room floor and put in a baby DVD. We've only done this once before when he was sick. (Generally he's not allowed to watch TV, but we made an exception because he was in the foulest of foul moods. Plus an age-appropriate DVD doesn't count as TV, does it? I'm saying it doesn't).

It definitely looks like we let him watch the Kardashians on a daily basis. But these were so stinkin' cute and he looks so tiny in them, I couldn't resist (with the necessary explanation, or course). Click to enlarge.

P.S. We try not to be totally anal about things. Once Jude has passed his major developmental milestones (around age 3 or so) we'll be a little more lax on the TV viewing. A little. As in Sesame Street. But not Barney. "But what if he likes it?" I don't care. He won't know whether he likes it or not. Because he'll NEVER SEE IT :)

Smear Campaign

He pretty much smeared it everywhere.

Giant Pumpkins, $35

Throw in a small child for $5. Yellow hood and stripey socks are extra.

It's Jude's first Fall on this earth so we're doing our best to make it AWESOME. I love October in Michigan.

Mostly I hate how quickly Fall goes though. It's my favorite season, but as soon as I've taken note of the first bright red leaf there's snow on the ground and the Michigan deep-freeze that is guaranteed to last the next six months has begun. I love it here three seasons out of four, but honestly. In March and April I usually want to pitch myself off a very tall building.

Anywho...we went to Robinette's a few days ago, an orchard just outside of town that has hiking trails and sells apples, cider, pumpkins, weird warty gords and all that. Oh, and we must also mention: freshly-made doughnuts and hot cider. Jono's Grandma Klooster came too. This is us about to do orchard stuff:

Enjoy it while it lasts.

Pickles

Jude hearts pickles. Dill ones. When he sees a pickle, he'll grab it and gnaw on it frantically until there's nothing left but the skin.

Here he is eating one in Chicago where we went to see my aunt and cousin run the marathon last weekend. (They did great, but most of you are here for the pickle. I'll cut to the chase.)

I'm getting heckled about how much this blog sucks lately. There. Stick a pickle in it.

P.S. Tyler, pics 3 and 4 blow up when you click on them.

Handmade Baby Bling

Jude has two new pairs of booties from friends and family that I need to show off.

These are his Mongolian baby boots that we got from Rhoda and Johan, friends who just finished up a stint teaching in Korea and went to Mongolia before they came home. (First of all, jealous, secondly, thankful they thought of Jude while there). Apparently many a Mongolian babe toddles around in these. I think they are made of wool and leather and are handmade by someone. Nice.

Here's a pic of J & J before church a few Sundays ago. Bambino is wearing a fantastic pair of hand-knit booties that were made by Jono's cousin Rachel. (Please note: he is also wearing a sweater.) My favorite part are the teeny wooden buttons. Rachel quick stitched them out during the few days we spent at their place in Seattle. Skillz.

I know most mama blogs tend to showcase the mama's own crafty abilities. Maybe you noticed that mine does not follow this trend. Someday I'll hone my fine motor skills and learn to sew and knit something other than a scarf that requires the same stitch over and over. Meanwhile I'll continue on that rust-orange scarf I started, like, two years ago.

Have yourself a cliche little Christmas

My blog is in a bit of a famine period right now. I know this. And I'm sorry. But you all know why. I'll take every opportunity to post a little something that might make you giggle. It might make you frown. But either way, it's something you may be able to mull over and ponder throughout your day.

On that note, I recently wrote to my far-flung brothers about what to do about Christmas gifts this year, considering we're all broke. I got almost immediate responses from all three of them.

What I suggested was that it would be a good idea to draw names, and to save even more money, Mom and I thought we might also toss around doing homemade gifts: anything from knitted potholders (see photo: tackiest one I could find) to homegrown canned tomato sauce to a little ditty about your person accompanied by a glockenspiel.

Anyway, since no one in my family (other than Mom) takes any suggestion from anyone seriously, the responses are worth sharing.

Geertsma Family Christmas: Gift Ideas for 2009

1. "that sounds great to me. I already bought personalized m&m's for all of you that say, "live, laugh, love" on them but i guess i can make something too." (Grant)
2. "i've already made embroidered christmas sweaters for everyone so i'm way ahead of the game. love, Tyler"
3. "I'm fine with this. As long as each one of you gets my name... twice. But in all seriousness yes, I'm ok with this. I'm not much of a susie homemaker so I probably won't be making anything myself, but I'm OK with somebody making something for me. As long as it looks and acts like a new car. Brett"

Happy Fall everyone!

Easy answer.

From The Economist Black campaign, developed at Abbot Mead Vickers BBDO, London. More here.

Raw milk? Yes please.

As of two weeks ago, we own 2% of one-quarter of a cow (or something like that) on this farm. That means we get some of her milk. I don't know what her name is, but I know she has one. Apparently the farmer couple name all of their girls.

Our brother and sister-in-law Joel and Jessie offered us part of their share and we thought, why not. We get a half-gallon of raw, whole milk from our part-of-a-cow each week. Jessie and I take turns going out there to pick it up and sometimes we go together. We bring giant mason jars and get the milk right out of the tank in the parlor. (I now realize how convenient the milk man must have been. Oh those lucky people living in the 50's.)

It is definitely more "milky" than what I've gotten used to. I've had raw milk before -- we used to drink it right out of the tank at my aunts and uncles' dairy farms -- but we never had it regularly and for the past few years I've been drinking skim along with the rest of urban society.

At first I thought I might have to start working out a lot (which I should be doing anyway). But it is so filling that I actually end up eating maybe half of the cereal that I used to, and for once I don't feel like my stomach is starting to digest itself by mid-morning. It even comes with the cream on top like in the olden days, which I skim off for my coffee. Plus I feel good about the extra vitamins and what-not we're getting out of it.

So, anyway...we're trying to support our local farmers a little better, especially the ones that are nice to their cows and chickens by letting them walk around in fields pecking at things and chewing some good, grassy cud. I get eggs from my co-worker Steve who has a coop behind his house. If we'd lived in Honduras longer I totally would've gotten my own little flock of cluckers. Everyone did it there. My side of the family is super farmy, so I have to represent.

So, I'm curious. Would you drink this stuff? It used to be that people didn't want milk without the cream on top, but I think things have changed :)

Chatty Cathy

Looks like it's two-for-one today. I just have so much fodder lately, I can't even tell you :)

For the past few weeks Jude is thrilled pretty much out of his mind by strings hanging from window shades. He cackles with delight and almost falls out of our arms reaching whenever he sees one. His favorite place to be in the world right now is on the couch where there are three shade strings hanging. He once got one in each hand and was so maxed out on glee he almost passed out from the excitement.

He just started doing "bye-bye" so we obsess over that for awhile in the video. He wouldn't do it for the camera though and preferred to chatter. Good enough for me.

Jono is talking about pee and doesn't realize the video is on:

Now I think a nice long dry spell is in order ;)

Jumping

It took Jude awhile to get how this thing works, but at about 9 months he stopped fussing about it and started LOVING IT. We always have music on in the background while he's in there so he can "dance". (He is busting moves left and right these days, I'm serious.)

Notice the BFF action? Yeah. Except his new thing is to slap her in the face. We are starting to teach the concept of "gentle" but it hasn't set in yet ;)

Labor Day Hike

Every year the Klooster family goes on a long walk down a stretch of Lake Michigan beach. It's called the Labor Day Hike. We walk out to the pier and back, it takes maybe an hour each way, and it is lovely. (Yes, that is Jude's chubby, sandy foot.)

The Hike started hundreds of years ago (or maybe 40) with Jono's grandma Leona and her sister Elsie. They are both feisty and smart, and were found bickering over who had the cutest great grandchild. They have one each now: Jude, 9 months, and Elijah, 2 months. (Apparently when Jude exited the car following a lengthy debate between the two of them, Leona said, "Now Elsie, isn't that the cutest child you've ever seen?" Elsie replied simply, "No.")

Anyway, the tradition spread to extended family and now the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren come along too. We always have a potluck afterward and know about half of the people there on any given year. But it's fun to see strangers that are somehow related to us, and to catch up with the people we do know.

Here are some pics. This is probably the first time Jude actually dipped his toes into Lake Michigan. He had "discovered" sand before, but back then the water was too cold.

Can anyone guess what Jude wants in that second shot?
He is a subtle child ;)

We Actually Finished Something

Before:

After:

(one year later)

We painted over the old grey/dark forest green color scheme and got rid of the junky screens enclosing the porch. Then we stuck a baby and daddy on the front steps and a husky in the yard. Wa-lah! (Click to enlarge)

Thanks paint crew:

A Few Gems

Here are some nice shots of Fat Man for you. The room wasn't well-lit so technically they're not stellar. My subject on the other hand...

Working Girl

It's official. As of September 1, I was back to being a working girl.

This is nothing new. I've been working since I was 13. But I've had a golden nine months "off" now (all stay-at-home and work-at-home moms are laughing with me now), and it's time I started getting paid.

The first couple of mornings were the hardest. I didn't know when it would hit me, but suddenly it did as I gave Jude to Jono and turned around to grab my bag of work stuff. Hot tears. When Jono saw my face, he got them too. As I went out the door I waved. Jude stared at me with his mouth in typical Cheerio mode. His chubby arm stayed by his side.

By the time I sat down at my desk things were okay. How I felt about things this week changed by the hour.

When I got up those first couple of mornings to bacon and eggs on the table, I thought "Hmm. This is above and beyond." When I was making good progress on something at work I would think, "Hmm. I can see how some women can't do the stay-at-home thing." When I would get home and Jono would be making some exotic Indian dish for me, I would think, "Hmm. Not bad." When he cleaned up afterward, baked some blueberry muffins, made a batch of cookies, and packed me a mid-morning snack for the next day I thought, "Hmm. This is crazy. My husband is Susie Homemaker. And I LOVE it."

Then night would come, darkness would fall and I would start to get a little anxious. I worried Jude wouldn't reach for me any more. I worried my relationship with him will change; that I'd start feeling differently about him somehow, and that it wouldn't be as good. I worried about becoming the "secondary parent". I worried I'd lose confidence in parenting him because I don't see him all day.

This morning I woke up and it was low-drama Friday. I smooched Jude's cheek goodbye and left the house cool as a cucumber. After work I pulled into the driveway and he was in the front yard playing with my mom. I turned off the ignition as fast as I could, hopped out and peeked at him over the roof rack. He gave me the Cheerio mouth again and the bright little eyes starting to recognize and anticipate. We smiled big smiles at each other.

I scuttled around the back of the car, threw my bag and travel mug onto the sidewalk and ran for him -- he was doing the quick, excited breathing he does now when he sees me -- I scooped him up and it was like that moment in the movies when two people are embracing after running across a golden wheat field in slow motion. Except that one of us is a full-sized adult female and the other one is a short, chunky infant who can't walk.

Within seconds of our reunion, he started whining. To nurse of course. I am his personal milk-cow. But it's a sound I like to hear. Bubba still loves his mama.

So that's that. I'll be back to laughing hard when I watch The Office. As everyone knows, that show was made for people who work in one.