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"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014"

Jimmy: Tasty, tasty snow...

We woke up to snow on Saturday morning. Not just on the ground but still falling from the sky. So, we went out in it, more tomorrow, but let's just say we had fun and enjoyed the lack of bitterly cold north wind. While Michael and I both took photos, this is one of his.

Bicycle! Bicycle!

On the weekend after my parents returned to Australia, we were walking home from somewhere with James, enjoying the warmer weather after a chilly few days, when we stumbled on a yard sale. The guy selling the stuff was reducing what he and his soon-to-be-wife had, because they didn't need two of this or four of that and hadn't used some things in a long time. We picked up an interchangeable waffle/sandwich press, because we've wanted a waffle iron since we arrived here and the price was pretty good, but the thing that caught Michael's eye next was going to be a game changer...

Bicycle! Bicycle!

It was for sale.

We bought it.

Bicycle! Bicycle!

Jimmy is pretty taken with it and he's almost more excited that the bike is back than that Dadee is home in the afternoons... ah well... he'll get over his fascination soon enough, right? Ok, probably not, given how much Michael and I like bicycles... Runs in the family?

Michael is pretty happy to have a bicycle again, even if it isn't as good as the ones we have in Australia, but it's a bicycle. He recently added a rear rack and collapsible baskets, which is making our weekly shop much more manageable and has almost eliminated the need for any top-up shops.

The bicycle also reduces Michael's commute, meaning he doesn't have to leave home as early in the mornings, and he can come home quicker in the evenings. And he can come home (or near enough) for lunch, as he did on this day that he took these photos of Jimmy with the bicycle.

Bicycle! Bicycle!

And all photos were taken by Michael.

Frank Anneberg Park...

Last week, Jimmy and I went to Frank Anneberg Park with some friends for a play and a walk. It was a little windy but not too cold for the rugged up little ones.

It's a really nice park and the play area is all fenced in and no dogs are allowed, so it's safe for little ones to just run around (although when the children are still as little as Jimmy and his friends, us mummies/mommies were never far from our little ones). In the first photo there are Canadian Geese, on their way south... because winter is coming.

Even with winter coming, there are still trees holding on to their leaves... just a few trees, unless you count the evergreens.

Jimmy tried out the swing, which wasn't quite the right size for him, but he still enjoyed it.

High clouds, jet stream, baseball fields, leaf-less trees, and the fence separating the playground from the rest of the park.

Once the little ones had had their fun (read: were clinging to us, no longer playing, giving every indication that they needed naps), we went for a walk, with the little ones in baby carriers or pram.

With dry leaves on the ground and a chill in the air, we kept up a good pace and ended up with sleeping or sleepy bubs. It was a lovely morning!

Our friends dropped us home and all I could think of was a hot cup of something, even though the day was warming up and absolutely lovely. Jimmy had other ideas. Apparently he was sick of being inside (he was cooped up most of last week due to his cold), so he ate his morning tea outside our apartment and encouraged me to spend more time outside. It was lovely, and when I eventually managed to get him upstairs, Jimmy had a really, really big nap. Here's to hoping for a mild winter, so that I can keep taking Jimmy outside, because he's loving it.

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"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014"

Jimmy: Dressed for the conditions, he sets out to explore the bike racks of Kansas State University.

Independence, exploration, and being outside or just not at home. Jimmy just wants to get out there and explore. I can't blame him: the weather has been mostly nice, at least nice enough to go out for a few hours a day; running is happening; and last week we spent so much time indoors because of his cold. Jimmy's still a little snotty, but he's an energetic, hungry, inquisitive little thing, and it's really hard to keep him indoors - especially when it might be far too cold to even think about heading out in a few weeks.

Jimmy is moving so fast that he's being coming a challenge to photograph, but Michael managed to take this lovely one of Jimmy, and all of the following photos too:

It's definitely autumn, but Saturday mornings are still good for an adventure outside, especially when rugged up in wool, corduroy, and dinosaur gum boots.

No, not going to... sneeze! "Dadee, put that camera away so I can throw the ball to you!"

"Why aren't we moving? We should be heading off on our adventure... Where is everyone?"

The camera was put away, adventures were had, and the bus was taken home. This last photo is similar to this one, oh but Jimmy's grown so much since then!

And seeing Jimmy in this particular jumper makes my heart swell - my Granny knitted it, for one of my cousins or for me, at least 30 years ago, and it is in such good condition that her great-grandchildren are able to wear it too.

Missing/Enjoying: babies...

Naps at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens.

Once upon a time, like all parents, Michael and I had a little baby. A soft, squishy, immobile, completely dependent, clingy but happy baby. He's gone. I'm not sure where he went, I'm not even sure when he went, but he's been replaced by a little boy, a little boy so full of energy, inquisitiveness, humour, mobility, strength, and independence. 

                         

Sometimes I catch glimpses of my baby, usually at night when he cries because he wants boobie but Mum isn't there, but there is so much boy now.

                        

And it makes me wonder at what my friends' babies are like. Because they are about the same age as Jimmy, so they would all be little boys or little girls now, not babies. Just like Jimmy, but different. I'm sad I'm missing that.

                                            

The other day Jimmy and I were at the Discovery Center with a friend and her now 1 year old (!!), and there was a mother with her 3 children: the eldest was 6 months older than Jimmy and even more boy; the twins were about 6 months younger than Jimmy and so much more baby. And they were the same age Jimmy was when Michael and I brought him to Manhattan, KS. Such a baby, but not!

               

Other friends, in Australia, have added to their families over the last 6 months, and I'm sad to be missing that too, but I know I'll get to meet these little people. Only it will be when they are little people, little boys and girls.

 

        

But seeing that change from baby to boy/girl! That! That is magic! And I am enjoying every day with Jimmy and every glimpse of his Australian friends as they grow. If all babies were like Jimmy, I would have 10. That's how much I am enjoying this boy. Yes, I said it. Boy.

Road trip: Part 6 - Goose Island to Manhattan, KS

Duck weed on the backwaters of the Mississippi. (Photo: Michael)

The day before we left Goose Island there was a lot of talk about our last night on the road. To get to my prefered location, 30 minutes outside of Kansas City, we would have to be on the road for 8 hours. That was going to make for a very long day, as we were finding 6 hours on the road long enough, even when the drivers switched every hour. Granny found a location that was only 6 hours away, somewhere where we could camp, just off the highway, and then only have 2 or so hours to drive to Watkins Mill before we headed into Kansas City. We were going to play it by ear, but I think I've already given the game away...

Day 13: Goose Island to Watkins Mill State Park
We had no trouble getting up early, for no other reason than it was just so nice to be up as the mist rolled across the river. Somehow we managed to be all packed up, washed, breakfasted and on the road by about 9 am. We had our route planned, but weren't sure how far we would end up travelling - as I mentioned above, we were not keen on travelling for 8 hours, but if Jimmy was doing ok, and the drivers were doing ok, and we didn't like the 6 or so hour spot, then we would continue to Watkins Mill State Park. The early start meant that we would have time on our side and could relax and enjoy the journey.

About to cross the Mississippi.

Well, that was until we realised that we were down to the last few baby wipes, and the way Jimmy was going, we were going to need to find a shop and buy some more before we reached Manhattan, KS. Of course we made this discovery after passing the Walmart and crossing the Mississippi, and we weren't going to turn around and get some, we would just buy some on the way. That day. Whenever an opportunity presented itself.

Driving along the Mississippi.

We did enjoy travelling up the Mississippi for a bit, before turning west. Cue more rolling hills, closely followed by open plains. And lots of wind turbines! Oh they are magnificent! Did I mention that we passed trucks pulling the big blades while we were travelling north? Well, we did, and once we were on a straight freeway again, we saw more. Plus all the ones on the turbines in the fields around us.

Wind turbines... We just kept driving past them and marveled at them. They are almost majestic. I really, really don't understand why people don't like them. I've even seen the ones in Ravenshoe, up in the Atherton Tablelands, Australia, and heard the gentle hum. The ones here in the USA are probably much bigger, but they just look beautiful. They stretched on and on, as far as our eyes could see in some places. At one point there was a lovely juxtaposition of wind turbines next to a few smoke stacks, and we talked about how certain comments made by a certain Australian politician made no sense. Give me wind turbines any day!

We traveled west to Albert Lea, Minnesota, and turned south, making for Des Moines, Iowa, and then a little... It was a grey old day. Windy too. And cold. None of this helped when we had an emergency nappy change to perform, without the help of a gas station restroom with change table. And only 2 wipes. At least it was a slight over-reaction on part, but still, it wasn't a fun stop. Plus we used the last of the baby wipes. This sort of thing is not in the parenting 101 books - actually, it might be, I just never really read past the first few pages... 

After that nappy related detour, we kept going, and kept our eyes out for somewhere sheltered for lunch. And anywhere that might sell baby wipes. And somewhere sheltered we found! It was one of those "just off the freeway" kinda places with clean toilets, change tables, sheltered picnic tables, and free maps of Iowa. Actually, the building was pretty amazing, but we were in a bit of a rush and didn't stop to take pictures.

On the outskirts of Des Moines there is a Target, just off the freeway. With much excitement on my part, we took the turn off and went in. Ahhhhh baby wipes... And beef jerky for a teething boy, who didn't really like it.

A little further south we stopped at another visitors center, checked phone numbers and locations of things and drove off with a eye on the time. If we needed to stop, our roadside campsite was 45 minutes away, otherwise we would keep going to Watkins Mill State Park. To say we were a little tense is probably not quite right, but I was keen to keep going if Jimmy was ok (or asleep).

Jimmy slept. We reached the 45 minute mark and couldn't see our turn off. Jimmy was still asleep. We kept going. Granny called to see if we'd be ok turning up after 6 pm, and it turned out that we would be fine - they'd take our money in the morning. We made for Watkins Mill State Park.

And we arrived there with a happy-ish Jimmy, and before sunset! The campsite host (a volunteer, who stays long term on the site) came and took our money for a site and wood, and answered whatever questions we had. We may have chosen the wrong type of site for the mats we had, but the RV site was close the showers and toilet block, didn't have too many other campers or RVs around, and our ears were inundated with the humming of cicadas, just like the ones in Manhattan, KS. Plus it was warm and dry, just like Manhattan. Just like home.

Packing up our forest campsite.

We had actually been on the road long enough for me to have forgotten what our home life was like. Perhaps that's what happens when you're a mum and you have little choice but to live in the moment, or perhaps I was enjoying myself so much that everything else sort of slipped away.

We slept well, with bellies full of warm food. The ground was hard, but it was only one night. The cicadas were noisy, but familiar. And it was warm and in the morning the tents were dry, so packing them up was fairly quick and easy.

Mum! Mum! Muuuum! Pick me up... I want a cuddle.

Day 14: Watkins Mill State Park to Manhattan, KS
Jimmy enjoyed playing in the gravel after breakfast while we were packing up or showering. The showers are lovely and the whole toilet/shower/laundry facility is probably fairly new. I highly recommend the Park as a nice place to stay, and it's just outside of Kansas City too.

Practicing the all important skills of taking things out and putting them back.

Although we were heading to Kansas City for cooofffeeeee, we (and when I say 'we' I mean 'I') wanted to look at the Mill. (Ok, so I had actually convinced Michael, Granny, and Pop that the Mill was worth visiting.) And as the Mill museum didn't open until 9:30 am, we had time to enjoy our last camp breakfast and some camp-kettle coffee.

Our last camp-kettle coffee.

It was really nice to relax and not feel rushed. None of us were keen on getting into the car, but the Mill wasn't far, Kansas City was another 30-45 minutes, and then home was all of 2 hours. We were almost home. We were able to relax.

How milky do you take your coffee?

44/52

"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014"

Jimmy: Dadee, there's the Moon! Way up there! It's the Moon! It's no longer in my books! It's up there! The Moon!

Other than the vacuum, Jimmy is obsessed with the Moon. And dogs. In that order. We say "vacuum" and he points to where it is. We read books with pictures of the Moon, either as the main thing or just there, and he points to it, even searches out the pages with the Moon. If we're outside and he sees it, he'll point to it. Every. Five. Seconds. Just to make sure that we know it's there. It's pretty cute.

Jimmy and I were out on the tennis court, enjoying the late afternoon warmth, after a day spent inside (Jimmy was in the early stages of a cold). Michael joined us (he finished work a little early, which was lovely), and got out his camera. This photo is just one of the lovely ones he took that afternoon.