Reality Check

As much as we'd like to think all our friends and family stop by Almost Obi-wan to check on Kathleen and I, we're hip to the reality of the situation. People stop by this blog to see Gareth. And see him you will. I've pulled together a handful of pictures taken over the last couple weeks.

Check out the young rocker!


Whoever thought of the AB/CD t-shirt is a genius.

Here's a shot when we're on one of our outdoor adventures. Unfortunately, I don't remember which adventure. Thirty-seven and my mind is already slipping.


Believe it or not, Gareth is typically smiling seconds before we snap these pictures. When the anti-red eye light illuminates, he always gives us a quizzical look.


I'd like to think the light induces some Pavlovian response to drool, but he's pretty much drooling every second he's awake. Everything we own has been christened by Gareth drool.

Right down the chin and onto his shirt. Yuck.

On the Road Again

We've been trying to take advantage of the nice weather before the Midwest winter keeps us huddling indoors. Gareth, Kathleen, and I go for some kind of walk almost every single day. A few weeks back, we discovered a nice hike less than 10 miles from our front door. Gareth, as usual, rode in style.


We trudged deep into the Iowa wilderness.

Weaving through the elm trees and poison ivy, we finally made our way to the endpoint of our journey: a spring! Having lived in a semi-arid, borderline desert for years, we're still amazed by water bubbling out of the ground.

Not so amazed, however, that we'd forget to attempt our traditional family self-portrait. Our first attempt produced the usual result--not quite there.

Taking a deep breath, we tried again . . . and nailed it!

Timber!

Remember when I mentioned Gareth was starting to sit up with a little help? Well, I should note that as often as he sits up, he also tips over. Oh, it's not a big dramatic fall or anything but he's getting exceedingly good at the face plant in the sofa.

The fall always begins with a malfunction of the infant gyroscope mechanism.

A mayday call to the mothership or fathership--note the desperate "I need help!" look in his eyes--always comes just a moment too late.

With no viable way to stop his descent, Gareth stops his momentum by burying his face into a cushion.

Little Bundle of Boy

The feel of Fall is finally in the air. The upper 80s of early Autumn have departed and brisk 40s have arrived. brrrr. Unfortunately, it's going to get a whole lot cooler come January . . . about 40-50 degrees cooler. Yikes! Forunately, the Sweet family stocked up on frigid weather apparel. Rather than wait until the onset of arctic conditions, we decided to test out our gear during recent outdoor events. Preliminary results indicate a complete success in the Avoid-Freezing-Your-Infant category.

Gareth faced a chilly breeze as he made his way to meet playmates.

His fleece jumpsuit allowed him to sleep through a cool Homecoming parade. By cool I mean temperature, not the parade. The parade was lame, even by small midwest town standards.

His Gnomish hat kept his huge noggin warm as we braved the crisp autumn air and rendezvoused with Grandma and Grandpa Burns for dinner.


Finally, he risked shivery conditions and ventured into the hallowed lands of the Effigy National Monument.

Bookworm

I once heard my father say that babies aren't all that exciting; there's some truth in that statement. Until recently, parenting Gareth has been nothing more than meeting his needs. Feed. Change Diaper. Rock to sleep. Repeat. Yeah, it's cool watching him grow but it's not all that engaging. Let's face it, infants are little more than needy blobs of flesh.

Recently, however, Gareth has started to interact with his surroundings. He's learning to use his hands--he tries to hold his own bottle, he reaches out and grabs our shirt/hair/piercings when we pick him up, and maneuvers anything he can snag, like a burp cloth, to his mouth. Baby drool covers almost everything we own. Despite the grossness of all the drool, Gareth's newfound interest in his surroundings means playtime is upon us! When we talk to him, he reacts. He looks in our direction, smiles, and makes any number of indecipherable noises. He's just starting to laugh and giggle. I swear, most of his laughs and giggles come at his dad's expense. From his reactions, Gareth thinks I'm pretty damn goofy.

Of all the new things he's learning, his discovery of books has to be the most satisfying. When we read to him, Gareth stares wide-eye at the pictures and listens intently. From time to time, he reaches out and tries to touch the book. He really likes the crinkle notebook he received recently. He grabs the entire book and smashes it into his face.


His favorite book of the moment is Batty Bat (how goth is that?).


Did I mention he's able to sit up for short periods of time? Yeah, we have to prop him up with a pillow or place him in the corner of the chair, but he keeps himself from tipping over . . . most of the time.