In Aaron's Arms

Monkey Man

Random Pic to Make You Laugh

This is Rosco. He is a squirrel my childhood friend Kristy rescued. Kristy is the only person I know who would even attempt this kind of project much less having him relaxing on a wash cloth looking like a labrador retriever. She says he's not always like this. Evidently he likes to use his sharp claws but isn't he cute? He likes to eat grapes on her boyfriend's neck and crawl up your leg which I am sure feels great. Wonder if JoJo and Fitzi would like one...

Gus to Go

Here we are practicing in the nifty tummy carrier Katy got us. We love it, especially now that Gus has gotten so heavy. Problem is, he prefers to be held. So we are practicing little by little so that we can wear him around the botanical garden or farmer's market instead of lugging out the stroller for everything. He'll come around.

Loved

Fall Flowers

October is a fantastic month for roses. Aaron has some gorgeous varieties at the college that I have been snipping for arrangements. This was a wonderful group of hydrangea, peach rose (Mother of Pearl) and the cutest little red carpet rose.

Cutie Pie

So Sweet!

New Trick

We finally have a trick to show off! Until now Gus' most impressive talent has been cuteness but lately he is on a roll - cooing and grinning, etc. Enough to make a new parent puff up with pride. This weekend when Mimi and Poppy were here he discovered his mouth. Previously used just for pacifiers, he can now cram his little chubby fist right into it and it must taste delicious because he can do it for a very long time and be completely entertained by it. He will start at his nose and smear it down until he reaches his open mouth, and push it in and suck and smack on it. It is very impressive to see how much focus he gives it. I'll hold off on calling Harvard for now but it is an impressive new trick for sure!

Pumpkin Patch

Mimi and Poppy came to visit for the weekend. They could not believe how big Gus had gotten. Here is Poppy lugging Gus around at the Farmer's Market.

Serious Gus and his apple cheeks

It was a gorgeous weekend to look at the pumpkins and watch movies outside on the patio.

Sweet Smiles

Quality Time

HAPPY FALL!!

FUN

Here is Gus on his first day of "school". Silly as it sounds I put him in this onesie (with matching monkey socks!) in order to convey to his caregivers that he was a fun-loving baby, maybe giving him that hold-me-more-than-the-other-kids look. But it looks like our child was adding his own ironic take on the ensemble by combining it with this serious expression. Hopefully he won't have the reputation as "that intense infant".

My Boys

Road to Roses

A last roadtrip before returning from maternity leave. With summers end near the time was ripe to visit rare rose nurseries in South Carolina and bring back a load of beauties for Meredith and our home garden.

Here are some beauties we admired:

(not identified but pretty pink hybrid musk)

My favorite of the day: Lisboa de 1947. Perfect red rose.

A perfect pink (Rosa 'Desgaches') with cute crabby spider

Admiring roses is harder on Aaron than one would think. His mind works overtime deciding which ones to get, how to use them, etc. I just walk around saying "pretty!" or "I need that!" or "Can I have it, please?" like a little kid.