Mr. & Mrs. Gubbins & Sons

Friday, February 27, 2009

First steps!

Just a quick update to let all our adoring fans (okay, who am I kidding? all of Simon's adoring fans...) know that Simon is walking! He took his first steps this past Tuesday, and several times a day since then :).

Its going to be a busy work weekend, but we'll try to get a video up soon!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Weekend in Red Wing

A few weekends ago we went to Red Wing. Simon and Andy had lots of fun with Grandma & Grandpa, while Jess went to the library and worked on writing her special area paper. Here are a few photos of the good time that was had (by at least two of us):

toddler slam dunk: more of a "put" in than a throw, really, and minus the jumping aspect...

fun toys at Grandma & Grandpa's house

oh, you know, just sitting in the snow here with Elsie...don't mind us

sledding at the farm!



Saturday, February 21, 2009

Regional Assignment!

This past week we learned the first clue regarding where we will be living in the next year...Andy was assigned* to Region 3 of the ELCA! 


ELCA Region 3, our future (and current) home sweet home, consists of Minnesota, North Dakota, & South Dakota--in this map you can see the 9 different synods within region 3

This is only a 'first clue' because, while it does narrow things down quite a bit, we still have no idea whether we will be in a city, town, rural community, etc.--and being assigned to the Western North Dakota Synod would mean quite a different thing for us than being assigned to the St. Paul Synod, for instance.

So we will be even more excited to know about our synod assignment--which we'll find out in early March. Stay tuned.

In other news:
Simon beat Sprocketplug in hand-to-hand combat, and claimed this fine helm as a trophy. We're so proud :). If the vanquished would like to negotiate the return of the hat...have your people call Simon's people.


[*Time out for a brief tutorial for you non-ELCA, not-married-to-a-pastor folk: in the ELCA, pastors are "called" to a congregation. For first call (your first position as an ordained minister), the process is sort of a compromise between a more traditional church model of the higher ups sending the pastor wherever they think they should go/are needed (i.e. pastor has no choice) and a more traditional business model where a potential employee freely interviews for any position with any company anywhere they like (i.e. total choice). For first call, there is essentially a four-step process. Step 1: candidates submit preferences for where they would like to serve; Step 2: taking those preferences into account as much as possible given the actual need for pastors in different locations, the "higher-ups" assign candidates to a region of the ELCA--a geographical area of the country; Step 3: once assigned to a region, the bishops in that region meet and divvy up candidates into the various synods (smaller geographical unit) in that region; Step 4: once assigned to a synod, the candidate for first call can then essentially interview at different congregations within the synod, until a congregation decides they are a good fit and issues a call (= offers the job). Pastors can turn down calls (you never "have" to serve a particular congregation), though that's pretty rare for a first call. Now back to what I was saying...]

Monday, February 16, 2009

A Few of My Favorite Things...

I took this video a week or so ago and love it because it just sums up Simon right now--it includes many of his current favorite things:
  • Taggie (his blanket with tags on it, which he now carries around with him)
  • Binkie (his pacifier, which he was gradually and painlessly using less and less until around 12 months, and since then he's wanted it more and more, along with other comforts like taggie)
  • being naked (or close--if he had it his way, he wouldn't be wearing anything...I think this was in the midst of getting ready for bed, so he's between day clothes and pajamas, which explains why he has socks on with his diaper...)
  • A new favorite: his rocker. He has recently learned to crawl in and out of it by himself, though when he does it himself he goes onto his knees facing backward (not sitting forward as he is in this video)
  • his identify-the-body-part knowledge, including his word for teeth ("thhhh")--he is just so cute when he's pleased with himself!


Thursday, February 12, 2009

Busy Boy

We often say Simon is a very busy boy, meaning he's constantly in motion...but he's also becoming rather busy schedule-wise, too (gee, given his parents, I have no idea how that could have happened...). Now that the semester has started for Andy, we are official into our spring semester routine, which for Simon includes:
  • Time with Mom & Dad. About half of the 'work week' alone with Mom, and half alone with Dad--while the other is at work/school. Most evenings we all get to spend together, though Jess teaches Tuesday night and Andy has an evening class Thursday night.

  • Playtime with Zoe. Every Wednesday afternoon we do a babysitting swap with Jen & Adam, so one week Jen watches Simon and Zoe, and the next week Andy watches them. So far it seems to be working really well, and Simon certainly enjoys having a playmate (you know, as much as babies play 'together' anyway). Here he is, waving goodbye to Zoe after one of their first afternoons together (34 seconds long):


  • Fun at the library. On Wednesday mornings, if they get out the door in time, Jess and Simon have started going to a baby storytime at our sort-of-local library (for children 6-23 months old--our neighborhood library doesn't have baby storytime, so we drive just a little ways to a bigger library that does). It is lots of fun, with singing, reading books, and toys to play with. Usually there are about 10 babies/toddlers there. Afterwards we stick around the library for a while to play in the children's section and check out new board books and cds for the next week. They have a little playhouse with a kitchen, food, and dishes--Simon usually makes a beeline right for it. Once he arrives there, he crawls right into the action, regardless of how many other little kids are already there playing--he just crawls right in, takes the food off their plates, out of the oven for them, etc. (Of course if the other children are upset by this I intervene and return what they were playing with and redirect Simon, but surprisingly that rarely happens--usually the other kids look him over for a minute, then go on playing around him, just replacing things as he takes them, or sometimes even handing things to him.)

  • ECFE on Monday afternoons. Simon and Jess go to an ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) class together. We LOVE it. Granted, I'm a big proponent of ECFE anyways, having done about two-thirds of the parent education certificate program at the U, and learning about it there (ECFE is the main 'market' for parent educators in Minnesota)--but we love it even more now that we're actually participating. We also took a class last semester, and before that when we lived in Northfield. So far we have been able to enroll in age-specific classes (Simon is in a 12-18 month class now)--so the entire classroom is baby and toddler friendly, with all the activities geared right at Simon's developmental level. Being a developmentalist, that's something I appreciate :)

  • Church on Sunday night. We usually go to church Sunday evening at 5:00 pm. This is a little difficult for Simon, as it is right during his usual dinnertime, and he's generally approaching the end of his rope. He's normally in bed by 7:00 pm, so if there is anything after church (and there often is some sort of meal/snack/chatting) we are really pushing it if we try to stay. He often does well if there are enough friendly folks around to entertain him, though--and on nights when Andy and I just need some time to breathe (and actively participate in worship--imagine that!), we have made good use of the nursery, too.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Mother Wonderful

So its been awhile since Mr. Gubbins has actually posted anything on this blog, for which he is (ostensibly) a co-blogger. Since Mrs. Gubbins does such an excellent job of relating our adventures, I'm generally content to let her do the blogging. But last week Simon did one of the cutest things I've ever seen him do (which is saying something)--and it illustrates just how much he loves his Mama. So I thought I should be the one to write about it.

As Mrs. Gubbins mentioned in the previous post, our little boy is going through a lot of separation anxiety right now. While I'm told he expresses a sense of concern when I leave for work, grunting in a serious manner and pointing out the door after me, he reserves his deeper shows of emotion for when his Mama leaves. When we drop Jessica off at work, for example, there will often be tears for a few blocks after we drive away. Some afternoons when Jessica is gone Simon can sometimes be found crawling from room to room saying, "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma..." looking for where Jessica might be hiding (he generally crawls to the bedroom first and looks to see if she's still sleeping). Its awfully cute, and, thankfully, doesn't usually accompany a total meltdown.

The other day, though, he took this separation anxiety to new levels of sweet. We were in the middle of a long day away from Jessica, and Simon had had a couple moments of worry regarding her absence. He was holding it together pretty well though, and we were sitting with a pile of books doing some reading. We have a book version of the lullaby, "Hush little baby..." which Simon handed me to read. I started reading aloud, "Hush little baby, don't say a word. Mama's going to find you a mocking bird. If that mocking bird won't sing, Mama's going to find you a diamond ring... etc., etc."

Well, I was a page or two and several "Mama's going to find you a..." phrases into the book when I looked up and saw Simon rather frantically doing his "all done" sign and looking like he was on the verge of tears. At that moment I realized that, although he had been putting on a very brave face, this lullaby book with all its mentions of "Mama" was simply too much to bear. I put the book back on the shelf right away and chose another one. We continued reading and he was just fine.

This is how much you mean to us, Mama Gubbins! When you're not around we can't even read books about Mamas!

Thank you for all your hard work for us--we appreciate it more than you know.


Love,
Papa and Lil' Gubbins

Friday, February 06, 2009

First Words

Over the past couple of weeks, Simon's first words have emerged!

Its hard to pin down a single 'first word,' but we think these were the first two:
Mama, which sounds something like "muh-muh-muh-muh-muh-muh..."
Dada, which sounds like "da!" or "adaaa" or "da-t!"

They were quickly followed by these two:
Banana, which sounds like "nana" or "nan" or "na"
Teeth, which sounds like "th" or "ith"

In other developments:
  • Our now-13-month-old is definitely in the thick of separation anxiety, which of course I know is developmentally an excellent sign, but at times is heartbreaking nonetheless!
  • Related to this, he has also figured out resourceful ways to self-regulate, by becoming quite attached to his taggie blanket and his pacifier, in addition to his parents.
  • He is learning his body parts, thanks to books, songs, and the entertainment we find in having him gleefully point to something we ask about. He can reliably show you his head, hair, ears, nose, teeth, toes, and slightly less reliably also his hands, feet, eyes, knees, and belly.
  • He loves to play games that make adults laugh--his favorites are "SO BIG!" and also peek-a-boo, which is really entertaining to see because often he can't quite get the covering object (usually taggie, or sometimes a burp cloth or washcloth) to actually cover his face, so you just have to pretend that you can't see him even though the cloth is already behind his head.
  • He is quite steady on his feet and occasionally will let go for a second and stand without holding on to anything--still not in a rush to be walking, which is just fine with us :). His speed-crawling serves him quite well.
  • Turning one year old brought some major responsibility into Simon's life--he now has his first chore. He is responsible for putting napkins around the dinner table (with Mom's help, carrying him from plate to plate). He is quite good at it, and is just thrilled when he's done and is told what a good job he did with helping out! (This developed out of the way our evening usually progresses, where he's usually cranky enough by dinner time that he wants me holding him constantly so he is often riding on my hip as I set the table...we were planning to start chores/jobs early...just not quite this early!)