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Remembering the Gibsons

These photos were taken during the Gibsons' last two days in Chicago, some were taken by Peter. The one below was on their last day, when Iona and Aedan escorted Emilio through the neighborhood, singing to him when he got restless and generally taking good care of him.



Several times this week, we have cleared the furniture out of the living room to give Emilio a big play space and he has enjoyed scrambling across the floorboards towards its forbidden borders (the stereo, the bookshelf, etc.). He has also enjoyed perfecting his Tarzan call and is starting to get a little picky with his food. He loves to feed himself and Morning O's are a big self-service favorite; broccoli puré not so much. I think I managed to get all of the green vegetable out of his hair, ears and stomach yesterday, but Mari says she found some in his nostrils this morning. Our biggest adventure of the week probably came on Tuesday, when all the electricity in the building (and the block, I assume) went out suddenly at about 2 p.m. When Mari got home from her Rochelle Lee conference at about 8:45 p.m. that night, it was still out. In the mean time, Emilio and I had cooled off by taking a shower together. When Mari got home, she suggested that we light a candle while we could still find the matches (it was dusk at that point), and the second she lit the flame all of the electricity in the house came back on.

Scottish Kisses

Emilio tends to be shy around unfamiliar faces and wary of abrupt noises--including, at times, friendly laughter, and such has been the case this past week when he has been getting to know our Scottish friends Peter, Mhairi, Iona, and Aedan Gibson. Gradually, though, these particular Scottish faces have gone from unfamiliar to favorites and Emilio has laughed and played with all (and offered some the occasional Scottish kiss). Aedan has become the official translator of Emilio-speak. Iona has become Emilio's official portrait painter. Mhairi has become a favorite alternative cradle. And on the Metra train ride back from Ravinia on Monday night, a ticket-snatching Peter claimed favored status as a giggle-box tickler (see photo).

Easy Rider

On Monday, we received a UPS package from Texas that included a gift that Mom and Dad sent Than Lewis, our young friend and neighbor (who is celebrating his one-month birthday today!). So after carting some boxes to the storage space we have rented halfway between our house and the Lewis's, we dropped in on Than and his mom Julie (Jack was at rehearsal) for what turned out to be an exchange of gifts, as Than's grandparents had also left Emilio a gift. All the gifts were a hit, but the highlight of the visit for Emilio came when Julie offered him a chance to test-drive the Jumperoo that Than's Aunt Mary Beth and her family had given the youngest Lewis. Well, suffice it to say, Emilio had a blast and Mari and I promptly decided that we're going to have to get one for our house. The Els also have the air-conditioning going, and that's something else we need to get over here. I keep waiting for the AC elves to show up, but they haven't done so yet . . .

Because It Was There

One day this past week, while I was working on the bed beside Emilio's crib, the little fella finally managed to get his center of gravity over the rail which we had to that point kept lowered for easier access (ours not his). I was playing with him at the time--having sensed that he was getting close to getting over the wall (images of the Superstars obstacle course come to mind)--so there was never any danger (the crib was flush against the bed anyway), but we now keep both rails in the raised position. In the photo at left, Emilio doesn't seem too happy about the bar-raising, but you know what they say about keeping a good man down. Not long after we raised that bar, Emilio managed to stand up on his own for the first time (that we know of) using two sides of the crib for balancers, as readers of Mari's blog already know. What was a rare occurence just a few days ago is a habitual one now and I fear that the crib is no longer going to be a place of repose for our young Sir Edmund Hillary (who, according to legend, explained that he wanted to climb Everest "because it was there").

By holding on to two sides of his crib and rocking a little bit, Emilio is able to navigate the wheeled crib-vessel across the bedroom floor and if it weren't for the walls that block his eastward trajectory, he might be on Lake Michigan by now. So far we've been able to stop him before he reaches the bookshelf Charybdis, but that particular siren call remains strong.

When Emilio is not scaling the East Face or sailing our wooden-floor seas, he has learned to wash down his sorrows (and celebrate his victories) with a two-handled mug of juice, which he now handles himself like the accomplished sailor that he is. And he has started munching on organic O's (which function as cocktail peanuts, I guess).

After he has had his share of swigs (and even when he hasn't), Emilio has joined me in my initial forays into the land of Karoke, which, I learned this week, is available through our Comcast digital cable package. I know there was some karaoke at the Holiday Inn the night before Brian's wedding, but I never made it to the mike. And there was plenty of karoke in China, but I never knew the tunes. Comcast's options are not as numerous as we might like, but we've enjoyed a little Van Morrison for Mamá ( "Brown-Eyed Girl," "Have I Told You Lately"), a little Steppenwolf for Da Boys ( "Born to Be Wild," "Magic Carpet Ride"), some Mannilow when we're feeling disco ("Copacabana" which gets us moving--see the photo at right), some Don McLean when we're feeling long-winded ("American Pie"), some Bad Company when we're feeling tricky ("Feel Like Makin' Love" starts out sweet, but ends up dirty), and some Petula when we're feeling alone and life is making us lonely ("Downtown").