10 Months Old!

Auntie came to visit!

Merry Christmas!

Auntie Caitlin's Christmas Moose Suit

Dear Auntie Caitlin,

Thank you very much for my Christmas moose suit. I really like it a lot, especially the tuque! It fits my head just right, and I like having jammies that are long enough for my legs. My dad has a hard time picking out clothes that fit me properly because he gets hung up on the labels that say "6-9 months." He's just surprised by how big a boy I am at 8 months old.

Thank you for the moose suit, auntie. Hope I get to drool on you soon.

Love,
Tate

Snowy Morning

20 Weeks :: One Year Later

Monica and I went to Sierra Women's Health a year ago today...excited, nervous, filled with anticipation about what we would learn about the little person we now know as Tate Bradley Robertson. He sleeps as I write this, dressed in yellow fleece pajamas, his favorite blanket wrapped around him, another covering him for some extra warmth. He may quite literally have his two front teeth for Christmas, plus as many as about four others. A year ago his ultrasound showed us this little person who appeared to be running in the womb. He continued kicking his legs throughout the pregnancy, pushing on Monica's diaphragm until she fainted at Silver Peak one night. Now I hold him in my arm--he's getting too big for just my hands--and he kicks his little feet together in the very same way we saw him moving his much smaller legs and feet in the ultrasound one year ago. Same nose too.

Sounds @ 7 Months are Funny

Tate is now just over seven months old. Can you believe that!? I hardly can. He weighs in excess of 22 pounds, and he's somewhere in the neighborhood of 27 inches long. He has his first "toof," an incisor in his bottom gum, and several others appear to be pushing into place--the primary proof of this are the dark rings under my eyes and Monica's. He's learning how to use his new equipment without hurting Monica while he's nursing, which he seems to have mastered in a few days' time. He's endlessly entertained by dancing--mine, Monica's, ours, Dancing with the Stars--and he loves funny sounds: clicks, raspberries, motorboats, as you can see in this little clip of him from Saturday night...this after he successfully smeared peaches all over his clothing and face, and even managed to swallow some.

Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving 2007 was hosted by Rebecca and Davida and Karin in Los Alamos, California. What fun we had, enjoying the food and wine of the weekend. Great squash soup, turkey dinner for 16, boardwalks across Oso Flaco Lake, and wine tasting at Roblar outside of Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County. We had a great time, no question. Mom, however, had to go to Ohio Friday morning to be with Grandma Ireland--she had successful quadruple bypass surgery Friday. It's of course very worrisome, but so far, it sounds as if the result is positive.
The photos here were taken at Rebecca and Davida's house, and out at Oso Flaco Lake near the Oceano Dunes. Enjoy!

Family in Tacoma + Adventures in Solid Food

So last week, we took Tate to Tacoma, Washington, to the Western Literature Association Conference being held there. I gave a paper about the Japanese immigrant artist Chiura Obata, and dad came to give a paper on the photographer Robert Adams and the poet William Stafford. That made the WLA a family affair, and three generations of Robertson boys were in attendance, along with mom, Caitlin, John, and Monica.
Our hotel room must have had drugs in the sheets, because we slept hard after a couple of hard weeks. Tate found the bed a good practice ground for his first efforts at practicing crawling!


Grandma and Grandpa R. and Aunty Caitlin babysat Tate on Thursday night so that we could go out for dinner on our fourth anniversary--we had a great night out at a cool restaurant called Stanley & Seaforts.

Aunty Caitlin brought Tate a fun outfit (thanks, Aunty!).


We all tooled around in the rental minivan, a.k.a. land yacht. G and G R. rode in the back seats, mostly, to fawn over the grandbaby.



Since we got back, we've been enjoying watching Tate practice crawling. He' s able to do army crawls today, reaching forward for a toy, and dragging along his legs behind him--what fun! He's also had his first bites of food other than mother's milk, children's orajel, and tylenol tonight: rice cereal apparently has a traumatic taste, as these photos indicate...this from a boy who sucks on his own toes for recreation.

Four Smiles + A Frown

My joy comes wuth big smiles...

and the occasional frown...

and lots of giggles! Off to Tacoma next week for WLA, and visits with Grandma & Grandpa & Aunty Caitlin!