Snow Emergency

There is a fresh blanket of snow on the ground, saving us from the sight of receding ice patches. While a peek at the grass underneath was a treat, we weren't fooled into thinking that winter could be done with us. After all, March is usually our snowiest month, and we have a baby who was made for winter.



Right before the snow began to fall, a bit of California came to town. By some strange chance, one of my high school classmates was in Minneapolis to screen his Merlot documentary and thanks to the wonders of Facebook we found out about it in time to get tickets. Rudy's movie is entertaining whether or not you went to St. Helena High (though a cameo from my geometry teacher was a personal highlight) and it, along with a visit from Papa and Gigi, managed to give us a healthy California fix.

Adventures in Babysitting

We ran into a Luca-sitting emergency this week. Luckily for him, Auntie Sara, Mattie and Ben Casey came to the rescue and spent Thursday morning keeping him happy, fed and entertained. From the photographs they sent, it is clear that Luca enjoyed himself at Johnson 5 Headquarters. And that he wants to eat Ben's toes.

Luca at 7 Months

There's no other way to put it. At 7 months, Luca is perfect.

He continues to struggle a little with sleep, but his sweetness takes the edge off of our own sleep deprivation. And because he seems to want to stay awake in order to play and learn more, we can't really fault him. Aside from his 2 a.m. cries, he's incredibly easy going about everything from the Minnesota cold to spending time with me at the office.

Developmentally, this month has been about refining his skills - dexterity, sitting, eating. He LOVES eating. He also loves other little ones and had his first playdate on Superbowl Sunday.



He must know I'm talking about him because he's waking up from his nap right now. I'll wrap this one up with some thoughts from T...

A couple fatherly observations of our 7-month-old wondermight:

He has a keen sense for danger.
Evidence: When very tired, even when seemingly asleep in our arms, the little guy senses when the threshold is crossed between our dining room and bedrooms. He knows that his crib is approaching and to alert us all of the terrible inevitable future, his head immediately shoots up, eyes wide open, and he begins to sound the unhappy alarm.

He is developing mad ball skills.
Evidence: Ok, actually he has only three motor skills that I can discern: 1) he can take things from the ground and bring them to his drool-hole, 2) he can bang things together, and 3) my personal favorite, he can drop/fling things. He hasn't quite figured out that he can open his hands and spread his fingers to drop something with which he has tired; instead, he has discovered that if he swings his arms frantically, often the thing(s) crammed between his fingers will go flying and he will have thus dropped the boring whatever(s). What kills us about this skill is that the only trajectory he has figured out for his arm-flailing begins with his hands spread out even with his shoulders and ends with a flapping motion in which he brings his hands crashing down directly into his crotch and then immediately back up again. He repeats this crotch-bashing until his toy(s) finally go flying out of his sticky fingers.
Point guard, Gophers, 2026

Superbowl Sunday

We're ready for Luca's first superbowl. Next year will be even better, when the Vikings will surely be playing for all the marbles. GO PURPLE!