Swish Pan and Some Gunnie Funnies

In film there is a shot called a swish pan. You have all seen it before. The character or subject of the scene is standing still while everything else spins. It is used to make the audience feel really uncomfortable or to portray how the character perhaps feels about his circumstances. When I see it, my stomach churns. That type of reaction means it is an effective choice in film.

In ten days I will be living a swish pan.

In ten days I will be a mother of two; I am overwhelmed at the responsibility awaiting. My head is shaking in disbelief; the swish is imminent.

I am trying hard to be present and take things as they come. I will find courage and bravery when I need it on the 17th, until then I am going to live in the moment and embrace these last few days as a family of three.

This next week has been deemed Gunnar Week. We are going to be doing all the things he loves the most, something special each day. I hope to post as much as I can of our week and our adventures; we'll see if I can keep up with it all. ;)

To start things off here are a few Gunnar stories I have been meaning to journal.

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Our kid is big. He always has been, not to mention he drinks milk like no one's business. Tonight Jaren was going over all of our receipts and entering them into our online banking system. He handed me 5 and told me to look closely at them. They each had a single purchase on them: 4 were for milk, 1 was for chocolate syrup. We go to the store for those items, alone, often. Gunnar is not even close to being an osteoporosis candidate; he is solid and strong. Needless to say he has grown out of almost everything: clothes, shoes, even his car seat. We found a new seat that fits his weight category and is super easy to transfer from car to car (that is so refreshing). When we got it home Gun wanted to try it out before we "installed" it. Our son is way motion sensitive, not that he gets motion sick, but that the motion puts him to sleep easily, like most kids. We knew this seat was a winner way before we got it in the car, he didn't even need the motion to find a great slumber.

Check out those tats on his legs. When he gets them he doesn't want just one; he wants them all on. ;)

Now, that's a good seat! ;)

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As a super, ultra, great-with-child expectant mother I have been feeling a huge nesting feeling lately. This summer we worked to get our upstairs furnished and completed. IT IS AWESOME! Everyone has their own room complete with furniture and decor. The day our furniture arrived Gunnar was in great form. He is usually a very jovial, talkative little spirit, this day was no exception. While the men carried the bed up to our room Gunnar sat, perched on the mattress supervising the work, "Ok, guys, put the bed right thwere. Ok. That's good. Right thwere." I was in the bathroom tidying up listening to the conversation, trying to keep from cracking up. I told him he had to stay on the bed and out of the way while they were working in the room. It got quiet for a minute and I heard this commotion coming into the room. I popped my head out to see what it was. Gunnar decided he needed to "help" the men assemble the bed; he was lugging his Home Depot box of tools into our room, "Mom, those guys need help. I got mines tools! I CAN HELP!!!" He opened the box and dumped the contents. I reminded him that he needed to stay out of the way. He started feeling so sad that he couldn't help them put the bed together or assemble something like his dad usually does. He perked up quickly though when they came back in and he could tell them where to put the furniture. Once they had everything in the room G decided this would be a great time to tell them the story of the time he got a "peg leg". All I heard from the bathroom was his little voice reciting the story of how when he was little he woke up early on Halloween morning, needed a drink, dad got him, they accidentally fell down the stairs, and Gunnar broke his leg (he says he got a "peg leg"). The delivery guys couldn't get a single word in and Gun barely stopped to take a breath.

When they left one of them said, "He's chatty isn't he?" He gets it from me I guess. ;)

I called Jaren from the bathroom and could hardly tell him what was happening on his voice mail from laughing so hard.

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The beginning of a child's life is tough. You do so much and get too little validation and recognition (not that it is required, but it is always nice to be recognized...)Recently, Gunnar has been saying to both of us, "I wuv you." Out of no where and all of the time, "Mom, I wuv you." Then he'll wait and say it again, and again, and again. I never get annoyed with the repetition of those words. I love you too Gun.

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Gunnar has a huge affinity for his grandparents, all 4 of them. He loves to visit and to be visited by them. My mom is coming to stay with us for a while after the baby comes; we are so lucky to be able to have her with us for as long as she is going to be able to stay. Thanks for the gift Mom; thanks for the sacrifice Dad. Gunnar can hardly wait for Grandma to come. He also has no concept of time and thinks that "a week from now" means "right now". I told him a few days ago that Grandma was coming in a week. His eyes got big and his face brightened, "Wight now?"

"No, in a week. We have 7 days until she gets here?"

"I want Gwandma to come WIGHT NOW!"

I tried to explain but he got more agitated and upset that I told him she wouldn't be here for a while (the cool thing is that she comes the very last day of Gunnar Week!!! What a great way to end the festivities.).

I told him we could call her though and talk to her. He felt that was a good compromise, but the minute Grandma said she wasn't coming he got all upset again, threw a big fit, and then told me he was going to go to her house then if she wasn't going to come to him, "WIGHT NOW!" He marched his little pajama-topped, underwear-ed, shoeless body out to the garage thinking he would drive himself to the airport and hop a plane to Grandma's. (He is determined and stubborn, both traits he gets from his parents. I will leave it to you to decipher which one granted him which trait. ;)) He finally settled down.

I have decided not to mention too much about Grandma until we are headed to the airport to pick her up.

Look at the furrowed brow.

He was adamant she come immediatly; he kept slamming his hands on the floor.

There was a glimmer of hope when she started mentioning all the "treats" she was bringing and all the fun things she had planned for the two of them.

But when he was reminded she wasn't coming, "Wight Now!" He got all sad again.

He even told me he wanted to jump into the phone and land at her house. I told him to try. He looked at the phone, then at me, and said, "I can't." Really?

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I haven't been sleeping well at night. I don't anticipate sleeping well for the next 18 years, but I at least thought I would get more than 3 hours of sleep before the baby came. Anyways, on the mornings when Jaren is home I go to bed thinking Gunnar will come and get him in the morning to get his Chocolate milk and turn a show on. NO, not so. The other morning, after falling asleep at 3:30am, I was awoken at 6:45am with the whole dinosaur collection being dumped on my head. "Mom, pway a me!"

"Gun, go and get Dad! He is home!"

"No! I want you to wake up. It's morning time!"

I dragged my sorry, 9 month pregnant can from the sack, took my little boy by the hand and headed down stairs. When we were going by our room Gunnar said, "Mom, be quiet Dad's sleeping."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I just woke to T-Rex, Long Neck, and Spiny Back shoved in every orifice on my face and you are telling me to be quiet not to wake Dad? Remember how you tell me you love me all the time? Prove it! ;) That little boy...

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Gunnar is "helpful". We actually do all we can to include him in the chores, and the "business" of the house, even though it usually makes more work for us, we hope it is helping him have some type of interest in "work" and the value of it. A few nights ago Jaren was changing the brakes on the car. He could have done the job in 30 minutes, but he opted to tell Gunnar about it and include him, making the work time at least 2 hours. I was in the office getting some photo business done, all I could hear was the clink of tools and Gunnar's little voice resonating off the walls. He didn't stop talking. I don't know what he and his dad were chatting about, but it was apparently riveting and ultra engaging. (Jaren told me later he was acting out his favorite movies, giving Jaren various parts to play.) The two of them came in from the garage complete grease monkeys. Gunnar had it everywhere, so did J. Those are the memories that keep forever. I am glad Jaren is so willing to make them with his son, regardless of the extra time it takes to do things.

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Gunnar- You and your sister are the best things we ever did; you are our greatest accomplishments. We love you!! Here's to my sweet boy, and a week that's all about you!!! xoxo Mom