Gunk Haus

And no, I'm not (completely) inferring that our house has been taken over by gunk. But now that I think of it that might just be a nice transition to an update on our transition...

First and most importantly, Gunk Haus is actually a new'ish restaurant in the Hudson Valley that quickly became one we frequent, frequently. The owners spent years completely remodeling their building into it's current state as a brew house/German beer pub and blogged throughout the process. It's fun to follow along with other's journeys. They serve nearly every dish on a homemade pretzel bun. Seriously. And then you get to finish your meal with these little homemade pretzels stuffed with chocolate. And top it all off with great drink and one killer view of the Shawangunk Ridge (hence the name "Gunk" Haus as the Shawangunks are often just referred to as the Gunks). Let's just say we're big fans. And yes, when we ask Ash what he'd like for dinner he tends to reply most often with a name of a restaurant (or his favorite dish at the restaurant), so when he starts blabbing about chocolate and pretzels we know exactly where he's talking about.

And then there's the matter of our own gunk house...

Gone are the days of Leni's 5-6 hour block of sleep at night, she apparently prefers the 3 hour pattern instead. But, hello to the days when she sleeps mostly in her crib in her own room. This is a very good thing. I'll happily move to the glider in her room twice a night to nurse and/or bottle if it means having our own bedroom back to being ours. We didn't go the co-sleep route with Ashton either, though occasionally he'd join us, and still does, when he wakes up way too early or just can't sleep for some reason. I still wonder if that was the right way to handle it when he came home, if he might have attached quicker had we co-slept, but things seem to have taken an OK track with the way we did handle it so I try not to dwell on other possibilities too much. With Leni we don't have the 13 months of separation and loss contributing to the process that we had with Ash so the whole idea of attachment is a much lighter topic this go-round. I barely questioned whether it was time to move her to her crib or not, she just seemed ready. That said, I'm slightly more stressed by her basic health needs than I ever was with Ash. He was 13 months old and much less breakable. His health needs had obvious treatment plans, he could eat anything. A little different with a newborn. Anyhow, different kids and different situations = very different stressors.

Thankfully they seem to dig each other quite a lot. She's most expressive when he's in the room, and he is absolutely thrilled by any conversation that involves the gunk that seems to be constantly flowing out of his baby sister. I'm hoping it's just his age that's prompting a fascination with all things bodily fluid. Want to make Ash grin from ear to ear? Just tell him his little sis has a poopy diaper. Done.