Thankful

Hi all!  Happy Thanksgiving!  This year I am thankful for a growing boy who is silly and smart.  Today he brought me his shoes and said "sheh", I put the shoes on him and he promptly took them off again.  I didn't know he was able to say "shoe", let alone work the velcro.  Over the last few days, he has also been excitedly waving his hand and saying "hi" over and over.  He can wave and say "bye" too, but generally does it after we've already left whoever he was supposed to be saying it to.  He says Daddy too.  And blows raspberries on your belly or leg when you aren't expecting it.

I am thankful to be going back to Alabama for Christmas so Colin can see the grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncle, and cousin.  I am thankful for friends and family.  I am thankful for my students and helpful teachers.  I am thankful for my husband and his love and support, especially when he helps me fix my mistakes without judgement.  Love to all and Happy Holidays!

1 Year Later

 Colin is one year old!  He is very mobile, into everything, and likes walking outside.  I'm surprised at how tough he is.  Although he tumbles into things several times a day, he rarely cries about it.  Colin is eating mostly table food now and he generally eats what we eat.  He walks around with his snack container of cheerios, eating and sharing with Murphy.  He's still a happy kid most of the time, though his eighth tooth has been a painful one to come in.  He babbles alot and can be loud.  New words are "dada" and "ball" but more impressive is his skill in imitating us.  He can wave hello or goodbye and laughs when other people laugh as if he gets the joke!  He often makes a questioning sound as he points to things.  "Boouh?"  I guess he's trying to figure out what everything is.






Work has made me busy.  I have a lot of good students and I like my job, but man I'm I tired of being a "first year teacher" all over again.  There is a good bit of pessimism over the state of educational funding and the impact, particularly in our district, of the lack of funds.  First concerts are just over a month away, so its about time to get the nose to the grindstone for these kids.

 Here- have a sleepy baby picture!

August post

Exploring the storage in mommy's classroom

So, I'm getting a bit behind in blogging.  I meant to post a 10 month old blog for Colin but he's nearly 11 months now!  I have been busy with my new job as orchestra teacher in three elementary schools.  I love my students and it's going be be a great year, but WOW.  I am working my tail off just to stay on top of my lesson plans and paperwork when I'd really do much better if I could get a little ahead and not have to make my copies the morning-of.  Time for a late-mid-summertime break?  Seriously, If I could just have one week in the class without students I would be set!

Colin started daycare this past week and has been a bit fussy but okay.  He is walking occasionally now, but reverts to crawling when he needs to get to point B quickly.  He says "mama" and "duck" (dut).  He eats lots of chunky purees and some finger foods.  He thinks it's fun to blow bubbles in the bathtub or unroll all the toilet paper.  He finds the humor in sticking his pacifier in other people's mouths.  He can throw the ball for the dog...but sometimes throws it backwards.  He has not learned to be gentle yet and yanks hair and slaps faces when he is bored.  He points at things and babbles.  Generally, a very fun time for all of us.

Probably the next post will be when he is a year old.  Wowzers!

Colin-9 months

Yay!  Colin has almost spent more time in the world than he did in the womb!  Lots of changes this month.  He can crawl FAST!   He likes to take dvds off the shelf, play with remote controls, tip over the dog's water bowl, chase the dog about, and play with door stops- bOiiing!  He can also pull up to standing while holding onto furniture or pants legs.  He can cruise around the furniture a little bit and can stand unassisted for 20 or so seconds at a time- no walking yet.

He loves to splash in the bath, and needs lots of baths now that he's crawling all over the place and also eating a little bit of purees.  He likes to use his voice now to express himself.  If you try to take something away from him while he is playing with it he makes a loud sound like a wrong answer buzzer.  He also sings a droning "ahhhhhh" alot.   He will particularly sing if you bounce him up and down or pat his lips because he likes to hear how that sounds.

Although he has been more difficult to get to sleep at a reasonable baby bedtime, he has been getting better at sleeping nearly through the night- normally only one night nursing is necessary.

Some exciting job prospects are on the horizon for me and I have some decisions to make about what is best for me and our family.  I'll be able to say more next week after I know more and have solid job offers on the table.  Either way, I should be teaching SOMEWHERE starting the first week of August.  :)

8 months

Colin is a strong, curious, happy 8 month old!  He can pull up to standing using the ottoman or mommy's leg.  He can move forward (slowly) on the floor using a technique that is more like horizontal rock climbing than it is like crawling.  He drags himself forward using his hands and his toes so he can access fun activities such as tipping over the dog's water bowl, unshelving dvds, or playing with the tv remotes.  He says "dadadada", "zzzzzzzz", 'Thhhhhhh", blows raspberries, and makes high pitched noises that we compare to the "will o' the wisps" from the movie "Brave".  

If not Dada, his first word will be dog.  Last week, he may have even attempted saying dog when Murphy passed him on the floor, but it sounded more like "dahd?".  Colin is quite capable of showing his preference for mommy and daddy above all others.  He is sometimes afraid when strangers approach him and speak to him in loud voices. He makes a new look of outrage and disgust if we try to put him down for a moment.  He never wants to lay on his tummy or sit on the ground, he only wants to stand up, which requires constant parental assistance.  A fun new game is the "sit down" game.  He pulls up to standing, wobbles around from foot to foot, then purposely leans forward and plops down on his bottom.  Then we clap and say "sit down, yay!" He bounces and laughs and repeats the game immediately.  He loves baths and likes to splash and pull the stopper on the bathtub.  He hasn't had a poopy diaper in 5 or 6 weeks because he's a pro at using the potty.
A third tooth is coming in on the top of his mouth, and I'm sure the fourth with follow quickly.  Perhaps the extra row of teeth will mean he shows some interest in eating solids.  As it is, Colin still gets his nutrition from breastmilk, with maybe 2 teaspoons of diluted rice cereal a day which he drinks through a sippy cup.

 In other news, Murphy may be entering his first dog agility show/competition in August.  I'm excited about getting ready for that.  Robert will continue holding services at the campus ministry house through the summer.  We hope to get a second car this summer...one that is dependable, good on gas mileage, with good cargo space, and is a lighter color for staying cooler in the Arizona sunshine.  No travel plans exist for us this summer and no news on the job front for me.  That's all for now!

Giving up on being Superwoman

This year off of teaching has given me loads of free time, right?  What does a stay-at-home mom do with all of that time?!  I must be failing at housewifery if I'm not living in a pristine house, cooking extravagent meals ready at 6pm every day, and exposing my child to all the available learning opportunities.  In case you haven't realized yet, I'm being sarcastic.  Articles on the stressful lives of full-time parents have been popping up on social media a lot lately.  I never expected it to be easy, but I do think I subconsciously stored a lot of the misconceptions about what a stay at home mom should be.  I have done some Martha Stewartish crafts, made some granola-crunchy/green momma changes to our household, and paid more attention to what food goes into our bodies, but these changes are not sustainable for me, especially now that I'm (hopefully) going back to teaching.  So, here it is, my list of things that I will NOT try to do in the next year.  Not because I don't want to, but because I am not superwoman, and I'm trying to be okay with that.

some cacti that were pretty once

I will NOT try to:

• Bake all our own wholegrain sandwich bread.  I did it this year, every two or three weeks.  Healthy?yes.  Yummy?yes.  Worth the time? probably not.
• Avoid fast & easy meals.  I still don't want the chemicals and preservatives, but there's nothing wrong with Dinner a la Microwave every now and then.
• Go Jogging every morning.  Yeah, that was never going to happen anyway.
• Build my own above ground planters and start a vegetable garden.  Nice thoughts, but I live in Phoenix Valley.  Vegetables don't want to grow here and I don't want to convince them. 
• Take on sewing projects.  I can't sew fast or very well.  Maybe I'll make a tablecloth or a window valance once in a while, but that's about it.



I made that meal.

• Obsess about my child's development.  No, he isn't eating.  No, he isn't crawling.  I'm sure he's fine. 

I am not going to try and do those things because I think these things are more important:

• Relaxing with my husband and child
• Doing my (hopefully, soon-to-be, I don't want to jinx it) job to the best of my abilities
• Playing cello
• Playing with the dog
• Sleeping a reasonable amount each night

That's it for now.  I've completed several job applications and the waiting has begun.

I made that valence

Colin is 7 months old and growing up so fast!  He isn't crawling yet or moving himself into a sitting position, but he can pull himself from sitting to standing.  He doesn't generally roll much but rolls over in the crib all the time.  He HATES being on his tummy but every time I go and get him in the middle of the night because he's crying, he's pushed up on his hands and tummy.  He likes to sleep on his side so I guess he falls on his tummy in the night.(?)  Speaking of night, no real improvement in sleeping time.  He wakes up every 3 hours in the night (sometimes less).  He doesn't usually go back to sleep unless he nurses.  I wouldn't mind it if I could just take him into the bed with us and let him sleep there, but he is one of the strange babies that actually doesn't want to cosleep.  It seems he is unable to sleep soundly with the temptation to nurse nearby.  He says dadadada and often sounds like he is speaking the language of the squirrels in The Sword in the Stone.
 

The other new thing is elimination communication, something I'd heard about earlier but never thought I'd be crazy enough to try with Colin. [WARNING:  POOPY TALK]  So, Colin has started eating some purees- not much yet- but I am less comfortable with putting poopy diapers right in the wash.  Since Colin was a month or two old I have been able to tell when he needed to go and I made it a habit to help him poop in his diaper by holding up his knees so he's in a squatting position.  So I thought...why not just do that over the potty.  And it's been working.  For the last three weeks he's been going in the potty and we haven't had to prerinse cloth diapers.  There are people who would say this isn't pure EC since Colin is still in a diaper all the time and I make no attempt to get his pee in the potty as well, but I don't really care what you call it.  I call it less work for me!

Murphy is back in the cone of shame these days.  He keeps licking and chewing his paws until they are raw.  The vet says it's allergies.  He was on prednisone and then orthotricyclene...which seemed to be working for a few weeks, but now the licking is back so I'm looking for something else to try. This week I added fish oil into his diet, but that has made no difference to anything but his breath.  I'm also back to washing his feet every 2 or 3 days with special medicated shampoo.  Next up is revisiting the choice of dog food.  He's on a good quality one but maybe he's become sensitive to poultry or potatoes.  I'm willing to try just about anything to stop the crying out in pain and self-mutilation.  He's doing so well at agility too- very little zooming off and no growling at nearby dogs.  One of the instructors suggested we consider doing a show.  One thing at a time though...

Summer is coming and the pressure is on for me to get an interview for a teaching job.  I actually had to do one recorded interview over a webcam.  It was the strangest interview ever, I got 20 seconds to think about each question and one chance to record each answer in under three minutes and had to watch my awkward self on the screen as I did it.  I'm sure it's convenient for some but I'll take an in-person interview over that any day.  I love being home with Colin but I'll be glad to go back to the predictable schedule of a work day.  I'm the type of person that gets more done under stress, the type who accomplishes less when there is plenty of free time.

Our summer plans are a bit up in the air still.  Robert is going to be the chaplain at a children's camp for part of the summer, and also filling in as a supply priest.  We are talking about a trip to Alabama but that's not for sure.  We are also going to be getting a second car sometime soon.  It's really starting to feel like summer already.

Colin is 6 months old!  Big changes!  He can sit up, unassisted. That is to say, he still wobbles every once and a while but it's a controlled descent and he hasn't faceplanted in a while.  In tummy time, he can hold his whole torso up with his arms straight under him.  He's in no hurry to crawl or roll over during playtime, but never wakes up the same way in the crib.  (e.g. He's currently asleep on his tummy with his legs sticking out of the slats on the front of the crib though Robert put him face up and lengthwise.) He can take a nap easily , usually with a pacifier, without any fuss and often naps for an hour or more at a time.  He is getting vocal with sounds such as "di" "dja" "guh" "huh" and "eeEEEEEEeeee"  .  He thinks it is funny when we make those sounds to him, especially hard consonant sounds, and when we "woof" like a dog.  He likes sitting outside in the grass and looking at trees.  He likes grabbing glasses and jumping up and down in his jumperoo.  He can turn off the light switch when I hold him up to it. Colin spent his first hour in the church nursery this week.  It was the first time we'd left him with anyone and he did pretty well.  Minimal fussing.

I'm looking forward to getting back into teaching.  I've sent off all the paperwork for my AZ teacher certificate and I'm perfecting my resume.  I'm overly excited about the big summer visit to the office supply store and teacher store to stock up on notecards, my favorite gel pens, organizational supplies, and educational decorations.  I'm ready to "lay down the law" with a new set of kiddos and then spend a year showing them how discipline can beget fun and creativity.

But diving back in is a little stressful too.  It recently dawned on me that Arizona schools start back much earlier than Connecticut schools, with some districts' first day for students landing in the third week of July!  I need to get my applications and resumes out there asap, but I'm feeling a bit better about getting hired that I was for previous job searches.  My resume is chock full of experience.  I value myself much higher now and I won't be shy in getting what I want out of a job.  [RANT WARNING] Of course i will do duties above and beyond teaching music (lunch duty, chaperone dances, tutoring, detention duty) but I am NOT OK with teaching a non-music class with no syllabus to an overstuffed classroom of troubled preteens for a whole semester.  I am NOT OK giving up my prep period at the last second to act as substitute science teacher because the district doesn't want to pay for subs.  I'm sure every teacher feels like they are getting the short end of the stick at one point or another, but the weak unions and strong politics of AZ school districts often devalue teachers more than anywhere else I've seen.  It's been in the news around here a lot lately.  It's paradoxical really, it seems that the general public respects teachers and trusts them with their children, but then ties their hands and criticizes them for not being able to constantly improve performance with less resources.  I just want to do my best without living in constant fear that an impulsive dim-wit administrator will make my life hell. [ok, i'm done]
 
Anyway, though the districts in my area are going through some tough times, music is really great out here and parents are generally very involved.
Of course, the other big stress about going back to work is leaving Colin in daycare.  Some districts have discounted daycare for employees, but that doesn't really make me feel better about leaving my son with strangers for 9 or 10 hours a day.  Most of his waking hours will be spent with people who cannot possibly love him like we love him.  :(  They will treat all the kids the same, regardless of the decisions we make about how we want to parent our son.  I guess most moms go through this at some point.  Why can't we just be all places at once and do everything???  So, I'm prioritizing my life and trying to accept that some areas of my life where I've always done above and beyond might just have to be "okay".

Guess who is 5 months old already?!  This month, Colin got his first cold- just a 24 hour thing.  Somehow, I got it worse and was sniffly for days.

Sickies

It's hard to get a good picture of a 2 mm tall tooth

  He also got his first tooth which means I got my first real bite.  Yikes!

Sad teething face

He now has enough core strength to sit with assistance.  He also has the leg strength to stand, but needs help with balance.  Now when he starts to lose his balance from standing, he goes into sit rather than falling like a felled piece of lumber like he did last month.  He can roll over, but is more likely just to roll to his side to get the best view of his furry best friend. Forget toys, watching Murphy play fetch is the most exciting thing ever!

Looking good in black with white paws

Colin uses his feet to rotate counterclockwise on the floor, and can usually be found after sleeping with his legs sticking out of the slats of the crib.  He grabs at everything within reach which makes it difficult to wear him while cooking or have a hot beverage.  He tried his first food: a little bit of mommy's pureed beet soup.  He was mildly interested and kept it down, but didn't really seem impressed.  He has improved in his ability to take a bottle, but still has great separation anxiety when mommy is not around.

Favorite babbles are "goo", "bwuh", and a few things that sound like they may be Arabic.  He says things that sound like "oh boy" and "mmaaa!"

Sitting with all the baby stuff we got in one trip to goodwill

He's still 95th percentile in height and weight at just under 20 lbs.  Robert is gone now on a mission trip to Navajo land with the campus ministry and things are pretty much the same with me.  BYE!

I love how I am the expert on my own baby.  I'm not quite sure that happened.  For example, I can translate his many cries.
The sleepy cry- soft rambling "uhmumbawumba".  Means "I'm sleepy but am not sure how to fall asleep".
The gassy cry- a scratchy sounding back-of-the throat "eeehhhh" sound.  Means "burp me".
The hungry cry- loud, irregular breathing with interspersed "wahh".  Means "feed me"
The complainer- whiney groans with a large variation in pitch.  Means "pick me up" or "pay attention to me".
The wail- All-out screaming/hyperventalating with real tears.  Means, "I'm in pain" or "Why haven't you fed me?" or "I want my mommy!"

Colin is 4 months old now.  He has his pediatrician appointment this week, but I couldn't wait to find out his weight, so I weighed him this morning.  20 pounds!  He has grown so much!  I particularly see it in the circumference of his head. He can hold up his own weight pretty well but is not yet sitting unassisted.  He has only rolled over twice, and I think he's confused about how that happened.  All very normal.  This is a great age.  He is pretty easy to entertain, easy to keep in one spot, but really interacts with the world and has a personality.  He is ticklish and tries to grab whatever you are holding...a sandwich, a hot cup of coffee, a cell phone, whatever.  He has grabbed Murphy a couple of times and I think the dog is learning to keep some distance between his ears and the baby hands. 

Murphy is back in agility and did really well on his first two runs through the course.  I need to improve the speed at which I send him to obstacles and he needs to work on not getting spooked by the teeter (seesaw) obstacle. Super-impressive was Murphy's ability to fly through the weave poles more accurately that he was doing when we left Mesa 3 years ago.  It really makes me think I could possibly enter him in a competition sometime within the next year if we work at it.  It's all just good fun though.

I've been enjoying making yummy desserts such as strawberry ice cream, peanut butter ice cream, oatmeal flaxseed cookies, coffee creme brulee.  Also baking whole wheat bread.  Don't start thinking I'm some kind of  Martha Stewart type.  I just currently prioritize good food on top of a clean house and a number of other things.  Good as in without artificial colors, preservatives, and chemicals- not necessarily healthy.  Unfortunately, not cheap either.  Who woulda thunk, using actual strawberries and cream to make strawberry ice cream ends up being 2-3 times as expensive as the red #40, corn syrupy stuff in the grocery store.  I could go off on farm subsidies and common carcinogens but let's move on, shall we?

I've also been getting out more with groups put together from the website www.meetup.com .  If you haven't heard of it and wish you could easily put together a group of like-minded people, try it out!  I'm not sure how else I would meet other stay at home moms with babies born last year.  Colin and I explored the Desert Botanical gardens, had a picnic in a park, and went to an outdoor performance of Native American singers and dancers, all with moms and babes born last year.  Winter in Phoenix is just the perfect time to do things outdoors.

Hi everybody, welcome to 2014!  So, let's cut to the chase, I know you're here for pictures.  Here are some from the holidays and shortly after.

No, Colin didn't just grow that much...I'm holding my niece.

Colin and Memah

Colin and Great-Grandmother.  He's a pro thumb-sucker now.

Moustachifier...for the new man in your life!

We had fun in Alabama through the holidays but I'm looking forward to having our own Christmas, perhaps next year.  Besides, why should we be travelling AWAY from a fabulous Phoenix winter. High 60s & low 70s... It almost makes me want to learn to golf...

This is the golf course next to our house on a beautiful day.

I recently got involved in Meetup.  For those who don't know, Meetup is a social media site that connects people of similar interests who want to...meet up.  I am a member of a group of moms in the Phoenix Valley who had kids in 2013.  Last week, 30 or so of us met up at the Desert Botanical Gardens to walk around and enjoy the plants and the Chihuly blown glass exhibit.  It was quite a sight to see...a parade of strollers!   I liked how the sculptures mimicked the cacti.  I think there was a similar exhibit once at Bellingrath gardens in Mobile.

Some of these things are 20- 30 feet tall!

Do you remember seeing these in the movie Rango? Haven't seen Rango?  Look it up right now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope to do some more meetups in the near future and get to know some mamas out where I live.

This is not Murphy, but the weaves I made look like this

 I've been working with Murphy to get him used to training around other dogs again.  We'll be signing up for Intermediate level agility classes starting in February.  It will be a success to me if he behaves himself around other dogs and has fun doing the obstacles.  I don't really expect him to get to the level where he could compete, not that he isn't good at it...it just takes a lot of effort on my part to keep him with me on the course.  I built a set of weaves out of pvc to practice with at home, since they are probably the most difficult obstacle.




I will also be trying to get recertified soon so that I can apply for a part-time job teaching strings next school year.  Fingers crossed that it won't be more complicated than it was the first time and that some of my work toward updating the first certificate transfers.

plotting.

sucked his thumb 'till he fell asleep

Colin is almost 3 1/2 months old now.  He is 17 1/2 pounds and mostly torso, which means most of the pants that fit him around the belly are way too long.  I can't bring myself to hem tiny pants, so he's just going to have to wear 9 and 12 month sizes that are too long.  His new skills include sucking his thumb accurately (he can go to sleep that way), sucking on pacifiers, grabbing things with both hands, scootching away from me by arching his back, and laughing.   He seems interested in knocking things out of my hands.  He is ticklish.  He likes sunshine and trees and cuddles.  No, this isn't a love connections ad in the newspaper.

Also, we saw the movie "Frozen".  I had been worried that I wouldn't get to see a movie in the theater for a year or so but Colin was great.  Slept through most of it.   Very singable movie too- we had fun!