I'm back! Again!

Between having a kid that seems to be changing every minute of every day, and being on TOBI right now (an aerosolized medication that adds about 15 min. morning and night to my medical routine... meaning I'm forced to sit still an extra 30 minutes a day) I've been able to do quite a few updates this week!

I just wanted to share some pictures of Drew at Gymboree yesterday. We signed up for 3 months of classes. I'm excited, though a little ticked that apparently it's a level 2 AND level 3 class... which means it's packed, and crazy!!

Anyways, Drew had me shocked at his ability to pull himself up, and hold himself up for quite a while!

Yes, that's a trampoline that he's on.

Who wants to make bets on how long it will be before he's walking??

No bananas!

I gave Drew a few tiny pieces of banana as his first "finger foods" the other day.  While he was not a fan of the experience, I sure enjoyed myself! I just couldn't get over his facial expressions and body language...



He was okay with his peach and banana mix that I made him though (even though he was also not a fan of peach on its own)....



While we're at it, here's a very short video of him "feeding himself" as I mentioned before



The second night we tried bananas, he did a little better, but still had me laughing quite a bit as he managed to spit out the piece we gave him. (I swear he was eating and sort of enjoying the banana before we took the video)



Sigh... Drew doesn't take after me at all.... nope, not one bit! I, of course, was NOT a picky eater- just ask my aunts! They'll tell you I ate everything that was ever set in front of me, without whining or complaining! And food texture, like squishy banana, it didn't bother me in the least! I loved squishy foods, like mushrooms.......... (if you haven't sensed my sarcasm yet, this is your hint: I still hate mushrooms because they're squishy! And I'm not a huge fan of bananas either!)

For Aunt Pat

Tooth #2 arrived yesterday. Or so I believe... it arrived in much the same fashion as #1, with little pomp and circumstance. Jason was so sweet yesterday and brought Drew down to have lunch with me. He mentioned that Drew had been a little fussy all morning, so I took a peek-see and sure enough there was a little tooth that appeared to have just broken through. Perhaps it actually arrived earlier? Drew is pretty sneaky when it comes to teeth....

With all these pearly-whites arriving, I figured it was time to start up some good habits. Grandma Simpson has always made sure we get a toothbrush in our Christmas stocking every year, and Drew was not left out!

He looks like a pro already! Though I guess I'll know he's a "pro" when I have to chase him down every evening to get this done...

The one with no theme

I have had several things floating around in my head that I have wanted to write about, but none of them go together... at all... so today you will be treated to a completely off-the-wall post.

Piece of Randomness #1: Drew, even when in a giggly, playful mood, almost instantly shoves his thumb in his mouth and rests his head on my shoulder when I turn on his lullaby music. I love it!

Piece of Randomness #2: Last week at work I was chatting with a co-worker. Another co-worker interrupted to ask me a quick question. When I turned to answer, I heard co-worker #1 whispering behind my back to another woman. She then whispered "ah... I gotcha!". When I returned to the first conversation, co-worker #1 asked me how old my baby was (our previous conversation had nothing to do with Drew). My suspicion was that she was asking if I was pregnant and was instead told that I had just had a baby. I know most likely I'm just being over-sensitive and self-conscious over my still somewhat flabby tummy. But, in response, I've been buckling down and getting to work once again on these abs.

To my delight, on the other hand, two women yesterday made me feel pretty good about how I look. One gave me a piece of chocolate so she would avoid the temptation of eating it herself. I told her I would certainly enjoy it as I have a very big sweet tooth, to which she responded "you wouldn't know it by looking at you!".  The other woman told me that if I hadn't told her I'd just had a baby, she would have never known. She said I show no signs of having had a baby. I told her how I've just started working on my abs because I was thinking just the opposite, and she insisted that I look great.

While I still think my belly could use some work, it was nice to get a little self-esteem kick when I was needing it most!

*Please note* I do NOT think I need to lose weight. You may remember me commenting that I'm already below my pre-pregnancy weight, which, as a CFer, is actually not a good thing. Instead of weight loss, I'm thinking more along the lines of recovering a little of my pre-pregnancy shape.

Piece of Randomness #3: In my job I test students from all over the world as they register to attend school in my county. I have to give them a simple 15 minute math test, then a more extensive English test to see what, if any, ESOL services (English for Speakers of Other Languages) they need. We have students who come from India, for example, who can speak English very well, and others who come from refugee camps and have had very little schooling at all, let alone any English skills. Yesterday I was supposed to test a refugee from Haiti. He had completed grade 4.... before the earthquake. Now, he can't write. He can't talk. He can hardly walk. He suffered severe brain damage and no one, not even the doctors, knew how much he can actually do. It made me so sad. I wasn't able to really give him the test, but this incident brought to my attention the fact that everything is not all better in Haiti. It won't be for a very long time. Many of us have already forgotten about what happened. I did! I had to look up on Google to find out when the earthquake was (it was just over a year ago, actually, January 12th, 2010). I say all of this to just say, please keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. There is still a lot of healing and recovery in their future.

Piece of Randomness #4: Some of Drew's 6 month photos have been posted! If you're on Facebook, you can check them out here. While you're there, please "like" Doll Eyes Photography because Cassie is fabulous! Thank you once again, Cassie!! (You may remember that Cassie did my maternity photos and Drew's newborn photos too, both of which may be found in my sidebar)

Piece of Slightly Less Randomness #5: This is the only one that's related to anything, because the pictures above reminded me. Drew has a new face he likes to make- an angry face. I think this is another "Bad Awnt Laura" trait because it resembles the "Simpson Scowl" an awful lot! Drew puckers his lips while scrunching his nose, then he "huffs and puffs" loudly. I can't help but laugh every time he does it. I actually think it's a good thing, though, that he's finding ways other than crying to convey his emotions. Check out his "Simpson Scowl" (is he allowed to have a "Simpson" scowl??)

I am not sure where he learned this.... do I make this face?? Or is Bad Awnt Laura really doing her Bad Awnt thing and teaching him little tricks behind my back?

*Another note* Before I had a chance to post this, my sister made this comment on the above photo on Facebook: "Oh my gosh! That is such a Diane face!". Haha, I guess I DO make that face. But for real? I don't feel like I've done it around him....

Wordless Wednesday: You create a title!

Gotta hand it to him...

My dad pointed out yesterday how adept Drew is getting with his hands. It got me thinking about how we really focus on the big achievements babies make- rolling, crawling, walking.... They're all gross motor skills, involving large muscles of the body. But the fine motor skills that are developing are really just as impressive, if not more so. Check out what Drew can do with his hands these days...



(Note: I pointed out yesterday how much Drew loves electronics, I wasn't lying!)

Not only can he use his hands together, but he pass can pass things from one hand to the next, he can twist things, turn them, wiggle them, drop them, pick them up again, and, of course, bring them to his mouth to chew on. In fact, Drew can actually grab a spoon and put the correct end in his mouth (though often getting sweet potatoes or green beans in his eye, in his nose, or on the wall first). That's pretty impressive considering only a few months ago he couldn't even grab something he wanted. And when he finally figured that out, he flailed about holding on with a death grip (until he suddenly and randomly let go, letting the item go sailing through the air).

So here's celebrating even those "tiny" milestones, because they're the ones that will allow him to write, draw, and most importantly, eat without looking like a caveman!

Off into the sunset

This week past two days Drew has:

1. Had a tooth break through (even though I didn't even know he was working on one!)
2. Made his first big forward crawling movements (not just the wiggles and rolls that eventually get him somewhere)
3. Pulled himself up to standing completely on his own (and stayed there for 30 or 40 seconds before flipping forwards over his piano causing a few tears)

I'm afraid he's going to be riding a motorcycle by next week and driving off into the sunset!

It's so rewarding to see how much he grows and changes each day, and I look forward to the little boy (and eventually grown man!) that he will become, but with each new skill I'm reminded how short my time with my little baby is.

P.S. I haven't managed to snap a picture of his tooth because a) it's only barely showing above his gums and b) anytime I try to pull his lip down to take a pic he just sticks out his tongue and licks me. I also did not capture a picture of him standing on his own yet (actually, that's the reason he flipped over the front of the piano- I was searching for my camera!). I do have a video of him "crawling" though! Yay me! (And yay for you since you get to watch it!)



(Electronics are about the only things that have enough "draw" to actually get him moving....)

Oh, and here's a picture of him sitting at his piano. The picture was, of course, snapped the moment after he fell down after standing.

Wordless Wednesday: Clementine

Jealousy

Before Drew, Rico was the baby of our family. Even though he was our first pet, he is actually the youngest of all three (or so I believe, we don't really know the exact ages of Lucy or Jibs). Rico was just a kitten when we first found him, though he's grown into a VERY large kitty.... an 18 pound kitty in fact! (That's still more than Drew weighs!)

Rico and Drew get along very well, perhaps because Rico's the only one that tolerates Drew pulling his fur.

But it seems Rico's getting a bit jealous of all the attention we lavish on Drew..

First, there was the time he decided he wanted to "model" for monthiversary photos...

Then he took over the car seat

And now the stroller?

And he didn't just sit in it, he rode in it! (Well, until Jason started running full speed that is!)

Maybe we should take him for walks?

*EDIT* I just remembered we have this video of Rico playing under Drew's play mat!



We also have pictures of Rico in one of Drew's bouncy seats, but we can't find them!

There was also the time when I was pregnant and he decided to jump off a table down into the play pen. He couldn't get back out without clawing the mesh sides to shreds, so there I was, very largely pregnant, having to bend down and lift this 18 lb. cat out.

I guess Rico will always be my baby.

Our Winter Wonderland

It's hard to believe we still have snow on the ground here! We are on our fifth snow day now. Funny thing is Monday is a holiday for MLK Day. That means we will have had 10 days off! What would we have done if we'd known we'd have 10 days?

We're getting a little "cabin fever" around here so my mom, Drew, and I ventured out for a little wintry walk. I can't believe there is still this much snow on the ground here! This is pretty much unheard of in Georgia. It's not uncommon for a patch or two in shaded areas to stick around for a few days, but 5 days after the snow fell this is what we look like:

That's not our house but a random neighbors. Can you tell that the snow is covered in ice?

That's really been the issue. It's isn't that we have snow, but that the roads are icy. And even a northerner will tell you ice is dangerous to drive on. We keep getting just enough melting during the day to make the roads worse again at night (and in the morning, when we ought to be leaving for work). We drove out to get some Mexican last night to relieve some of our cabin fever, and there were several patches that were still pretty bad, even in the less than 1 mile of driving on frequently traveled roads. The salting trucks have been focused on keeping the main interstates clear, so the rest of the Atlanta-area is pretty much just stuck waiting for some sun and warmth.

Here is our house. Our front yard gets a little more sun than others, so we have a little melting, but you can tell there is even still some ice in our driveway.

And here are Drew and I, red cheeked after some chilly fresh air. It was so good to get out though!

Pardon the dust

I decided I wanted to "remodel" the blog a bit. Just because I felt like it.

I then began thinking.... the last time I changed my background was right after I found out we were having a baby boy. I initially had a brown/pink/blue background that I changed to green/blue in honor of our coming little dude.

It just so happens that day was apparently exactly a year ago! I decided to search for that blog post, and found it, posted Thursday, January 14th, 2010.

P.S. I'm also in search of a new title for the blog. I changed it to "Andrew has Arrived" right after Drew was born since "Awaiting Floodling" no longer worked, but I had intended that to be temporary until I thought of something better.... 6 months later I have yet to do that! Any suggestions??

Drew at Dali

I am still home because of snow! Woohoo! And, even better, it looks like we won't have to make up these days! Four of them at least (which is what we're at right now). We'll see what happens if it stretches on past that...

So, this past weekend I took Drew to the Dali exhibit at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. I didn't take him because I thought it would be an enriching experience for him (he's 6 months old...) but because I wanted to go, and after a long week of "back to work" I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my baby.

It didn't take very long to realize that taking Drew to the museum was a bad idea.

First, it was the last weekend that the exhibit was here in Atlanta (I know... I'm a procrastinator through and through) so it was packed! Trying to push a stroller through huge crowds was not fun! There was a lot of "excuse me"s and "oops! Sorry! I didn't mean to get your ankle!"s...

Then, Drew apparently decided we were paying way too much attention to the artwork, and not to him, so he thought it would be fun to make his high-pitched squeaking noises. Remember this?



Those lungs have gotten even stronger since then...

As that was likely not the sound track most people wanted to listen to while viewing Dali's works of art, I decided to take him out of the stroller and carry him. And that's when he really started having fun. First, he grabbed a woman's purse. Then he tried to pet anyone's arms and shoulders that were within reach. Then, best of all, I was looking closely at a painting thinking Stacey was next to me only to hear "oh!"... I turned to find a stranger's face right next to mine. Drew had grabbed the cords to her audio tour that was hanging around her neck, and had put them in his mouth!

I think it will be a little while before we try the "cultural experience" thing again...

Wordless Wednesday: Nothin' but net

Snow Day!

Believe it or not, Atlanta is getting more snow! Our area reportedly got 9 inches last night! Looked more like 6 to me, but 6 is a lot more than I've seen *here in a while. We of course had to take Drew out in it. He's seen more snow this winter than I ever expected!

At this point there was actually a hard ice layer on top of the snow

Drew was rather indifferent to the snow, but our animals were not fans...





I was off work today and will be again tomorrow, with the possibility of being off once again on Wednesday as temperatures aren't supposed to warm up enough for anything to melt. And I know you Canadians will probably scoff at the ridiculousness of school being closed 2 or more days just for a few inches of snow, but remember that Atlanta just isn't equipped with proper snow plows and salting trucks in order to make the roads safe. The sun is our best and most reliable way of de-icing the streets (and it looks like we won't be seeing much of that until this weekend! Temps continue to remain below freezing all week!).

I am cherishing every little bit of extra time I get to spend with Drew. I made it through my first week back to work better than I thought I would, but I'm still more than ecstatic that I get to have a few more days at home with him. The job is going well. The staff has been very friendly and welcoming. The job is fun and rewarding. And I'm fairly easily able to take the breaks I need to in order to pump. I'm really enjoying meeting all these children from other countries and getting to spend a few moments getting to know them. The staff I work with is just as international as the kids, which is fun. I have to admit that I find it strange that the fact that I've lived in Canada, Singapore, and Costa Rica is simply met with "oh, that's nice, anywhere else?" ;) The only thing I don't like about the new job (besides the fact that I have to be there :P) is the hours- I work 8 to 4. I'd rather have earlier hours so I could have more evening time with Drew, and it would also help to avoid the horrid I-85 traffic. But, as that's just about my only complaint, I've been sending up a lot of thankful prayers because I think I'm in just about the best place I could be right now.

Stay warm everyone!

It's not easy being green

Drew is venturing into the world of solid foods. We've been feeding him rice cereal since the day after Christmas and he's really been enjoying that. Even during the very first feeding he was grabbing for the spoon and trying to feed himself. And since then, as soon as I set the bowl full of cereal on his high chair tray he starts going "ooo ooo" and reaching for the spoon.

But rice cereal is apparently a bit... for lack of a more delicate word... constipating. We've been having issues in that area so I thought adding some veggies might help. The doc recommended moving from cereal to veggies anyway; she says babies pretty much all love fruits, so we're better off starting him on veggies to try to get him to like them (I honestly can see the logic both ways... since he's not used to different flavors, why not start him with something he WILL like as a way to introduce him to foods that taste different so he'll be more open to the flavor of veggies?)

In any case we opted for green beans. And he... well... you can take a look...

Maybe the bib tastes better...

Green bean goatee?

I still love to smile for the camera!

He was gagging on them! After I added a little breastmilk to thin them out and give them a bit of a familiar taste he did a little better, but overall green beans were not a favorite. I've read many times that it takes 15-21 times of feeding a baby something new before you (or even they) know whether they like it or not. That's good because I made a lot of green beans!

I know, I know... there I am trying to be "supermom" again... or perhaps just trying to be frugal. Either way, I've decided I want to make Drew's baby food at home. It seems so much healthier, cheaper, better for the environment with less packaging, and really it was quite easy- steam up some frozen green beans (did you know that frozen veggies likely have more nutrients than the fresh veggies you buy? They are flash frozen at the peak of freshness where fresh veggies are actually likely a few days old, and with each passing day they lose some of their valuable nutrition), throw them in a blender with some of the steaming liquid, liquefy, pour in ice cube trays and freeze! Now all we have to do is heat up one or two cubes when we're ready to feed him! I have to laugh at my little green ice cubes though...

I think sweet potatoes are next on the menu...

P.S. The third photo down in the green bean line-up is one of my favoritest photos ever!!

11 Things in 2011

I'm already accomplishing things in 2011! Check us out!

I somehow don't look nearly as wet as I was!

That's the finish line way off in the wet distance

Stacey and I ran the Atlanta Track Club's "Resolution Run 10K" yesterday!

I am soooo proud of us for a number of reasons. First, we ran the whole thing! We didn't train as much as we had intended to (holidays got in the way!) so we told ourselves it would be okay if we had to walk, but we didn't! Second, we ran in the pouring rain! It didn't let up for even a minute the entire hour + that we ran. We haven't trained in the rain, so that was a new experience and I'm so proud we didn't let the rain stop us from running. Third, we kept going! There was a 5K and a 10K. The 10K was just 2 loops of the same route so we could have just called it quits after one lap (we were wet, cold, tired....), but we didn't even blink as we ran past the finish line for our second round. (Ok, we did stop and stretch and take our 5 lb. drenched jackets to the car, but we didn't consider stopping). Oh, and did I mention we are both recovering from colds/sinus infections and that we nearly died on our way there??

Having accomplished this got me thinking... Since I had such a nice "10 things I did in 2010" list, and since I'm not currently very excited about 2011 (having to return to work and leave my baby at home), I thought I'd make myself an "11 things to do in 2011" list to help brighten the prospects of what this year may bring. These are not resolutions but more of a "bucket list" of things I'd like to do or accomplish within the year.

1. Run at least one more 10K (maybe a half marathon...?)
2. Go salsa dancing with Stacey
3. Take Drew to the beach
4. Get a new camera and/or take a photography class
5. Go on a weekend trip with just Jason (I'd love to go the Charleston, but anywhere will do)
6. Take a class with Drew
7. Complete my honeymoon scrapbook (maybe a project for summer vacation?)
8. Get a massage
9. Play in the rain with someone (most likely Drew)
10.  Volunteer somewhere
11. Plant more flowers in my garden

Hopefully I'll be able to keep you all updated as I check things off my list!

I had fun making my list! I encourage you to think of a few things you'd like to do this year. They don't have to be big accomplishments, but just things that you know you'll be happy to say you did when you reflect on 2011. Write them down, share them if you want to, and then do it!

P.S. I finally uploaded my photos from the holiday onto Facebook. You can check them out here, even if you're not on Facebook!

Back to the grindstone

2010 was a spectacular year, and now that it has come and gone and I'm staring 2011 in the face, I have to admit I am not all that excited. Because now I have to truly face what I have been dreading for the last 6 months- returning to work. The paperwork has been filled out, the calls have been made, and everything is set for my return on Monday. Yes, THIS coming Monday.

I am NOT ready for this. I am trying so hard to be excited about the prospect of doing something new- my new position will be an ESOL Screener at the International Center. That means I will be testing incoming international students to see if they need English for Speakers of Other Languages classes. I think working at the International Center will not only be fun and different, but I really feel like it's a great fit for my skills and background.

But... as much as I keep telling myself I'm looking forward to this, I really am just dreading it.  Not because I don't want to work, but because I'm not ready to leave my baby. I keep pushing thoughts to the back of my head so that I can keep moving forward and keep getting the stuff done that I need to get done. But as each day passes and I get closer to Monday I have to pause a little longer and longer to remind convince myself that everything will be okay and to stop the tears from welling up in my eyes. And as I get closer and closer to Monday more of those tears are slipping out. I am spending more and more time just sitting and watching Drew and sneaking in snuggles when he'll let me.

I know there are lots of working moms out there. And I remind myself of this frequently. But when I sit down and do the math and realize I will only have 3-4 waking hours with Drew a day, I wonder how other moms do it. Because Drew is the reason I wake up in the morning. His waking smiles brighten my day, and I won't even get to see them anymore except on weekends. And he's changing so much, so fast! Just check out these photos...

First solids... I like rice cereal!

Standing! Sorry it's blurry... Mommy was a little nervous.

If I could choose not to go back to work I would in an instant. But first, and foremost, I'm under contract and if I break my contract I risk having my teaching license suspended or revoked. Second, we get health insurance through my job (and good health insurance at that since I work for the state). And third, we simply can't afford for me to be a stay-at-home mom right now.

Sigh.... it's going to take a lot of strength to get through the first day, then the first week, then the first month and so on until I make it to summer and decide from there what we will do next year. I know Drew will be in good hands, they just won't be mine, and that makes me very, very sad.