Just Another Week in Paradise

Pmc: I don't have time to say anything this week... I think that years from now when I look back on Graduate School, I'll remember that this upcoming week was the one when I really became a crazy grad student, overworked and overwhelmed with the demands. That's all I have to say about that.

Atec: Oh how grateful I am right now that I don't have a full studio of students. I don't have to plan any recitals, and I can just keep our family sane. I really wish Pmc had never gotten sick, because he wouldn't have gotten behind. He has been working so hard, and just cannot seem to catch back up. The worst is that every time he sets aside time to work on his upcoming 20-page paper, he gets slammed with Assistantship stuff. It doesn't help that his teacher has been completely unavailable for two weeks now to answer any questions he has about the paper. I really think it's a waste that half of the work you do in school is figuring out how to please teachers. Ugh!

Anyhow, otherwise we've had a great week. The weather was nice and cpc and I are taking advantage of our beautiful yard and neighborhood while it lasts. Cpc loves actually taking walks now, rather than letting me push him in the stroller. I don't mind one bit, because he's getting too big to push while I'm pregnant. Pmc set him on a scale somewhere last week, and it showed he's 28 pounds.

Cpc's new favorite activity is reading. He has his own shelf of 15-20 board books, which he constantly asks me to read to him. When I sit down with him to read, he'll have me read each book in turn until I've read every one. He goes through this process over and over throughout the day until I tell him I can't handle reading them again. Then, he'll sit and read to himself for 20 minutes at a time. I love seeing him enjoy reading so much.

My favorite lately is that if you ask him what the sign (ASL) is for any word, he is quick to rub his hands together and say "gawa" or "eshe." I guess he figures this is a universal sign for anything he hasn't yet learned. The tricky part is that this is the same way he signs "Jesus." I'm so glad to see him excited about learning, and so confident in his own skills. I love watching him try to figure out new things. He definitely still has the love of learning that he was born with, and since I'm the same way, we get along swimmingly most days!

It was a rough week for sleep, to say the least, so I have shifted back to "new baby" gear and am sleeping when he sleeps. It's nice to take naps during the day, but I do miss the little things I usually get to do during that time. We've been doing everything we can to learn about these night terrors, and what we can do to help. The biggest struggle for us is that he totally has phases with them. He'll go for weeks without any of them, and they'll suddenly resurface. I think pmc's stress level with school has been hard on both cpc and I....and they say that terrors are associated with higher stress levels. The worst part is that even though we've been living here for 3 months, we still haven't gotten an appointment with our new family doctor. So we don't even have a professional to talk about this with. Hopefully we'll get that in soon, but at the same time I kinda think maybe we'll just wait until we're home for Christmas break and take him to our doctor there. We'll see.

I think it might run in the genes for our kids to love to be awake....because Cdc never stops moving all day. I assume he sleeps at night, because I don't wake up from him kicking me.....but it's rare to have a time during the day where he's not doing somersaults and such. We're getting excited to meet this little dude. So here's a sly picture of him, with our favorite homemade pizza this week.

And of course a few pictures of Cpc for good measure. He sure loves the way his dad throws him around these days. I absolutely adore the look he gets in his eye when Dad walks through the door at the end of the day. I am rarely able to beat Cpc to Pmc for a kiss!