Sunday, October 16, 2011

weathering the storm


In the last few days I've written five papers, read a billion pages of material, researched for a presentation and starting looking for a practicum site (phew) so it's safe to say my mind is mush and my musings are limited. Mo's life has been the same midterm nightmare except he's been going through the recruiting process at LeMoyne which means many interviews at local firms. Of course that's a good thing! But we all know that the interviewing process can be a bit of a grind - putting yourself out there and hoping to be "chosen". I guess it's better than not going for anything at all. He also took the first portion of the CPA exam (with 3 more to go) so it's safe to say we are officially in the thick of it right now. As much as I'm complaining about everything I know that this is choice we made and we can only hope the end result is as grand as our vision. Speaking of things being grand - I'd like to give thanks to all of our family and friends who've helped this semester with our night classes and weekend homework getaways. They weren't lying when they said it takes a village to raise a child... that's for damn sure! Neither of us could be doing this without the help of others so for that we give our gratitude ;)  

Also, here's a little illustration of the next few months. We came up with the bright idea of using google-calendar to get a clearer idea of our assignments, appointments, etc. basically in an effort to create structure in the mist of chaos! October's filled in and it's working pretty well for us. It's a geeky move, however, having a countdown or a check off the list helps keep the wheels spinning and fuels motivation.


Anywyas, on to Elias and the fact that he's officially 10 months old!! Holy crap, it's unbelievable for sure. I know I'll look back on this blog and be really happy that I've chronicled my feelings about motherhood and Elias's growth, which by the way has been off the charts! The laundry situation had gotten so out of control that I finally had to clean out his closet and drawers and stow away all of his "little" things. I can't believe my baby has grown so fast AND that he's such a huge baby that he's actually the size of a toddler! He's bridging between an 18 month - 2T in clothing and he just grew out of his size 4 shoes (which I just found out a size 5 = toddler). I mean, I know he's got tall parents but I was hoping to keep my baby around a little longer! He now has a total of SEVEN teeth! Four on the top and three on the bottom. He's still trying to teethe on things except he's leaving a serious mark - so we're going to have to figure that one out for sure. The other major development has been Elias's language and identification of objects. He's had "uh oh" under his belt for some time now, but we've got "mama" which he says TO ME (amazing), "baba" to Mo, "up" if lift him out of a chair or off the floor, "boom" if he falls on his butt and funny enough if I'm changing a stinky diaper he says "poopoopoo". If you ask him "where's Ringo?" or "where's mama?" he looks in the direction where we are. He's communicating with us already and he's so little. He also knows "dance dance dance" and "Hercules Hercules" both of which he bounces up and down and sways side to side (I'll have to get a video of that up here - hilarious). He's pulling up and trying really hard to walk...but he's not quite there yet and I'm OK with that ;) The one thing he's having a bit of trouble with is using his finger and thumb to pinch small objects like food - instead he'll gather all the little pieces in his palm and squishhhhh and squishhhh them and then wonder why they can't make it into his mouth. Then he gets frustrated because he's hungry. I must admit it's pretty funny to watch but we're working on it! The baby puffs seem to be a good learning tool. 

So, here's my picture show! We had one small window of opportunity for his 10 MONTH photo shoot this week and it didn't turn out that great. The lighting was crappy, I couldn't figure out what settings I changed on my camera and Mr. Hercules was NOT interested in being my model! So here we go:






And then he had enough: talk to the hand mama!


...and then he started moving! I like this one even though in motion.


I tried to pin him down but all we got was this blurry shot! It does show a lot of his teeth though.


According to Elias, the photo shoot was now over and he was going to look out the window...


look at his buttons...


climb off the futon...


consider going "boom" on his butt!


...and that's where it ended :)

As for fun or socialization - I can't say we've had much of it! We've missed out on some really great gatherings with both our friends and family. It's hard having to make the decision that your paper about existential psychology is more important than people you love. Unfortunately, in the world of academia you only get one chance to turn in an assignment. With that being said, it's important the Elias doesn't completely suffer for his parents choices - so here's a little fun we've had.

I'm in charge of my companies picnic and this year we did a fall bonfire, pumpkin carving. 


Elias fell asleep by the bonfire (no worries, not too close)


We've been trying to encourage his interest in music :)


We inherited an Kelty carrier (which is awesome) and have been taking family walks to the park. 





Hi Ringo!


We went to Mo's friends graduation party. 
Elias listened very intently to the speech and clapped "yeah" afterwards 


We're in the process of possibly adopting a kitty! This is Beatrice (I named her). I saw her in the yard about two months ago and she was deathly skinny and had patches of hair. She looked like she had just finished nursing but there were no kitties in sight! My heart went out to her so I started leaving food and water and before I knew it she found a home (we made her one) on our porch. She is there day and night and now that the weather is turning cold we really have to do something about it. I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow to get her checked out and hoping to add her to our home. Ringo does NOT like kitties - so we'll see how that goes. I'm hoping to be able to keep her. Poor girl, got kicked out of the house for getting knocked up! Rude!!


And finally, a random iPhone shot of myself - only because I wanted to prove I exist :)

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