Growin' Up Fast: Goodbye 2010!

Wow - 2010 was probably one of the busiest years of my life thus far. And it was certainly the busiest of Toby's! To think that I began the year by finding out (on January 19, 2010) that we were going to be adding another Chambers to the family and ended it with a 3-month old baby in tow. In the middle of all the baby stuff, I completed my Master's degree, J.Paul finished the first 12 months of his 18-month MBA program, I taught 2 classes at ASU, and I signed a Letter of Intent to have my very own class at Mesa Community College beginning in just a few weeks. Not sure what else we could have crammed in there. Let's hope 2011 offers some opportunity to slow down...but I doubt it will. ^_^

We had a fantastic time spending two weeks in Washington DC with my family for Christmas and New Year's. It was a perfect vacation for our whole family. Toby was held and played with to his heart's content by his grandparents and great grandparents, J.Paul got to take a break from work and school for two whole weeks, and I got to remember what it was like not to have to be at a baby's beck and call while he was entertained by everyone else. Ahh...life was very nice! Toby did beautifully on the plane rides up and back, though we have learned that flying in the morning (like we did going out) is a little easier on him than flying at night (like we did coming back). His schedule has been a little messed up now that we're back home, but he's quickly getting back into the swing of things. He's on his second good nap of the day at the moment, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll have a good night tonight.

In the big scheme of things, we only spent two weeks on vacation. But in "Toby Time", that's a lot - 14.29% of his lifetime, actually! His development really accelerated while we were gone. When we first arrived, I was telling my parents about my concern that he wasn't yet reaching and grasping things when I played with him. Then, within just a day or two, he started reaching out to play with the reindeer on his Christmas footie PJs. From there on out, he was more intentional about reaching for toys on his bouncy chair and for the socks or footies on his feet. Uncle Andrew gave him the Lamaze Captain Calamari toy for Christmas and Toby couldn't take his eyes off of it or quit reaching for it. Amazing! Toby also rolled over for the first time on December 26, both from back to front (in the morning on his changing table) and from front to back (in the evening while doing Tummy Time). He hasn't yet given me a repeat performance that I can capture on video...but he hasn't really spent much time on a flat surface either. Too many arms or bouncy chairs to keep him captivated. ^_^ Speaking of keeping him captivated, it was also interesting (if that's the right word) to see Toby develop a little bit of a demanding personality. He very much enjoyed the attention lavished on him and was reluctant to allow that attention to shift away for too long. A few times, we heard weak "cries" that would magically disappear once he was picked up. He's going to have to get over that now that we're home and I'm the only one on Toby Duty. One last accomplishment that I hope he doesn't abandon now that we're home (though he probably will since everyone isn't here to wear him out) - Toby slept through the night - as in, all night for 10-12 hours - every night but the last while we were gone. SOOO wonderful! Keep it up, little man!

OK, now for some pictures. This will just have to be a little taste, since we have a gazillion photos between ours, my parents', and my grandparents' cameras. I'll work on creating a Christmas Picasa album and add a link to the blog once we wade through all the pics.
Arriving to freezing weather in DC