Growin' Up Fast: February 2011

Admit it, you gave up on ever reading words of wisdom again from this blog. OK, for those of you who just thought "and when have we ever seen words of wisdom from this blog", you're banned from the rest of this entry. And, no, you don't get to look at the fabulously adorable photos of my Toby. Well, maybe you can look at the photos. He's too cute not to share.

We're now coming up to Toby's 5-month "birthday" - SO hard to believe! The last month or so has been interesting when I've thought to myself along the way "last year at this time, we were thinking ___ about Baby C". We told our parents they were going to be grandparents last Valentine's Day, so I had a little special moment on Monday when I remembered those conversations. So crazy to remember something that now seems so far away and then look down at my baby boy. Babies just change too quickly; that's the problem!

Speaking of change, Toby has undergone a ton of it this month. He's so much more aware of his surroundings, actively reaching for anything he wants (which is everything). He especially loves things that appear "shiny" to him, like my glasses, water bottles, plastic wrap, or my wedding rings. Hmm...a son who's attracted to shiny stones...maybe this bodes well for future Mother's Day presents? ^_^ He tries to put things in his mouth, and is sometimes successful, but isn't quite coordinated enough to connect item to mouth on a consistent basis yet. He's also rolling over from back to tummy with great (and annoying) frequency. Unfortunately, he hasn't figured out that he can do the reverse, so he winds up mad about the extra "Tummy Time" and lets me know about it. The unfortunate part is that he often flips over in his sleep, making the discovery at the most inconvenient times during the night. His last "trick" is sitting up when propped on the couch, bed, my lap, etc. He's not totally steady yet, so I have to be watchful for face-plants into the cushions, but that's why I sit him up on soft things. Not ready to tackle sitting on the tile floor yet. But it's so cool to step back and watch him just sit on the couch and play with a toy...like a REAL boy!

Toby's finally gotten the hang of this thing we call sleep. For the longest time, he only napped in 45 minute increments and spent too much time during the night crying. With much work at being consistent, I've gotten him into a predictable nap routine and he goes down with no crying for naps or an early bedtime. AND he wakes up happy (usually) instead of the close-eyed wailing he used to wake with. Though a huge part of the sleep success is attributed to the aforementioned consistency, it also took some acceptance on my part (and support on J.Paul's) that we were just going to have to deal with some crying. We don't have horror stories of hearing baby cry for hours every time we put him down, but there's definitely been a mindset shift in our house of checking the video monitor first when he cries out and deciding if he actually needs us or if he's just crying to cry. It didn't take long for all of us to figure each other out...and Toby to figure himself out. Going in to see him after a good nap or night is the best part of my day - his smile and giggles are precious. And the cool thing about me going back to work (more about that in a minute) is that Toby needs to be getting up right about the time that J.Paul has to leave for work, so he gets to enjoy that special time with him 3 mornings out of the work week now.

Last time I blogged, I'd signed a Letter of Intent for my very own accounting class this semester, but wasn't 100% sure the class would make the minimum enrollment requirements. Well, we squeaked by with the minimum and I've been teaching for 4 weeks now. I LOVE IT! Helping students grasp a new concept is an incredibly rewarding experience. And then when they turn around and tell me that my class is their favorite (even after they got back their first exam grades)...well, let's just say I often leave campus on Cloud 9. The school's offered me this same class as well as a second one for the fall semester and I'm prayerfully considering accepting them both. It's made into a much tougher decision due to the schedule - I would have to drive out to campus every day because they weren't able to put the classes on the same day. But I've spoken with Ami, Toby's amazing caretaker, and she's willing to watch him every day. Now I have to think about the time I'll miss with Toby and decide 1) how much time I'll actually miss with him and 2) is it worth that time missed? I don't feel like there would be an excessive amount of time taken away from us, but that's where I'm stuck right now. I have the choice to take just one class, too, so it's not like it's all or nothing...but the offer's out there. We'll have to see where I feel the Lord leading me.

J.Paul just finished (like, 45 minutes ago) his last exam for this section of MBA classes. Only 4 more months of classes left - yay!! It will be a welcome change to have him at home on weeknights again. But as much as he'll enjoy playing with Toby and chatting with me, I know he'll miss the challenge of his classes and the social time with other professionals. This MBA program has been a great experience for him; we're extremely grateful that his company provided the means for him to do it and I'm SO thankful that Toby has been an easy baby to handle on my own in the evenings.

OK, you came to see pictures. Don't deny it. I'll put a few in here, and I promise I'm working to get our Picasa albums updated. It takes a while to go through our mega-pixel photos and resize/resave them all, so thanks for your patience. And now, here's Toby!

Watching A&M lose the Cotton Bowl with Dad