Monday, January 25, 2010

Dinner with friends


Whew, it's been a tiring weekend. Saturday evening we went and had dinner with a couple of college friends. Hadn't seen them in quite some time, so was good to have a chance to eat and catch up. They've two young children, so it was definitely a kid friendly night. Grayson had a lot of fun playing with Avery and Oliver. It was funny watching Avery play with Grayson...she's soon to be three, and has the older sibling mindset down pat. She was constantly "helping" him do things, showing him new toys, and generally being a bossy sister. Looking forward to that dynamic between siblings.

Robert and I actually go back to my days at MTSU, as he led the Christian Center group on a few mission trips to Tanzania. We were roommates for a few years, and I was in his eventual wedding (I was friends with his future wife...she met him at a birthday celebration for me). A year later, he officiated my wedding. Even though we hadn't been in real close contact over the past few years, it was awesome to catch up.

In other news, school is pretty stressful right now. It's going to be a long semester, unfortunately. I need to do some school related activities while the boy is down. I'll end this brief note with a few pictures from Saturday night. I love the shots of Avery putting Grayson to "sleep".

Thursday, January 21, 2010

A quick catch up

Going to try to get something posted before the week gets away from me. Grayson is fortunately napping right now. He's got a stuffy nose and it's a horrible sound listening to him try to breath while sleeping. He had a pretty rough night last night, so the nap today is a good sign of things to come. No other symptoms currently, and while he's up and about, nothing seems to bother him. I could rant a little about the possible origin of this little bug, but I won't. Let's just say that he interacted with a child that was obviously sick recently. The interaction was completely unnecessary, as the parent and child did not need to be around. That's just the way things go sometimes, I guess.

Has been a good start to the semester. I have two classes that will be exclusively online for the first 4 weeks. That means I'm only driving into Nashville once a week at this time. Neither teacher is much of a favorite, but I really don't have a choice about my professors. I do find it somewhat (okay greatly) ironic that the instructors that are "teaching" me how to be an effective classroom teacher have never once taught in a K-12 setting. They're just long time students with doctorates and have done some research, but haven't actually had to manage twenty-five bratty, snot-nosed third graders. What do I know?

It's been raining a lot over the past several days, and so our library trips have been cancelled. A day or two ago, we did get out in between the showers to play outside. My mistake, as the yard was very muddy. I should have taken pictures of his hands and pants. I did get a few shots of him playing soccer, though.


The focus of Pelé...

On Monday, since everyone was off, we went shoe shopping for Grayson. He's now up to a size 6. Got a good deal on a couple of pair at Target. There's a second hand store near the square, and several months ago we found an absolutely adorable pair of size 7 Timberland boots for $6. Essentially brand new. I can't wait until he grows into them.

Grayson's imaginative role play is becoming increasingly more fun each day. This week, we've really been having a good time with all his vehicles (dump truck, firetruck, cars). He has little drivers for them that he's given names, he has them "talk" to each other and shake one another's hand..just fun sitting on the floor and watching him play on his own. It also gives me an opportunity to read through my textbooks while also keeping an eye on him.

What else? He understands a large number of colors and shapes. He can name them when shown and bring them when asked. He's also beginning to grasp the counting concept. His counting consists of "two, three, two" pretty much- the ideas are turning in his little mind though.

He's obsessed with cleaning. From an early age, he's always liked wiping things with rags (walls, desks, cabinets), but now when he sits at the table if he sees crumbs, he asks for a napkin and sweeps them onto the floor. He loves to "help".

Speaking of helping, yesterday we made it to the store between the passing rain showers, and when we got back in he pulled every nonbreakable can and jar from the bags and put them in the cabinets where they belonged. I was impressed. I wonder how long this helpful attitude will last. If only through adolescence.

Well, he's still asleep, and I have to get a few things ready before class tonight.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Semester begins...18 months already?

A few items on the blogging agenda this afternoon. I fear it will take quite the discipline and time management to keep this going on a consistent basis over the next few months. My class schedule is a bit of a doozy, and free time is now fully devoted to reading and writing school related topics. Not something anyone here wants to read about, I know!

Speaking of school, my first class of the semester began last night. It was nice to walk into the room and see about 2/3 of the room filled with people I already knew from the previous semester. Will definitely make the projects and group work that much easier, knowing that I can count on those classmates. It was an abbreviated night, primarily for going over the syllabus and getting to know everyone. My other two classes, Mondays and Tuesdays, won't actually meet in person until midway through February. The professor has had recent knee surgery. We'll be meeting online, so I'm not sure if that's going to be a good or bad thing. We'll see.

In more on topic news, Grayson had his 18 month well checkup this morning. He was fantastic, impressing everyone who saw him. Last night, Jennifer read him a Dora book from the library about going to the doctor. He was actually excited about going this morning. One of the benefits of having an early appointment was the lack of wait time. I'd say we were in the observation room within 10 minutes of getting signed in. Nurse asked the routine questions...no big concerns..He's at about the 75 percentile for height and 50 for weight..32 3/4 inches and 25lb 11oz. Everything on him looks good. He has 15 chompers, with breakthrough on the 16th imminent. Of course, a pleasant visit with the doctor was concluded with more vaccinations. 4 in all, I believe. He wasn't thrilled with those, but by the time he was on his feet with his pants pulled up, he'd pretty much gotten over it. The mean nurse gave him a sucker and a sticker and all was well.

We came in and immediately upon arriving, I asked him what he wanted to do. He indicated he wanted to watch Toy Story. Sigh. So we watched Toy Story for what seemed to be the 30th time in the last 30 days.

He's napping now..though he took a lot longer to settle down to sleep today than usual. No fussing, but I heard a lot of talking before silence. As tough as the first 8 months were in regards to nighttime sleeping and napping..I'm so happy for how he's developed into such a good sleeper and napper. Knock on wood..I know that fighting sleep is probably around the corner, but I can dream my son will always do this well, right?

The weather is amazing outside right now. I may take a textbook outside and read while he naps.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Why, yes I do read women's magazines

I'm a man. Really. I have a full beard, I love football, and I'm interested in mechanics, carpentry and other masculine stuff. My magazines include Popular Science, National Geographic, This Old House, and other virile reads. Note that I use the term "interested". I don't claim to have any skill in such topics. I also read Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, and Better Homes and Gardens. I readily admit that. That's because I also like reading about decorating, organizing, and cleaning tips. Again, I don't claim to be good at that either. Only that they interest me.

That being said, I understand marketing to a specific sex. Despite the latest trends, women do still make up the majority of the "family" magazine market. Few men read Good Housekeeping. Even fewer openly in public. I also read a ton of parenting magazines. The following is what actually annoys me. The marketing of "Parenting" magazines. You know, Parents, Parenting, American Baby, Today's Parent, etc. I can read the entire magazine, and without fail, this is the layout, time and time again:

60% - dedicated to child raising using the mother's unique perspective.
20%- solely dedicated to the mother's health and beauty (aren't there enough magazines just for that? Why do I have to read/skip 30 pages about the mother's skin care in a magazine about parents raising children?
17%- legitimately involving the perspective of both sexes.
3%- dedicated to the man's unique perspective.

Now some would say, "Keith, you can get stuff out of it even if it's focused on the woman." Yes, yes I can. And I do. I wouldn't continue reading them if I didn't. However, if society expects men to continue to be more involved with direct, day-to-day care of their children (as they should be), can I have a good parenting magazine that gives a little more balance to who the reader might be? I don't need 15 ways to get rid of the baby fat...

Monday, January 11, 2010

Another Milestone


No School.


Still no School..

The snow days just continue to accumulate. Though the only snow to be found is around areas where the sun doesn't hit, schools are out for one more day. Thank goodness for rural areas in the northern part of the county. A nice 5 day weekend for the family.

As far as milestones go, last night Jen trimmed Grayson's hair for the first time. The back was getting ridiculously long, enough to suggest our boy was working on a Billy Ray Cyrus, if you know what I mean. Not able to deal with that, she finally brought herself to give it a trim. He was oblivious to the entire process, his entire attention on watching Beauty and the Beast. Looks really good now. Though this was his first trim, and we did save a lock of curl, his first haircut out will be some time down the road.



We went out this morning to have some work done on the Camry, it's always pleasant to find out tires are needed. I actually knew that two were pretty worn, and expected they would tell me that it'd be best to replace all of them. So that's a nice chunk of change leaving my wallet. With my classes starting back on Thursday and having to drive into Nashville 3 nights a week this semester, I really don't want to have bad tires.

After dropping the car off, we made a Starbucks stop. Unfortunately, my Pumpkin Spice Latte is no longer in season, so I went back to my standard Mocha. We then went to the store...Jennifer is making a spinach quiche tonight that we're both really excited about.

The boy is asleep right now, so as soon as this is finished, we'll eat lunch and probably watch a movie or tv show.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Snow Days?

This is day two of the Flizzard of '10. Snow as high as the grass in some spots, with flurries tempting the eye to think that snow may continue. Not so fast, my friends. This is a true Tennessee snowstorm. The good thing about snow in the south is that teachers (my wife) get out of school quite easily. As the potential storm approached Wednesday night, the school systems in unison canceled Thursday classes. With the lack of such a storm actually hitting us, it meant a day out and about. To be honest, we did have some snow, and it was enough for Grayson to get excited, but really nothing to keep people from getting out on most roads.

With that being said, we got up Thursday morning and drove to H'ville for some shopping. Bought a few baby shower gifts @Target, then dropped Grayson off with Memaw before going to the mall. Jen has been searching for a second winter coat, and we wanted to hit all the department stores. Because of the uncertain weather situation, traffic was very light and we were able to get through all the stores in really good time. Unfortunately, a suitable coat was not discovered.

We came back through town, picked up Gray (who'd eaten lunch already) and got back home for his nap. He fell asleep a few minutes before getting home, but it wasn't a problem transfering him. We spent the rest of his nap watching 500 Days of Summer, a movie I definitely recommend. Very creative screenplay, great visuals, awesome soundtrack. Beware that it's not a typical romantic comedy. Painful to watch at times, but a good overall film.

When he woke up, we took him outside for some fun in the snow. I don't think I can express how much the boy loves snow. Pictures of snow, the word snow, he loves it all. So this year his snow experiences have been outstandingly fun. Here are some more pictures and a video of our experience yesterday afternoon:






















Today, we've not been out yet (wind chill has been below zero, and even Grayson and I, as hot natured as we generally are, decided that was just too cold for comfort). He's going down for a nap as I type this, and we'll probably try to get out of the house this afternoon. What snow we received still remains, so perhaps a few minutes outside will be warranted.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Goodbye Tree

Last night we took the tree down. I must say that Grayson was not happy to see it go. He started crying when I got it out the door, and demanded to come outside (in the 20 degree weather) to see it once more. Here's a picture of him giving the Christmas tree a goodbye hug:



















I then spent the better part of 15 minutes sawing a 2 inch ring from the trunk of the tree. Started out with a hacksaw, saw the futility of my efforts, so moved up to a handsaw. Next year I'm using a chainsaw. My wife found a cool craft idea for making a homemade ornament from the previous year's tree. I'll post a picture of that when it is made.

The day itself was fairly calm. We made our usual library trip, Grayson had a blast as always. I'm really glad we have the music day and storytime during the week. Music time is actually for older kids, but Grayson does well in there. Since he's not in any kind of daycare setting, I really like for him to have opportunities to engage in social play with other kids on a regular basis. He's usually reserved and shy for the first 5 minutes or so, but inevitably he warms up to everyone one.

This morning we made our usual weekly trip to the store. Wow, was that a big mistake or what! I guess the combination of Senior Citizen's Day and a potential snowstorm a day away made for big crowds. The traffic in the store wasn't that bad- however, we had to walk half a block from our parking spot. Grayson had fun, and that's really all that matters.

I need to finish this up..been trying to for 20 minutes now. The boy just woke up from his nap, and immediately asked for his blocks. I think I'll go build a fortified city with him.