snow day

Today should have been Z's first day at daycare...but, both the ground and my kitchen floor were unexpectedly white. The Seattle Public Schools - and thus our daycare center - were closed for the second day in a row due to the lingering snow and ice.

My more sensitive readers may not wish to read about what turned the kitchen floor white....



The strain of cold that we've been fighting starts in the nose and moves into the intestine. Apparently, I'm not the only mother who frantically called the doctor to report that my child had performed a scene from The Exorcist.

Another glorious motherhood moment, brought to you by our good friends at Pedialyte.

alien

alien
Originally uploaded by anneke boudreau.

where did this fabulous creature come from?

cutting teeth

Z and I are both "cutting teeth" - him literally, me figuratively. His first teeth - the top two - broke through his gums today WHILE I was at my first day of work. He's going to look like a beaver! My personal mascot to cheer me on as I reenter the workforce. (Considering that this is Yet Another Engineering Department, it makes sense to add another mascot to the list...I've been a bluejay, a maroon, a badger, an engineer, and now a husky with a beaver sidekick.)

Today was orientation, nothing too strenuous. Plus, he was with J. The real test will be Wednesday when he goes to daycare for the first time (I hope...still waiting for confirmation from the center) and I will have real work to do.

All of us have been ill, so I've been slow to post. We spent Thanksgiving eating turkey tacos and watching a "Six Feet Under" marathon all the while sniffing, snotting, coughing, and teething...that description makes it sound really horrible, when in fact it was rather nice. Mellow.

Speaking of feet, Z's personal walking record is up to 8 steps at one time. It's almost time for a pedometer. Before we know it, he'll be kicking down the cobble stones, looking for fun and feelin' groovy. Doot-in' doo-doo, feelin' groovy.

misc. updates

I figure I've been fighting mastitis for a month now. ouch. The last batch of antibiotics ended Monday. The pain seems to be gone, I have energy back (about 80%), but my stomach is a mess.

Z, on the other hand, is thriving. Yesterday, he took a couple of steps without holding onto anything. He imitates Gene Simmons from the 80's rock band Kiss - touching his tongue to his chin while singing. It seems to be a combination of "fun with the tongue" and feeling the upward-moving teeth hiding beneath his gums. I'm enjoying the toothless grin as long as I can - not to mention the toothless nursing.

Yesterday, I received my acceptance letter into the Master Gardner program at Washington State University (extension). It starts in January and lasts 12 weeks.

I haven't started working, yet, but Z starts daycare the week after Thanksgiving. My emotions are mixed: excited for the time to focus but can't imagine spending that many hours without him. I expect to physically ache for him.

T&T had a baby girl on Monday! We can't wait to meet her and see how the new parents are doing...and deliver them food.

I've been feeling a bit isolated, but I think it's related to being sick.

ahhhh...he's awake.....just some random notes while I have a brief moment of time....

new era

J and I haven't been on a date since February. Since then, we've both been out separately, but one of us staying home with Z. Z has been consistently sleeping through the night for several weeks, so we were finally comfortable leaving him with someone. Friday night, our friends were celebrating the return of the rains with a poker party.

As J and I approached their house we realized that even though it has been 8 months since we had been out together, it only felt like a few weeks. It felt natural for us to be out together.

We agreed that at 11 p.m. whoever had fewer chips had to return home to relieve the sitter. I was doing really well, so J left. But...it wasn't any fun with out him. About 20 minutes later, I bet more than I usually do on a hand that I usually wouldn't have played and (thankfully) lost most of my chips then gave the rest to another lady at our table. Within in minutes, I was safely back at home. whew.

It's amazing how much has changed, yet how much has stayed the same.

percentage of chart which resembles pac-man

lol! pacmanchart.png

[description: it's a pie chart. "resembles pac-man" is yellow and shaped like pac-man. "does not resemble pac-man" is a small, purple wedge on the right side, forming pac-man's mouth.]

....and now.....

making his web debut....the walking, piano playing, crawling...zb

note: on my machine, the first few seconds are a bit blurry. not sure what is up with that, but the picture clears up if you keep watching.

[description: zb pushes his activity walker away from the camera, crossing the room to his game table. his knees don't bend much yet so each step looks like an unstable swaggerin' cowboy (it's the sumo stance). the camera bumpily follows along. he takes a few steps to position himself near enough to the table so he can grab the table with one hand with the other hand still on the walker then moves a bit more until he is supported by the game table. after he is secure at the table, he exhuberantly pounds on the toy piano - arms flying in the air between each chord. when the song is complete he pushes the piano around on the table for a few moments, shoots his arms high over head for one last bow, then pivots onto his knees and hands and crawls towards the camera with a smirk.]