Yes, Michigan!

We got up to Michigan this weekend to visit Aaron's brother's family and stop in BR to empty a storage unit we still had and let Sam see his grandpa.

It was a good trip, but we had car trouble. I think I'd simply jinxed myself earlier in the week by saying our very old Toyota Corolla was still reliable. BUT no car payments, so I figure a repair every year on our 1990 vehicle (handed down from Aaron's grandma) is nothing to can complain about. We made it to Zeeland, where Aaron's brother lives, and discovered a leak. Seemed like gasoline. So, we stayed the night in Zeeland, instead of heading to Silver Lake. We moved the car from the inclined drive way and parked it in the level parking lot across the street. Hmm, no leak. Still, we didn't want to drive it without knowing what was going on so we got it into the shop right away Saturday morning. There was no visible leak that morning either, and they checked it out and found no leak in the fuel line, BUT did find that some wheel cylinder had ruptured and could be leaking brake fluid and the rear brakes needed to be replaced. And since the brake light had just started to go on, this seemed to all make sense. They were able to do the repairs while we all went up to Silver Lake.

Once we got ot Silver Lake, Steve (Aaron's bro), Sam, Aaron, Asha (one of Steve's kids) and I all went to Big Rapids to begin unloading the storage unit, and they dropped Sam and I off to have lunch with my dad and meet his new friend, Judith. We had a nice lunch, ice cream at Dairy Queen, and a walk over to Hemlock Park. It took them longer at the storage unit than we expected, but Sam, Dad, Judith, and I had a nice time sitting in the shade and enjoying the breeze.

Then we finally got back to Silver Lake for burgers and a fire. The next day Steve and Aaron went BACK to BR to gather a second load of stuff from the storage unit, but Sam and I stayed. Glad we did because we got to take Sam to the beach to play in the lake and sand. He has never even played in a sand box and he sure had fun!

And before we knew it we were heading back to West Lafayette.

Sam had started cutting his fourth tooth before we left and now he's working on one of his two front teeth! So fun!

Time for pics!!

Cake Fun

The fondant worked! It was a mess, but it worked!!

The cake turned out pretty wacky looking since I didn't have a plan.

Aaron and I tried it today and sure enough, the icing didn't taste great. But I'm not big on marshmallows or confectioners sugar, so a chewy coating of those two ingredients is not my favorite. I think that my next cake experiment will use a regular soft kind of frosting with fondant decorations/accents. Dunno if the textures will be too weird that way, but it's worth a shot. Aaron and I did end up peeling the fondant off like an unwanted fruit peel -- not necessarily something you want in a cake!

too many pictures

He's funny. He's determined. He's becoming a kid.

Sleep. Again.

So this morning I decided I would try getting him to sleep in his crib. Ha.

So I moved his crib over by the twin bed in "Sam's room". I took out the box spring so the twin bed mattress and the crib mattress were about at the same level. I laid down with him for a while in the twin bed at nap time, offered to nurse, but he wasn't having it. Wanted to play in his "new" environment. So we played for a bit, and then I put him in his crib. I tried to show him my brilliant arrangement where we could lay side by side with the crib bars between us. He wasn't interested. Quickly rolled over and propped himself up, pulled to a stand, and that was that. So I left him to play on his own. The crying quickly commenced. I let him cry a bit, then went in to comfort him. Tried laying him down in his crib, but again, he just played. So basically I went into a really poor attempt at a fake Ferber method. But my usual weakness came shining through -- inconsistency. Sometimes I would try picking him up and laying him in the bed next to me, sometimes I tried nursing. I tried singing, etc. But he just wouldn't have any of it. After about an HOUR I took him out of his crib again, and nursed him, and he seemed to relax. But then resumed playing. So, I put him back in his crib and he then resumed crying. Oi. Meanwhile I read this article:
http://www.sheknows.com/articles/1988.htm

The truth is, I'm more of a Sears parent even though I think I should be (want to be?) more of a Ferber parent.

So, I scooped up my little guy, took him to our bed, and he promptly relaxed and fell asleep. I snuck out of bed, installed the pillow walls, complete with the jingle alarm system, and here I am, back at square one.

Maybe I need to stop fighting my nature. Or maybe I need to stay strong and stick by rules and regulations even when the going gets tough. I dunno.

I guess we're all sleeping. I should just ditch the bedframe (and box spring?) and put the mattress on teh floor and then I wouldn't have to do these silly walls and jump everytime I think I hear a sound. Of course, then the dogs would attempt to claim the bed more than they already do.

Hmm

a little less conversation, a little more action

i'm feeling a little better, with special thanks to some conversations with a couple of friends who have been in similar frames of mind post grad school. i think i'm feeling better about not trying to discover some amazing path-to-success life plan, and just am feeling more content taking it step by step (ooh bab-eee, gonna get to you girrrrrl).

and what comes with this change of heart?? productivity!! amazing! i've started sewing my new version of plush nesting toys (mumlors). felt really good to put off doing the dishes and get making stuff. i will post pics soon.

other projects that still need tending to:

astro baby shirts ... i have done rough text for sun, moon, and rising sign and will get back to designs soon. i registered an etsy shop but nothing is there yet. i still need to make a logo.

i registered an etsy shop for the mumlors too. once i make more i'll get that shop going.

i'm doing some vector illustrations of the mumlors and olympians for my upcoming show in november.

fondant icing -- ok maybe not at all a "professional" ambition but i still want to try it out...

in SAM news:
i think it's time to start working on getting him out of our bed. i think i'll get the ferber sleep book from the library and give it a read. right now sam seems dependent on night time feeding, pacifier, AND cuddling to get to sleep. even if we're ok with that for a number of months to come, i feel the need for an exit strategy. gonna move the crib back into our room. we moved it out when sam was about four month's old per the doc's suggestion, but it sort of seems like that was what led to him always in our bed instead of sometimes in our bed. i think i will try positioning the crib like a co-sleeper thing, right next to the bed, so we can still be close, but then we can forego the absolutely ridiculous booby trapped pillow fort we install whenever he is sleeping in our bed (pillow walls with jingly/noisy toys on top so we can delay his actions and get to him before he crawls off the bed).

question for you moms out there: how did you stop night nursing? or did it eventually just come to an end? when did you wean? did you lead it or did you let your child decide?

Pablito!

Sam met his friend Pablo for the first time today! Pablo is the nephew of our good friend Esteban. We went over to visit Pablo's parents, Jose & Maria, to give them some of the baby things Sam has outgrown. Pablo is three months and such a happy sweet little guy! So glad to meet him! He smiles a lot and seems very at peace.

It's so amazing how fast the time moves. I can barely imagine what it was like when Sam was three months old. These kids just grow up so fast!!

INFP "QUESTOR"

Feeling extra lost and moody these days. Took a Career Test online (http://www.careertest.net/cgi-bin/q.pl). Here are my results:

INFP (introvert, intuition, feeling, perceiving)

Personality type results

EI: 9 out of 17
Extrovert |-------------------------------------------------| Introvert
                                  |
                                 52%
SN: 12 out of 17
Sensation |-------------------------------------------------| iNtuition
                                           |
                                          70%
TF: 10 out of 17
Thinking  |-------------------------------------------------| Feeling
                                     |
                                    58%
JP: 10 out of 17
Judging   |-------------------------------------------------| Perceiving
                                     |
                                    58%


Description:

INFP's feel internal turmoil when they find
themselves in situations in which there is conflict between their inner
code of ethics and their relationships with others. They feel caught
between pleasing others and maintaining their own integrity. Their
natural tendency to identify with others, compounded with their
self-sacrificial dispositions, tends to leave them confused as to who
they really are. Their quiet personalities further feeds their feelings
of depersonalization. The INFP's quest for self-identity then seems
even more alluring — but increasingly impossible to attain.

                        

As with all NFs, the INFP will feel lost and perplexed at stressful
times. As stress builds, INFP's become disconnected from their own
personality and perceived place in life. They will lose sight of who
they are in relation to time and place. They may not make basic
observations, while instead they will focus on the more abstract and
symbolic meanings of a particular interaction. This can sometimes
baffle those who expect more direct communication and a fairly concrete
relationship.

Careers

This lists represent careers and jobs people of your type tend to enjoy doing. The job requirements are similar to the personality tendencies of your personality type. It is important to remember that this is not a list of all the jobs possible. And it is very important to remember that people can, and frequently do, fill jobs that are dissimilar to their personality... this happens all the time...and sometimes works out quite well.

information-graphics...designer
college professor
researcher
legal mediator
social worker
holistic health...practitioner
occupational therapist
diversity manager
human resource...development specialist
employment development...specialist
minister/priest/rabbi
missionary
psychologist
writer/poet/novelist
journalist
editor/art director
organizational development...specialist

Visit with Aunt Sarah N!

Sam's Aunt Sarah N. had a brief visit on her way from Texas to Ohio. She is as traveling physical therapist so she's on the go a lot. We are often a fairly convenient stopping point (Indiana -- crossroads of america!) so that's neat.

Here are some images from her visit.

Today has been pretty lazy. I'm a bit moody and maybe I'll write another post to whine and complain and what not. Sam is taking an extra long evening nap, so I don't know what that will mean about bed time. Meg and I made a really good and really cheesy Soyrizo lasagna (yumm), so I'm sitting in front of the computer stuffed and contemplating whether I have the energy to go wash dishes. Meg, Sam, and I did get out for a walk earlier, and though the forecast (thank you weather.com) said there was 0% chance of rain during the time of our walk, a thunderstorm rolled on in and we had to run back with Sam in the stroller. Luckily Sam thought it was great fun and he giggled and laughed the whole way back while Meg and I tried to run in flip-flops.

Goofing around with Aunt Sarah (N)

Phoning Home

Learning to Walk

Reading his favorite barnyard flipbook (yes he has more than one)

Dinner last night at McGraw's (honey mustard salmon for me, pork chop for Aaron)

Sam is usually a jolly goof ball when we go out to eat.

Brother and Sister

11 Months Old!

Sam is embarking on his twelfth month of life!!
At 11 months old Sam:

• Crawls all around, mostly on hands and knees, sometimes still on his tummy. He's fast, too.
  
• Loves to "cruise" and is always pulling himself up to a stand and walking around the furniture. He also has a walker toy that Aaron calls his "lawnmower" and he likes to use that to walk around too. He often cruises along a piece of furniture, stops mid-way and holds his arm up for me to come grab his hand and walk with him.
  
• Has three teeth, and seems to be working on his fourth.
• Sleeps well for a week or two, then poorly for a week or so. Still attributing this to teething.
• Sleeps exclusively in our bed. Yup.
• Has a schedule! And if it is disrupted things get pretty rocky.
• Points at things to tell me what he wants.
• Waves hello and goodbye and says "bah" for bye.
• Can find your nose if you ask him to.
• Has a new word that is between "gum" and "gup" that we first thought was him trying to say "dog" but he uses it for many things. It's a very versatile word.
• Loves to eat. He loves Cheerios and cheese and bread.
• Loves water, including bath time and playing in his wading pool, and playing in the fountains on campus.
• Does the "mom dive" which makes me feel super special. Sometimes when someone else is holding him and I come and stand next to them, he dives for me. Aaron labeled it the mom dive.
• The aforementioned mom dive is important to me because he also has figured out how to push away from me while I'm holding him, letting me know he wants to get down on the ground and do things himself.
• Loves playing with wooden hammers (has several for various toys like a xylophone).
• Likes to throw things.
• Is becoming more like a kid and less like a baby everyday.
  

And it just so happens that Sam was baptized in the church of his paternal family today, too, on his 11 month birthday. He did really well though did get a little scared when the stranger (Pastor) put the water on his head. Aaron and I are not members of the church so his Aunt Sarah Nemec is his sponsor. Here she is holding her nephew (his Aunt Meg is pictured with us too, since she witnessed the baptism also).