Merry February! It seems like we always say this, but last month flew by. The first few weeks were dominated by sickness. All the people left after Christmas and New Years', but some little microscopic guests stayed to haunt us.
January was a month of adjustment. Greg started a new semester. We are delighted that he doesn't have any evening classes this time! Hinckley went back to being the only child in the house. It was hard on him and he insisted on having someone to watch him play at all times. He still goes around the house saying, "Annie," "Cake," or "Oww." We've realized that these names are not always specific to specific cousins, but apply to all of them; sixteen cousins is a lot to remember when you are only 1.5.
The best adjustment has definitely been nursery. Sundays have suddenly become a day of rest and tranquility again. Hinckley gets really excited by the idea of nursery, but when he actually gets there he has moments of sadness when he remembers his mom is not with him. Luckily, his leaders are great and he is kept distracted from this homesickness. His parents thoroughly enjoy dropping him off at nursery for two hours. They also enjoy the two hours of nap after church. After a rough spell, Sunday truly is the best day again.
The worst adjustment has been the disappearance of Hinckley's beloved "bobble." It didn't really disappear as much as we cut him off from it. His dependence on the bottle was more emotional than anything and he was getting old enough to let it go. After some research, we decided to go cold-turkey. Anecdotal accounts suggested that it would take about 3-5 days for him to get used to the sippy cup and forget about the bottle. This was not the case. He started waking up at night again(even though he never had a bottle at night). He refused to drink milk at all. And there were many temper tantrums the likes of which will probably cause early hearing loss for us. Nevertheless, we prevailed and did not give in. After two weeks, he started calling his sippy cup his "bobble" and a new way was forged.
On the good side, we have had so many moments of simple happiness. Hinckley started giving "eskimo kisses." He also has a slight obsession with airplanes, helicopters, and the moon; whenever we are outside he is trying to spot one or he thinks he hears one (that would be pretty remarkable if he heard the moon, wouldn't it?). He also has a knack for pointing out "broke" things and goes around the house spotting little cracks and problems. He enjoys "tote" with "hunny" (toast with honey) for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or anytime he is bored and just wants something to eat. He hates having his diaper changed and tries to run away when it is mentioned. We have a lot of fun together!
Life is good! Maybe our trials have changed our attitude or maybe things really have gotten better. Either way, 2014 is already looking happy, bright, and beautiful! Greg LOVES his new job. The environment is great and he likes all of his co-workers. Plus, he gets to make films for work! As a media arts major, it is pretty hard to land a job with a steady paycheck right out of college. This one just kind of fell into Greg's lap. The stark contrast between his previous job as a teacher and this one is like night and day. And believe me, the ripple effect of this has spilled over into our home; it's like a breath of fresh air! Hinckley has been very active lately and is already starting to assert his independence. He is 17 1/2 pounds and 28 inches tall. He just discovered how much he loves rolling over, so he does it all the time now. I think he would like to be running and on the move if he only knew how to do it! He also loves food. So far he has only eaten rice cereal
Tomorrow is our baby's due date! We don't think he will come tomorrow, but one never knows. Here are some pics from this week. School is going pretty well for me, though I transition to writing/reading from doing math for the past two weeks so I am a little nervous about that. The view from the bus just before I get off and start teaching for the day. Usually I am barely awake at this point. Awesome panorama of our classroom. It has taken a lot of work to get all this stuff up, but it could still use lots more! Here is a view of the front of the classroom, along with our space ship behavior chart and so forth. I decided to see what would happen if I didn't shave during the week This was the result. Kas is feeling quite big, and ready for the man child to come out! This week Kas learned how to make homemade yogurt - or at least how to extend the yogurt you already have. The latest creative masterpiece from Kassie is this little elep
The final product of "make me a match" that I labored over exceedingly. I was actually sort of unhappy with it all not because of the performances of anyone but mainly just the story. We had to write all so quickly and the re-write it time after time and then storyboard it and really break it down. In all this rush I didn't realize till I was actually shooting it that I really didn't care much for the story as a whole and thus my motivation suffered greatly. I don't think I need to tell epic dramatic tales to care about them but I do want to have a strong point and also a specific conflict or issue that is approached and resolved. I am starting a screen writing class tomorrow and possibly I will gain some insights as to how to develop good stories. Ones that I care about. I don't know why I feel so interested in telling stories - particularly in that I haven't felt very confident with the stories I have come up with. It is extremely hard for me to come up
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