Success!

Look, Mom and Dad!

The cannas that you helped me transplant from the front yard are blooming!






Thank you for giving me something beautiful to look at outside of my kitchen windows. I should have two more bloom in the next few days!

Puddle Duck

Well, the rain spoiled our afternoon plans to visit the pool today, but it gave Micah a great opportunity to use the rain boots that his cousins Will and Henry passed down to him.

If you are wondering how yesterday went, we made it. My interviews went well. It's still a slow economy here and they don't have anything for me right now, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something will come up in the next few weeks.

Micah had a good day too. Well, at least his teacher said he had a good day. He cried from 8am-9am (I cried most of that time too), but when they went out for morning recess he was all smiles and didn't cry again until late in the afternoon when some of the other moms started to pick up their kids. When I finally walked in the door, I could hear him balling in the the very back of the daycare screaming, "maMAAAAAAA". I felt awful. His teacher said he saw me through the window as I got out of the car and he got upset. To make up for leaving him all day, we went home and snuggled on the couch and watched Madagascar 2. He was so sweet and cuddly! I'm pretty sure he was relieved that we didn't go back to daycare today.

Back to School

After a long 7 month hiatus from the working world, I have decided to go back to work. Well, the first step is finding a job. No, I take that back. The first step is getting Micah back into daycare, or baby school as they called it in Denver, so I can look for a job.

I did my research, took several tours and asked a zillion questions, and we have decided to put Micah in the daycare closest to our home. The daycare is called Kid's Corral and has a western theme throughout. (How very Texas of them...)

The staff is super friendly and Micah seems to love the place. The first thing he saw when we went for our initial tour was the playground where we had to spend our first 15 minutes in order to keep him happy. When we viewed the classroom, they let him mingle among the other 2 year olds. Several of them came up to him and asked his name and said "hi". Micah couldn't quite say his own name yet, so I helped him out. He was a little timid and shy at first with all of the kids, but as soon as he found the bin full of tiny race cars he was fine. We made two additional trips to the daycare to make sure it was the right fit for Micah. By the time we left for the third time, he didn't want to walk out of the door. I litterally had to pick him up and tote him to the car.

Tomorrow will be his first full day at the new daycare, and I'm hoping he's as eager as the last couple visits. Over the last few months, I can tell that he has become attached to his Mama. He does well when I drop him off at the gym daycare, but I never leave him for more than an hour or so. This will be the whole day away from me which hasn't happened in a long time. Everyone is telling me that I will be more upset than he will, and they're probably right. At least I hope they're right.

While I'm still job hunting, he will be going to daycare on a drop-in basis. This means he will only go on the days that I have interviews so that we don't have to pay full tuition. Unfortunately, though, once the schools are back in session (around August 16th), he will be going full-time regardless if I have a job or not. The daycare can't hold a position for a drop-in child when there are children (of teachers) that can fill a full-time spot.

So, tomorrow is Micah's first day back to school and I have two interviews with recruiters. We would truly appreciate your prayers that everything goes smoothly.

Park It!

Finally! Almost 7 months after moving into our new house, we can finally park both vehicles in the garage. You see, we have a lot of junk stuff, and Tom has been working on minimizing the amount of stuff we have... especially in the garage. Most everything has a place now and is put away.

Thanks, Honey!

Swimming

One day this week at the pool, a man came up to me and asked how I got such a brave child as Micah leaped off of the side making a splash. I told him that it's all about how the parent reacts to the child's actions. If I have a terrified look on my face, it will put fear in him when he goes near the water. If I praise him (clap, cheer, fist pump) for the little things like putting his face in the water, he's more willing to try more. I also told him that I don't believe in arm floaties, swimsuits with floats sewn in, or life jackets in pools. At least not for my kid. I feel that it gives kids a false sense of confidence in the water, and then when they are old enough to really try swimming, the swimming instructor has to tear down that wall of fear of being in the water with no attachments. Now, don't get me wrong. I believe that some parents should put floaties on their kids especially if the parents don't want to be in the water and fully hands-on. I was a lifeguard for over 8 years and I know that floaties are good for some kids. They definitely made my job easier. But, I love the water and always have. While Micah is learning to swim, I will be right there with him, and I don't mind keeping my hands on him or at least an arm distance away from him.

This week Micah has made some real progress. He can swim up to 6 feet all by himself. I'm thrilled! He still has trouble getting horizontal by himself sometimes, but we're working on it. We worked really hard this week and showed Dada what we could do yesterday. Dada even took a few videos so we could share Micah's accomplishment with all of you.

His form still isn't pretty, but he's learning.

Not bad for 22 months old!

22 Month Old Portraits

Since I was trying to catch up on laundry and cleaning on Monday, Micah and I didn't get a chance to have our special outing together. Instead, I decided that I needed some new pictures to use in a couple frames that I've purchase in the last few weeks. So, this morning we were off to JCPenney for more portraits. This time I got in on some of the shots just for fun.

To view all of the photos, use the link below. The user name is Natalie Deen.

https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0733116378JCP

Bye Bye Binky

It has been since Sunday on the airplane home that Micah last saw B-I-N-K-Y. I'm so proud of him for going night-night without it for the last 4 days. Let's hope that he has said farewell for good!