A life update

Things have been busy around here, and lets be honest, my documentation of our busy lives has been lacking. If this is meant to be a journal for me to look back at what we have been doing, then I would be sad since it is all too easy to forget what happened last week, never you mind last month or last year.

Travel
We do a fair amount of traveling in this household. We kicked the year off with a trip to McCall, Idaho followed by a trip to California (just Bear and I), Palm Springs to be exact - where we visited Grammy. That trip is well documented in the archives.

We made a quick trip to Whidby Island to visit Amanda. We have gone 2x this year, but I was a lame documentor so I have no idea when they were. One, Bear was not mobile, the other he was...so one must have been in May and the other in February. We will stick with that.

The next trip was a road trip with stops in Stockton, CA for a night (at the lovely University Inn) and Palm Springs, to visit Grammy, onward to Sedona, Arizona for a week (cool but not a repeat) and then up to Zion National Park (maybe a do again once we can backcountry with Bear) and then to Salt Lake City to visit Matt and Missy with a tour of Park City (must make a trip back) and finally, a marathon drive home in one day.

The next trip was back to McCall for the fourth, ah McCall for the fourth - doesn't get much better. On our drive home, we made a quick stop in Bend for the night at what was the Ameritel, is now the Hilton Garden Inn. Lovely trip, love Bend.

Following this was a trip to the Newport Coast - Ah lovely Newport (at the Hallmark Inn). The weather was perfect, the breeze was low - we went to the Aquarium (expensive and not a do again) and an epic walk on the beach.

Next up? Another trip to the coast, this time at the Elizabeth Street Inn with my mom. I like the Hallmark better. It was a quick one night trip so a little beach walking and some delishious food was all we had time for.

A quick jaunt down to Chiloquin Oregon to pick up a yurt (more on that later) and then a beeline (um, did you know that Mosquitos are crazy in Chiloquin?? We were ther for maybe 4 hours and I have like 25 on my legs) to Bend. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn again. We parked and never left the old mill district with dinner at Red Robin, breakfast at the organic coffee place and lunch at Gregs Grill.

Peppered in were trips to Eugene - Lots of trips to Eugene. Yep. We travel. A lot.

Work
I havent talked about my job since I moaned and cried over how sad I was to peace out on stay at home motherhood and how much I thought it would damage me/my child/our mojo to be a (psudo) working mom.

I.LOVE.OUR.SITUATION.

OMG (just had to throw in a little teenage cell phone lingo), I feel like I have to pinch myself from time to time. I can't believe I even debated not working. Seriously, the company is amazing to work for, they are so flexible with me. I work 2 days a week from the office and 1 from home. I work for myself meaning I am a contract employee. They are flexible with the days I come in so sometimes it is Monday/Tuesday, sometimes Tuesday/Wednesday, ect ect, so really, I still have a life. I still get to pick when I do things. Seriously though, I contribute in a meaningful way to our family financially, but I still get to be a mom most of the time. We found a fantastic nanny who Bear seems to really like. She has a masters in elementary education and I couldn't ask for better - because the economy, especially for teachers, is super depressed, she hasn't been able to find a job as a teacher...so she nanny's. She's great! She is more quiet than we are and plays differently with Bear which is nice because he gets exposed to someone who isn't me.

I seriously seriously love what I do, love that I work, love that I still get to be a mostly full time mom. I can't say anything negative about my situation. Seriously, it is all I every could have dreamed about...maybe more. I am so happy and so glad I didn't let my fear dictate my response to going back to work.

House
Our house is crazy different. Pictures are needed.

New garage doors (coachman style)
New siding and paint
New trees in the back
New plants in the back
Our deck is currently torn off and will be re-built
Our front yard is still torn up but will be planted soon
And the yurt. I will post about that when we get going on it.

General
I feel like as humans in general, we usually talk about "when this happens" and "someday when..." - we have dreams and goals, we look to the future. We want that amazing job, the house of our dreams, the husband, the kids, whatever. I feel like I have so few of those left. I feel like I made it - arrived at the dreams I had. The kid, the house that I could stay in, the husband that treats me right, the job (oh the job!). I mean, yes there are dreams left (pay everything like the house off, someday move to Bend or McCall, finish our projects at the house) but I feel centered, happy and complete. I can't believe I have arrived at this dream. I can't believe how content I am in it. Who is this person who replaced the old me? The me that was never satisfied with the now? I don't know where she came from, but I like her.

Life with Barrett - Pictures

 With Auntie

 At the beach. Oh Trooper, such a great mid-shake picture

 As per the usual, getting to things

Fearless (and busted)

You're not watching are you...?

Where we are at - Rinkie

I feel like I really missed the boat on Barrett's 10 month post. The thing is, in the beginning of life, it is all about milestones - rolling over, eating well, sleeping well, ect. We are well into life with Barrett and while gross motor skills remain big events and milestones, a new type of descriptor should have begun to emerge in my writings about him. Personality. And perhaps also, the finer points that make life with Barrett, well, life with Barrett.

General Stats
Nicknames - Rinkie, Stink-a-Rink, Rinkie Rink, Barrett, Bear (but more often, I simply type Bear, rarely do we actually call him Bear).

Gross Motor Skills
Stands for several seconds unassisted, cruises standing on furniture, walks several steps with a walker (doesnt seem as interested in walking because he is so fast crawling), climbs stairs (like really well), climbs the couch, climbs the hearth, goes down stairs and off the couch and bed face first...not my favorite move. Bear crawls...he doesn't like the feel of grass or rough aggregate concrete so he will walk on his hands and feet like a bear does and gets around quite well, thank-you-very-much.

Personality
A is for Analytical
I have a feeling this kid is going to be smarter than me. He plays with a purpose. When he picks up a toy, he tries to figure out how it works. When he plays, it's not random banging, it's purposeful. I see him as the type who wants to take things apart and see how they work. Note to self, buy him lots of things that can be taken apart and hide the computers...

B is for Busy
Some kids are calm and quiet. Barrett is not. He's crawling, moving, bouncing, dancing, bobbing, playing, going and going and going. Until he's not, then he sleeps. He loves to swim. I mean LOVES it. Future Michael Phelps? (perhaps a little on the small side) He is very agile as well. I plan to enroll him in gymnastics for babies in September. It will be fun to watch him learn about how his body moves and works. I think the key for me is to find ways for him to get his energy out, constructively.
C is for Cookie...E is for Easy-going:
This kid is easy going with a capital E. I mean seriously. He blends into any situation you throw at him. He is not routine orientated and therefore, he just goes with the flow. Remember in the last post where I said that his challenges were the perfect ones for us? Take for example the fact that he sleeps in bed with us and not in his crib (much) - A hotel stay is no problem, he sleeps in bed with us anyway so he is fine doing it in a hotel room. And because he doesn't nap in a crib and instead opts for the stroller or car seat, naps are a cinch on the road because we generally have a car seat and a stroller with us. He makes everything into a toy and so we travel light - we don't bring an arsenal of toys along with us. I recently removed all toys that made noise or were battery operated (apparently this goes with the whole screen time thing in that babies under 2 shouldn't watch TV and shouldn't have lights and noises on everything...never fear, if you have these toys, I won't judge) and he actually seems happier and it is much easier to find toys, measuring cups? Yes please. He does very well being woken up from naps. He never seems cranky or grouchy if he is woken up. If he gets less sleep than he should, he is still happy and go-with-the-flow.

T is for Tough
Almost nothing makes him cry. He bonks or scrapes or falls and if he even cries at all, it is momentary and fleeting. He is fearless and will try anything...note to self, get better insurance...

R is for Rinkie
Ok ok, we get it...he's small. Move on mommy. 

Did you guys see what I did there? Pretty much got the letters of Barrett's name, by accident (until the R is for Rinkie). Baret (only there are 2 R's and 2 T's...T is for Tiny?)

10 months old

• Sleeps in his crib for the first part of the night, then transitions to bed with us. Wakes to eat several times a night. 
• Wears 9 month clothes and some 12 month if they are well worn and have shrunk in the dryer
• Smiles, laughs and giggles
• Will engage with you to get your attention - when you are holding him and not paying attention, he will crane his neck so that he is looking at you and will smile. 
• Claps
• Plays peek-a-boo
• Pulls up and cruises along furniture
• Has taken some steps with his walker
• Crawls lightening fast
• Bear crawls on his hands and feet when on a rough surface or on grass
• Makes a wide variety of sounds with mamamamamamama being one of his favorites
• Eats everything (except dairy products) and is easy going with food. Especially likes bunny grams, hummus and pita, and baby fruit and veggie pouches. 
• Can consistently put food into his mouth.
• Knows basic commands like "grab your paci" and "are you hungry?"
• Doesn't like it when something he is playing with is taken away
• Climbs. On the couch. On the hearth. 
• Has been to Washington, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and California
• Sleeps in the car - has transitioned to his convertible car seat even though he is small enough to still fit in his old one. 
• Takes 3 or so naps a day
• Loves to play with his toys and will pull them out of the bucket, is very inquisitive and rather than just banging toys, you can see the wheels turning in his mind trying to figure out how everything works. 
• Very social, loves people but can take some time to warm up to people actually holding him. 
• Still likes to be with mom/dad/ect and does not like to be alone. 
• Very cuddly and loves to have time to connect with us throughout the day/at the end of the day. Is happiest when being held or being directly engaged by another person. 

I cannot believe we are all the way to 10 months. If there is one thing that becoming a parent has done that has been a real positive for me is that I have learned to live in the moment. I have learned how to enjoy where we are and not look toward what is to come. Each stage has been full of "firsts" and has been so amazing to watch and be a part of. 

Barrett has found his place in our family and is such a perfect addition for us. I can't believe how lucky we have been in the way that he is developing and growing and how fun it has been to watch him change and mature. Being a parent has been such a joy thus far and with each stage, I welcome the changes that he presents. There are, naturally, challenges that come along, however, the challenges are definitely the right ones for our family - I think that Barrett must have grabbed all the right genes from Nick and I because he just fits in so well. (Kind of makes you think maybe 1 is enough because could lightening really strike twice?)