Parker's First Word!

Parker said his first word on Saturday. He waved and said "Bye" to some kids at the park. Horray for the Parker man!

A Year and a Half and Lots of Working

Talk about busy! Working and trying to spend time with Parker is not easy. I don't think I'm going to be able to make all the Christmas gifts I had planned. Or I will, but they will be late. Very late. heh. As for Mr. Parker, he turned a year and a half on Monday. He's a mere 26 pounds and 32 inches tall. It's all belly. I like to tell him that his belly precedes him. It's bigger than mine was when I was pregnant with him! He's finally interested in books and will sit there, looking at pages and pointing at things. He still isn't "talking". I'm starting to think he will sing clearly before he says his first word. He loves to sing along with music and I've been able to tell for months what song he's singing. His dad bought him a toy cell phone and he loves to pretend to talk on it. It's very cute, but I rarely talk on my cell. I don't know who he is copying, silly man! It's pretty amusing when he picks up his toy drill and tries to talk on that as well.
I'm so glad I chose to work weekends so I could be home with him two weekdays and his dad can be with him on the weekends. He likes his daycare and has a good time there, but we are his parents and he needs to be with us as much as possible.
Work is going ok. It's been an adjustment to work in a call center and to be supervisor of a team. I haven't done that in a long time. I'm learning a lot and working on my people skills. I'm so used to coming into work, sitting in my cube myself and getting my own work done. This is a challenge and I want to do the best I can. I'm enjoying my team and helping them as well as learning more about how to motivate people. I lost most of my team due to rebidding as the second wave of training is over so I'm curious to see what the dynamic will be now. My approach is to have fun while doing the best job we can. I think it's working. My team was first in QA through Wednesday and I had people stay on my shift just to be with me even though they didn't want to work weekends. The ones that left said they wanted to stay, but weekends weren't possible for me.

Yesterday Parker and I were putting on his shorts. Usually we do this with him leaning his back against me for support while lifting up his feet to get into the legs. But he was facing me and I could tell he was really trying to reach for my arm while balance and get his foot up. After about 30 seconds, he took a few steps away, sat down, then rolled on his back and waved his feet in the air. Very clever! He thought of a different way because what we were trying wasn't working for him. He's also started putting his arms out, palms up and shrugging his shoulders with that look of "I just don't know." on his face. Um, I guess I do that more often than I thought. It's VERY cute on him, but I haven't managed to get a picture of it yet.

Today is supposedly the last weekday I will have home with him. Bittersweet. I'm really looking forward to working again, but I'm going to miss being with him so much, I keep tearing up. I think I found a good person to watch him who will see and treat him like the special little man he is.

The Latest and Greatest

I found a job! It's working for a call center which I've never done, but I'm going to be a team leader and won't have to answer as many calls. I'm hoping to work an early shift and weekends in order to limit the time Parker has to spend in day care. I'm glad to have found work even if it's a temp job. And I'm really looking forward to working and getting paid for it. Although one-fourth of what I make will be going to daycare. Ouch!

We are getting settled in here. I'm not unpacking some things because we may be moving again in March. The apartment is big, but rather rundown and we don't have the best of neighbors. Just have to wait and see what happens. This picture is in the pool here. Parker loves water! I'm glad to have a pool for us to play in.

West Pinnacles.

I am breaking my silence with this-http://bit.ly/1kaGCy

Small fire, but somewhere I spent a great deal of time as a child. Wildfires are common in the summer in CA, and there isn't much of the park that could burn and not be rebuilt easily. But I would like to share. My mom helped build a great deal of trails here. I was left to my own devices most of the summer while she worked back in the day when a child was safe to roam alone. My mom loved to tell stories of how I would find campers and lead them around to all the sights that were off the trails. I can still find Bridal Veil Falls and make my way through the caves with no flashlight. This is one of the places I call home.

This sums up my life the past five months.

Live and Learn

I harvested what is most likely going to the the last crop of my garden. I cannot even begin to write about how sad this makes me. I'll try to enjoy the fresh tomatoes, basil and oregano salad I'm planning for dinner. And what to make with the eggplant and peppers? The red corn is growing now, but will not be ready in time. I really wanted to try that!

I haven't posted for awhile. Quite a bit is going on and I'm just not ready to write here about it. For now, I made a mistake.