14 Weeks Old

 

Some children talk with food in their mouths...others...fingers!

Like mother, like daughter

Three Months Old

Five seconds!

 

These blue eyes are here to stay!

Anali is gaining coordination.

It's fun to watch her reach for things and move them about.

She can even grab her Soothie and put it back in her mouth

if it falls out onto her chest. Amazing!

She's started giggling more readily.
Pat-a-cake does it for her this week.
Next week, she'll have us standing on our heads doing the Hokey Pokey.

Gaining Balance

My new students joined me at work this Monday. Grammy and Grandpa boarded a plane for Europe on Friday. And my mom and dad are on their way down this evening. We've got a lot going on. While Tana is certain Anali will forget her during the three weeks they are out of town, I am quite sure she will remember the sweet smells and smiles of Grammy's house. If she didn't coo and squeal when I walk in their house each morning, I'm not sure I could leave her for those few hours to go off to work. Teaching has been going well...better than I expected. I like my new students, and I'm finding that a part-time day does go quite a bit faster. Brandon's landscaping ventures are tapering off as the air cools down, and we'll be enjoying evenings by the fire any day now...if I'm allowed to turn on the gas..."You know with gas prices so high these days..." Yeah. Yeah. Even my dad let me turn the heat up to 68 degrees...if I rubbed his feet. Can you believe I'm already talking heat? It was 80 degrees not a week ago. It will be nice to have my parents with us for a while. They're excited to live with Anali this week. Who can blame them? She's pretty much our television these days. At 7:00 we have our own "Entertainment Tonight," complete with celebrity blow outs. After a bath, it's CUsLie - a.k.a. bedtime (Brandon's doubtful anyone will get my super-dorky joke.). Oh, yeah. And you thought we were the life of the party before! Oh, no! I have mom humor now! I can just see the eye rolling of 2019! I'm stopping now. And I'll be sure to delete this blog before my baby turns 13...though it's pretty stinkin' hard to picture anyone so cute rolling her eyes! 

 

Here's What We've Been Up To

I forgot to pack socks for Anali the other day, so Grandpa Leon,
in his compassion, put mittens on her feet.
Great Grandma Betty, or Gigi, is an excellent babysitter.
Anali likes the attention she gets at Willow Gardens!
Anali and Nameless Duck.
Playtime with Mom.

 

Back to School

We've hit the books! Starting back to school has been a bit of an adjustment for me, but Anali seems to be doing great. She even let out a tiny squeal when we walked through Grammy and Grandpa's door the other morning. She knows she's in for fun when they're around. 

Inspired to Write

Dozens of pages
should
be filled by now

Blanks accuse me
but I don't
shame

I am a mother

I am the waking and sleeping
love
of my daughter's eyes

I am fierce and not afraid
of narrow definitions
of What it looks like
to follow a dream

My prose has delicate fingers
and my poetry is written
on the cooing lips
of a Greatest Work