A Rant

If you put your kid to work doing chores, you're not really violating child work labor laws, right?

What?  You think 10 months is a little young to start doing chores?  Well, JCD's dad would probably disagree with you.  So there.  What?  Who else is going to clean this place up?  Drake and Gordon?  Come on!!  You know Drake!  He is le tired!

Not much going on around here.  I have today off.  Yes, I have been working this job for five seconds- turns out all career service state employees get a personal day (called a personal holiday) regardless of when one starts.  Since the year runs July 1 to June 30, I got my personal holiday today (whoop!).  I found myself paralyzed with the possibilities for a day off.  I could go see a movie.  Get a haircut. Work on data.  Clean the house.  Do crafts.

One thing I had to do was finish grading and posting assignments.  I even stayed up late last night to get these done (I didn't- but I got close).  So I was looking forward to busting it on grading, doing a little cleans, maybe set up some data runs and then playing hookie from about 1pm on.  So I take Nico to school and get a call from Dave that the 4Runner wont start.  Milka-what?  Yeah.... we sort of planned for it, that I would take him to work today because the 4Runner needed a new starter.  So instead of meeting Dave at the shop, I came home and have been killing time until I can take him to work :(  Yeah... you know how towards the end of the life of a car loan you start thinking about what is going to happen once the car is paid off.  Will we need to get another?  What if it dies?  We will sell it and start a new loan with a new car or just keep it?  We decided to keep the 4Runner because we just replaced the transmission, timing belts, etc.  thinking that with the major stuff having just been taken care of, surely there isnt anything else that would need to be fixed on it.  That is false.  So that was a little frustrating.  Thankfully I am off today... if this had happened yesterday, I dont know what I would have done.

Speaking of being between a rock and a hard place, we are starting the process of retaining the services of a baby sitting company here in town.  We are going to meet today with a sitter and starting that process.  Which is good.  That will take some of the heat off us... meaning that if Nico gets sick, a sitter can stay at home with him, and I dont have to burn up annual leave that I dont have yet.

Speaking of the Beast- here is a video of him swimming:


Isn't he precious!!??

  

The Christmas Nazi and the Education Nazi

Overall, we had a pretty good weekend around here. We had a pretty disappointing Sunday morning… England continued their mantra of sucking it up on the field… and were tidily disposed of by Germany. I would like to be mad about this…  Lamps hit one in that wasn’t counted, Stevie G virtually disappeared and David James lived up to his nickname Calimity James. But the fact is, England were terrible. Sketchy defending- crap goalkeeping and my boy Wayne Rooney might as well have stayed home.

Dave took Nico out for breakfast and to run some errands. I did some data work and some grading :( Yesterday afternoon; we got in the pool, which he continues to LOVE. Seriously- he is sooooo close to walking. I have a video of him in the pool- which I will try to post later. I don’t know if it is the pool or what, but both Saturday and Sunday nights, he had a hard time sleeping. Of course, this could also be the weekend. Or maybe his mouth is bothering him. In any case, he was up a lot last night, wailing and thrashing. Or it could be that we mess up his schedule and it’s hard for him to settle… I don’t know. I hope its not that.

On a completely unrelated matter- remember the day last week when Nico went to school with one clean and one not so clean shoe on? The same day, Dave went to work with two different shoes on!! One new black shoe and one old black shoe!! HA!! And another day last week, he left the house with half of his face shaved. This probably gives some insight into how things are around here in the mornings!!

This week, Dave and I are going to go through the steps to get a somewhat regular babysitter. There is a company here in town that one of his coworker’s uses… who does background checks, etc. They are also somewhat full service, because they can go pick kids up, stay with them over night and when they are sick. But it makes me nervous none-the-less. The other option is we switch Nico’s childcare. Which I don’t want to do… I mean, it is already going to be traumatic enough when we move away from Tally… I don’t think I want to change him, even if their hours aren’t terribly convenient. So we are going to try this for a while- to help fill in the gaps…

Aside from that- not much going on. I realized the other day that its almost mid-summer and I don’t have ay Christmas projects started yet. And on top of that, I have some Christmas stockings to finish (mind and Dave’s). Plus, Nico needs a Christmas stocking now. I guess I better get on it, or the Christmas Nazi might get after me.

All for now.

Dunkin his own self under!

Seriously- can he be any more adorable?

Today was a great day!!  We had BBUSC this morning... and it was hot.  The bank clock at Wakulla bank said it was 104 degrees.  BARF.  Again- adding to the case for living somewhere on the coast.

When we got home this afternoon, Nico caught a nap and we showered, to head up to Miller's to watch the US game.  Which was disappointing, if you are a huge US fan.  But if you're not, it is pretty much par for the course.

When we got back from Miller's, I filled up Nico's pool.  Dont know if I mentioned it or not, but my mom sent Nico an early birthday present: an inflatable pool.  Its pretty awesome... you blow it up and then fill it with water.  If I sit in it, it comes up to about my shoulders, which is perfect height for Nico to cruise around- and I dont have to worry about him bumping his face if he falls down or runs into the side.

I had to get finger printed yesterday, so I took part of my lunch and stopped by the house on the way to the office to get the pool set up.  I got it up and ready to go and then the skies opened up and it was like Noah's time up in here!  Which was a shame, because the reason I took the time to do it mid-afternoon is that I wanted to let the water get a little warmer for Nico.  So we ended up skipping it yesterday and trying again today.  I will admit the water was a little cool for my liking- but we got in just before dinner.  And he loves it.  LOVES LOVES LOVES it.  He was a little nervous at first... but once he figured out that he could cruise around, holding onto the side, he was off!!  At one point, he actually took 3 steps away from me towards the side, mostly unassisted (just my hand on his bum for balance).  Yeah... it was awesome.  Even better, is that he gets his face wet (mostly on accident), and he is starting to realize that its okay.... unlike before when I took him in the pool or in the ocean and dunked us under, in his pool he is responsible for his own self... so if it happens, it happens... and hopefully he doesnt think I am trying to drown him.

So that is about all I got for now.  He has had a real hard time settling tonight.  Seems like he has been waking up every 45 minutes or so.  :(  It hasnt been too bad, because I have been up late doing data stuff and whatnot.  But I am getting ready to go to bed and that nonsense needs to stop.

Doing some data work in the morning... hopefully, I will catch some England v. Germany in the morning.
More later.

The old wake up at 530 trick...

Hi all.  Just checking in real quick. 

Dont have much to share- except that I like my new job.  I am not doing much right now- just first days employee stuff.  But I like the people here.  And I dont have anyone in my grill.  Most importantly, is that I dont mind being at work... even when  130 hits and I need a nap (real bad).  I dont hate my life... like I did at the other place.  Here, I feel like an actual bonafide member of a team... people care if I come to work!  Whoot!

I have a cube right now, which is kind of depressing in a sense... because it is a cube.  But at least it is a nice cube... and they havent tried moving it closer to the door.  And I am already on the lowest floor, so its not like I have to worry about them moving me down to the basement (extra points for those of you who picked up on the Office Space reference).   

My computer came in yesterday- it is a laptop that sits in a docking station.  So that is pretty cool... apparently I am also getting a huge monitor as well, so I will be able to sit in my car and work from there. 

Other than that, things are going okay.  We have been trying to figure out a process for the morning- that helps Dave get some work done and gets me out the door on time.  The main solution that we have so far is waking up earlier... I have found that getting up between 530-545 am to work pretty well.  When my work hours switch to 7-4, I think I will either start getting up at 430... or I am going to have to be a lot better about getting my act together at night :(

Nico is doing well.  Sleeping well.  On one hand, I worry that he is maybe not sleeping enough, since it seems to be pretty heavy sleep at night.  But he is always bright eyed and bushy tailed at 645am.  So, who knows?  He got poop on his shoe the other day... seriously?  How the hell does that happen?  I didnt know about it till yesterday morning... so its not like there was time to wash it.  When I did get around to washing it, I reminded myself to throw both shoes in the wash, otherwise, he would look ridiculous with one clean shoe and one not so clean shoe.  I patted myself on the back for reminding myself to do that... and for being an awesome mom.  It wasn't until I went to get the load of clothes out of the wash that I realized that while I was awesome for reminding myself to get the non poopy shoe, I didnt actually do it.  So, despite my best efforts, Nico went to school this morning with a somewhat clean shoe and a somewhat dirty one.  Oh, well.  What are you going to do?  

Both my teams are through in the World Cup (England and Holland (probably- they already have two wins and play Cameroon today, I think)).  I dont see England staying alive much after the first round... they have been crap.  But, surprisingly, the US has been class... so I am somewhat amused. 

All for now. 

Weekend=amazing

So I started at the Department of Health this week. It’s okay, I think. A lot of nice people. Plus I’m at Southwood… which means that I can run safely at lunchtime without fear of getting mugged or run over. So that is a bonus.

Last week was a lot of fun. We made it down to Sarasota in good time on Wednesday night. If you recall, the only things I had to do was work on the dissertation and hangout. Managed to do both. The place we stayed at was on the beach (second floor- facing the gulf). It was fantastic. Nico did well… he tore up the place, getting into to the cabinents and whatnot. Crawled around a lot. We ate well including at the place we went the day of the wedding on Anna Maria, plus the place where we had the “rehearsal” dinner (Rotten Ralph’s). Speaking of which, they have a crab cake benedict that will make you sad that crabcakes and hollandaise sauce aren’t used more in breakfast meals.

We got to see the Granny and Grampy You plus the Royses and Aunt Rosie. Mom and I got Nico’s birthday quilt sewn together and I started putting the panes on the back. Looking forward to getting a good draft of the old diss to the committee so that I can finish it up. We made it a point to get down to the beach a couple of times a day. I think Nico might turn into a fish- he loved it (we also got in the pool several times). The water was warm, clear green and awesome (Dad says it was warmer than the water in my mom’s pool). Convinced me of the virtues of this particular area of the gulf coast and reminded me that wherever the next move is, special consideration should be given to places near the coast.

Saturday night, I stayed up late making edits to the dissertation- and it was amazing. The sky was really clear and I could see the moon. I sat out on the porch with the laptop which had Pandora going- listening to the sounds of Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen mixed with the sound of waves. It was really awesome…even if I did end up getting eaten alive by bugs.

Had an uneventful trip back, which included a swing through Live Oak for tamales. Mmmmmm. Came home to find that we lost power at the house while we were away. This normally wouldn’t have been a problem, but I had a bunch of analyses running on my computer. Which doesn’t restart when the power goes out :)

When we got back, I cut Nico’s hair. He had hair hanging down in his eyes… I don’t really know what I am doing when it comes to cutting hair- especially boys hair… so don’t judge me SC and JL! Nico’s hair which had been kind of strawberry blond now appears to be mostly blonde. I am sort of like, Wha-What? How could this be? He doesn’t really look like a baby anymore. He looks like a full grown kid. Its pretty amazing. Will try to get pictures up later this week.

I am off- getting ready for a run soon.

Heart.

Turning into a blueberry...

I think that we actually have a valid case for fear that Nico might turn into a blueberry.  That kid loves blueberries.  CANNOT.GET.ENOUGH.  Still eating anything you dont staple down (except for peas).  Loves pasta and noodles and yogurt.  

Today was the first day that I have gotten him when he didnt look genuinely happy to see me.  He was outside by a picnic table holding onto it and cruising.  I think he was kind of annoyed that I was there.  :)

So Dave has a work thing down in Sarasota this week.  This entailed staying on the beach near Sarasota.  And well... given that I am currently awaiting approval for a job, I guess Nico and I were just going to have to come down and keep him company.  Like my dad always said, "It's hard work, but someone has to do it."

Earlier this week, I was toting soccer girls up to Thomasville to go to soccer camp.  Which meant that Dave was originally going to drive down tonight and me follow with Nico tomorrow afternoon. But then our senior GK stepped up and offered to tote the girls, letting me off the hook.  Which meant that the nice and easy and relaxed packing that I was going to do tonight, got bumped up to: lets find the biggest bag we have and just start putting stuff in it.  Consequently, it is entirely possible that I have 25 t-shirts and no shorts or that I pulled a DiPonio.  Sounds about right to me.

We almost got in a wreck tonight when Dave was in the backseat with Nico.  "Sail Away" by STYX came on and he started singing it a la Cartman (from Southpark).  It was HILARIOUS!!  Tears were running down my face...



In any case, Granny You is coming up on Friday.  We are going to finish one of Nico's birthday gifts (shhhhhhh, dont tell him...it is a quilt).  Then Grandma and Grandpa Royse are coming on Saturday morning with Aunt Rosie.  I hope to do some swims and some runs while we are here.  The Marianna Tri is a little less than three weeks away and I have yet to do any swims at all... let alone open water swims.  Good thing I am not trying to win!!  Also hoping to get do some edits on the old dissertation.  Yesterday I set up chapter 5 runs... lots of gllamm (which take forever to run).  I am hoping that I will have some beautimous log files waiting for me when I get back.  Next week writing (hardcore) with the hopes of getting it to committee by about July 7 so they can have it for a month before I want to defend it (crosses fingers).

So that is all... will check in with you all later.  Have a wonderful rest of the week!

England, Cranes and TSA

Ohai!

Not much to say about the weekend.  It started with a FAIL for me on Friday.  I set up some analyses to run and decided to go on a bike ride.  Four miles out and back on the trail.  I told myself I would work hard and then go take a quick dip in the new FSU pool (out by the Mag Lab).  I got there at 231.  The pool closed at 230 for swim team practice.  So I was a little annoyed.  But then Dave suggested that I go to Wade Wehunt, which is in Myers Park.  Since I had already picked Nico by then... we ended up going swimming. And it was awesome.  Nico was a little unsure for a while, but then he started to really like it.  Isn't a big fan when Mama dunks us under, but.... he liked swimming for the most part. His favorite part seemed to be hanging onto the side wall all by himself.  It was pretty cool.  Worth every penny of the 3.50 we spent to get into the place.

Saturday we had practice... which sucked.  I can't lie.  I knew, intellectually, that those Saturday morning practices sucked last year when we started them... but it really is a boon for Dave who has a hard time getting to practices during the week.  But Saturday was hot and muggy and gross.  Nico was over practice almost as soon as we got there.  Can't say I blame him all that much.

Afterwards, we came home to watch a little England v. USA soccer.  I cheer for England.  Yeah- what of it?  Here is the thing:  I spend most of the Fall-Winter-Spring watching England... almost all of their National Team starters play for the major clubs in England.  So the National team games are kind of like All-Star games... when there are more than three of our starters playing in England, we can talk about me cheering for the US. Until then, go Lions!  In any case, my heart broke a little for Robert Green (the GK).  What is really shitty in this teched up society is that the goal he gave up for the tie will be noted in his Wikipedia entry (or his obit).  Personally, I blame Capello... fact is, every guy that steps onto pitch needs to have confidence that he is the man for the job, GKs need it more than anyone.  They live and die by confidence... seriously.  The best GKs have that swagger- that cockiness, that arrogance.  With all the talk about Calamity James maybe being the go-to  guy, my guess is that Robert Green was a bundle of nerves when he stepped onto pitch.  That is when you see mistakes like that goal.  Heart breaking.  Of course, it may not all be lost... he might end up like Jersey Dudek in the Champions League final in 2005... Dudek was the reason Liverpool were down by three goals at half time in the Final. But he came up big twice against Shevchenko at the end of regulation.  Then he SAVED TWO PKs in the ensuing shoot out.  So now whenever anyone talks about Dudek, they dont generally bring up the three terrible goals he gave up early on... but rather as him being the hero of Liverpool in the shootout (worthy of his own song and dance: "Du the Dudek" check it out here:

Wow. That was a long tangent.

So Nico watched a little of the England game... but was mostly ready for a nap... not much happened on Saturday night except that we hung around the house.  Sunday, I rode my bike to campus to work on the Ole Dissertationaroo. I had forgotten how much the ride to campus sucks from anywhere in Tallahassee (damn you hills!!)  When I was done on campus, I came home and ended up taking Nico to TSA to watch Dave play soccer- which was pretty fun. When we got home, I started putting together a mobile that I have been wanting to make for Nico. I ordered the origami cranes a while ago on Etsy (sorry the picture isn't better).  I thought they might make a cool mobile for his room.  Yes,it is pretty sweet.  Thank you very much!

 Altogether, a pretty good weekend, I think.

Gimme some cake!!

Not much going on here.

Nico has a new trick, which is pretty funny. Whenever you get a tasty snack or treat, he helps himself to it. It happened over the weekend when I went to Publix with him... I had him in the seat part of the cart and he was happy as a clam. I got one of those individually wrapped Oatmeal Creme Pies (because I make bad choices if I get the whole box). I realized that I wanted to go back to the yogurt section and get some "Yo Baby Yogurt." I turn around and next thing you know he has figured out how to open the package of the Little Debbie Cake. Milka-what? In my family, that is a good way to get your butt kicked!!

So last night, Dave goes by New Leaf and brings me home a piece of their Crack Cake- I mean their cookies and cream cake.  I set it on the table next to Nico and he starts trying to help himself to it.  Just like JJ would say, "You give this kid an inch, and he starts thinking he is a ruler."

Out of control!!

Boom!!

Not much exciting to report. Except that I ruled at Stata today. I have had this problem with one of my variables, that I couldnt figure it out. Mama got it figured today. Just needed a little bullying: BOOM!!

About Sunday night: sorry if that was too much information about the smell coming from the kitchen. I sometimes forget that you guys dont want to know every gory detail of our crazy lives! Ooopsies!!

Unpacking is still going. Frankly, its kind of annoying. I wish that we could come back from practice and find that magic gnomes have broken in and put all the stuff away. That would be amazing. It is just tricky because when you're unpacking in a new place, you have to put some thought into where you want stuff. Like, where does it make sense? And we also are having to deal with some new realities. Like no mudroom. At the old house it was great because there was at least a little storage place for things like, the tool box, beer brewing supplies, soccer stuff, the saw, etc. And our laundry room now is attached to a bathroom (weird). Just trying to get it figured. On the upside, the DirecTV people are coming tomorrow to set up service. Woo hoo!! Just in time for the World Cup. Speaking of which... take a gander at this (Mom, make sure that JJ sees this, he would think it is cool):



Pretty awesome, don't you think? Very LOST!!

Not much new to report on the Nico front. In the evenings when he has started to meltdown at dinner, he is pointing at his noise. I dont know what this means. I have been looking in it... thinking that maybe he stuck a rock up there or something. Turns out he is just being weird.

Most of the sunflowers I planted outside his room have died. I think the dogs may have had something to do with this. When they go tromping around the yard, I have noticed that they aren't really careful about where they step :( So I guess I am going to have to start some more in pots. Our tomatoes, green peppers and hot pepper are going pretty well right now. I also have some watermellons going too, but I have heard that sometimes they are hard to transplant... so the jury is still out. I think I may need to fertilize them.

It's weird, because I have known people who have had babies, and I have always been amazed at the amount of stuff they have.  Just random stuff, little baby food containers, ribbons, bottle caps, waterbottles, etc.  I didnt know why until I had a baby: BABIES WILL PLAY WITH ANYTHING.  

Seriously.  They will.  No joke.  I have tried to make sure that he has a variety of "toys" to play with...things with different sizes, textures, purposes and sounds.  I keep a bag or box of toys in his Pack n Play, his room and the car (for soccer practice).  They mostly consist of a book or two, blocks or rings, a scarf, bottles with pennies or beans in them, etc.  When I was cleaning out the linen closet, I found a pouf that I didnt know we had and that had never been used before.  Guess what makes a great toy?  

My question is this:  What is he doing?

Who do you call about that?

So, it is 10:38 pm and I am supposed to be grading.  It is an assignment that needed to be graded a week ago, but I just havent gotten to it.  I have been dreading doing it all weekend, which has gotten me so that I have to grade these damn things before I go to bed :(

Not a whole lot going on.  Dave and I spent most of the weekend unpacking and hanging with Nico.  We coached BBUSC yesterday (only three girls there- AWESOME!!).  Dave took point with Nico this morning and I went to campus for 4 glorious hours of dissertation work.  I promise you, there is nothing better than walking out of Bellamy after being productive on your dissertation for four hours.  It pretty much rulez!!

Looking forward to the World Cup starting soon.  My teams are The Netherlands and England.  The Netherlands because I am part Dutch, but also because one of my favorite GKs plays for the Orange (Edwin van der Saar).  England, because I watch those boys play, week in, week out throughout the entirety of the EPL.... so an England squad is pretty much like the EPL All-Stars.  Plus, Rio is hurt and him on the bench significantly improves the odds of the Three Lions making the first cut.  In my spare-spare time, I have been reading Soccernomics on the Kindle, which is about soccer.  It talks about why England always think they should win the World Cup, when in reality, they have no more right to claim the title as anyone else. It is pretty interesting.

I guess that in order to watch games, we are going to have to get the TV set up.  Again, one of the things I hate about moving.  Currently, I have no idea where the DirectTV box is nor the DVR... and the TV is on the floor.  We haven't had time to fully unpack and we got rid of our sofa... can't really justify sitting around on the floor watching a whole lot of TV right now... especially since there isn't much good tv on now, with LOST and 24 being off the air and Bones being over for the Season.  Meh...

It rained cats and dogs here this weekend.  Bad wind too, knocked trees down in Myers Park.  In an unrelated matter, Dave and I have noticed the most foul odor coming from the kitchen.  Like something died... but we can't figure out where.  Its pretty gross... we can't really smell it outside and there doesn't appear to be any corpses of any kind actually in the kitchen.  So we think maybe something died under the house?  I don't know.  Hell- can you even call someone about this?  I thought about calling the Leasing Company, but my guess is that they would be jerks about the situation.  

I posted this on facebook, but thought that I would put it here, because it is so adorable... look at the boy!!  That is a defender, all the way!!  Man!!  He is already better than Rio Ferdinand. 



Also, I have a new favorite thing: babies in board shorts.  I like. 

Alrighty, then.  I guess it's back to work for me.  :(

ZOMG!! Cake!!

Not much to report... today. Except that I was in a terribly grumpy mood this morning- despite getting LOTZ of sleep last night.  However, that has since turned around... I attribute it to either:

1). Big soda during morning writing.
2). chilli cheese dog for lunch (mmmmmm).
3). Internetz at the house.
4). 5mg adderall.

Take your pick.

Went to a going away thing for FG last night.  He is going back to France.  It was fun but sad at the same time.  Fun in the sense that a lot of my favorites were there and I got the chance to catch up with a lot of them.  Sad in the sense that France is so far away... its like a totally other continent.  And also too, he is one of my closest friends.  He is one of the few friends that intersects most of my other circles of friends...

The house is still a disaster area, but we still love it.  The other day, we lost the dogs in the house.  Milka-what?  Yeah... we couldn't find the dogs in the house.  Last night, as I was getting ready to go out, Dave couldn't find me in the house.  Ha!!  Isnt that funny?  Even funnier is that this house is only 1400 sq feet.  It seems downright palatial.  Like Dave and I were discussing how to arrange the bed in our room and I realized that we could have it any way we wanted it, not just how it fit in there.  Craxy!!

Nico seems to really like his room... it has these two huge windows in the corner, where his crib is.  Yesterday afternoon we transplanted our sunflower seedlings to the ground just outside his room... so maybe he will see some sunflowers growing soon.

The job at DOH is still processing.  The person who is hiring me is playing phone tag with one of my references still.  My guess is that once she hears back, it wont be long till my "vacation" is over.

In an unrelated matter- I have started thinking about Nico's birthday party (what?  that is how the Bishops roll, yo!!)  For Mother's Day, Nico got me a book called, "The Essential Dessert Guide"... which is this great color cookbook of sweets. In any case, I was thinking it would be cool to make one from the book for his birthday... however, there is this other thing I want: to have a picture of Nico sitting on a table with a chocolate frosted cake (which is like a picture that my mom had of me).  The only problem is, that the chocolate cakes in this book are completely out of control- probably way too out of control for little kids (but not for their parents).  Or I could just stop this nonsense and get baby cupcakes, like a sensible mother.

And on a completely unrelated matter- this book has given me some ideas for the next Bishop Family Cupcake Competition (BFCC).  It is on!! 

All for now... talk to you guys later!!

Milestones...

So, Nico has been growing like a weed lately.  Here is what has been going on.

1).  6th tooth in (bringing total to 4 on top and 2 on bottom).  Whoot!!

2).  He is starting to be more gentle.  This is a win because he is always up in my grill and I am always up in his grill.  Seriously, it was past the point of being cute when he would try to scratch my face off- or pull my nose off my face.  He is starting to be more gentle... sometimes.  When he is in his case, he still tries to pull my hair out- but, what can you do?

3).  The girls at his school told us that we need to start putting shoes on him.  When they go outside, he likes to push a bike around the place- which is hard to do if you are running around barefoot like a little redneck baby.  The thing about shoes:  for most of our childhood my mom was pretty adamant that we wear leather shoes... not that mandmade leather stuff, but the good stuff... which is more expensive.  So while we may have only had one or two pairs of shoes, I never remember my feet hurting because my shoes were cheap.

In any case, the girls suggested I get this moccasin things at Target, which narrowed down my choices to basically two types...made by the same company.  One type that was 20.00 (made from leather) and one that was 12.00 (not made from leather).  I ended up going with the cheaper shoe (gasp) because I didnt have Nico with me.  Seriously.  Who doesnt take a baby shoe shopping (hell- I didn't think about it).  I figured since I was guessing at the size, that I might as well get the cheaper ones, because well, I'd hate to spend the extra $$ for shoes that don't fit.

So he is almost 10 months old, but has, what I think, are big feet, for real.  And boxy shaped too (just like Daddy).  In fact, if you were to picture the kind of feet that Maddox would draw (shaped like misshapen potatoes) you have both Dave and Nico's feet.  I didnt think that the 6-12 months shoes would fit Nico, so I went with the 12-18 months shoes.  I figured if they were a little big, its okay because its not like he is running marathons or anything.

In any case, I put them on and was trying to figure out if they were the right size...his kept crunching his toes up... so I have no idea how big they are on his feet.  EPIC!!  Also can't wait for him to get big enough to wear his Sambas... yeah, you know.  He is a little soccer dude, he has a pair of adidas indoors.... just like Mama and Daddy (cousins Emme and Maxipoo got them for him).

4. I took Nico to school yesterday and he cried when I dropped him off.

This is huge.  I never really thought he cared too much about me versus some other caregiver type.  I mean, even when he was nursing he was like, "yeah, whatever lady- i will work my cute on whoever shows up to get me."  Yesterday was the first time he cried when I dropped him off... (I don't usually drop him off, though).  It was the first time that I really got the sense that he knew what was going on... and that he realizes I am his Mom.  It was pretty awesome.

All for now.