Hooray! says Ivy. I'm in my blue chair! Mommy is taking my picture!
It's starting to feel a little bit more like home here. We're finding our way around town a little better, Josh has found a place to get his haircut (I'm no longer doing it for him), and Ivy is exploring the house from the floor to the ceiling.
My classes are going well (lots of pictures of Ivy this week, so they're
not all relevant!). The Performance in World Culture class, which had
so many early drops, is shaping up to be a great class. The students
who stayed are up for anything, and are trying so hard to have open
minds. It's hard to get past the fact that so many of them are willing
and eager to identify as "committed Christians" and to write about the 
power
of Christ's love on the class bulletin board, but on Thursday many
expressed dismay that TAMU is so much less racially and economically
diverse than their high schools. Though they may enjoy the privilege it
offers them, they are aware that the homogeneity here isn't the norm.
That was encouraging. And despite the fact that my theatre history
students are as eager to talk about Law & Order as Hernani, they are a fun bunch. It's nice to be teaching majors. I had them act out scenes from Hernani
on Thursday, and all groups did something different and interesting
(rather than just reading it). They are certainly a change from my
Calgary students in that regard (also the Jesus regard).
Josh
is enjoying his classes, I think, and we're watching lots of movies for
his class prep. He continues to struggle with his media.
He doesn't have any kind of support, which is very different from my
situation (I unlock my room and my equipment is just waiting for me)
and so he's had to change lectures on the fly. He's so smart!
Mommy and Daddy left on Monday, beating a storm back to Iowa. I bet
they're sorry they're back to the winter (and it's getting warmer here
-- 75 yesterday and 78 scheduled for today and tomorrow). We are sorry
to see them go (and I miss my mom's cappuccinos, though Josh has made
me Metamucil a few times) but are so happy they could stay for so long.
They worked so hard -- hardly a moment of fun (though they did have
some good times with Ives, who really misses them). The floors are
gorgeous -- so shiny and rich. We've hung a few things on walls and
will hang more,
and I'll try to continue to work Ivy shots in with house shots so you can see our progress.Ivy and Brittany are getting along great. She usually comes as we're feeding her second
breakfast, and takes over. Ivy smiles up at her, and she is pretty much
behaving for Brittany as she does for us (only better -- she'll nap for
her nanny, but her weekend naps have been really terrible, with 3 40min
naps the last 2 days). On Monday Brittany and I took her for shots. I
was worried about her alone in the car on the way home, but didn't need
to be. Ivy was great, though she really, really wailed during the
shots, with huge tears rolling down her face. She handled them much
better than she did the last time. Tuesday morning she was pretty
fussy, but otherwise she didn't seem to notice.
I
got her weighed and measured at last. I was a little surprised to find
out she is only 25 1/4 inches long. Frankly, I don't quite believe
that. She has definitely grown more than 3/4" since November -- she's
out of all her 3-month clothes and her feet can nearly reach the bottom
of her brain chair. I think the length measurement is pretty random --
they just lay the baby down and hold her foot and take a wild guess.
She's still perfectly proportioned and in the 40-45th percentile for
everything (her head isn't a pinhead after all). She weighs 15lbs, 13oz
(and we can really feel the weight gain as we tote her around).We continue to enjoy running errands, walking, swinging, and playing with her in our time
away from school. She took a catnap on me on IvyandMommy day this week,
but we didn't do much else fun (except work on object permanence -- she
totally knows she's dropping Ollie, and laughs when he appears back on
her tray, so doubters beware!). Today we're going to the HEB! Hooray!
This
week, I put her in new Robeez -- she's modeling them here. She's got
lots of pretty new clothes to wear, but I'm really sad to see the old
favorites go (and that's why she's in an old dress with her new shoes
and tee). I sent a bunch to my friend Carrie Sandahl, whose baby
arrived in November, saved a few for the memory box, and have a pile
ready to go back to Sophie. I'll really miss those happy lavender
butterflies.We miss our friends in Calgary SO MUCH. Sophie Joan O'Brien turned 2 on Saturday, and I'm so sorry we didn't get to go to her party. I bet it was lots of fun.
The more I play, the smarter I get! Thanks, Auntie Heidi! I love my brain chair!
