Random Blather

Dear Gwen's Next Tooth:

JUST POP OUT ALREADY. SRSLY. HOLY CRAP.

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How is everyone out in internet land? Though I'm feeling a bit blue and more than a bit tired at the moment, on the whole things are going really, really well for us here. Feel like I really should be updating more, but at the same time I am trying not to let myself spend too much time on the computer while I'm at home. Let's see if I can hit the highlights ...

Gwen is starting to try to say her name. So far it's just "Ga" while she points to her own chest. It's pretty cute. And if you think about it, the cognitive processes indicated here are kind of mind-boggling.

Work is going really, really well for me at the moment. The Big Decision I have to make has been put off, as there is a hiring freeze on at the moment due to this Whole Economy Thing. So in the meantime I am filling the position temporarily, getting a feel for it, without losing my flex days. This is a very temporary grace period but in the meantime I am enjoying that, and actually appreciating the new and interesting challenges at work. No one is more surprised than me. For the first time in about five years, I am working at a job where my work is not finished at the end of the day when I go home. I gather this is how most of the world operates ALL THE TIME. At first it made me anxious, because I am so used to Finishing Everything Way Ahead of Schedule, but now I am actually appreciating how quickly the days go and how much variety there is in my job.

Last Monday when Chris dropped off Gwen and the daycare payment for July, Denise realized - by the amount on the cheque - that we had entirely forgotten about the fact that she was taking the first week of July off. It was completely our fault: she mentioned it when we interviewed her, but it was all so hypothetical that we didn't take too much notice, and then it completely slipped our minds. Fortunately, Chris's mom (O bless the wonders of local, retired grandparents!) was able to step in and take her for four days this past week instead of her usual one. Gwen had a terrific week with her Gramma, of course. We are incredibly grateful to her for saving our bacon: grateful enough that we took the money saved on daycare, converted it to Euro, and gave it to her for her Europe trip later this year.

Gwen has a lot of words now, though she doesn't always use them consistently. It's like she makes up her mind, on a particular day, to mimic everything we say and thus learn, like, TEN new words. Then the next day, no matter what I do, she won't mimic me at all. Some new words are:
Animal (in response to a puppet I have that looks like this)
Bus
Ball
Duck (and Quack)
Bird (and Caw)

She is also getting to the stage where putting things away in boxes can be an entertaining pastime for her. Every night when I put her to bed we take these out of the box, read a few, and then put them all back away. She needs a lot of encouragement, but she does put them back in the box. So far, this aptitude does not extend to a desire to help put any of her other toys away. One thing at a time ...