A New Perspective

This week we conducted Parent Teacher Conferences at school. While the days are longer, and there is sometimes disappointing news to share, I always come away reminded of how great our students really are, even the stinkers! Conferences can be intimidating. You never know how a parent will react to what you have to say. Thankfully that's not the norm.

You're always told to treat your students like you'd treat your own kids, and put yourself in the parents' shoes. Well for 11 years, I didn't know what that was like, nor did I ever want to think that I could conduct myself any differently. Those comments always annoyed me. So when I say I hate to admit this, I really hate to admit this. I am a completely different teacher ever since Vinny came along. Oh, I'm not any more nice or any less sarcastic (well maybe a little), but I see things differently now. I see things like a mom now. Sure, he's only 7 months old, but someday I'll be sitting on the other side of the table sitting in the little chair. This all occurred to me right there in the middle of one of our conferences.

While one of our students read his personal reflection about his progress, I could feel my eyes well up. I couldn't help but see Vincent sitting there, and then I caught sight of his mom's huge smile. What a surreal moment. Before it was all over, this little boy was laughing at how silly it looked to see his teachers and mom crying about how wonderful he was. But we all understood one another. Of course I've felt pride for my students achievements in the past, but I couldn't help but think of how hard he's worked to "get" things. This boy was so easily frustrated early on, but persisted. He's truly one of our sweeties, too. I found myself in a flash forward to Vinny's first parent teacher conference. I don't want him to struggle necessarily, but I want for him the same things this student felt because of his character. Perseverance. Accomplishment. Pride. Confidence. Integrity. You can't feel those things without knowing how hard you worked to achieve success.

Vincent has already accomplished so much is little lifetime so far. He's already made us so proud.

Eventful Week, Full of Milestones

Even I have noticed my posts become fewer and farther between. These days, Vincent keeps us busier than ever before..and we know that soon our lives will be forever changed. Vince is crawling! Well, just about anyway. He's been up on all fours rocking like crazy, and he has begun to move backwards. Here he is trying to crawl right through the laptop to grab Gramma's nose...or cheek...or glasses...or hair....yes, he's grabbing everything in reach, too.

Hi Gramma!

Another big milestone this week has been sitting up all by himself without any support. This one sort of surprised me, it sort of happened without me realizing it. Here he is chewing on a new favorite frozen teether. Vincent cut two little itty bitty bottom teeth this week! Ooh they are sharp! If I were nursing, this would have been the week I quit!

Big Boy!

Eating these last two weeks has been a new challenge, too. Vincent has little use for rice cereal, but we are trying. By now it's more applesauce than cereal, but he's liking it a little more. I then introduced peas to him, and he loved them! Right now we are working on sweet potatoes, which he loves as well. Trouble is, as you can see form the picture below, Vince is hardly a neat eater. He sort of face plants into the spoon. It's comical for sure. Thankfully, he hasn't given me raspberries yet during mealtime, though he's been practicing. I'm waiting!

Love This Face!

Daddy Feeds Me, Too

So far we've been feeding Vincent right on the counter, but today I ordered a highchair. He squirms around so much, we need something to contain him! I just had to include the picture below for fun. Vincent was just happy as could be in his jumpy while I did a few things around the house. I think I sat down to work on the laptop, and found that it had become oddly quiet. Well, this is why...

Play Hard, Sleep Hard

White Matter

A couple months back my brother-in-law, John, began his own blog to reflect upon his own family, his profession, and his passion for cycling.

While I will admit to skimming over his bike jargon, it's the connections he makes with his family that really speak to me. Referring to a recent cyclocross race with Will, John found the words that I think I have been searching for. See John-I told you I would use them! This captures what it means to remember the "moments."

"I look over and he looks back with a grin I am trying to emblazon into my white matter forever." (JMM)

There are so many faces I want to emblazon into my white matter forever, but of late, these are a few that melt my heart.

That's The Face

My 2 Favorite People

It's hard sometimes to write meaningful words without sounding like I'm narrating an episode of Grey's Anatomy. I hope that at the end of this, I will still have emblazoned onto my heart as well the intense love I have for my family. It's the kind of love that spills over like teardrops when you just can't believe how lucky you are.

Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch!

Nothing feels like fall like triple digit temperatures, right? This is about the time of year that I begin to get a bit cranky...and extremely homesick. My favorite time of year is Fall, especially in New England. Mom shared her pictures of Blaise at Brown's Harvest, and I just knew a trip to a pumpkin patch up north would be on our list of things to do. After all, down here in "the Valley" you mostly find make-shift pumpkin patches in empty corner lots or big bins in the produce aisle of the grocery store. So while up in the White Mountains, we traveled to a little town called Snowflake to visit Willis Farm.

Well, the pumpkin patch was a little weak, not much to do. Most disappointing, there were no hayrides! But we did have fun walking through the field to find just the right pumpkin for Vincent's First Halloween. A 20 pounder-a little bigger than the boy!

Kodak Moment Photo Stop