Swing

With all of the sunny weather, Megan has been getting a lot of use out of her new swing. We got the swing a couple of weeks ago after seeing how much fun Megan had on other people's swings, but then the weather instantly turned bad and the swing sat unused for a while. But this week we've been bundling her up and putting her in the swing. She'll stay out there as long as you'll keep pushing!

Jeans

Sooner or later I knew I'd be dressed like an old "fuddy-duddy" while my kid sported the latest trends. I just didn't realize this would happen before she even turned one!

Stocking

Mac's parents met us in Vagas to see Megan (and purportedly us too). They took care of Megan Saturday night while we were at the wedding of one of Mac's college friends. Megan also got an early Christmas.

Mac's mom made Megan a beautiful stocking. It's almost big enough to be her sleeping bag! But just like she did with the stocking she made me, she immediately took it back. We only get to appreciate her handiwork when we visit her!

Vegas, Baby

Last weekend we traveled to Las Vegas. We were fortunate in that the plane was quite empty, so Megan even got her own seat. She did great on the plane, but I guess that is to be expected from such a seasoned traveler: this was Megan's fourth round-trip flight in six months! Though changing altitude didn't seem to bother her at all, we did notice she is getting harder to travel with. She is no longer content to sleep the flight away; she'd much rather make friends with all the strangers around her (whether they like it or not). At one point she was playing peek-a-boo through the seat crack with the people behind us.

On the way home we were lucky to have Jackie, the most precocious three year old I have ever met, on the plane. She had Megan (and several surrounding passengers as well) in hysterics with her very animated stories about her week-long stay in Vegas. It made the flight pass by much more quickly!

"Can I get more peanuts?"

Water baby

Today, Meg and I took the plunge. We attended our first "parent-baby swim class" at the Salem Family YMCA. Meg had a great time and only swallowed a tiny amount of water. She laughed and splashed and kicked the ball around while Daddy overcame his fear of classroom participation. We sang, "I'm a little Pancake" (while babies float on their back), "Little Red Caboose," "The Wheels on the Bus," "Hokie-Pokie," and some frog song that I can't remember the name of. The last time we went to a class was the story time at the LO (you blow) library. I hated it because I didn't know any of the stupid songs we were expected to sing and noone said a word to me. Today was much different and we'll definitely be going back. Pictures to come, but they're kind of difficult to manage with a wet baby and an electronic camera.

Test Free Future

After and agonizing six weeks and one day, my test results arrived. Let's just say it is all I can do right now to keep from running around the house singing, "I PASSED, I PASSED, I PASSED..."

And best yet all of my certifications are for life, so I should be done for good!

Progress

The nice thing about an empty house is that you get to buy new furniture.
Yesterday our new dining room table and game table were delivered.

Of course the cats had to check out the new stuff.

Other recent additions include a new couch and recliner and a spiffy new chair for Mac's spiffy new office. And don't forget the super-screen! Let us know when you want to come over for dinner and a movie!

I like these home improvement projects where you can just slap down a credit card and be done with it - it definitely beats painting, which we have been doing a lot of (ok, which Mac has been doing a lot of). And the best thing is, after five weeks of work, I finally got my first paycheck. Now we can actually pay for this furniture!

The house still has lots of things that need to get done and I still feel very unsettled, but slowly we are making progress. Even Megan is helping out. Just look how she is testing paint colors for us!

Halloween

Megan was very excited about her Halloween pumpkin shirt.

She also liked her clown costume OK, but she DID NOT like that wig. Maybe despite her parenting, the girl has some fashion sense! Or maybe she was just scared of her Dad!