Guess where I am?

It is after 7:00 p.m. on a Monday evening – and I have a moment to write in the blog. Can you guess where I am? You got it – I’m proctoring an exam. I’m also putting together a slide show of some pictures from Halloween, and the pictures of the favors and a few other things that I’ve been promising to post since “pJ” (pre-Jaden). I’ll put the link on the “pictures: forever family” tab when it is ready. 

I can’t believe how long it has been since I’ve been able to write. Things are getting better in many ways, and more challenging in others. Jaden is sleeping 3 to 4 hours at a time at night. He wakes up once for a bottle on good nights, twice on so-so nights, and every other hour on the worst nights.  I think he’s become comfortable with his new home, it is just those darn teeth creating the problem now. On the flip side, my body has adapted to no longer receiving 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night, and I’m not feeling as exhausted as I was the first few weeks after coming home. 

I have been promoted and now have the official title of “Associate companion to Jaden at all times and always within a 3 foot radius.” I know every word to the songs for Elmo, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and the Little Einstein’s (these are the shows he watches on and off – but nothing really keeps his attention as long as Elmo). I can even tell you the order in which every Elmo ‘skit’ proceeds. 

Speaking of Elmo, this past weekend we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s for a couple of days. It was a great weekend. We celebrated some birthdays, a couple of anniversaries (including my Aunt and Uncle’s 50th!!!), and Jaden got loads of attention all weekend long. Grandma and Grandpa gave Jaden an early Christmas gift: “Tickle me Elmo.” He did well with it even though the warnings online say some kids are frightened at first.  Jaden tends to be on the brave (more like ‘fearless’) side.  The weekend was a good reprieve for me from my new job of “associate companion.” Jaden was so overwhelmed by the attention he received from everyone that he took two 2-hour naps on both days, and slept nearly through the whole night. Grandma swears it is because he likes to sleep at her house.  

I am convinced Jaden will be walking by Thanksgiving. If not, then definitely by Christmas. He constantly wants to hold onto my index fingers and have me walk him around the house (or as Grandpa says, it’s more like running around the house). Every day he has been testing the waters a little more by taking his hands off of whatever he holds onto for support to see how long it takes him before he loses his balance. I think he’s given up on figuring out how to go directly from a crawl position to a sit position, and has instead decided to go from crawl, to climb, to stand, to sit. 

We had a fun Halloween – we took Jaden out to a few houses around the neighborhood. He was great. He enjoyed the stroll in the stroller and we got to meet some more of our neighbors. Everyone says the same thing: “We didn’t know anyone lives in that house.” I guess we are very good about turning lights off in rooms we’re not using, and we must be very stealth in coming and going. You would think we would be noticed more often, since one of us is home at all times with Jaden, and we are in and out of the house for one thing or another all the time. It probably doesn’t help that we keep most of the cars in the garage, so I can fathom a guess as to why it would look like no one lives there. 

Speaking of cars; we got a new ‘safer’ car for Jaden to ride in. Check it out – I am turning into a soccer mom already. We did our research and tried to find a car that was great on fuel efficiency but also very safe, and it just seems the best of both worlds does not exist. We went with a very safe car that gets acceptable gas mileage, and called it a day. I love it, although it is definitely like driving a tank compared to most of the cars that I’ve had in the past. I’m still getting used to backing up – it is wider and longer than any car I’ve driven before.

Jaden went with us on both visits to the dealership: to pick out the car and then to pick up the car — and he was an angel both times, even though we had him there much longer than we should have. On another tangent: If you ever need to buy a car, you should take my mom with you. She got us a terrific deal with extras that I probably wouldn’t have tried for if she hadn’t been there. After she started to deal, the sales manager said “Oh great, you brought the closer.” 

So that’s all I can think of for now. OH – I forgot the most important – - Neville and I decided it would be best for me to take a semester leave of absence in order to further ease Jaden’s transition and give us more time to get him accustomed to other people (and therefore ready for day care or a baby-sitter). I wasn’t going to take off – but I ended up with a schedule that would have been too difficult to manage if we wanted to continue having one of us with Jaden most of the time each day. I am thinking that he may be ready for a baby-sitter by the time next semester starts (the end of January), but there’s a chance he won’t, and if that happens, and I working a tough schedule, then I’ll be in a bind with no easy solution. Taking time off ended up being the logical choice. It is going to be difficult financially for a few months, but it will be worth it since I’ll have until the end of the summer with Jaden. By then he’ll be 20 months, and will have spent almost an entire year with us. So it sounds like a plan, right? So why do I always worry that plans will go awry? 

And now, speaking of finances, does anyone want to buy an investment property in Newport, RI? The price is reduced!

LOL