Birthday Birthday!

We got to celebrate Titus's seventh birthday with Amber and the kids. It was a lot of fun. It's so cute to see Joy delightedly watching Titus open his presents.




Apollos saw me taking pictures and asked if he could take some.


Here are a few of the pictures he took:






Ezekiel always likes hanging out with his cousins. We are all going to miss them when they're gone.

4 Months Old!

Ezekiel just had his 4 months doctor's appointment yesterday. Here are his stats:
Head circumference: 14.75", 56%
Length: 26.25", 90%
Weight: 15 lbs, 9 oz, 63.7%

The doctor said I should start feeding him rice cereal so he can get some iron!

I am often told by strangers / acquaintances to "enjoy him now... he'll be grown up before you know it." I think it's funny that this is such a common thing to say to a person with a baby. I also think it's funny because of course we enjoy him! We enjoy him every day! I'm torn between looking forward to him getting a little bit older, so that he can actually talk to us and walk around with us, and wanting him to stay his precious baby self as long as possible. But we certainly do enjoy him. Mari and Chris: enjoy Isaac while he's this young. He'll be 4 months old before you know it.

Ezekiel got a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament from his Granny in Cushing. He tested it out and decided he liked it before we put it on the tree.



Ezekiel enjoys some rough-housing with his daddy. He expresses his delight by cooing, smiling, laughing, and then barfing.



We recently got to see Santa at a shopping center near our house. Like many young children, Ezekiel seems a little unsure about being put on a stranger's lap. Actually this Santa wasn't a stranger, but I don't think Ezekiel could recognize Mr. and Mrs. Carico through their awesome Mr. and Mrs. Claus costumes.

Quack Quack!

Here's Ezekiel on the morning of Thanksgiving:

Unfortunately he didn't get to wear that very long before it got dirty and he had to change into something else.

This morning we put him in his Johnny Jump-up for the first time. He seemed to like it - he was finally able to look all around him, and even turn around if he wanted. I think it will work even better once he gets a little bit bigger.

9 Cousins!

This past weekend Ezekiel got to meet his Dallas cousins. And today he finally got to meet his little cousin- the only one who's smaller than him!

It was great to see Mari, Chris and Isaac. And all 9 cousins were in one place (unfortunately Luke & Amber were still in Alaska, but they'll be joining the party soon). We'll be taking pictures of the whole fam next weekend, but today we did a few practice shots: one of all the babies born between October 2010 and October 2011

And one of all 9 of my parents' grandchildren

I have more pictures on my facebook page.

3 Months Old!

Today is Ezekiel's 3-month birthday! Here are a few of the developments we've been impressed by:

• He has become HUGE. Well, he's still tiny compared to an adult human. But he's much bigger and heavier than he was when he was born.
• He has started to grab things with his hands. He often holds his hands together in front of him.
• He can now suck his thumb! He is becoming less attached to his pacifier.
• He's working towards rolling over. When he's lying on is front, he can twist his back so that he's pretty much on his side.
• He's laughing a lot! (That's my favorite)

A few times I've wondered at what ages certain developments are "supposed to" happen, but usually I forget or lose interest before I look it up. I've decided I pretty much don't care. While the above developments probably seem un-interesting, especially if they're completely average for his age (or even--GASP--below average), but as his adoring parent, I totally don't care. I'm so proud to see him slowly acquire these life skills, regardless of their indication about how he compares to his fellow babies. And then I had an alarming thought- what if I feel this way about him his whole life? What if I'm always proud of what he's doing well, regardless of whether or not he's better than other people? I guess that's a mother's job. I've always felt opposed to the idea of "celebrating mediocrity", and I certainly hope that my dear son has areas of talent in which he is truly outstanding, but perhaps I will just always see him as outstanding.

Happy Fall!

Ezekiel has really been enjoying the cooler weather, since that means he gets to wear his favorite dragon sweatshirt.

I also means nice snuggle time with his daddy, while wearing his quack-quack sleep sack.

I tried taking Ezekiel to school with me a couple of weeks ago. I thought, "he often naps during this time. He'll probably fall asleep in the car and then sleep through my class." WRONG. He did sleep in the car, but then woke up as I arrived on campus. My professor graciously assured me that it would be a treat to have my little guy in class, but Ezekiel demanded constant attention and then worked himself into a fuss midway through lecture, so that eventually had to leave. So now I know that Ezekiel isn't ready to learn about tax policy yet. Perhaps next semester.

As this semester winds to a close, I'm finding that my enthusiasm for research has slightly waned. Next semester I'll be taking a class from one of my favorite professors, whose research interests I almost always enjoy hearing about. I'm hoping that taking her "topics in microeconomic theory" course will jump start my drive to research and get finished.

I look forward to being done with my degree, because then I'll have to freedom to use it in whatever way I choose. While I do enjoy micro theory research when the problem is interesting enough, finding such interesting problems is not easy. My goals and priorities have been in flux this semester, and as my desire to be a world class researcher peters out, my enjoyment of teaching remains strong. My tuition waiver and stipend depend on me being a teaching assistant, and this semester I'm a TA for an upper level mathematical economics course. I enjoy trying to make the material accessible to the students, and at the same time trying to encourage and reassure them. Pastor Carter has repeatedly emphasized the fact that everything we do, including our work, should be viewed for the context of how it furthers God's kingdom. While economic research clearly works to bring order out of chaos (I love efficiency!), it can be hard to see the impact of this in the day-to-day spent trying to work out the math on some of these models. But it is more tangible to see how I can be a blessing to students every day as a teacher (or, hopefully one day as a professor). So right now I'm hoping to finish my Ph.D. so that I can then have the freedom to do research, as the interest arises, and also to teach.

Almost 2 months old!

Today I took Ezekiel to the doctor for his 2 month checkup. His actual 2 month birthday is Monday. Here are his stats:

Height (or length): 24.5 inches

Weight: 12 lbs, 3 oz

Head size: 40 inches (circumference)

He is filling out his fleece footie pajamas nicely!

Last night we went to Luke and Amber's house to celebrate Constantine's first birthday. Joy is a great baby helper- she takes such an interest in Ezekiel and is getting to know how she can help (shaking is little rattle is a great Joy task). As we were getting ready for dinner she helped bring the little bouncer seat for him to sit in and put it in the middle of the kitchen, saying, "here he can look at the family!" Good thinking! Except it turns out he was a little bit in the middle of a high-traffic area. After I had set him in it, Joy accidentally backed into him. She tripped on the seat, and as she fell the seat folded up on Ezekiel. I saw this from a couple feet away as though it was happening in slow motion. I said "Oh no! Oh no!" and I couldn't seem to get there fast enough. I saw the little plastic part of the seat fold up on him and Joy fall on top. She got up quickly, and by the time I got there Ezekiel was letting out an extremely distressed wail. I scooped him up and hurried him into another room to calm him down. I'm not sure what I was afraid was going to happen to him- I knew it didn't kill him. But all I could think was "PANIC! PANIC! PANIC!" What's funny is that I have seen other moms react in similar ways to seemingly minor incidents in the past, and subconsciously thought "that seems like a bit of an over-reaction." At least I didn't voice that thought, or else I would be having to eat my words.

Ezekiel calmed down and was fine, except for being in a slightly grouchy mood (he was tired already). When I joined the family at the dinner table, I told them he was fine but a little bit grouchy, and Titus helpfully said, "I bet I know who he's grouchy at- Joy". Poor Joy- but I think Ezekiel knows it was an accident and won't hold it against her.

Sometimes I think that I can't wait for Ezekiel to grow up so that he can talk to us, be more interactive, eventually grow out of diapers! But other times I feel like he's growing up too fast already. I know I'm going to miss the feeling of holding a floppy sleeping baby. We like to snuggle in bed in the morning before we get up, and his little face just looks so peaceful, like a porcelain doll. I love my baby!