Dizziness

So I know I posted like 2 days ago, we're just trying to get back in the swing of posting on Sundays. We've been spending many Sunday evenings playing Darts.....Pmc put up our dart board a little while ago, and bought me my very own darts. I must say that it's been intriguing to marry into a family that loves to play games so much. The Cundick's honestly know every game on the planet, and whenever a new game comes out, they're the first to have it. I feel like I've expanded my horizons so much, and yet I only play maybe a 20th of the games they know and have the rules memorized for. In days past I might have said that games are a waste of time, and sometimes still I get a little stir-crazy on "game nights." But I have definitely discovered the usefulness of playing games. You get to spend real, quality time with people you love. You also get to use your brain A LOT, which I love!

Anyway, so, our only real news in the past few days is that Pmc is sick, and Cpc is still struggling tons with his teething. Pmc woke up with the flu this morning, and I had been up pretty much all night with cpc. We were supposed to speak in church today, so we had to call and cancel. We were both a little disappointed. Pmc seems to be getting a little better, but not Cpc. The hardest thing we've dealt with is that suddenly he is VERY picky in his eating. He will literally only eat fruits and cheerios. NO VEGETABLES whatsoever. Tonight we made some headway when I decided to pull a box of Zoom (wheat hot cereal) out (which we haven't touched since the first time we both tasted it) to try it again for myself. Cpc was in his highchair eating cheerios, and acted like he wanted to taste it, so I let him. Zoom is officially on the list of things he'll eat right now. I don't know whether this pickiness is due to teething, or if he's actually turning out to be picky, but I don't like it!

We have an office chair that spins (that we luckily got for free, and paid $5 for reupholstery), and we decided to let Cpc experience "dizziness" last night. It was pretty stinkin' funny:

CONGRATULATIONS TO PAUL!

The biggest accomplishment of the past few weeks is that Pmc got into grad school! WAY TO GO HONEY! So far he has been accepted to Syracuse University and Utah State University. We haven't heard back from the others yet, and we haven't heard anything about assistantships yet, so we have yet to make a decision. I sure am proud of Pmc though and all the hard work he puts in. It's not easy to work full-time, go to school full-time, get fantastic grades, have all the other necessary qualifications to get into grad-school, and have on the back of his mind "how are we going to pay for that?" Then there's the fact that he is no ordinary husband and father, he excels at that too! He's been focusing on Balance for his goal this year, and he's doing an excellent job!

So the past few weeks have been somewhat eventful. I attended a Utah Gymnastics meet with Bdc, Jbc and Rvc while Pmc played games with Tec and Tecj. We had a few family game nights.

Our friends, the Mathesons, were in town so we went out to lunch at the Pizza Factory with them and the Naylor's. Pjm is so cute with her belly (their daughter is due in June).

We also had the Mathesons over for breakfast on Sunday, so that Pmc and Dm could plan Cpc and Mm (their daughter)'s future dating relationship. My childhood friend Pjff was also in town and we had planned to get together, but it fell through. Luckily we are attending the ward (church) I grew up in, so we got to see her at church! Hopefully we'll get more time to catch up next time around!

Since it was President's Day we had our annual celebration at the cabin! It was so nice to get out of the city and find some relaxation time. As we drove into the canyon however, we noted that there was no smog covering the valley, and couldn't help feeling like it was too bad that we didn't have smog to get away from. And today as I look over the valley I can see the smog settling in! Pmc took Cpc out to play in the snow in his new snowsuit, but he only lasted about 2 minutes before it was time for his nap, so no pictures there. I got the opportunity to spend a few hours in the morning skiing. Thanks to my sister Ace's help, I'm getting my skills back and feeling pretty comfortable on the slopes.

Cpc is our pride and joy every day. He is 8 months old today. Here's his most recent list with pictures:

Totally loves watching himself on the camera or computer.

Loves spending the 6 and 7am hours cuddling in bed or on the couch with us.

Loves to look out the window at the valley.

Sleeps with his bum in the air.

Thinks he's a concert pianist.

Makes funny faces in his sleep.

Holds onto the back of his high-chair while eating.

Thinks he has to be standing ALL the time (including in his high chair).

Other thoughts about cpc: Bring on the teething (he clearly has some discomfort in his mouth, excessive drooling, runny nose, sometimes won't chew his food, etc.), had his first ear infection, can almost walk with his walker by himself, still would rather walk than crawl, still eats a crazy amount of food, loves to look in the mirror, is totally fascinated with faces (he is always putting his hand on our faces, or resting his face on our faces), has the most ticklish feet ever, loves to have no clothes on, loves to be outside, loves watching other babies/kids, loves paper and phones and cameras, knows that he should smile at the camera, gets really excited when he sees his dad, cries if he can hear his dad's voice but cannot see dad!, is reaching the part of attachment where he can leave the room and wander but I cannot walk away from him, has decided that screaming is his favorite method of letting us know he's unhappy, loves showers, loves to share his stories and make faces, and is now waking up from his nap!

Simple Gifts

I have to say, this is my very favorite song ever written. I couldn't get a full recording of MoTab singing it, and I wanted to put a full recording on here, so "you get what you get & you don't throw a fit."

I have been trying to write a post for a few days, and just can't seem to gather my thoughts. Then, I read my cousin SP's post about "Choose the best part," and I remembered my lifelong motto: Simplicity. I have to be reminded so often to get back to the basics.

So I want to share some of our most recent "simple gifts," then I'm going to go revise my goals for the year to SIMPLIFY!

So our most recent simple gift is pmc's class on "attachment." Because I have a love of learning, we've been reading the book for the class together. Parts of it have made us feel very good about our parenting style, and other parts have helped us (me in particular) make important changes. I am especially grateful to have a chance to really watch for simple signs of cpc's growing "secure" attachment.

That gift also led to another gift. We have come to understand cpc's sleeping habits much better. This has led to stellar changes for everyone. I have become more patient with cpc when he does wake up in the night, and can more quickly recognize why he has woken up, which makes it easier for us to address his needs, and everyone gets back to sleep much quicker. Cpc also seems to be much more secure in knowing that we'll meet his needs, which has led to his ability to sleep longer stretches at night. It's not consistent, but it's now as regular as the night-wakings had been. I am happy to report that cpc is learning healthy sleep habits & attitudes about sleep, and that we're moving in the right direction.

Speaking of recognizing his needs when he wakes up, cpc has such a fast metabolism that he must get in five solids-feedings during the day or he simply can't make it through the night! Well, sometimes he falls asleep before his bedtime snack, which in turn leads to a midnight snack. This is not a simple gift.

The other funny thing about cpc's eating habits is that he does not seem to know when he's full. He will keep eating, and eating, and eating, and eating. Well, a few nights ago we were so hoping for a good night's rest, that we decided to attempt letting him eat till he stopped. We didn't get to follow through however, because he got so full that he couldn't pack it in anymore......he threw up! This is what his tummy looked like after! You may not be able to tell real well, but it was so full that it was pushing his lower ribs out. Don't think we were just stupid, his tummy was hidden by the high-chair-tray, so we couldn't see what was happening. It was ROCK SOLID!

The final simple gift I would like to share is the new schedule cpc & I started. We go to storytime at the library Tuesday & Thursday mornings, playgroup Wednesday morning, and swimming lessons on Saturday morning. We are loving our out-and-about time. Cpc loves watching all the other kids he gets to see. I am finally getting some good exercise (walking to the library). We get some scheduled time together almost everyday, were I can't let studio work or chores distract me from playing with cpc! Here's cpc & his friend AK.

Since I'm sure you're all dying to see it, here's a video of cpc crawling up the stairs!