July Update
Things are crazy and wonderful and usually very busy right now.
Marlowe is learning something new every day and it's so exciting! Tuesday we went to the park and found some left over sidewalk chalk. We sat down and I showed him how to hold it and make marks on the blacktop. Wednesday when we went to the park he found a different colored piece of chalk by the slides (which he goes down by himself now! Head first too!) and he ran over to the blacktop and started making marks. Very cool!
He's saying Ma-ma, Da-da, Ba(ll), Up, Out, Play, no (obviously!), says 'tru' when pointing at the fire truck picture or sees one in person, and yesterday was running around saying 'du, du, du, du, du' and thought he was just babbling until I saw he had his rubber duck in his hands. He's also been clearly saying 'Marlowe' and giving big wet, open mouthed baby kisses!
He points at things he wants, and will run towards something and stop, looking back at you. He's even come and pulled on my pants to get me to follow him to something he wanted.
He still doesn't climb, (other than up stairs), but I count that as a blessing. He has been 'feet first' over the edge of the bed on his own a few times now. So we're going to be making a cat door in the gate so if Marlowe gets out of bed on his own he can go play and be safe. Otherwise the cat will whine all night outside the gate :/ He doesn't get feet first down the stairs though and just wants to hold our hands as he sort of jumps down to the next step. We keep trying. Maybe at the next playgroup I'll get one of the kids who can do that go down the stairs so Marlowe can watch. Right now all he sees is us and we walk down 'em, so he wants to as well!
Trying to plan a beach and a camping trip. Would like some of our friends with small kids to go too - so let me know if you're interested. Looking at mid-August for the beach and early Sept for camping.
Jim's work has been on and off for jobs right now, though supposedly double busy at the end of August, so can't plan any vacations for then. Jim had been giving up work so other folks could work, but can't do that now. We're carrying a bunch of credit card debt right now as we can't afford to pay it all off because of all the slow weeks he's had. We'll end up going more in debt for those above mentioned vacations, but I want Marlowe to experience those things every year, so consider them mandatory. I've given up Starbucks and buying lunch at work to help save some money. Plus we're cutting back on eating out. Now that all the relative visits are over - my parents, his dad, his mom and sister and visiting my parents - that should be easier. Taking everyone out to eat all the time while visiting gets way too expensive. Told my mom if she and my sister come out in August we're eating at home and grilling.
Plus at this point I've given up a 10% raise because I like what I'm doing at work so much right now. Crazy huh? But when I'm at work and busy and engaged I'm not thinking about how much I'd rather be at home with Marlowe. I'm actually enjoying myself at work (most days, today is SLOW!). The work is incredibly challenging and rewarding. I'm an IT Project Manager, as compared to a Frontline Manager (where I'd get extra money) - but I don't have to do timesheets, evals and the other admin drudge that's part of a personnel manager. Instead I still use my programming knowledge and alot of other skills to get a project done on time and on budget. Someday I'll look into going into mid-level management, or maybe even switching agencies to work on other, more challenging projects.
Marlowe is learning something new every day and it's so exciting! Tuesday we went to the park and found some left over sidewalk chalk. We sat down and I showed him how to hold it and make marks on the blacktop. Wednesday when we went to the park he found a different colored piece of chalk by the slides (which he goes down by himself now! Head first too!) and he ran over to the blacktop and started making marks. Very cool!
He's saying Ma-ma, Da-da, Ba(ll), Up, Out, Play, no (obviously!), says 'tru' when pointing at the fire truck picture or sees one in person, and yesterday was running around saying 'du, du, du, du, du' and thought he was just babbling until I saw he had his rubber duck in his hands. He's also been clearly saying 'Marlowe' and giving big wet, open mouthed baby kisses!
He points at things he wants, and will run towards something and stop, looking back at you. He's even come and pulled on my pants to get me to follow him to something he wanted.
He still doesn't climb, (other than up stairs), but I count that as a blessing. He has been 'feet first' over the edge of the bed on his own a few times now. So we're going to be making a cat door in the gate so if Marlowe gets out of bed on his own he can go play and be safe. Otherwise the cat will whine all night outside the gate :/ He doesn't get feet first down the stairs though and just wants to hold our hands as he sort of jumps down to the next step. We keep trying. Maybe at the next playgroup I'll get one of the kids who can do that go down the stairs so Marlowe can watch. Right now all he sees is us and we walk down 'em, so he wants to as well!
Trying to plan a beach and a camping trip. Would like some of our friends with small kids to go too - so let me know if you're interested. Looking at mid-August for the beach and early Sept for camping.
Jim's work has been on and off for jobs right now, though supposedly double busy at the end of August, so can't plan any vacations for then. Jim had been giving up work so other folks could work, but can't do that now. We're carrying a bunch of credit card debt right now as we can't afford to pay it all off because of all the slow weeks he's had. We'll end up going more in debt for those above mentioned vacations, but I want Marlowe to experience those things every year, so consider them mandatory. I've given up Starbucks and buying lunch at work to help save some money. Plus we're cutting back on eating out. Now that all the relative visits are over - my parents, his dad, his mom and sister and visiting my parents - that should be easier. Taking everyone out to eat all the time while visiting gets way too expensive. Told my mom if she and my sister come out in August we're eating at home and grilling.
Plus at this point I've given up a 10% raise because I like what I'm doing at work so much right now. Crazy huh? But when I'm at work and busy and engaged I'm not thinking about how much I'd rather be at home with Marlowe. I'm actually enjoying myself at work (most days, today is SLOW!). The work is incredibly challenging and rewarding. I'm an IT Project Manager, as compared to a Frontline Manager (where I'd get extra money) - but I don't have to do timesheets, evals and the other admin drudge that's part of a personnel manager. Instead I still use my programming knowledge and alot of other skills to get a project done on time and on budget. Someday I'll look into going into mid-level management, or maybe even switching agencies to work on other, more challenging projects.