Summer is almost over! I can't believe that it's already August and that Gage is six months. That means he's already a half a year :O Two months have flown by since our last update. It really is amazing, sad, incredible, and incredibly scary how fast kids grow. Gage is SO close to sitting up without any support, he primarily needs help with balance, but with little support is sitting up. The dexterity in his hands is amazing! He continues to get better at turning pages in books, control his toys with his fingers (and of course his feet), and hold his own bottle and spoon. We recently started introducing solids to Gage, starting with carrots, squash and avocado from the farmers market. He's had a little bit of sweet potatoes also. He loves them all and sometimes gets mad in between scoops. It's like he's telling us "hurry up people, I'm starving". Clearly he isn't. It's been fun to make some things for him and see him enjoy them. I'm still primarily breastfeeding him and he's still eating every 1-3 hours, which seems like a lot but he's healthy and doing well so I can't complain. During the night he wakes up 2-4 times, which is a regression from sleeping 6 hours, but I recently learned that this is fairly normal at this age and I don't have to completely wake up since we co-sleep so it's all good. We love how much he cuddles and how excited he still gets for nursing, it's very amusing. I often feel like a milk cow (especially when Gage only gives me about 30 seconds after I get home) but it's better than having nursing problems and I know that I'm loved. He also still get's excited about my hands but now it's gone from me getting him to him reaching to grab my fingers before I can get his tummy. He loves to reach for us and bring our hands to his face...and mouth. He is confidently rolling both way now and is taking more security, but is happier because he doesn't get stuck on his belly. Crawling is still in the works and he doesn't have any teeth popping through yet, but we can see his two front teeth in his gums so should be soon.
Working at the Eggan summer camp has continued to be fun and ACTIVE. This job has definitely helped me stay more fit than I probably would be and lose some baby weight. Now if I could just control my sweet tooth. Most days I work in the mornings, but occasionally work a full day (even a 13 hour day twice) because of our all day trips. However they've been really fun and Gage and John have gotten to join me once. They may join me for 1 or 2 more trips, but we like to see how everyone is feeling. Gage does okay for a couple hours in the car and if we can keep things fairly normal for him. Too many days like that though gets him aggravated. He joins me almost every week for the library, anytime we go to the pool, and once on a trip to Sandpoint to see an aviation museum and go swimming at the city beach. It's been nice to work half days, make a little money, go on some fun adventures and still have lots of time with Gage away from work. I take advantage of every minute I can with him while my schedule is calmer.
We have gotten to swim outside a lot this summer thanks to camp and hot weather we've had. I forgot how much I LOVE swimming laps outside and playing in open water. When mom and dad were here we jumped off the water fall in Elk River, I've gotten to paddle board (All Day), and we've introduced Gage to multiple lakes, and been on three camping trips. Gage has done great each time and practically acts as if we were home, because he's so comfortable. We're looking forward to floating the river soon (which Gage will not be doing...yet). We're still hiking and walking a lot. I have joined up with a local group that is regional for a national group called "Hike It Baby". I learned about it in Juneau, but was never able to attend. Here there are two groups (one for each town) that Gage and I have been able to join on a few hikes and/or walks. I've enjoyed getting to know some other moms that find health and the outdoors important for our children. I also really like the organization because they focus on making the outdoors fun for children and ask for politics and religion to be brought up elsewhere, which is nice because (although important) I get SO sick of everyone making snide remarks and arguing over people that claim to care, but really don't.
Running has not been happening. I haven't ran since probably June nor have I had the desire to do so. I still have the desire to be a runner again, but it's just going to take a lot more time than I previously thought it would. Oh well. I've loved swimming and jogging in the water and I have managed to get back on my bike with John, which feels just fine. I hate to admit that I've been terrible about my yoga and feel it every day. I keep saying that I'm going to get up in the am before work, but sleep always sounds better. I'm making it a personal goal stretch regularly again and do a yoga sequence once a week. We're active and healthy and teaching Gage all about it and that's what matters.
Having mom and dad here for a few days was fun. They haven't seen Gage since he was 7 weeks so it was great to see them have time with Gage and so much fun with his cuteness. Mom met up with Gage and I at the pool one day and got to have a lot of fun there. I took everyone to see my classroom and we had dinner together at Robin and Hal's house and then saw a Dr. Seuss play afterwards. We took them to Coeur d'alene as well, hoping to hit the beach, but the weather turned on us and instead we got to watch a few cool thunderstorms, walk the board walk along the beach when it cleared up and have lunch at a cool restaurant with old bikes in it (cool enough on the anniversary of Grandpa Dave's death, an avid biker,-unintentionally) and watch the most intense Jenga game ever. We also got to show them our awesome farmer's market and then Elk River Falls afterwards. John and I had a great time swimming and jumping off the rocks and taking Gage in the water. Unfortunately mom fell and hurt her shoulder, which made for an uncomfortable evening and flight home the next day. She is doing better but still healing from slipping on the rocks.
I have put off planning for my classroom as long as I felt comfortable. We have the week before school starts to prep our classrooms, but anyone who works in education knows it takes much longer than that to set up materials and have everything ready for the first day (let alone first weeks) of school. I started planning after the 4th of July and have met up with a friend (who's also a sped teacher) to plan and get ideas. I'm feeling more prepared and have created many google docs, as well as spent many hours on pinterest, but still have a lot to do. Fortunately my classroom is clean and the furniture has been returned so I can start organizing and prepping the space. My "to do" list has grown, but I'm getting closer to being ready. I'm very excited knowing that I'm prepping my own classroom and will be teaching my own students! Especially because I have a whole bunch of cute Thirty One stuff to use. I start work on the 23rd and the students return on the 30th.
John starts school the same time I start work. He's looking forward to being more busy and getting things rolling towards his master's, but a little anxious because this semester will be a lot of work with a lot of math. He will do well though and is excited to have only that to focus on, besides Gage of course :) He's been busy taking care of Gage and building some wood projects including a chair, two tables, and a beautiful really cool American flag piece. He wants to keep that up for a good hobbie and potentially a side job. He might look into a booth at the farmers market next year if he can build up enough inventory.
House hunting has stalled for now until we can get some more money saved up and figure out exactly what we want to do. We've kept our eye out for land and we go back and forth between building a tiny home or a trailer on land. This is all assuming we can get land purchased sometime soon. Recently we were told about some land and a place to rent for free if we take care of it. That might change things for a bit, but we still have to look into it and decided what's best for us.
The animals are doing well. We had a little scare with TJ, but the vet said his leg is fine and that he just needs to spend some time inside and take some herbal supplements and then he'll be fine. He doesn't act hurt, other than a limp, and is still his happy normal self. The dogs have enjoyed camping with us and LOVE Gage. This last camping trip the dogs kept us up on our last night protecting us from big scary deer and turkeys, but we're all good just tired. Everyone is getting along and having lots of fun!
That's all of our updates for now. We are excited to enjoy our last few weeks of summer vacation, a few local festivals, and the Olympics. Go USA!!!
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One of John's projects
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