Back to Work

"Where's daddy going?"

With classes starting back tomorrow, it will be interesting to see how well I manage to keep up with the blog and photo archive. The first week back (which was last week) is always nice. Yes, they beat us over the head with umpteen mandated meetings and workshops... But at the least, it served as a nice buffer between what was essentially 3 months of unemployment and the nonstop rigor of what promises to be (day-in and day-out for the next 9 months) a demanding job as usual. As it stands, I'm still trying to readjust to being on any type of schedule that doesn't involve a baby, a bottle, and a temper tantrum waiting to happen. But slowly and surely, I'm getting there.

As far as keeping up with the blog, having a creative outlet is almost a requirement for me (otherwise I'll go crazy... just ask my wife) so I may do okay. But then when I think of the prospect of trying to balance family time, wife time, baby time, work, gym, house chores, summer projects, etc... I hear a little voice laughing at me from inside my camera bag telling me to kiss my handful of hobbies goodbye. As it is, I already have a good handful of things I'd like to do or blog about but just haven't had the time (see below). My guess is that either the backlog will continue to grow and I'll adjust... or I'll go crazy trying to keep up with my own to-do list.

So... long story short, if we should go missing from cyberspace for hours, days, or even weeks at a time... don't be too quick to plaster our faces on anybody's milk carton. With my impending return to the classroom, and V following suit in just a week or so; just know that we're probably still here... somewhere... doing what we can to adjust to real life again.

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Blog entries currently in my head that may never see the light of day:

(1) finances and budgeting
(2) the undying prospect of us moving / relocating
(3) Justin's new toy and posse of friends
(4) our first home visit with the nanny / babysitter
(5) my continued "threat" of starting a photography business, and
(6) my first "date night" with V since Justin's birth... which came compliments of DeVon and Danah who I think deserve a couple of "I survived a night with Justin Alexander" tee-shirts.

Baby Steps

The funny part about being first-time parents is that sometimes you don't know what is and isn't a milestone because everything is new to you. But during our trip to SC last weekend, V's family (i.e., the Committee of Veteran Baby Makers) clued us in to a number of things that we were taking for granted with Justin...

For one, we just figured that all infants were able to stand on their own two feet. Granted, he obviously can't balance himself yet, but I'd venture a guess that Justin has been able to stand with some balancing help at least since week 4 or 5, with the time intervals getting longer as his strength improves. I'd say that he can now stand for about 3 minutes at a time, and then decides that it's time to sit (i.e. fall) down... but then no sooner than his butt hits the floor he'll pop right back up.

So... being the ambitious parents that we are (poor child)... last night we decided to see if he had any interest in walking. It was obviously more of a joke than anything else (yes, we know he's 7 weeks) but I've gotta say that he surprised us both.

Funny Stuff!!

Of course we're smart enough to know that he won't really be walking anytime soon... but it was still funny to see.

Tune in 3 weeks from now to see Justin ride a bike.

Born Yankees Fan

In Hampton Roads, the the Baltimore Orioles are considered our "home team" (even though we're 3 hours away... go figure) and so their more popular games are televised on our local channels. With the Yankees in town this week, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to teach Justin a little bit more about the game of baseball, and also how to use the remote control.


He preferred to use his feet for whatever reason, but was still able to successfully switch back and forth between the game, ESPN highlights, and a TNT Law and Order re-run.

Seven weeks and a day old. What a prodigy.