-We have survived the Erie winter. I thought I knew bad winters and that I could handle anything. Utah is known for it's snow, right? Was I in for a shock! Winter here is miserable. I go for days without leaving the house, I have to dig the car out on a regular basis, and there are no breaks from the bitter, icy cold. But it's finally ending! I did get some cute pictures out of it, though.
-Speaking of cars, we finally bought our first "real" one. I say real because it has cruise control, power windows, keyless entry, and is big enough that we don't have to scoot the passenger seat all the way forward just so the carseat will fit. It's a 2006 red Toyota Camry and we've actually had it since November. It was my Grandma's car, and she keeps her cars in immaculate condition. We're talking towels on the seats and floors so no one ever actually touches them. It's certainly not that clean anymore, but it's still the nicest thing we've ever owned (not to mention that she gave us a killer deal on it!). Derek's brother David was nice enough to drive it out here for us (he likes driving, although I think he got tired of it on that trip) so we got to have a houseguest for a couple days.
-I chopped my hair. I always go in cycles of chopping then growing it long, but always wishing it was longer. Not anymore. I'm done with long hair. It will be staying short. I get an hour back in the mornings, and I no longer have a temptation for Jack's surprisingly strong little fists hanging from my head.
-Jack is 14 months and is walking! He holds his arms out for balance and looks like a cute baby Frankenstein of sorts. He's also hit a bajillion other milestones since I last posted. He is eating most everything, including crayons and desitin when given the chance (no joke, the other day I left his room for 30 seconds, and came back to find him with the desitin tube open and white all around his mouth. Was that good, Jack?) We got him a forward facing car seat, which he loved, after a series of tantrums when being put in the old seat. A week later we turned it back around when new recommendations came out. Tough break, kiddo.
-Jack also says a few words and is just starting to grasp the concept of meaningful communication. Our awesome babysitter taught him some signs (for "eat" and "more"), and he actually says "all done" by holding out his hands and saying "ah ah." We figured out what it meant when he consistently refused to eat anymore after doing that. He says uh-oh when something falls on the floor. When I get home from work, he goes "mamamamamama." He'll also say dada with a little coaxing.
-We again know what it's like to sleep until we wake up on our own! Jack sleeps 12 hours straight now which is wonderful. This means my body wakes me up instead of a crying hungry baby! I forgot how awesome that is.
-At the beginning of February I took a quick trip home to Utah with Jack. It was only 3 days if you don't count the travel days, since that was all I could get off work, but it was wonderful. My grandma came down and we all spent some much-needed time together, and we celebrated Jack's first birthday. Poor Derek. He got to watch it all on video when we got home, though. I ate at Cafe Rio 3 times while I was there. There's just no substitute for it here in Erie.
Other than that, well, things are good. Derek is nearing the end of year 1 in medical school. I've almost got my first year of RN experience. This summer we are planning a longer vacation home to see friends and family (and the Rio of course). I really can't complain, life is good.
