Just where have you been?

Once again I seem to have managed to disappear from Blog-land. At one time a mystery, thanks to this latest occurrence I have finally discovered just what leads me to do such things - big events in our life. I clearly cannot keep my priorities straight when we have too much going on, and this sad little blog suffers.
What in the %($ has been going on, you ask? Lots! First and foremost, MW has started CRAWLING! Yes, you read right, the little man is now officially one hundred percent mobile. And he knows it. Plop him on the floor, he's halfway across the room so fast your head is spinning. Drop him on a bed and you're diving to keep him from a split-second three foot drop faster than an Olympic volleyball player hitting the floor for a ball. But most entertaining of all - lay him down for a diaper change and you'll just barely have the diaper off before you find yourself staring at a small naked butt quickly shimmying off in the other direction. Sigh...at this point there isn't much more about him that says "infant" other than his age.
Which just this past week became nine months. Nine. N-I-N-E. Seriously - where DOES the time go? Ask me even three months ago if the first year of his life is going fast and I would have said no. But wow, somebody sure came along and hit the fast forward button because I feel like his first birthday is next week. I'm sure by the time it's here it will have felt like it, but I am most definitely not rushing things.
Along with turning nine months old, MW is also wrapping up his very first illness. I'm still not exactly sure what to call it, because I think it was a combination of a cold, teething, and an ear infection. We had no idea an ear infection could have been an option until we finally broke down and took the poor sick baby to the ER yesterday when his temperature hit 103. Neither of us had once seen him pull at either ear so we were somewhat shocked when Dr. B informed us that his left ear was swollen so badly it would have never healed on its own. As a result MW is on his very first antibiotics, which thankfully seemed to kick into gear almost instantaneously. I've never been a fan of medicine (leaving out the study and practice of - I'm talking drugs in this case), but I have never been so thankful for something as I am for that bubblegum flavored syrup currently chilling in the fridge. Watching my sweet boy suffer for the past four days has been like having my heart ripped out of my chest, so seeing him finally on the mend is simply glorious.
Getting back to what has been keeping us so busy...one giant factor is that J is now gainfully employed! Two weeks and counting and, as far as he tells me, so far so good. He's working in an office environment for the first time and I think it's a great fit. He really enjoys computers so I know getting to play on them all day is a new experience he's happy to have. He's working for an investment company and despite the challenges of learning an entirely new trade, my personal opinion is that once he gets into the swing if things he'll do very well. He is smarter than he gives himself credit for, so I think being pushed to excel in order to climb the ladder is just the ticket. Heaven knows his previous job was the polar opposite of that, so even though his old bosses chose a very classless way to end their relationship, I'm certain it was a blessing in disguise. It's a relief to be done with that chapter of our lives, and I will most definitely not miss anything about it. But most important of all, I am overjoyed to finally be done with the company Christmas party held every year at a "do it yourself" steakhouse in Des Moines. (Seriously, who goes out to eat at a place where you cook your own steak?? Gross.)
So if you do the math on the fact that J is no longer serving as MW's personal Daddy Daycare, you'll likely wonder if we've turned him over to Rocky everyday from 8-5. Although I'd have to think they'd survive just fine, something tells me DHS would think otherwise. Yes folks, MW is now a daycare child. Well, three days a week to be exact. The current plan is he'll spend two days a week with either Grandma or myself (depending on my weekly day off) and the rest at the local daycare center. Now that we've got two weeks under our belts I feel safe in saying that he does fine there despite a few communication glitches between the care providers and me, that were ironed out quickly. He unfortunately started getting sick after only his first week there, so my guess is he picked up most of whatever it is from his colleagues in Kidland. Not to point fingers at the other small folk toddling across the room when I drop him off and pick him up, but you'd have to be a fool to think every little human there isn't infested with more germs than a public toilet. I'm by no means thrilled with this fact considering for the first nine months of MW's life he never even had so much as a diaper rash, but I'm well aware that getting sick is a part of a kid's life and that this is most definitely just the beginning. Might as well accept it now or I'll drive myself crazy until the day he leaves for college and is left to take care of those bugs from the comforts of his dorm room in Iowa City. ;-)

And to wrap up this latest mini novel on The Coral Read, a picture for your enjoyment. I realize that in this one you are not getting to see MW's little rosy cheeks and blue eyes, but to stick with the theme you are getting to see what his recently discovered mobility talents have been able to do for him. This was taken just days after his first wobbly crawl (preceded - the day before - by a pulling up straight into the standing position, I might add) and boy did it put the fear of what was to come into us when J discovered him. Thankfully this was an isolated event, no doubt triggered by his new-found freedom, or at least that's what I'm telling myself for now. Little Mister had crawled himself under the side table, pulled up to the top, and gotten stuck. He was standing there whining because he couldn't figure out how to get out, so J had to do some emergency baby removal - after snapping a few pics, of course.

Happy Valentine's Day! Give your honey a big sloppy smooch. xoxo