A sign of things to come?

Goings On

I apologize for the lack of any recent updates to the blog. Things have been pretty busy in our household these days. Phil recently resigned his position with the Warrenton Police Department and on Monday of this week he began work with the George Mason Police department. He'll be a part of their campus police force, which in itself is a fully accredited police department. George Mason is a bustling hub of academic activity and, although his calls may be different from those he took on at Warrenton, he's sure to be busy nonetheless. Phil's primary motivation for making the change was Mason's fantastic benefit of a tuition-free education for full time staff. He already has two associates degree, and will be working on his bachelor's degree while working full time.

And in other news, "little Phil" has also been quite busy! He's currently working on cutting his third tooth--one of his top front teeth--and as a result is at times super cranky. But that's to be expected. Otherwise, he's still our bubbly smiling guy. He's getting closer and closer to walking every day and has recently started standing for small bits of time on his own, without the support of anyone/anything. In addition, he's getting more brave by the day and we've caught him on more than one occasion attempting to take steps on his own. He's definitely keeping us on our toes!

As for me, I'm still working on getting the hang of this working mommy bit. It's been 8 months since I went back to work full time, and, although I've adjusted to the demands of the schedule, it's still pretty challenging at times to handle holding down a household, a full time job, and taking care of an almost 11 month old baby boy. Especially given the fact that Phil and I work opposite shifts in order to keep Philip at home with one of us during the day. To make things easier on both of us, I'm in the process of looking into part-time work in my field. I think working part-time would definitely be the best of both worlds.

More pictures and videos to come soon. This weekend we're going to be working on painting our living room and kitchen which will mean our entire downstairs will finally be painted once those rooms are done. If we get it all done and I'm able to contain all of the toys enough to take a decent picture, I'll do so and post it here!

Video Post

First, a little "movie" I put together from video we took of Philip showing us what he thinks of his sippy cup.



Philip meeting the ocean for the first time during our vacation last week to Myrtle Beach, SC.



Our soon-to-be-walking-on-his-own 10 month old. He's a whiz with the walk behind.



Oh, and as further proof that walking is right around the corner, he stood unsupported for a few seconds on his own today! Just like that--standing straight up, puffs in hand, like it was no big deal. What did this little boy do with my baby??

Ten Months Old

Well, here we are. Officially in the double digit months. Only 2 months away until my little baby's first birthday. He may still be an infant but he's got the determination (and brawn) of a toddler.

How a 10 month old takes a posed picture.


Milestones this month:

• Has completed mastered hyper-speed crawling
  
• Tries to move from one fixed object to another by taking a cautious tiny step
• Waves hello and goodbye
• Claps hands when prompted
• Plays peek-a-boo behind a blanket
  
• Self-feeds small pieces of table food like steamed carrots, broccoli, and pasta
• Babbles up a storm and mimics sounds, tries to sing along to songs
• Just starting to hold his own bottle
• Sleeps between 10 and 12 hours at night with two 1-2 hour naps during the day
• Just starting to fall asleep on his own (without the help of a bottle)