So my birthday started off with two incredible things before 8 am. First, Alex crawled. He had been allllllmost there all week and then, on the morning of November 12, off he went! A little shaky but officially he did it :) I wouldn't go so far as to say that we have a true crawler at this point, but where there's a will there is a way, and Alex has the will. I have watched that video more times than I care to admit - I'm so proud! In my other videos of the same feat Ashton is actually cheering him on, it is indescribably cute. And the second amazing thing is that Ashton stopped what he was doing, announced he had to poop, we walked to the potty and he sat and went. Up until now, this 3 year old has been about as unpotty-trained as they come, so this was positively jaw-dropping. Despite my penchant for recording almost everything my kids do, I did not record this ;) Talking about poop so freely on this blog is punishment enough for my readers. Nonetheless, it has started a new routine in our house and just, well, thank god.
The night before my birthday, we were all talking about our day (Jason was off and had gone shopping with the boys) when Ashton piped up: "Hey Mommy! You're getting a new coat!" Jason started to crack up and I said "Wow! I am?" and he said, "Yeah! For your berf-day. It has hair on it." We tried to explain what a "surprise" is but he continued to chatter on about my new hairy coat. Jason promised me it would all make sense.
That same night, Alex had his first puffs. He has two little bottom teeth but besides that, it's gums away! Right now he eats lunch and dinner, which is either some kind of finger food, like avocado or banana (or now puffs), and some baby cereal and purees. 8 months is going to see the addition of breakfast and also yogurt/dairy if all goes well. I still leave 3 six-ounce bottles a day for him so between the milk, the food, and the naps (twice a day), Alex really has very little free time.
Other things that have happened this month. Alex had his first dinner out, which meant his first french fry.
And then lots of push-ups to burn it off.
Annnnnnd, snap! The weather turned cold :( Happens every year on my birthday, like the worst present ever. Luckily the hats are cute.
Anyway, enough about Alex and more about me ;) As I turn 34, I find myself in a very in-between place with my work/life balance. Some days, I hint in a not-so-subtle fashion to Jason that I don't want to work anymore (which is not really an option, but I still say it haha). Some days, I am so thankful that I do work and can't imagine not getting up, dressed and out the door, dropping Ashton at preschool on my way into the office. I have come to love the morning
Part of my problem is a function of where I work: a university, where everyone is extremely smart in something so they have advanced degrees in it and also teach it. I feel very bottom-of-the-totem-pole in that regard, but I don't have the time to crack any books or attend any classes to fix my education right now. I love Bentley and I love the people I work with, and my job gives me almost everything I need except...pride, I guess. I've always had administrative jobs, and it never mattered too much because I was "young", but over the years, with getting married and having kids, I'm just now looking up and realizing I'm still more or less doing the same thing I was 10 years ago. In the meantime, I miss out on a lot of things at home. This would be okay if my professional life was where I wanted it to be, but I know it isn't because I'm not satisfied.
So what's a girl to do. While I think every working mom wishes she could stay home with her children, I'm certain a lot of moms who have this privilege sometimes wish they could go to work! At this point, the right thing to do is focus on the positives. Working gives my life structure and helps me provide for our family. But it's time to set goals for where I want my "business life" to be. In an examination of my life at 34, I am going to have to get a little more ambitious in order for the time I spend away from the boys to be as worthwhile as possible. Not sure what to do exactly, but that's the latest thing occupying my thoughts. Hopefully by 35 I'll have an update for you haha.
Back to the present. Overall my birthday was perfect. I don't post the date on Facebook because for some reason, I find all the "birthday wishes" a bit meaningless if someone didn't remember on their own. I don't say that with any hostility, I guess I'm just private about it. I don't measure a good birthday by how many people I hear from. My little party of 4 is all I need.
Oh by the way, my "hairy coat" was a faux-fur hooded jacket. It looked like this ;)
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