Friday, January 22, 2010
Milestones
There have been several life-altering events in our relatively short time as parents so far. Of course, there was the arrival of little E himself. Later, he became mobile. Then, he learned to talk. And then talk back.
And now; he can no longer be contained in a crib. The first couple of times he got out of his crib and came out of his room, I just sort of sat there, in shock. Now what?
So, now he's on a mattress on the floor while we await the arrival of his new bed.
E loves it. Me ... not so much. Free will and freedom are great and all, but I don't know that toddlers need them yet.
You can see below the beginnings of E's new room and his sheer joy at seeing his old pal Camera again.
And now; he can no longer be contained in a crib. The first couple of times he got out of his crib and came out of his room, I just sort of sat there, in shock. Now what?
So, now he's on a mattress on the floor while we await the arrival of his new bed.
E loves it. Me ... not so much. Free will and freedom are great and all, but I don't know that toddlers need them yet.
You can see below the beginnings of E's new room and his sheer joy at seeing his old pal Camera again.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Closing Eve
By noon tomorrow, we should be homeowners again! There is one possible obstacle (that we know of) and it is snow. It snowed tonight, enough to cover the road but not the grass, and it took the Mav 1.5 hours to make the 10 mile drive home. Apparently, traffic was moving at 3 mph because that's what you do when it snows in the south.
We did our walk-through today and, happily, E loves the house. This is good, because the first time he saw it, he kept saying "I no yike dis house!". I think that was because it was the 8th house we saw that morning and he was quite sick of house hunting.
Although he doesn't like house hunting, E does like dinosaur hunting. We spent part of the evening trolling the apartment for dinosaurs. E found one in the bathroom and named it "Peanut". Kind of funny, because that it what we called E back before we knew he was a "he". This is the first time he has actually named something; usually when I ask him what something's name is, he asks me "remember?" (He's now upgraded "remember" to "remember, I told you?").
He later found a second tiny dinosaur hiding in the same spot and named it "Peanut 2".
Anyway, after the walk through, we went out for lunch. We let E have an open cup of water and, after a while, he started putting his hand in it. We took it away and told him not to do that. When he asked for it back, we asked him if he was going to put his hand in it. "Probably" came the response.
An honest response, at least.
Well, probably, we own a house tomorrow. And probably, our stuff will be delivered next Tuesday. Probably, we'll get to sleep in our real bed on Tuesday night. Definitely, we are ready!
We did our walk-through today and, happily, E loves the house. This is good, because the first time he saw it, he kept saying "I no yike dis house!". I think that was because it was the 8th house we saw that morning and he was quite sick of house hunting.
Although he doesn't like house hunting, E does like dinosaur hunting. We spent part of the evening trolling the apartment for dinosaurs. E found one in the bathroom and named it "Peanut". Kind of funny, because that it what we called E back before we knew he was a "he". This is the first time he has actually named something; usually when I ask him what something's name is, he asks me "remember?" (He's now upgraded "remember" to "remember, I told you?").
He later found a second tiny dinosaur hiding in the same spot and named it "Peanut 2".
Anyway, after the walk through, we went out for lunch. We let E have an open cup of water and, after a while, he started putting his hand in it. We took it away and told him not to do that. When he asked for it back, we asked him if he was going to put his hand in it. "Probably" came the response.
An honest response, at least.
Well, probably, we own a house tomorrow. And probably, our stuff will be delivered next Tuesday. Probably, we'll get to sleep in our real bed on Tuesday night. Definitely, we are ready!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Temporary residents
Breathing ... sitting ... relaxing ... ahhhhh
The last few months have certainly been busy but nothing like the last week. Last Tuesday, after spending the weekend grading exams and tying up loose ends in town, E and I packed up the Passat and cleared out of our temporary housing in Urbana. After a morning of last minute errands, it took 4 hours to pack up, in large part because my sweet darling little boy remembered he was 2 that day and was therefore not supposed to cooperate in any way. I will never forgive the school district for shutting down for the entire week before Christmas.
We finally reached our new temporary home in TN at 12:30 in the morning. We unpacked a bit and toddled off to bed. The next day, I (or at least the Passat) became a resident of Anderson County, TN. You see, in TN, cars are registered by county and it says so right on the plate. The amusing thing is, in less than a month we'll be residents of Knox County. I did not have the luxury of waiting as my IL registration expires at the end of December.
The next day, we left TN for a week and a half of traveling. We started off on the road to Raleigh, only to find a rock slide had closed the interstate. Over the river and through the mountains we went, finally making it to see the Mav's Grandma for a few minutes before the child fell to pieces. A nice, but quick Christmas eve and morning visit with part of the family gave way to yet another car trip; this time to Baltimore. A short flight put us into the care of Nana and Granddah, just in time for some more Christmas festivities and then a lovely stomach bug.
In a few days, we'll hit the road again for a short stay in DC and then back to establish more permanent residency in the land of Volunteers.
(note: traveling without our camera!)
The last few months have certainly been busy but nothing like the last week. Last Tuesday, after spending the weekend grading exams and tying up loose ends in town, E and I packed up the Passat and cleared out of our temporary housing in Urbana. After a morning of last minute errands, it took 4 hours to pack up, in large part because my sweet darling little boy remembered he was 2 that day and was therefore not supposed to cooperate in any way. I will never forgive the school district for shutting down for the entire week before Christmas.
We finally reached our new temporary home in TN at 12:30 in the morning. We unpacked a bit and toddled off to bed. The next day, I (or at least the Passat) became a resident of Anderson County, TN. You see, in TN, cars are registered by county and it says so right on the plate. The amusing thing is, in less than a month we'll be residents of Knox County. I did not have the luxury of waiting as my IL registration expires at the end of December.
The next day, we left TN for a week and a half of traveling. We started off on the road to Raleigh, only to find a rock slide had closed the interstate. Over the river and through the mountains we went, finally making it to see the Mav's Grandma for a few minutes before the child fell to pieces. A nice, but quick Christmas eve and morning visit with part of the family gave way to yet another car trip; this time to Baltimore. A short flight put us into the care of Nana and Granddah, just in time for some more Christmas festivities and then a lovely stomach bug.
In a few days, we'll hit the road again for a short stay in DC and then back to establish more permanent residency in the land of Volunteers.
(note: traveling without our camera!)
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Together again...
It's temporary though. E and I return to the land of cold and wind next week. We're all here in TEMPORARY HOUSING PART 2 right now. And let me tell you, the sequel is way better than the original. This apartment is about as big as our old house and, get this, has a washer, dryer, and dishwasher! I'm no domestic diva but there is something to be said for being able to wash my boy's jammies without spending 2 hours in an unheated laundry room.
Fingers crossed please; we are putting an offer on a house tomorrow. We like it a lot. It's convenient to work. E has had enough house hunting. If the offer is accepted, then we'll soon have a house with enough room for lots of company (hint, hint!)
Saturday, December 5, 2009
New Parmen
Well, we've moved. To Urbana, the town next to Champaign. E and I are now living in the family and graduate housing here at the university. It is also the temporary housing for university visitors, and since I'm a visiting assistant professor here this semester, I was eligible to take advantage of the university's accommodations.
It is plenty big enough for me and the small boy and our few things that didn't take a big truck to a storage facility in TN. It was a bit tight with the Mav here last week and his two suitcases. Yes, just two suitcases made the difference between functional and not.
I know that for much of the world these would be some classy digs. My grammar school indoctrination told me that, in Soviet Russia, an extended family of 12 would be lucky to have this partially underground 600 square feet. It has heat. It has plumbing. It has parking.
It has 5 different types of tile.
5 different types of brown, beige and white tile expertly arranged throughout.
It is in good repair and has hot water.
The smell blowing in from the South Farms reminds us of the university's roots as an agriculture school. Ahhh, tradition never smelled so, well, stinky, before.
E is handling the change remarkably well. When I say we are going home he replies "to our new parmen, not our house." He was a bit upset when his Daddy left for TN today and we stayed behind but then he stoically accepted that our turn to go to TN is next week. (I haven't really told him that we'll be coming back here for another week after our house hunting trip).
In other news, E got a haircut. A very, very short haircut. I'm new to the boy's haircuts and apparently was not specific enough in my instructions. Ah well, it grows quickly and at least it is easy to wash.
It is plenty big enough for me and the small boy and our few things that didn't take a big truck to a storage facility in TN. It was a bit tight with the Mav here last week and his two suitcases. Yes, just two suitcases made the difference between functional and not.
I know that for much of the world these would be some classy digs. My grammar school indoctrination told me that, in Soviet Russia, an extended family of 12 would be lucky to have this partially underground 600 square feet. It has heat. It has plumbing. It has parking.
It has 5 different types of tile.
5 different types of brown, beige and white tile expertly arranged throughout.
It is in good repair and has hot water.
The smell blowing in from the South Farms reminds us of the university's roots as an agriculture school. Ahhh, tradition never smelled so, well, stinky, before.
E is handling the change remarkably well. When I say we are going home he replies "to our new parmen, not our house." He was a bit upset when his Daddy left for TN today and we stayed behind but then he stoically accepted that our turn to go to TN is next week. (I haven't really told him that we'll be coming back here for another week after our house hunting trip).
In other news, E got a haircut. A very, very short haircut. I'm new to the boy's haircuts and apparently was not specific enough in my instructions. Ah well, it grows quickly and at least it is easy to wash.
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