Well so far, we've all survived the summer. There is exactly 1 week left until Charles is home and we are all beyond ready. the combination of a crazy schedule, new classroom, no daddy, etc has really been rough on Cameron the last couple of weeks. there have been a number of hunger strikes and lots and lots of dramatic fit-throwing. we're all just tired. we will have a nice weekend with him before he goes back to work and then it is not likely that we'll see much of him for a while due to the schedule he will have at work. it's gonna be ugly, but we'll make it. i'll sure get to see him more than I have the last 2 months, so i'll take it!
lucas started crawling on his 9 month birthday, and about 30 minutes after that (not even exaggerating) he pulled himself up to stand. he is quite the go-getter! he will work to be mobile in any possible method to the point that his muscles tremble from fatigue, and even then he doesn't stop trying if I don't set him down somewhere that he has to rest. he now has a top tooth to join his lonely two bottom teeth. he likes to clap and make all sorts of mouth noises. we're still working on waving.
other than the tough stuff, Cameron is ok. overall he is amazingly resilient given all the challenges the last couple of months. potty training is not going well. still. last weekend I tried a potty chart. he picked out his own stickers (elmo, princesses, and spider man) and for one brief, shining evening - he did amazingly well! he even actually managed to get some pee in the potty instead of just sitting on it. but Saturday morning the fun had worn off and he is maintaining his resistance since. I've talked to his teacher and our plan is to put him in underwear and really force it after Charles gets home in hopes that the comfort of having daddy back will help with the transition. poor kid. one shit storm after another it seems.
im doing ok. getting fatter and fatter over the summer. I'm going to really hit it hard when I go back to my normal schedule. Im going to force myself to run outside (major irrational fear of mine) and do some diet changes, i.e. - no more cheese, very limited sugar (no more bowl of cream of wheat with chocolate chips for breakfast - whaaaaat?) so hopefully that will get the ball rolling. I've been having a lot of trouble with my knees the last 3 weeks or so. according to WebMD, the source of all healthcare knowledge, it is an issue with my tendon. so that's pretty awesome. I am one with the naproxen and ice packs.
my parents were up a couple weeks ago for a wedding, which was pretty fun. dad was wearing a heart monitor for 2 weeks at that time. after some tests, they decided that he should have a heart cath, which was yesterday. he has 2 arteries blocked 50% and one was 80%, so they put a stint in that one. thankfully the dr was very proactive and schedules aligned to get dad in pretty quickly before anything more serious happened than his original "episode" over mother's day weekend. so a substantial lifestyle overhaul will be happening down south I do believe.
good times.