Can't believe it's already March with spring just around the corner! Ever delinquent in updating the blog, I’ll try to give you all a report on all the things we’ve been up to lately.
Ben is still working as a submarine planner here and continues to work on his Master’s in Engineering Management through Old Dominion University back in Norfolk. It’s hard to make time for the study when you work all day and just want to relax and play with Luke at night, but he’s plugging along and will finish just the same. His remaining time is usually filled with job searches, checking out different cities and towns we’re thinking of moving back to, and of late, photography (enjoy some of his handiwork here) and all things enological….he’s always reading up on light and shutter speed or how to plant and grow grapes. Maybe vintner will be added to his resume some day! I think he can already claim photographer, in my humble opinion.
I, too, have joined Ben in the pursuit of planning our move back home: the where, when, and how all swirling around in my head most nights as I try to go to sleep. Big changes are in store for us, and we just want it to go as smoothly as possible. I worked most of the day yesterday at Occupational Medicine on Ben’s base, still collecting data for our research project. I gave a brief to the work injury committee and suspect there will be a real push to get this project moving along since many of the key players will move from this duty station during the summer. Nothing like an imminent move to motivate the process!
Ben is still working as a submarine planner here and continues to work on his Master’s in Engineering Management through Old Dominion University back in Norfolk. It’s hard to make time for the study when you work all day and just want to relax and play with Luke at night, but he’s plugging along and will finish just the same. His remaining time is usually filled with job searches, checking out different cities and towns we’re thinking of moving back to, and of late, photography (enjoy some of his handiwork here) and all things enological….he’s always reading up on light and shutter speed or how to plant and grow grapes. Maybe vintner will be added to his resume some day! I think he can already claim photographer, in my humble opinion.
I, too, have joined Ben in the pursuit of planning our move back home: the where, when, and how all swirling around in my head most nights as I try to go to sleep. Big changes are in store for us, and we just want it to go as smoothly as possible. I worked most of the day yesterday at Occupational Medicine on Ben’s base, still collecting data for our research project. I gave a brief to the work injury committee and suspect there will be a real push to get this project moving along since many of the key players will move from this duty station during the summer. Nothing like an imminent move to motivate the process!
Luke is the one we should really be focused on in this update. He’s blowing our minds nearly everyday with the new things he has learned to do. He’s a nearly fully independent eater now (if he has his way at least), preferring any food he can manage himself to the runny purees of former days. Today he figured out how to drink a fruit smoothie through a straw! He happily slurped down five different fruits with no protests. A success all around, especially when we discovered the straw was fun to bite and chew on as well. Still cutting his little choppers very slowly, but the top four are visible and with two on the bottom, he makes light work of some foods. His top choice right now, though, is definitely TOAST! This could mean actual toast, a waffle or pancake, even a cheese quesadilla. All can be made in the toaster, and he “oohs” with delight when he hears the toaster oven timer sound his dinner bell. It’s a touch Pavlovian, but at least we know he likes it!
He’s identifying his books by title and likes to “read” through them even on his own. Hugs are now awarded generously to his favorite playmates, Winnie the Pooh, Elmo, and Ellie Phant, a soft blue-gray….well, you guessed it….elephant. He’s a dancing machine, seemingly loving all genres of music, but assigning self-determined dance styles to each. The side to side shuffle is for country and bluegrass music, head-shaking and hand-jiving for guitar rock and some R&B, all out bouncing for fast rock and roll, and we even saw an unbelievable little bootie pump for some rap. This kid is catching on fast!
Of course, it’s not all perfect little moments. He pulled a lamp off a table and tried to grab a pile of dog poop and eat a rock all in one day recently. But even these exploits have a certain charm….in retrospect naturally. Luke is a gift and a joy. I think the thing we are most excited about when we think of coming back home and is that we can so much more easily share him and his ever-expanding repertoire with our family and friends. We’re counting down the days! 
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