The longest week ever

So much to say, yet so little time.  I've been out of service for a whole week. I think that's probably a record for me. I have my reasons. Mainly, because I was too tired and lacked the energy or the motivation. Also, because when I thought about writing, I realized I really should grade, but I didn't want to grade, so I ended up reading other people's blogs instead, checking facebook and then crashing in bed (only to be woken up an hour later). I am the QUEEN of procrastination. Last weekend was nice (despite the fact that I got yet another milk blister/clogged duct combo) because we went snowshoeing at Mohonk (pictures to follow) after Keith got back from snowboarding. But the rest of the week sucked.
Multiple choice question: Why did my week suck?
a) no snow days
b) no 2-hour delays (even when we had icy, snowy roads)
c) I went snowshoeing instead of prepared for school
d) Cole's teething took a front seat and kept him up half the week
e) all of this bullshit grading I have to do because someone thought it would be a good idea if we English teachers had MORE work
f) all of the above
If you chose letter "f" you would be correct. I know; You're probably thinking I'm a whiner just because I had a FULL week of work. Big whoop. But really, when you get used to that, you almost come to rely on it. And then it becomes  a real shocker when it doesn't happen. Plus, those days allows me to recuperate from the previous night of hardly any sleep.  By Thursday morning, Keith and I were so physically exhausted we were snapping at each other when we shouldn't have. Then I left home mad, then I got screamed at by a bullying parent, and then I went home early in tears. Thank God for awesome school guidance counselors. On the bright side, taking a half day did afford me the opportunity to nap for 2 hours before I picked up Cole, and by Friday I was feeling better.  I even felt like I had a solid lesson. So all in all, not terrible, but Thursday was definitely the pits. I cried so much, I thought I might actually be getting Aunt Flo. But no such luck.

I also felt disconnected this week because of a self imposed restriction on Facebook. I removed the Facebook App from my iPhone and only go on Facebook once a day on the laptop. I felt like having the App on my phone made it too accessible. I'm still reading that book Clutter's Last Stand and I really started to get the feeling that the Facebook App was cluttering my life. I was constantly reading updates on people I didn't really know or care about (this does not include you my dear reader), and would waste too much time checking it when I should be paying attention to my son. As a result, I'm on my phone only for necessary things (like texting and checking email:). I think the disconnection was kind of like Facebook withdrawal. I really wasn't disconnected with the world, I was just feeling the side effects of not constantly checking it.

So enough about my sad little self. You probably want to hear about Cole, right? Well, he's not walking, but he is starting to stand on his own for seconds at a time.  He also likes his teacher's daughter so much that he actually crawled from my lap yesterday afternoon and went over to her and started to wave and "talk" to her.  Speaking of talking, he's still been saying "Ha Da" but he also now says "HAT," and recently he started adding an "s" to the HAT. He also says "Da Da" regularly and then sometimes adds in "Neh" for added flavor. He has the cutest little voice. He's starting to outgrow some of his toys. Not that he's too big for them per se, it's just that he is so interested in moving around that he's not as interested in the jumparoo or the exersaucer. The good thing about the exersaucer is that he can still stand against it and play with the toys. But the jumparoo is too high off the ground for him to play with it from the "outside." We're considering retiring it to the garage.

Today was nice because Allison, Shawn and Juni came for a visit. What fun! Cole was in awe of Juni and Juni enjoyed playing with Cole's toys. It was great connecting with Allison and Shawn about lack of sleep. Poor Shawn was exhausted (and he's a light sleeper like me), so even when he can go back to sleep, he sometimes can't - and I have the same problem! Allison referred to a night of uninterrupted sleep as the promised land. I love that metaphor because it's so true. It's something we're always hoping for or trying to get to, but never quite make it to. It made me feel better to know that we're not alone. And with most people urging me to try some version of sleep training, it's nice to hear the alternatives from someone not trying sleep training and, therefore, not pushing me to do it. It's funny, because I've been hearing so much of it lately.  "It's horrible." "I cried all night." "My husband had to keep me from going in." But then it's like a cult or something because I always hear this right after those declarations: "You've got to do it." "It really works." etc, etc.

Allison and Shawn had been trying night weaning before Juni's molars started to come in. Sickness and teething - sleep's two greatest enemies. Night weaning is something we've been trying the past few nights. It hasn't always worked, but each night he's slept at least one clip of 3-4 hours, so it's got to be having some effect. What we decided to do was have Keith go in every other time. If after a while Cole would still cry, I'd go in and nurse him. But if he fell back to sleep, then I'd get to sleep too.  It has actually eliminated the need for Keith to give him a bottle of formula at night (so far), so that's a plus.

But enough about that. To make up for the fact that I didn't post all week, here are some (10 to be exact) pictures from the past week....

A nice moment with my baby.

Daddy caught Cole in the beautiful natural light of his bedroom

The Catskills from Mohonk

Babywearing Daddy

Babywearing Daddy on snowshoes!

Me snowshoeing up the trail

Cole watches Juni

Juni gets comfy on the ottoman

Cole watches Juni (see the awe?)

This was Cole in between crying. His arm is actually extended to my finger. He wouldn't let go.