Gus is One!!

11 months old!

I can't believe Gus is 11 months old. He is only weeks away from being a one year old!

Moving away to be closer to my parents is the number one good thing I have ever done for Gus. The situation back in Virginia was what you would call suboptimal. I know I don't talk about how I am a single mom on this blog, but it is a fact. I made a mistake with someone who I thought I knew and trusted. Alcoholism is a bad disease.

So, there I was, 5 months pregnant and on my own. I had a good job, owned my own house, and had money in savings. I guess if I had to, I could have sucked it up and survived by myself. Truth is, when my parents suggested I up and move out here, it wasn't at the top of my list. I had made a home in Virginia. I had friends, I had a job and I had roots. Once Gus came along, I realized that life with an infant was much more difficult than I could have ever anticipated. And no, his father never even bothered to contact me after the birth of his son, much less offer to help out. You could even say I had no other option but to uproot my entire life, leave everything behind and start over. Easy? No. I just had to do what was best for my baby boy.

Funny how things tend to work out for me. Check this out. I move across the country and because I am a nurse I instantly get a job (that was a given). I move in with my parents and I tell myself, "Connie, you can live with your parents for ONE YEAR". I moved in December 6, 2008. This quaint little 3 bedroom house goes up for sale right across the ally from my parents. I knew I couldn't afford it and didn't want to be a home owner again. What happens? This nice lesbian couple from Nebraska buy it in hopes of retiring here in 5-10 years. Their relator is my neighbor and he told them how I wanted to move out but somewhere close to my parents. Bam! I have an affordable house across from my parents. And I moved in December 1st, a week from my deadline.

My passion for being a bedside nurse is dwindling. This spring, I called up the local nursing school and told them I had a Masters and wanted to teach. They let me teach some classes adjunt but told me they wouldn't have any full time positions for another few years when the older faculty would retire. Bam! A new full time professor got pregnant with her 2nd child and she quit. Bam! I now have a full time teaching job.

Back in nursing school in December of 2000, I was looking for a new car. I really wanted a Jeep and bought a Cherokee. By the way, the last year Jeep made Cherokee was 2001 and I purchased a 2001 Jeep Cherokee. Now, it snows out here in the mountains a lot. My 4 wheel drive jeep takes me everywhere I need to go. Who would have ever thought that 9 years ago, I bought my jeep for the very purpose of living and working out here in the mountains?

Things have a way of working out.

Okay, now to Gus. He is a growing boy. He is also perpetual motion. I swear that kid never stops. Sometimes I just sit and watch in total awe. He sits, he stands, he lays down. He puts the ball in the cup, he takes the ball out of the cup. He lays down, he stands, he sits. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

He knows where his ear, his hair, and his foot are. Many people (including my brother) teach their babies sign language. Kind of reminds me of Meet the Fockers. From my research, the main reason for teaching infants sign language is that, in theory, the terrible twos come from kids being frustrated that they can't verbally express what they want. Having seen both my niece and my nephew go through the terrible twos, I have come to realize that the tantrums do not come from not being able to express what they want. It comes from them not being able to get what they want! Anyway, I have chose not to teach Gus sign language. He is just going to have to come up with his own way to express himself.

Little Gus is settling into his new home just wonderfully. I love how babies adjust so easily! Gus is on the waiting list to be in a day care center at the local elementary school. He has to be at least one years old so I have another month or so. I am crossing my fingers that BAM! he will be offered a place.

Cheese Face

Gus has, in the last couple of weeks, developed this cheesy grin whenever I take a picture of him. My niece loves to pose for cameras, too, but I didn't think at 10 months he'd develop this characteristic so soon!


It is getting cold here in the mountains. The normal temperature when we get up is 5 degrees! That is cold I am not used to. Gus's main mode of transportation is the stroller. In order to keep the little boy warm, I invested in a bunting bag for his stroller. I don't like to advertise for companies, but this thing is awesome. It is called the JJ Cole Bundle Me Arctic for toddlers. He had an original Bundle Me for when he was an infant. However, this particular Arctic version is awesome. It is wind proof and water resistance. I put him in this bag in the stroller without a jacket in 5 degree weather and he comes out sweating. I will post pictures later of Gus chilling out in stroller.

Good news! I got the teaching job! Starting January 4th, I will be a full time Faculty instructor for the school of nursing! I went up and met the director of the program. She showed me my new office. I have always been a shift workers and have never had an office. I get a locker (usually have to share that) and a mailbox. In my office, I have a window, a telephone with my own number, and a business card! This is very exciting for me! Another great thing about my job is that is is only August-May. I have 2 months off during the summer.

Anyway, I am going to go keep my Gus warm in these frigid temperatures.

I'm Still Here!

I know it has been awhile since I have blogged. I had a busy fall but that is no excuse. I am so behind on documented all of Gus's accomplishments. About a month ago, he really hit his stride. While he is not officially crawling, he gets around with his military-style crawl. Within the last week, Gus has even begun to pull himself to standing!

I have really enjoyed this year with Gus. While my job working night shift as a nurse has really allowed me to spend the maximum amount of time with him (while still making money). These night shifts with lack of sleep during the day has really worn me down. I am not sleep deprived because of my baby: I am sleep deprived because of my job! Next week I will start working two 12 hour day shifts a week. This will be difficult because it means I will two days a week without even seeing my baby boy! Gus doesn't wake up until 8am and is asleep usually by 7pm. I will work 7am until 7:30pm. The day before Gus turned 9 months, he went on nursing strike and has never nursed since. This will make it easier for me to work days because I don't have to pump anymore. It was always so hard to find time to pump on day shifts!

What a sweet kind boy my Gus is, though.

Her rarely cries and even then it is always a sign that he needs to go to sleep. Otherwise he is happy go lucky and pretty much anything flies. He has no real "schedule" which means I can take him out with me and he adapts.

Gus and I have been winding down taking him to "chat time". This was a group for nursing mothers but it was really a good time to talk to other moms of babies. Now that Gus is not nursing and is getting bigger, we are weaning ourselves from this group. Instead, we have started going to a toddler story time at the library. This saint of a lady leads the group and she has the patience of Mother Theresa. Toddlers, if you don't know, are extremely impulsive. The fact that she can keep them (for the most part) entertained for nearly 30 minutes is a miracle! She sings songs with them and reads them books. At the end there is an arts and craft session that matches the theme of the day, but it almost always involves painting. I fear giving paint to Gus who puts everything in his mouth.

I was told that I am to read to Gus everyday from the day he was born. Sad to say, I am not the best at this. He is a very active, busy boy and the reading sessions end quickly when he tears the book out of my hand and tries to eat it. Gus doesn't get the book part of story time, but I am doing my motherly duties by at least exposing him to reading!

I guess I digressed because I was talking about my job and how I was going to work 2 days a week as a nurse. Well, I have also been teaching as an adjunct professor at the local community college. Because I have a Masters in nursing, I can teach at the nursing school. Well, a full-time position has opened up starting in January, and I applied! They have it narrowed down to two people, me and this old lady who has taught nursing before. So cross your fingers for me! If I get this job, it will be a full time, Monday-Friday 8am-5pm job. No weekends, no holidays, no nights, no summers! I've never ever had a normal, non-shift work type job before and the prospect of being so "normal" overwhelms me.

I know I have so much more to update, but who wants to read pages and pages of me rambling? I will try to be better about posting more often and maybe if I remember some stories, I can go back and write that in too.

Video of Grandpa always teaching Gus new tricks!

Busy Boy

"Key Play"

My little Gus is such a busy little bee these days. He does the "wounded soldier" crawl when there is something beyond his reach that he really wants. He also likes to roll around the floor which is main mode of transportation. Other than that, he has no interest in locomotion. He does, however, like to sit and play with toys (his toys include Mommy's cellphone, remote control, lap top, etc). Grandma bought some new shoes and put a bunch of Gus's toys in the box. Turns out one of his greatest joys is taking toys and putting them in and out of the box. His face is so determined, like a boy doing a very important job. This activity is a breath of fresh air for me. I can finally put him down and he will play independently for almost an hour. Relief! I can get some work done! Please don't get me wrong. I love my son and I love playing with him. But sometimes I have to go to the bathroom. Or take a shower. Or write on my blog. And now I can do that while he plays with his boxes.

Sippy Cup

Here is Gus drinking from his sippy cup. It invovles eating so he is good at it. Still not trying to crawl though!

The Chunk

Sorry I have been a bad blogger this summer! Gus is now a week from being eight months old!

Things have been really busy around here. Plus there is Gus! I started teaching one day a week at the nursing school at local community college. It is only one day a week for 3 hours but it is A LOT of work. First I've never taught the class so there is a ton of prep work, and also we are having weekly tests. I have to say that I am more of a "practicing" nurse and less "academic." I'm trying to catch up with the terminology, but I think I am studying more than my students!

On top of teaching and working two nights a week, my parents have been gone since August 28th and they will be gone until September 20th. You could say that I am running the show on my own. It is overwhelming at times. I don't know how I thought I could have done this on my own in Virginia! Some days when I am completely sleep deprived from working all night (my shift is 7pm to 7:30am), my main goal is survival. If Gus is fed and clean and the animals have eaten, then I feel like I have won that day. Some days I actually getting to eating myself and if it is a REALLY good day I get to brush my teeth, too!

Gus is adapting to not having 3 people tend to his every need. He is playing by himself on the floor a lot. He loves my little cat Zach. Both Zach and Gus love attention and being touched so they are like two peas in a pod. The fawn over each other caressing and rubbing. Gus pulls on Zachs ears and Zach purrs in appreciation. I really thought Gus would start crawling now that he isn't held all the time, but he is a very stubborn child. On a good, he'll roll around and around and around and eventually will end up on the otherside of the room. Even though Gus lacks the gross motor skills, his strong suit remains sleeping and eating! In fact, we went back to see Dr. David and Gus was up to 17 pounds! And 29 inches! I swear all the food I give him goes to heighth and not weight! Dr. David was happy with Gus's accomplishment and we will go back the first week in November for his nine month.

You might be wondering who is watching Gus when I work nights and when I'm teaching. A neighbor watches him on night shift. He is an easy baby to watch at night since he goes down at 7pm and sometimes isn't even awake when I get home after my shift. But Cindy does an excellent job and I am at total peach when she has him because I know that he is well taken care of. When I teach from 1pm to 4pm, a girl from my chat group takes Gus. Jackie is wonderful! She is a really chill mom (a lot like me). She has two girls ages 3 and 1. Gus is totally in love with her 3 year old, and her 1 year old loves being the older woman in Gus's life. Of course you can guess what Gus thinks about all three girls giving him all their attention! He loves it at Jackies.

Last, I went to see my brother his wife and their kids this weekend. My hope is that Gus and his cousin Eli (2 years old) will be best buddies later on in life. There is only 1 1/2 years between them.

Happy baby with his sippy cup

First Hokie Game!

Jackie's baby Ruby (AKA Gus's older woman) taking away the pink doll he was playing with

Zach and Gus

Eli & Gus

Cousins!