The rest of April

I went back to work in late March (almost a month ago now, wow). We found a lovely lady to stay with Jacob two mornings per week, Mike has Jacob on my long days at work, and I've also cut my hours a little. With some luck and juggling, we're making it all work. (I was also totally helped by the fact that my mom was here for my first full week back at work - that really helped ease me into leaving Jacob to go to the office.)

In order for my going back to work to really, uh, work, Jacob needed to learn to take a bottle. Our first few attempts were pretty rocky. But then we found exactly the perfect formula of preferred angle + proper temperature + right bottle, and things came together. And then, the other day, he actually took a bottle cold from the fridge. Progress!

As you can see, Natalie's quite the experienced childcare provider. In fact, here she is helping monkey use the potty.

Scenes from the park, including Natalie's March Madness moment:  

Quiet times:

Snack time, sort of:

While my mom was here, I also planted my garden:

I've got tomatoes (nothing too big, as those don't do well here; mostly Patio, Early Girl, Yellow Pear, and a few other small-ish varieties), basil (the pesto queue starts now!), chile peppers, cucumber (if the frost hasn't gotten it - we've had a few cold nights, and my little cucumber plant seemed to be suffering the most), zucchini, and summer squash.

Also, I feel I've reached a landmark in my Texas existence: I darkened the door of Tractor Supply Company (a farm / ranch / garden store). The store's departments were things like "equine" and "bovine" - luckily, there was also an irrigation department since I needed some parts to fix my soaker hose (which I fixed. On my own. Thankyouverymuch). 

Jacob says: "Tractor Supply Wha---?"

Natalie has suddenly gotten into having tea parties (with her stuffed animals - this isn't that kind of Texas story!). 

(That's a cookie there in the foreground. Duh.)

Smiley baby shots - wait for it, wait for it . . . . 

Jacob and Natalie continue to coexist peacefully (if noisily). I fully expect this stage to come to a close once Jacob is mobile and starts getting into her stuff. In the meantime, it's totally adorable (or "adorwable," as Natalie would say).

Here's a little video of Natalie singing dancing, with some Jacob cooing for background accompaniment.


 
I promised bluebonnet pictures, but I'm too tired to keep writing (despite my great desire to bring the blog up to date before we leave for San Diego next month). I'll leave you with a pj shot of Big Girl: