Jack in October 2019
I think this month included some of the best pictures I’ve ever taken of Jack. Then again, except for when he moves (ahem, ALWAYS), it’s hard to take a bad picture of the cutest baby who ever lived.
Month: March 2020
Jack’s 1st birthday and 1st birthday party
Join me in my time machine as we revisit September 26, 2019 and September 28, 2019. I’ve left out the large amount of blurry pictures, and sadly for the rest of us, those were pretty busy days and I didn’t take as many pictures as I should have.
Better late than never – Jack in September 2019
Here’s what Jack looked like six-ish months ago, in September.
Social distancing is not a problem in this household
This whole coronavirus thing hasn’t changed our lives all that much yet. We’re already basically hermits. Jack and I had been getting out a lot, and we do miss our baby friends (and their moms) and the library story times, but the weather is getting nicer and we’re compensating by taking morning hikes and then collapsing into naptime.
“Hikes”, I should say. We’re walking on level paths through some woods or around a pond, at Jack’s pace. He’s been doing great – he walks on his own more than half a mile before he asks to be picked up, and even then he still walks a little more. Then we have a snack and a diaper change, and he falls asleep on the way home and through the transfer into the crib.
We’ve only seen a handful of people, all keeping their distance. Jack has discovered the joys of scuffing his feet through leaves, pine needles, gravel – whatever the path is made of. Then he runs, he falls, and he giggles when I brush off his hands.
A very merry unbirthday to you
I have decided that we are going to celebrate half-birthdays in this house, primarily because it’s an excuse to eat cake. No one is fighting this decision.
We started with Jack. He turned 18 months on March 26th, and to celebrate, we sang “happy half-birthday to you”, showed him the giant bunny head balloon I found (he likes bunnies, calls them “hops”), and gave him a chocolate-frosted cupcake for breakfast.
Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
Started: 3/26/20
Finished: 3/27/20
A Green Man story, but completely different from any other Green Man story I’ve ever read. Really good, and it has a sequel…which isn’t out yet, but it’s due out in June! And there are only supposed to be two, so anyone worried about getting stuck in the neverending wait that comes with a new series can stop worrying.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Started: 3/19/20
Finished: 3/26/20
I LOVED this book. It’s super-weird, but the main character is hilarious (I laughed a LOT and had to force myself to stop reading parts out loud to John), and I LOVED it. So excited to read the next one when it comes out (THIS SUMMER!!). Queer necromancers in space. With swords. And hilarity. And death (because necromancers). Also lots of drama – despite the funny character, it is NOT a comedy. I got this from the library, but I need to own it. And re-read it.
To any readers still out there
I never meant for this blog to become mini book reviews only. I’m at least a little bit grateful that I’m able to keep up with those (or at least catch up every month or two), and a lot of that has to do with how SLOW my reading pace is lately. I used to be able to read while nursing Jack, but he got faster, and then we started weaning, and now we’re done. Now I only get to read before bed, or on the rare evening I don’t have to work (like tonight! Except I’m doing this instead!).
Speaking of work, I’m still working part-time (20 hours a week). My company is still letting me do it, and I have no intention of changing it. I get a couple of hours in early in the morning (like 5:30 to 7:30), the occasional meeting during the day, and IF Jack naps in the crib, I work then. If I don’t hit four hours, I do the rest after Jack goes to bed. During the day, Jack is still pretty…needy? Clingy? Insistent that I be physically attached to him while he plays? Point: I can’t get any work or reading done while he’s awake.
Jack is still perfect and wonderful, of course. He’ll be 18 months old in 2 days, which is CRAZY, like completely bonkers. Not that he survived, or that we kept him alive, but DUDE. I have an 18-month-old. Wut.
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Started: 2/29/20
Finished: 3/19/20
First book in a new series, and I nominated it for a Hugo before I finished it. Big space empire, with an ambassador from a little space station, who has really neat advanced tech and has to navigate a complex imperial language with cool linguistic details. A lot of stuff was introduced and much of it didn’t get far – I think this is going to be a big series, and I’m super excited. Not so much about the wait, but I’ll live.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Started: 2/14/20
Gave up: 3/9/20
I really liked that other Holly Black trilogy, so I picked this book up from the library. I couldn’t find time to start reading the physical copy, so I borrowed the audiobook a few days later and listened to it in the car…for as long as I could. Teenagers and vampires and the angst that goes with a centuries-old vampire who finds something deep and unique and irresistible and different and blah blah blah about a 17-year-old girl and I cannot count the ways in which I do not care.
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
Started: 2/26/20
Finished: 3/4/20
Third book in The Raven Cycle (witches, psychics, magic, prep school boys, etc.), and it’s a really good continuation of the story. We get more forward movement, more characterization, more good storytelling, AND it has teenagers being teenager-y and grown-up and all over the place in what feels real, despite the magic. I am waiting impatiently for the 4th book to be available from the library.