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I couldn't think of anything clever for the entry title.
I've been amazingly lax about updating this journal. What is up with that? I'm going to have to make another one of those "promises" to myself that force me to update on a regular basis. I mean it worked before. I don't know why I can't just do it instead of having to make a silly public statement that "forces" me to update. But I do know that I want to update so I should do whatever it takes.
So let's bring everything up to date, shall we?
Claudine has passed her oral boards. This has nothing to do with fellatio while standing on two-by-fours. The phrase "oral boards" that she and her OB/GYN ilk toss about really describes the oral exam process to achieve board certification from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Which is really a rather important thing. Besides the achievement itself and the ability to attract more patients, there are two really tangible effects. One, that her becoming partner in her practice hinged upon gaining board certification and two, New Jersey insurance being what it is, it makes it much easier to get a malpractice policy to cover her.
This was Claudine's last real academic challenge. Sure, she'll take continuing education to stay current with the techniques and technologies emerging in her field, but there isn't any test, any course that keeps her from her job. She is done with all that. And as such, she feels an enormous weight has been lifted from her shoulders.
Annabel had her christening this past Sunday. I'll have pictures up soon. But basically, it's a baby in a white dress getting water (holy) splashed on her head. I realize that it means a great deal more to the Christians in general and the Catholics (in this case) in particular. But to me it was a baby getting water splashed on her head. We've been kind of smart in our baptizing of our kids. We've always waited until they were at least six months old. Every baptism I've been to where the infant is three or four weeks old is just no fun. There was another child getting baptized along with Annie (In an interesting sidenote, the mother was a patient of Claudine's. Claudine didn't deliver the baby but she was a patient of her practice). And this little boy was a few weeks old and didn't like any of the oil, water or really anything about the ceremony. But Annie being around six months old just kind of looked around and took it all in stride. Except for the spitting up a little on me. And she didn't just spew on the carefully placed cloth on my should. She shot a narrow missile of semi-digested formula and oatmeal cereal down the sleeve of my suit and shirt. It was pretty impressive. My watch was pretty crusty.
So today Annie is seven months old. And she is a goofy, smiley baby. She is very enamored with me. This is something that didn't happen with either of the two boys. Given a choice at that age, the boys would always prefer to be with their mom. But Annabel is always looking to be with me. She climbs out of Claudine's arms to get at me. It is kind of nice and kind of annoying all at the same time. But I love her.
Bobby couldn't be any cuter. That's all I have to say about him really. He is just a funny, funny child. He is way too cute for his own good. I hope he can grow into his look though. Spanky from the Little Rascals was a cute kid too, but he was not an attractive adult (I apologize to any of his descendants that might be reading this - sorry, but it's true).
We had a parent-teacher conference with Jake's teacher last week. It turns out he is an amazing reader. At times in class, the teacher has to ask Jake to slow down or re-read passages because the other kids can't keep up. Is this bragging? Well, duh. Of course it is. But it is really more than that. My parents taught me how to read at a young age and I am totally convinced that this is the reason I had it so easy in school. My parents taught me how to learn for myself. To actively seek knowledge out in the world instead of passively receiving knowledge only in school. Reading was such a big part of that because whenever I needed answers I could depend on myself to get the answers. Not that my parents wouldn't (and didn't) answer my questions, but there is something empowering about being able to find my own answers. And reading just opens all those doors.
Jake is showing all those signs. He has a huge vocabulary for a six (and-a-half! Very important at that age) year old. And he uses those words in his daily conversations. Which is good and bad. Because as a parent, you want them to achieve so much, yet you want them to have a normal childhood and help them start to socialize into the world of elementary school and beyond. And nothing marks you as a geek like using big words and sounding different than the other kids. It seems so unfair that being intelligent at a young age, can actually be a drawback in some areas. But his mind really is running at a different frequency than some of these other kids. So I worry that he might experience some of the stuff I experienced as a kid. Try as you might to spare them from some of that crap, it is just something they have to go through.
My fears may be unfounded however. Jake went to a bowling birthday party for a boy in his class. And they all just goofed around like a bunch of six and seven year olds. So maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about.
So that's it. Other stuff happened too. Blah, blah, blah. I gotta get back into updating on a regular basis.
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