troy is still happy in his job at google--and will continue to be happy for at least the next five years (remember how we just bought a house?). his main complaint is too many meetings and not enough coding. and short weeks are rough, such as the week of memorial day...
my belly continues to grow, and the baby (a girl!) continues to be very active, especially when i am winding down. although, to be fair, i feel like winding down several times in a day. i hit the five-week mark today, but no guarantees. i just hope she doesn't come on the seventh--anytime after that would be fine with me (dean, troy, and troy's dad were all born on the 7th). i'm due on the 9th.
the kids are growing and becoming their own little selves. dean is almost done with his first grade year. we switched schools when we moved, and it turned out just fine. he came home from his first day and said, "everyone is my friend, mom!" so that was a big relief. in fact, when we went to the school openhouse, a couple of moms were excited to meet "dean's mom" because their kids talked about him all the time. so apparently he's quite the big man on campus. for that openhouse, dean had to be in costume. his class has been learning about the rain forest, and everyone had picked an animal to write a report on. dean picked a gecko. good thing it's so close to halloween and we could just buy a ready-made gecko costume... here are some pictures of him in his awesome costume: https://picasaweb.google.com/kmaurine/20110527TheGecko?authkey=Gv1sRgCL6D-IvM9OeBXQ#5611548470943289394 mostly, i was glad that it was acceptable to him. my friend came and helped me make all the pieces the night before. gotta love parent-homework. :) also new in dean's life is a piano teacher. we've had a few lessons now, and so far it's "soo boring--why can't i play the guitar?" i think we've made some strides this week though (getting him to actually practice two days in a row may have something to do with that), so we'll see how far we get. i've heard the music program at his new school is pretty great, so he may decide to branch out in a couple years. meanwhile, we're twinkling little stars on the piano.
max continues to prompt bursts of laughter from his mother. he came inside one morning recently, shortly after attending a pirate-themed birthday party, looking like this: https://picasaweb.google.com/kmaurine/20110505EasterAndEarlyMay?authkey=Gv1sRgCNDaut6vnIXlLg#5614953664350700706 good thing he's around to protect me from bad guys. whew! also new on the max behavior list is hiding himself in dark places so he can snack in peace. two nights ago i was downstairs talking to troy when i noticed a tortilla chip peeking out from under the door of the closet under the stairs. i didn't remember it peeking out five minutes before. i thought that was odd because the light wasn't on in there, but i opened the door anyway, and there was max, chillin' in the dark with a bag of tortilla chips he had filched from the kitchen. it was one of those he-probably-should-be-scolded-but-it's-too-funny-not-to-laugh moments. any advice on how to laugh later? it was just such a surprise! anyway, he has another year before kindergarten since his birthday is in january, and dean is excited to be a third-grader when his little brother joins him at school.
reed is a charmer. everywhere we go, he says, "hi," to people, often several times until they realize he's speaking to them. but he always gets a warm response from people. i've gotten so used to it that i wonder why nobody looks at me when i'm out without the kids. he seems to be pretty empathetic for a two-year-old. today at church a lady was speaking and got emotional, and reed said, "oh, i'm sorry!" in response. he has to wear his shoes all the time, so he's ready to go at a moment's notice. just in case it's time to go to the park, you know. he likes to share--most of the time--and lately i've been encouraged at how he treats other people's babies. i don't know how he'll respond when he realizes our baby will not be leaving and may even compete for toys someday, but he's very gentle with them right now, and will go get a toy when he sees a baby crying. here's a current picture of reed, to be fair:
that's not to say that i'm not utterly spent by the end of every day. or that all three of the angelic creatures i've just described aren't likely to be running wild, screaming, spreading dirt and destruction. their favorite games to play now involve guns, good guys and bad guys, bows and arrows, tanks, terrorists, aliens, and mostly lots of screaming. so you can imagine how quiet and peaceful it is pretty regularly at our house. but now i can send them outside and have a minute to myself before someone comes in with a scrape or a grievance. they do play together well, whether it's a crazy running game outside or legos in someone's bedroom (hopefully not mine), and we have a mostly harmonious home life, for which i am very grateful. time to add more chaos to the mix! bring on the baby!
this feels more like a christmas letter than a regular update kind of thing, but i guess that's about how regularly i've been updating. sorry about that. mostly our summer plans are: have a baby, and then get used to having a baby again. the end. i'm looking forward to seeing my mom when she comes out to help with the kids and the new baby, and troy's sister is coming for a couple days, and then his mom and dad will be here to see the baby and help out. so we're excited! lots of changes in the walker family this year.
