Crazy Week

Rudy and I both started a new school this week. Rudy was at a preschool that we really liked - it was about a minute from our house too, which made it very convenient for either one of us to drop him off or pick him up. A few weeks ago I went on a job interview for a teaching job - something I haven't done since a few months before Rudy came home. The opportunity was great AND we could reduce our childcare costs by half if he came with me. So we couldn't turn it down. So this Monday Rudy and I went off together to our new school. Our classrooms are right across the hall from each other and Rudy has already turned most of the staff into members of The Rudy Murphy Fan Club (which is fun to hear gushing about how wonderful my son is when he had a major meltdown/power struggle that morning that caused us to be running late). It's a further drive for me and instead of having time to myself in the morning when I could clean or do laundry, I now have none. And instead of coming home on my lunch break, I hang out in the halls and lobby of the Jewish Community Center. And instead of having some quiet time in the car, I ride with Rudy both ways almost every day. And I have no computer access all day, which really is killing me. So it's a big adjustment for me trying to figure out how to balance my time. It's amazing that it's only Wednesday. I feel like I've already worked a full week. And I haven't even mentioned what the actual job is like - I'll save that for another post. So if for the next few weeks my posts are fewer and farther between, you'll know why.

Go See Elmo

Yesterday we took a trip to Sesame Place. It's not too far from us, but the drive was even quicker than we expected. Rudy had a great time riding the rides, seeing the characters (he walked right up to all of them to say hi), and partially enjoying the Dan Zanes concert (he was tired and cranky by that time so he would've enjoyed it more if not for that).











I think Cookie Monster was his favorite character and he was a little disappointed that we didn't see Big Bird so we'll be looking for him next time.

These were taken as we were waiting in line for the concert to start. It was very sunny and warm and Rudy had almost hit the wall. So he kept wandering just far enough to be away from us. Here he found places to sit.




The video shows how miserable he was. "C is for Cookie" was playing over the loudspeakers and he had danced and sang the song earlier in the day. This is what happened when I asked him to do it again. (Our new camera has sound with video. Ny the way it's a Fuji FinePix J10, Reba.)

New Camera

We finally got a new camera. We had been using my Dad's for a while but since he's such a world traveler, we knew there would be times it wasn't available to us. So here are some random pictures we took while trying it out the other night.






This is the paparazzi picture - "No more pictures".

FFF- Hope

I have a very hard time with abstract ideas for Favorite Foto Friday (See FFF-Having a Ball for proof) so when I saw that this week's theme was "Hope" I thought a lot about how to approach it.


I HOPE that some day Rudy will get a chance to visit and appreciate his native country of Guatemala the way Paul and I have enjoyed and appreciate it.




We HOPED we would get to spend Rudy's first birthday with him - and we did - in Guatemala.


We HOPED Rudy would like his bedroom when he came home - he did - but it was in a different house than we originally planned, although the walls were painted the same.



We HOPED we wouldn't have to make another visit to Rudy - but we did - and had the best visit of all in Antigua.





We HOPED Rudy would do well when he got home and he did better than we could have ever imagined.

Cake and Parties

We spent much of the weekend celebrating Gram's birthday - to Rudy's delight since it meant cake at each celebration! On Friday we brought dinner over to Gram's and then sang "Happy Birthday" and had cake.




Then on Sunday we went to Aunt Pat's house to celebrate Gram's birthday with more cake and singing.



Rudy helping to open the presents...





Hanging out with Sean.




Rudy held firm all weekend to his belief that Gram was turning 4. No matter how often we asked he gave the same answer.

Happy Birthday, Gram!

Gram is Rudy's great grandmother (Paul's grandmother). I won't tell you how old she is, but Rudy's guess last night was 4! Rudy is very lucky to get to know her and she is just in love with Rudy!


I couldn't find a picture of just Gram so here she is with Paul's mom.

FFF- Dressing Up

We were told to pick our own theme this week. On Rudy's last day at his babysitter's they gave us a bunch of pictures from his time there and these were included.







Obviously he doesn't quite get what it means to be wearing this uniform!



And some old favorites .....
Last Halloween





Not exactly playing dress up but the outfit his foster mother dressed him in when we went to pick him up.




A future X Games athlete maybe?



You can see more FFF posts of all different themes this week by going here.


Also, note today's ticker at the top = exactly 11 months since Rudy came home!