Just a quick note to let you all know that I have changed employers. After 3 years at Compuware I have bid them farewell and accepted a position at Key Bank in downtown Cleveland… My first day was on August 29th.

In other news, Emmet will play at the Cleveland Agora this Friday… another place I thought I’d never get to play at in my lifetime. We are opening for a couple of new “major label” bands, so it’s a pretty cool opportunity.

In Jenna news, she has officially cut her first tooth! A few days ago we noticed a little sharp point on her lower gum. She seems to be dealing with it pretty well thus far.

Jenna continues to get sooooo big and everyday she’s get more and more personality. Here are some of the highlight over the last month…

eating solids, 3 times a day (rice cereal with fruit)

napping 20-30 minutes, but still sleeping 8+ hours at night

she’s been sick a couple of times with a slight fever and runny nose

she’s very alert and observant

grabbing everything in sight… toys, phones, remote controls, glass, hair…

rolling over and will and pushing herself up on her arms

with all that rolling, she’s also spinning on her stomach.. crawling soon!

sitting up, mostly on her own

on our evening walks, Jenna now sits up as we walk and rocks back and forth to make dad walk faster

Adapted very well to Kindercare

We upgraded her to a big girl car seat, she grew out of her infant seat because of her height

On Jenna’s 6th month birthday, I went back to work

Mark adds pictures when he gets a few spare moments, so be sure and hop in to the photo gallery to see her grow!

This morning I popped in to the car to drive to the train station and I heard Rush’s 2112… all of it. Beat that FM radio!

In other news, I’ve once again abandoned the paper planner and bought a new PDA. This time an iPAQ hx4700… very cool so far. It’s very neat to be able to walk across the street and sit in the park, hit a Wi-Fi hotspot and surf the net in the sunshine…. that is among all of it’s standard Contact/Calendar/Tasks tools.

Both Rose and I fell ill earlier this week, and we are both recovering now. It was not a fun 36 hours, I’ll tell you that…

I woke up Monday morning not feeling well, but I went to work regardless… well, I came home at noon to find I was running a fever. When Rose got home at 4:30 she ran to the bathroom with what we assume was a case of food poisoning. We both spent all day Tuesday at home… luckily on Monday night our neighbour came over and took Jenna for a walk for an hour or so while we tried to rest, then she spent Tuesday at daycare… while we slept all day. Not fun.

The good news is that Jenna is fine, and both Rose and I are feeling better.

Jenna’s visit to Dr. Foley went very well. She weighs 17lbs 9oz and is 2 feet 2.75 inches tall. She received only 2 shots this time which were met with less intense crying and fussiness ( I do like that she’s getting used to them but don’t like that she has to get used to them). We asked about the lack of daytime naps and Dr. Foley said that Jenna fits into the 10% of kids who just catnap during the day and take long sleeps at night (I should count my blessings and shut-up, right?!?!?). He was pleased with her balance of liquid and solid foods and said to expect the solid food to double by the next visit in November. Great job Jenna!!!!

Our daughter is so giving and wants everyone to share in her fun…so she decided to share her summer virus with me!

On Wednesday, I dropped Jenna off at KinderCare and started doing my errands. After a couple hours, I was in the middle of grocery shopping when my body started aching like it was saying, “You need to go home and go to bed…now!” So, I finished up, got home, put everything away, took my temp (98) and took a nap.

Now, this is how Jenna’s fun started because she voluntarily took a 2 hour nap and awoke with a fever! When I awoke after an hour, my temp was 100 and I knew I was in trouble. I called Mark so he could call KinderCare to check on Jenna (she was fine) and to come home early in order to pick her up.

So for the next 48 hours, my fever peaked at 102 with moments of 99 here and there. When I called my doctor in the middle of this, the nurse said that I was the 5th person that day to have these symptoms, including another doctor in the practice!

Since this was the first time in SEVEN YEARS I’ve had a virus (I guess all my antibodies are going to Little Bear!), I didn’t do too bad. I was back to myself on Saturday as we just chilled out for the weekend. I hope I don’t get too many of these…I make an awful patient…ask Mark!

FYI–If your body starts aching for no reason, heed the warning!!! You have about 2 hours before the fever comes and be prepared to lay low for at least 48 hours. Here’s to a healthy August!

So I just realized that I didn’t give a 5th month update…there are updates in various blogs so I’ll just fill in some gaps:
*Jenna kisses–aka “Eat Mom/Dad’s face” I know this sounds wierd (after all, she is the product of Mark and I!!) but Jenna will place her open mouth on our nose/chin/cheek/neck for several seconds. Sometimes it’s a long, slobbery kiss or just a quick peck….Jenna kisses!
*Exersaucer–Miss Erin let us borrow her’s and Jenna LOVES to bounce, turn, and bang in that thing. It’s a trip to watch her explore and she likes to see everything from an upright prospective. Thank you for sharing Erin and we’ll make sure you’ll have it back in time for your soon to arrive sibling to use.
*Rolling over–she’s becoming more proficient and will stay on her stomach for longer periods now. Mark’s seen her trying to get the legs under herself “as if she knows that the next step to getting somewhere”. For now, she’ll rotate and move using a combination of rolling to her side and extream back arching.
*Reach n’ Grab–so items still end up in Jenna’s mouth, she’s become very deliberate about reaching for an item and picking it up. It’s cool to see her mind and hands work to get things. Baby proofing is definately in our future.
*Food–Jenna is eating rice cereal mixed with either applesauce or bananas. She’s nursing in the morning and evening and gets formula during the day. What a change a month makes!!

As for me, I’m trying to get some organization and craft projects done around the house with Jenna at KinderCare. I still have anxiety about not being with her but I’ll just have to find a place to put that and know that she’s growing up….now I’m getting teary-eyed again.

First day of school year is August 22 (Jenna’s 6th month birthday!!!) so I’ll be heading into the classroom in a couple weeks to get it set up…along with my new teammate!! I don’t know if I told you, my co-teacher Barbara retired at the end of last year. It was probably a good thing I was on maternity leave for that because I was truely sad at the thought of no longer having this gifted, amazing master teacher to challenge me to grow. However, I’m thrilled she’ll have boating and travel adventures and she’s promised to be only a phone call away if I get “stuck”. So the search for a new teammate was on and after many various issues arose (email if you want the gritty details…way too much to type) my principal hired…Jackie, my inclusion teacher! Jackie is dual certified and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to put her regular ed certification into practice. So, that leaves a new inclusion teacher for us to incorportate into the mix…it’s going to be a good school year!!!!

My only other news is that I’m wearing day/night braces and doing home therapy for the post-pregnancy tendeonidis in my wrist/thumb. The pain has definately decreased and I’m regaining mobility in the thumbs. The doctor wants to put me on meds but that would mean giving up nursing…I’m not ready for that yet so I’m sticking with the braces and hope that will resolve the issue. Push comes to shove, I’ll do meds before surgery so I’ll just have to see how it plays out.

Sorry for such a long update…I guess I can complete all my thoughts when I’m sans-Jenna…ok, now I’m getting teary again…..

Everybody stay cool!