I've been sick this week, just a head cold but miserable all the same. It's so different being sick with a baby. Kevin's on nights this week so Friday night was just me, Jonah, and my cold. It was a terrible night - I'll spare you the gory details. Last night Kevin called out so that he could take care of the baby and I could get some sleep, which made a world of difference. I feel so much better today. We took a nice long family walk this afternoon. It was a gorgeous day; the temperature was perfect and the leaves are beautiful right now. We're trying to get all the sun we can before winter sets in.

In my last post I spoke too soon about the bedtime thing, of course. Jonah sleeps better some nights than others. He's less cute at 3am screaming, but still cute enough that we haven't put a For Sale sign on his forehead.

It's a little scary to me how soon I'll be on my own as a nurse practitioner. I think I know a lot, but there is so much to know that a lot isn't very much. I've been thinking lately about what kind of job I want to look for when I graduate. There are so many options in geriatrics! Primary care, long term care, assisted living, home visits... There are pros and cons to everything and I guess it all kind of depends on what's available close to Tempe. I've been trying to soak up all the resources while I'm here so I can be the best I can be at whatever I end up doing.

This little guy has been keeping up on our toes! I can't believe how quickly he's growing. I'll be gone for 12 hours at clinical and I swear he looks totally different when I get home! We've been dealing with bedtime a little this week. When he turned three months old we decided to try to teach him to fall asleep on his own. We expected it to be hard, and the first night was, but since then he's been pretty great about it. He might cry for a couple of minutes, but if I come in and tell him I love him and give him his pacifier, he goes right to sleep. And he sleeps right through the night! Maybe I should erase that so that I won't jinx it! He changes all the time, so next week might be a completely different story.

I've always thought that if I had a baby, I would be able to see my own bias. For example, I would say I had the cutest baby but I would know that I really didn't have the cutest baby, that I just thought so because he was my baby. But seriously, I have THE CUTEST BABY.

He's only three months old! He's going to be an early walker, like his cousin Miguel.

He loves to read.

He's going to be sitting up soon!

Everything here is ok. I'm extremely busy between parenting and school, especially now that Kevin's back to work. I knew it would be a little crazy but this is just nuts. I'm making it through, though, one day at a time. Just don't look at my living room - it might blind you.

It's been very busy around here lately. Next week is midterms, which means lots of papers are due. My clinical was canceled on Tuesday which is stressful since it means that I'll have to make up hours at some point, but the good part is that I have that whole extra day to write papers.

Quick Jonah update: His new skills include eardrum shattering squeals of delight, almost turning over, reaching for toys and sucking furiously on his first two fingers. He also has started sleeping through the night (I almost hate to type that for fear I'm jinxing my good luck. Good luck, please don't go!)

I thought you might like a picture update, since I don't have much energy to come up with words. I narrowed down the 300 (!) pictures from Grandma Annie's visit.

Jonah on his three month birthday (or thereabouts) clutching his new favorite bear toy

Grabbing onto his toys like a big boy

sucking on his fingers, trying so hard not to fall asleep

at Silver Sands beach

We've had so much fun with Grandma Annie in town! The time is really flying by. Jonah gets along great with his grandma. They play and sing and he does a lot of laughing. While I've been in school, Kevin Mom and Jonah have explored the city on foot. They take pictures so I can see how everything went and it looks like a good time is had by all!

If the weather is nice, I think I might skip my afternoon class tomorrow so we can all go to the beach.

I'll write and post pictures of Grandma Annie's visit soon. Right now it's too late and we are too tired from all the fun!