Two weeks into the school year and things seem to be off to a pretty smooth start. Jake has been coming to campus with me for Tuesday and Thursday afternoons of teaching and getting babysat by goodfriend babylifesaver Miss Wendy.

Teaching is going well. I have a celebrity's brother in one class, but I'm not allowed to say who because it will probably violate some type of privacy act. But that's exciting, isn't it? He's very quiet and I give him two more weeks before he decides he has better things to do than my class, at which point my short-lived celebrity-teaching days will come to an end. forever. 

Yesterday there was a wasp in class. It caused a hullaballoo until I shoo shooed him out the window to a round of screeches and subsequent applause. 

I curtsied. (not really)

But I did refrain from saying anything about how I'm from Texas and thus totally unafraid of bugs. I also stayed mum about how, when we were little, my brothers and I would swat down wasp nests with tennis rackets and then run like banchies as the little zingers would literally chase us all the way around the outside of the house. I also didn't tell them about how many times I've been stung by a scorpion, actually I did tell them that (4), but that's not the point. the point. is. that there's a lot of things you could say but don't when you have 19 18yearolds wanting you to talk about anything but ethos, pathos, and logos. 

Why not? 

Because you don't want to give them the satisfaction.

In other news, Jake is getting bigger. He has yet to begin mastering any of life's finer skills, but he is getting bigger. Not chubbier really. No. Just long. Sound familiar?

I'm beginning not to feel completely overwhelmed as a mother. Probably because little Jake is becoming less and less overwhelming. For instance right now he has woken up from a nap and is sitting contentedly on my lap as I type. He may continue to do this for 5 or 6 more minutes. This is most certain progress. 

As you all know...I still haven't figured out how to blog with regularity, but I suppose that too will come with time...with time and perhaps some type of elaborate baby bouncer.

Exit.

Cue Photos.

Jake in his Inside the Actor's Studio Onesie.

 

And his new fluffy friend.

Well I suppose I will leave you with the most exciting news of the week.

Jake said his first word loud and clear yesterday morning.

The family was all lying in bed, and Jake was amidst his typical morning gurgles and chortles and furious leg kicks and rapid arm movements, when out it came, loud and clear:

"Boob."

The Ends of Summer

So we've had a happy and busy few weeks. We had a lovely shower thrown by these lovely ladies:

All of whom are expecting new little ones of their own. :D :D :D There you go. Big grins for each of you. :D :D :D and big grins for your babies.

We had a wonderful visit from my college buddies who made MAJOR hikes to come see the little Rhodes. Somehow I didn't end up with photos of any of the cool things we did. But I did end up with these:

Lauren so sweet and Alexis so mischievous.

Glencora and Jake still in their pjs.

Tara very at home in the Brentwood coffee shop with her hip haircut...

We got to see Zia Vale all the way from Roma. Ci manchi, Vale!

Other than that: drool. Yes, mostly just drool. We may be behind on certain milestones...but we're not behind on our drooling.

We've also been enjoying the air up there.

Oh, and Jake laughed today. For the first time. His first real laugh. 

What did he find so funny? 

His face. 

Work starts on Tuesday. It's been a lovely summer. Monumental. And it's over.

Maybe in honor of football season I'll join Hulu+ and start watching the final season of Friday Night Lights. Those of you who don't understand how truly exciting that is...well you need to spend some time with Coach Eric Taylor and the Panthers.

Until next time. Still the young, happy couple and our doll.

Texas Smiles

I apologize for the silence: the Jake Cub and I just recently returned from the homeland. The one and only Texas Hill Country. It was an eventful couple of weeks. We watched Aunt Kathleen get married to...wait for it...Uncle Thomas. Welcome to the family!

She was a lovely and winsome bride, was she not?

Thanks to Mary via Facebook for the photos...shameless I know...

We got to see the eversodelicious MegandMary at the boda. I haven't spotted the infamous duo together since my own nuptials in the glory days of 2009.

Aunt Kathleen oh so graciously let me play with flowers for her wedding. Exhibit A:

I was very proud of the bouquet, but when she walked down the aisle I forgot to even look at them. So distracted was I by the bride and the strapping young man (husband mine) who co-escorted her down the aisle. I suppose it's to the beautiful bride's credit that she totally outshown her roses and dahlias.

We sampled some tequila lovin' from the restaurant that brags:

I was quite pleased. I also learned that the Frozen Margarita Machine is one of the top ten inventions in the National Museum of American History. Well. Of course!

We met some very important people:

 

 

Jake also got to take a trip to the legendary Montell, TX. Where the family enjoys some creek-front property. Well...it used to be creek-front property, but then after a huge flood it was riverfront property, and now, thanks to the drought...it's neither. So what do you do when your swimming hole is all dried up? Some people:

Other people:

Perhaps 

of all the important things we did in the old TX

we really learned how to smile. 

Thanks especially to one very insistent Uncle:

 

Last but not (even sort of) least. One HUGE HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to my father today. I love you so much, dad! I love being your daughter, and I'm so excited for Jake that you are his grandfather.

 Happy Monday!

Happy Birthday, Cousin Elizabeth!

Just wanted to send out a quick Happy Birthday to my little cousin Elizabeth...who's not so little anymore... even though I remember the day she came home from the hospital!
Happy Birthday, Libby Junior! Here's a smile from Jake all for you!

A Mother and Her 7-Week Old at the DMV

On Friday, Jake and I went to the DMV. We had to register the new vehicle in the family: a 1982 diesel Mercedes. Jacob never got over selling the old Mercedes he drove in college and so when the time came for us to become a two-car family his eyes ran with lust to Craigslist. The illustrious purchase was finalized last Wednesday.

And in a moment of profound charity I offered to do the DMV visit.

Woe to the good old days of small-town-registering-a-car in the Gillespie County Courthouse where you walk up to a desk and a sweet lady processes your paperwork while she tells you about how she just took her mother to your parents' clinic and recalls all the various times your siblings have been in the newspaper recently and then sends you on your merry way.

The DMV is not like this.

The DMV is like purgatory. Lots of people and lots of waiting. 

This time I got wise though and made an appointment. But so did everyone else, and when I arrived at the loathsome place, the appointment line was even longer than the non-appointment line. So there I was, carrying the sleeping Jake in his car seat in line between a woman from Sweden and a man from Australia who were carrying on a conversation over me about passports. I'm not a fan of toting the baby around in the car seat but I felt like he was more protected in it from all the smells and stares and sounds that are the DMV. 

I was feeling pretty put together. Jake woke up right as I was going up to the first counter to get my number, but I only dropped one piece of paper that someone had to pick up for me. I juggled the car seat and the baby and the bag and the papers relatively adeptly as I made it to a chair to sit and wait for my number to be called...Jake was doing pretty well. He was a little fussy because at home I'd had to interrupt his breakfast in order not to be late for my 9:40 appointment, but I thought he could hang in there till this was done. So I held my slightly-fussy baby while I watched the numbers tick by SO SLOWLY all the while praying that he wouldn't get fussier. But he did. So...I contemplated whether or not I was going to let him nurse in the middle of the DMV. 

You see, at the DMV, people have nothing to do but watch other people while they wait, and it's socially unacceptable to watch people in this country. HOWEVER it is totally acceptable to watch babies. So we were getting a lot of attention. But after the poor little guy had rooted and rooted against my shoulder and fussed and fussed, I finally gave in. I covered up with his blanket and let the little porker chow down. In the middle. Of the DMV.

Again I was quite proud of myself. I'd managed to get the kid nursing without a big to-do and he finished right before our number was called. The clerk cooed at Jake and commented on how he was making the cutest faces. (I elected not to tell her that this particular series of faces was his filling-my-diaper routine.) We paid our bill and ascended to the only slightly less purgatorial parking lot and hightailed it homewards. 

Home again, home again. Nothing like a productive Friday to usher in the weekend. I replayed the event in my mind feeling like it had really gone off without a hitch, and I entered our apartment with the glow of success. 

Then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My shirt was on inside out.

What is it they say?

Oh, yes.

Pride cometh...

*  *  *

And. Of course. Pictures of Jake.

 

Happy Monday!!

Happenings

Today we are missing 

 Lily 

 who came and left all too quickly last weekend.

Per our pediatrician appointment yesterday: the Cub is being very boyish and lagging in social development, but he is gaining weight with the best of them, topping the scales at 11 lbs 10 oz.

And we are sporting some of Uncle Adrian's hand-me-down overalls today:

 

Happy weekend!

Good Morning from Baby Jake