Love, Life, & other quirks

After several months' hiatus, I have decided to try to blog again. so, here are some updates... I am spending some time today looking for other mommy bloggers, working to connect with other women in the Portland area with whom I share common interests and activties...not the easiest thing in absence of common gathering places like churches, workplaces, etc. I am enjoying the women I have met at my mentoring sessions and in playgroups and such, but I am still trying to find my "community" here in PDX. I am confident that will happen soon...no rush, but as is the case with most things, it won't happen unless I take some initiatve. I am also tending a sweet, needy cold-having little guy. At 17 months, Gus is doing fabulously well, but he does get little colds more frequently than I would like. Guess having a toddler is like that. Poor little dude. He doesn't seem to mind, though. Speaking of Gus, well, I could fill pages about Gus. He is talking a lot - mostly unintelligle babble, but several words are consistent. More importantly, he signs a LOT. He signs for almost everything he wants and for all of his favorite things - which are animals. We learn an average of two new signs a day, mostly from http://www.lifeprint.com/. He's a big reader and he likes to watch a couple of videos. He plays with his blocks, his shape sorter, his stuffed animals his Dora chairs, his keyboard, and the pets. And us. I think we are his favorite toys, actually. We play bouncing games 10-20 times a day, and dance all the time. He is obssessed with his ABC's also. And the itsy bitsy spider. I am working on the second or three sections of my comprehensive exams for my MA in American Studies. I took forever to do the first section on Race, Ethnicity and Class Formation - knowing I had to continue through this semester anyway (one semester was not enough time - according to my advisor - who was right! - and one of my committee was on sabbatacal), my procrastination drive kicked in early last semseter and told me to take my time and then rush through these last two sections! That's how I roll! So, now I am working on the Expressive Forms section, which I will be able to finish super fast - cause it's my favorite - about how literature, film, fashion, body image, etc. represent and influence American Culture and various subcultures within it. I will be done with this section at teh end of FEB, then on to Gender and Sexuality - which is my 2nd favorite topic and one I have lots of experience researching and writing about. I will have two months to work through that, then I will be taking my exams the first 4 weekdays in May. Woo hoo!