17 3/4 months

How are you all doing?  We are fine here.  Matthew just came back from Mexico on his birthday, Friday the first.  And he didn't bring home any swine flu!   Yay!  He says that the company gave them hand sanitizers and masks while they were down in Mexico, and they didn't go out and about while they were there, either.  And everyone on the flight back was wearing a mask, too.  Good job, Matthew!  

This week I have been at work for four days!  It was quite a shock after almost a month of working only a couple of days a week.  We just had a new bid, so everyone's schedules got all changed around, so the people who were trading with me regularly have had to stop.  Time to start seriously recruiting more people to work for me!  This four-day a week thing is seriously draining!  Also at work, they've been training me on the basics on using the Delta computer system.  It's a bit clunky, but 

it's kind of fun to be learning something new.  And now I can actually help (some) Delta passengers instead of standing around like a lump.  Always nice.  

Thomas has been practicing walking around on tiptoes.  He's also got a new word that he uses when he's happy:  "Den".  He says it with great emphasis and a big happy smile.  And I have no idea what it means.  And he also knows that a cow says ooooo, a dog says ar-ar-ar, a bee says pbtzzzzzz (raspberry), and a cat says eeeeeeeee ( like Chloe's high-pitched meows).  And he loves to make raspberry noises (pbtzzzzz) whenever he sees pictures of motorcycles, helicopters, cars and trucks.  And he still loves "Dodo" or the movie My Neighbor Totoro, a Japanese animation by Hayao Miyazaki, the Walt Disney of Japanese animation.  Whenever we mention Totoro, he perks up and demands, "Dodo?!  Dodo?!"  He even pats his rocking horse's ears and says "Dodo" because the ears stick straight up like Totoro's.  He watches in 30-minute segments, and I fast-forward to the scenes that have Totoro so we don't have to watch the whole movie. Sometimes Mom gives him "Totoro ears" in the bath by pulling his shampooed hair into two tufts sticking straight up. 

 

It's been getting pretty hot and humid out there, with high 80's (low 30's Celcius) during the day, so we are going to have to be careful about using sunscreen, staying cool and drinking water.  We're also going to have to be more careful about bugs, since Thomas has several bites from something that he keeps scratching and scratching.  The bites are starting to get pretty red and swollen.  Must start putting more hydrocortisone on them to give him some relief.