Bowman West

We're Movin' on up, to the East Side...

So, I guess it's about time to share with the world that Bowman West is moving east. Very east. Not Dallas. More east than that. And north. Well, technically north but originally south. Ok, I'll say it. We're moving to Virginia! In less than four months! Now that's crazy! Andy has accepted a fellowship position in neonatology for the next three years at the University of Virginia. It's two hours south of Washington, D.C. so we'd be happy to meet up with any of you who'd like to visit the nation's capital and look at monuments and what not. Of course, you can visit us in Charlottesville and go rafting or hot air ballooning or something, too. So we've been trying to figure out whether to sell or rent out our house and whether to buy or rent in Virginia. It's all been weighing heavily on my mind. Here's my main concern, and I'd really love your advice: Would it be poor form to wear my Texas Tech Football t-shirts around UVA since we beat them in the Gator Bowl this season? I mean, this has really been weighing heavily on my heart. Ok, not really but it's a strange connection between us and UVA. I'll save all the heavy, sappy stuff about moving for later when I have the time. For now I'll just say: If you know of anyone that wants to buy our house send them our way. It's a pretty cool house and should be possum free, but we'd throw in the possum trap just in case. Really, how could you beat that offer???

Ok, I have to say some things about my boy Charlie. Man, he's really changed a ton since turning two. He's definitely got more attitude and a greater need for independence, but he's also keeping us laughing all the time. I've got some great pics and even better videos but I'll post those when I have more time. I'll just give you some stories:

1. Last Wednesday Charlie refused to take a nap. I made him hang out in his crib for quite a while on two separate occasions before and after lunch. Still no luck with the napping. Around 3:00 I heard him yelling "MAMA! MAMA! MAMA!" from his room. I went in and he was holding his diaper in his hand with a big smile on his face. He had taken his diaper off and peed all over the place. Nice. I cleaned him up, got myself ready, and loaded us into the car. Then we drove around town until 5:00 when we headed to church. Our Wednesday fellowship dinner didn't start until 5:30 but I knew people would be there setting up so we went early. I just really needed to get out of the house and have adult contact before I went nuts on my two-year-old. Anyone else ever been there??

2. The other morning we were in a store and while I was looking at stuff I heard a sales clerk behind me talking to Charlie. Immediately Charlie put his finger on his face and started repeating, "Face. Ewww. Yuck." I had no idea what he was doing until I turned around and saw that the lady who was talking to him had two enormous moles on her face. Again, nice one, Charlie. Good grief!

3. I'd really LOVE to get Charlie off his pacifier. Before you start giving me advice, let me tell you that I've already heard it. He's too young for reasoning. He won't care about trading them for a new toy or giving them to a new baby who needs them. He lives by one creed: MINE. I decided to go with the hole-cutting method. Today I cut tiny holes in the tips of the pacifiers so that they wouldn't "work" anymore. He tried one, tried another, then said, "Broke." I asked if he wanted to throw them away. He, of course, said "No! Mine!". Now he just holds the paci in his mouth and disregards the fact that the sucking action no longer works. I'm going to stick with this method and see if he loses interest over time. I'll let you know how it goes. Of course, I could get a backbone and go cold-turkey, but how would I eat, sleep or blog with Charlie bugging me for his paci 24/7? Priorities, people!

4. Charlie's catching on to words that sound the same. The other day when we were driving home from his preschool I asked him if he was nice at school. He said, "Uh, huh. I nice." Then he pointed to his nose and said, "Nose." I watched a light bulb flicker above his head as his eyes lit up and he said, "Nice, nose, nice, nose, nice, nose..." four hundred times all the way home!

5. Me: Charlie, are you a baby?

Charlie: No.

Me: Charlie, are you a big boy?

Charlie: No.

Me: Then what are you?

Charlie: I a two. A two. Atchoo (pretend sneezing). Atchoo. Atchoo.

He has the book "How do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon" and on one page a dinosaur sneezes. That's where the pretend sneezing came from. I guess he just put two and two together.

Oh, and I turned 30 on Feb. 28th. As you can see, the candle fell over before I could even blow it out so I think that means that it doesn't count and I'm still 29. We'll just go with that. Really, my peeps took me and my birthday/hetero life partner to an awesome dinner at Abuelos and a fun movie. Someone also snuck into my classroom and left a balloon and message on the board telling my students that I was 30. Of course, I had to play it off and say that it was just a cruel joke or else they might not think I'm cool. And we all know that those college kids think I'm cool. Of course they do. Oh, I almost forgot. Andy gave me some beautiful roses and the Thriller 25th Anniversary CD (SWEET!!). I also made my whole family ('rents were in town, and sis & husband) go with me to an Indian food restaurant for my birthday dinner. I LOVE Indian food but no one will ever go with me so I took the opportunity when I had it! I think they all secretly loved it.

P.S. I'm not proofing this post so deal with it -- sisters!