Case and Daddy's Yelling Game

So many nights, Casen and Josh play a game. They sit facing each other and they mimic one another. Case will yell and then Josh will yell the same way. It goes back and forth until it's hard to tell who is mimicing who. I think Case loves to yell as loud as he can and have an audience. He sure does love his Daddy!

Family Visit

These videos and pictures are from our last trip down to Chatty and Geronimo. Case got a kick out of Brutus in the video.

Eating

As many of you know, Casen loves his milk. He just a few months ago started taking a bottle without any problem. He has decided that he likes cereal too. He has that at lunchtime usually. For dinner, he usually has a few bites of a vegetable and a fruit. A few bites is all that he's interested in at the moment. He's a lot like I was when I was a baby. According to Mom, I wasn't real interested in table food until I was about 9 months. I'm curious to see if at 9 months he's all of sudden all-for eating solid foods. We'll see!
Up to now, he's had green peas, green beans, squash, and bananas. He seems to "like" all of it - well, like meaning he'll swallow a few bites.
Usually, he's more interested in holding the spoon and trying to feed himself. I usually let him towards the end which results in a baby who needs a bath!

Sunday Morning

Today not only were we all ready on time...we were ready early! Since we were dressed up, we took some pictures outside before we left for church.
(Case is usually all smiles in the morning, but today he was not. He was pretty somber until after he took a nap during worship.)

Casen Playing and Says Dada

This past Friday, Casen waved and said, "Dada" when we were leaving and telling Josh bye. We were sure the waving was real, but we thought the talking might have been a fluke. But he's really saying it. He has been babbling a lot and said different syllables, but it seems like he knows that "dada" is a word. Until today, we just thought he didn't know "Dada" was Josh, but he knew it was a word that got our attention. Today, he has said "Dada" to Josh a few different times. Oh it's exciting!
In the video, he's playing with a toy his Bunny and Immie sent him. Josh walks in behind me and that's when he says, "Dada."

Professor Joys

Just an update on my new job...
Classes don't start for another week or so, but I'm busy preparing for classes. My goal is to be at least one month ahead of where I'm teaching. So far so good.
My office is still not ready so I've been working wherever I can. I was working in a classroom, but this week brought the freshmen engineers to the building for their week-long orientation. It wasn't too bad sharing a classroom with a group of them...until I was surrounded by catapulting balls. They were doing some sort of experiment measuring how far balls could be catapulted. When the first group came to where I was working, I asked them if I needed to leave. They said no. Another group came, and I still felt relatively safe. Then more groups came. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by flying balls. But I didn't want to relocate. I only had a little bit longer to work anyway, and I was already committed. I kept moving over though when a ball sailed too close to my head. I am SO glad I didn't get hit - I would've been really embarrassed. This week, the conference room has been freed up so I've been working in there most of the time. Much quieter and safer.
I've gotten mail here for the first couple of times this week. It's cool to see "Dr. Amanda Nichols" on some package or letter.
I came across this list of excuses some chemistry professor put up on his website. Check it out - it's outrageous!
http://ull.chemistry.uakron.edu/excuses/

More Pictures and a Video From a Wedding

So I got my friend Kellie's pictures and video that she took at Jeremy and Rockie's wedding last month. Her pictures are priceless. The kids collected frogs and Kellie and Jordan helped them put them in a deli tray. Then Papa was on the trampoline showing the kids what real jumping is like...well watch the video to see what happened!

Animal Justice

Yesterday at Case's babysitter's I had a conversation with a 7-year-old.

Me: You guys having a pillow/blanket fight?
Girl: Yep, I'm on the pillow team and he's on the blanket team. Our names are based on what we're using.
Me: I see.
Girl: We're also fighting for animal justice.
Me: Oh.
Me thinking: What? What is she talking about?
Girl: Yeah, I'm fighting for hamster justice.
Me thinking: Hamsters???
Me: Oh really. What's he fighting for?
Girl: Wolf justice.
Me: Oh, I see.

Girl: Yeah, I'm fighting for both domesticated and wild hamsters....

Me thinking: Did that 7-year-old just use the word 'domesticated'?

Girl: ...Yeah, the golden hamster lives in the wild.

Me: Where did you learn that?

Girl: From a book.  We read about it last year in school.

So not only did I see firsthand how important reading is, I also know now that the golden hamster lives in the wild!

(I actually just googled golden hamster, and she was right!  They are endangered in the wild, but are also common as pets.)

So Go Animal Justice! 

Getting Older

So lately I have been feeling older. Now, I know I'm "only" 27, but hey, 30 is getting closer and after having a baby, I feel older. Older than I ever have before - probably because I've entered a new stage in my life. Everything seems to be reminding me that I'm older.
1. I went shopping with April, and we went to Rue 21. Ever been in that store? I now call it a "teeny-bopper" store because the clothes just don't fit me like they would've when I was a teenager. And most of the clothes are not really age-appropriate anymore. I ran into a similar dilemma wherever I went. Most clothes were either too young or too old (or so I thought) or just didn't fit.
2. Josh and I started reading a new series of books: The Twilight series. We just started the second one and are definitely hooked. (On a slight digression, the books are about vampires. I've never been a fan of vampire books or movies, but these books are different.) Well, I found out from my brother halfway through reading the first book, that these books are teenage/young adult books. So once again, I was reminded of my age. I still liked the book though, even if it was written for teenagers.

I seem to be clinging to teeny-bopper things: clothes, books, music (embarrassing confession: I'm becoming a fan of Jonas Brothers thanks to their recent single Burn'in Up). I told April that maybe I'm having an "Almost-30-Crisis" and am attracted to younger-generation things.

Well, this week, I've begun to feel younger. I keep getting asked on campus if I'm a student. Apparently, I don't look like a faculty member just yet. I'm hoping it's because I have that young-student-look still. Oh, it also could be due to the fact that when you pull my name up, my college freshmen picture pops up still (even though I took a new faculty picture - nothing else besides my ID has been updated). Nice.

April Visit

My friend April got to visit us this past week - woohoo! I hadn't seen her in a year, and she had never met Case. We had fun - shopping, laying around talking, playing with Case, and eating brownies.

I'm Home

I started my first day at OC yesterday. For those of you who do not know, I got a job teaching chemistry at OC. I loved my time at OC as an undergrad. I guess it's because it was the perfect place for me at the time. The summer before college was rough. Among other things, my Papaw passed away. OC served as a refuge for me from the recent storms. I made life-long friends the first month I was there. I met and fell in love with Josh that first semester. I was challenged spiritually during my time at OC and fell deeper in love with God. I realized I really liked chemistry even though I wasn't always the best at that...and I was okay with that. I had some great professors that served as mentors, not only for academia, but also for life. When we moved to Stillwater for grad school, we missed OC, Edmond, our church home and friends. God has blessed us the last five years in Stillwater. We have learned a lot of things (in and out of the classroom) so I know God sent us there for a purpose. But it was good walking around campus this morning. The friendliness of students and employees was contagious. I remember why I loved my time here at OC, and I'm glad I can be a part of it again. I feel like I'm home.

Lake Texoma: Some pictures

We went to Lake Texoma to visit our friends Trey and Lauren. We had a blast!! It was so good to see them and catch up. We spent one day on the lake and the next messing around in a nearby town. Here are some pictures (videos of our lake adventures and Case's first swimming pool experience soon to come!).

Backyard Bible School

Last Saturday, GO! Ministries (a ministry we help with at church) had a backyard bible school in a local park. It's like a short version of VBS. We invited the neighborhood kids and their families. We had donuts and juice, played sports, did crafts, had a water balloon throwing contest, sang songs, and listened to the story about the little children coming to Jesus. It was great fun! We had a lot of help from church members and met some cool kids and great parents.
The boy holding Case in the pictures is from church. Case loved him. He told me, "Babies are attracted to me." haha When I taught him in the 1st grade, he told me he was writing a novel. He reminds me of my brother Jordan when Jordan was little - writing and knowledgeable about all kinds of things like animals.

Growing Boy and Green Beans

Yesterday, Case had his 6-month check-up and shots. He's a growing boy! He weighs 17 lbs and 13 oz - one more ounce than his 8 month-old cousin Jacilayne! I figured he would catch up to her soon. He's so solid and thick. He's 27 inches long now too. I love his pediatrician. She always spends a lot of time with us answering questions and then tells me after she's checked him over, "He's perfect." sigh. I agree.
His allergies are cleared up right now. He might have seasonal allergies like I do or maybe (and hopefully), he's outgrown them for the time being. We'll see.
Last night, he tried green beans - his first taste of solid food besides cereal. Today for lunch he had some cereal and green beans mixed together. He also took drinks of water out of a cup. Then he played in the water-green beans-cereal mixture for awhile. When I started cleaning him up, he got pretty mad. Apparently, he was NOT ready to stop playing! I'll have to let him play this afternoon with some icecubes on the high chair tray and see how he does.