Sleepy Micah

This is a cute video of a very sleepy Micah and his blankey. He didn't take a nap at all at daycare this day and he was out of it when we got home.

We are continuing to make preparations for our move to Arkadelphia--rental home, moving company, daycares--while Dan opens his last show here tonight! Pictures will be forthcoming. After this, he'll have a much needed break from directing until November.

Letter stool

Mcah really enjoys his "name" stool. As you can see, it's colorful and the letters are wooden blocks that come out of the stool. He can't get them out yet, but he likes to bang on it. It' s a perfect Micah-sized activity table.

Da-da-da-daddy

It's finally happened--Micah can say "daddy." I've been trying to get it on video, but as you know, babies don't do tricks on demand :-) Mostly he says da-da-da, but he throws in an occasional "dy" on the end of the line. We can't tell if he really knows what he's saying, but sometimes it sure seems like it! Dan is excited. (For those of you who have had this experience, you know what a thrill it produces, however garbled it may be :-))

Here is a picture of him on the couch with daddy and the kitty. Even though he's allergic to the cat, it's supposed to be good for him to have limited exposure to her so that he can develop some immunity. Dan is allergic to cats also but doesn't really have a reaction to Rogue anymore unless he puts his hands on her then right on his face or something like that. For now, we aren't allowing Micah to touch her and we don't allow her in his room or to lie on any blankets where he will be lying. We started him on Claritan this morning, hopefully that will help with the perpetual cough and runny nose!

Chicken? Eww.

This is how I found Micah in the crib this morning--his feet were sticking through the bars when I came in. As you can see, morning is still his favorite time of day. Most times he ends up sideways in the crib or all the way at the top, but today he had scooched himself all the way to the bottom (we always lay him in the middle). He's an active sleeper. Micah has decided that he doesn't like chicken. I've tried to feed it to him a couple times, heated, cold, mixed with a favorite veggie, not mixed. Judging from the quick response of his gag reflex, he just doesn't like it. We're going to keep those pictures to ourselves!

Micah loves his colored blocks--he likes to dump them all out and then bang them together! The video below showcases his knee talents.

Allergy Update

Well I guess our little man is moderately allergic to mold, cats and dogs! (Not really surprising, considering Dan is also allergic to all of these things, plus dust mites.) One a scale of 0-4, 0 being no reaction and 4 being severe, Micah registers a 2 for these three things. He's a 1 for a bunch of other stuff, but doc said that's not really anything to treat. We'll be trying Baby Claritan for a month to see how that works. The good news is that his fever is gone today and he seems to be doing better so he'll be going back to daycare tomorrow. Doc said it was probably a fly-by-night viral thing that he was fighting that has made it's way through his system. I'm relieved that things didn't turn out to be more serious and that Micah seems to be just fine.

Sunshine on my shoulder

Here are some cute pics of Micah-- on Dan's shoulder, learning to get on his knees, helping mom with the laundry. That Christmas bib is like love--it covers a multitude of sins. Lately, he's been getting up on his knees and rocking a little. Now if he could just figure out how to put one knee in front of the other... Unfortunately we discovered that he had a fever last night and it's persisted through today. So he's home again since he can't go to daycare. Dan and I are taking taking turns working and watching him. Tomorrow we go to the doc to find out what's up and also to find out the results of his allergy test. Apparently, it was positive, but they wouldn't tell us for what yet.

In other news, we've decided that our last days of work will be July 15. After that we'll be heading to Delaware (and a side trip to Boston to meet up with the northern relatives, hopefully) until the 26th. Then we come back to Corinth, get the truck packed and move to Arkansas. The first week of August, we hope to have a visit from mom and dad Inouye, which ought to be a big help as we unpack and try to get settled before classes start. We'll be making a preliminary trip out to Arkadelphia at the end of June and having a garage sale July 4 weekend. So, it's a crazy life for the next few months! All you Corinth people--our garage sale will feature, lots of trinkets, books, a desk, and a matching sofa and loveseat. You know you wanna come! (Even if it's just to see the baby.)

Job news

What up, peeps?

Here is a video showing just how happy Micah is that his daddy is home! Dan and I have made the final decision about jobs--we are moving to Arkadelphia, Arkansas for the position of Assistant Professor of Theatre at Ouachita Baptist University! Dan will be teaching classes in acting, directing and one fine arts survey as well as directing two shows a year. It was probably the hardest decision we've had to make in a long time, but we both felt that this was the best fit for our family right now, although we're sad we won't be so close to friends Nate and Maren and baby Eowyn in East Texas. We'll probably be moving in late July so that we'll have time to get settled before classes start in August. The school is helping us locate housing and jobs for me and they'll be funding our move, which is a big plus. We're excited and a little sad that at the end of this, we're not closer to family. But, we see this as another step toward our goals to end up somewhere near our parents eventually. If you'd like to see more about our new town--which is a little over an hour from Little Rock (major airport--woo hoo!) and 40 minutes from Hot Springs (spa heaven--woo hoo!)--you can visit: http://www2.cityofarkadelphia.com:8080/CityOfArkadelphia

Here is the OBU Web site: http://www.obu.edu/

When we get a chance to visit Arkadelphia, I'll post more pictures so you can see it. Wish us luck!

Dan made it home last night in one piece! It was a good trip and he got to visit Nate and Maren and their little girl, Eowyn, (isn't she a cutie?) pictured above. We're in the process of making our final decision about jobs and we'll keep everyone posted!

pictures online

For those who are interested, I've uploaded blog photos from April and May to snapfish: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=228790706/a=126602340_126602340/fromupload=true/imagecount=119/videocount=0/t_=126602340

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. Here's a picture of Micah and me the day before. We took a trip to Tupelo to go out to eat and enjoy some family time. Unfortunately tomorrow are Micah's 6-month shots--ack!--so I don't think he'll be in as good a mood. Dan is traveling to Texas for another job interview that came up in the nick of time. We may have a new possible destination after Monday. As always, we'll let ya know! (I won't be able to post pics until he returns since he'll have the camera.)

first gift

Micah gave me my first Mother's Day gift yesterday--this flower in a cup. Dunno if you can read it but it says "Happy Mother's Day. Love, Micah." Did I mention it's my favorite flower in the whole world? Looks like we might be making a trip out to Arkadelphia this weekend. We're still trying to decide whether it's worth the 4-hour trip with Micah, but I think it would be a nice change. And I'd like to see this place before we make a final commitment.

Tornadoes

Just a quick update--Tupelo was hit by a tornado, but reports are that no one was seriously injured. We're ok here--it's went away from us.

High Chair

Micah's pretty excited about his new high chair from Mr. John and Mrs. Becky :-) We discovered the he seems to be more comfortable eating in it and is even attempting to hold the bottle himself--as you can see in this video. No new news to report on the job front yet. But it won't be more than another week.

You wanna see cute? You got cute. Here's a video and some pictures of Micah in the vibrating chair. He's no longer happy just laying back so he has to sit up in it (which of course requires constant supervision!).

Two teeth

Here's a video of Micah showing us his new teeth. It's kind of hard to really see them since he doesn't like us poking around in his mouth, but it's a cute clip anyway :-)

Good news

Well, Dan has been offered the position of Assistant Professor of Theatre at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR. We're still waiting on negotiations and a contract, but they called to ask Dan to come last Friday night. We're certainly happy to have a place to go! On the same night, Dan got an e-mail from another place wanting to do a phone interview with him. So, he's doing that this morning and hoping for the best. Since this place would be closer to some family, we're hoping that if they like Dan they'll speed up the process. We can't keep OBU waiting for very long (more than a couple weeks), since that's considered rude. And it seems foolish to give up a bird in hand for one in the bush, so to speak. When we make our decision we'll let you all know and give details about the place. For now, I've posted a picture of downtown Arkadelphia that Dan took while on his interview.

Arkansas Update

AR might be the location of our next hometown. Dan felt that his interviews there went well and that he'd fit in well with the others in the department--all good things. We're just waiting to hear some good news! In case anyone's worrying, he made it home safely by leaving early before the storms hit. We'll give another update when we know more.