Uncertain Future

Around April Adam started thinking about becoming an air traffic controller (ATC). The thought entered his head when a co-worker mentioned he was perusing that. A month later, while flying, he thought of it again. About a month later he was looking for an ATC app for his iphone and he totally randomly came across an opportunity to apply for an "off the street" ATC trainee position with the FAA. Meaning, instead of paying for schooling, they would pay him for schooling. There was a 10 day window to apply and he stumbled upon it the last day and applied!

A few months went by and we heard nothing. Not sure what would become of it. Well, a couple weeks ago he got the invitation to take the Air Traffic Selection and Training (AT-SAT) test. This is the first step in the hiring process. He will be taking the test on our anniversary, October 28, in San Francisco. Solomon and I am going to go also, to make it a little anniversary trip! I am very excited because I didn't expect to travel this year.

About a week after the test he will get the results. The next step is uncertain, but hopefully he will get an interview with and then a job proposal! The proposal would be for a specific location. In the application they asked you to list your top 10 places you wanted to work. WA locations were our first 5! So we hope to stay in Puyallup!

Once hired Adam would have to go to the ATC Academy...in Oklahoma City. Originally we thought we would all move out there, but it would only be for about 3 months. Between the hassle of moving a family out there for only 3 months and the fact that Adam would really need to focus on studying, we decided that he should only go :( The longest we have ever been apart is 5 days and that was tough. We are going to have to lean on the Lord for this one.

After training at the academy he would finish his training on location. After 2-3 years he will be an air traffic controller, unless he gets let go first. It is a tough career. Not everyone makes it. But, if he does he will be in a secure job in a field that he enjoys.

In other news...

*I have started MOPS. I am enjoying it, especially when Solomon stays home with daddy.

*I have been working once a week at Kristy's Boutique in downtown Puyallup. Just helping out Tuesday morning. It give Kristy some time to get out and run some errands and it give me a little extra income to cover some of Solomon's expenses. Plus, it is a great shop and she has got some really cute clothes. So it is a nice place to work.

*Adam is getting his private pilots license. This should help his chances.

*It is my 25th birthday in a few days. That seems like a big accomplishment :)

*We are well and happy.

Potty Time

Update on Solomon...

Solomon is now between his 8th & 9th month of life! I have to say he is mastering it quite well. He is such a joy to be around and I am a very proud momma! Between his sentences of baby talk and his squeals of joy he is all smiles! The smiles do fade when hungry and tired, but can you blame him ;) He is getting very close to crawling forward, but for now seems pretty content with going backwards and in circles. Somehow he manages to get where he wants to go. He is slowly eating more foods, although I am kind of lazy and can really tell I will miss the

convenience of breast feeding once he is weened. He has had avocado, sweet potato, apple, squash & rice cereal. Although, when I made the rice cereal I think I didn't grind the brown rice enough. It was a little bit much for him to swallow. I will try again tomorrow. He now has one tooth. His bottom right front tooth. Very cute, although I don't put my fingers in his mouth anymore. It is sharp!

We practiced eating off the spoon by using water. He took to it right away!

Some of Solomon's favorite things: Clapping, playing with family, standing, chewing toys, swinging at the park, taking bathes, looking in the mirror, etc.

His biggest accomplishment is his steps towards becoming potty trained! Really around 7 months old we started putting him on the potty (baby bjorn potty chair). We timed it to when he would need to go and encouraged him to go. When he went we got excited for him! He very quickly became comfortable (goal #1) going potty in the seat along with his diaper. Poopy diapers after starting solid foods are awful, especially when you cloth diaper and have to rinse them in the toilet. Goal #2: Go poo in the potty seat. He only goes about once a week right now so you never know when it will come, but we caught it in time and we met our goal! We don't expect to catch it every time (we only have once), but the goal is for him to be comfortable going and to change his mindset of only "going" in a diaper. Goal #3 has not been met yet, but we are getting close. Goal three is for him to have a dry diaper all day. So that he would only wet at night. Right now the closest we have gotten in 1 wet diaper during the day and 1 at night. A lot of time it is hit or miss, but lately I have been really encouraged. Today, we put him on the potty when he woke up. Then went to church and the Tacoma greek festival. I don't bother putting him on the potty when we are out, so I expected a wet diaper at the festival and when we got home. But he was dry both times! So we put him on the potty and he peed a lot! That means he is learning to hold his pee and only go in the potty. I can hardly believe how important and fascinating your child's bathroom habits are! This potty training is a challenge to me! I have to put him on the potty. He doesn't communicate his need yet. But if he is not trained by the time he grows out of his cloth diapers, we will have to spend money we don't have for bigger diapers. Now that is good motivation! (not to mention the yucky poopy diapers :)

Funny potty face! He likes to laugh, clap and play while on the potty

Upcoming with Solomon: Food combinations (not just single foods), crawling forward, dry diaper all day (we hope) and saying dada (not just mama).

6 Months & Counting

Solomon is the happiest person I know. Hmm God, what do you have in store for him. I am so blessed to have the family I do. Do I forget that sometimes? I sure do. Thank you God for what you alone have done for me! You are a good God and there is NONE like you!

Ok, weighing in at 23lbs, I would say besides being the happiest, Solomon is also the biggest six month old I know! We are crossing our fingers, hoping that he will soon get his move on! Yes, I know then I will have to chase him around, but I much prefer that than the almost constant "work-related" pains I experience from carrying him around!

New developments: Stays in the crawl position for a while before he plops to his tummy. Manages to somehow scoot himself backwards. Laughs and "talks" up a storm.

Coming Soon: We will be starting solid food at the end of the month. He is growing out of his cloth diapers at a rapid rate, so we have begun potty training. And next month we will teach him to drive :)

A note from Solomon: 0= jyBKU [¸ qqqqqqq t hbhm kj m []∑™Í¸€2 ~ 1 H B `

u o o ` BV `3

That's all for now!

ps. Here is one of my favorites:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/index.htm

Birth Class Reunion

We had our Bradley birth baby reunion last weekend. Solomon is of course the biggest, and the second oldest. It was really fun. I guess you can tell Solomon has photographers for parents :)

I am not very good about updating my blog. I can't think of things to write. So, if there is anything you want to know about, let me know and I will write about it.

Smart Boy

Solomon is learning so fast these days! He has rolled over twice, although not one time since then. He reaches for things and figured out how to play the music on one of his toys! He is always smiles and goes down for his naps almost perfectly! He recently had his first vacation in Palm Springs, CA. We had such a fun time taking him in the pool! He is wonderful. I couldn't have dreamed up a better baby son!

3 Big Ones!

My baby is three months old!  At twenty pounds he has passed up many babies much older than him.  Which means my back hurts :) 

So, Solomon now wakes up one to two times a night, which isn't too bad for me. The schedule we aim for is feeding at 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm, 12am and 5am. However, we don't always stay on schedule ;)

During the day we try to get lots of things done, but Sol is not always to thrilled about day time naps. He is such a good boy though. I am very blessed to have a son who is so chill! 

Tomorrow he sees the Naturopath Doc for a little well baby check up. I am pretty sure that Dr. Spencer will say everything is on track. He is doing all the right things. 

We are in love!