Merry Christmas!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!! We had a great time with all of our family-- the Cinquini family in Salem and the Sowers family in Canby. Thank you to all!




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Happy birthday, Daddy!

Today is Tom's birthday. Here he is with Corbin. As many of you know, Tom often wears a hat with "littlefives" on it. That is the literal translation of Cinquini after all. So today Corbin sported a onesie that matched his dad's hat. Fun!



It is also Christmas eve so Corbin is enjoying Christmas stuff including a Santa hat. Here he is with me and the hat. He has been chewing on the ball but in this shot, he is wearing it.


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I made it!

Winter vacation is here! Two weeks to catch up on sleep, folding clothes, and all the other things that have been ignored since I went back to work. Awesome!!

People ask all the time how things are going with being back at work. The short answer? It is hard. Really really hard.

The longer answer is that I do miss Corbin a lot while I am gone, but we have a great person watching him so that isn't so bad. It is the lack of down time that makes it so hard and the many things that are still undone even though I feel like i am going all the time. Like there are 3 baskets of clean clothes still unfolded after a week. I hate that!

You don't even want to know about the grading pile.

But I try to be my best at wherever I am at that time. Best teacher from 7:30-4. Best mom and wife the rest of the time.

Enough whining from me. Enjoy the real reason you came to the blog- pictures of the baby boy.


Kisses(?) for Sophie the giraffe. It is so amazing how good he had gotten at grabbing stuff...and then navigating it to his mouth.


Trying out new toys. Tom is much better than me at checking to see if he is up for new stuff. Probably why he rolled over (both directions!) the first time on days with Dad.


Before big tests I try to hold study sessions at Starbucks in the evening for my juniors. Corbin joined us this past week. The students loved it!


Ahhh!! Fell asleep last nite while we set up tables for his Uncle Mark and Aunt Katies wedding reception.

And that is today's adventure...more to come on that later.
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Big changes!

So, I went back to work the Monday before thanksgiving. I only had 2 days that week before the break, but I just finished my first full week. I don't think I have ever been so tired. But it has been a good start at school. It is odd not knowing names in December, but the kids have been really great. But, did I mention how tired I have been?

But, coming home to baby boy is so wonderful. Tom has been able to take time off to play and bond more with our son. I think they are both really enjoying it. And I am glad my arrival still brings smiles from both of them!

Here are some fun new pics of Corbin. Enjoy!


In his big boy sweater. Growing so fast!


Bundled up for a walk with Aunt Sarah when she watched him one day this week.


And those fascinating feet that he loves to watch are also yummy to eat!

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Sleeping Baby

I don't know what it is, but I have been taking a ton of photos of Corbin asleep lately. Maybe that's when I am able to grab a camera or maybe I am enjoying the moments I get to hold him while he is asleep. I really don't know.

But here are some of my favorites.










The last one deserves a bit of an explanation. This is my nephew Terry with Corbin on his 28th birthday. It is my parents' oldest grandchild and youngest grandchild in the same photo. Terry is posing in corbin's favorie sleep pose. I was laughing so hard that I am pretty surprised I even got them both in the photo.



And in this one, he is not asleep, but he should be. It is late enough, he had just eaten, but he was holding my hand and "talking" to me non-stop. Probably for more than 15 minutes. So funny! So cute!!

Dinosaurs!

One of the cool things about hanging out with the older cousins is that they have different toys than the ones at our house. Although they seem to enjoy playing with corbin's toys, Corbin is definitely intrigued by theirs.

This is Corbin carefully watching as the dinosaur moves toward him shaking its head and wagging its tail.



Tom and Corbin's uncle Chad seem to think he looks afraid in this photo, but he was simply enthralled. Or maybe he was just keeping an eye out for how close that thing was getting to him. Hopefully, he doesn't have any dino nightmares tonight!!

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Flying high

Corbin and I are in Arizona visiting my sister and her family. We flew here yesterday with my mom. Corbin had his first airplane ride.

He did awesome as you can tell from these pictures.






Those are the photos from the takeoff and landing. He got a little fussy in the middle when his diaper was dirty but mostly he was fantastic.

We are enjoying the sun and the family. Corbin has two cousins (once removed officially) that are 2 and 3 so that is fun for him. He just watches them. They are enjoying showing off for us and Grandma Jeanne.

We will be back soon.

First wrestling meet!

Saturday night Tom and I took Corbin to his first wrestling meet. Tom's college coach took a group of high school wrestlers to Russia this last summer. The Russian students they visited in Siberia came to Oregon for their part of the exchange.

Corbin watched the match pretty closely as you can see from these pictures.






During the last match, though, he became more interested in the cute high school girls behind us.

After the matches, Tom and Corbin headed down to the mat. Here is a picture of Corbin pinning his dad.



And here is Corbin getting his hand raised for the victory.



It was a fun night. We enjoyed seeing everyone out in Forest Grove and it was fun to have Corbin have his introduction to a sport Tom loves so much.

I have visions of many more Saturdays in gyms....
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Spitting Up

I think these pictures speak for themselves.






Sometimes it is like an explosion!!

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Halloween!

No trick or treating yet, just hanging out with mom and dad. But mom couldn't resist the skeleton outfit anyway! It glows in the dark, you know!



Also, it might possibly the best smile caught on film yet. Plus, you can see his feet are kicking away -- a sure sign of happiness for Corbin.

Had to share

Just a great picture of my cutie pie!!



He has taken to grabbing our hands and maneuvering a finger in to his mouth. Wonder how he figured that out!

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Discovering new things

Last week sometime I realized that the reason Corbin was so quiet was because he was staring at his hands. I have always known babies discover their hands, but now that I have watched him watch them, I get it. (Probably could say that about a lot of things actually!).

Then this last couple days I have noticed him looking at his feet. He seems to be very suspicious of them by the looks of his face. But he is kicking all the more lately like he is understanding their true purpose. The playmat is all the more fun (and oh so tiring!) and bath time has become much more enjoyable for him as he likes to kick the water now. I think he also likes the sound his foot makes against the tub- that squeaky sound.

So here he is in his bathtub kicking away. I added the washcloth for the photo but Tom doesn't feel it is even close to embarrassing enough to show Corbin's prom dates now. Ahhh...dads....




And here is another fun one. I had to buy him some more long pants and I couldn't resist this onesie.



Cute, huh?

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Kickin' It!

Check out my toy!!


Mom has had me try this a couple of times but since I have been kicking up a storm lately, she thought she would try again. It took me a little while, but after a bit, I really got it! Music, lights, spinning wheels! All because I kick! It is awesome!!

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Baby Blessing

Last Sunday, we had Corbin's baby blessing at church. Traditionally, in our faith, we bless babies within the first couple of months, during a Sunday service. It is a blessing, much like a prayer, that Tom was able to perform. I have seen hundreds of baby blessings in my life - it seemed so surreal - but wonderful to have it be my baby with my husband.

We were very well supported that day with family and friends coming to visit. We had a small breakfast in the morning before church and then we all traveled to the church building together.

It was so wonderful to have everyone there and to feel of their love for Corbin and for us.

Here are a few photos from that day...

This is us with Tom's grandma (Corbin's great-grandma!) and her new husband. They are newlyweds!

Here we are with Tom's parents.

And here we are with mine!

Isn't it great to know how much love and support Corbin has all around him? He is a very blessed little boy...and we are very blessed parents.

Corbin is truly an amazing blessing for us. Now that he is smiling (more like grinning) and so attentive, I just find myself having so much fun with him. He loves to coo and talk with us. I just wish I could understand him better.

Photos of Corbin

Let's be honest...people really just want to see photos of Corbin. No one really comes on this blog to check out what Tom and I are doing. Of course, with a baby, Corbin is really all we are up to. So, I guess it all works out.

Here are some recent photos of him.

This is Corbin learning new technology from one his cousins.

He looks so big to me in this photo!

He looks kind of chubby in this photo even though I don't think I would describe him that way normally. I think it is the way he is lying on my lap. He was 10 lbs 2 oz at his 2 month appointment and our bathroom scale has him over 11 lbs now. Makes me want to hold him even tighter as if that will slow down this growth! It makes me sad when I put on an outfit and I can tell he's not going to be wearing that one much longer.

Here is sleeping with his dad. I guess this one puts in perspective how little he really still is.

That's all for now...

Ice cream!

We had a Groupon that we had to use and I thought tonight was the perfect night. Doesn't rain in Oregon mean ice cream to you?

I think Tom thought I was crazy but he went along with it. So off we went across town for some scoops at Ben and Jerry's. Yum!

Baby boy watched every single bite. I know he's going to be excited when it is his turn to try such things!!

Here we are...having fun with our little one...








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New GoPro

So I recently bought a GoPro video camera. With different attachments it will go almost anywhere and is waterproof. I thought it would be fun to have with all the activities we like to do. So I thought I would try it out on our waverunner. I know updates and pictures of Corbin are cuter, you will just have to endure.

Birds

Did you ever see Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds? If that movie still gives you the creeps, then you may wish to avoid the following activity.

We went to Chapman School on Monday night to see the swifts and the chimney. I guess since the 1980s a huge number of swifts come to this schools chimney to roost for the night every September. Like thousands of birds! So hundreds of people come to watch every night.

The birds begin to gather back in to the area as the sun goes down and they circle the chimney. As it gets darker, the birds get thicker and thicker and then begin to go in. It is truly amazing to watch!! I wish I was better at describing it! But here are some pics...









The event has a very Portland vibe to it if you know what I mean. We had a good time and Baby Boy enjoyed the adventure even he wasn't sure why I had to kiss him in public. See below.



I suspect that will embarrass him even more in the future.

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Messy Boy!

So we do about one major thing a day. So today's task was to chauffeur my niece and nephew after they got out of school. So Corbin and I headed out in plenty of time prepared for spit up, colder weather, and boredom. We had extra onesies, a sweatshirt, and toys.

I did not think of a diaper blowout. He hasn't really had any of that so it was not in my head. But it happened anyway.

Out the diaper through the onesie through his pants and on to the blanket. Ewww!! All while sitting outside waiting for the school to get out.

I was not prepared.

It was not a warm day and all I had was a clean onesie. So we also stopped at Fred meyer for a new blanket because we only had 1000 of them at home. Oh well. New Mom Lesson #245 now learned.

He also later had a spit up explosion. Proof of that one here...


Ahhh...babies!!

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First Day of School!

Today is the first day of school, but I am not there.

In fact, I didn't even get out of bed until after 9. Of course, I was up at 2 and at 5.

Instead of meeting my new students, I have changed some diapers, watched a couple of episodes of Monk while nursing, changed Corbin's outfit a couple of times due to spit-up, taken 2 naps with him, and folded some clothes.

Instead of making photocopies and preparing lessons, I have held him when he got fussy and sang Itsy Bitsy Spider (and a few other simple songs) a few (million) times while he sat in his Boppy.

Instead of eating lunch with my colleagues, I grabbed some wheat thins and cheese when he first fell asleep sometime kind of around noon.

I am glad I am here with my son being his mama.

Although, it does feel weird to not be there being Mrs. Cinquini.

Here's my baby...

...he's worth this weirdness!

New Photos

Just some more photo evidence that we have the cutest baby of all time...

Oh...and I have a super cute husband, too. The above nap allowed me to unload the dishwasher. Or fold a load of laundry...or some other really tough task lately.

This is a photo of one of my favorite "mommy moments" so far.

This is my super alert ready to play baby...at 11:30 PM...of course.

We are doing great. Corbin is truly a laidback and relaxed baby who makes this new job of parenthood much easier than I think people think it should be. Of course, it is all I have to do right now. When I am grading papers and all that stuff, too, I may feel a bit differently.

Which reminds me --

I went in to work today to do a bit of computer stuff to help my substitute. I will go in for a a couple of hours next week, but then I will be off until the week of Thanksgiving. It feels very weird. Very very weird. But I am excited to have this time with Corbin. :-)

Photos

So, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite photos from our first 13 days of parenthood.

Corbin always seems to hold his hands in the funniest positions while he sleeps.

Introducing a first toy. It squeaks. Corbin turned his head towards it the first time I showed it to him. And then turned away from it every time after. I have a feeling that I will feel similar towards squeaking toys right around the time he begins to like them. :-)

Corbin and I ventured out on Tuesday to eat lunch with Tom at the art studio. On our way back, we found ourselves stuck in construction traffic a short few minutes from our home. Well, usually, a short few minutes. Corbin was hungry. And tired. And screaming as we sat for 15 minutes two different times. I have to admit that I still thought he was awfully cute!

Tom and I took Corbin out to the mall last week. I like this photo of Tom pushing the stroller!

And this is my favorite one. First of all, he's wide awake in this one. (Note: it is about midnight, by the way.) But, even more, I love this pose. I think he is meditating. :-)

That's all for now. Things are going well. Honest!