The last couple of days have been wonderful! I've been very busy, doing lots of work, all of it tiring, all of it fun, and I feel great! It's funny how I sometimes think I'll be happier not doing as much during the week. But I really do feel better about life in general when I'm busy, doing things I really love to do.

Speaking of which, I've been surrounded by children lately! Yesterday, I spent all day with Victor, which was great. It's so weird -- I only saw him a month ago, and yet there he was, doing all these new things. He was crawling all over the place, which he really seems to enjoy. And when he wants to stand up, he's strong enough to just reach out with one hand, get a good grip on something, and pull himself into a standing position with ease. Amazing!

We had fun at the park, too. There's this little oasis of greenery tucked away behind some busy Berkeley streets. It consists of a huge lawn area, lots of tall trees, and a smaller kiddie park with sand, slides, and baby swings. A very cute and relaxing place to be! I'd gotten myself a sandwich and potato salad, and shared itty-bitty pieces of turkey, bread, and carrot shreds with Victor. Whenever I fed him the turkey, he'd eat it, laugh, and say, "Mmmm!" His reaction was enough to make me laugh right along with him!

I swung him in the baby swing for a bit, which he seemed to enjoy. It also seemed to make him kind of sleepy. We headed back when the sky threatened to rain, and I gave him a lunch of his own at home. He really got into it, figuratively and literally! I decided to change his outfit afterwards!

One thing I did yesterday that I've never done in my life is sing a baby to sleep! It was so great! He was somewhat fussy, and rubbing his eyes, so we sat in the rocking chair together and I started humming. Then I somehow moved into Gluck's Minuet and Dance of the Blessed Spirits (which I know by heart since I used to play it quite frequently on my flute). And partway into it, Vic totally conked out! I finished singing the song and then moved him into the crib, where he took a nice long nap.

One of my favorite things about watching Vic is that I get to hang out with Beth when she comes home from work. So much fun! We went out to dinner with Vic when she came home yesterday. It was really cool, and the food was quite tasty. And then Vic scared the bejeebers out of me by choking on a piece of chicken. Luckily, the moment Beth turned him on his stomach, it came right out, and we were able to breathe deep sighs of relief. Vic seemed a little bewildered but soon returned his attention to the pizza pan, which is great fun to bang on tables, or so it seems!

So aside from the choking episode, the whole day was really nice! Victor was very happy almost the whole day. And Beth and I got to talk about a lot of really interesting things. I love hearing her experiences with being a new parent and her views on things. I end up thinking a lot about what kind of parent I'll be when Joe and I have kids one day. It's something I look forward to, but can definitely wait on, as well. In the mean time, if I ever need a baby fix, I can hang out with Vic, so it all works out great!

Also, today was the first day of my new class, called "Eggs, eggs, eggs!" I made sure to get into work early (though was slightly late because on my way out, I realized I'd forgotten something... the eggs!!). I knew I'd need to get my class list, which I found with fairly few problems. As I was getting ready my stomach was grumbling. Some people get butterflies in their stomachs. I think I had wasps or something today... I did not feel good this morning! Anxiety sucks. But once class started, I was fine, and afterwards I said, "Why was I upset?" Happens every time. *sigh*

My class had five kids scheduled. Okay, that is totally handleable, I thought to myself.

Then I saw Connie, the director of education, and as she was going over stuff, she said to me, "...and there aren't too many in the second class."

"Um, what second class?" I said, feeling like a heel. Usually there are two classes scheduled, but I'd seen no evidence of a second class anywhere, so I thought I must only have one. Turns out, that wasn't the case at all!

Three kids were scheduled for the second class. The first class, four showed up. The second... one. ONE child. Oy! So I mean, they paid for it, right? And I'm getting paid for it. So I sat on the floor and taught this one kid, who turned out to be really sweet and very bright. He was telling me that baby birds break out of their shells using a special point on their beaks called an egg-tooth. Dude. I had totally forgotten about that!! I learned that a long, long time ago! I said to him, because I honestly could not remember, "Do all birds have that? Even ducks?"

"Yep. All birds. Even ducks," he replied confidently.

I told him he was teaching me things! Then his mom asked him if reptiles had those, too. He didn't know. Neither did I. Turns out, yes they do. I just looked it up and American Heritage Dictionary says:

egg tooth

NOUN: A hard toothlike projection from the beak of embryonic birds, or from the upper jaw of embryonic reptiles, that is used to cut the egg membrane and shell upon hatching and that later falls off.

Who knew? What a great kid!

Since the classes are so small, they're going to call everyone and see if they can combine the classes. They're also going to call the no-shows for me and find out if they're planning on attending the class or not. I had to laugh at myself today, because while I was checking in with the registrar, I was saying things like, "Okay and then if you could call this person and ask them... And then make sure the parents of these kids are called, too, and see what works out best..." We got things fairly squared away, so I turned to walk away and suddenly remembered something. I twirled right back around and said, "Oh! And can you call me, too, so I can know what to plan for next week's class?" Yeah. That's sort of important, I think.

She laughed and said, "Of course! I'll be calling you, too!" So, the registrar's taking care of everything, and soon I'll know the plan for next Friday.

Wow. I'm a teacher. A teacher. That's so weird to me. It's also so great! I enjoy it. And you know, I feel like I'm good at it, too. What a fantastic feeling!

I ended up napping for about 3 hours this afternoon, because I just felt so wiped out! I woke up when Joe came home and we spent a really nice evening together. More about that soon! For now, I am one sleepy girl all over again, so I'm heading to bed.

Good-night!

~~Meg