Saying Goodbye to "The Summer of Jason"

With school starting up for Jason again tomorrow, we squeezed one last weekday family outing into what we have dubbed "The Summer of Jason". For a little over a month, Rudy and I have seen Jason every single day, and it's been rockin'! We have packed a whole lotta family fun into the last few weeks, and it will be sad to have to get used to just seeing Jason on the weekends again. (His school time schedule usually involves leaving for work at 6:30 am, going to school in between shifts, and then coming home around 11:00 pm. Repeat 5 times.)

There is a part of me that is kind of relieved to be getting back into a schedule, though, even if it is an unpleasant one. Kinda like the relief you feel when coming home from an awesome vacation. What can I say, I'm a routine kind of girl, I guess. It comes as a surprise to me to discover that I thrive on routine...I've always considered myself a bit of a free spirit. Parenthood changed more than my cup size, it seems. :)

Anyway, back to our Going-out-with-a-bang outing: a family trip to the library. Rudy and I go to the library weekly, but we hardly ever get to have Daddy along, so this was a big treat. Here's a few pictures to document our final fiesta.

I put this picture in for Jason. This is one of his favorite faces Rudy makes. Jason keeps trying to get the nickname "Bulldog" to stick to our little guy 'cause of his big, juicy cheeks. I personally prefer "Bubba" or "Bubba Gump" just 'cause its more fun to say. ;)

Rudy sitting at one of the reading tables with Daddy.

Rudy giving Daddy a tour of all the cool spots at the library. Rudy's just picked up walking (with our help). It is sooo rockin' AWESOME! I feel like we can get to know our son on a whole new level because he can finally direct us to points of interest from his point of view. I love love LOVE it! (As far as independent locomotion goes, Rudy is still content to contort is body into all sorts of awkward positions to achieve movement. He seems to think crawling is for the unimaginative or something.)

I put this picture in to celebrate Jason's hot climber's hands. Call me weird, but there's something cool about being married to a man with perpetual blisters (note the tape on his finger). Maybe it's a "working the land" kind of thing, a sign of a hard worker, a man not afraid to sweat out a living. Jason's blisters come from climbing, but I guess my 'hot hands' radar is undiscriminating. :)

If we all celebrated our little accomplishments like small children do, we'd be a world full of much happier people. Rudy has just succeeded in pulling himself up all by himself, and he is letting the entire library know he is fully stoked about it. He's got this self satisfied shriek of joy I wish I could bottle up and sell. It's one of the happiest sounds I've ever heard.

Rudy was kind enough to personally invite me to join him in his celebrations, with a glowing glance that says to me, "Did you see that?!" Raising Rudy is the best way I can imagine to be spending my time right now. (Especially since he has finally decided to abandon the No-naps and wake-up-every-hour-of-the-night routine he picked up during our Summer of Jason. No routine really messes with little kids' heads, huh? I learned that one the hard way!)