Rachel Cougar Hendrix-Halen

She stood there for 20 minutes playing while I was folding clothes. A little rock star in the making.

Twenty Three Months

Dear Rachel,

Today, you turn twenty three months old. I can't believe that you're going to be two in a month.

Of course, as I mentioned before, you've decided to start your terrible twos early, and it's really started in earnest the last couple of weeks. There are times when you're the sweetest, happiest child in the world, then half a second later there is fire shooting from your eyes. We're trying to cope, and we really hope this temper of yours tempers itself soon, or we might have to sell you to the gypsies.

You are learning more and more words every day, and you do a really good job of repeating new words that we tell you. I can't even begin to tell you how many words you know now, but it's a lot, and you talk all the time. In fact, there are times that you talk so much, you forgot to do other things, like eat.

Your brain is also starting to make indirect connections to things. The other night we were reading "Are You My Mother" and when the baby bird sees a boat, you pointed to the area the boat was in and said "wa-wa," even though the water wasn't colored blue and didn't really look like water in the picture. You just knew that boats go in the water. Amazing.

You now understand that things are yours and ours. You'll point to something and say "It's mine" or "It's Dada's/Mama's." If we sit in the wrong chair at the table, you'll be sure to tell us who is supposed to sit there, and the other day in my car, you pointed to the passenger seat and said "It's Mama's."

You have started helping us around the house, and will regularly tell us that you want to help: "I hap!" You help Mama with the laundry, you help me water the grass (but you didn't like getting wet so much), you help with the dishes, and you help with sweeping the floor. The master plan is taking shape...bwah ha ha ha!

Finally, your coordination is getting really good. We bought you a little soccer ball this past month, and you love playing with it. You've gotten really good at dribbling the ball, and last night we ran all over the driveway with you keeping the ball under control. It was so cool to watch, and we can't wait to teach you more about the game!



Despite all the temper tantrums, we love every minute of watching you grow up. You are learning so many new things every day, it's amazing that we can keep up with you. We love you very much.

Love,
Dada

Rumblings

So, I haven't posted anything personally about Monica or I for quite a while. This has pretty much become the "Rachel blog," but the name at the top still says Laleblog, so I suppose it's time to let you all in on a little thing that's been going on the past month. I've been reluctant to say anything about it until now.

No, we're not pregnant.

I was offered a job.

The job I've been shooting for since we moved back to Texas: I was offered a position as a technology director.

The funny thing is, that even though I was really excited about the whole thing, there was just something about it.

I turned down the job.

Had this been two years ago, I probably would have jumped on the opportunity. But I'm older, you know? More mature.

OK, maybe not, but there were an awful lot of factors that came into play that I didn't even consider when I started the process of applying and interviewing for this job. In the end, the timing just wasn't right.

It's an interesting position to be in, getting an offer when you're not really looking. I'm really happy where I am, and while this would have been a fantastic opportunity, I absolutely made the right decision.