Mark of Fridays: Updates

So, if you've been checking this blog regularly, you may have noticed that we haven't posted anything for a long time.  We apologize.  But we thought we'd post some updates (to keep you informed) and then some Christmas pictures of the Little Man (which is what you all want to see anyway).

So, updates first.

Sweetie is scheduled to arrive next Thursday, January 24.  The doctors warned us all along that she might come early, but she does not seem especially motivated to move out of her cozy confines.  She does, however, do a lot of stretching and kicking to prepare for her big debut.  Lynne is already thinking we'll need a baby leash.

Lynne is officially on maternity leave.  That means she gets to play with Mark all day (as long as there's not a lot of getting up and down off the floor) and listen to his daily, 8 hour monologue.  So far this week, they've had long discussions about:  presidents and presidential assassinations, whether God was always a grown-up or if he was ever a kid, what countries Mark would like to visit when he's a world traveller, the planets and whether aliens live on any of them, how the weather man predicts the weather, and fractions.

Matt has officially left the Beacon-News and started his student teaching.  His former colleagues threw him a very well-attended yet bittersweet Leaving Journalism Party on Jan 4, and he began student teaching in a 5th grade classroom in Naperville on the following Monday.  So far he really likes his cooperting teacher and the kids in his class.  He's taught two lessons, taken over discussions with two reading groups, and is angling to take over instruction in spelling and vocabulary in the next week or so.  Over dinner, Lynne and Matt now discuss things like differentiated instruction, IEPs, and the new teacher evaluation system.  It is nerdy but awesome.

And Mark is much the same:  a happy, very verbal little guy who loves his Christmas books and toys and is (he thinks) excited about becoming a big bruyyer next week.