Books I read in 2013

Now that we've gotten settled into 2014 a bit it's time for a bit of blog housekeeping as I clear out my 2013 reading list and start 2014's.  Here's everything I read in 2013:

• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, Chip and Dan Heath
• Calico Joe, John Grisham
• The Associate, John Grisham
• Sycamore Row, John Grisham
• David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Malcolm Gladwell
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck
• Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts On Life Unarmed, Glennon Doyle Melton
• Man In White, Johnny Cash
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, Chip and Dan Heath
• And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini
• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, Roger Fisher
• Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time, Brian Tracy
• Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, Michael Pollan
• Bossypants, Tina Fey
• Solo By Choice: Carolyn Elefant
• Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, Chip and Dan Heath
• Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, Sheryl Sandberg
• The Emotional Life of the Toddler, Alice Lieberman
• Nurture Shock: New Thinking About Children, Po Bronson and Ashley Merriman (r)
• The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, Charles Duhigg
• The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-but Some Don't, Nate Silver
• How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, Paul Tough

My favorites this year were Lean In, Decisive, and David and Goliath.  I've already reread the first 2 and will doubtless reread the Gladwell book as well (also, nerd alert: I bought tickets to see him speak in Dallas next month and super-excited about that).  Gladwell is my favorite author so no surprise I enjoyed that one.  His books always make me think and stick with me.  Lean In and Decisive were both just what I needed to be thinking about as I contemplated the decision to leave the cozy confines of the SBA and strike out into solo practice.

Disappointments included The Emotional Life of the Toddlers (good information, but kind of boring) and the Associate (it's like Grisham was just going through the motions on that one).  An unexpected surprise was Man in White, Johnny Cash's historical novel about St. Paul.  It helped bring stories I already knew into better focus and made me think.  I wish he had written more Biblical historical fiction, he was obviously gifted in that regard.

22 books in 12 months...I stayed busy.  It was a good year.  And with that list now cleaned out I'm motivated to get moving on this year's list.

The "medium car"

Kevin's car is in the shop this week for some minor repairs so he's got a loaner car in the meantime.  The loaner is a Toyota Camry which, being neither too big nor too small, Daniel has dubbed the "medium car."  He's very excited about the medium car and looks forward to being driven to school in it in the morning and to play in it in the garage in the evening.  Who knew something so minor would be so exciting to a preschooler?  Alas for him, the repairs probably won't take more than a few more days.  I suspect there will be many tears when we bid the medium car adieu and bring Kevin's car back home.  Till then, the medium car is being thoroughly enjoyed at this house!

Rebecca: 11 months "Not yet...but almost"

Hard as it is for me to believe my baby is less than a month from her first birthday.  Is she a year old yet?  As Daniel would say "not yet, but almost."

She's still enjoying crawling around the house and pulls up to standing.  She isn't really cruising yet but I've seen her stand unsupported a few times.  Walking is coming soon, but whether "soon" is next week or in 3 months I don't know.  It'll happen in due time.

One interesting difference I see between her and Daniel is that as he'd reach a few mobility milestone he'd take advantage of the ability to explore the house, while Rebecca uses it primarily to reach me.  She does explore too but it isn't her primary motivation.  She does however enjoy "dancing" to music:

And climbing the stairs:

She also likes to walk by pushing her dino toy.  Daniel loved it when he was that age too.  When he got bigger we turned it into a scooter and between his use and hers it's lived in our living room for the past 2 1/2 years.

All that moving around gives her quite an appetite.  She nurses 3-4 times a day and gobbles up plates full of solid food.  Sweet potatoes and peas are still favorites but over the past week she has enthusiastically eaten ravioli, roasted radishes, rutabaga fries, Brussels sprouts, pineapple, salmon, and pinto beans.  Dinner time is easy-I just make a plate for her of whatever we're eating and cut it up into smaller bites.

We had a 2-day nursing strike recently that worried me but fortunately was short-lived.  I think teething was to blame.  Whatever it was about, it's over now and all is once again well.  Between that and her waking at night for 2 nights in a room it was an unusually difficult week for her.  Before that I literally can't recall the last time she had woken up during the night.  Fortunately it wasn't the start of a trend.

In general she's still an excellent sleeper.  She usually sleeps from around 8:30PM-8:30AM and takes 2 naps a day.  Her first is usually late morning/early afternoon for about 2 hours and the second if it happens is around an hour-90 minutes in the late afternoon/early evening.  I suspect in the next few months we'll drop the later nap but we'll do that on her schedule.

She was a little clingy to me the past few weeks, probably because Kevin was unavailable for about a week between having the flu (and thus being quarantined away from the rest of us by me) and then traveling for a few days.  It's possible the nursing strike and night waking were related to that as well.  But then, I'm sure her newfound mobility is both exciting and scary too so it could well be related to that.

She hasn't been weighed since her 9 month checkup but it's safe to assume she's still on the light end of the growth chart.  She still fits 9 month clothes pretty well.  She's got 6 teeth now-2 bottom, 4 top, and just cut a 3rd on the bottom too.

She looks a lot like Daniel did at this age.  I thought she had a little more hair than he did at that point but on closer look maybe it's just that hers is a little redder and his was more blonde.  Here's her latest car seat picture:

And here she is in her Christmas outfit:

It's been a fun first 11 months with her.  I can't believe that by the time we unpack our Christmas decorations again we'll have a 4 1/2 year old and an almost 2 year old.  Time to start putting bricks on their heads to keep them from growing up ;)