today at our faculty meeting we had the speeches given by the people who nominated candidates for teacher of the year. it’s one faculty meeting that i actually enjoy going to. where else can you go and listen to thirty minutes of continuous praise of people who have made a profound impact on another human being? usually the meetings are mundane laundry lists of reminders, learning targets, assessment data, and the latest useless hoop the administration wants us to jump through.

but not this time. this time it was five candidates, five stories of people touching the lives of kids in amazing ways. one speaker was a senior who had nominated a teacher in my department. she spoke of how as a freshmen she didn’t really care about school, or this teacher and her boring class, but that didn’t stop the teacher from trying to connect with her. the student recounted how she pushed her teacher’s buttons to no avail, her teacher was still there for her. when the student found out she was pregnant and confided in the teacher that she was quitting school, her teacher made her think about what a mistake that choice would be, how that would affect her child’s view of his future and the impact it would make on hers. she changed her mind because she was given hope and now she’s graduating in may.

while she told her story and how this teacher affected her life’s direction, there was hardly a dry eye in the room. her delivery wasn’t as polished as the other speakers, but her message reached every person in the room. being the huge marshmallow that i am, i managed a few discreet sniffles. the warm fuzzies were enough to push me through the next meeting i had to sit through.

but the reason i enjoy these moments is it just reminds me why any of us do what we do what we love. because it does good. in some small way humanity’s balance of goodwill and positive karma is restored.

and when one of my obnoxious sophomores throws a tantrum because i won’t give him credit for an assignment that he did in the EIGHTH grade, i just go to my happy place and desperately access the warm teacher fuzzies.

i know they’re in there somewhere….

there’s so many things to talk to you about this month. you’ve been quite busy becoming your own little person and i lose track of all the wonderful little discoveries you make along the way.

the food category is blossoming for you. you adore oreo cookies. you have this little up and down bopping head dance you do when you’re happy, which is incredibly cute, and oreos seem to warrant these sweet moves. as does chocolate as i found out monday. i gave you a bite of chocolate chip cookie, your first, and there was dancing and then grunting. you wanted more and i wasn’t shoveling it in your mouth fast enough so you grunted and did that annoyed yelling thing you do, so i gave you more. yes, mommy is putty in your hands.

you’ve also picked up pointing. you point to all kinds of random things now. mostly just off in the distance, at the walls, or other rooms. i’m beginning to think you can see in some other baby dimension that is no longer accessible to me as an adult, because at times you seem pretty adamant about the nothing that you are pointing to. then you grunt do that annoyed yelling thing you do so i just give you a cookie and that’s that.

your birthday extravaganza is scheduled for march 12. the invitations, also known as deathmatch 2006, have been peacefully mediated and sent out and now all the other craziness has to be addressed. as you can tell, i’m still exhausted from the deathmatch so i’ll have more to write next month. but while we’re talking about it, what are your thoughts on cake icing?

appropriately enough, you’ve developed an affinity for books. right now you’re still in the chewing, throwing stage of your reading enjoyment, but you definitely have a favorite. rainbow fish saves the day is one book you always throw at me to turn the pages. i do my best to read you the story, but you’re really more interested in turning the pages than listening to my dramatic retelling of how the rainbow fish and his team of flash tag partisans take on the powerful shark lobby and liberate the oppressed non-rainbow fish minority. it’s a gripping tale, but like i said, right now the pictures and turning the pages is much more satisfying. oh well. i’ll just have to be patient.

you’re getting taller and are practically busting out of your car seat carrier. unfortunately, you’re STILL not 20 pounds, so we have to put off the big kid car seat until you gain five more pounds. you can have some of mine. or i can just start shoveling more oreos your way. either way it’s a win-win.

the little fisher-price walker toy you have is getting more of your attention lately. it has a nifty handle that you hang on to stand and once its wheels start moving you forward, it gets a little scary. you have a tendency of plopping down on the floor when you get freaked by the forward motion, but daddy’s quite persistent in making you practice. he can be a little pushy sometimes, but he means well.

so one more month and it’s the big one. isn’t it exciting? i’m tired just thinking about it. i hope it turns out as fun as it looks inside my head. we’ll see.

if not, we can just bust out the birth video.