The frontal lobe, yea, in the brain, is involved in planning activities. Its development apparently really "kicks in to high gear"* when a child is between 6 and 8.
Anyway, believe it or not, we saw evidence of N's frontal lobe IN ACTION today. She had an art project that she had made at school. She wanted to take it to art class with her. Her Daddy was picking her up at school today and taking her to art class. Mary Poppins was taking her to school. The problem... How to get the art project to art class....
All on her own, she picked up her art project, took it to MWH and asked if he could put it in his car so she could have it at art class. She thought through all the steps necessary to get the art project to art class all by herself, and then implemented it.
I was most impressed. So was MWH. He didn't know why she wanted him to put the art project in his car, but when he inquired, she explained and then it all made sense to him too. N was miles ahead of everyone on this.
I just love the frontal lobe!
*That's not exactly how the article I read about frontal lobe development said it, but that's what they meant. Heh.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
set up
T (18 months) has been sleeping in her own room since 6 months. Lately, she's been communicating that she wants to sleep in K's (2.75) bed. We bought a full-size bed for K in anticipation of K and T sharing it someday. My goal is to get all 3 little girls in one room. (You can see their bed here.)
Anyway, I was planning to wait to move T into the older girls' room when she sleeps through the night on a regular basis. She isn't too bad of a sleeper, she's not as good as the older girls. The older two girls are both sleeping really well, and who wants to mess around with that?
Since T was so interested in sleeping in K's bed, I figured we'd set up the second crib in their room and if T wanted to sleep in that crib, she could. We (royal we, meaning MWH did it and I provided moral support) set up the crib tonight. T did NOT fall asleep in it. She fussed for about 30 minutes and kept her sisters awake before I moved her back into her crib in her room. I really hadn't planned on even trying until she was closer to two, but I thought she might like it. I was wrong, but we'll see what happens. Who knows, maybe she'll go from the crib in her room, straight into bed with K when she is around 2.
Anyway, I was planning to wait to move T into the older girls' room when she sleeps through the night on a regular basis. She isn't too bad of a sleeper, she's not as good as the older girls. The older two girls are both sleeping really well, and who wants to mess around with that?
Since T was so interested in sleeping in K's bed, I figured we'd set up the second crib in their room and if T wanted to sleep in that crib, she could. We (royal we, meaning MWH did it and I provided moral support) set up the crib tonight. T did NOT fall asleep in it. She fussed for about 30 minutes and kept her sisters awake before I moved her back into her crib in her room. I really hadn't planned on even trying until she was closer to two, but I thought she might like it. I was wrong, but we'll see what happens. Who knows, maybe she'll go from the crib in her room, straight into bed with K when she is around 2.
Snorting...
You know, laughing too hard and then snorting....? Well, K can't snort... N can when she laughs too hard, but K doesn't seem to be able to...even faking it...instead, she says, "oink." That actually makes me laugh so hard that I almost snort.
7:25 am
The day is sunny and bright and all the little girls woke up early. (Yesterday they slept until 10 again when it was cloudy and rainy. Yesterday, T (18 months) didn't cry like she did on Sunday, she yelped once, but slept through!)
This morning at 7:25 (very early for us), K started howling.
We heard her come running for our room. She was very upset about her dress. I figured she'd wet through her pull-up.
As she got closer I could make out that she was yelling about wanting to wear a beautiful dress to the "guacamole store." Apparently she'd had a bad dream about having to wear an ugly dress to the guacamole store (our favorite restaurant). That is a nightmare for a fashion-conscious girly-girl.
She wasn't even wet so I asked her to go to the bathroom and she did. Then she came back and snuggled. I was so tired. We snuggled and dozed until about 9.
I heard T playing in her crib happily between 7:30 and 9. She had soooo many toys in there, I'm not sure how she had room to sleep, but it kept her from crying, so she gets to sleep with all the toys she wants from now on!
No real point to this entry, other than just a memory of a morning that was nice--even if it started a little too early. At the moment, I'm not too overwhelmed or stressed about work.... (Ask me again on Friday how I feel when my deadline is fast approaching.)
This morning at 7:25 (very early for us), K started howling.
We heard her come running for our room. She was very upset about her dress. I figured she'd wet through her pull-up.
As she got closer I could make out that she was yelling about wanting to wear a beautiful dress to the "guacamole store." Apparently she'd had a bad dream about having to wear an ugly dress to the guacamole store (our favorite restaurant). That is a nightmare for a fashion-conscious girly-girl.
She wasn't even wet so I asked her to go to the bathroom and she did. Then she came back and snuggled. I was so tired. We snuggled and dozed until about 9.
I heard T playing in her crib happily between 7:30 and 9. She had soooo many toys in there, I'm not sure how she had room to sleep, but it kept her from crying, so she gets to sleep with all the toys she wants from now on!
No real point to this entry, other than just a memory of a morning that was nice--even if it started a little too early. At the moment, I'm not too overwhelmed or stressed about work.... (Ask me again on Friday how I feel when my deadline is fast approaching.)
Monday, February 26, 2007
Colored Pencils
I've been very impressed with T's ability to hold a pencil. She's only 18 months and she has a pretty easy style ... No fist hold for her. I think she's going to be a lot like her older sister K (2.75) in how coordinated she is and like her older sister N (5) in how much she likes to draw.
Typical Monday....
It's cold and rainy and my mood matches the weather. No reason for the bad mood... Not really trying to let my mood show, but it's there. I want to get under the covers and watch Buffy.
I went to my class today and my students.... Oh my students.... They are typical undergraduates...
But I stop myself from digressing....
My little students just don't know about how cold and cruel the world can be. And how hard it can be... And how challenges can be fun....
But here I am stopping myself from digressing again.
There's a dog... She's probably still a puppy actually... She lives in a house nearby...She's always running around. It's raining and she's trying to get in my garage to stay dry. I am worried about her. I can't believe that someone would get a dog and not provide adequate shelter. She is a little skittish. I keep trying to talk to her, but she runs. I worry about her.
Mondays are really no fun sometimes... I had so much fun with the little girls over the weekend. I miss them today. If my class had been better today (the students not being typical undergrads) I'd be in a better mood and not feeling like the class was wasting my time and pulling me away for my little girls.... I'm sure Wednesday will be better.
Yesterday, Disney on Ice was fun... It was hard juggling 3 little girls, but fun still. We didn't know whether T (18 months) would like it or not. She doesn't like to watch TV. We didn't know whether she would like a live-show. She was restless at first, but then she got into the show and the event. She clapped and she seemed to "get it" and be enjoying it by the end. K (2.75) really enjoyed it. She loves live shows and social events. N (5) was wonderful and we knew she'd like it.
As we were leaving the show, there was a little girl who was crying and crying. K (2.75) asked me why she was crying and I said, I didn't know, but she sure was sad. As we walked by, we overheard the Mom say, "It's hard leaving your friend, isn't it?" We watched the little girl hug her friend (same age) and say goodbye....
When we were away, I explained to K that she was sad that she had to leave her friend and that's why she was crying. We then had a discussion on sisters and how they are your friends and you always get to hang with them. I have siblings, but they are much older than me, and I totally understood that little girl's pain. I was always sad when I had to leave friends and parties and etc. I wanted a sibling my age.
I went to my class today and my students.... Oh my students.... They are typical undergraduates...
But I stop myself from digressing....
My little students just don't know about how cold and cruel the world can be. And how hard it can be... And how challenges can be fun....
But here I am stopping myself from digressing again.
There's a dog... She's probably still a puppy actually... She lives in a house nearby...She's always running around. It's raining and she's trying to get in my garage to stay dry. I am worried about her. I can't believe that someone would get a dog and not provide adequate shelter. She is a little skittish. I keep trying to talk to her, but she runs. I worry about her.
Mondays are really no fun sometimes... I had so much fun with the little girls over the weekend. I miss them today. If my class had been better today (the students not being typical undergrads) I'd be in a better mood and not feeling like the class was wasting my time and pulling me away for my little girls.... I'm sure Wednesday will be better.
Yesterday, Disney on Ice was fun... It was hard juggling 3 little girls, but fun still. We didn't know whether T (18 months) would like it or not. She doesn't like to watch TV. We didn't know whether she would like a live-show. She was restless at first, but then she got into the show and the event. She clapped and she seemed to "get it" and be enjoying it by the end. K (2.75) really enjoyed it. She loves live shows and social events. N (5) was wonderful and we knew she'd like it.
As we were leaving the show, there was a little girl who was crying and crying. K (2.75) asked me why she was crying and I said, I didn't know, but she sure was sad. As we walked by, we overheard the Mom say, "It's hard leaving your friend, isn't it?" We watched the little girl hug her friend (same age) and say goodbye....
When we were away, I explained to K that she was sad that she had to leave her friend and that's why she was crying. We then had a discussion on sisters and how they are your friends and you always get to hang with them. I have siblings, but they are much older than me, and I totally understood that little girl's pain. I was always sad when I had to leave friends and parties and etc. I wanted a sibling my age.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Not too much longer...
It's not going to be too much longer and T (18 months) will just be talking. She won't be in the throes of language acquisition where she is now. I so love this stage. Before I had kids, I figured babies would be nice and snuggly, and kids (3+) would be FUN. Now, I really really really really like the toddler crowd too. They are just adorable as they become little people. I always thought language acquisition was fun to study, but watching it in your own kid(s) is much much much better!
This weekend, these are the new words and phrases T said,
J1 (one of our babysitter's names)
Steven (a friend's son)
Oven
"My That" (She wanted my collander in the kitchen. She pointed to it and said, "MY THAT.")
She had her baby doll slide down the stairs and she said "Wheeeee!" (She's putting words in her baby's mouth already!)
Open that (when K went into a big box to hide, that's what T said pointing at the box)
Wow that (when she saw something she liked at the ice show)
I just enrolled her in her first gymnastics class... K and N both take gymnastics and love it. T will be starting in April.
This weekend, these are the new words and phrases T said,
J1 (one of our babysitter's names)
Steven (a friend's son)
Oven
"My That" (She wanted my collander in the kitchen. She pointed to it and said, "MY THAT.")
She had her baby doll slide down the stairs and she said "Wheeeee!" (She's putting words in her baby's mouth already!)
Open that (when K went into a big box to hide, that's what T said pointing at the box)
Wow that (when she saw something she liked at the ice show)
I just enrolled her in her first gymnastics class... K and N both take gymnastics and love it. T will be starting in April.
Weekend Rambling........
Yesterday I spent a lot of time with a lot of articles for work.... My head was spinning. I did get everything done--about 300 pages skimmed and a brief report on them just to say which of the articles could stay and which could go--that I wanted to do yesterday though, so yay me!
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I also organized in the kitchen some... There were 2 counters that I hadn't really seen since we moved in (2 months ago!). Organized I am NOT.
I have to say that the kitchen looks much better. I also have to say, no matter how many cabinets you have, it is true, you can NEVER have enough. Nevermind that big pile that I moved off the counters and still need to go through!
Now we just need to get our new table for the kitchen. (I don't think I've mentioned how much I really dislike the current one, but I really don't like it.)
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Today, we're taking 3 little girls to see Disney on Ice. It should be fun. K (2.75) and N (5) are so excited. They tried getting us up at 8 am. I went in their room and told them if they got us up early there would be no ice show. They asked when they could get up. I said when we came to get them. I went back to bed not expecting to get any more sleep.... but surprise, we just got up! It was 10 am! Yea, you should probably hate me a little for that, huh? 3 kids and sleeping until 10? It doesn't happen very often though!
The negative thing is that Miss T (18 months), my usually excellent sleeper, has been sleeping poorly. I'm thinking it's the dreaded 18 month sleep regression. I'm not averse to CIO when the baby is over 6 months, so at 18 months she gets to deal with it herself. For an hour... from 6-7 am in the morning.
She doesn't cry the whole time. If she cries a lot, I go and open her door and "sniff" to make sure she's not poopy. If she's not, she sorts it out herself. If she got up then, NO ONE WOULD BE HAPPY.
I was awake from 6-7 this morning listening to her cry. She just says, "All Done" and then cries a bit... Sometimes she screams. Then she stops... then she does it again. Then around 6:30 or 7 she falls back asleep.
It's now 10:30... she's still asleep. As I said, no one would have been happy if she got up at 6... not even her! Not really.
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I also organized in the kitchen some... There were 2 counters that I hadn't really seen since we moved in (2 months ago!). Organized I am NOT.
I have to say that the kitchen looks much better. I also have to say, no matter how many cabinets you have, it is true, you can NEVER have enough. Nevermind that big pile that I moved off the counters and still need to go through!
Now we just need to get our new table for the kitchen. (I don't think I've mentioned how much I really dislike the current one, but I really don't like it.)
***********
Today, we're taking 3 little girls to see Disney on Ice. It should be fun. K (2.75) and N (5) are so excited. They tried getting us up at 8 am. I went in their room and told them if they got us up early there would be no ice show. They asked when they could get up. I said when we came to get them. I went back to bed not expecting to get any more sleep.... but surprise, we just got up! It was 10 am! Yea, you should probably hate me a little for that, huh? 3 kids and sleeping until 10? It doesn't happen very often though!
The negative thing is that Miss T (18 months), my usually excellent sleeper, has been sleeping poorly. I'm thinking it's the dreaded 18 month sleep regression. I'm not averse to CIO when the baby is over 6 months, so at 18 months she gets to deal with it herself. For an hour... from 6-7 am in the morning.
She doesn't cry the whole time. If she cries a lot, I go and open her door and "sniff" to make sure she's not poopy. If she's not, she sorts it out herself. If she got up then, NO ONE WOULD BE HAPPY.
I was awake from 6-7 this morning listening to her cry. She just says, "All Done" and then cries a bit... Sometimes she screams. Then she stops... then she does it again. Then around 6:30 or 7 she falls back asleep.
It's now 10:30... she's still asleep. As I said, no one would have been happy if she got up at 6... not even her! Not really.
Friday, February 23, 2007
A delightful surprise!
This morning, I got a phone call from E. E was N's (5) first babysitter. E is wonderful. E and her family moved away in June '06. We miss them!
Anyway, E was in town and she came by and saw the girls. Then, when N went to school and K and T went with Mary Poppins, she and I went to lunch with MWH. I didn't get any work done today, but it was so nice to see her. I needed to relax a bit too! I don't think I've relaxed for this many hours straight since the beginning of January. Life is just too crazy (my own fault).
Thanks for calling E!
Anyway, E was in town and she came by and saw the girls. Then, when N went to school and K and T went with Mary Poppins, she and I went to lunch with MWH. I didn't get any work done today, but it was so nice to see her. I needed to relax a bit too! I don't think I've relaxed for this many hours straight since the beginning of January. Life is just too crazy (my own fault).
Thanks for calling E!
Coming soon....
I just found out about this movie. It looks interesting.
The movie takes on the model of birth in this country. In general, our model of pregnancy and birth is that they are illnesses and not healthy normal processes. I think our conception of birth needs to change (pun is there and I'm aware of it). Because of this belief, I think we end up with far too many interventions in birth.
(This goes along with my believe that in general, we have too much Medicalization of our society.)
I am lucky because I had 3 hospital births with very few interventions. But I had to be resolute to avoid interventions.
The first time, with N, I wish I wouldn't have let the doctor break my water, but I was in such a hurry to meet N (5) that I was willing to take the trade-off of more pain for faster... After I read about the procedure later, I think it probably didn't speed things up very much. (I actually went into my first birth a little naive.) In letting the doctor break my water I put myself on a clock for giving birth, opened myself up for potential infection, and if I hadn't given birth in 12 hours I might have ended up needing a C-Section.
Thought Experiment
It is entirely possible that the little intervention of breaking my water might have caused me to want an epidural because the pain was so great since the bag of fluids weren't there to cushion the baby and my back/pelvis. Then, if I'd elected to have an epidural, I might not have been able to push effectively. And then, if I couldn't have pushed effectively, N who was already not wanting to come out, might have really needed help getting out. Or my labor might have stalled and the "give birth within 12 hours after breaking the bag of fluid" clock might have chimed.... And then, since I already had an epidural the doctor who delivered N may have said I needed a C-Section. And by that point, who knows, I may have actually needed it.
Did the doctor suggest anything like the above scenarios when she broke my water? Nope. All that was said was, "Let's speed things up and get things going for you." To a first-time Mom, that sounds GREAT. All I wanted to do was meet my baby! My first baby!
Since I am not one for regrets, I try not to think too much about that and the potential of intervention on top of intervention that could have happened. I am just thankful that I didn't have more interventions when I had N.
When I was pregnant with K, I actually got scared of the process of giving birth at a hospital at around 24 weeks.
My doctor was out on her maternity leave and I had to see a substitute doctor in the practice for my OB visit. We'll call him Dr. Too-happy-about-epidurals. He looked over my chart and saw that I hadn't had an epidural with N. He asked why not. I told him I didn't think it was necessary. I didn't like the idea of being numb from the chest down (and I explained to him why--my history of Transverse Myelitis). I also explained that I wanted to be able to feel the birth. That I didn't think pain was "wrong."
He spent the rest of the OB appointment trying to talk me into an epidural.
I was fuming mad when I left that appointment.
I hired a doula to help me FIGHT OFF THE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENT.
I wanted to have a baby without being asked every 5 minutes if I wanted an epidural. When I was in labor with N, I had to say no to an epidural about 3 or 4 times. I figured with a doula there, she could say NO for me.
Before my second labor and birth, I thought a lot about things. I wrote a birth plan. I talked with our doula. It turned out that with K, we didn't need a doula because she was born about 10 minutes after we got to the hospital. Heh. No epidural for me! (Also MY doctor was back to deliver Miss K... Not Dr. Too-happy-about-epidurals.)
K's birth was so incredibly wonderful (it was absolutely amazing and empowering) and I think it was because I labored at home and had NO INTERNALS through labor. No interventions. I can't even explain how incredible her birth was. I was on a high from it for weeks. Literally.
Miss T's labor and birth... I'll have to share the whole story sometime, but labor was pretty fast (I checked in and was 2 cm at 11:15 am and she was born at 2:35 pm).
No epidural, and no pain meds. Too many internals. A scary few moments, but no intervention other than having a neonatal team on hand to check her immediately after birth.
Unfortunately, I think there were about 8 people in the room when she was born. It also turns out that the problem that occurred only causes problems in about 11% of infants, but NO ONE TOLD ME THAT during labor. It would have helped to have heard that. That's a simple little thing that no one thought about since the model of our births are that they have to be "treated."
Having all those people on hand was not reassuring. It made me think that they'd probably be able to save T when she was born with something wrong. She was fine when she was born. I'm still a little traumatized by the scare however.
Anyway, I am glad I was in a hospital, I wanted that safety net. I chose to be in a hospital all 3 times.
Because I chose the hospital route, I am very glad I spent a lot of time reading and thinking about what I wanted during my birt. I am very glad that I knew enough about when you can say NO to avoid many interventions.
Many women don't know when they can or can't say no to things and consequently there are just too many interventions done. Cascading interventions. The first one may or may not be necessary, but after you have one, a second one may become necessary. And so it goes, intervention after intervention after intervention.
The C-section rate in America is 31-33%. Again, there's nothing wrong with a c-section if you need it. However, when other countries have a lower infant mortality rate and a lower c-section rate, you just can't tell me that we NEED ALL those c-sections. I'm sure we need some, but not ALL.
Anyway, check out the movie trailer I linked to at the beginning. It looks interesting.
The movie takes on the model of birth in this country. In general, our model of pregnancy and birth is that they are illnesses and not healthy normal processes. I think our conception of birth needs to change (pun is there and I'm aware of it). Because of this belief, I think we end up with far too many interventions in birth.
(This goes along with my believe that in general, we have too much Medicalization of our society.)
I am lucky because I had 3 hospital births with very few interventions. But I had to be resolute to avoid interventions.
The first time, with N, I wish I wouldn't have let the doctor break my water, but I was in such a hurry to meet N (5) that I was willing to take the trade-off of more pain for faster... After I read about the procedure later, I think it probably didn't speed things up very much. (I actually went into my first birth a little naive.) In letting the doctor break my water I put myself on a clock for giving birth, opened myself up for potential infection, and if I hadn't given birth in 12 hours I might have ended up needing a C-Section.
Thought Experiment
It is entirely possible that the little intervention of breaking my water might have caused me to want an epidural because the pain was so great since the bag of fluids weren't there to cushion the baby and my back/pelvis. Then, if I'd elected to have an epidural, I might not have been able to push effectively. And then, if I couldn't have pushed effectively, N who was already not wanting to come out, might have really needed help getting out. Or my labor might have stalled and the "give birth within 12 hours after breaking the bag of fluid" clock might have chimed.... And then, since I already had an epidural the doctor who delivered N may have said I needed a C-Section. And by that point, who knows, I may have actually needed it.
Did the doctor suggest anything like the above scenarios when she broke my water? Nope. All that was said was, "Let's speed things up and get things going for you." To a first-time Mom, that sounds GREAT. All I wanted to do was meet my baby! My first baby!
Since I am not one for regrets, I try not to think too much about that and the potential of intervention on top of intervention that could have happened. I am just thankful that I didn't have more interventions when I had N.
When I was pregnant with K, I actually got scared of the process of giving birth at a hospital at around 24 weeks.
My doctor was out on her maternity leave and I had to see a substitute doctor in the practice for my OB visit. We'll call him Dr. Too-happy-about-epidurals. He looked over my chart and saw that I hadn't had an epidural with N. He asked why not. I told him I didn't think it was necessary. I didn't like the idea of being numb from the chest down (and I explained to him why--my history of Transverse Myelitis). I also explained that I wanted to be able to feel the birth. That I didn't think pain was "wrong."
He spent the rest of the OB appointment trying to talk me into an epidural.
I was fuming mad when I left that appointment.
I hired a doula to help me FIGHT OFF THE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENT.
I wanted to have a baby without being asked every 5 minutes if I wanted an epidural. When I was in labor with N, I had to say no to an epidural about 3 or 4 times. I figured with a doula there, she could say NO for me.
Before my second labor and birth, I thought a lot about things. I wrote a birth plan. I talked with our doula. It turned out that with K, we didn't need a doula because she was born about 10 minutes after we got to the hospital. Heh. No epidural for me! (Also MY doctor was back to deliver Miss K... Not Dr. Too-happy-about-epidurals.)
K's birth was so incredibly wonderful (it was absolutely amazing and empowering) and I think it was because I labored at home and had NO INTERNALS through labor. No interventions. I can't even explain how incredible her birth was. I was on a high from it for weeks. Literally.
Miss T's labor and birth... I'll have to share the whole story sometime, but labor was pretty fast (I checked in and was 2 cm at 11:15 am and she was born at 2:35 pm).
No epidural, and no pain meds. Too many internals. A scary few moments, but no intervention other than having a neonatal team on hand to check her immediately after birth.
Unfortunately, I think there were about 8 people in the room when she was born. It also turns out that the problem that occurred only causes problems in about 11% of infants, but NO ONE TOLD ME THAT during labor. It would have helped to have heard that. That's a simple little thing that no one thought about since the model of our births are that they have to be "treated."
Having all those people on hand was not reassuring. It made me think that they'd probably be able to save T when she was born with something wrong. She was fine when she was born. I'm still a little traumatized by the scare however.
Anyway, I am glad I was in a hospital, I wanted that safety net. I chose to be in a hospital all 3 times.
Because I chose the hospital route, I am very glad I spent a lot of time reading and thinking about what I wanted during my birt. I am very glad that I knew enough about when you can say NO to avoid many interventions.
Many women don't know when they can or can't say no to things and consequently there are just too many interventions done. Cascading interventions. The first one may or may not be necessary, but after you have one, a second one may become necessary. And so it goes, intervention after intervention after intervention.
The C-section rate in America is 31-33%. Again, there's nothing wrong with a c-section if you need it. However, when other countries have a lower infant mortality rate and a lower c-section rate, you just can't tell me that we NEED ALL those c-sections. I'm sure we need some, but not ALL.
Anyway, check out the movie trailer I linked to at the beginning. It looks interesting.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
somersaults, all done and little temper tantrums
Late breaking news!!!! T (18 months) just learned how to do somersaults tonight.
I've been meaning to show her them for a while, but I haven't had a chance. Miss N learned how when she was 18 months and K was doing them off of chairs (no kidding!) at 17 months (I think she learned on the floor at 16 months). I demonstrated what a somersault was to T and then helped her dolls do somersaults and then she was willing to try. I helped her and she got it really quickly and then did some all on her own. We captured some of the process on video.
She wanted to try and do them without using her hands and sometimes she even managed to do them straight without the help of her hands. She did them better (no surprise) with her hands, but the "look ma, no hands ones" weren't bad.
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All done is T's favorite word(s) right now. She says it when she's done with everything... She's been waking up at 6 am every morning and saying "All Done." If she falls down and hurts herself she says, "All Done," in an effort to get the pain to stop. It's pretty cute.
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She is definitely a toddler... She's eating less and throwing more temper tantrums. (My favorite is when she just lays on the floor and protests silently by pouting--she's been doing that for a while now, probably 6 month, but I still find it adorably cute.) I can't believe how big my littlest girl is.
I've been meaning to show her them for a while, but I haven't had a chance. Miss N learned how when she was 18 months and K was doing them off of chairs (no kidding!) at 17 months (I think she learned on the floor at 16 months). I demonstrated what a somersault was to T and then helped her dolls do somersaults and then she was willing to try. I helped her and she got it really quickly and then did some all on her own. We captured some of the process on video.
She wanted to try and do them without using her hands and sometimes she even managed to do them straight without the help of her hands. She did them better (no surprise) with her hands, but the "look ma, no hands ones" weren't bad.
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All done is T's favorite word(s) right now. She says it when she's done with everything... She's been waking up at 6 am every morning and saying "All Done." If she falls down and hurts herself she says, "All Done," in an effort to get the pain to stop. It's pretty cute.
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She is definitely a toddler... She's eating less and throwing more temper tantrums. (My favorite is when she just lays on the floor and protests silently by pouting--she's been doing that for a while now, probably 6 month, but I still find it adorably cute.) I can't believe how big my littlest girl is.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Lollipop biting gene?
One of the fun things to do after combining your DNA with someone else and having offspring is trying to determine the genotype of the individual based on the phenotypical expression. And of course the biggest fun is determining what particular genes each parent contributed.
As far as energy level, we're pretty sure who trumped on that one. The girls are all very high energy.
Currently MWH is winning on hair color, but I'm holding out hope that N (5) and T (18 months) may turn into brunettes. Miss K (2.75) will probably be the fairest and a blonde.
The other day I saw evidence for a gene that I didn't even know existed, but I am excited about it.
When MWH eats a lollipop, he doesn't crunch into it. When N (5) eats a lollipop, she doesn't either. Neither does K (2.75). When I eat a lollipop, a few licks and then... C*R*U*N*C*H. Miss T (18 months) has had 3 or 4 lollipops thus far in her life. I'm happy to report she crunches immediately and devours the lollipop quickly. I don't even think she licks first. She makes her Mommy proud!
Genotype guessing: I'm guessing the allele for biting is recessive and that I'm double recessive and that MWH has a dominant and recessive gene. N and K are like MWH one dominant and one recessive, and T is like me double recessive. Heh.
As far as energy level, we're pretty sure who trumped on that one. The girls are all very high energy.
Currently MWH is winning on hair color, but I'm holding out hope that N (5) and T (18 months) may turn into brunettes. Miss K (2.75) will probably be the fairest and a blonde.
The other day I saw evidence for a gene that I didn't even know existed, but I am excited about it.
When MWH eats a lollipop, he doesn't crunch into it. When N (5) eats a lollipop, she doesn't either. Neither does K (2.75). When I eat a lollipop, a few licks and then... C*R*U*N*C*H. Miss T (18 months) has had 3 or 4 lollipops thus far in her life. I'm happy to report she crunches immediately and devours the lollipop quickly. I don't even think she licks first. She makes her Mommy proud!
Genotype guessing: I'm guessing the allele for biting is recessive and that I'm double recessive and that MWH has a dominant and recessive gene. N and K are like MWH one dominant and one recessive, and T is like me double recessive. Heh.
This morning
My friend Nino had a wonderful moment this morning. Go read... say, "Awwwwwwwww."
For me, my wonderful moment this morning was when all 3 little girls were piled on the bed with me and there was much giggling, tickling and snuggling. It just doesn't get any better than that! There were a few tense moments when T (18 months) took something K (2.75) wanted, but I was able to successfully re-direct attention and all was good again. I love the giggles!
For me, my wonderful moment this morning was when all 3 little girls were piled on the bed with me and there was much giggling, tickling and snuggling. It just doesn't get any better than that! There were a few tense moments when T (18 months) took something K (2.75) wanted, but I was able to successfully re-direct attention and all was good again. I love the giggles!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
An afternoon with Miss N
Whenever I pick up N (5) from pre-school, and she's outside playing, I love watching her. I love searching the playground to see what she's doing and the delight she's taking doing it. She's always full of energy and wonder.
Tonight, she was sitting at the table waiting for me. She said, "Mama, I missed you." And then in the same breath, "Do you think Daddy can pick me up soon? I like it when he picks me up."
It's okay, she's a total Daddy's girl. I love seeing the bond they have. I love watching them hang. I told her I'd see when Daddy could take off work and come get her. She was happy.
On the drive home from school she tells me, "Since I am learning to read in school, I am going to make Miss A and Miss R a one-vowel word collection." She is so smart. I don't think I knew what vowels were until first grade. I don't think I knew what a "one-vowel word" was until much later. I was probably in graduate school studying reading abilities in children when I learned about them. (Okay, it was probably earlier than that.)
N's preschool is amazing. I sure hope Kindergarten is this good next year.
She's sitting her at the table making her one-vowel word collection. And I kid you not, but she just said, "Some of my words have digraphs in them. I asked if she could give an example of a digraph. She could. She said, "This is an example. So is the." Oh my, kindergarten has a lot to live up to!
Okay, upon further investigation, she's a little confused as to what a "digraph" is. (I was a little worried that she might be trying to take my job away soon. She was almost qualified!) It turned out she was talking about sight words... But still...they teach so many metacognitive strategies at her school. It really is amazing. She gets it.
Stay tuned for some pictures of her one-vowel word collection!
Tonight, she was sitting at the table waiting for me. She said, "Mama, I missed you." And then in the same breath, "Do you think Daddy can pick me up soon? I like it when he picks me up."
It's okay, she's a total Daddy's girl. I love seeing the bond they have. I love watching them hang. I told her I'd see when Daddy could take off work and come get her. She was happy.
On the drive home from school she tells me, "Since I am learning to read in school, I am going to make Miss A and Miss R a one-vowel word collection." She is so smart. I don't think I knew what vowels were until first grade. I don't think I knew what a "one-vowel word" was until much later. I was probably in graduate school studying reading abilities in children when I learned about them. (Okay, it was probably earlier than that.)
N's preschool is amazing. I sure hope Kindergarten is this good next year.
She's sitting her at the table making her one-vowel word collection. And I kid you not, but she just said, "Some of my words have digraphs in them. I asked if she could give an example of a digraph. She could. She said, "This is an example. So is the." Oh my, kindergarten has a lot to live up to!
Okay, upon further investigation, she's a little confused as to what a "digraph" is. (I was a little worried that she might be trying to take my job away soon. She was almost qualified!) It turned out she was talking about sight words... But still...they teach so many metacognitive strategies at her school. It really is amazing. She gets it.
Stay tuned for some pictures of her one-vowel word collection!
fuzzy head
I've actually done quite a bit today with a very fuzzy head. I forgot to take my last dose of the wonder drug that is Afrin and I am sad. I could have been clear headed until ~9 pm tonight, but alas... No more Afrin for me until the next cold. (You do have to respect the 3 day rule with Afrin. It is powerful stuff!) I am on the road to recovery. I'm coughing less and a lot less congested. Two days ago I couldn't have survived without the Afrin!
I am also feeling warm and fuzzy... My supervisor and I have been working together for 10 years. We think in many of the same ways now. No surprise. It's just really really really really nice to work with someone who you respect and like. I have worked hard, but it's been very easy to work hard because a) I like what I'm doing and b) I like the people I work with a lot (especially on one project!). We have a big road ahead of us, but as long as we get the go-ahead to go down it, it will be GOOD. If not, well, you'll get to hear me complain.... a lot.... I mean a whole bunch.... (just warning you).
I think T (18 months) has the same illness I have. The illness has been making me a bit "wired" feeling. Have you ever had that? When you're sick but not able to sleep and sort of jittery? It's not from too much caffeine or too many sudafeds either. I just feel wired. (Sometimes illnesses can rev your metabolism... A silver lining to the illness cloud!)
Anyway, T was up a lot last night... At 6 am when I went to check on her (still wee hours of the morning for us folks who usually sleep until 8:30), she declared herself "All Done!" with sleep. I picked her up, snuggled and nursed her and then put her in the crib. That's when sheflailed her arms in the all done sign and yelled, "ahhhl doen... Ahhhhh doen.... over and over." Despite how cute it was, I told her she was not all done and that sensible babies did not get up so early. I then left her to sort it out herself. She quieted down after about 5 minutes and I didn't hear from her again until 10:30 am. Unfortunately, I couldn't go back to sleep. Fortunately I got a little work done.
I am also feeling warm and fuzzy... My supervisor and I have been working together for 10 years. We think in many of the same ways now. No surprise. It's just really really really really nice to work with someone who you respect and like. I have worked hard, but it's been very easy to work hard because a) I like what I'm doing and b) I like the people I work with a lot (especially on one project!). We have a big road ahead of us, but as long as we get the go-ahead to go down it, it will be GOOD. If not, well, you'll get to hear me complain.... a lot.... I mean a whole bunch.... (just warning you).
I think T (18 months) has the same illness I have. The illness has been making me a bit "wired" feeling. Have you ever had that? When you're sick but not able to sleep and sort of jittery? It's not from too much caffeine or too many sudafeds either. I just feel wired. (Sometimes illnesses can rev your metabolism... A silver lining to the illness cloud!)
Anyway, T was up a lot last night... At 6 am when I went to check on her (still wee hours of the morning for us folks who usually sleep until 8:30), she declared herself "All Done!" with sleep. I picked her up, snuggled and nursed her and then put her in the crib. That's when sheflailed her arms in the all done sign and yelled, "ahhhl doen... Ahhhhh doen.... over and over." Despite how cute it was, I told her she was not all done and that sensible babies did not get up so early. I then left her to sort it out herself. She quieted down after about 5 minutes and I didn't hear from her again until 10:30 am. Unfortunately, I couldn't go back to sleep. Fortunately I got a little work done.
Monday, February 19, 2007
survived!
I survived class today without coughing! I had cough drops on hand, but I didn't actually need any. Woo-double-hoo!
I was a little low energy, because I coughed so much last night that I didn't sleep wonderfully, but my students were low energy too. One apologized for falling asleep... his excuse, it was the Chinese New Year over the weekend.
So my questions.... How do you motivate students???? How do you get them excited???? Usually I'm doing backflips in the front of the room and sometimes I get a little acknowledgement. How do I make more of an impact?
They all look like they are drugged out. I lectured today, but I don't think I'll be doing that again on Mondays... I think that I will make Mondays a "work" day where we do active learning and Wednesdays a discussion day after they actually have some of the material in their heads.
I'm so torn at how to get things into their little heads. I know I can't put things there, and that they need to, but good grief, how do I get them excited? I hate seeing them fall asleep and drool on themselves. So unattractive!
I was a little low energy, because I coughed so much last night that I didn't sleep wonderfully, but my students were low energy too. One apologized for falling asleep... his excuse, it was the Chinese New Year over the weekend.
So my questions.... How do you motivate students???? How do you get them excited???? Usually I'm doing backflips in the front of the room and sometimes I get a little acknowledgement. How do I make more of an impact?
They all look like they are drugged out. I lectured today, but I don't think I'll be doing that again on Mondays... I think that I will make Mondays a "work" day where we do active learning and Wednesdays a discussion day after they actually have some of the material in their heads.
I'm so torn at how to get things into their little heads. I know I can't put things there, and that they need to, but good grief, how do I get them excited? I hate seeing them fall asleep and drool on themselves. So unattractive!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
still coughing and random little girl stuff
I've had moments today where I haven't felt too bad. Sudafed, Afrin and Tylenol have made this possible. It's when I cough and can't stop that it's a problem (and that's what I've been doing almost all night). I've taken a couple of N's cough strips and they help for a while.
I hope the worst is over. I'm not feeling too triumphant yet though since a) N has been coughing on and off for 3 weeks and b) last summer I coughed for a long time. My goal right now is to be able to make it through class tomorrow. I think if I take a cough strip and just suck on a cough lozenge the whole time I'll be okay. Also, I was coughing a lot less this afternoon. I think it's gotten worse this evening. Since my class is earlier in the day, I am hopeful.
I know you're getting sick of reading about the status of my cold.... However, it's what is looming large for me.
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I will share a funny thing N said at the grocery store today. Miss T (18 months) was sitting in front of the cart, N (5) was riding on the back and K (2.75) was holding on to the side. I felt like I had a flock of little girls or something. While we were going through the store, N said something like, "Maybe we should have 4 little girls. That would be fun. Wouldn't 4 little girls be fun?" My reply was something like, "Bite your tongue N_____!" MWH was around the corner of another aisle and was very confused when he heard N saying that. I'm not sure why she said it, but I think she liked having all 3 of them on the cart and hanging together. I think N was aware of the cuteness of the moment.
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K's potty training status... I'm pretty impressed. She's dry during the day. She still wants to wear pull-ups (25-50% of the time). She seems to like to wear them, but since she stays dry in them it isn't a big deal. I'm going to encourage "big girl pants" more during the day, but I don't want to force the issue. She wears pull-ups at night and stays dry all night about 50% of the time. I'm happy for her to keep wearing pull-ups at night until she's 100% reliable. Changing sheets in the middle of the night is not my idea of fun.
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In case you were wondering, I don't recommend the movie Babe for 5 year olds. N is fascinated by it, but it has quite a bit of animal violence, and the farmer points a gun at Babe (when he thinks Babe hurt a sheep). When the farmer learns that Babe is not guilty he doesn't hurt Babe, but N was soooooo confused by all of this. We've had to talk about this a lot. I guess it's not a bad thing when movies spark questions, but I wasn't ready to deal with guns yet, but I did.
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Here are some of T's newest words...
2/10-12
chair
hi
Woof
2/14
tea
toast
sit
2/17
Open
Pop (as in bubbles)
2/18
eyes
All done (usually she signs this, but she's been saying it now too)
She's also been saying a lot of "sentences" where she just will look at you and say a whole bunch of syllables and look at you like, "why don't you understand? I'm talking here!"
I love watching language acquisition!
I hope the worst is over. I'm not feeling too triumphant yet though since a) N has been coughing on and off for 3 weeks and b) last summer I coughed for a long time. My goal right now is to be able to make it through class tomorrow. I think if I take a cough strip and just suck on a cough lozenge the whole time I'll be okay. Also, I was coughing a lot less this afternoon. I think it's gotten worse this evening. Since my class is earlier in the day, I am hopeful.
I know you're getting sick of reading about the status of my cold.... However, it's what is looming large for me.
*************
I will share a funny thing N said at the grocery store today. Miss T (18 months) was sitting in front of the cart, N (5) was riding on the back and K (2.75) was holding on to the side. I felt like I had a flock of little girls or something. While we were going through the store, N said something like, "Maybe we should have 4 little girls. That would be fun. Wouldn't 4 little girls be fun?" My reply was something like, "Bite your tongue N_____!" MWH was around the corner of another aisle and was very confused when he heard N saying that. I'm not sure why she said it, but I think she liked having all 3 of them on the cart and hanging together. I think N was aware of the cuteness of the moment.
*************
K's potty training status... I'm pretty impressed. She's dry during the day. She still wants to wear pull-ups (25-50% of the time). She seems to like to wear them, but since she stays dry in them it isn't a big deal. I'm going to encourage "big girl pants" more during the day, but I don't want to force the issue. She wears pull-ups at night and stays dry all night about 50% of the time. I'm happy for her to keep wearing pull-ups at night until she's 100% reliable. Changing sheets in the middle of the night is not my idea of fun.
*************
In case you were wondering, I don't recommend the movie Babe for 5 year olds. N is fascinated by it, but it has quite a bit of animal violence, and the farmer points a gun at Babe (when he thinks Babe hurt a sheep). When the farmer learns that Babe is not guilty he doesn't hurt Babe, but N was soooooo confused by all of this. We've had to talk about this a lot. I guess it's not a bad thing when movies spark questions, but I wasn't ready to deal with guns yet, but I did.
*************
Here are some of T's newest words...
2/10-12
chair
hi
Woof
2/14
tea
toast
sit
2/17
Open
Pop (as in bubbles)
2/18
eyes
All done (usually she signs this, but she's been saying it now too)
She's also been saying a lot of "sentences" where she just will look at you and say a whole bunch of syllables and look at you like, "why don't you understand? I'm talking here!"
I love watching language acquisition!
You know you're sick...
When you dream about cough drops. Yup, that's what I did last night.
I very rarely declare myself "sick." I sound awful. When I sit still and don't talk, and use My Afrin, I don't feel so bad. However, when I move, the world goes swirly. (I'm dizzy from the fluid in my ears.) And when I talk, I cough. This illness is very coughy so I sound awful. I have class tomorrow and I don't know whether I should cancel or not. If I cancel, we're behind. Tomorrow was going to be more of a lecture than last week's classes... Maybe I should re-think that.
I very rarely declare myself "sick." I sound awful. When I sit still and don't talk, and use My Afrin, I don't feel so bad. However, when I move, the world goes swirly. (I'm dizzy from the fluid in my ears.) And when I talk, I cough. This illness is very coughy so I sound awful. I have class tomorrow and I don't know whether I should cancel or not. If I cancel, we're behind. Tomorrow was going to be more of a lecture than last week's classes... Maybe I should re-think that.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
fool me once... fool me twice... Fool me three times?
This is a tricky and sneaky virus...
I haven't zicamed very much because it didn't seem that bad... Now it's getting worse and it's probably too late. Fool me once... I didn't zicam Thursday night because I didn't really think I was getting sick. Fool me twice.... Friday, I thought, yea, I'm a little sick, but not too bad and I didn't zicam until Friday night... Fool me three times.... this morning I thought, okay, not that bad... and I didn't zicam again...Now the virus is firmly replicating in my cells. Bleh. Afrin helped, but now I'm exhausted. I just took one sudafed. We'll see if sudafed helps or if I pass out.
I haven't zicamed very much because it didn't seem that bad... Now it's getting worse and it's probably too late. Fool me once... I didn't zicam Thursday night because I didn't really think I was getting sick. Fool me twice.... Friday, I thought, yea, I'm a little sick, but not too bad and I didn't zicam until Friday night... Fool me three times.... this morning I thought, okay, not that bad... and I didn't zicam again...Now the virus is firmly replicating in my cells. Bleh. Afrin helped, but now I'm exhausted. I just took one sudafed. We'll see if sudafed helps or if I pass out.
Oh Afrin, My Afrin....
Oh Afrin!
You are so powerful
You make me feel so refreshed
My ears are clear
I can breathe
Your effects are instantaneous
Oh how I love you
Forever
Friday, February 16, 2007
Just Bleh.
I'm not that sick... I'm tired and my ears are stuffy, and [begin whiny voice] I really really really hate that! I always have. I remember hating it when I was six. That was a long time ago. I'm also coughing quite a bit, and I hope that I can fight this. N (5) had a great doctor's appointment (which I will write about later), but then she coughed.
After listening to the cough, and seeing fluid in N's ears, the doctor ended up putting her on antibiotics. (I'm not a big antibiotics person, but I do think it was warranted. I think N would have gotten better on her own eventually, but she has been (a little) sick for 3 weeks now.)
Her illness has been waxing and waning, so she's definitely been "battling it." It will be nice to have a healthy N again. (Or at least for 2 days because that's the longest I think she's been well this winter... sigh.) I am happy to report this is N's first round of antibiotics ... At age 5... Not bad.) (I don't sound as bad as N does. I am hoping it will stay that way.)
The painter is coming to work on our house today. We moved in before he was finished because otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to move in before Christmas. Now we have to have him finish working around our stuff.
He was supposed to come and do work 3 weeks ago, and he didn't show. He didn't call, or return our calls. I was seriously annoyed. I was also thankful because I was the one who was going to stay home and be there for questions and etc. This time, my husband is going to be home. I don't like the painter. I am dreading having him here. I had been thinking about how lovely it would have been to stay home and work with my computer on my lap in bed... Alas, it can't happen today.
Miss K (2.75) just got up to snuggle!
After listening to the cough, and seeing fluid in N's ears, the doctor ended up putting her on antibiotics. (I'm not a big antibiotics person, but I do think it was warranted. I think N would have gotten better on her own eventually, but she has been (a little) sick for 3 weeks now.)
Her illness has been waxing and waning, so she's definitely been "battling it." It will be nice to have a healthy N again. (Or at least for 2 days because that's the longest I think she's been well this winter... sigh.) I am happy to report this is N's first round of antibiotics ... At age 5... Not bad.) (I don't sound as bad as N does. I am hoping it will stay that way.)
The painter is coming to work on our house today. We moved in before he was finished because otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to move in before Christmas. Now we have to have him finish working around our stuff.
He was supposed to come and do work 3 weeks ago, and he didn't show. He didn't call, or return our calls. I was seriously annoyed. I was also thankful because I was the one who was going to stay home and be there for questions and etc. This time, my husband is going to be home. I don't like the painter. I am dreading having him here. I had been thinking about how lovely it would have been to stay home and work with my computer on my lap in bed... Alas, it can't happen today.
Miss K (2.75) just got up to snuggle!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Tired...
I'm tired tonight... I'm hoping I'm not getting sick. I'm turning in early and will hopefully be back all better tomorrow. If so, I'll tell you all about N (5) and T (18 months) and their check-ups today.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
My beloved kitty...
Tomorrow is a sad day. Two years ago on February 15, I lost my beloved kitty. I remember how we thought and worried that Valentine's Day might be his last day, but then, thankfully, he rallied a little. I was so relieved. Unfortunately, that night, he was worse. He ate his last food on Valentine's Day 2005 around lunch time. No matter what I did I couldn't coax him to eat or take his medicine. We knew that the next day (2/15/06) would be his last day.
I miss my boy. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss him.
I'm usually a very logical person, but not when it comes to my beloved kitty. Sometimes MWH's kitty, C, will do something that reminds me of my beloved kitty. When that happens, I say C is channeling my beloved kitty. A channeling happened most recently on my birthday 2 weeks ago. C slept on my pillow and got in my face just like my beloved kitty used to do. I think it was my beloved kitty's birthday present to me. I've written in the past about my freaky link to him.
I often wonder if I'll ever not think about him every day, and I honestly doubt that I will ever not think about him. Every so often, you meet a perfect kitty and you never forget. I was lucky to have him for almost 16 years (he was almost 18 when he died).
I miss my boy. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss him.
I'm usually a very logical person, but not when it comes to my beloved kitty. Sometimes MWH's kitty, C, will do something that reminds me of my beloved kitty. When that happens, I say C is channeling my beloved kitty. A channeling happened most recently on my birthday 2 weeks ago. C slept on my pillow and got in my face just like my beloved kitty used to do. I think it was my beloved kitty's birthday present to me. I've written in the past about my freaky link to him.
I often wonder if I'll ever not think about him every day, and I honestly doubt that I will ever not think about him. Every so often, you meet a perfect kitty and you never forget. I was lucky to have him for almost 16 years (he was almost 18 when he died).
Valentine's Day
K (2.75) loved the concept and reality of Valentine's Day. Chocolate, flowers, pink, and more chocolate! I think the only thing that could have been better for her was if we hadn't made her eat "real food" today... She would have been happiest if we'd just let her eat chocolate all day!
N (5) was very excited to present her father and me with the Valentine's Day card she made. It was very sweet. I'll post a picture as soon as I download the camera. On Valentine's Day, I always think about our first Valentine's Day with N. She was only a little over a month old, but she flashed me one of her first smiles that day. I'm pretty sure it was an actual social smile and not just one of those little quirky muscle twitching ones that first happen. I was thrilled! She was my teeny valentine in 2002.
T (18 months) woke up early (9 am) so she must have been excited about something. She's such a sweetie. She loved the fact that the first food she ate this morning was chocolate and that her nanny gave her a little teddy bear.
My big valentine, MWH, is incredibly wonderful. Lately, since we have the whole princess thing going on over here, I've been calling him "my prince charming" and the girls want a prince just like him. I hope they are so lucky. I hope they find a partner to support them in whatever they want to do. I hope they find their true love too. I don't write about him very often because my blog would be a boring place... All I'd say is how wonderful he is and how I am so thrilled he is my husband. Among his many incredible traits is how much he makes me laugh and how good he makes me feel about myself.
Tonight after dinner, to celebrate Valentine's Day, the whole family went to somewhere we love.... "the ice cream store." I think going to the ice cream store as a family is a good Valentine's Day tradition... What do you think?
N (5) was very excited to present her father and me with the Valentine's Day card she made. It was very sweet. I'll post a picture as soon as I download the camera. On Valentine's Day, I always think about our first Valentine's Day with N. She was only a little over a month old, but she flashed me one of her first smiles that day. I'm pretty sure it was an actual social smile and not just one of those little quirky muscle twitching ones that first happen. I was thrilled! She was my teeny valentine in 2002.
T (18 months) woke up early (9 am) so she must have been excited about something. She's such a sweetie. She loved the fact that the first food she ate this morning was chocolate and that her nanny gave her a little teddy bear.
My big valentine, MWH, is incredibly wonderful. Lately, since we have the whole princess thing going on over here, I've been calling him "my prince charming" and the girls want a prince just like him. I hope they are so lucky. I hope they find a partner to support them in whatever they want to do. I hope they find their true love too. I don't write about him very often because my blog would be a boring place... All I'd say is how wonderful he is and how I am so thrilled he is my husband. Among his many incredible traits is how much he makes me laugh and how good he makes me feel about myself.
Tonight after dinner, to celebrate Valentine's Day, the whole family went to somewhere we love.... "the ice cream store." I think going to the ice cream store as a family is a good Valentine's Day tradition... What do you think?
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
waving...
Just waving...
Really busy here...
I'm thinking about things through the lens of the human genome project and chromosomes today. Seriously. I've been sort of obsessed in my need to understand genetics lately (since last Thursday or Friday). In two pieces of art that are hanging around my building at work I have seen "cell division" and "dna ribbons." I am totally being influenced by my thinking about genetics for my class. I am hoping I can write a nice piece summarizing it all, but who knows if I'll have time to finish it and make it coherent. It's covering many topics and interdisciplinary, and potentially even life-changing. This work thing gets in the way of writing good blog. Heh.
On another note... I'm really embarrassed....
Really really really embarrassed.
Reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyembarrassed....
Did I mention that I'm embarrassed?
Yes, I'll share why I'm embarrassed.
N (5) has started doing this annoying thing.... When we're talking, she'll say, "nu-nu-nu-nu-nu-NO" when I'm not getting her point.
It's annoying.
I was wondering WHERE ON EARTH SHE PICKED UP THIS ANNOYING HABIT.
I was very certain that it wasn't anything I'd ever said before.
For the last few days I'd been listening for it on TV shows.
One of the tools on "Handy Manny" said it... One of the screwdrivers I believe....
I was relieved. It was TV. Heh.
Then today, I was in my supervisor's office. I was talking... He interupted me and started on a completely different subject thinking that's what I wanted to talk about....
I said, "nu-nu-nu-nu-nu-NO... I was talking about..." and then I froze.
It was ME. She got this annoying pattern of speech from ME.
I am so embarrassed. They echo you. You gotta be careful what you say.
On the other hand, it can sometimes be positive....remind me to tell you of N's use of the word ubiquitous someday.
Really busy here...
I'm thinking about things through the lens of the human genome project and chromosomes today. Seriously. I've been sort of obsessed in my need to understand genetics lately (since last Thursday or Friday). In two pieces of art that are hanging around my building at work I have seen "cell division" and "dna ribbons." I am totally being influenced by my thinking about genetics for my class. I am hoping I can write a nice piece summarizing it all, but who knows if I'll have time to finish it and make it coherent. It's covering many topics and interdisciplinary, and potentially even life-changing. This work thing gets in the way of writing good blog. Heh.
On another note... I'm really embarrassed....
Really really really embarrassed.
Reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyembarrassed....
Did I mention that I'm embarrassed?
Yes, I'll share why I'm embarrassed.
N (5) has started doing this annoying thing.... When we're talking, she'll say, "nu-nu-nu-nu-nu-NO" when I'm not getting her point.
It's annoying.
I was wondering WHERE ON EARTH SHE PICKED UP THIS ANNOYING HABIT.
I was very certain that it wasn't anything I'd ever said before.
For the last few days I'd been listening for it on TV shows.
One of the tools on "Handy Manny" said it... One of the screwdrivers I believe....
I was relieved. It was TV. Heh.
Then today, I was in my supervisor's office. I was talking... He interupted me and started on a completely different subject thinking that's what I wanted to talk about....
I said, "nu-nu-nu-nu-nu-NO... I was talking about..." and then I froze.
It was ME. She got this annoying pattern of speech from ME.
I am so embarrassed. They echo you. You gotta be careful what you say.
On the other hand, it can sometimes be positive....remind me to tell you of N's use of the word ubiquitous someday.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
One-on-one time
Each week, I try to do alone time with each girl. My friend, Ruth, asked me why and how I did this.
I do "one-on-one" time because both the girls and I really like it. It makes me even busier, but it's so worth it. I have to do work during not work times (e.g., late at night/early in the morning) so I can get some free time during their waking hours to get this to happen.
I enjoy getting to just concentrate on one of them at a time. They are all at different stages and they have different needs. (They are all so young and all need so much.) I feel I don't really "see them" when we're all together because it takes so much of my energy to corral/herd them, I can't actually enjoy them. (It's not so bad when we're home, but if the 3 girls and I go out by ourselves it's really hard!) They also have different personalities and like me to pay attention to them in different ways. I feel that I can't give them what they need when we're all together all the time.
For example, when I'm with all 3, I find that I am very impatient with N because she's the oldest. Yes, she's the oldest, but she's just 5. She's not that old. However, I expect her to be able to almost take care of herself because three so young is hard! I don't think that's fair of me, but I can't split myself and be 2 (or 3) people to deal with 3 little ones. Miss N doesn't usually act old...In fact, I think that we have an "average age" in our house of 3. T is (nearly) 1.5, K is 2.75 and N is 5. If you add up their ages and divide by 3, the average is a little over 3.
T is the most amazing little 1.5 year old (granted, I might be a little biased, but she is very smart). She acts MUCH older. Miss K acts as I would expect from a 3 year old, and Miss N, when she's around her sisters acts like she is 3. The acting younger than she is thing drives me CRAZY. I used to get really mad. Now, I get annoyed and tell her that she is DRIVING ME CRAZY. She realizes that she isn't doing something good and we get a good laugh out of it. Sometimes she acts her age and sometimes she doesn't. I enjoy hanging with Miss N more alone so that I can see age 5 and not age 3 coming out of a 5 year old. (That is VERY annoying!)
(Gah, I'm having trouble writiing right now because K is howling about not wanting to go to bed.... This hasn't happened for a while, but she's getting worse about going to bed now that she's potty-trained... She's doing the get out of bed to go to the bathroom thing cause she nows I CAN'T say no to that. But then she gets overly tired and then she is a bear and then I want to scream. MWH is putting her back in bed to save me from having to get upset. He is so patient.)
Ooooh... I digressed there... Anyway, I really enjoy my time alone with each girl.
For the month of January, I was having a really hard time getting much alone time with T. I was soooo missing her. This week, I got to spend a little time with her alone on Thursday and Saturday morning. I was so happy! She and I hung a lot this weekend. I took her on a walk today. We bonded. She is my littlest girl. She is my sweet T!
Miss K and I do gymnastics together on Wednesday mornings and EVERY morning she wakes up at least 1/2 hour and usually more like an hour and 1/2 than her sisters. She comes and snuggles with me for the longest time and then we get up together. She gets a lot of mommy time.
Miss N and I get some time alone on Monday nights and then again on Friday nights. I pick her up early from school and we hang until her sisters come home.
Wednesday's are my longest day** away from T now... and they are hard on her... She will sometimes wake up in the middle of the night Wednesday-->Thursday because she misses me. I go down and hold her and snuggle because I have missed her too. I am working hard to always get time in the afternoon on Wednesday to hang with her.
**In case you care/were curious...My Wednesday
K and I have her gymnastics class in the morning and T isn't usually awake before I go. (T is sleeping until 10:30 or 11 am on a regular basis lately. Sweet sleepy girl!) Then when I get back I can see T for about 1/2 hour and then I have to change and go to the class I am teaching.
I sometimes can get an hour or 2 in the afternoon with K and T while N goes to her art class. (What, I haven't told you in great detail about N's art class? She loves it! Remind me to tell you later.)
Wednesday night, I go to my aerobics class. I NEED my aerobics class. It's good for me. Then it's almost bedtime for the girls. I usually get to see them before bed for an hour or so. I am now trying to make it so I don't have to work on Thursday mornings (usually) so I can hang with the girls for a while then after me feeling like I don't get enough time with them on Wednesday.
I do "one-on-one" time because both the girls and I really like it. It makes me even busier, but it's so worth it. I have to do work during not work times (e.g., late at night/early in the morning) so I can get some free time during their waking hours to get this to happen.
I enjoy getting to just concentrate on one of them at a time. They are all at different stages and they have different needs. (They are all so young and all need so much.) I feel I don't really "see them" when we're all together because it takes so much of my energy to corral/herd them, I can't actually enjoy them. (It's not so bad when we're home, but if the 3 girls and I go out by ourselves it's really hard!) They also have different personalities and like me to pay attention to them in different ways. I feel that I can't give them what they need when we're all together all the time.
For example, when I'm with all 3, I find that I am very impatient with N because she's the oldest. Yes, she's the oldest, but she's just 5. She's not that old. However, I expect her to be able to almost take care of herself because three so young is hard! I don't think that's fair of me, but I can't split myself and be 2 (or 3) people to deal with 3 little ones. Miss N doesn't usually act old...In fact, I think that we have an "average age" in our house of 3. T is (nearly) 1.5, K is 2.75 and N is 5. If you add up their ages and divide by 3, the average is a little over 3.
T is the most amazing little 1.5 year old (granted, I might be a little biased, but she is very smart). She acts MUCH older. Miss K acts as I would expect from a 3 year old, and Miss N, when she's around her sisters acts like she is 3. The acting younger than she is thing drives me CRAZY. I used to get really mad. Now, I get annoyed and tell her that she is DRIVING ME CRAZY. She realizes that she isn't doing something good and we get a good laugh out of it. Sometimes she acts her age and sometimes she doesn't. I enjoy hanging with Miss N more alone so that I can see age 5 and not age 3 coming out of a 5 year old. (That is VERY annoying!)
(Gah, I'm having trouble writiing right now because K is howling about not wanting to go to bed.... This hasn't happened for a while, but she's getting worse about going to bed now that she's potty-trained... She's doing the get out of bed to go to the bathroom thing cause she nows I CAN'T say no to that. But then she gets overly tired and then she is a bear and then I want to scream. MWH is putting her back in bed to save me from having to get upset. He is so patient.)
Ooooh... I digressed there... Anyway, I really enjoy my time alone with each girl.
For the month of January, I was having a really hard time getting much alone time with T. I was soooo missing her. This week, I got to spend a little time with her alone on Thursday and Saturday morning. I was so happy! She and I hung a lot this weekend. I took her on a walk today. We bonded. She is my littlest girl. She is my sweet T!
Miss K and I do gymnastics together on Wednesday mornings and EVERY morning she wakes up at least 1/2 hour and usually more like an hour and 1/2 than her sisters. She comes and snuggles with me for the longest time and then we get up together. She gets a lot of mommy time.
Miss N and I get some time alone on Monday nights and then again on Friday nights. I pick her up early from school and we hang until her sisters come home.
Wednesday's are my longest day** away from T now... and they are hard on her... She will sometimes wake up in the middle of the night Wednesday-->Thursday because she misses me. I go down and hold her and snuggle because I have missed her too. I am working hard to always get time in the afternoon on Wednesday to hang with her.
**In case you care/were curious...My Wednesday
K and I have her gymnastics class in the morning and T isn't usually awake before I go. (T is sleeping until 10:30 or 11 am on a regular basis lately. Sweet sleepy girl!) Then when I get back I can see T for about 1/2 hour and then I have to change and go to the class I am teaching.
I sometimes can get an hour or 2 in the afternoon with K and T while N goes to her art class. (What, I haven't told you in great detail about N's art class? She loves it! Remind me to tell you later.)
Wednesday night, I go to my aerobics class. I NEED my aerobics class. It's good for me. Then it's almost bedtime for the girls. I usually get to see them before bed for an hour or so. I am now trying to make it so I don't have to work on Thursday mornings (usually) so I can hang with the girls for a while then after me feeling like I don't get enough time with them on Wednesday.
big and small
Miss K (2.75) is working hard on getting the bigger and smaller concept down. She's mostly there. She usually correctly says that she is smaller than N and bigger than T. Occasionally she gets confused, but don't we all?
What is cute, to me, is that she thinks she's going to grow up and that I'll get smaller when that happens. I guess, from her perspective I will be smaller...
She and I had coffee this morning... She told me when she was big she'd drink my drink (medium mocha, nonfat, no-whip) and that I'd drink her milk (milk, with ice, 1 pump vanilla). I told her that she could drink my drink when she was 20, but that I'd still have the same.
What is cute, to me, is that she thinks she's going to grow up and that I'll get smaller when that happens. I guess, from her perspective I will be smaller...
She and I had coffee this morning... She told me when she was big she'd drink my drink (medium mocha, nonfat, no-whip) and that I'd drink her milk (milk, with ice, 1 pump vanilla). I told her that she could drink my drink when she was 20, but that I'd still have the same.
T has new developments right before my very eyes!
Tonight, when T (17 months) was in the bathtub, I asked if she wanted foamy soap. She nodded her head, pointed to the side of the bathtub, and then said, "T". This is significant because I always make her a "T". I hope this is the start of a long and beautiful relationship for her and letters!
On another developmental note, she pointed to herself and said T___. It's not the first time she's said her name, but it was cute! She surprised me by saying her own name once at least a month ago, if not two. She didn't say it again, but that's what happens in development... Kiddos try something out, then stop, and then go back to the behavior.
On another developmental note, she pointed to herself and said T___. It's not the first time she's said her name, but it was cute! She surprised me by saying her own name once at least a month ago, if not two. She didn't say it again, but that's what happens in development... Kiddos try something out, then stop, and then go back to the behavior.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Late breaking news...
N (5) can do a cartwheel. The video of this will be on the web soon. Let me know if you want see it. (Leave your email if I don't know it.)
Sent via my BlackBerry
This...
5 minutes ago, I asked the little girls who would like to go jump in the bounce house. N (5) and K (2.75) yelled ME and went running downstairs.
T (17.5 months) pointed to herself, and yelled "this" and ran downstairs to join her sisters.
Edited: I just love it when little ones say, "Me" or show that they understand they are distinct. This is the concept of self. This article discusses self-concept and assessing it.
T has said, "Me" before when echoing her sisters... Yesterday she said, "This." I thought it was really cute. I wonder if self-concept develops differently in first-born children versus not first-born. When we get into self-concept development in my class, I will do a scan of the literature and see what research (if any) has been done.
Friday, February 09, 2007
growing up...
I've been going through pictures and my girls are so big now! I looked at a lot from the summer and T is just sooooo much more a little girl now. I looked at pictures from last Christmas (2005) and K was a month and 1/2 older than T is now, and she was so little...
They are still 3 little girls, but they are growing up so fast! When will I have to rename the blog?
They are still 3 little girls, but they are growing up so fast! When will I have to rename the blog?
A great question...
The other day, Alice asked a great question...
Using my memory as a guide, I wrote a long post in reply about how T (#3) and K (#2) were acquiring langague faster because they did/do watch their older sister/s.... Then I went back to a video of N (#1) at not quite 15 months and she was saying a LOT of words. She did a pretty good job for 14.5 months. Now I'm going to have to dig out my journal from N's first year and check the data and see what really happened. So to conclude, I'm not sure. I'm guessing the data will tell me they acquired language at a pretty similar pace. (See below for more about their similar physical development.)
N had a LOT of adults talking with her and trying to get her to talk. K and T did/do have their older sister/s chattering all the time. (N NEVER is quiet. NEVER. I love hearing her think aloud, but sometimes... Oh my! K talks a LOT too. She is very funny. She doesn't sound like a baby at all. She speaks clearly and uses big words. She sometimes has funny "conclusions," but she speaks really well.)
**********
One thing I do know, that was different about K and T than N, is that both K and T asked, "What's that?" and N never (hardly ever) did. I don't think that's a birth order thing.... I don't know why. Both K and T started doing that pretty early ~10 months. I was shocked when K started doing it. Two-words together typically doesn't come until quite a bit later.
(Perhaps, given the way K and T used said "two words' (W'asthat) was actually more like one word... and that's why they were able to say it. Although, a few times, before either of them were too old, they said "What is that?" Clear as day. Neither of them used other two (or more) word phrases though until they were older. T (17 months) still only says "Who's/What's that?" for her two-word phrases. Everything else is a typical one-word utterance.)
Physical Development
As far as learning to crawl, they all learned to crawl before 7 months. I think N was a few days away from 7 months when she crawled and I'm pretty sure that T crawled the youngest (closest to 6 months) and K crawled at 6.5 months, but I will have to go double check myself ...
Learning to walk... I declared them all walkers at around 11 months or 11 months 1 week... (I declare them walkers when they can go more than 10 steps without falling.)
I think they've been pretty similar in terms of their development. We'll see if the trend continues. (And because I like charts and graphs, someday I'll make ones about their development.)
Other thoughts
I have seen the littler sisters watching the older sister(s) and taking notes.... I remember when K was about 3 or 4 months old... N was running around being a spaz and I could SEE the wheels turning in K's head. K was taking notes on all the things N was doing and tucking away the information to use later.
I see the younger girls becoming more aware of how to do things and how the "world" works earlier, but maybe they are doing that because N is so much in her own little universe. (We call it the N___verse.) She may not have learned much about how the world worked early on because she just didn't pay attention. T and K pay attention to EVERYTHING. They want to be savvy about things. It may just be a personality difference and not a birth order thing.
I do see the N trying to teach her little sisters things... I do see K and T being totally absorbed watching N. I am imagining that they learn from each other. (Because I'm a geek, I actually see them as having a CoP.)
Here is my question: In your opinion (because it is nearly impossible to tell for sure), how has birth order affected your children's language development? Is T where N was at the same age in terms of language? Does having N a K chattering up a storm provide language models for T, encouraging her to speak more, and earlier? Or does she not need to speak, because her sisters can say it all for her?
Using my memory as a guide, I wrote a long post in reply about how T (#3) and K (#2) were acquiring langague faster because they did/do watch their older sister/s.... Then I went back to a video of N (#1) at not quite 15 months and she was saying a LOT of words. She did a pretty good job for 14.5 months. Now I'm going to have to dig out my journal from N's first year and check the data and see what really happened. So to conclude, I'm not sure. I'm guessing the data will tell me they acquired language at a pretty similar pace. (See below for more about their similar physical development.)
N had a LOT of adults talking with her and trying to get her to talk. K and T did/do have their older sister/s chattering all the time. (N NEVER is quiet. NEVER. I love hearing her think aloud, but sometimes... Oh my! K talks a LOT too. She is very funny. She doesn't sound like a baby at all. She speaks clearly and uses big words. She sometimes has funny "conclusions," but she speaks really well.)
**********
One thing I do know, that was different about K and T than N, is that both K and T asked, "What's that?" and N never (hardly ever) did. I don't think that's a birth order thing.... I don't know why. Both K and T started doing that pretty early ~10 months. I was shocked when K started doing it. Two-words together typically doesn't come until quite a bit later.
(Perhaps, given the way K and T used said "two words' (W'asthat) was actually more like one word... and that's why they were able to say it. Although, a few times, before either of them were too old, they said "What is that?" Clear as day. Neither of them used other two (or more) word phrases though until they were older. T (17 months) still only says "Who's/What's that?" for her two-word phrases. Everything else is a typical one-word utterance.)
Physical Development
As far as learning to crawl, they all learned to crawl before 7 months. I think N was a few days away from 7 months when she crawled and I'm pretty sure that T crawled the youngest (closest to 6 months) and K crawled at 6.5 months, but I will have to go double check myself ...
Learning to walk... I declared them all walkers at around 11 months or 11 months 1 week... (I declare them walkers when they can go more than 10 steps without falling.)
I think they've been pretty similar in terms of their development. We'll see if the trend continues. (And because I like charts and graphs, someday I'll make ones about their development.)
Other thoughts
I have seen the littler sisters watching the older sister(s) and taking notes.... I remember when K was about 3 or 4 months old... N was running around being a spaz and I could SEE the wheels turning in K's head. K was taking notes on all the things N was doing and tucking away the information to use later.
I see the younger girls becoming more aware of how to do things and how the "world" works earlier, but maybe they are doing that because N is so much in her own little universe. (We call it the N___verse.) She may not have learned much about how the world worked early on because she just didn't pay attention. T and K pay attention to EVERYTHING. They want to be savvy about things. It may just be a personality difference and not a birth order thing.
I do see the N trying to teach her little sisters things... I do see K and T being totally absorbed watching N. I am imagining that they learn from each other. (Because I'm a geek, I actually see them as having a CoP.)
Question of the day...
When: A couple of days ago...
Scene: Our bedroom around 10:30 am.
Set up: The televison was left on after we left our bedroom (bad us for so many reasons!).
MWH and I were bustling around looking for some papers and corralling T (17 months). K (2.75) and N (5) wandered back in to our room and started watching the already on TV. Monsters, Inc. was on and they decided to watch it. After just a few minutes, they decided it was scary and went to get Daddy so he'd watch with them. Daddy wisely decided to turn it off. As he did, he told them the name of the movie.
N immediately asked, "How do you make ink out of monsters?"
Scene: Our bedroom around 10:30 am.
Set up: The televison was left on after we left our bedroom (bad us for so many reasons!).
MWH and I were bustling around looking for some papers and corralling T (17 months). K (2.75) and N (5) wandered back in to our room and started watching the already on TV. Monsters, Inc. was on and they decided to watch it. After just a few minutes, they decided it was scary and went to get Daddy so he'd watch with them. Daddy wisely decided to turn it off. As he did, he told them the name of the movie.
N immediately asked, "How do you make ink out of monsters?"
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Another T word....
I'm still tired, but I had to record this... Tonight, T was looking in the refrigerator while I was getting out some food for dinner. She grabbed a bottle of juice and said "juice" clear as day. Add that to the list of words she knows.
(Edited: Also add to the list K's name. T said it for one of the first times last night. So sweet!)
(Edited: Also add to the list K's name. T said it for one of the first times last night. So sweet!)
Good days and Bad days
In the scheme of things it wasn't that bad.
I am just tired.
Right now I have a killer headache.
I had to sit through a two-hour meeting that was, um, .... (If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.)
I went to my first meeting of the day and tried to get them to take me off their project. They call on me about once a month and it's really hard to remember what it was we talked about a month previous... We discussed how hard it was for me. I was hoping that they'd just let me go and not be part of the project. Instead they thought it might be better to meet with me once every two weeks.
D'oh!
N (5) most likely has a bladder infection. We went to try to give a specimen and she didn't have anything to give. We brought the cup home and will hopefully get one by morning.
To end this fun day, I'm going to play with squirrels.
I am just tired.
Right now I have a killer headache.
I had to sit through a two-hour meeting that was, um, .... (If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.)
I went to my first meeting of the day and tried to get them to take me off their project. They call on me about once a month and it's really hard to remember what it was we talked about a month previous... We discussed how hard it was for me. I was hoping that they'd just let me go and not be part of the project. Instead they thought it might be better to meet with me once every two weeks.
D'oh!
N (5) most likely has a bladder infection. We went to try to give a specimen and she didn't have anything to give. We brought the cup home and will hopefully get one by morning.
To end this fun day, I'm going to play with squirrels.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Wrestling...
Right now, I'm wrestling with making myself CHANGE from what I've been doing in my class (4 classes thus far) and what I want to be doing.
I keep telling myself, It's NOT lame to NOT lecture. It's hard for me not to prepare a lecture. I feel like I'm "cheating" if I don't make a lecture. That's wrong though...it still takes effort to lead a class even if I don't lecture.
What I'm planning for Monday is to do an activity with them from the CD that came with the book. The activity topic is on Genetics. I'm not an expert on Genetics. I'm sure I know more about the topic than the students, but the CD has nice illustrations and animations to show things that I can't. A picture is worth a 1,000 words, right? An animation must be worth 10,000.
I should use the tools that I have available to ME that will help my students the most, right?
They will become more engaged during the activity.
The other thing I'm planning on is to give them an outline of the chapter and have them "make the lecture." I'll split them up into ~10 groups (about 4 per group) and have them go through the outline (with the book and with each other) and start to make the power point slides. They can see what it takes to make a lecture.
What do you think? Should I? Should I not?
Would you hate me if I were your professor and did these things?
Did you like professors who lectured?
I was a good student and I don't mind lectures. I am still attending them as a professional. I enjoy someone who can talk at great lengths about a subject... I can learn from this type of interaction. I also go back to the materials that I need to help me figure out the missing pieces, and I don't mind doing that.
I have about 2 students who fall asleep... In my last class, one stayed awake... I tried to get them talking as much as possible... But I think I need to do activities... (Actually, I KNOW I need to do them, but the changing from lecture to more activity-based/constructivist is hard.)
I would love to hear your thoughts on this change I'm undertaking... (And then we'll return to our regularly scheduled Mommy-Blog.)
I keep telling myself, It's NOT lame to NOT lecture. It's hard for me not to prepare a lecture. I feel like I'm "cheating" if I don't make a lecture. That's wrong though...it still takes effort to lead a class even if I don't lecture.
What I'm planning for Monday is to do an activity with them from the CD that came with the book. The activity topic is on Genetics. I'm not an expert on Genetics. I'm sure I know more about the topic than the students, but the CD has nice illustrations and animations to show things that I can't. A picture is worth a 1,000 words, right? An animation must be worth 10,000.
I should use the tools that I have available to ME that will help my students the most, right?
They will become more engaged during the activity.
The other thing I'm planning on is to give them an outline of the chapter and have them "make the lecture." I'll split them up into ~10 groups (about 4 per group) and have them go through the outline (with the book and with each other) and start to make the power point slides. They can see what it takes to make a lecture.
What do you think? Should I? Should I not?
Would you hate me if I were your professor and did these things?
Did you like professors who lectured?
I was a good student and I don't mind lectures. I am still attending them as a professional. I enjoy someone who can talk at great lengths about a subject... I can learn from this type of interaction. I also go back to the materials that I need to help me figure out the missing pieces, and I don't mind doing that.
I have about 2 students who fall asleep... In my last class, one stayed awake... I tried to get them talking as much as possible... But I think I need to do activities... (Actually, I KNOW I need to do them, but the changing from lecture to more activity-based/constructivist is hard.)
I would love to hear your thoughts on this change I'm undertaking... (And then we'll return to our regularly scheduled Mommy-Blog.)
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Letters.... We get letters...
I got the coolest card in the mail. Thanks DK!
Thank you for the inside too. DK is one of the few people I know in "real life" and I've told about my blog. She is a wonderful person, neighbor, colleague, collaborator and friend. It is rare that one person can embody all of that, but she does. She's beautiful and funny too!
Is that card perfect for me or what? I've never actually considered "ruling the world," but perhaps it's not out of the question?
Thank you for the inside too. DK is one of the few people I know in "real life" and I've told about my blog. She is a wonderful person, neighbor, colleague, collaborator and friend. It is rare that one person can embody all of that, but she does. She's beautiful and funny too!
Is that card perfect for me or what? I've never actually considered "ruling the world," but perhaps it's not out of the question?
Monday, February 05, 2007
Birds and Words!
Miss T (17 months) has been starting to say more during the last two weeks. During the week of January 24th, I saw the very subtle start of the vocabulary boom happening. (It was the VERY VERY early start, but it was the beginning.) The reason I noticed the start of this was that she hadn't said any NEW words for a long time and suddenly she was trying to say new words. She was imitating sounds more too.
Recently (1/24-ish) she's said, zipper (zip), Mary Popppin's name (Ge-chine is how she said it DM--it was so cute!), and a couple of other new words (cheese and bird).
Now (2/5) she's saying all of these (plus all the other ones she's said in the past.)
cheese
clock
bird
(knows how to call our kitty--so cute!)
Wow
ooooh
please
Weeee!
okay (I love the ways she says this!)
Yuck
Trash
Meow
She says "pish" whenever she sees the kitty and is trying to pet him so I think that might be "pet," but I'm not 100% sure. It's some word. Heh.
Up
Down (These two documented here.)
and of course, the documentation of her first word.
(I'm calling this entry Birds and Words because Miss T got very excited one Saturday (1/27) when she saw birds flying in the sky and said "bird" totally clearly and very impressively.)
Recently (1/24-ish) she's said, zipper (zip), Mary Popppin's name (Ge-chine is how she said it DM--it was so cute!), and a couple of other new words (cheese and bird).
Now (2/5) she's saying all of these (plus all the other ones she's said in the past.)
cheese
clock
bird
(knows how to call our kitty--so cute!)
Wow
ooooh
please
Weeee!
okay (I love the ways she says this!)
Yuck
Trash
Meow
She says "pish" whenever she sees the kitty and is trying to pet him so I think that might be "pet," but I'm not 100% sure. It's some word. Heh.
Up
Down (These two documented here.)
and of course, the documentation of her first word.
(I'm calling this entry Birds and Words because Miss T got very excited one Saturday (1/27) when she saw birds flying in the sky and said "bird" totally clearly and very impressively.)
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Swirling...
My head that is... I'm not sure why. I've had the required and usual amount of caffeine. We took the three little girls to the park today and played outside for a while. We even had a picnic! It was a beautiful afternoon. (Beautiful weekend actually.) Sometimes, when I'm out in the sun for a while, I feel kind of ill afterwards. When that happens, I worry that maybe I'm part vampire.
Or... maybe my head is swirling because I had my hair colored yesterday and the colorist made it REALLY dark. It was a new colorist. I'm planning to go back as soon as the salon opens on Tuesday morning and make an appointment for her to fix it.
Every time I look in the mirror I think, OH MY, IT'S WAY TOO DARK.
I really don't like it. MWH does and he's a little sad that I want it lighter. I don't want it lighter, I just want it NORMAL. I'm not one to mess with my hair color. If it gets too light, too red, or too dark, I don't like it. I like my natural shade of brown. I don't like the grey that is in it. I started going grey at 20. Now I have a lot and I must cover it. Someday I'll let my hair be all grey, but not until I am about 70 or so (or whenever my whole head is grey--I don't like the salt and pepper look).
Or... maybe my head is swirling because Miss N (5) is screaming and has been for the last hour. She wanted us to buy her a flag at Target. We didn't. We could have spent less than a dollar and had a little girl who was happy, but I'm tired of little girls who DEMAND stuff when we go to the store. Miss K (2.75) wanted new shoes and I said no to that. Miss T (17 months) just wanted a nap while we were at the store.
My lecture for this week for my class is done! I have more than 12 hours until class. This is a first. It's one of the few times that I've been done with something early. I should probably start on the 5 hours of work I need to do on a lit review before Tuesday, but my head is swirling (see above). I'll try to do an hour or two later today.
Maybe by the end of tonight I can write a not-so-lame post.
Oh... Did you notice that I'm NOT watching the super bowl? I don't even know who is playing. Maybe I'll go look it up. Or not. MWH and I are not sports people at all. When I was a kid, my Dad never watched sports and I loved it. I always wondered if I could find a husband who wasn't into sports. Somehow, I managed to. How cool is that?
Or... maybe my head is swirling because I had my hair colored yesterday and the colorist made it REALLY dark. It was a new colorist. I'm planning to go back as soon as the salon opens on Tuesday morning and make an appointment for her to fix it.
Every time I look in the mirror I think, OH MY, IT'S WAY TOO DARK.
I really don't like it. MWH does and he's a little sad that I want it lighter. I don't want it lighter, I just want it NORMAL. I'm not one to mess with my hair color. If it gets too light, too red, or too dark, I don't like it. I like my natural shade of brown. I don't like the grey that is in it. I started going grey at 20. Now I have a lot and I must cover it. Someday I'll let my hair be all grey, but not until I am about 70 or so (or whenever my whole head is grey--I don't like the salt and pepper look).
Or... maybe my head is swirling because Miss N (5) is screaming and has been for the last hour. She wanted us to buy her a flag at Target. We didn't. We could have spent less than a dollar and had a little girl who was happy, but I'm tired of little girls who DEMAND stuff when we go to the store. Miss K (2.75) wanted new shoes and I said no to that. Miss T (17 months) just wanted a nap while we were at the store.
My lecture for this week for my class is done! I have more than 12 hours until class. This is a first. It's one of the few times that I've been done with something early. I should probably start on the 5 hours of work I need to do on a lit review before Tuesday, but my head is swirling (see above). I'll try to do an hour or two later today.
Maybe by the end of tonight I can write a not-so-lame post.
Oh... Did you notice that I'm NOT watching the super bowl? I don't even know who is playing. Maybe I'll go look it up. Or not. MWH and I are not sports people at all. When I was a kid, my Dad never watched sports and I loved it. I always wondered if I could find a husband who wasn't into sports. Somehow, I managed to. How cool is that?
Saturday, February 03, 2007
They make me laugh...
Miss K (2.75) was talking about "the carousel" and I couldn't really understand her while I was bustling around the kitchen getting her some dinner... When I sat down, I asked her what she had said. She replied, "I wasn't talking to you, Mommy. I was talking to my plate and cup."
After Miss T (17 months) got up from her nap, I asked her if she'd help me make a cup of tea. She nodded an enthusiastic yes. When we got to the kitchen she ran off to my bedroom. I followed her and she came running towards me holding my tea cup from this morning. She knows me and my ways too well.
After Miss T (17 months) got up from her nap, I asked her if she'd help me make a cup of tea. She nodded an enthusiastic yes. When we got to the kitchen she ran off to my bedroom. I followed her and she came running towards me holding my tea cup from this morning. She knows me and my ways too well.
Slumber Party
A few nights ago, N (5) decided she wanted to sleep in K's (2.75) bed. She wanted K to sleep in her bed. K didn't want to. K really likes her bed. (We are delighted!) Since K has a full-sized bed, I told N she could sleep with K if K didn't mind. K thought it would be lovely.
Oh the fun! The first night, they were up until 10:45 talking, laughing, and being cute. Last night, they almost out-lasted us and were awake until 11:30. When I went down to check on them at 11, they were in their room, snuggled together on K's bed just talking and being so sweet. They were both laying on their backs with their heads together and in kind of a V shape (their heads were the point and then their legs were going in opposite directions). They looked so sweet!
Even though it was late, it was my favorite moment. How can you get mad at such cuteness and sweetness?
Oh the fun! The first night, they were up until 10:45 talking, laughing, and being cute. Last night, they almost out-lasted us and were awake until 11:30. When I went down to check on them at 11, they were in their room, snuggled together on K's bed just talking and being so sweet. They were both laying on their backs with their heads together and in kind of a V shape (their heads were the point and then their legs were going in opposite directions). They looked so sweet!
Even though it was late, it was my favorite moment. How can you get mad at such cuteness and sweetness?
Friday, February 02, 2007
One moment
I just need a moment... Just one... Just one when I don't need to do anything. Just one when I'm not feeling like I've forgotten something. When I'm not feeling guilty and inadequate.
I'm working on an attitude change. We're doing our self-reviews at work and I've been complaining a lot. I love my job. I hate this time of the year. There are some things that drive me crazy about the place where I work, but for the most part, I don't have anything to complain about. I whine because I'm not doing EXACTLY what I want to do. I am doing a very close approximation of what I want to do though... They don't pay me much, but they do pay me. I don't have anything to whine about... And YET, I keep whining. Someone ought to slap me around. Or not...
I am whining because I feel inadequate. I like to be really good at what I do and where I work, they like to have perfection so we rarely get praise. It's okay... It helps us work harder... It make us better and stronger... but it also makes me tired....
Okay... me... Trying to snap out of it.
What I need, is to put parameters around my work life, and not let it control me any more. That's what I need to do.
Yup.
Is that possible? What-do-I-do????? I don't know how to do this! When I'm not working all the time I feel guilty. When I am working all the time, I feel overwhelmed and unhappy that I am missing time with my little girls. I chose to work 1/2 time. I chose this so I could see my girls.... I know I work less than if I were full-time, but I need to get some balance. I know I'm lucky because I have this option, but right now, I'm tired.
As much as I love teaching, I think that the class is going to push me over the edge if I don't really approach it and work differently. I think what I need to do is to take some vacation from my real job to get my life in balance a little.
I took on teaching this class because I MISSED teaching. I needed to do it. I have enough vacation saved up that I should not try to be super woman because I'm NOT. I should take vacation and get organized on the class... and my life (still have a ga-zillion boxes). I should take some vacation time and NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT.
There's one thing I can do... Any other ideas?
I'm working on an attitude change. We're doing our self-reviews at work and I've been complaining a lot. I love my job. I hate this time of the year. There are some things that drive me crazy about the place where I work, but for the most part, I don't have anything to complain about. I whine because I'm not doing EXACTLY what I want to do. I am doing a very close approximation of what I want to do though... They don't pay me much, but they do pay me. I don't have anything to whine about... And YET, I keep whining. Someone ought to slap me around. Or not...
I am whining because I feel inadequate. I like to be really good at what I do and where I work, they like to have perfection so we rarely get praise. It's okay... It helps us work harder... It make us better and stronger... but it also makes me tired....
Okay... me... Trying to snap out of it.
What I need, is to put parameters around my work life, and not let it control me any more. That's what I need to do.
Yup.
Is that possible? What-do-I-do????? I don't know how to do this! When I'm not working all the time I feel guilty. When I am working all the time, I feel overwhelmed and unhappy that I am missing time with my little girls. I chose to work 1/2 time. I chose this so I could see my girls.... I know I work less than if I were full-time, but I need to get some balance. I know I'm lucky because I have this option, but right now, I'm tired.
As much as I love teaching, I think that the class is going to push me over the edge if I don't really approach it and work differently. I think what I need to do is to take some vacation from my real job to get my life in balance a little.
I took on teaching this class because I MISSED teaching. I needed to do it. I have enough vacation saved up that I should not try to be super woman because I'm NOT. I should take vacation and get organized on the class... and my life (still have a ga-zillion boxes). I should take some vacation time and NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT.
There's one thing I can do... Any other ideas?
Thursday, February 01, 2007
what's up?
Ice cream...
Cake....
Favorite food....
Presents...
Cards...
Today...
my...
birthday...
It's been a great day.
happy happy!
Cake....
Favorite food....
Presents...
Cards...
Today...
my...
birthday...
It's been a great day.
happy happy!
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