4 hours?

I think I spent 4 hours creating an example for my students. One example... You can bet I'm planning to teach this class again!

tagged!

The other night, K (3) thought it would be fun to draw on my car (with sidewalk chalk). I think she might make a good tagger. Heh.

Quote of the day

When Daddy goes out, Mom, I want you to paint my toenails.

--K (3.25)

Good and Bad

N (5.5) got a bike today! Woo-hoo. That's the good.

The bad was the howling the other two sisters did when they didn't get a new bike. What do you do to keep siblings happy? We expected K (3) to cry, but we were shocked by the same reaction from T (2). Oh the tears. Big fat drippy ones. So sad. We took the girls to the park so they could play and reset, but my goodness. No fun.

Bedtime rituals

T (2) is now pretty firmly part of the bedtime routine her sisters do. She still nurses a bit, but she's nursing for a much shorter duration, and she still sleeps in a separate room (the play room). She would love to sleep with K (3). We got K a full-size bed and plan to have T sleep with K someday. I'm hoping we can wait to do it when T is closer to 3. Right now, we're in a fairly good place as far as sleep goes and I don't want to disturb it.

T is definitely leaving the period of baby-hood behind and becoming a little girl. No more babies. All little girls, all the time.

Friday update

Fantastic, frenetic and now fine are the one-word descriptions of the last 3 Fridays. Today, N (5.5) didn't have kindergarten--teacher inservice day. It must be getting easier because I kept K (3) home from preschool so we could all play. We hung, then we went to the grocery store. That was our day.

It was a MAJOR shopping trip. I spent triple digits. We survived and no one melted down--even though it was close to T's (2)naptime. I am impressed. You should have seen the cart... T and K were in the back, all the stuff was piled really high in the front (where babies/kids are supposed to sit) and underneath the cart. N walked and helped.

It was just a low-key day. I'm thrilled I got to spend all day hanging with my little girls!

In all fairness

In all fairness, to counteract the negativity in the last post, I have to say MP has a heart of gold. (Nothing has changed, I just feel bad for complaining.)

Almost

I am almost done with that project. I am so happy. I'm waiting for someone to email me back with some information. I am making the deadline (the EARLY deadline). The project leader sounds happy in emails. I haven't spoken to him because I haven't been in (remember, no nanny).

I didn't write MP the note I wanted to write. I just wrote, we wish you the best. I could have said more, but really, what good would it have done? MP is not going to change. I would have only succeeded in making myself feel slightly better and her mad. I'll complain here though. Heh.

[Start complaints]
I am annoyed that she was completely NOT PROFESSIONAL. I am annoyed that she left me high-and-dry. I am annoyed that she never listened to me about how much tv I wanted my kids to watch. I am annoyed that she didn't understand that I wanted the girls home by a certain time because I missed them, but it didn't reflect negatively on her. I am annoyed that she didn't understand that sometimes, things are out of my control e.g., doctor's appointments. When I would take the girls to appointments (by myself or with her), it wasn't MY FAULT if the doctor was running late and that threw off the schedule. She would always get mad at me. NOT MY FAULT.

Okay, done now.
[End complaints]

We interviewed a new potential nanny today. I liked her. I wasn't sure if I would after the phone, but she is nice. She's got one more interview. I want to meet one more nanny (at least) too. The girls liked her. K (3) was ready to have her take her to school. If we hire her, her nickname will be iNanny... In honor of the iPod, iMac, and etc. (and her name starts with I). It's good to have the whole blog thing worked out before you hire someone. Heh.

What else? No school for N (5.5) today. I decided to keep K (3) home from preschool too. We have a schedule-free day! Woo-hoo. I'm thrilled about this. Me and the girls, just hanging. N wants to go buy a bike. She doesn't have a two-wheeler yet. She and I looked briefly the other day. I feel like MWH should be involved. I don't want to go buy one without him, but I doubt he can go anywhere today because he took off yesterday afternoon to help me so that I could work on that project. I am so glad he did because I'm good today! I have a spring in my step now that I'm not weighed down by that project.

One more almost. Tomorrow the 3rd piece to our new entertainment center is delivered. They delivered 2/3rds of in a month ago, but the third piece was damaged. Finally, it's all fixed (or re-made). [Catty last sentence (about MP) removed before publishing.]

Too much

I've got so much to do. I'm always glad that our classes at [local state] university are only 2 days a week. I do a LOT for class. I think my students would like it if I didn't. I'm going to try to make it a slight bit easier for them. I've already slowed things down some.... Okay... This isn't about my students...

About me... yea, I'm NOT wearing that shirt with those pants again. I agree, it just wasn't a flattering look. I thought it would work... My black skirt and that shirt work. I'm still trying to figure out what went wrong with the pants.

Oh yea, it's not about fashion either...

I need to make a decision about the daycare. I don't think it will really help that much. Even if T (2) is in daycare, N (5.5) and K (3) still need to be dropped off at school later so T daycare on MWF doesn't help significantly. We need a MWF nanny from about 11 - 4. T/Th I can find someone else, or do part-time something... I might have a lead for T/Th afternoons.

For MWF, I've decided to do a nanny search with the expensive nanny agency. I've always resisted paying so much, and have done searches with other agencies or by myself, but right now, I'm tired and I need someone quickly. This agency is supposed to be the best.

(To the tune of The Farmer in the Dell.)

A searching I will go. A searching I will go. Hi-ho the dairy-oh, a searching I will go.
We need a nanny... We need a nanny... etc.

Make up a verse (or two or three) and leave me a comment. It will make me smile. I need it! MWH does too. Poor guy has been running after 3 little girls a lot! Poor guy is very busy at work. Thank you MWH.

---

On another note....I got a letter from MP. She apologized for the way things ended. It was a nice letter. It doesn't change anything.

I'm still in shock that she left. Since August, I have known she wasn't happy, but I am in shock that she was that NOT HAPPY. I just can't imagine being that unhappy. It makes me sad that she felt so unhappy. It makes me sad that she felt that the way it ended (her leaving) was the only way out of the situation.

So, I knew she was unhappy. Truth be told though, I wasn't happy either. She had been expressing her dissatisfaction with the schedule for WEEKS. What was I to do? This was the school schedule. We KNEW it was going to be this way all summer. We had been discussing potential solutions for weeks. I'd printed out the schedule at the beginning of August and she gave me a look like, you've got to be kidding.

I'd been presenting alternatives, but she never seemed to like any of the alternatives. Every time we spoke about options, she'd say "it'll work out, it always does." I believed her. Apparently I made the mistake of believing her when she said it would work. Sigh. I wish she'd been more honest with me about her feelings earlier. I wish I'd have just said, it's not working, but I thought she wanted it, or something, to work. I guess not. It all was too much.

I believe she had a solution in her mind, to make her happy, but it was one that would have cost me more money. The solution (I think she wanted) would have involved sending N and K to the after school care programs at their schools. Given that 1. I had a nanny (her), 2. that I was already paying a small fortune for having a nanny (her), 3. that N really doesn't LIKE (and I heard all about it) the programs, the afterschool programs were not a potential solution (in my mind).

Okay... there you go.

Still echoing in my ears...

T (2) screamed when I dropped her off at daycare today. I left her in the very-capable hands of the teacher. She only screamed for ~5 minutes, but it was sad. When I picked her up, she was happily playing on the rocking horse. Even if we had a nanny (new one) she'd scream at first. I'm thinking of letting MWH drop her off one day so he can see how she does. I doubt she'll scream (as much) when he drops her off. Those ear-piercing, heart-wrenching screams are generally reserved for the Mommy.

It's tough to be the Mommy.

---

If you're playing along at home, the daycare center does have a spot for either part-time or full-time for T. I can't decide if full-time makes sense... It would give maximal flexibility and it wouldn't be significantly more in price than the part-time slot (and it is SIGNIFICANTLY less than we were paying for the nanny). I wouldn't plan to use it full-time, but it might be good to have total flexibility since my schedule is erratic.

On another note, I was discussing the options with MWH and Miss T was listening. She knew exactly what we were talking about and she said she didn't want it. We'll see... I haven't actually gotten a lead for a nanny who will work given our schedule. I'm just not that motivated to search, but I do think we could use some nanny help, so I should probably get searching. Tonight I need to sit down with a piece of paper and map our schedule and add in the "extended care" options for N and K.

Oh, this is emotionally difficult. The good news is I'm getting to see my kids more. I am thrilled about that. I have missed them. I loved seeing the Chicken Dance interaction. Who knows if I would have gotten to see that if MP was still here. MWH got to take K (3) to lunch today. She really wanted to go with him to his work and eat lunch there. A daddy-daughter lunch date.

Chicken Dance

Part of the state standards for kindergarten (in our state) is to learn the Chicken Dance. N has learned the Chicken Dance. I'm so proud! Heh.

But seriously, her class has learned the Chicken Dance and it's really cute when they do it. However, what is even cuter is watching your 5-year-old teach her 3-year-old and 2-year-old sister the dance. I have got to get a video of all 3 doing the chicken dance.

Daycare update

1. Today, T (2) went to the back-up daycare center. She didn't cry before or when I left. The teacher said she cried a little when she realized I was gone (I said goodbye, but the teacher distracted her so she didn't cry right then). When she realized I was really gone, she cried some. I think she had a pretty good time at school though. When I went to pick her up, she was washing her hands for snack. The teacher was helping her do it, and the teacher had a nice way of helping.

I spoke to the director and they do have a spot opening for T's age group in October. I will find out more information tomorrow. I have to decide if I want to do a nanny or not. I think it might make sense for us to do part-time nanny and part-time daycare / jr. preschool (what it's called for T... isn't that cute?).

2. N (5.5) went to the before school care program today. She cried when I left her. I know she's sad about the nanny being gone. She's asked quite a few questions. We've just told the girls that MP needed to do some other things--that her back was hurting her (true) and she needed a change. N is the only one who has asked if we can see her again. I replied, "Most likely we will see her again. She'll be around and we'll call her soon and see her when she is feeling better." We see one of our ex-nannies on a fairly regular basis (every quarter or so) and I told N that we'll probably see MP like we see ex-nanny. Who knows if we will or not. MP is planning to be the nanny for one of my friends. It's cool with me. MP worked for my friend's family first. My friend needs a nanny again. I hope it works.

3. K (3) went to the back-up daycare center to keep T company. She said she liked it better than S_______ School (her preschool). I don't want to switch K to that school. We'll lose money and S_______ is a fine school. I think K will be fine with S_______ as soon as she goes back. I think she did have fun at the new school today. Having K say that she had so much fun! makes it easier to want to send T there.

Today was tiring though. I had to get the girls out the door by myself because MWH had a big meeting. I woke up early because I was stressed about all I had to do today. Fortunately, I managed to get it all done (or all that had to be done). Now I should go work on that project I don't like. Theoretically, I can finish it up by Friday. I'm going to have to work quickly though.

Good timing!

MWH put Miss T on the potty. She produced. Excellent. I believe we've just started potty training officially. Stay tuned.

I didn't take a picture of the event or the product. You can thank me in the comments. Heh.

Frenetic

Last week was a fantastic Friday... This one was frenetic. Heh... I just looked up frenetic in the dictionary. The word is great for me, eh?

Today was even too much for me. Whew.

7:20 - 8:00 Got up/showered/got dressed/answered email.

8:00 Out the door to see the dentist (oh, didn't I tell you, a piece of one of my molars broke off last night!)

9:15 Home from coffee and dentist (got a temporary fix).

9:45 T's (2) gymnastics class starts.

10:30 K's gymnastics class... MWH had the harder 45 minutes between when I left with T and when he brought K. He had to get N (5.5) ready for school and K (3) ready for gymnastics and all of their stuff for school... and out the door ... Poor guy looked exhausted when he got to gymnastics. (He needs a blog to tell you about it!)

11:15 leave K's class. Run home to get N her tennis shoes, K and T some lunch.

11:35 Remember I need my stuff for my meeting this afternoon.... Go in and grab it. Somehow it gets to be 11:45 and it's 5 minutes later than I wanted to leave. Curse silently.

11:52 I'm late. N's not at school on time. Go to the office and get a tardy slip. Get annoyed that the secretary marks it as UNEXCUSED. Geez. I'm doing the best I can. Decide that it takes a special kind of evil to be a school secretary.

11:55 MWH shows up to take over with T and K while I volunteer in N's class.

11:59 Still annoyed with the secretary. Have to go back and get a parent pass for being a volunteer. Try not to shoot daggers out of my eyes as I look at her.

12:03 Get in to N's class. Teacher wants me to photocopy papers.

12:05 Photocopy room has a HUGE line. Woo-hoo! I check email and send a couple and realize that I'm not going to be able do the copies before computer lab time. Happy dance.

12:15 - 12:30 Back in the classroom. I watch cuteness as they do the kindergarten welcome stuff.

12:30-1:05 Computer lab fun!

1:05-1:12 Talk with the teacher about my ideas for _________ and ________________. She likes the ideas. I tell her about my 11 years of experience in the field of ______________ _______________ __________ (very related field). I want to do things in the classroom that utilize my experience and help. I'm volunteering because I want N to have the best educational experience she can have.

1:12 Get T from MWH.

1:35 Make it 5 minutes late to my meeting at [local state] university. I have T with me. She's amazingly good. Experienced Mom (me) somehow grabbed a new Elmo book at the store this morning (on the way to dentist). Experienced Mom remembered crayons and toys too. Another faculty member played with T some (colored) while I did some stuff. Thank goodness for NICE people! Thank goodness T is a great kid! Thank goodness I somehow managed to plan ahead for T's needs during the meeting.

2:35 Leave meeting early to get N from kindergarten. Realize I should have left 5-10 minutes earlier, but I temporarily forgot that EVERYTHING takes longer to do with a toddler.

3:08 I'm 3 or so minutes late at pick-up for N. I am thankful that they don't give tardy slips at pick-up!

3:15 Leave kindergarten to go get K. T wakes up from her nap (I had to carry her to N's room from the car 2 blocks)... At most she got 25 minutes... Most likely she got 15.

3:30 Get K.

4:00 Get home and do snacks.

4:50 Turn on the TV for N and K. Put T in her crib to see if she'll nap.

4:52 Call Dentist to reschedule the appointment for tomorrow morning. Decide that I can't possibly sit in the dentist chair for two hours in the morning since I have so much other work to do. Schedule an appointment for two weeks from now. Sigh. Hope that we have a nanny/daycare by then.

4:53 Turn on Alfred and be very thankful for him. He works and works. He never complains. I love him. I wonder if they have a robotic nanny.

5:01 Call Daycare program at N's school to see if they can have her Monday morning. (I had forgotten to call yesterday because I was so worried about T & K's arrangements.)

5:20 Do a little happy dance because I got a slot for N on Monday morning! Yippee... Care has been found for all children between 10 and 3:05 on Monday.

5:25 Decide to let N and K watch another 1/2 hour of TV because I'm so exhausted and overwhelmed.

5:30 Grab computer and go through email. Be thankful that it's Friday and that no one really sends email on Friday.

5:35 Start to write down the day.

5:55 N and K's show is over. Watch them play. Hear T yelling from her crib. She never went to sleep. She just played. Big sigh.

6:05 End this entry and get T.

---

I'm really exhausted. I could totally do the SAHM thing. I could keep myself busy and out of trouble, but I want to do a little work too. I like my work a lot. I really do. I can't do the SAHM and Working Mom thing at the same time without help. The context switching is REALLY hard. When N was a baby, MWH and I tried to do the daycare for just N by ourselves. After 2 weeks, we realized we needed help. Now with 3 little girls, we still need help. (Surprise, eh?)

I'm checking out lots of nanny leads, and lots of daycare options. I have emailed just about all my Mom friends and mailing lists and spoken with so many people about it. I'm still hopeful we can have a solution in place within two weeks.

This weekend, I need to

1. Work on my class lecture.
2. Grade papers--about 5 hours of work.
3. Work on that project I don't like.
4. Work on a project I do like that I will work on a LOT for the next few months.

Think good thoughts for me.

Back-up!

Woo-hoo! I have a spot in the back-up daycare center my work provides for Monday and Tuesday of next week! I'm relieved. MWH and I both usually have very flexible schedules, but on Monday he has an important meeting that's been scheduled for weeks, and I have class. Worst case scenario, I would have cancelled class, but I really didn't want to do that. I'm already 2 classes behind!

MWH and I have looked at our schedules for the next 2 weeks (after Monday) and we can juggle the rest of the time and trade-off care. It'll be crazy, but we can do it. I've got to think about daycare vs. nanny. I have pro and con lists in my head, and soon I'll type them up. I want to have a solution determined (and hopefully in place) before 2 weeks are over.

As a happy coincidence, the daycare center I'm probably most interested in is the one that my work gives me as a back-up place (for 10 days) so we can check it out before we sign up.

Re: the nanny... I haven't spoken to her since she left. I'm trying to determine how much severance pay I should give her. She left me high-and-dry, but I feel I should do something. What would you do?

On still another note, I've gotten to spend a lot of time with the little girls the last two days. It's been nice. I have gotten to witness so much cuteness.

For example, esterday, N (5.5) was telling me about how much fun dreaming is and how she doesn't like to get up because she wants to keep her dreams going. She said she always curious to find out what's going to happen next and that dreams are so much fun. I remember thinking the exact thing when I was a kid. How cool! K (3) has been telling me, "In my mind, I'm thinking __________." So cute. T (2) got to go to work with me for an hour today. She blew a raspberry at the CEO and a few other important people. How cool is it to be two? Heh.

The good news...

Evil cat is back home and being evil!

The conference paper is submitted!

I was able to eat dinner and I feel hungry again.

spinning...

My head is spinning. I am very sad that our nanny quit. She quit yesterday, as in completely. As in, she left at 2:03 pm. I haven't called her and she hasn't called me. I plan to send her a check that includes pay for Monday and Tuesday and some severance. I feel awful, but I also can't take complete responsibility. I knew there were problems. We'd been talking about potential solutions for about a month. She'd alternate between being very upset with me and pledging her undying love and support, and saying it was getting better or "sorting out" still.

I could tell what kind of day it was going to be from the very second she'd walk in. Though it's a pain to be left high-and-dry, I am relieved not to have the emotional stress. It's tough walking on eggshells. It's really really tough when you're walking on eggshells around someone who is in your house. I wish her well. I'm going to have to write her a letter and send her a check. I'm giving myself another day or so to tackle this.

I am more upset than I care to admit. I haven't eaten much in the last 2 days. That's a sign that I'm upset. I like food! It's rare that I don't want to eat. It will get better. I am worried about her, but I have to not.

---

Looking on to logistics, I can't decide what I want to do. I can't decide if I want another nanny or if I want to do daycare. I am not excited about having another nanny. I guess I should tell myself that it's usually easy for the first year. The first year with a nanny is like the honeymoon period. If we decide to try to find another nanny, it will only be for one year. Then we'll do preschool and pre-K and first grade. Wow.

What else... There's a lot more. I don't know if I'll publish more about this or not. I'm sure you'll hear about whatever daycare/nanny solution we decide to do.

This is where I am today.

Rain/Pour

Today, our nanny quit--walked out this afternoon. I'll probably go into details later, but right now, I can't. My parents kitty aka evil cat is very sick. I love evil cat and I hope she pulls through okay. If you like cats, send her some good thoughts please. I have a paper to be submitted tomorrow (deadline) and a lecture not done. I'll be back soon.

How was your day?

Mine was kind of busy. Exciting, tiring, frustrating, fun, overwhelming, and inspiring...

One of the sweetest moments occurred this morning... MWH got Miss T (2) up. When they came to see me, she said, "I missed Mommy." She was just referring to overnight, I believe. Awwww. My sweet T! She is in a Mommy-phase. I'm trying to get even more time with her.

My little girls love "monsters" and other scary stuff. If N (5.5) acts scared, T acts very scared. They seem to love to scream and scare themselves by going into "dark corners" and stuff. I know it's age appropriate... I need to do a little more reading about the developmental process around/causing this behavior. (Yea, I'm a geek!)

K (3) loves preschool. It's nice to have her excited about her days again. Yippee!

My class is going...They turned in their first assignment today. I started grading. I developed my rubric, started outlining what I'm seeing in the papers and what I want to see... Only 24 more papers to grade. It will probably take about 5 hours for the grading. I don't know if I'll be done by class. I will know a little more about how to teach this class after I grade the assignment.

I got a good question today... Or rather, I got a student telling me that he didn't buy something. It was good that he told me because about 5 other people nodded in agreement when he said something seemed "lame." I explained the image, what it all meant, and added more contexty-information and at the end, I *think* he seemed to think that maybe it was possible. We'll discuss it more again on Wednesday and see what he / they think now that they've had some more time to think.

His question, or point, made me realize how much the students don't actually know. They need everything spelled out for them. They are cynical and decide that something couldn't possibly be true if they don't understand it. Why are there books written on the subject if it's not true? Why do people devote their lives to understanding it better? They are so young. There is so much they don't understand, and it seems like most of them don't want to seek out knowledge. Or even if they want to seek it, they have no clue how to go about doing the seeking. I'm hoping to inspire some of them to ask those questions, express their doubts and then try to find out the answer themselves.

Okay... One more hour on that project I don't like and then I'll be good and won't have to worry about it until Friday! Woo-hoo.

It's real.

T (2) is weaning. I am thrilled--I am sad. My weight is perfectly correlated with how much I'm nursing. T hasn't been nursing as much this last week. She's nursing less. I know...I've lost a pound in the last week. I didn't write much about when K (3) weaned. She wasn't nursing much by the time she was 2 years 10 months or so, but she didn't want to stop nursing. We said she'd stop when she was 3. She did. The last time she nursed was the night before her birthday. We had counted down and she was great about it. That's the whole story. We'll see how it goes with T.

Alarm...

When I was in about 4th grade, I set my very loud and annoying alarm clock for 4 am. I put it under my parents bed. In the middle of the bed. I am still worried about how I will get paid back for that one. I'm pretty sure your parents tell your kids about all the things they want them to do to you to get even. (I'm already planning on telling what stuff to tell my grandkids... heh!)

Yesterday, K (3) played with an alarm clock that I don't typically use. (I rarely set one--when I do, I use my cell phone.) At 6-ish this morning, it went off. I shut it off. Even in my sleep deprived state, I knew she hadn't done it on purpose. She doesn't even know what an alarm clock is.

By coincidence, about 10 minutes later, K woke up and came to our room saying she had lost her pillow. At about 7, I probably fell back asleep. I was a little worried that I was going to have to get up and work. Thankfully, we slept until our real alarm clock T (2) started yelling for MOMMY and DADDY at 9 am-ish.

Heh.

MWH found this comic. I laughed and laughed.

Detail-oriented...

Here's something that I've not seen before. I thought I'd seen all (or most) things that cause a 3-year-old to be upset. Not getting the color you desire in an object you desire is a common cause. K (3) demonstrated upset-about-color today very well. She got to ride a pony, but she was angry (screaming, kicking mad) because she didn't get to ride the white pony. Arrgh. We got past that one.

Then we came home and she went to the bathroom. She got upset because a piece of toliet paper wasn't torn on the performations. It was torn in the middle and not straight.

As MWH said, "It brings new meaning to the term anal-retentive."

---

From the Wikipedia enty on Anal-Retentive:

Conversationally, the term is often used to describe a person deemed to be overly obsessed with minor details. Its roots are said to be from Sigmund Freud.

The term is often used in a derogatory sense to describe a person with such attention to detail that the obsession becomes an annoyance to others, and can be carried out to the detriment of the so-called anal-retentive person. )

Fantastic Friday!

That's what N's kindergarten teachers declared it to be. So far, I agree. I got up, got dressed, went and got coffee, took T (2) and K (3) to gymnastics (so fun!), came home, changed out of comfy pants (I participate with T), and went to kindergarten with N! I stayed at kindergarten for 2 hours, then the second Mom-volunteer showed up, I ran to the grocery store, took the groceries home, picked up N, came home, and now I'm going to work (at home) for a couple of hours while Mary Poppins stays with the girls.

I guess the one not fantastic thing about today is that for the next two hours I should work on something I don't actually like to work on... Sigh. I LOVE almost everything I do. I don't really like this one thing. I can't really complain if I like pretty much everything else though, can I?

---

Remind me someday to tell you about:

1. My trip to the plastic surgeon
2. Something else that I've forgotten already.... Sigh. No brain.

Weaning action...

Miss N (now 5.5) weaned at 15 months. K (3.25) weaned at 3. T (2) is weaning. T has always seemed like the middle-point between K and N. K and N are very different and always have been. MWH and I calculated if T weaned at exactly the half-way point in age between the ages N and K were, she would be 25.5 months. (We're geeky like that.)

Miss T is almost 25 months. She is weaning herself. She is nursing for shorter periods of time. I seem to be losing some weight. (My weight is directly correlated with how much the babe(s) are nursing. I'm at the lowest weight I've been since before getting pregnant with K.)

This morning, I asked if she wanted to nurse. She said, "Yes!" but when we got upstairs, she said she wanted a yo-baby. She drank it before nursing. Here I am, delighted she's weaning, but sad too. This motherhood thing messes with your head!

Adjusting...

3 weeks in to the school year (oh-my-gosh, how is that possible????) I finally feel like we're adjusting a bit. My class is adjusting to me a bit too. They are starting to laugh at my sarcasm and some of the outrageous things I say. They are trusting me a little more that we'll make it through this semester. Someday I'll write about all of the crazy things I have in the syllabus for the class, but not tonight. I am so enjoying teaching in the technology classroom. It is really great.

[One random thing I do want to note: I told one of the (only 2) guys in my class that my class might help him impress women. (In context it was pretty funny and he laughed. Heh.)]

So we're slowly adjusting... N (5.5) started her gymnastics session this morning. K (3) & T (2) start on Friday.

I've almost got more to write about work and my identity, but not quite. It's still settling. I'm feeling better than I expected I would about all of the changes. Last Friday I was kind of down, but this week, I'm feeling better. I do think that having me slow dow a bit makes a lot of sense for the whole family. Tonight, I took the little girls out all by myself. We didn't do much, but they had fun and so did I. I want to be able to do more things with them. I don't want to be so busy that I can't enjoy them!

Tomorrow I go to my regular job (not local state university) and I imagine I'll be a little sad after going. I love it there, but right now, there really aren't a lot of projects for me and my expertise. It's kind of sad to realize that at the moment, I don't have a lot of things I love over there. A couple of projects, but not like 2 years ago...

It's okay though... I want to take on writing a grant for one project--something really interesting to me and most likely something that the place we work will be interested in having us do. Before we do that, I need time with my supervisor and he's SWAMPED right now. He'll be less busy fairly soon and then we'll figure things out. Onward.

waving...

This is a brief one... K (3) seems to have had a mystery fever... Fine right now, (no fever since yesterday around noon), but of course, I'm still waiting to make sure. She went to school today. Keep your fingers crossed that it was just a mystery fever.

Me... I'm fine. I went to a meeting today... It was interesting. It was at [local state] university. I learned a lot. I made some connections that will most likely be good for me and what I want to do career-wise. I'm not in a hurry to make changes, but it's always good to network. I am still suffering from my identity crisis errrrr... transformation to put it more positively. You'll get to hear more about that later.

Okay... More later. I'm going to go not do the 4 hours of work I need to do and go spend time with my little girls!

102

K woke up from her nap and said she had a headache. She said, "My body keeps making me shake." She felt warm, but she's usually warm. I took her temperature anyway and 102 showed up. Not a big surprise given that she just started preschool. Sigh.

3 Target Day...

Yesterday, MWH learned an important lesson. He learned what to do if there are only two cute stuffed black cats on a toy display at Target.

He learned... Just keep on walking. DO NOT SLOW DOWN. DO NOT LET THE LITTLE GIRLS HOLD THEM. They will want them. They will fight. There will be much screaming and crying. We will end up driving to 2 more Targets to find another stuffed black cat like the two that were at the first Target. This will take an hour and one-half.

I always thought it was funny that my Mom made such a BIG DEAL of making sure that EVERYONE had EXACTLY the same thing. She had 3 children (boys) very close in age and then many years later, she had me. Now I get why she made such a big deal of getting everyone the exact same thing. MWH gets it too.

Going way back.

I was going back through my journal from when I was pregnant with K. Here's something I wrote when I was about 22-23 weeks along with K (January 14, 2004)...

[K baby] is soooooo much more active than N was when she was inside of me... I feel [K baby] a LOT. I remember not really feeling N regularly until we went to Hawaii (I was 27 weeks).... Even then, I didn't feel her move as often as [K baby]... When N started getting the hiccups I felt her more than any other time. Little [K baby] is kicking and punching quite a bit... I guess she's telling me she's very different than N from the beginning. :-)

Wow... even in utero N and K were very different!

Pour me a lot!

That's what K (3) said tonight about peas.

Yea, I almost fell over too.

I poured probably 20 into a bowl. She ate about 7. I'm thrilled.

8:43

That's what time I got up today. Next year, in first grade, N (5.5) has to be at school by 9 a.m. I'm not sure how that's going to happen.

Today, I go with N and I'll be a volunteer in her classroom. Yippee.

This weekend I have quite a bit of work to do, not a ton, but now there are 3 projects (much better than 9 or 10!)

1. Write a section for a paper for conference
2. Finish my class lecture
3. Do some on the analyses that I don't like to do

I'll be working late each night! I've got another post simmering about my transition to less busy. It's very hard for me to make this change. I am working on it though. Really really. I have this friend, and she and I email occassionally. Usually she emails and says, "You wanna do lunch?" I usually reply, "Arrrgghh! Too busy! I'm working on getting less busy! Soon!" I've been saying that to her for about 4 years...

I'm sure she thinks this "transition" is just me saying I'm working on working less and not actually doing it, AGAIN. This time, I truly am working on working less. I don't like it, but I'm trying and I've made more progress this time than I have in the past. Wish me luck.

Baby...

T (2) loves babies. She has a doll that she calls Baby and sleeps with her. T says she is a baby. She's still nursing. If you haven't nursed a toddler, you don't know how much! fun! that can be. (She always wants the left one first. Then she say, "other one!" She pretends she's a kitten or puppy before nursing. I have to ask her if she's my baby kitty or baby puppy (depending on the sound she's making) before she'll nurse.) She is weaning slightly. I'm hopeful that she'll wean on her own soon, but that's just wishful thinking and not likely to happen. What I'm doing so far is just saying no if she asks to nurse during the day. She nurses in the morning and at night, but not during the day.

She's starting to join in with her sisters in more activities. Tonight, K and T were snuggled up under a blanket together watching Dora. They were even yelling the answers to Dora's questions together. So cute! This morning, K and T dragged blankets upstairs and pillows and were "camping out." Again, it was very cute. I remember when N and K started playing a lot together, but I failed (or I think I failed) to capture the exact date. (I think it was before K turned two.)

T is also starting to join in during the nightly routine we do with N and K. She used to be the first to bed and then it'd take another 1/2 hour until the other two were in bed. She started participating a little a few weeks ago (I don't think I noted the actual date). Tonight, I walked in and MWH was reading The Cat in the Hat. K and T were listening intently. As I sat on the bed, T looked at me and very solemnly said, "Kitty-cat," as if I needed a little briefing on the story. Awww.

My baby... growing up! This morning, she's drawing, asking me if I love her pictures and then if I'll hang them on the wall. Again, awwww. She's so two!

More little things...

Check out these very neatly folded towels. K (3) folded them. All. by. herself. That's better folding than I can do!

I really don't like folding. MWH and Mary Poppins tend to do most of it. I like doing laundry, but I am not a folder! I'm going to be nuturing this talent that K has!

49

Of course, if K (3) ate 7 peas a day, she'd eat 49 in a week, and I'm pretty sure 49 peas would be equal to a serving. I'm not going to get my hopes up yet.

Really, it's the little things in life, eh?

7 + 4 but who's counting

Apparently, I am. K (3) has eaten 11 peas in the last 48 hours! Yesterday was a 7 pea day. Big excitement. It was also the first day of Fall preschool for her. It went well. Today was day 2. More soon! I'm tired and want to go make a photo blog entry on the other blog. (Let me know if you need the URL.)

Fantasy/Reality

There's a carousel that the girls really like(d)... We call it "the old carousel" because it was sort of old fashioned looking. In reality, it was new. About a year and 1/2 ago, it stopped running and we kept waiting for it to get fixed. The girls still talk about it. We just drove by it on Friday and K (3) and N (5.5) noticed it was still broken. I told them that I didn't think they were going to fix it and it was sad.

Later, K and I were talking and she said, "We need to call someone to fix the carousel." I asked who we should call--should we call Handy-Manny*. She said, "No Mommy, Handy-Manny isn't in this life. He's on TV." Smart girl. Well said! I asked, "What about Builder Bob?" K: "No, he's not in this life either. We should call Builder James." (James is the contractor who did our remodel.)




*In case you don't watch Handy-Manny, there's an episode where he fixes an old carousel. Still, this didn't throw her.

2009

I just entered all of the school dates for N (5.5) on my calendar through June of 2009. Yikes.

Homework....

N had her first homework assignment due tomorrow. She kept saying how she didn't want to do it. It's the FIRST one. How can we already be having homework battles????????

She's being very obstinate about reading or anything having to do with it right now. I'm not doing very well with dealing with this. Any suggestions on what I should say or how I should approach this? Normally, MWH encourages her and she does whatever he wants. (She's a Daddy's Girl!) However, this time, not even MWH can motivate her.

I think part of the problem is that most kids in her class aren't reading. She's one of the few that are so she doesn't feel the need to work. Sigh. I need to think about what to do. She really needs the teacher to push her and I don't think that's going to happen. I'll know more about kindergarten after Friday. (I'm going to be volunteering in her classroom.) Hmmmm... Maybe I can get the teacher to talk with N about how important homework is to her. N seems all about doing what the teacher says.

More on kindergarten soon!

I'm in charge...

of our social calendar. I don't mind, and MWH likes it, but oops... I thought we were going to a party today. When I went to look up the directions, I realized the party was yesterday. (That's called an off-by-one error.) I'm a little sad, but mostly embarrassed by my inability to keep track of things. Yesterday, we had a lot of fun hanging with some really good friends--definitely more fun than we would have had at the party. Today we might be buying a new washing machine.

(Does any one who reads have a frontloading machine? Do you like it? We don't think our frontloader is cleaning very well.)

She asked for mac-cheese for breakfast.

Who am I to refuse? T (2) is full of two-year-old opinions! She is so two now. It has been happening for a while, but I've not been accepting that she's fully-fully two!

I do find two much easier to handle the third time around (so far, but I reserve the right to change my mind).

The evidence:
1. This morning, T did not want a princess placemat, she wanted a duck one.

2. Last night, she did NOT want to ride in the stroller on the way home from the park.

3. Friday night, she did NOT want to sit in her car seat. M&Ms almost couldn't convince her to get in Friday night.

We've been having car seat battles for a while now, but they are definitely getting worse.

I guess, the third time around, I realize that this is only the beginning and not the time to get worried yet. She may get worse, or not. Most likely she'll become more opinionated (and stubborn) and things will get harder, but it's important because she's learning how to be independent.

She is so darn cute even when she's throwing a little temper tantrum. A lot of her has to do with her limbic system coming online... More on this later.

---

Further Reading:
This is a nice little piece on brain development and behavior.