The benchmarks keep coming. Tyler has started rolling from his back onto his stomach, though it's pretty rare. The most common place to see this phenomenon is actually when he is in bed. We put him down in some random position and he kicks and squirms and shakes so much that when we come by to pick him up he's usually facing a completely different way and is occasionally on his stomach. We got him from a nap this afternoon and watched him scrabble and grab all over the bed. I wonder what he was dreaming of. He was in a bad mood afterwards, though, so it might have been a bad dream. We picked him up and calmed him down, though, which always makes you feel like something of a superhero.
We've also started to get a lot more sounds out of him. I've had entire conversations with him that consist of nothing but squeals. I'm not sure what information he thinks he's conveying, but hey definitely enjoys the interaction. There's often a subtle but critical transitions between squeals of delight and the early signs of crying, though, so it pays to pay attention.
Tyler is starting to interact with the cats, too. We mostly just supervise and let Tyler feel their soft fur, which he really seems to enjoy, even if it is clear that what he really wants to do it grab them and stuff them in his mouth. Anyway, the cats are starting to like it too. When they're nice to Tyler, they get treats; an arrangement they're quite happy to support.
We had a gaggle of family visiting this weekend. Still do, actually. Jessie's grandmother is here with us for most of a week. She's been as entranced as anyone by his charms and cuteness, even though he is great grandson number 10. And she also has number 11 already. Clearly he is the cutest one, though. So since she was here, some near-ish-by family dropped by and spent the night last night. Good thing we have a big house. I'd have to bust out the family tree to be absolutely sure how they are related, but let's just call them an Aunt, a Cousin, and a Second-Cousin and just call it done. The second-cousin was 10, and it was nice to see her interacting with Tyler. She and he got along really well, and she even went out running with us, which was really nice. Made me feel like a nice, supporting influence. Getting ready for when I get to do stuff like that with Tyler. Anyway, we went out to dinner with everyone, chatted a lot, and generally had a really nice time.
Then I've been playing video games all day today. And if you haven't noticed, and you care about video games, today is the final day of the steam summer sale. You can pick up a bevy of games for very, very low prices. Jump on that if you like. And then add me to your friend list. Considering all the people I know, I have a surprisingly small number of actual friends to play video games with. Come on, Nana, let's go play some Grand Theft Auto!
July 4 came and went with little fanfare, not the least of which because we've been seriously drought-cursed for a while and everything is far to dry for amateurs to be setting off fireworks. Probably not a bad call. It's looking like a short but intense bout of rain might be on the horizon, which would be great for checking to make sure our roof is fixed. Last time we got a burst of rain we discovered a leak over our breakfast nook. We had someone come by earlier this week to try and repair it, and they re-did the layout of some of the tiles and got rid of some rusty nails and improved the sealant. I would like some good rain just to see if it worked. It's been dry enough, though, that whatever water got in there has almost certainly dried out completely.
Man, pictures. I need to sort through some, but we had the four-generations come through on Jessie's side of the family and so we had a photographer drop by last Saturday and get some great photos. We'll share them soon, I hope. Our new, sexy camera has been getting an occasional workout as well. It takes a whole lot of pictures, though, and I don't always sort through them. Good way to use up a hard drive.
-N
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Being done with school is WAY more fun
In the last week, I've been to the amusement park, had tacos for happy hour, got to hang around with my husband on TWO consecutive nights with nothing to do but watch TV and play videogames. I've started reading a new book that is FUN (The Geography of Bliss- thanks Nana!), and I've cooked dinner. It's so nice to think about the weekend in terms of "What fun can I have?" and not "What work do I need to catch up on?"
Matt did really well in his race on Saturday, coming in 7th in a field of 50 is pretty impressive for his first ever road race, on a route he'd never seen. I'll take credit for the carbo loading, finally, an athletic event I can excel at. That's pretty much what's going on here.
Matt did really well in his race on Saturday, coming in 7th in a field of 50 is pretty impressive for his first ever road race, on a route he'd never seen. I'll take credit for the carbo loading, finally, an athletic event I can excel at. That's pretty much what's going on here.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Getting done and getting back to normal
As Dad pointed out, I defended my Ph.D.! This is a big milestone for me, and it was really fantastic to have my family around to help celebrate what has felt like a very personal struggle culminating in such success! Much fun (and food!) was had by all over the weekend, and served as a well needed break.
Because when I got back to work on Tuesday... there were literally 1,000 pages of comments waiting on my desk- that is 2 full reams of paper, dog eared and with post-it notes sticking out. That actually has been fairly managable to tackle, and I expect I'll be done with the worst by the end of the week. But I'm not sure yet, since I am doing some experiments this week too- I feel like I'm getting right back to normal. Well, not normal, precisely. Absolutely better. I don't feel anxiety about coming in to work, mostly because the one most important thing I've had to worry about (getting my degree), I got, and they can't take it back. My papers may never get published and it may take a long time to get a job, but I've got the degree.
And otherwise things are moving along. I'm covering some experiments for my undergrad while he crams for the MCATs, hoping we can all get a manuscript 3 or 5 or whatever out of this deal... Oh, and good news, Manuscript #2 was resubmitted today. I'm fairly confident it will be accepted, and hoping that can move forward quickly, since a publication would greatly improve my scientist credibility. This paper has been a lot of back and forth with the collaborators in many timezones, and although I am the first author, I've had very little influence on the actual written document (for better or for worse). For me it has been easy to participate in, although if I had any more pull on the project, I'd have written it up differently- but it probably wouldn't have been as interesting to the people we want reading it that way. I'll happily overlook all that if it gets published, so keep your fingers crossed!
Because when I got back to work on Tuesday... there were literally 1,000 pages of comments waiting on my desk- that is 2 full reams of paper, dog eared and with post-it notes sticking out. That actually has been fairly managable to tackle, and I expect I'll be done with the worst by the end of the week. But I'm not sure yet, since I am doing some experiments this week too- I feel like I'm getting right back to normal. Well, not normal, precisely. Absolutely better. I don't feel anxiety about coming in to work, mostly because the one most important thing I've had to worry about (getting my degree), I got, and they can't take it back. My papers may never get published and it may take a long time to get a job, but I've got the degree.
And otherwise things are moving along. I'm covering some experiments for my undergrad while he crams for the MCATs, hoping we can all get a manuscript 3 or 5 or whatever out of this deal... Oh, and good news, Manuscript #2 was resubmitted today. I'm fairly confident it will be accepted, and hoping that can move forward quickly, since a publication would greatly improve my scientist credibility. This paper has been a lot of back and forth with the collaborators in many timezones, and although I am the first author, I've had very little influence on the actual written document (for better or for worse). For me it has been easy to participate in, although if I had any more pull on the project, I'd have written it up differently- but it probably wouldn't have been as interesting to the people we want reading it that way. I'll happily overlook all that if it gets published, so keep your fingers crossed!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Man, I'm tired
Yesterday I went to Judo and had a really great class. I worked with one of the black belts all class and he kept saying how good I was to work with. He was training for a big tournament he was going to in Miami and so we practiced resisting throws and then did Shiai (sparring) for a half hour straight. Heck of a workout, but I just feel burned out today. I'm not sure I can blame it all on the exercise, but I've been tired and lacking focus all day. I even took a nap this afternoon after I got home from work. I never take naps!
We've been doing battle against the bugs in our yard for the past few weeks. I picked up some ant poison that seems to do pretty well, though in investigating my yard for red ants I stepped on a couple of nests while wearing flip-flops. No permanent damage or severe pain, but you do tend to hop pretty quickly when you discover you've made that mistake.
I've killed of a good half-dozen mounds, but now that Tyler is spending so much time on the floor playing, Jess is extra worried about keeping whatever bugs we can out of the house. I picked up some stuff that's supposed to get sprayed around the perimeter of the house and keep the bugs out, we'll see if it works. Jess gets spooked even more than usual when she sees bugs now.
Tyler has started to laugh! He likes it when you much on his belly, and he gets especially excited when mom and dad come home from work. We always get big, toothless, gummy smiles. He's still entranced by colors and faces, we went shopping today and he spent the the entire time just looking at all the stuff. Very well behaved, though. The best baby in the world.
Good news for Adventure Baby (He's #1 for adventure!) he has discovered that the white monkey has but one weakness...baby drool! He's getting increasingly good at using his hands to get stuff. Mostly it's just waving and grasping, but he's become exceptional at grabbing whatever cloth is on his chest, be it burp cloth or just shirt, with both hands and stuffing it into his mouth. We even spied him delicately reaching for Mr. Toucan today on his play yard. Progress!
He's doing great, also, at being baby-sat, behaving quite well with Grandma Swanson even though she complains all the time about how he spits up on her. I'm not sure why, though. I've had a much better track record by simply deciding that baby vomit isn't worth worrying about and just ignoring it when it gets on my shirt. Those with aversions to body fluids may want to think long and hard about this baby thing.
And finally, of course, a hearty congratulations to Dr. Seguin, the smartest new doctor in the country. Kudos and a hearty hurrah! Can't wait to catch you tomorrow on Skype!
-N
We've been doing battle against the bugs in our yard for the past few weeks. I picked up some ant poison that seems to do pretty well, though in investigating my yard for red ants I stepped on a couple of nests while wearing flip-flops. No permanent damage or severe pain, but you do tend to hop pretty quickly when you discover you've made that mistake.
I've killed of a good half-dozen mounds, but now that Tyler is spending so much time on the floor playing, Jess is extra worried about keeping whatever bugs we can out of the house. I picked up some stuff that's supposed to get sprayed around the perimeter of the house and keep the bugs out, we'll see if it works. Jess gets spooked even more than usual when she sees bugs now.
Tyler has started to laugh! He likes it when you much on his belly, and he gets especially excited when mom and dad come home from work. We always get big, toothless, gummy smiles. He's still entranced by colors and faces, we went shopping today and he spent the the entire time just looking at all the stuff. Very well behaved, though. The best baby in the world.
Good news for Adventure Baby (He's #1 for adventure!) he has discovered that the white monkey has but one weakness...baby drool! He's getting increasingly good at using his hands to get stuff. Mostly it's just waving and grasping, but he's become exceptional at grabbing whatever cloth is on his chest, be it burp cloth or just shirt, with both hands and stuffing it into his mouth. We even spied him delicately reaching for Mr. Toucan today on his play yard. Progress!
He's doing great, also, at being baby-sat, behaving quite well with Grandma Swanson even though she complains all the time about how he spits up on her. I'm not sure why, though. I've had a much better track record by simply deciding that baby vomit isn't worth worrying about and just ignoring it when it gets on my shirt. Those with aversions to body fluids may want to think long and hard about this baby thing.
And finally, of course, a hearty congratulations to Dr. Seguin, the smartest new doctor in the country. Kudos and a hearty hurrah! Can't wait to catch you tomorrow on Skype!
-N
Good Morning, Dr. Seguin...
Yesterday unfolded much as I hoped it would. We had arrived without drama and difficulty and ensconced ourselves in the uber-convinient Holiday Inn across the street from Sandlin's Lab and site of her defense. The Beer, Salmon, and Crab Dip had made their appearence at the baggage claim without incident after a hassle-free trip from Alaska. Grandmother's had been scooped up after similar clean connections. They were assigned to the penthouse floor with special keys that gave them access to the snooty peoples lounge and free food room which they shared with us during the critical "waiting for the decision" moments.
Sandlin's Talk was well attended, favorably received and scripted like the 5 year effort of preparation that it was. I have just enough Science to understand the elements of what she was talking about but not a clue how the work was done. In that respect, it was most intimidating. We practioners sort of understand why things work biologically but how those fundamental insights are achieved are just a big mystery to us, too.
Nana gave the new PhD her Dr Suess book, "The Places You Go", after we all signed it. I inscribed the following story which I could not resist also giving as a toast at the beer and salmon fest that followed:
Amy Tan, the author of best-selling books like the Bonesetter's Daughter, tells of giving a speech to a large audience with her mother in attendance. Afterward, she asked her mother what she thought of the talk. She replied that she didn't really remember much about what was said. Aggravated, Amy asked "What were you thinking about?" She replied, "I was just looking at all those people watching the speech and thinking: That's my daughter up there, that's my daughter up there...." Sandlin told me after the toast that this had brought some of her labmates to near tears. I have to say while in her Talk, that is exactly what was going though my head and bringing tears to my own eyes: that was my daughter up there, my daughter.
Sandlin's Talk was well attended, favorably received and scripted like the 5 year effort of preparation that it was. I have just enough Science to understand the elements of what she was talking about but not a clue how the work was done. In that respect, it was most intimidating. We practioners sort of understand why things work biologically but how those fundamental insights are achieved are just a big mystery to us, too.
Nana gave the new PhD her Dr Suess book, "The Places You Go", after we all signed it. I inscribed the following story which I could not resist also giving as a toast at the beer and salmon fest that followed:
Amy Tan, the author of best-selling books like the Bonesetter's Daughter, tells of giving a speech to a large audience with her mother in attendance. Afterward, she asked her mother what she thought of the talk. She replied that she didn't really remember much about what was said. Aggravated, Amy asked "What were you thinking about?" She replied, "I was just looking at all those people watching the speech and thinking: That's my daughter up there, that's my daughter up there...." Sandlin told me after the toast that this had brought some of her labmates to near tears. I have to say while in her Talk, that is exactly what was going though my head and bringing tears to my own eyes: that was my daughter up there, my daughter.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
T minus 4 days
I started applying for jobs saying I was a Ph.D. today. All systems go...
Can't wait for my family to be here and for the party to start.
Can't wait for my family to be here and for the party to start.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
A little Journal about Tyler
It's nice to write about some of the smaller moments if only to have a catalog of all the things that happened back when we were new parents. This all seems clear and eternal now, but I'm sure I'll forget it all inside a year.
"Baby Cakes" (no, I don't know why I call him that) is developing new skills slowly, but with confidence and flair. His latest escapades involve squealing. He gets really excited about something and you can see it working up from his toes up through his legs and then his body and arms and then..."EEEE!" Either that or nothing. He's still figuring out how to engage the system sometime. But you can always tell when he *wants* to make the noise. Just sometimes you get a "aaaaoooh" or "pffffft" or just silence instead. All are cute.
I think the discussion is over, Tyler is definitely a Florida baby. He loves hanging around outside. One of the most surefire ways to calm him down is just to walk around outdoors. I'm not sure if it's the warmth, or the sun, or the fresh air or all the bright green grass, but he calms down very quickly. This means we've gotten a lot of use out of the hammock in the front (and, consequentially, I'm getting much better at getting into and out of hammocks). I like to put him up on my lap and then lean back and swing in the hammock. He just stares at whatever happens to be in front of his face, be it either the grass or the light playing off of Daddy’s shirt. We got a patio swing for the backyard and assembled it yesterday. And, of course, it rained for the first time in months, last night, so it’s all soaked.
He’s also starting to move around, though I’m not sure he realizes it yet. He’s definitely doing a back-arch thing when he’s on his back that gets him moving around on his play matt, and when we put him on his belly he will put his arms out and occasionally drag himself along an inch or two. That’s nothing, though, nothing compared to Tyler’s sleep time. We swaddle his lower half so his default motion is just to lift up his legs and bring them kicking down. You can get a lot of distance out of that as evidenced by the fact that the position we find him in in the morning is entirely unrelated to the position we put him down in at night. This morning he was kicking the monitor.
Grandma Swanson is here, and this is our first day with both of us at work and someone else in charge of the little one. I suspect he’s not having a great time, but I give it about two days before the whole thing is routine and normal and he’s totally back into the swing of things. Also, G-ma Swanson is very patient. She has been a mother before, and did a fantastic job of it. Jess is worried that between his ever-increasingly-early bedtime and the fact that he spends most of his waking time while we are at work, we won’t get to see him anymore. I have my doubts.
Oh, and I had a great father’s day weekend. Jess let me play a lot of video games and made me a little collage of Tyler pictures for my desk at work. I like the ones with the bottom lip best.
Tyler is discovering his thumb, which I attribute greatly to his ability to put himself back to sleep several times at night. He is rapidly approaching 12 hours a night. He is also starting to grab cloth and shove it into his mouth. Unless he has something specific in mind, this usually involves chewing on his shirt.
-N
"Baby Cakes" (no, I don't know why I call him that) is developing new skills slowly, but with confidence and flair. His latest escapades involve squealing. He gets really excited about something and you can see it working up from his toes up through his legs and then his body and arms and then..."EEEE!" Either that or nothing. He's still figuring out how to engage the system sometime. But you can always tell when he *wants* to make the noise. Just sometimes you get a "aaaaoooh" or "pffffft" or just silence instead. All are cute.
I think the discussion is over, Tyler is definitely a Florida baby. He loves hanging around outside. One of the most surefire ways to calm him down is just to walk around outdoors. I'm not sure if it's the warmth, or the sun, or the fresh air or all the bright green grass, but he calms down very quickly. This means we've gotten a lot of use out of the hammock in the front (and, consequentially, I'm getting much better at getting into and out of hammocks). I like to put him up on my lap and then lean back and swing in the hammock. He just stares at whatever happens to be in front of his face, be it either the grass or the light playing off of Daddy’s shirt. We got a patio swing for the backyard and assembled it yesterday. And, of course, it rained for the first time in months, last night, so it’s all soaked.
He’s also starting to move around, though I’m not sure he realizes it yet. He’s definitely doing a back-arch thing when he’s on his back that gets him moving around on his play matt, and when we put him on his belly he will put his arms out and occasionally drag himself along an inch or two. That’s nothing, though, nothing compared to Tyler’s sleep time. We swaddle his lower half so his default motion is just to lift up his legs and bring them kicking down. You can get a lot of distance out of that as evidenced by the fact that the position we find him in in the morning is entirely unrelated to the position we put him down in at night. This morning he was kicking the monitor.
Grandma Swanson is here, and this is our first day with both of us at work and someone else in charge of the little one. I suspect he’s not having a great time, but I give it about two days before the whole thing is routine and normal and he’s totally back into the swing of things. Also, G-ma Swanson is very patient. She has been a mother before, and did a fantastic job of it. Jess is worried that between his ever-increasingly-early bedtime and the fact that he spends most of his waking time while we are at work, we won’t get to see him anymore. I have my doubts.
Oh, and I had a great father’s day weekend. Jess let me play a lot of video games and made me a little collage of Tyler pictures for my desk at work. I like the ones with the bottom lip best.
Tyler is discovering his thumb, which I attribute greatly to his ability to put himself back to sleep several times at night. He is rapidly approaching 12 hours a night. He is also starting to grab cloth and shove it into his mouth. Unless he has something specific in mind, this usually involves chewing on his shirt.
-N
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