Toothy! 9-30-12

It's finally here! I just saw it this morning. Boop's first tooth. It's on the bottom on the left. I tried to get a photo. Humor me and pretend like you can see it ;) It's just a little white jagged bump in her gum. No doubt it will be out for all to see very soon.

Boop is sleeping in these photos. My previous attempts while she was awake were even less successful.

Wednesdays. 9-22-12

Body in a class next to mine...

Wednesdays are my long days. I hate it for Boop. Her main teacher leaves before 4pm, and her secondary teacher leaves at 5pm. So, she's put in with several little ones that she doesn't know and teachers she doesn't know. 

And after the craziness of hospital and travel, this was going to be my first full class that I would teach for the course. Fortunately, it went fine. There's always a little nervousness with teaching, and this is my first discussion class. I think back about my profs, and it feels a bit surreal. Do I really know enough to manage off-the-cuff? My memory didn't come back to me as quick as I would have liked a few times, but I recovered well enough.

It's a race to get her after class. When we get home, I try to get at least 1 thing accomplished: dishwashing or laundry. And after being away, there was plenty of both. If I try to do too much, Boop gets very upset. I try not to antagonize her.

Taking Stock at Week 36. 9-27-12

Here's what's happening at Boop's week 36:

• Goodness gracious, won't those teeth come in already! I can feel one of her lower ones really well. And I know it has to be bothering her. It will be a totally new thing to try and nurse with a tooth, hopefully not a painful one.
• Speaking of nursing, I can't believe we've made it this long. I'm amazed I'm still functional with her wanting to nurse all night long. And I'm trying to chill after all of the stuff going on with feeding in daycare last week.
• Winnie is in need of a haircut and probably a check up. She went to the vet last month, and everything seemed fine. In the back of my mind, I'm wondering if she is having kidney problems with her mounting number of accidents. Winnie isn't as young as she used to be. 
• Work is still piling up. I'm always ambivalent about hiring a babysitter so I can get more work done. It's fine to have help with the house, but I worry that I'm not spending enough time with Boop if I get a babysitter through the week. Maybe I need to start trying to come in for a few hours on the weekends. I've done it a few times, but maybe it needs to become more frequent.

So Behind. 9-21-12

I've gotten so behind on posting. I've just been swamped. The week I got home, goodness, that's been nearly two weeks ago. I was fumbling to catch up. Two classes, even though one is a seminar, is pretty intense. I just found out I've been assigned to 3 service committees on top of everything else, and of course, I'm on a few other service committees too. That doesn't include grants and projects. Anyway, let me backtrack a bit. 

Boop picked ninja leg warmers to wear!

Monday (9-10-12) was a tough day to get going. Boop and I were both exhausted. Thank goodness I only had Seminar scheduled. Of course, I had a million other things on the agenda. Even though I'm not formally teaching, I still have to be on guard in case things go awry. And my preparation turned out to be a good idea for that seminar. My class of objectivists were trying to learn constructionism and subjectivism. It was all about epistemologies, which of course, is right up my alley. What is reality? And how do we go about knowing things? I'm not the best at epistemologies, but I guess I can hold my own. Our presenters were having a bit of trouble. I saw the confusion on everyone's faces, but I was hesitant to interrupt. Fortunately, my colleague jumped in to express her confusion. That was my opening, and I tried a few explanations. Then, I saw a flicker of recognition on the students faces. Thank goodness!

Have a nice day!

Resemblance? 9-23-12

Compare and contrast with photo below: Same hair,
similar glasses, same expression, similar pose.

Road Warriors. 9-16-12‏

It was the day I dreaded. The trip back with Boop. Mom started us out in the morning. We stopped to see my aunt at the nursing home on the way. Winnie was so excited, and Boop did fairly well. S was glad we stopped by. She had lost some weight, which will be better for her diabetes.

Getting spoiled by Aunt D
Boop reminds me of Elton John in this photo

Next stop was Aunt D's for lunch. I was thinking Mediterranean or Mexican. We wound up at a regional sandwich shop, kinda like Panera. Then, we stopped at Wally world so I could get a few things for the trip. It was just long enough for Aunt D to find Boop a toy. Anything to distract her on the trip, I thought.

G was running a little late, which gave us longer to visit. We packed up G's car and headed back home. Boop had a rough time of it. About 2 hours from home she started getting really fussy. I tried to feed her, sang and sang, but in the end, we had to stop about an hour from home. Boop was hysterical, bless her heart. We finally made it home, and we were all worn out. These trips are so difficult. We may just have to fly for the holidays. G is such a good sport!