Thaw before reheating.
{ Category Archives }
I’ve mentioned that Will can count to 10 without any problem. But apparently I’ve sold him short. With a little coaching, he actually can go on to 20. It is super cute listening to him go around the house and count things: “one, two, three, four Santa Claus!” He’s not even 25 months old. I’d be thinking Doogie Howser if he weren’t doing all this with his finger up his nose.
In the midst of our holiday madness, we are also prepping the house and ourselves for our next trip overseas. The fact that we leave in just over 2 weeks (2 weeks!) is both exciting and overwhelming. So far, we have:
– Arranged for a sub-let from a fun UK family with a precious two-year old girl and another little girl due soon!
– Have reservations in a local hotel for the night we arrive (the flight comes shortly before midnight; we’ll meet the housekeeper at the house the next morning)
– Paid half our rent up front by electronically transfering money to their account in Indonesia (where they used to live!)
– Have a housekeeper (fairly standard in these parts)
– (Almost) have a nanny — just a phone call left to confirm
– (Almost) have a private spanish tutor — just have to arrange some logistics
– Are reading all that we can about Peru (history, culture, art, travel, etc.)
The faculty I’m working with assure me that getting an assistant (for transcription and assistance with interviews) will be no problem, so that is great. We’ve got a list of contacts and organizations and will brainstorm further once I’m there. The idea is that this is just an exploratory trip. I have a bunch of potential research questions to expand into a disseration… the idea is to talk about the issues and questions within the field, gather some observational data, then return home, run models from DHS and other data sources to compare, and develop a final research question and disseration topic from all of the information. Then I can write the prospectus, which sort of lays out my plans for a disseration and serves as the “background” — sort of like the first few chapters — and apply for formal disseration funding. Because I am interested in an academic career, it is important to me to both collect my own data for at least part of my disseration and obtain outside funding to do so. This is first step towards that end. I am excited and a bit nervous to sort of be on my own, which is what getting a doctoral level degree is all about.
University Montessori held a holiday program tonight where all the kids gathered on the stairs in the front of the school and sang Christmas carols. It went sort of how you would expect for a pre-school presentation. Some tears, lots of blank faces, and a little singing from a few of the older kids. In other words, it was really cute. Then we were ushered inside for cookies (made by the older kids) and while we chatted with parents, Will managed to score at least 3 cookies. We captured the evening on video so no still pictures were taken until we got home.
With all those cookies, Will had some energy to expend. Insisting that his hat “stay on” he ran around the house after the squeeky ball. I managed to catch this photo in a rare moment of pause. 
Our weaning method is working even better than expected! It has made going to bed something Will is excited about (“Binky time! Nite-nite, Daddy, nite-nite, Mommy!”) and he completely understands how the system works. This morning, when Paul went to get Will out of his crib, Will had already put “up” his binky so that he could be lifted out of the crib to start in on morning playtime.
A bonus: his already impressive vocabulary is now growing at an alarming rate. This kid does not stop jabbering! We love it.
Will spied his hat and mittens hanging on the peg in his room and insisted on wearing them after dinner this evening. In return for our compliance, he put on a little show (I think he’s singing “ee-ei-ee-ei-oo!” here.) Not that he needed them to be warm (it was 75 degrees today) — he just wanted to have some fun!
It’s a few days old now, but in the event you haven’t read it, please do.
An excerpt:
“
If the rest of the nation has decided it is too expensive to give the people of New Orleans a chance at renewal, we have to tell them so. We must tell them we spent our rainy-day fund on a costly stalemate in Iraq, that we gave it away in tax cuts for wealthy families and shareholders. We must tell them America is too broke and too weak to rebuild one of its great cities.
Our nation would then look like a feeble giant indeed. But whether we admit it or not, this is our choice to make. We decide whether New Orleans lives or dies.
“
I went into our stash of Mardi Gras beads to find some strands to add to Christmas presents — and Will had a blast “helping” in this fun activity. I kept putting beads around his neck (he kept asking “more please”) and then dancing around with them, happy as can be!
Just a few days into week 19 and the belly has expanded to impressive levels. Some additions:
– Pre-pregnancy blouses that button up the front are stretching, they won’t be possible much longer.
– My belly button, usually an “inn-ee,” is a stretched, open O. A unique thing that I noticed first pregnancy: a flap of skin fills my belly button when I arch my back — it only happens when pregnant and is happening again now. This may sound strange, but it is actually pretty cute.
– I have stretch marks!! Last pregnancy, I got a few on my legs and hips that faded after Will was born. With that pregnancy, I gained a ton of weight everywhere — I expanded like a balloon… fingers, feet, face, legs, everything! This time, the weight is pretty much just on my belly (so far) and the marks are coming my sides, along my waist. They are faint pink lines right now and are sort of pretty.
On the 22nd, we go in for our next prenatal visit and an ultrasound. We are hoping to find out the baby’s sex. As much of a “gender neutral” person I am, I can’t stand the thought of having a baby girl lay down on Will’s “planes, trains, and automobiles” sheet set. Will and the baby are going to share a room and we are excited about getting it all ready before the baby comes.
We decided to go downtown to buy pralines for Christmas presents, walk around (the city is so beautiful and unique!), and get chickory at Cafe du Monde. This is one of the bands we enjoyed as we walked through the French Market — they were playing “Hello Dolly!”
