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Taken from choel
If you're currently on my friend's list, I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk or I already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine ... You're on my list, so I want to know you better.
- I don't tend to re-post these, but I thought it would be nice to see my friends answers to some of these -
- Dianne
01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favorite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? If so, where.
09) Worst Habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What would you do if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What color eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
27) What's your favorite place to hang out at?
28) Do you believe in ghosts?
29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
30) Do you swear a lot?
31) Biggest pet peeve?
32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
34) Favorite and least favorite food?
35) Do you believe in God?
36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you? |
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So life between Marlowe and Work has been pretty busy.
Marlowe is 2.5 now and just absolutely fantastic. He has his bad moments - he's had episodes of hitting and occasional kicking, as well as some really stubborn fits about naps and bedtime - but everything else more than makes up for anything. He talks in full sentences, reconizes over a dozen shapes and colors, makes animals noises for every animal we can find. He's in the 85% for height and weight, generally wearing 3T yo 4T clothes and if he continues on his current curve will be 6' and 190lbs when he's an adult. He broke his arm a couple weeks ago, and we go to get the splint off hopefully tomorrow. It hasn't slowed him down a bit, he's just learned how to hold things differently. He loves animals, cars and trucks, water, jumping, and movies (Cars)/Blues Clues/Backyardigans, Soccer and dancing. He's finally eating more food, we figured out the trick to get him to try things - Does the food go into your ear? Noooo.. does it go into your eye? Noooo... Does it go into your nose? Nooo... Then where does it go? In my mouth! (and he opens his mouth for the food). Works like magic.
I've been a manager now for a year - and we just got our employee survey results back and I got slightly better in almost everything from the previous manager last year. So that was good news for me. Being a manager is hard, but challenging and for me at least, interesting. But being a manager when you are at half your possible staff and you can't hire anyone due to budget issues is beyond challenging. I have decided however that I have every intention to go into senior and even executive management. I have senior manager mentors and my boss is working with my pretty actively to help me 'network' and get me the experience that I need to get to the next level. She's already in the executive readiness program, so she's done something right.
Jim pulls me back a lot - and he's right to - since I would tend to be a workaholic if allowed to. We've talked some recently about if we'd move in a few years or when Marlowe graduates (we plan ahead) and how much work I'd be allowed to do once Marlowe goes to College.
I turn 40 in 2 weeks, so pretty big milestone. But I'll probably still work another 20 years. And I refuse to do the same thing that I'm done now until then!
My mom still is not doing well, her cancer has not gone totally away. The chemo has damaged her nerves in her feet and hands and they had stopped the treatments for 6 months to see if they got better and it hasn't. She's supposed to start chemo again at the end of the month, but I'm not sure she'll do it. She'll end up in a wheelchair and she hates the thought of that. So we'll be visiting Ohio as often as we can.
Maybe it won't be as long to my next update... |
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I know I haven't posted in forever; but I installed Stumble Upon as an add on for my new Firefox and it is the coolest. You input your various interests and then it does a random web surf to something it thinks you may like.
Just thought I'd share this one:
Create our own South Park Character -
http://images.southparkstudios.com/games/create/sp_game.swf |
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Tuesday I worked from home but took 3 hours leave in the middle of the day. We left Marlowe at daycare though his afternoon nap and went and saw TRANSFORMERS! Wow. I say WOW! Had a lot of fun. Good movie, good fun. Serious enough to make you feel the dread of a totally unknown and much more powerful invader and silly enough to make you remember the cartoon. Good balance.
But if anyone else saw it - did you see the mystery monster movie trailer? The web is all abuzz with talk about 'Cloverfield' the movie's codename. Created by JJ Abrams, the guy who created Lost and writen by Drew Godard (Lost, Alias, Buffy, Angel). Check for the trailer on YouTube, there was a whole bunch of pirated versions out there but Paramount has slapped all of them but one - most likely their 'leaked' version. It loses alot of impact on the small screen, but it's still scary! It's all done with handheld cameras, like it's first person point of view of the people being attacked.
Anyway, I'm pretty excited. The trailer ended with '1-18-08', which most are assuming is the release date, though some have floated the theory that it's the title of the movie, as no title is given in the preview. Lots of talk about the song playing in the background and anaylzing it's lyrics. The movie website is up with a single picture at this point http://www.1-18-08.com/ .
Anyways, it was a good time! Went to the Takoma Park 118th annual 4th of July parade. Which in it's usual silliness is half patriotic and half Bush bashing. Hung out with some friends BBQing and drinking chocolate stout. Then had a B-day party for one of Marlowe's friends from daycare. It was a lot of fun, a lot of authentic El Salvadorian food, water ballon fights and yummy kabobs. Passed on fireworks for one more year, will take Marlowe next year when he can understand and appreciate them more. And maybe stay up late enough to watch them.Current Mood:  chipper |
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Things are crazy and wonderful and usually very busy right now.
Marlowe is learning something new every day and it's so exciting! Tuesday we went to the park and found some left over sidewalk chalk. We sat down and I showed him how to hold it and make marks on the blacktop. Wednesday when we went to the park he found a different colored piece of chalk by the slides (which he goes down by himself now! Head first too!) and he ran over to the blacktop and started making marks. Very cool!
He's saying Ma-ma, Da-da, Ba(ll), Up, Out, Play, no (obviously!), says 'tru' when pointing at the fire truck picture or sees one in person, and yesterday was running around saying 'du, du, du, du, du' and thought he was just babbling until I saw he had his rubber duck in his hands. He's also been clearly saying 'Marlowe' and giving big wet, open mouthed baby kisses!
He points at things he wants, and will run towards something and stop, looking back at you. He's even come and pulled on my pants to get me to follow him to something he wanted.
He still doesn't climb, (other than up stairs), but I count that as a blessing. He has been 'feet first' over the edge of the bed on his own a few times now. So we're going to be making a cat door in the gate so if Marlowe gets out of bed on his own he can go play and be safe. Otherwise the cat will whine all night outside the gate :/ He doesn't get feet first down the stairs though and just wants to hold our hands as he sort of jumps down to the next step. We keep trying. Maybe at the next playgroup I'll get one of the kids who can do that go down the stairs so Marlowe can watch. Right now all he sees is us and we walk down 'em, so he wants to as well!
Trying to plan a beach and a camping trip. Would like some of our friends with small kids to go too - so let me know if you're interested. Looking at mid-August for the beach and early Sept for camping.
Jim's work has been on and off for jobs right now, though supposedly double busy at the end of August, so can't plan any vacations for then. Jim had been giving up work so other folks could work, but can't do that now. We're carrying a bunch of credit card debt right now as we can't afford to pay it all off because of all the slow weeks he's had. We'll end up going more in debt for those above mentioned vacations, but I want Marlowe to experience those things every year, so consider them mandatory. I've given up Starbucks and buying lunch at work to help save some money. Plus we're cutting back on eating out. Now that all the relative visits are over - my parents, his dad, his mom and sister and visiting my parents - that should be easier. Taking everyone out to eat all the time while visiting gets way too expensive. Told my mom if she and my sister come out in August we're eating at home and grilling.
Plus at this point I've given up a 10% raise because I like what I'm doing at work so much right now. Crazy huh? But when I'm at work and busy and engaged I'm not thinking about how much I'd rather be at home with Marlowe. I'm actually enjoying myself at work (most days, today is SLOW!). The work is incredibly challenging and rewarding. I'm an IT Project Manager, as compared to a Frontline Manager (where I'd get extra money) - but I don't have to do timesheets, evals and the other admin drudge that's part of a personnel manager. Instead I still use my programming knowledge and alot of other skills to get a project done on time and on budget. Someday I'll look into going into mid-level management, or maybe even switching agencies to work on other, more challenging projects.Current Mood:  accomplished |
| » Attachment Parenting |
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I know people have heard me say 'we practice Attachment parenting', and we try to summarize it, but BFing, co-sleeping and babywearing are just things you to do foster the attachment. I find that a lot the parents we hang out with practice AP already, just don't know there's a name for it.
Here's the official 'guide':
The Eight Principles of Attachment Parenting
Prepare for Pregnancy, Birth, and Parenting
Become emotionally and physically prepared for pregnancy and birth. Research available options for healthcare providers and birthing environments, and become informed about routine newborn care. Continuously educate yourself about developmental stages of childhood, setting realistic expectations and remaining flexible.
Feed with Love and Respect
Breastfeeding is the optimal way to satisfy an infant's nutritional and emotional needs. "Bottle Nursing" adapts breastfeeding behaviors to bottle-feeding to help initiate a secure attachment. Follow the feeding cues for both infants and children, encouraging them to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. Offer healthy food choices and model healthy eating behavior.
Respond with Sensitivity
Build the foundation of trust and empathy beginning in infancy. Tune in to what your child is communicating to you, then respond consistently and appropriately. Babies cannot be expected to self-soothe, they need calm, loving, empathetic parents to help them learn to regulate their emotions. Respond sensitively to a child who is hurting or expressing strong emotion, and share in their joy.
Use Nurturing Touch
Touch meets a baby's needs for physical contact, affection, security, stimulation, and movement. Skin-to-skin contact is especially effective, such as during breastfeeding, bathing, or massage. Carrying or babywearing also meets this need while on the go. Hugs, snuggling, back rubs, massage, and physical play help meet this need in older children.
Engage in Nighttime Parenting
Babies and children have needs at night just as they do during the day; from hunger, loneliness, and fear, to feeling too hot or too cold. They rely on parents to soothe them and help them regulate their intense emotions. Sleep training techniques can have detrimental physiological and psychological effects. Safe bedsharing or near-sleeping has benefits to both babies and parents.
Provide Consistent and Loving Care
Babies and young children have an intense need for the physical presence of a consistent, loving, responsive caregiver: ideally a parent. If it becomes necessary, choose an alternate caregiver who has formed a bond with the child and who cares for him in a way that strengthens the attachment relationship. Keep schedules flexible, and minimize stress and fear during short separations.
Practice Positive Discipline
Positive discipline helps a child develop a conscience guided by his own internal discipline and compassion for others. Discipline that is empathetic, loving, and respectful strengthens the connection between parent and child. Rather than reacting to behavior, discover the needs leading to the behavior. Communicate and craft solutions together while keeping everyone's dignity intact.
Strive for Balance in Personal and Family Life
It is easier to be emotionally responsive when you feel in balance. Create a support network, set realistic goals, put people before things, and don't be afraid to say "no". Recognize individual needs within the family and meet them to the greatest extent possible without compromising your physical and emotional health. Be creative, have fun with parenting, and take time to care for yourself.
Jun. 4th, 2007 @ 08:54 pm
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| » The Passing of my Inner Voice |
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I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.
Kurt Vonnegut
So many times when reading Vonnegut I'd be surprised at how closely his words mirrored my own thoughts. He'd cause me to laugh out loud or gasp in surprise. His writing evoked emotions and triggered landslides of deep thoughts.
I will miss you, but your impact on the world and everyone who has read you will live on forever.
Goodbye Kurt Vonnegut, now you know the answer.
Apr. 12th, 2007 @ 11:25 am
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| » Guess who's walking!!!! |
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He really officially started last Friday (March 16), but it was still pretty unstable. He still, stops and drops and crawls if it's a long way and he wants to get there fast. But he'll toddle back and froth in the living room, and we child proofed the kitchen, so he'll toddle around in there too. It's a Hoot! :)
Lots of excitement and planning for his B-day party this weekend, crazy crowd too! My mom and dad are coming out, looking forward to that a lot, but also makes me have to clean like mad :/
I've pretty much stopped pumping, which has made me surprisingly depressed, as I won't be giving Marlowe BM anymore. But after we finish off the last can of formula, we're going to switch to whole milk. Thought about using the toddler formula, and will if he doesn't seem to be eating enough solids. But he seems to really be getting an appetite now. Though he likes a small amount of a wide variety of foods at a sitting. Plus gets tired of a particular food after about a week. He used to love broccoli and peas but now throws them as soon as you give them to him. (Trying to teach him to stop throwing food as well, but not going to let him go hungry!).
Still co-sleeping, but he's not waking up to eat anymore. He wakes up and fusses a bit still, but we just hand him his pacifier and he usually goes back to sleep. EXCEPT - his molars are coming in. If we don't give him some infant tylenol before bed (which he has suddenly gotten very good about taking and even sucks on the dropper!) he's waking up crying/screaming every 2 hours. Very lame :/ But molars opens up another category of food, so that's cool!
Current percentiles:
At 12 months:
your child is 25 pounds, and that is
at the 77th percentile for weight.
your child is 31 inches, and that is
at the 80th percentile for height.
Mar. 21st, 2007 @ 08:50 pm
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| » Lemming! |
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The Everything Test There are many different types of tests on the internet today. Personality tests, purity tests, stereotype tests, political tests. But now, there is one test to rule them all. Traditionally, online tests would ask certain questions about your musical tastes or clothing for a stereotype, your experiences for a purity test, or deep questions for a personality test.We're turning that upside down - all the questions affect all the results, and we've got some innovative results too! Enjoy :-) | Personality | You are more logical than emotional, more concerned about self than concerned about others, more atheist than religious, more loner than dependent, more lazy than workaholic, more rebel than traditional, more artistic mind than engineering mind, more idealist than cynical, more leader than follower, and more introverted than extroverted.
As for specific personality traits, you are intellectual (87%), greedy (73%), romantic (71%), artistic (55%). | | | Stereotypes | | Young Professional | 100% | | Punk Rock | 73% | | Hippie | 57% | | | | Life Experience | | Sex | 63% | | Substances | 27% | | Travel | 47% | | Politics
Your political views would best be described as Socialist, whom you agree with around 78% of the time. | | Socioeconomic
Your attitude toward life best associates you with Middle Class. You make more than 100% of those who have taken this test, and 71% more than the U.S. average.
| If your life was a movie, it would be rated R.
By the way, your hottness rank is 50%, hotter than 72% of other test takers. | TAKE THE TEST brought to you by thatsurveysite
Mar. 8th, 2007 @ 08:27 pm
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| » Long time, no update! |
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Work is good, it's looking like my senior manager is still trying to work out a way for me to get a frontline management position in our branch. That would be a 10% raise, as mentioned before, and very very nice. My detail assignment is over at the end of March and they were trying to convince me to stay for another job, not really interested, but it was nice of them to offer!
I filed our taxes and we're getting back $8,000 from Fed and state! Changing our withholding, because that's way too much to give the government a free loan for a year!
Jim is going good, work has the usual ups and downs. He's spending alot of time helping Mike work on his kitchen, he'll be over there almost all his free time for the next 4 weekends. I miss him, but at least Marlowe and I have alot of playgroups to keep ourselves busy.
Speaking of playgroups, the 'Friends' playgroup last weekend went well, it was cool to hang out with the other parents in our circle of friends. We're willing to expand, if you're reading this and have a baby and want to come hang out, give me a buzz. We're meeting every 4th Saturday, the next playdate is Feb 24th from 1 to 3pm.
I'm also organizing an Attachment Parenting playgroup in the Takoma Park area (though it's all through DC/Maryland) that runs from 10 to 11:30 every other Saturday, which is for infants up to 18 months. Our next playdate is this Saturday. If you're interested in checking that out, also give me a buzz.
We're also looking to join the Takoma Park Babysitting Co-Op where you exchange babysitting services for each other. Jim is even willing to sit other babies while he's home with Marlowe in the afternoons. But we can use the service for a couple hours on a Saturday afternoon and go see a movie and have a little date. Don't want to schedule it through a nap yet, don't want to have someone else try to figure out how to make Marlowe sleep on his own just yet. We're planning on trying to get him to nap in his crib, but need to get blinds for his room.
Marlowe is doing fantastic! He's cruising like crazy and has been letting go and standing on his own for longer and longer (still just maybe 10-20 seconds max). He surprised us both by putting the proper shape in his shape sorter, thought it was a fluke, but in the bath last night he was putting one of his floating balls in and out of a cup repeatedly! Yeah milestones! He is getting his next 4 teeth all at once, so that explains why he's been a pain in our bottoms at night lately. And his seperation anxiety has returned with a vengeance. It was gone for about a month, so I'm taking it as a sign that he's going to be walking soon, as it's commonly linked to learning to crawl and walk. He definately had it when he was learning to crawl.
He won't hardly take a spoon at all at meals now, he wants to feed himself. So I've been getting creative with the finger foods. Turkey and rice ceral meatballs have been a big hit, and I think they're tastey too! Pirate (fruity & veggie) booty, graduate puffs & wheels, soy crisps, various crackers and such are about all he'll eat now. But he really enjoys it and gets excited about meal time. He also likes playing and cruising over to us to get a puff, then go play, then come back for another.
He's 10 months old now and I'm already planning for his birthday party! Everyday is so exciting!!
Check out the new icons! :)
Jan. 30th, 2007 @ 12:13 pm
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| » Long time, no talk |
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Wow, I can not believe how fast everything is going these days!!!
Marlowe started to crawl on Thanksgiving day. Took him 10 minutes to cross about 4 feet of space, but he was determined, and we have it on video. :) Now he's off and zooming around, not yet at full speed, but definately more confident. He loves exploring and he makes a very specific happy yoddle when he is moving after something he wants to get (usually the poor cat - Skyrmir - who has been VERY patient with the little rug rat). But he's also a big fan of the lidded trash cans I bought in the hopes of them being baby proof - Not, btw, he gets them open and has even watched daddy and figured out if you push on this, the lid opens! I came in this morning after running downstairs to warm up a bottle for him to find him rolling around with the trashcan on top of him and using it as a drum and as happy as a clam.
He's having pretty serious seperation anxiety. He had been crying almost every day I left him at daycare the past 2 weeks. It's very very hard to leave when he's reaching out for me and crying :( But everything I'd read said 'don't go back', hug, kiss, make a bye-bye ritual of it and stick with it. He'll learn that you'll be back and it won't stretch it out. He's definately to the point of learning cause and effect. He doesn't cry and pitch a whiney fit for Jim, but does for me cause he knows I'll come running. Ah well, I wanted him to be well attached. :) Today was not so bad, I put him down and he was after Gladys' christmas tree and forgot all about Mommy. I gave him his kiss and waved and headed out and he didn't seem to mind at all.
We went and got our X-mas tree yesterday and had swimming lessons and went out for lunch. It was a VERY LONG day for Marlowe. But he held up really well. He took a quick nap in the car, but was too exited about everything else to sleep again. We got home at 3 and he was out by 3:15 as soon as he drank 7 ounces. I woke him up at 5:30 since his bed time is at 7 and I didn't want him waking up at 4am and being ready to play. Plus it was bath night, and he loves that so much I hate to deprive him of it. Just holding him in my lap while he splashes madly and makes his happy yoddle is so beautiful I can just explode ;)
He's trying to pull himself up on anything he can get his hands on now too. He loves to stand and is even moving his legs a bit like he's trying to walk. I got him a Play around the Block Walker (a wooden push toy with a handle he can use to hold himself up while he tries to walk) for x-mas; got it used on Craigslist for 25 and it retails for 60, so that was happy. Also already gave him his Radio Flyer bouncey horse, but he hasn't quite figured it out yet. Also gave him is Leap Frog Play around table that he liked so much at his friend Evelyn's house. I think his Daddy likes that one too much though, as he's singing the rhymes all the time now.
I'm going to host an Attachment Parenting Playgroup for 9mths to 18 mnths old baby starting in January, on Saturday mornings every other week. Don't know if any other parents out there want to come by and see what AP is about and meet some other granola parents. Two of the other boy babies in the group were also born in March, so very much Marlowe's peers. I like the Friday playgroup, but most of the babies are 12 or 13 months.
Anyways, I was going to work from home today, but my computer is giving me the Blue screen of death, so I need to take it in. Much suckage there, no idea how long it will take them to fix it. Or how I'm going to do any work while they do :(
Dec. 4th, 2006 @ 02:55 pm
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| » Book Snob |
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As my husband knows, I'm a book snob. So I am happy to see that the SFBC has a pretty damn good list. And I think I just figured out how to populate my X-Mas wish list ;)
This is a list of the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasy novels, 1953-2002, according to the Science Fiction Book Club. Bold the ones you've read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put an asterisk beside the ones you loved.
1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert*
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein *
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke *
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester ****
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany *
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card ***
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson ***
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick *
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon *****
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson ****
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner **
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester *****
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein **
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer
Nov. 20th, 2006 @ 05:14 pm
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| » Busy days! |
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So Saturday October 14th is Jim and my 8 year wedding anniversary and 15 years in love! Though we're going to a friend's baby's 1 year old b-day party, we'll probably try to do something special at home with Marlowe. Kinda hard to plan a romantic night together with a 6mth old wanting attention. So we'll just have to play that by ear.
The little man has his first cold. It's not too bad, but he got sent home from daycare on Tuesday due to runny nose, eyes, sneezing and coughing. Daddy's been staying home with him; which sucks due to loss of paycheck for those days, but I've got requirements workshops this week that I could not miss.
Work is interesting, but I'm still not sure what I'm contributing. Though I'm learning ALOT! When I come back to my permenant project I'll be able to coordinate between the two really well, and maybe that was the whole plan in the first place. Because by the time I really learn enough to add value to my temp project, I'll be back at my old one.
There's also this chance that I still might have the oppurtunity to get a management position doing the work that I like. Not only is just that concept really cool - that I'd get the job that I really really wanted - but I'd get a 10% raise! Boggles the mind that I could get basically a 20% increase in one year! But no, still no swimming pool. Not even going to think about that until the little man is 4 or 5 years old and can actually swim. Will work on paying down that 330k Mortgage & 160k Equity Loan we have instead. Those amounts sound scary, but we have no other loans to pay off. We pay off our credit cards every month and both cars are rolled up in the equity loan.
Marlowe, other than the cold, is doing really well. He's got the 'pincher grasp' and passing items from hand to hand down pat. He's sitting very well, and working on lunging, which is a pre-cursor to crawling. Though he'd still rather stand. You can finally feel the ridges under his gum line where the teeth are pushing their way up. And let me tell you, it feels like alot of teeth to me!! So it kinda sucks that he has teething pains to go along with his cold, but nothing like getting it all out of the way at once!
Oct. 12th, 2006 @ 04:16 pm
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| » Report from the People's Republic of Takoma Park |
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Jim is busting his ass working on the backyard. He had the bobcat a couple weeks ago and last week we graded the future deck area and seeded the rest of the yard. Now he's dug a trench by hand and laid the first row of the retaining wall. Physically he's wrecked and is having some internal issues that might be somewhat serious, we almost went to the emergency room on Saturday he was in so much pain. But after taking some ibuprofen and resting he felt better, so he's going in Wed. Emotionally, he's pretty bummed out about various issues, but also about the peps who said they'd help but then didn't show or even call. He's always there for them, so it's extra disappointing - Heck, he's been upset when his friends DIDN'T ask him for help with something he could have helped out with. Plus people that complain that their friends don't have time for them, then don't have time for him, is extra hurtful. Anyways, we know everyone has their own issues and priorities, but if you say you're going to be somewhere, at least call if you're not.
I've been trying to plant 450 plants I got to help retain soil between our yard and the yard downhill so we didn't have to pay for another $1000 of retaining wall, the plants were only about $200, but if I don't get them in the ground and watered, that will be wasted money. But it's hard to get the time, Marlowe will only sit around in the yard for so long and Jim doesn't want to stop doing what he's doing. So we've been leaving the poor little man in daycare longer so that Jim can get more done on the wall.
On the work front, the whole promotion thing is still good and bad - it appears I'm back under the boss I hate and I'm in a programming position! Way screwed when I applied specifically to work for another manager as an analyst. Things might still work out after my detail to the other project is over, and I'm at least fighting the position description; I really don't want to program anymore. I got a really awesome performance cash bonus in this paycheck (to the tune of $1800!), but even that's irritating cause I asked for time off instead of cash! But that should pay for us to finish our basement (which we decided to 'carpet' in those foam letter/number puzzle pieces, heh).
Marlowe is fantastic - he's really starting to try to move himself around when he's on his tummy, and will pull himself along if there is something to grip. He's around 21lbs and 30inches!!!!!!! He goes to the Dr. next week for his 6mth checkup (6mth bday was this past Sunday). He is the joy in my life even when everything else is going shitty. Got invited to Evelyn's 1 yr b-day party on me and Jim's anniversary, but we're still going. Decided we'll hold a small party for Marlowe, but ask that no one get him presents, if they feel the need, they can donate to his college fund.
My birthday was last monday; not talking about how old I am anymore. Not bothering to do anything really for it anymore, just leads to disappointment. It was great to have my parents in town and to go out to dinner with a couple of friends. My parents have agreed to visit for my birthday and Marlowe's b-day every year. And when Marlowe is around 3, we'll visit them for one of the major holidays (X-mas or Thanksgiving).
It does suck that the distancing that I feared would happen appears to have occured. But I'm not surprised, we don't do the things that everyone else does now, but it would be nice if we could still see folks more often.
Sep. 26th, 2006 @ 12:08 pm
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| » It's Pumpkin Spice Season! |
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Yummy!! Except the stupid Starbucks in my building doesn't get the speciality syrups :( So I have to stop at one on the way to work. :/ Ah well.
Marlowe update - Thursday Marlowe said Ma-Ma!!! So very very very excited! Even though I know he has no idea what those sounds mean, my little heart nearly exploded it felt so full! Jim has been repeating 'ma-ma' to Marlowe all the time while they're together in the afternoon, it's so cool! Very sweet of him to do! Babies normally say 'da-da' cause it's easier. But Marlowe has the M down. Trying to teach him 'Moo' for milk when he's hungry, and of course 'da-da'!
Marlowe is 5 1/2 months or so now. Jim weighed him and it said 20lbs!! Babies are supposed to double their birth weight by 6months, so he's past that! Double was 19lbs. He's also probably around 29" long now. Really makes it hard to find baby clothes, and I need to get him something for the winter. Someone on the Takoma Park parenting list suggested LLBean's fleece outfits, they're pretty cool, and pretty LONG - which is very important obviously!
I need to make his 6mth Dr's appointment, but he'll get a bunch more shots :( I started to get depressed even thinking about it. I cry everytime he gets a shot, poor little guy has no idea why he's being hurt, it sucks :(
Marlowe had a shock yesterday, he's starting to get more mobile - wiggling and rolling a bit to get at things. I'd lectured Jim a few times about putting Marlowe close to the edge, but he doesn't listen :P So Marlowe was sitting up against a pillow and slid to the side and continued to roll over the edge of the bed :( He was apparently pretty upset, but unharmed. Of course Jim felt bad about it, so don't tease him.
My mom and dad will be coming in for my birthday weekend (next weekend). I've found that I can guilt them into visiting for my B-day every year as my present and also gets rid of the potential birthday disappointment with having a party and it not turning out how I want it to. And it gets rid of the birthday conflict since one of my best friend's birthday is right near mine as well. I plan on going out to dinner on Sat night (the 16th) and would like some of my friends to go if they don't have anything else to do. I'll send more info in email if you're interested.
Work is still way stressful, but at least I know in theory what I'm supposed to be doing. Playing Guard Dog with the Requirements to make sure that they are done correctly, in detail, that everyone impacted is included and that they don't go outside of the scope of the project because we have a tight budget. There's a few other reasons why I think I was choosen to do this - First; this is a Modernization project, they do everything differently than the area I'm usually in. But my area is classified a Modernization project now and are supposed to follow those procedures. This way I'm learning them first hand and can bring them back to my project. Second; I'm learning alot about the Modernized projects and will be able to help fit our pieces together. There are certain applications that we have that do the same thing that should be shared. Third; as part of Succession Planning - my Division director knows I want to get into high level management, I'm seeing how things really work and am building one hell of a network. High level executives say Hi to me by name in the hall.
Sep. 7th, 2006 @ 08:20 am
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| » Google's defination of Failure |
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1- Go to www.Google.com
2- Type in Failure
3- Look at the first listing and laugh at what comes up first
4- Tell others before the people at Google Fix it!
Aug. 24th, 2006 @ 01:24 pm
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| » Stress levels beyond belief! |
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So, my new job turned out to be not exactly what I expected. My division director has yanked me for one of the Modernization projects and I'm on the Requirements team for the IRS's next big modernizied product. This is MEGA stressful, as in the past, when previous modernization projects failed they pointed at the requirements as the failure point :/ Not cool.
I'm even the Requirements Manager, but I've since found out there's two of us, though they don't have the other one picked yet. So I'm not all alone doing something that I've only evern done a little bit of in the past! At least they are aware of that, they picked me because of my knowledge of the 'big picture'. I know how all the IRS systems connect to each other etc.
They wanted me to travel as the teams are split up in Austin and Ogden, but I told them with a baby - what with daycare and nursing - I really can't be away over night. My director said she's make sure I didn't have to travel. I've had meetings with all these muckity muck high up executives that make me really nervous, more nervous than I've been on 10 interviews combined.
One of the reasons my division director pulled me for this is also for succession planning. My branch chief told her I wanted to go into management, and this is a big name, high profile project that gets me alot of face time with the higher ups and really tests my negotiation and people skills, as well as tech knowledge. It's a HUGE challenge, and I was sick to my stomach for two days after I found out about it. Now I'm feeling more confident, but still, its kinda like being thrown into the river right above Niagara falls in a straight jacket to learn how to swim!
I miss Marlowe terribly every day when I go to work now. I'm still getting to work from home once a week, though I'm looking at some week long meetings when I'm not even sure how I'll be able to pump. So I won't be able to come home and see him for lunch. At least Jim has been getting off early - not good for the paycheck, but good for the baby - so he's not at daycare that long.
Breastfeeding is still not going well; I'm almost exclusively pumping during the day and he'll nurse at night. He's also teething, so when he's awake and frustrated he's taken to biting me. That really really hurts! I try to detach him before he bites, as usually he'll start to turn his head to the side, but he's doing that so often all he's doing is latching and unlatching and not nursing. So since I always have to pump afterwards anyways, and Marlowe's too impatient with my flow & amount, we tend to give in and give him a bottle instead of having him cry, I'm pretty much just pumping and giving it to him with some formula in a bottle. We're still 50/50 at home, but he's formula only at daycare.
His teething is really bothering him. He's biting everything and drooling like mad. He's even fussing like crazy on the bottle and I think it puts pressure on the sore spot on his gums or something sometimes. I've resorted to giving him a bit of baby tylenol twice now to get him to settle down, drink and take a nap.
This morning he woke up SCREAMING. Really scared the crap out of me. I thought I'd pinched him or something (we co-sleep) or the cat had scratched him. I didn't know what to think! I checked him over real quick and cuddled him close and he woke up and stopped screaming immediately. Next thing you know he's cooing and smiling up at me and rooting around a bit for boobie. WTF? People in my parenting LJ group think he had a nightmare, sure seems like it! Poor guy! Poor mommie! but at least it was only 15minutes before the alarm was to go off.
We got him into his swimming class! It starts in October - he had to be 6mths old. One more week and he'll be 5mths! He's definately sitting now, mostly with the help of his hands, but he can sit that way for a couple of minutes before toppling over. Jim put his high chair together last night so he can sit with us and watch us eat. One of the big steps to starting him on solids is that he is curious about them. So watching us eat should help that along as he wonders what Mommy and Daddy are doing. I've also been having him smell the food as I eat to see what he thinks. He doesn't like the smell of twizzlers.
On his 4mth check up he was 17lbs and 27 inches long, putting him in the 95% percentile. He's about to grow out of his infant car seat, so we got him his convertible seat, need to make an appointment to get it inspected. He got his shots at that appt too, he freaked out, mommy cried. All together crappy experience. He gets more at his 6mth appt. :( Poor little guy! He's wearing 12-18mth clothing now pretty much. He's grown out of just about everything everyone gave us for the baby shower. Some things he only got to wear once before he grew out of them. I got him a Ramones onsie, as well as the "Even I'm smarter than the president" shirt that I wanted :)
Gonna head home and see Daddy and baby for lunch today, miss them both so terribly much!
Aug. 17th, 2006 @ 10:21 am
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| » Happy 4 month B-day to Marlowe!! |
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Marlowe is 4 months old today! Way to go little man!! ;)
I just had to go on a shopping spree because he's grown out of everything we had for him pretty much. He's around 17lbs and 27" tall!
He's rolling over from back to front in bed when we're side laying breastfeeding and Friday during play group he rolled over from front to back! Wheee Milestone!
Today he grabbed his feet and started playing with them, another Milestone!
His baby talk is changing, he still likes to squeal alot, but he's got combination sounds, like 'goo gaa' and he's been playing with the 'doh' sound alot too lately.
His head control is awesome. Jim plays superman with him (baby resting across Jim's shins with them bent and in the air) and Marlowe just has a blast with it.
He's grabbing things with a passion; including holding himself up when I was holding him with one arm by holding onto my hair!
Breastfeeding is still a trial, but still not giving up. Got another round of medicines to try coming in the mail; some that help let down and others that supposedly increase the milk producing tissue.
Talked to another Lactation Consultant with Holy Cross this morning; with everything I've been trying and the still constant supply level (approx 2 oz per feeding) she suggested I get my Thyroid checked out. So I'm going in today to get that done. Apparently, most of the symptoms of low-thyroid are the same as post-partum! And it can be brought on by delivery! Depression, hair loss, lack of appetite (was just commenting on this to a friend last week, normally I need something every 2 hours and I just havn't been hungry), loss of weight or weight gain - I've been gaining weight since delivery and I'm not eating that much. Anyways, it can also cause low milk production; and if I have it I can take a supplement to even out my system and my milk production might increase. I hope so; this is killing me!
Our weekend was pretty quiet; normal baby stuff. I hosted playgroup on Friday and that was fun. House is really nice and clean; hope it stays that way! Can't even remember what I did on Saturday.... Nursed, pumped, dealt with fussy baby, played some games, watched some Stargate. Then Sat night dealt with sick daddy; I think I gave him food poisoning with a not fully cooked chicken breast. I had no problems, but since I always give him the larger breast, maybe his wasn't cooked throughly? Anyways, he was throwing up all night, so between him and the baby feeding, didn't get much sleep. Was tired all day Sunday; but needed diapers and larger clothes for the little man who is now wearing 12mth clothing! So left Jim at home to rest and went to Prince Georges Plaza mall - which has a Old Navy baby section, BabyGap, Children's Place, plus a Hechts and Target with baby sections. Old Navy really pissed me off as they had the newborn area filled with sale items for adults and you couldn't get to the baby clothes at all! Plus the music was so loud Marlowe started crying, so screw them. BabyGap has good deals in their clearance area, so got a few things there. Same with Hechts. Target had squat that we wanted. Everyone has lots of cool baby GIRL clothes; but not so much for boys. I guess they think they want to go naked? Went to Babies R Us and got a bunch of onesie packs for 9mths and 12mths that were on sale, plus diapers. Marlowe melted down in the store and we had to retreat to the Mommy's room to diaper change and comfort nurse him a bit. He has a real problem nursing when he's upset and hates all the normal positions - at home we have to side lay for him to be patient. I discovered he can sit up on my lap and rest his cheek against my breast and nurse without freaking out. He calmed down after that and was perfect babyman again!
Also ordered a bunch of clothes from Gymboree - my favorite place for baby clothes! Very neat stuff and not as sterotypical as the other chains. Plus the clothes are soft and roomy. So I think we're set for clothes for the rest of the year hopefully!
Marlowe has a wish list on Amazon though, just in case anyone wants to get him something ;) Probably gonna get him an Exersaucer after I research them a bit, heard they might be bad for leg development and want to be sure it's ok.
Waiting to hear on my latest job application. This one is for a 14 in my current branch; the job I really want. They've submitted the decision to personnel, so think positive thoughts for me!
Off to see the babyman and then to the doctor!
Jul. 24th, 2006 @ 11:11 am
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