Fears of the Cosmos

I think toddler fears are pretty normal, but it seems like Penny is "scared" of something new everyday, and by the next day she's on to something else. A lot of it has to do with her perception of the world, which is really interesting to me. She and I had driven to Montgomery in search of catfood for Mullet (don't ask) and on the way back we were going up a hill. The slope of the road made the horizon beyond the hill temporarily disappear and Penny got really upset that we were either going to drive right up into the sky, or that the sky was going "to get us." The other day, on the way to the grocery store, she put on her sunglasses and said she was doing so so that the sun couldn't get her.
This one isn't associated with a fear, but illustrative of her perception of the sky: At my mom's house one day a couple weeks ago we left after supper and the moon was already up. She asked if we could walk down the road to go see it (she likes the moon). I looked down the road, and the perspective did make it seem like if you walked down the road that the moon would be closer.
It's kind of interesting to see how she views things at this age.

Ma Ma

When Penny was learning to talk she called me ma-ma for all of a nanosecond before transitioning to mommy. It was probably a few months really, but it seems like it didn't last very long. Sometime over the last week she decided that it would be funny to go back to ma-ma though. Not all the time, but sometimes - and always with a mischevious laugh like it's just soooo funny. It's her joke of the week apparently.

miss independent

A short anecdote: this evening Penny was being extremely talkative, even more so than usual. I think she was just trying to keep talking to keep from having to take a bath. At some point, the conversation took a humorous turn. I forget what she said exactly to start with, but it was something to the effect that she couldn't (physically) get into the bathtub. I told her that I would help her. She looked at me and said, "I will get in there when I want to." The way she said it, she really didn't mean anything by it. She was actually trying to explain that she could get in the tub by herself, but out of context it sounds so teenager talk-back. I cracked up.

2 year well visit

I finally got Penny in for her 2 year well visit yesterday - two months late. Actually, at her 18 month visit our pediatrician said that it was fine to wait a couple months until on into the fall so that she could have her flu shot and not have to come in twice. But, mostly we were late going because of moving and then finding a new doctor and having her records requested and then sent and then the first appointment I could get was several weeks away, and etc. So. Yesterday.

She's doing great. Still 6th percentile on weight - 25th on height. Even though she wasn't due for any shots other than the flu shot, she got a prevnar booster. Apparently a new one came out that covers more strains so she got it. And it made her sick. She was irritable last night. We could not get her to take a bath, or really agree to much of anything. And then, of course, today she woke up with a fever. She did not want me to leave this morning. It was heartwrenching because she was begging me to stay and crying and she was so pitiful because she didn't feel good. Poor baby girl. I can't wait to get home this afternoon to give her a big old hug.

I did ask about the jumping thing, and the doctor said that the majority of kids do it by 2 1/2 (30 months), so she's still got a few months. But even if she doesn't jump by then, as long as she's doing everything else ok then it's not a big deal. For example, she can kick a ball by bending her leg at the knee which is supposedly a harder concept than jumping, so it's probably not developmental. Maybe she just doesn't like how it feels?

Work

I've been wanting to post to the blog more often, but I am crazy busy with work. Also, my camera died so no photos to post either. Right now I am at work in my office for office hours. I'm supposed to be writing lectures, but I am fighting burnout so I am going to write this instead.

I really like teaching, but it is so much work. It's not a 9 to 5 job. I teach 4 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Two of them are the same so I have 3 different classes. Each class meets 1 hour and 15 minutes. This means that I am writing six different 1 hour and 15 minute long speeches every week - coming from someone who struggled to write a 20 minute speech in college if required for a class. I'd spend a week or more working on that 20 minute speech, practicing it over and over again to get it just right and usually would end up talking too fast or forgetting parts and wind up with a much too short speech. Now, I have to fill up five hours of talking time twice a week - ten hours total. I write most every night after Penny goes to sleep. I write during her naps. I write during my office hours on Monday and Wednesday. Sometimes I write my lectures right before class over my lunch break (and sometimes it shows). I also am teaching an online class that adds to the workload.

Add to that that we moved in to our new house the day before the first day of classes. All of the myriad things that need doing day to day in an established household are challenging for me under normal circumstances. Housework, plus unpacking and painting and etc, etc. It's overwhelming sometimes.

Tray is wonderful though and I am so glad that we have each other to get through the craziness. He's really great about helping me to step back and just enjoy things too because I definitely have a tendency to stay wrapped up like a stress ball.

And teaching really is worth it. The grades on all my first tests were not that great, which was disappointing (and much lower than the grades I used to get teaching at FSU). But, students are starting to come out of their shells and ask questions and stay after class to talk about things. With excitement in their voices! In my 230 class yesterday, students actually engaged in discussion about structural adjustment programs in South America. With each other. During class. I was like, yes! This is what college should be like. There are definitely a lot of challenges, but also glimmers of good stuff.

I am so grateful for the job and the opportunity especially in today's economy. And hopefully things will get a little easier as they go on.

Now, back to writing lectures. And writing a presentation for a conference in November. It only has to be 15 minutes. Should be a piece of cake. :)

Diapers

I boxed up P's diapers this weekend. She's only been wearing one at night for awhile now, but I was reluctant to put her in underwear overnight. I don't know why - she was overnight potty trained long before she was daytime potty trained. It's been months since she pee-peed at night, long before we moved. I guess I was just worried about what would happen if there was an accident, that it might set her back during the day. I finally just decided that it at this point if she does go potty at night that it will be just that - an accident. So, no more diapers. Three days now, all underwear all the time. Yay, Penny!

Duck Center update

We went to the rec center for gymnastics this evening. Penny was ... watchful. She didn't really do much but hang out and watch other people. But that was really kind of cool because she would watch somebody for a long time, and then do whatever it was they were doing. They had some of the older girls rolling down a small incline, and Penny decided this would be fun, so now she is rolling all over the place. Also our instructor, Miss Hannah, was showing some of the older girls how to do different types of jumps down the long trampoline. Penny was enthralled. She stood in the ball pit bouncer thing and watched Hannah intently. Then she started bouncing! She still never quite got off the ground, and looked pretty awkward, but she was trying SO hard. I could tell that she really wanted to do whatever Miss Hannah was saying. I have to admit, it is a little hard for me to watch her try so hard to do something that seems to come so naturally to all the other kids, but at the same time I felt a lot of pride watching her put so much effort into it. I just know she's going to figure it out soon!