Ph.D. Student in Training

Rosie stopped by my office on Friday. Such fun! I wish I could have her with me every day, but I wouldn't get much done if that were the case.

Surprise Snow Days

We woke up yesterday morning to a snow-filled sky. We didn't let that keep us from our swim class, but it sure made the drive home interesting. What was predicted to be a 1 to 2 inch dusting turned into a 6-inch snow storm.

We spent the rest of the day playing inside the house. Rosie especially loved looking out the window at the men shoveling snow. She was banging on the window, and one of the men heard her, looked up, and waved. She smiled with delight and clapped. So sweet.

Since we missed the REAL snow storm in December, we wanted to take Rosie out in the snow today. We had visions of snow men and snow angels.

Rosie was intrigued, but the light was too bright and the air was too cold. So we hung out for a few minutes and then headed back in the house.

Snow + baby = FUN

Little Flippers Class

Here's the promised video of Rosie enjoying her first two water classes at the DC JCC. I got in the water with her for the first Saturday morning class (highlight of mommyhood thus far). Jon and his Aunt Sandy and Uncle Saul went with her last week to the second class. I was home babysitting Rosie's nanny share buddy, Rohan. We've got about 5 or 6 classes left.

Swimming class is about 20 minutes long. It consists of getting in the water with your child, inserting a rubber ducky in the child's mouth, swimming around, singing while moving in a circle, and adapting nursery rhymes to water-appropriate topics (doing Humpty Dumpty on the pool deck and having Rosie "fall down" into your arms in the water). Then it's the next class's turn. It really is a hoot and one of my favorite activities to date.

I had a little fun with this video...I'm slowly learning the amazing capabilities of my new Mac and reliving my glory days as a youngster making movies with the old camcorder. I knew all those ancient video editing skills would pay off.

Enjoy our Little Flipper.

Whoa.

So, Rosie has quickly progressed from stop-and-go crawling to full-blown crawling. She did that for about .5 minutes and then decided to start pulling up on everything around her - including her Mom and Dad, the now-abandoned swing and bouncer, the coffee table (with the giant child-proofing foam ring around it), the couch, the toy box, her crib rail, the laundry basket, the dresser, the entertainment center and my rolling backpack. We made our peace with all of that and then...

Tonight while Jon was giving her a bath, Rosie just stood up. Stood up. In the middle of the water and soap and slippery-ness of the Whale of a Tub, she stood. Jon yelled for me. Two weeks ago she couldn't crawl. And then this. Standing! In water!

My mom said this would happen. I just didn't think we'd be here this quickly. Parenthood just changed. Forever.

First Day of the Semester

Today was my first day back at school. It's been such a blissful last few weeks of playing house with my little family of three. Some highlights:

Stroller walks with Rosie to Port City Java

Catching Rosie pulling up on her crib rails for the first time (crib immediately lowered!)

Giggling through Rosie's experiences with new foods (puffs, mashed banana, blueberries, spinach, etc.)

Watching Rosie learn to crawl and head butt towers (video posted)

Visit from Aunt Sandy and Uncle Saul - lots of dinners, laughs, playtime (and free babysitting!)

Having a play date with Rohan, Kiran and Shivani during which Rosie demonstrated her newest trick - reaching out at lightning-fast speed (casualty = water glass) and an early morning play date full of fun times with a tunnel

Enjoying a date night with Jonathan (see free babysitting above)

Taking a weekend trip to Ikea with a very inquisitive Rosie (50 cent hot dogs!)

Walking in to the nursery and finding Rosie looking for me...ready for more play time

Getting word that my first journal article was officially published (after three revisions)

Girl's dinner out with Kim (after a mile walk in the rain due to the first restaurant being closed)

Watching Colts games with Jon (here we come, Super Bowl!)

Family play time on the floor (teaching Rosie "So big!")

Squealing gleefully when Rosie figured out how to clap

Seeing Rosie discover herself in the mirror

And best of all...

Little Flippers water class with Rosie (video to follow)

What a great few weeks...I got a glimpse of what motherhood and wifehood could be like in a stress-free world. I am fully committed to making this a better semester so that I can enjoy more Rosie and Jon this spring.

My little girl is growing up, and I don't want to miss one minute more than I have to.

A Puffy Encounter

November 1, 2009 - Rosie encounters solid-ish liquid food for the first time

January 11, 2010 - Rosie encounters more solid-y food for the first time

Enjoy the thousand faces of Rosie as she explores some organic puffs made of kale, spinach and various other brain food stuffed into a star-shaped piece of cereal. Cheerios these are not.

Rosie learns to crawl

Rosie can crawl. I think.

After coaxing her to follow a little bouncy bee toy I pulled across the carpet, I wanted to see if she was actually crawling or if she was just sort of scooting behind the pull toy. So, I sat her across the room, built my tower trap, and then laid in wait (filming all the while, of course).

What ensued was nothing short of a developmental delight - she CRAWLED. Sort of. Basically. Pretty much. Well, you watch. You decide.

Back from Beyond

So, the semester turned out to be more stressful than I expected. My little family blog experiment had to take a back seat to basic survival! But now I'm back.

Here's one of my favorite pictures of Rosie girl. She has such a bright and fun personality - full of life and easy laughs.

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving and even better Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year's...and 2010 has been a great year so far. We're enjoying reconnecting as a small family and watching Rosie grow and learn. She can clap, laugh, roll, CRAWL!, and otherwise entertain us with her newest tricks.

I'll document some of these most recent adventures here...

Stay tuned.