Big Week O’ Changes

The last week of finals is always exciting and scary.  I have been up, off and on, since 3:00 this morning with a bit of insomnia.  I’m looking forward to working on my research, but I’m very nervous about it, too.  Just writing that sentence put a pit in my stomach.  Basically, my feedback from my chair is that he wants me to the be “the top expert in the country on my research topic” and that in the next year, I need to get out “many” publications to top journals in which I am the first or only author in order to be a viable candidate for tenure. 

Imagine being told by your boss that you need to be the best in the country at your job.  Now consider how you are going to be a parent, do your fun work around the house, and keep in some sort of healthy shape.  Now, go to sleep.  Ha!  You see?!?!?!  You, too, can have insomnia!!

In other news...

I hate being one of those parents where upon getting feedback or making comparisons with other parents goes home and says “But LOOK!  He’s doing X now!” 

Nonetheless, the little guy has made some amazing changes this week.  He’s started pulling himself up.  He’s not an expert yet, but he’s pulling himself up in the “correct” kneeling position per the specialist’s suggestion.  He’s now crawling with his booty in the air.  He’s not yet on all fours, but he’s digging in with his knees and feet.  This actually happened overnight on Monday.  Monday night, he’s commando crawling.  Tuesday morning, right out of his crib, he is crawling towards me with his booty in the air.  I’m not kidding and I didn’t even tell them about it at daycare, because I didn’t want to sound all….”NOW he’s doing it!  He’s making progress!!” 

He’s also starting to use his “more” sign when he’s eating.  I do have to ask him “Conor want more?” and I do have to touch his elbows to start him, but then he does the more sign. 

At daycare, they too believe that he is changing daily.  My call is that he progressed on his gross motor skills and then started focusing on his speech (remember that he wasn’t babbling consonants at the beginning of his ninth month, and now at the beginning of his tenth month he can say clearly Da-da and we think doggie and ‘atches?).  Now I think he’s back to physical development. 

Who the heck knows?  It really doesn’t matter.  He’s doing fine and we need to focus on his hips not expanding too much. 

We do have some additional good news on the school front:  we found out this week that they are considering starting a partial magnet in our home elementary school.  It would be a “learning intensive” magnet K-2, in which all children are taught via NC’s gifted and talented curriculum.  Then after Grade 2, all kids will be tested to see if they qualify for gifted and talented.  If they do, they go to the specialized gifted and talented program for grades 3-5.  Even if they don’t, they can stay in the learning intensive program grades 3-5 anyway.  Now if only they’d offer some foreign language in this school for K-5, we’d be almost ready to sign up!!

Off to finish grading the final and BE DONE with this hellish semester.  And then start freaking out about getting my research accepted for publication. 

8:44:49 AM