Saturday, January 31, 2009
It is unbelievably gorgeous outside today. Aaron took Cecilia hiking with him at Clinton Lake, and I bebopped around downtown Lawrence. I hadn't gotten to do that for a long time, and I found it very relaxing. Now the windows are open, Aaron is napping downstairs, Ceci is napping in her crib, and it feels completely luxurious to sit in my quiet, sunny house with my cup of tea. I am happy.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Look Ma - Hands!
It has been COLD here. Really freaking cold.
The semester is off to a good start... I'm busier than I've ever been, but a lot of great research projects have really taken shape over the past year. We're preparing to test a sequence of large scale bridge girders, and I'm pretty excited about that getting started. I love getting to do experimental research. Such a sense of discovery!
Other news... Ceci is doing well. We have a developmental agency from the state of Kansas coming in every couple of weeks to track her progress, and to make sure that she's meeting developmental milestones. The agency is called Tiny-K. Jessica comes to visit and observe Cecilia for an hour or so, and we talk about our goals for the next couple of weeks and what Aaron and I can be working on with Ceci. This morning we talked about helping Ceci roll from her back onto her tummy (she has no problem going from her tummy to back), and helping her improve her flexibility. One of the things I worry about a little is that she tends to be a little stiff when she's resting. For example, she'll hold her arms straight while she's resting, and she far prefers to be held in a standing position than in a sitting position. The next time we take her for a neuro checkup at Children's we'll bring it up, but for now, we're working on ways to encourage her to be more flexible so that she'll more easily learn to sit, crawl, etc.
One thing that was a little cool today was that she started really having some success at holding her bottle by herself. I know, it seems ridiculous, but this is the kind of stuff we get really excited about. Aaron and I were kidding about how this was a real leap forward - now I have a free hand to drink my cup of tea!
The semester is off to a good start... I'm busier than I've ever been, but a lot of great research projects have really taken shape over the past year. We're preparing to test a sequence of large scale bridge girders, and I'm pretty excited about that getting started. I love getting to do experimental research. Such a sense of discovery!
Other news... Ceci is doing well. We have a developmental agency from the state of Kansas coming in every couple of weeks to track her progress, and to make sure that she's meeting developmental milestones. The agency is called Tiny-K. Jessica comes to visit and observe Cecilia for an hour or so, and we talk about our goals for the next couple of weeks and what Aaron and I can be working on with Ceci. This morning we talked about helping Ceci roll from her back onto her tummy (she has no problem going from her tummy to back), and helping her improve her flexibility. One of the things I worry about a little is that she tends to be a little stiff when she's resting. For example, she'll hold her arms straight while she's resting, and she far prefers to be held in a standing position than in a sitting position. The next time we take her for a neuro checkup at Children's we'll bring it up, but for now, we're working on ways to encourage her to be more flexible so that she'll more easily learn to sit, crawl, etc.
One thing that was a little cool today was that she started really having some success at holding her bottle by herself. I know, it seems ridiculous, but this is the kind of stuff we get really excited about. Aaron and I were kidding about how this was a real leap forward - now I have a free hand to drink my cup of tea!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Back to Work, and Everything Else.
It's official. The spring semester begins at KU this week, and I'm back to work! I actually started back last week full time and sporadically over the past couple of months, but this feels more official. I'm really looking forward to being back in the classroom this semester. This is my fourth semester teaching Steel Design and I love teaching this course. I'm excited about having a whole group of students that I've never met before - all 47 of them!
I travel to DC tomorrow for the annual Transportation Research Board meeting, coming back on Thursday morning just in time to teach my class... I have mixed feelings about this trip. It's the first time that I'll be away from Ceci for more than 8 hours, and DC in January is bleary at best. I have to say, I far prefer Lawrence in January. I wish this conference fell in a different season, because I really do like the museums and whatnot... I just think it's a depressing time of year to be in DC. Plus, I've really grown to dislike airtravel. I used to like it, but now I really just feel sick to my stomach the whole time. I'm flying out late in the day, so I suppose I can quell the jitters with a couple of G&Ts. There's a bright spot!
I didn't write a whole lot about our travels home over Christmas, but we really did have a good time. I'm always glad to get home, mainly because I'm perpetual homebody, but I miss everyone already. That really is the hardest part about living way out here... I miss family and old friends. It makes me sad that Cecilia doesn't see her aunts, uncles, and grandparents on a weekly or even daily basis like I did growing up. I guess she'll never know otherwise since it's all about what you're used to, but I think about it often.
Ceci started childcare full-time as of last week. Aaron and I are so happy that we found Christine and her wonderful family. Ceci seems so happy while she's there, and that relieves a lot of the stress of going back to work. We feel very, very lucky.
I travel to DC tomorrow for the annual Transportation Research Board meeting, coming back on Thursday morning just in time to teach my class... I have mixed feelings about this trip. It's the first time that I'll be away from Ceci for more than 8 hours, and DC in January is bleary at best. I have to say, I far prefer Lawrence in January. I wish this conference fell in a different season, because I really do like the museums and whatnot... I just think it's a depressing time of year to be in DC. Plus, I've really grown to dislike airtravel. I used to like it, but now I really just feel sick to my stomach the whole time. I'm flying out late in the day, so I suppose I can quell the jitters with a couple of G&Ts. There's a bright spot!
I didn't write a whole lot about our travels home over Christmas, but we really did have a good time. I'm always glad to get home, mainly because I'm perpetual homebody, but I miss everyone already. That really is the hardest part about living way out here... I miss family and old friends. It makes me sad that Cecilia doesn't see her aunts, uncles, and grandparents on a weekly or even daily basis like I did growing up. I guess she'll never know otherwise since it's all about what you're used to, but I think about it often.
Ceci started childcare full-time as of last week. Aaron and I are so happy that we found Christine and her wonderful family. Ceci seems so happy while she's there, and that relieves a lot of the stress of going back to work. We feel very, very lucky.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Happy New Year!
Our first Christmas as three has come and gone, and was a very Merry one indeed. We made quite the drive: from Lawrence to Cincinnati to Kinsman to Lawrence. The last part (Kinsman, OH to Lawrence, KS) we managed to do all in one day. It was a long drive, but we were glad to be able to get it over with as quickly as possible.
We managed to see pretty much all of both sides of the family, which was great. :-) Here are some pictures from the 12 days of Christmas celebrated across the Heartland... these are from Kinsman. Aaron and family built a pretty cool igloo after a decent snowfall. Ceci was not a fan of the igloo, but we took some photos outside with her anyway.
We managed to see pretty much all of both sides of the family, which was great. :-) Here are some pictures from the 12 days of Christmas celebrated across the Heartland... these are from Kinsman. Aaron and family built a pretty cool igloo after a decent snowfall. Ceci was not a fan of the igloo, but we took some photos outside with her anyway.
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