Today she let me have a good look in there at the Little Gym, and BEHOLD! The source of the latest round of Jekyll/Hyde, Thug-muffin attitude! Once again, I was ELATED to see it!!! In fact I was cheering so much she started giggling! It meant an explanation for the past 3 days of bad-ass attitude, but it also marked the beginning of the END of teething for Anna. When this tooth is done, all future cranky attitude will now be clearly recognized and handled appropriately, unless she's sick.
I guess the car seat struggles that we also got with the last molar might be on its way, but so far, mercifully nothing has surfaced in that area yet.
Last night she woke at 1:40am crying, half asleep. That's classic with her teething, and fortunately me sneaking her paci into her mouth quieted her enough to go back to sleep. With the last molar in May you may remember the 1-2 nights per week night terrors that lasted about 4 weeks. We have been free of those for the last 3 weeks or so. So I wonder if those will be coming too?
Does it seem like Paul's getting off too easy here? He was coincidentally away during the worst of the last molar activity in May (but my mom got the rough end of it along with me) and he's been gone this week too (till tomorrow night). Honey, consider THIS your father's day gift.
She was actually super fun at the Little Gym today. It was the last day of class and at the end all her classmates stood on a little podium to get their metals. Last semester she wouldn't stand up there but this time she went up with the rest like a big girl. And when she got her metal she had that look on her face, like all proud and embarrassed (a smirk/grin) and looking at me at the same time :) I was so proud! I didn't take a pic with her and all her friends, but I did get one with her and the metal.
Unfortunately we got a new camera and my computer won't read the SD disk so the pics will have to wait till Paul gets home I guess. So
Last night Anna and I went to a party at my division chief's house. On the drive there, Anna kept saying "let's go to a PARTY, mama! Are you going to a party TOO, mama?"
I really like my new co-workers and Anna had a great time. There was a pool (but she didn't get in), good food, other kids, and a bunny, a dog, and a kitty cat. To make it a real party, they had a pinata and the kids took turns hitting it. Anna swung that big baseball bat right where I'd think it'd hurt the worst ;) and then passed it off when her turn was over. She had a blast going through all the candy that fell out and went home with a cup full of the good stuff :) She did not want to go home but even I was tired after it was over! We got home wayyyyy past her bedtime so it was a fight through the bath and to bed but she passed out within minutes of her head hitting the pillow.
Today after the Little Gym we went to the yearly Engineering picnic (even though I'm not in Engineering anymore). We hung out with the Sauers and Maynard friends. I have a really cute picture of Anna holding hands with Annabel and Allie but again, can't post it (yay for the new camera!). They played on the playground, ate hot dogs, sno cones, and cookies! They even played with goats in the petting zoo and rode a horse (I got pics of that too!)...after the horse ride, Anna asked to go jump in the bouncy house thing and I thought she'd change her mind once we got to it because she's usually hesitant to get into one of those things. But we took her shoes off and she got in and jumped for a little while with other kids. And yes, I got pics of that too! After about 2 hrs of fun (and heat...we're in a hot drought here in Houston), I could tell she was getting tired, as was I so we headed home. After a brief tantrum regarding nap time, she got over it and sung herself to sleep soon enough.
At the Engineering party, a few ex-co-workers asked how I liked my new job. I told them I love doing the science stuff and I had no idea previously that this much science was going on on the ISS!
One person told me: you know you're in the right place, from the looks of how things are going.
My response: as it turns out, you are so right.
With the announcement from good old Bush that we would cut ISS and shuttle funding in favor of going back to the moon and Mars (Constellation program), the engineers I worked with decided ISS was a dead horse and Constellation was the place to be. Most engineers jumped ship from ISS and went to Constellation. Quickly. EB (Biomedical Engineering division for ISS hardware, where I worked from 2001-2007) was dismantled in favor of turning it into a new division just for Constellation. That left me looking for a job elsewhere in NASA, and it's how I ended up applying for the Associate Program Scientist position I'm in now.
Just now with the presence of a 6 person crew on orbit and assembly complete next year, science will finally take off to its full potential. This is why my job was created. JR, my boss, saw it coming. I did not. I feel like I fell into this. But I guess it was part my luck and part planning from people who recognized what was coming and realized they needed to create the position I'm in now.
So yes, I am in a good position. I'm not hating on Constellation, but don't you agree after all the time and money we've spent of taxpayers dollars to build the ISS that we should actually GET THE MOST FOR OUR MONEY? I'm going to stop here before I go off on a rant no one who reads my blog really cares about :)
And now I'm free and in the middle of toddler nap time (break). I think I'll go do laundry, clean the bathrooms, and water the bushes. :)
Out!
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