2-year check up

Baby did great at the Doc's office yesterday for her 2-year well child check-up.

All systems "Go!"


I spent the week talking about how fun the visit with the doc will be because she'll look into Anna's eyes and ears and check her belly and stuff. And how she'd stand on the scale like a big girl now (no more baby scale). Anna'd ask me for "more" and I'd tell her the plans all over again. I'd tell her the doctor loves her and wants to give her hugs and help.

At one point she asked to go to the doctor now. I explained we had to wait till Tuesday.

Yesterday at the appointment, Paul and I played hand-off between our work schedules. He sat with her in the waiting room for about the hour the doc was behind. I came in and he left and so I was the one in the doc's office with her. While waiting in the exam room, I played with the doc's eye and ear scopes, hoping to get Anna familiar with what the doc was about to do. She didn't even want to touch either! She was more interested in the books in the room. I asked if she was ready to see the doctor. "Noooo!" she replied. Ugh.

Doc P came in all smiles and talking to Anna. Anna was hesitant. But then Anna showed Doc P her new Penguin shoes and there they bonded :) Anna let the doc look into her eyes and ears, and listen to her heart and belly while she giggled. As for opening her mouth: the doc got about as far as I usually do. We had to pry it open!! The doc confirmed it was a drag I had to literally hold Anna down to brush her teeth, but it was necessary. Actually her response was, "Oh, how unlucky you have one of those!!" She sympathized in a tone of voice that reminded me there are lots of other moms unlucky in this area too. Cool.

She said the top final molars were still coming in (WHAT?!) and the lower gums may be a little swollen...

TIME OUT. I thought we were done with the top molars and starting on the bottom.

Crap. I hate teething. It will never end.

The whole appointment went really well. Till the nice doctor left and the mean nurse showed up with a syringe full of Hep A vaccine.

Injection.
Screams.

Leaving the exam room with wails till I remembered where the sticker box was.

Then SpaceDaddy showed up for extra hugs and a hand-off so I could get back to work in time for a meeting. She was rewarded with Chic-Fil-A and Daddy Day.

Last night I got home just in time to read her a bedtime story (and administer new eye drops as a preventative for what may either be pink eye or allergies. Oh SUPER, SUPER fun.).

I read to her about Whinny the Pooh. She asked if she could have some honey. I told her she could have some on her waffles :) I didn't remind her she hated it.

We talked again about the doc's visit because she totally dug the review. She asked to go to her bed (tired!) and I sang her a few rounds of Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald ("E-I-O"), and I Know You (Sleeping Beauty, still her favorite movie). Usually she asks me to kiss both hands and both feet, give high fives, fist bumps, hugs and then kisses before exchanges of "I love you" and "Night night" as I leave the room (it's a process, you know). Last night I think she was half asleep at the first hand kiss and offered up nothing else :)

BTW, Spacetoddler is 75th percentile for both weight and height. That's my girl!

Obama talks to ISS

Today, Obama and a group of school kids (and some Congress members) talked to the ISS crew (and combined STS-119 crew) on orbit. It was pretty neat.

Yes, I am aware of the "Special Olympics" blunder on Leno. Give me a break. That Leno interview was really fun, though...I couldn't believe I was watching a sitting president on a late night talk show. Plus I love Leno. He rocked that interview. And to end it with Garth? Very cool. That was admittedly fun to watch.

Listening to Obama talk about being the president is fun. He talks about it in a way like you or I would. But the man is also smart. I get that too when he talks. What a nice combo.

Anyway, here's the ISS interview.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Hand Sanitizer

I get enough junk email on a regular basis that can be discounted as a hoax or just simply misinformation spread as scare tactics around the internet. For most of these, I look them up on Snopes.com for accuracy. If they're accurate, I'll pass them on. If not, I'll usually pop back at the sender with words that let them know that they're circulating misinformation (and this really, really bugs me to no end).

The one I received today turns out to be true by Snopes.com. In a nutshell, keep hand sanitizers away from kids because they can deliver a fatal (or near-fatal) dose of alcohol. I know I'm re-thinking the use of them myself.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp

Cheesy Pictures

This morning I pulled out the camera before work to take pictures of the new Teva's I bought Anna over the weekend.

Here they are...purple with Penguins.

By the way, bad mommy: before yesterday, Anna was wearing size 4-5 Tevas and 5.5 Keds tennis shoes. I brought her in to get measured for new shoes yesterday and holy cow, she's a size 6.5! BAD MOMMY! In my defense, I was checking her toe marks regularly and she does have a little room left in those size 5.5 Keds. So she wasn't suffering... Anyway...

Then she wanted to see the picture I just took, so I showed her. She couldn't get enough. She went out in front of the camera and said: CHEESE!!! While she posed. OK, so I was super amused and snapped off a shot. She wanted to see it. This went on for about 5-6 pictures.

Notice the drool. Evidence of teething. Almost done!


Also notice those short, hacked bangs. I could kill Cool Cuts for that one. I didn't need to pay someone to do that when I could have hacked them myself...

On the last few, she asked me to wait while she picked up Pooh and then she posed with her buddies. No lie, this was freaking cute. And funny. I've never seen her pull her buddies into the picture to join her.

Needless to say, I was a little late for work.

Butterfly

I was cleaning the house today as fast as I could during Anna's nap. Somewhere during that "thinking" time, my mind wandered AGAIN to how much my life has changed since having Anna.

I was kinda grousing about not being able to go to a concert with LW today because Paul's working and I have no babysitter. So once again my mind went to thinking that pre-Anna, I'd have been able to go without even thinking about it.

I was kinda bummed about it. Though again, it's not even a concert I'd go out of my way to see on my own or anything. It's just the point that since Anna's come along, my life is not completely my own. Don't get me wrong, she's my baby girl but not a day goes by that I at least don't think SOMEHOW about how my whole life gets worked around her needs...it's not wrong, it's just the case. It's the case for all parents.

I looked out the kitchen window while I was rinsing my sponge and saw a pretty organge butterfly perched on the flowers right outside our window.

MY first thought: Anna should see this!

Thank you everyone, now donate for Paul!

Hey all,
I've almost met my $450 requirement in fundraising for the MS150, thanks to 3 people: mom, dad, and Traci. The people who truly love me.

That means the rest of you slackers can take some hard-earned cash that's so desperately needed in this sucky economy and hand it over to Paul in the name of helping those with Multiple Sclerosis. Because if you think this economy's crippling, try the effects of MS. (But for God's sake, if it came to the choice of donating to us or feeding your kid, please feed your kid. We'd understand).

Because my plan is just to meet my minimum $450 requirement this year (in the name of sparing friends/family additional financial stress these days), I've removed the link to my MS donation site and replaced it with Paul's because he's got ZERO dollars in donations... So click there ---->
(the link at the top right-hand side of my blog).

When your day feels crappy (and as I am whining in pain along the 180 mile bike trail in a few weeks because I chose this week to do zero training), remind yourself that
MS is worse.

Flying Lessons

Lately, out of the blue, for no real reason at all, I've been feeling like finally pursuing my pilot's license. I haven't ever really been that interested since the last time I started (and accumulated 10 hours) in Colorado but never finished. I think now I'm interested again...don't really know why.

I had lunch with an astronaut friend a few weeks ago. I mentioned that I was thinking about getting my pilot's license but I have admittedly become more risk-adverse since becoming a mom. So the whole risk of dying in a little plane crash wasn't worth the benefit of me getting a pilot's license. I half expected him to give me a little grief about it, but instead he said that he too has become more risk-adverse since becoming a dad (despite the whole high-risk astronaut thing...) and didn't blame me at all. So he didn't even blink or give me any grief over my irrational fear and I felt pretty good about that. Since becoming a parent, there's just a little new switch that clicks on every time I think about doing something a little risky, whereas pre-Anna I'd jump at a chance. The little switch asks me what my benefit is over the risk and if it's something I really WANT to do.

The recent events of Natasha Richardson remind me why I've opted for piano lessons instead...

This is why I KNOW for a fact that Anna's role in my life has shown me empathy. I didn't even know who Natasha Richardson was but I can only imagine what her family is going through. And feel a little sad for them.

That would totally, totally suck.

Choo choo and boat

We slept in till 7:30am. I was watching her roll around on the monitor when the light in her room suddenly just popped on. She looked around, confused, waiting to see mommy or daddy. Then she started sneezing (the light was so bright...can't you imagine it? She's always sneezed in bright light/sunlight since she was a baby). I told Paul that her light just came on so I should go up there. He was like: what???

Yeah, it was weird. It's the second time it's happened. Once before when Paul was out of town and I was reading her a book.

She was happy to see me despite the bright light in her face. Then for the second morning in a row proceeded to tell me about how she sees an umbrella "over there"...points to nothing...and that she kicks this umbrella over and over.

She tells me over and over about kicking that umbrella. She must be telling me about her dreams...?

**************

Later. This morning's conversation with Anna (while I was ironing my clothes):

Spacemama: Hey, baby what's up!

Anna: I ate all! Blah blah...waffles...and...syrup...and...juice!

Spacemama: Oh, you ate your waffles with syrup and juice?

Anna: Uh-huh! (all smiles and nodding)

Spacemama: That's great, baby! Are you going to hang out with Daddy today?

Anna: Uh-huh!

Spacemama: What are you and daddy going to do today?

Anna: Ummmm...(looks around, thinks)... Ride choo-choo and boat!

And they say she's too young to remember Disney...

Spacemama: Oh my, that sounds like fun!!! Go tell Daddy!

I can hear her run to Paul in the living room:

Anna to Spacedaddy: Blah...blah...blah...choo-choo and boat!

Spacedaddy: What, baby?

They come into the bathroom where I'm ironing my clothes.

Anna repeats something to Paul about a boat and choo-choo. Spacedaddy sort of gets it...

Spacedaddy: What's this about a choo-choo and boat?

I tell him it wasn't my idea. Really. I tell him his best bet is Kemah. Even though Kemah was not in his plans for the day. But as far as I know, when I left this morning they were talking about going at least for the choo-choo ride. In fact, he should probably follow through on that since we used it to bribe her into putting her shoes on and getting her hair up.


**********

Last night we had a fun dinner with TJ and C and C's parents and LW. They're super cool!! Just like TJ's parents are. TJ made a great dinner as usual and the kids were jamming to ACDC upstairs with Paul and C until I spoiled the party at 9pm when it was time to get Anna home and to bed wayyyy past her usual bedtime. She was rocking to ACDC with the rest of them. Little booger.

Thanks for the fun time!!!

************

Over the weekend I took Anna to AS's 2nd year birthday party. It was really fun. We were making little art projects that CS had laid out on the table for the kids, when the pizza showed up. Anna looks up from her glue stick: "PIZZA???"

Then, after the pizza: "CAKE?"

She's her mother's child.

At one point she did mistake the glue stick for chap stick and when I gently stopped her from putting it on her lips, she looked around at all the people who saw this and started bawling like I smacked her. I think she was *embarrassed* which I believe is a first. And I am telling the truth when I say it wasn't like I fussed her or anything! Something about it got to her. Bless her little heart.

*************

On Sunday, my mom, sis, and cousins were in town to hang with Anna while Paul and I struggled on a 52 mile bike ride (The Great Escape). We suffered when we shouldn't be at this point in training. But I digress.

Anna had SO MUCH FUN with them. She played like she was a big girl and they got her the Hungry Hippos game (she plays it alot now) and a little chipmunk that moves and squeaks, which she also loves. They also bough her some clothes, which for some reason, she is not cool with these days. She tried to throw the clothes out of the shopping cart!!! She did the same thing with a birthday gift her uncle got her last week. She looked into the bag, pulled out the clothes and said "NO CLOTHES! NO CLOTHES!!" and threw them out of the bag!! WTH? I have ZERO idea where it is coming from.

Anyway, it was super cool to see her hanging out with her big cousins, just like a big girl. She is asking about everyone now, and where they all went. I tell her they went home and she's OK with it.

Paci updates: We cut her paci's in the cars. She repeated to us that it was broken! Broken! "Need fix it!" She asked for her water. I handed it to her. She turned it upside down and tried to sprinkle her water onto her paci in a sad attempt to fix it. Didn't work and she got mad that instead her pants got wet. Bummer. Then she held it out and said "You cut it?" Oops. Overall, though, for the past few car rides, she'll ask about it, repeat over and over it's broken while we acknowledge, and then she'll give it to me to hold. So hopefully we're on to another good start. Even though I have no idea where we stand with the whole teething thing.

And no, she's not potty trained yet. She used to like to sit on the potty at home and she even went a few times but these days she says NO! when you ask her so we're not pushing yet. But when someone leaves the room (anyone!) and she asks where they went, we always tell her they went to pee-pee on the potty. It's actually humorous.

One last thing that I find super funny but probably shouldn't. She was rough-housing with me the other night. As she'd get up to climb onto my stomach to prepare to jump (yeah, I'm tough, see?), she'd giggle and say "DAMN!" in the cutest little giggly-girly-toddler voice you can imagine. So much so I couldn't stop her. She did it over and over. I kept listening close to be sure I wasn't getting it wrong. But no, I think I heard it right.

Where'd it come from? Beats me, but I think Paul does say DAMN every time she super body-slams him...I think? Subconsciously... It's either that or some booger-nose in her classroom is saying it.

Did I just materialize this?

In the car yesterday morning, I heard a woman win last minute tickets to the rodeo to go see Brad Paisley that night. She was 32. She was excited...sounded like she planned on going.

I thought: in my pre-Anna life, if we'd have had a chance to go last minute like this lady, we probably would. Even if I don't even know who Brad Paisely is (and I kinda don't). I thought:

-this lady must not have kids
-if she does have kids, she must have a great last-minute babysitter or family nearby

I don't know why this was all in my head, but I really did consciously think: if someone offered us last-minute tickets to any event these days, we'd probably have to pass because we'd have no sure babysitter access.

I kept driving.

An hour later, I'm on the phone with Paul. One of his clients came in to offer him 2 Brad Paisely tickets for that very night. Ha.

He was flattered and asked if I wanted to go. I had to be the downer: what would we do with Anna?

He gave the tickets to one of his employees instead.

Besides, I really don't even know who Brad Paisley is.

Students...what are they THINKING?

Actual conversation with one of my students last night:

Student: Would it be possible for me to take a make-up exam for Exam #2? I have a genetics exam scheduled that same day.

Me: Oh! Wow, at the same time, really?

Student: No, it's at 11am in the morning, but it's the same day and it's really hard for me to study for both of them being on the same day!

Me: Oh, has this never happened before to you?

Student: No!!

Me: Which is harder, genetics or Human Phys?

Student: Genetics!

Me: Yes, I'd think so too. You'll do fine on my test. Besides...

Student: I know I have the whole spring break week off to study for both exams, but it's still going to be super hard. Can you just extend the test for me by even just one day?

Me: The syllabus clearly says you need a doc's excuse or an obituary! And Dr. P made that policy, not me. But tell you what, if Dr. P thinks it's fine, then you can take a make-up.

Talking to Dr. P., he agrees: no make-up.
Boo-hoo.

I emailed her the bad news :)

Seriously.
STUDENTS!
Another situation I'd have never EVER thought to pull on my profs when I was a student. Is it my blond hair that makes these students think I'm gullible? Maybe I should go jet black.

By the way, as she walked away last night, I realized she was a cheater on the last exam. Who failed. Good grief. I almost feel sorry for her life. What a shame.

My office mate today told me to put up on the board during the next test:

"Like cheating? Talk to me about karmic coupons."

Yeah baby.

A couple of things I like

The first is a video I took of her singing "You are my sunshine" on the drive home from Brazos Bend on Sat night. It's dark. Therefore, there's no video. But the audio is clear. She actually starts with the itsy bitsy spider but moves on...

Next are photos of Anna discovering chap stick (I like chap stick, mommy!)

Helping Daddy prepare the tent for camping

a


Kudos to myself for making cupcakes for Anna's class for her birthday (with guidance from my mom and Amy ;) ). I know I should have used vanilla frosting for the parents' and teachers' sake but I just couldn't help myself for many reasons...

A June bug hitched a ride home with us from Brazos Bend. They're EVERYWHERE.

March 8, 2009

Getting measured by daddy. She grew a whole 5.5inches since her last birthday!

Yesterday was Anna's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, our little TWO YEAR OLD! Since the camping plans fell through,we went to the Houston Rodeo. I am glad we did. Paul and I have been avoiding the rodeo since the first year we moved there. Mostly because it's a bad combination of Texans and crowds. (No offense to Texans...who are my friends reading this blog, that is...).

Anyway, the weather was great and the sun stayed behind the clouds. There was a huge carnival and even a really cool area just for kids that consisted of rides, pony rides, a petting zoo, and just all kinds of cool stuff. Plus every type of carnival food you could imagine and yummy barbeque! All of the staff there were super friendly, and everything was so organized and easy. There were no crowds for a Sunday morning. Sooooo nice. The rides were super cool, too. We were totally surprised. We'll be going every year now. On a Sunday morning.

There were tons of Tweener girls there with "I LOVE JONAS BROTHERS" t-shirts who were going to the concert there that night. They were with their moms. It registered that that will be me one day. Even though I'm not a Jonas Brothers fan myself, how fun will it be to go to a concert like that with my daughter? Super fun.

When we arrived around 10am, Anna was already tired and ready for a nap. That's day 2 of that kind of early sleepiness, and we're not sure where it's coming from. Though frankly, we've all felt a little sluggish and sleep-deprived (could be the allergies everyone's experiencing right now). She was so tired most of the day, and she also didn't have much to say. Here are two sleepyheads on a ferris wheel...

On the rides, she seemed to have fun but made minimal comments unless prompted. There was one ride I took her on that was a little more "thrilling" than I thought it was gonna be, and she did great but I kinda freaked out, myself! Oops...

Now there's one HOT Daddy, no?



She rode a pony, rode a ferris wheel, and watched pig races :)



She also milked a fake cow (barely awake at this point):



We pushed her for fun till around 1pm when we headed home. She crashed in the car for the 20 min ride home, then woke when we got home and mercilessly didn't continue that nap, which we ALL desperately needed...she just played in her bed till Paul went up to get her.

Come 3:23pm I felt like I did 2 years ago at that exact time: like I needed a NAP.

The day ended with play and Ben & Jerry's ice cream for dinner. She was sooo grimy from such a busy weekend (frosting, June bugs, ponies, farm animals, carnival rides) that a good scrub in the tub put her in the right place for an early bedtime. She conked out by 7:45pm (which is 6:45pm still by her little internal clock, despite daylight savings time). So that was nice and early.





She slept like a rock all night. I think the weekend birthday activities were HARD PLAY! I know Paul and I could use a weekend recovery from that weekend ;)

Thanks to everyone who called to wish her happy birthday! She does like to talk on the phone though most of the time she's more intrigued with just staring at it and listening to you all :)

It was an exhausting day for all of us. But frankly it was more fun than child birth :)

Second Rate Second Birthday

OK.
Who the hell knew Brazos Bend state park needed a reservation for camping? I mean, really. Not me, and I surfed their website up and down before we left. We packed our crap...what seemed to be still too much for just one night camping trip to celebrate Anna's birthday...and headed out at around 4pm to Brazos Bend after I gave a speech downtown. In no way does Brazos Bend compare to her first year's birthday celebration at the Ice Hotel in Quebec, Canada, but we at least thought it would be a new experience for her.

She hated the tent all week in the back yard, and we expected wind gusts up to 25mph overnight (but no rain). So we actually expected to pack up our tent and head home in the middle of the night if none of this was going over well with her. The weather was awesome: cloudy and mid 70's with an overnight low in the 60s. Not bad camping weather for Houston.

We arrived at the park around 5pm.

Park Ranger Lady: Day pass or overnight?
Paul: Overnight camping!
Park Ranger Lady (glimpsing at the crap in the back of our truck and the toddler in the car seat): Oh! Do you have a reservation? Paul looks at me.
Me: Huh? Really? No...
Park Ranger Lady: Oh no! I think we're full...hang on...yep we're completely full! In fact we're usually booked every weekend between October and May.
Me: WHAT? Really? There was nothing on the website about reservations. And why do so many people in Houston actually want to CAMP? She looks at our stuff again and offers us the option of a day pass...apologetically. What else were we gonna do? We paid $10 (ouch, good GRIEF!!!) and went in, not knowing what to do. We drove around and saw TONS of tents. Anna gets excited: Tents! Tents! Of course she's excited now...there would be no tents for us. How sad.

We could smell the grills in the air and hear the kids laughing. That wasn't for us tonight. But really, the place was super full. Full of boy scouts and church campers and just GROUPS of people and kids everywhere. So we played on the playground for a bit then decided to go elsewhere to cook the freaking dinner we'd planned anyway.

Hot dogs, chips, and pasta salad. And a little birthday cake with a lady bug on it for Anna. We drove around and found a little picnic spot and it was starting to get dark. Anna was getting sleepy in the car. We asked her if she wanted a hot dog. "No". I asked again and she said "Yes." So we got out and unpacked our crap, including the lantern and propane stove. Paul cooked hot dogs while we tore into the birthday cake (after we sang happy birthday, of course. Anna smiled at that one from mommy and daddy then sang it to herself over and over). Anna loved the lady bug. Even though the cake had slid around a bit.

I looked around at some other folks at these picnic spots and commented to Paul on the fact that we were steerage. Couldn't even get a room. Exiled to the peripheral picnic spots while others were gathering around their fires and enjoying the sunset. We were second rate. Dang it.

Trying to settle into the moment, I attempted to make her a pretty necklace out of the flowers around us. You know, that easy daisy-chain type of necklace. Yeah, well I couldn't really get it to work. Nice try, mommy. Then it started to drizzle. Really? Really? Paul and I looked at each other. Anna ate her hot dog.




It stopped. Then the June bugs came. They hurled themselves at us and our stuff. Anna giggled and squealed "No!" But she touched one that Paul gave her. The hot dogs were good enough. We drank milk out of the Princess cups we bought for her birthday cake. The instant camp-type mac and cheese sucked. The crickets started chirping and the people around us left. We turned out our lantern so the bugs would leave us alone. The clouds parted for just a bit to show Anna the moon. "Moon! Moon!" then: "Where'd the moon go?"




Fireflies! They came and they were pretty. Anna loved that. And we said "sshhh...listen to the crickets." And she'd listen. And she'd point at the fireflies. We three sat there in the dark, listened quietly to the crickets, and watched the fireflies. At around 8pm we started packing up to head home, not sure what to do for her actual birthday, tomorrow the 8th. As we packed, Anna and I sang Twinkle Twinkle. It was still dark: no lantern. It was great. We were happy. In the car, she told us all about the crickets, birds, fireflies, June bugs that she touched, and the windmill she saw earlier. She sang songs all the way home, and I captured "You are my sunshine" on video.

It was a second-rate second birthday dinner but it actually turned out fabulous. We made the most of the situation, and I think to Anna it was just awesome. The playground, cake, and fireflies...sounds like a dreamy toddler dinner to me.

We agreed her first camping trip should be in Colorado anyway. Not Houston!

We decided on the way home that we're going to brave the Houston rodeo for her birthday tomorrow. I feel like the awesome birthday dinner went so well, anything from here would be just fine. Even if the rodeo ends up sucking. I hate crowds.

I put her to bed around 9pm and when I kissed her goodnight, I told her when she woke up she'll be 2. This is your last night as a 1 year old, baby. She held up her hands and said TWO! Love you, night night mommy.

Anna's turning 2

She'll be TWO on Sunday. Our baby! After almost a year of answering "ONE!" when you ask her how old she is, this morning we taught her to say "Two!" and it stuck. At least for the morning. It does appear to be much easier for her to hold up just the one finger instead of the two, though. Instead of the "peace" sign of TWO, she crosses her fingers or spreads out all 10. Ha.

She got a hair cut last weekend at Cool Cuts 4 Kids. We took her there for her first cut last September, and they did a great job. This time, they chopped her hair like it was some kind of punchline to a really bad joke. The worst part is her bangs. Our litte beauty has chopped up bangs. I saw it when it happened and it was too late. I couldn't stop them. I wanted to kill them before walking out, but I instead thanked them, paid them, complained the whole weekend, and curse them every morning when I'm doing her hair. It's bad. I laughed to Paul that now when she's being a brat, she's just not as cute so I will have less pitty on her ;) But the NEXT TIME, she will be going to my hairstylist like a big girl. Terry's been doing my hair for the last 8 years. I love her. Anna will too. But it will take like another YEAR to grow those bangs out. I mean really. GGGrrrr....

She planted grass this week in a little pot at school. Her teacher told her that it's to remind us that God made everything himself. Including us, the animals, and the grass. And as her teacher told this to me, it was obvious that she had conviction and belief. Almost such that I'd swear she were lecturing me against what I was thinking in my own mind right in front of her: Oh you mean that great energy source that we call God? Yeah, that...well, I could agree with you if you just added the word "INDIRECTLY" before "created". But this is a Luthern school so this is what they teach. Anna is learning the fundamentals. It pops up more and more here and there as she gets older. It's OK. She needs to learn common and traditional fundamental religious beliefs somewhere. Because mommy and daddy have a little different beliefs, but our beliefs build nicely off of the fundamentals she's learning right now. So when her teacher tells me things like that, I support it. One day we'll have talk about it. Just like we'll have a talk about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

Last week she made toothpaste. And then play dough. She's making all kinds of stuff at school. They had a class on brushing your teeth.

This building smells like a BLT sandwich. Like all the time. I mean the new building I'm in at work. It's 6 stories high (astronauts on top floor) and there's a handy snack shop right on the first floor (I'm on the third). I swear they're always cooking bacon. They make sandwiches and breakfast burritos and even sell drinks and yogart and FROZEN yogart and fruit and cookies. It's pretty convenient. And then right next door is the Cafeteria and a gift shop. One of 2 here at JSC. After having worked in a peripheral building here at JSC for 8 years, I was never really near a cafeteria OR a snack shop (I was an engineer and thus had to rough it out). It's interesting being in a building in the heart of the action where astronauts and big-wigs work: They get a snack shop AND a cafeteria? Geeze. Talk about high life.

I have moved into my new office and I really like it. It's a comfy atmosphere and my cube mates are just as OCD as I am or worse. So they're organized, smart, and clean. It's sweet. My walls are no longer tan with tan concrete tile. I have carpet with soft grey walls and nice grey, speckled furniture. It's not an engineering office. It's a program office. It's kinda nice. It's also nice to walk up and down 3 flights of stairs daily. More exercise. And the walk from my car is actually super cool. Especially this time of year when the weather cooperates.

And it couldn't hurt to be reminded daily of my goal that sits on the 6th floor.
That my obvious next step after a few years here of learning all about the science process on the ISS is to actually be the one on-orbit implementing the science. OK, now I'm starting to see this...

This morning I realized how secluded I actually have been for the past several years, even though I have been working here at NASA. Sitting on the periphery of the center, immersed in developing NASA's flight hardware, down in the daily details, I was secluded from the big picture of Space...especially the happenings on the International Space Station (ISS). Even though my hardware was used ON the ISS! Now, every morning I sit in a high-level staff meeting where I learn about what's happening daily with the shuttle launches, ISS science, and Operations. I am actually immersed in ISS life, instead of burying myself in trying to solve team/hardware problems in engineering. I am just now overall more aware of what's going on in the space world. As an engineer, it just wasn't part of my job to know the fun stuff because I was too busy with the "real" stuff that mattered.

I've learned that Stephen Colbert is coming to NASA to do some taping. That's super cool.

Anyway, so far I like my new job.
Oh, our trip to DC Headquarters was cancelled. JR's daughter got a bad spider bite so we stayed in Houston. Just as well because of the big snowstorm up there anyway. We'll reschedule for April or May.

This week I met some new people here in the office who commented that they'd heard of me before with regard to previous good work I did as an engineer. Apparently, my reputation has preceeded me over here to ISS, which is really nice. I kinda knew people knew my name, but it means alot to me to be complemented on my work in EA. I'm not much for the whole social networking and "happy hour" scene...it's much more cool to be known for the work I've done for NASA.

My calendar is getting full with requests for me to be keynote speakers again all over the country for the TRIO programs. I did this last year too and brought Paul and Anna everywhere with me. So far I'm scheduled for Houston this weekend, then later Albany, Indiana, and Niagra Falls. And back to Clarkson too. I'm having to turn down others because of schedule constraints. Paul and Anna will come with me to Niagra Falls in July. It's so cool when people request me to come and speak based on the motivational speeches I've given in the past. It's an honor.

I got a new phone this week. The Pantech Matrix. I like it lots. I hated my old phone.

Anna is saying all kinds of stuff. Stuff like "I like this song! Don't DO that! I like this XXX, I don't like this XXX! I don't know what this is! What IS this?" and so on. When she asks "where'd daddy go?" she says it with much more inflection than ever before...eyebrows furrowed, shoulders lifted. Her sentences and questions are more animated. We can hold little conversations and she'll tell you a little about her day. She burped a sentence to Paul last week, which pleased him and gave us a good giggle. She gives kisses willingly and hugs when asked instead of running away like it's a game. This morning she kissed me good-bye and then asked for a hug. Screw the nice shirt I had on...those jelly-covered hands around my shoulders were too much to pass up. Following the hug, she asks for high fives and fist bumps. She got that from Paul.

SEND MONEY. Paul and I EACH have to raise $450 for the MS150 in April. Come on, friends, this $$ goes to a good cause and we don't bug you for anything else really for the whole year. So support this cause! My donation link is on the top right of my website. Or send me a check. Please help. I'll post Paul's link later too.

Which reminds me, I gotta get back on the bike. The weeks are so busy. I don't exactly know where the time goes but I wish it at least involved TV. Then I'd know what to cut out to fit in bike riding. But my DVR is backed up with stuff to watch. Right now the only thing I can see is getting up at 5:30am again to ride. When I'm not going to bed till midnight, that's just not cool. We'll see what I can do.

For Anna's birthday this weekend, we are taking her camping for one night at Brazos Bend State Park. It's about 45 min from here. It'll be a quick trip. Just enough to introduce her to camping. I think I have a feeling for how it will go based on the activities of this week. Paul set up the tent in our back yard to clean it out. He is so excited. He invited Anna in, thinking that most toddlers love this stuff.

He was wrong. We coaxed her into the tent but she was freaked out about it. She maintained her composure as long as possible, but ultimately eased out of the tent semi-gracefully. She didn't like the movement and sound that the tent made as the wind blew it and we were inside. So it could be a looonnnggg weekend at Brazos. Paul reminded me that we've broken camp in the dark before. So you see where the worst case is going here.

For the record, if we did have to bail once we got there, I think that'd make a hilarious 2-year old birthday story. So it's a win-win. Except for the whole sleep-deprivation thing.

Last night I asked Paul what Anna has taught us in the last 2 years of parenthood (she did choose us as parents, afterall. What did she come to teach us?). I told him she has taught me empathy and a little more compassion towards others. Paul couldn't give me an answer as to how he was affected. He didn't know. He thinks he'll figure it out when she's older. Paul is the type who loves hard and gives it all to us. So he'll probably learn the most from her when she's grown and leaves us. OR maybe she came to teach me, but to learn something from Paul. I told him he should be prepared to answer this question again next year. I think it's a good thing to reflect on for each of Anna's birthdays. If we remember :)

Her tantrums are now based on weird things. But it's OK, people, don't panic! I've read the books so I know what it's all about! ;)

Yesterday she ended up on the floor because she wanted the white cheese instead of the yellow. You see where I'm going with this. Though not everything induces a tantrum, some stuff gets an exhaggerated reaction from her: Little piece of fuzz on her hands...a dead bug on the floor...milk when she wanted OJ...God forbid pants with a snap lately. She doesn't like messy hands yet she doesn't want to wash them when YOU ask her to. Yet she's content to sit in a poopy diaper. Booger.

Stuff has to be her idea if you want it done.
But really, Toddlerhood is super cool. Loving it.

Now SEND MONEY, PEOPLE! DONATE!!!

Colbert's Node 3

Sure, you can vote for the Node 3 name here:
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/name_ISS/index.html


But, I dunno...this seems like fun too:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Name the NASA Module After Stephen

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