Pardon the mess

Okay, okay, I know I've been MIA this month. One post a week is kinda pathetic. But I've got a ridiculous amount of work to accomplish before next Friday at 9am. I've been at it full blast since a week ago.

Here's my list so far, with what I've done yesterday and today crossed off.

• write a 3-5 page paper
• attend a parent panel 
• grade 12 four-page argument essays
• grade 12 portfolios
• grade 54 44 three-page Beowulf essays (10 down!)
• grade 54 sets of two discussion questions
• grade 54 final exams (I don't get these until Wednesday)
• calculate 66 final grades

So, yeah, I'm kinda going crazy with the grading right now. I have to have final grades up next Friday, but we're heading to Florence that weekend, so I'm actually hoping to get everything done Thursday night. I've got my mother-in-law coming to babysit Thursday afternoon, and the hubs will take care of G after that. I think 11-10pm will be enough time to grade those 54 exams and calculate final grades... I hope. I'd rather not stay up later than that, thankyouverymuch.

Plus, there's a lot of this going around:

G was nursing a cold yesterday. He seems to be in better spirits today, but I've had a sore throat since I woke up. A cold is just what I need while I'm in the home stretch of finals!

(And yes, my almost two-year-old still uses a paci. Normally, he only uses it for naps and bedtime - and we're strict about that. But he was so pathetic that I offered.)

However, after Friday, I'll be off on break until summer classes start up at the very end of May. So I'm going to be starting up another blog-a-day event for the month of May. I want to get back into the groove of it. NaBloPoMo, it is! I did NaBloPoMo back in November and had a blast. For now, though, I'm burying myself in Beowulf essays.

I'll be back on Tuesday to start NaBloPoMo. May's theme is "play." Not sure how much I'll stick to that, but we'll see.

Ciao.

13 Ways to Raise a Nonreader

My kiddo may not speak much... at all. But he certainly has a love of reading. We started reading to him regularly pretty much as soon as he could focus on something like a book. Now we can read through 10 books, and he's still begging for more.

I'm working on getting my teaching license right now. In my literacy class, we read this list of what NOT to do if you want to have a child who loves reading. It amused me, and also gave me a few things to think about, such as books on tape.

My comments are in italics. Because I can't help myself.

13 Ways to Raise a Nonreader
from The Horn Book Magazine, 2001

1. Never read where your children can see you.
haha, it's hard to read in front of him because he wants to play with my book

2. Put a TV or computer in every room. Don't neglect the bedroom and kitchen.
kinda guilty? we have one in the living room and in our bedroom.

3. Correct your child every time she mispronounces a word.
reading for fun should be for fun!

4. Schedule activities every day after school so your child will never be bored.
if they don't have time to read, they won't read.

5. Once your child can read independently, throw out the picture books. They're for babies.
as a kid, I loved reading a variety of books - picture books, young adult, and a few from the adult section of the library.

6. Don't play board games together. Too dull.
no problem here. we have a huge collection of board games.

7. Give little rewards for reading. Stickers and plastic toys are nice. Money is even better.
I was surprised by this one. No rewards for a reluctant reader?

8. Don't expect your children to enjoy reading. Kids' books are for teaching vocabulary, proper study habits, and good morals.
no-brainer, right?

9. Buy only 40-watt bulbs for your lamps.
ha

10. Under no circumstances read your child the same book over and over. She heard it once, she should remember it.
G knows which books are his favorite. He usually wants to read Wocket in my Pocket four times in a row.

11. Never allow your child to listen to books on tape; that's cheating.
I'll admit, I sometimes think of books on tape as cheating.

12. Make sure your kids only read books that are "challenging." Easy books are a complete waste of time. That goes double for comic books and Mad magazine.
We have a modest but sizable collection of graphic novels and manga. The Mad magazine comment cracks me up, though.

13. Absolutely, positively, no reading in bed.
oh, but that's the best spot!

gone baby gone

First day back at school teaching. Without G.

Getting woken up by way too awake baby at 4:30am? Check.

Having to leave a very happy baby who patted my check, mouth, and neck as he nursed? Check.

Spending way too much time scraping ice off my car? Check.

Learning that the heat in my car definitely isn't work, thus resulting in a 30 minute drive to work with no heat? Check.

Walking to the office without 1) falling on my butt on the ice, 2) being able to feel my toes? Check.

Arriving late because I had to make copies of syllabus? Check.

Missing every moment away from G? Check.

Heading home in an hour? Double-check!

wakey wakey, eggs and bacey

Most mornings, my hubby gets the little one out of bed, while I rub sleep from my eyes and crawl out slowly, meeting them downstairs with my breastfeeding pillows. G always needs a diaper change, and he's in a generally good mood until he realizes he hasn't eaten in at least 8 hours. We generally wake him up at 7:30 on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays so that we both have time to get ready before Dave has to leave for work. Grayson is usually ready, and usually doesn't make it to 7:30 anyway. He seems to like 6:30, with a wake up sometime before that as well. The weekends, we let him sleep as long as he wants. Which again is usually 6:30.

But on Tuessdays and Thursdays, I get to wake him up if he's still in his crib. We have to get up at 5 because I have to leave the house at 7 to make it to teach my 8 o'clock class. (Those numbers are so painful to type.)  Sometimes g will sleep from 8:00-5:00. Tonight he slept from 9-5, though I think he might've been awake for a while.

In any case, I'm pretty sure my alarm woke him (he sleeps in a travel crib in our room). I got out of bed and went over to him while hubby went to shower. There he was, laying still in his SnuggleMe, looking up at me with his I-just-woke-up-what-do-you-want? face. He blinked slowly and began to move his shoulders, writhing a bit, so I knew what that meant.

Stretchy time.

If g has gotten enough sleep, when he wakes up he wants to do one of two things 1) not move and blink for a while, and 2) stretch.  And stretch and stretch and stretch.
I leaned over and pulled apart the velcro from the top of the SnuggleMe. POP when the baby. His arms shot out over his head, his fingers stretching out, rubbing his head, ears, face. He arched his back and curled his toes in together. He makes the most awful faces when he stretches. His face gets all red, he tucks his chin and causes a huge chin flab effect, he makes grunting noises.

He pretty much looks like this, which our lovely photographers Chris and Adrienne Scott caught during his newborn shoot.

I love every minute of it.

I waited patiently as he finished and looked back up at me again. So I picked him up and brought him to his room to change his diaper. He stretched again, making it difficult to hold him. Silly billy. When I put him on his changing pad, he looked up at me.  "Good morning, Grayson-bud," I said. His face split open with a huge gummy smile, the kind that stretches his cheeks wide and makes even his eyes smile.

What a great way to wake up indeed.

this is what happens when I wake up at 5 am

...I actually blog!

So I had a baby. June 4th. Am working on a post about that, but I certainly have been distracted for the past, er, eight months. I love my little babycake, especially when he gives me smiles like this:

He's only two months old, but he smiles and coos like crazy. He's so cute!

Ahem, anyway, I'm returning to work in a week, hence why I'm up at 5am today. My hubby and I are doing a trial run of our mornings today to see how it goes. It went well even though Grayson decided to get up at 3 and not go back to sleep until 7. Ouch. So I'm existing on about 5 hours of sleep right now. In any case, it does mean I have some free time, so here I am.

And, some lists.

Reasons I Look Forward to Work

1. It's only two days a week for four hours, so it's not like I'll be separated from my little bugger for very long. But it'll be enough time that I feel like I'm getting out of the house for a bit.
2. The chance to talk to adults in a normal voice. I don't baby-talk Grayson, but he does respond to tones. I think my students wouldn't appreciate a high-pitched and way too excited "Who's a good student? Yes, you are!"
3. Man to man bonding time. I'm so happy that Dave can take care of Grayson while I'm at work.
4. Things to do other than take care of a baby. It is sad that I'm looking forward to having things to grade?
5. Money! I haven't had a paycheck in a while, and having that money to help pay for the 20 diapers a day that Grayson goes through will be helpful. (He has a very sensitive tushy.)

Reasons I'm Not Looking Forward to Work

1. Waking up at 5am. Grayson still doesn't have the whole sleeping through the night thing down yet. He normally sleeps from 8:30-3, if we're lucky, but it can be difficult to get him to go back to sleep for a while after that. We're used to getting out of bed at 6-7:30, which usually gives a bit more time for sleep.
2. Pumping. I hate hate hate pumping. I'm not very good at it so I don't get many ounces, which means I have to do it often. But we don't want to supplement with formula, so there you go. I really love breastfeeding. Even with all the problems, it's been easier than I thought it'd be. In any case, I'm happy to be able to feed my child even while I'm away, but don't enjoy the process.
3. Teaching long classes. This means I don't get to eat much but a snack between them if I'm lucky. I also won't get to eat lunch until near noon. I'm breastfeeding and pumping, which means I'm thirsty and hungry all of the time. And I do mean all of the time.
4. Wearing work clothes. I've existed in pjs for two months now. It's a transition!
5. Being away from Grayson. I get so exhausted taking care of him sometimes, but I miss him terribly when I'm gone even for an hour. He's my babycake, my cuddle-bug. He makes the best faces and loves to be held and talked to.

I've gotta head off to campus to run some errands. I'll post more again soon about the baby, but for now, here's a naked baby pic.