The last few weeks have been craaaazy. Jason and I got back from Vegas, four days later I flew to Texas for Jill's surprise 30th birthday party and to meet baby Ashton, from there I flew straight to New Orleans where I presented a poster at the AERA conference and participated in a career development workshop, and then I flew back to New York to prepare for my data defense. A data defense is a preliminary hearing that is sort of unique to my graduate program. It takes place after the proposal hearing and before the final defense. The goal is for your committee to review your statistical analyses and make sure you aren't missing anything big before you start writing up your results and preparing for your final defense. Sadly, as I was preparing the handout for my data defense, I came across a pretty big error I had made. So, I've been frantically rerunning all of my models for the last few days, revising my tables and results in time for my defense on Wednesday.
Right now I’m sitting at my desk at school waiting for some code to finish running. So I thought I would spend a few minutes updating this neglected blog.
Liam has sort of been participating in the craziness. He's had a lot of babysitters recently... including Aunt Helki who drove up from Baltimore to take care of him while Jason and I both worked last weekend. Together they colored easter eggs, made “dirt” from Oreos, painted, and played outside. I think he's had a nice time with Helki and his other sitters, but I can also tell he's a little confused. The break from his normal routine is a little tough for Liam to handle. He is a kid who likes consistency and predictability. In addition, because he has a hard time sleeping at school and when others are taking care of him, he’s missed quite a few naps. Sleep deprivation brings out the evil side of Liam. A few days ago I endured a two hour temper tantrum. For the first time since I became a parent, I had literally NO idea what to do. I was already so tired and frustrated from my dissertation problems, that I didn't have the mental capacity to figure out how to get him to stop crying without simultaneously giving in to what he wanted and rewarding his horrible behavior. Not that figuring out what he wanted was easy either. As far as I could tell the reason he was crying kept morphing. First he didn’t want to go outside, then he didn’t want to walk, then he didn’t want to come back in, then he didn’t want to take his shoes off, then he didn’t want lunch… and so it went on. In the end, he cried through lunch (without eating), cried through books and songs at nap time (without listening), and eventually cried himself to sleep in his crib. Even though he wasn't participating at all, the only thing I could come up with to do was go through the steps of his routine regardless. I felt bad leaving him in his bed alone in such a state of distress. But in the end, sleep is what he needed. When he woke up he was happy again.
May will be dedicated to time with Liam. I have some goals for him that April was just too busy for:
Start swim lessons
Go to the dentist for the first time
Start potty training
I got a cheesy photo app on my cell phone – it’s fun and I love it. Here are some recent pictures:
Ashton: so peaceful and beautiful... and he has the best big toes.
Proud Daddy - with good reason.
When Liam doesn't nap at school, he falls asleep on the subway ride home.
Helki and Liam's Easter Egg Masterpiece.
Spring in Brooklyn.
More subway snoozing.
The slide. Liam's nemesis.
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