Back to Real Life

so, it's been a while, and have i ever been busy. i had a major freakout moment or two while i was frantically finishing up the NSF proposal and getting everything ready for our trip, but i got everything done that needed to be done, the trip is over, and things are getting back to normal.

i've posted tons of pictures from our trip on facebook. i uploaded the ones from raleigh today, since i finally had time.

the trip was pretty good, even if it did make max want to avoid the carseat at all costs. i guess two consecutive days of being stuck in it will do that to a kid. he pretty much didn't sleep well the whole trip. and he still isn't sleeping well. which sucks. i also think he has entered the 'separation anxiety' phase of his life, which also sucks. he wants to be held ALL THE TIME. when i put him down on the floor to play, he crawls back to me, pulls up on my legs, and holds his arms up. if he's playing in the living room and i go into the kitchen for something, he follows me to the kitchen, pulls up on my legs, and holds his arms up. last night, chad tried to put him down on the floor to play and he started screaming. chad picked him back up, and he was fine. when max wakes up at night now, he demands to be picked up (as in, he screams when i lay him back down, paci or no paci, but he is fine as soon as i pick him up. as in, his eyes close immediately upon being picked up. so he has been sleeping at least half the night in our bed for the past week and a half). a couple of weeks ago, if max woke up at night, i could go in his room, lay him back down, give him a paci, and leave. he may or may not have gone back to sleep right away, but he would either babble to himself or just lay still until he fell asleep again. most nights he wouldn't even make a peep if he woke up. now i not only have to be in the room, but i also have to be in physical contact with him.

today is the first day that max has cried when i left him at daycare. i felt so bad for the little guy.

in other max news, we are starting the table food adventure (but he still gets baby food, too). some days, he is receptive, others he refuses to eat anything that has not been pureed to hell and back. the other night we had pork roast, couscous, and green beans for dinner. max ate two plates of it. turns out, he LOVES couscous. and bread. all kinds of bread. last night, we had beef stew for dinner, and max was having none of it. well, he ate 5 or 6 bites and then refused to eat any more. but he ate lots of cornbread. and i gave him some baby food peas. this morning he ate 2/3 of half an english muffin. he loved it. i haven't found a bread that he doesn't like yet. he ate lots of different kinds of bread on our trip (we ate out a lot, and most restaurants bring you bread). but he hates mashed potatoes. bizarre little guy. who hates mashed potatoes? he likes baked potatoes. and french fries (who doesn't?). but mashed potatoes make him gag. green beans are his favorite vegetable. he loves them. one day he refused to eat spaghetti. the next day he couldn't get enough of it. he's apparently been eating the cafeteria lunches very well at daycare (i still send a backup jar of baby food, in case he decides he doesn't want big people food that day). he also eats canned fruit at daycare, and i can't get him to touch it at home. he loves bananas and kiwi, though. i'll see how he takes to peaches today. fresh ones. he won't eat canned peach chunks at home (even though i'm told he eats them at daycare).

my committee meeting yesterday went very well. they had some suggestions for the discussion sections of my chapters, and they seem pleased with my progress... and my binders and binders full of data. i promised dr. v. that he would have my first chapter before thanksgiving. so i have to get that finished up and get started on chapter two. i promised the committee they'd have two chapters before christmas. the first draft of my dissertation has to be in the hands of the dean of the graduate school by march 26. plenty of time. oh, and we also decided that i can definitely graduate in the spring. yay! finally!

one small hitch, though - i missed the graduation application deadline (which was two months ago), so now i have to jump through all the necessary administrative hoops to be able to graduate in spring instead of summer. i'll be dr. latina before you know it. that is such a relief.