leapin' lizard!

Matthew took Abby to her first gymnastics class this afternoon while Gen was in class...
After M put Abby's leotard on her, he tried to put her regular clothes back on and she protested; she complied but only wanted to wear her gymnastics duds.
During a quick stop at a bicycle shop, Abby asked Matthew if the bike shop man knew that she was going to gymnastics after they left. M replied: "No" and Abby asked: "Will you tell him?"
After the gymnastics class, Abby exclaimed: "I want to stay at gymnastics forever!"
Finally, this evening Abby told Matthew: "I want to go back to Jooster Gemstones." (She meant Junior Gemstones, her class level at the gym). She's looking forward to next Thursday's class in which she will get to do "the koala" (hanging tricks), "scissors" (on a trampoline), and a bunch of other cute moves.

Olympic skiis

We were watching the Olympics (men's downhill) and I noticed that the underside of one man's Rosignol skiis had a black silhouette of a woman set against a fire-orange pattern.

G: (to Matthew) The bottom of that guy's skiis are trashy!
M: Man, I think so too.
A: Yeah, me too.
M: Abby, what do you think is trashy about his skiis?
A: The fire.

I'm glad she still has no idea what we were talking about.

olympic hopeful

olympic hopeful
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

Abby starts her gymnastics classes this week. We're not sure if it will inspire MORE jumping on (and off) of furniture or if it will tire her out.

they have no idea

I got an email today from one of my undergrad students. It began:

Hey Mrs.Pearson,

I hope your weekend is going well and that you are able to enjoy the sun
while I have to sit here and write this paper inside. hahah.

What in the world do they think graduate students DO? This isn't the first comment of its kind, and I only wish they had half a clue. I'd like to switch places with them for, say, 48 hours and see how they fare. This guy is writing a 4 page paper for me, while I have two seminar papers (20+ pages each) AND a Master's thesis (35 pgs) to hand in over the next month-- not to mention a 4 year old, a husband, an awful flu bug (yes, I caught it from Abby), stacks of papers to grade, classes to teach, research to do-- I could go on! I wonder if my students actually think I'll feel sorry for them for having to stay in on a weekend to write a short paper. Crazy thing is I realize there are people whose lives are even more challenging than mine (and much less full of happiness).

OK, done ranting. Back to work.

home is where the heart is

A: I want to move.
M: Where do you want to move to?
A: San Diego.
M: What do you like about San Diego?
A: Mia.

(Mia is her grandmother)

honesty

G: Abby, why are you having such a hard time listening to mommy and daddy?
A: I'm guilty.

all better

Abby is feeling MUCH better after taking antibiotics. She's actually driving us pretty crazy. Last night was the first time in a week that she was fever-free, so getting her to slow down and go to bed was nearly impossible (we felt bad for her since she had slept all day and had been so sick for so long!). At 12:30 a.m. Matthew heard her call out: "I need help." The monkey was upside-down, hands on the ground and feet hanging on to our bed frame. We told her she could read a book until she got tired. Finally around 1:30 a.m. when we finished the laundry, we peeked in her room to find her asleep on the floor-- no blanket, surrounded by books, light on-- she must have just run out of steam and fallen asleep while reading. Tonight she has been a handful for Matthew and I. It is like someone gave her an espresso and let her loose. We're glad she's getting better, but she is bored and we are wiped out. Phew.

fevers and such

Abby has had a fever since last Friday (that's 5 full days now, going on 6 this evening). The poor girl has tried to keep her chin up, but this is a long time to feel so awful. We're taking her back to the doc today to see if perhaps her flu has inspired an ear infection. Anyway, keep her in your prayers (and Matty and I too-- we haven't fallen ill yet, but it will be a real struggle to make it through the rest of the quarter if we do!). On the bright side, once this bout of sickness is over, we should be done with flu season BEFORE spring break. I'm glad for that!

Update: Abby does have an ear infection and should be getting better soon, now that she's taking antibiotics.

cupboard doors

Matthew has this habit of leaving cupboard doors open. He says it's because they are too loud when they close. Well, he has knocked his head into the doors AT LEAST four times this week alone. We laugh about it, but seriously, you'd think he would have an incentive to close the doors. I'm too short to bump into them, but I feel sorry for the guy when he does it. Sort of.

G: the MA candidate

I've officially filed for candidacy for my Master's Degree in English! (We in the English dept. here call it the "MA on the way"--on the way to the PhD, that is). I'll hand in a draft of my thesis in a couple of weeks and will await my committee's response. Then I'll revise, polish and submit my thesis to my committee next quarter, and if all goes well, I'll submit it to the graduate studies folks with a bunch of signatures saying it passes muster. Then I get to graduate in June! Now, before we all get overly excited about this, I must say that I reserve the right to postpone until September if I simply can't get the thesis done on top of my regular class and teaching load. I'm also trying to not let this accomplishment take my attention too much away from the fact that as soon as Spring quarter ends, I will be turning my attention to studying for my preliminary exam (coming in December 2006), which is the gateway to officially being in dissertation writing mode. The PhD is a ways off yet but is looking more like a distant reality than a mirage as I finally get through the arduous years of coursework.

4th year check-up

An update on Abby's 4th year physical:

As you know, Abby had some questions for the doc. She got them answered today. So that we all know, our bodies make blood in our bones, our spleen gets rid of the old blood, and our bones grow at the growth plates (isn't that so cool? ). There was more detail than that, but that is about what I can remember at the moment.

Last night Abby had a rough time going to sleep; she was afraid of getting a shot from Dr. O. Matthew said that Dr. O wouldn't give her the shot-- the "mean, nasty nurse" would do it. There was a slight rebuke for putting it quite that way, and apparently Abby noticed:

(Later tonight while I was away at class)
A: Daddy, did you say that nurses are mean and nasty?
M: Yes.
A: What means nasty?
M: Well, it's kind of like "mean."
A: That's not very nice.
M: Yeah, I know, I was joking; I said it to be funny.
A: Momma didn't think it was funny. (pause) I didn't think it was funny.
M: I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.

So anyway, Abby had one shot and was fine. She's 3' 4.75" (71st percentile!) and 38lb. (72nd percentile). She's gloating over Dr.O's prediction that she will be taller than her momma...I know, BIG surprise. Her vision is 20/40 in both eyes (normal for her age) and she hears very well. Just like her mom.