Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Katie's latest: A photo essay
p.s. that's the cat who loves her. And that cat takes crap from NO ONE.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Katie at nine months old
We have a ton more pictures, and the family will all get their copies in the mail soon. She was a champ at the picture shoot- as usual.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The blog's namesake
I didn't realize I had this video on my computer. It's a couple months old and it's amazing how much she's grown since we shot this. Notice she's laying on her back- she wasn't crawling yet at all. But her laughter is the best sound in the world to me- nothing cheers me up like hearing her laugh and writing something that's not academic has been therapeutic. And so, I named this blog after two of the best things in my life: Katie's laughter, and my dissent.
No Child Left Behind? It's more like, Every Child Robbed of Critical Writing and Thinking Skills in Favor of Rote Memorization
Okay, that's a long title, but it pretty much sums up what we've experienced here at the UI over the past few years. The students have gotten progressively worse at writing, and I can only attribute this to the increasing implementation of No Child Left Behind's impoverished standards of so-called "accountability." I'm sure all teachers in the history of the world have experienced those students who only want to know what they need to know to pass the test and not a thing more. But, I would argue that these types of students are now the rule, and not the exception.
Yes, this is anecdotal evidence. I have no statistics to "prove" my observations. But I have plenty of personal experience with my students and I have watched the past six semesters as they turn in papers of poorer and poorer quality and require more editing than before.
Case in point: for the past six semesters, I've graded the same term paper assignment. It's ten pages long and requires minimal research and news analysis and understanding. What I've learned, however, is that punctuation is extinct these days. I graded a series of papers this morning full of run-on sentences. I had to comment on one student's papers that she needed to learn the difference between a period and a comma. Forget proof-reading. Forget concise sentence construction. The mechanical errors in these papers were so bad, I couldn't grade the content, and I told these students so in their comments.
A better example: we give essay exams to our large lecture class. When meeting with students to discuss their grades, every one who had a lower grade than expected remarked that they had NEVER taken an essay exam before. Yet, students expect As- but how can you succeed on a test format you've never taken before?
There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that No Child Left Behind teaches rote learning and not critical thinking. I try to emphasize to my students to trust their ability to reason through problems, but inevitably it comes back to the question, "What do I need to know for the test?"
It makes sense, though, that a presidential administration that forged a legacy of groupthink and a mantra of "Dissidence is unpatriotic" would encourage a generation of children rendered incapable of thinking for themselves. Why ask questions, when someone can tell me the answer? Why do the intellectual work, when someone will do it for me? Why think for myself, when someone will tell me what to think? It's clear we live in a time unwilling to question the lies spewing from the White House and all of it's talking heads; you need to look no further than the alternate reality to which Bush cronies like Karl Rove and Dick Cheney defiantly cling (or perhaps that should be reversed: Rove and Cheney's crony, the president?). These people persist in adhering to their message that our way of life, our freedom, couched as it is in consumerist subtexts, relies on a perpetual militarism that has literally attacked foreign governments who did not agree with us. Why would they want a citizenry, in its basic definition?
African slaves used to be denied the right to education based on the fear that they would learn to think for themselves and overthrow their masters. Keep 'em blind, keep 'em dumb: this is hegemony in action. So education is publicly available, but that's just it. Hegemony expands and subsumes subaltern viewpoints in it's service. It is in the interest of those in power to appear to offer basic rights to all sectors of society, to appear as if it has conceded; the questioning may end after that. But it is exactly this capability of those in power, to soothe the masses through seeming acts of generosity and benevolence, that necessitates critical vigilance. This is why we MUST ask questions of those in power.
Maybe that's not the overt goal of NCLB, and maybe our First Lady really did care that every child received a good education. But on that line of thought, placing the blame solely on the schools reveals yet another hole in the logic of family-centered, compassionate conservatism. NCLB locates the problem of poor student performance within the schools; more to the point, it places teachers solely accountable for student success or failure. It does not account for the myriad of other social and cultural factors that may contribute to a student's success; it does, on the other hand, penalize these students and communities for their inability to meets dogmatic standards of education that are better suited for those in well-funded facilities with stable and nurturing home lives.
My graduate director asks a good questions posed by her doctoral advisor: Are you here for a degree, or an education? There is a difference, and NCLB fosters a degree mentality that looks to schooling as a means to an end, or rather, better test scores. It keeps students from asking question in the classroom- questions other than how to ace the exam. Ultimately, if you don't ask questions while receiving your education, is someone is always providing the answers for you, and the goal of an education is to receive knowledge to be applied elsewhere, why would students then leave the university and begin to ask questions? Why would they suddenly engage when all their life, they've been allowed to fly in auto-pilot?
Sadly, I see this lack of curiosity and apathy in the papers that I grade. It's not that students don't want to succeed- they want that grade, alright. But they want the answers supplied for them. Unfortunately, this sets the stage for power-hungry demagogues like our current presidential administration who would rather keep us dumb and uneducated than thinking for ourselves.
Yes, this is anecdotal evidence. I have no statistics to "prove" my observations. But I have plenty of personal experience with my students and I have watched the past six semesters as they turn in papers of poorer and poorer quality and require more editing than before.
Case in point: for the past six semesters, I've graded the same term paper assignment. It's ten pages long and requires minimal research and news analysis and understanding. What I've learned, however, is that punctuation is extinct these days. I graded a series of papers this morning full of run-on sentences. I had to comment on one student's papers that she needed to learn the difference between a period and a comma. Forget proof-reading. Forget concise sentence construction. The mechanical errors in these papers were so bad, I couldn't grade the content, and I told these students so in their comments.
A better example: we give essay exams to our large lecture class. When meeting with students to discuss their grades, every one who had a lower grade than expected remarked that they had NEVER taken an essay exam before. Yet, students expect As- but how can you succeed on a test format you've never taken before?
There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that No Child Left Behind teaches rote learning and not critical thinking. I try to emphasize to my students to trust their ability to reason through problems, but inevitably it comes back to the question, "What do I need to know for the test?"
It makes sense, though, that a presidential administration that forged a legacy of groupthink and a mantra of "Dissidence is unpatriotic" would encourage a generation of children rendered incapable of thinking for themselves. Why ask questions, when someone can tell me the answer? Why do the intellectual work, when someone will do it for me? Why think for myself, when someone will tell me what to think? It's clear we live in a time unwilling to question the lies spewing from the White House and all of it's talking heads; you need to look no further than the alternate reality to which Bush cronies like Karl Rove and Dick Cheney defiantly cling (or perhaps that should be reversed: Rove and Cheney's crony, the president?). These people persist in adhering to their message that our way of life, our freedom, couched as it is in consumerist subtexts, relies on a perpetual militarism that has literally attacked foreign governments who did not agree with us. Why would they want a citizenry, in its basic definition?
African slaves used to be denied the right to education based on the fear that they would learn to think for themselves and overthrow their masters. Keep 'em blind, keep 'em dumb: this is hegemony in action. So education is publicly available, but that's just it. Hegemony expands and subsumes subaltern viewpoints in it's service. It is in the interest of those in power to appear to offer basic rights to all sectors of society, to appear as if it has conceded; the questioning may end after that. But it is exactly this capability of those in power, to soothe the masses through seeming acts of generosity and benevolence, that necessitates critical vigilance. This is why we MUST ask questions of those in power.
Maybe that's not the overt goal of NCLB, and maybe our First Lady really did care that every child received a good education. But on that line of thought, placing the blame solely on the schools reveals yet another hole in the logic of family-centered, compassionate conservatism. NCLB locates the problem of poor student performance within the schools; more to the point, it places teachers solely accountable for student success or failure. It does not account for the myriad of other social and cultural factors that may contribute to a student's success; it does, on the other hand, penalize these students and communities for their inability to meets dogmatic standards of education that are better suited for those in well-funded facilities with stable and nurturing home lives.
My graduate director asks a good questions posed by her doctoral advisor: Are you here for a degree, or an education? There is a difference, and NCLB fosters a degree mentality that looks to schooling as a means to an end, or rather, better test scores. It keeps students from asking question in the classroom- questions other than how to ace the exam. Ultimately, if you don't ask questions while receiving your education, is someone is always providing the answers for you, and the goal of an education is to receive knowledge to be applied elsewhere, why would students then leave the university and begin to ask questions? Why would they suddenly engage when all their life, they've been allowed to fly in auto-pilot?
Sadly, I see this lack of curiosity and apathy in the papers that I grade. It's not that students don't want to succeed- they want that grade, alright. But they want the answers supplied for them. Unfortunately, this sets the stage for power-hungry demagogues like our current presidential administration who would rather keep us dumb and uneducated than thinking for ourselves.
Monday, April 21, 2008
An Iowa City thing? Or, doing my part?
In Iowa City, there's a store called the New Pioneer Co-op. I guess it's like Whole Foods, but there are two branches, and they sell organic and all-natural foods. It's a little crunchy-granola, but a few weeks ago, I finally bought a membership for us. When Katie's eye was getting all goopy again, a friend in my department who happens to be a metropathic/homeopathic/whatever doctor, recommended washing her eyes with a tea made of eyebright. It's an herb that comes in bulk and the only place to get it for sure is at the Co-op. At least, I've never noticed a bulk herbs section at Wal-Mart, Target or HyVee.
This place is a lot nicer than Atkin's in OKC, with a bakery, wine and beer section, deli, seafood, all that. The prices aren't as bad as Atkin's, and they have so much more selection. When I bought our membership, which is a one-time fee, lasts a lifetime, and makes us part owners, I suddenly felt like a part of the Iowa City establishment. The Co-op is very much a part of the university vernacular here. At department picnics, people bring desserts from the Co-op; the Co-op downtown is a popular reference point ("that restaurant is across from the Co-op"); it was mentioned on my first tour of the town, and a peer in my department worked there.
I think my decision to get a membership represents something a little more, though; an intersection, if you will, of my education and motherhood. I study media and culture, paying special attention to media and gender as they interact with globalization. Theoretically, or, what the theory I use argues, is a careful examination of power as it manifests in the media and how it works to reinforce oppressive values: objectifying re-presentations of women and minorities, or the "strategic silences" of media coverage of international events. What this imparts is a heightened social consciousness- for instance, to just how backward and repressive the current presidential administration is, or the dangers of the current trajectory of neoliberal economic policies and the resulting cycles of poverty of the people of the world.
As a result, I've started to care more about things I ignored previously and that has translated into, for example, minding what goes into my daughter's food. I try and buy organic baby food as much as possible. Because organic agricultural practices are for some reason much more expensive, I will also buy organic for all of us when the day comes that Eric and I graduate into the next tax bracket.
I may still buy it, but I notice when my clothing is made in Third World countries (i.e.: when my underwear is taped together meticulously in its package, surely by poor women in poor countries our government negotiated some "free trade" agreement with recently). I remain skeptical of celebrity campaigns, like Bono's RED thingy. However, I pay attention to my purchases, wonder about their origins, and internalize how my consumption may be working to oppress someone, somewhere else in the world that the media in this country don't talk about.
I've stopped buying foods, such as coffee and soon, chocolate, that I know to be particularly susceptible to unfair trade practices; the Co-op has GREAT coffee that is certified to be both fair trade and organic. I just need to do some research on where to find mass quantities of fair trade chocolate to supplement my daily intake.
I'm also annoyed by the sheer numbers of plastic bags that result from any trip to the grocery store. I threw a bit of a tantrum the other day when Eric belittled by effort to buy a reusable grocery bag- I'll just get a few next time I'm at the store by myself.
I could go on and on about what I want to do: make my house energy efficient (I'm not sure that's possible in a hundred year-old house, but it'd be nice), drive only fuel-efficient vehicles if mass transit were not available, recycle all the stinkin' paper I throw away all the time (especially since Katie has taken to rummaging through the garbage cans at eye level...oh, the similarities between her and Eleanor are striking sometimes), turn off appliances, use less water...
But the point of all this is, the combination of Iowa City and becoming a mother has awakened my consciousness to what can, and should be done better in the world.
In closing, I came across a profile of a UI undergraduate whose profile I found quite humbling. She's a woman's studies and economics double major, working on a grant that polls local pharmacies on their dispensation of emergency contraception. She volunteers at the local women's health clinic and she's going to get her master's in urban and regional planning.
To read of this student, it sent me reeling and encapsulates my dilemma: what am I doing getting my PhD? Put another way, am I doing anything getting my PhD? Will it benefit the world, given all that there that I can do? Will it be just enough to have a heightened sense of consciousness, or will I put it in action? And finally, how will it benefit my daughter?
I doubt that last question is any different than the questions every parents asks for their children. Iowa City, as unique and FRIGID a place as it is, has placed them in the forefront and I have to decide the answers for myself.
This place is a lot nicer than Atkin's in OKC, with a bakery, wine and beer section, deli, seafood, all that. The prices aren't as bad as Atkin's, and they have so much more selection. When I bought our membership, which is a one-time fee, lasts a lifetime, and makes us part owners, I suddenly felt like a part of the Iowa City establishment. The Co-op is very much a part of the university vernacular here. At department picnics, people bring desserts from the Co-op; the Co-op downtown is a popular reference point ("that restaurant is across from the Co-op"); it was mentioned on my first tour of the town, and a peer in my department worked there.
I think my decision to get a membership represents something a little more, though; an intersection, if you will, of my education and motherhood. I study media and culture, paying special attention to media and gender as they interact with globalization. Theoretically, or, what the theory I use argues, is a careful examination of power as it manifests in the media and how it works to reinforce oppressive values: objectifying re-presentations of women and minorities, or the "strategic silences" of media coverage of international events. What this imparts is a heightened social consciousness- for instance, to just how backward and repressive the current presidential administration is, or the dangers of the current trajectory of neoliberal economic policies and the resulting cycles of poverty of the people of the world.
As a result, I've started to care more about things I ignored previously and that has translated into, for example, minding what goes into my daughter's food. I try and buy organic baby food as much as possible. Because organic agricultural practices are for some reason much more expensive, I will also buy organic for all of us when the day comes that Eric and I graduate into the next tax bracket.
I may still buy it, but I notice when my clothing is made in Third World countries (i.e.: when my underwear is taped together meticulously in its package, surely by poor women in poor countries our government negotiated some "free trade" agreement with recently). I remain skeptical of celebrity campaigns, like Bono's RED thingy. However, I pay attention to my purchases, wonder about their origins, and internalize how my consumption may be working to oppress someone, somewhere else in the world that the media in this country don't talk about.
I've stopped buying foods, such as coffee and soon, chocolate, that I know to be particularly susceptible to unfair trade practices; the Co-op has GREAT coffee that is certified to be both fair trade and organic. I just need to do some research on where to find mass quantities of fair trade chocolate to supplement my daily intake.
I'm also annoyed by the sheer numbers of plastic bags that result from any trip to the grocery store. I threw a bit of a tantrum the other day when Eric belittled by effort to buy a reusable grocery bag- I'll just get a few next time I'm at the store by myself.
I could go on and on about what I want to do: make my house energy efficient (I'm not sure that's possible in a hundred year-old house, but it'd be nice), drive only fuel-efficient vehicles if mass transit were not available, recycle all the stinkin' paper I throw away all the time (especially since Katie has taken to rummaging through the garbage cans at eye level...oh, the similarities between her and Eleanor are striking sometimes), turn off appliances, use less water...
But the point of all this is, the combination of Iowa City and becoming a mother has awakened my consciousness to what can, and should be done better in the world.
In closing, I came across a profile of a UI undergraduate whose profile I found quite humbling. She's a woman's studies and economics double major, working on a grant that polls local pharmacies on their dispensation of emergency contraception. She volunteers at the local women's health clinic and she's going to get her master's in urban and regional planning.
To read of this student, it sent me reeling and encapsulates my dilemma: what am I doing getting my PhD? Put another way, am I doing anything getting my PhD? Will it benefit the world, given all that there that I can do? Will it be just enough to have a heightened sense of consciousness, or will I put it in action? And finally, how will it benefit my daughter?
I doubt that last question is any different than the questions every parents asks for their children. Iowa City, as unique and FRIGID a place as it is, has placed them in the forefront and I have to decide the answers for myself.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Teething update
Katie may have FOUR teeth coming in right now- the two spots next to her lower teeth look awfully suspicious. In this case, I'm surprised she's not screaming more.
Ear aches and earthquakes
Katie snores. It probably has to do with her ear infection, which has her nose all stuffy. The night of the infamous Midwest Earthquake 2008, she had been up a couple times screaming from what we can only assume is teething pain. The last time, around 4:15, I was sleeping on the couch because Eric's snoring kept me after she went back down at 2. She stopped crying almost immediately after I'd pick her up, and thinking she was good to go back to sleep, she'd start crying again the instant her head hit her mattress.
Finally, I took her to bed with me. She was snuggled in the crook of my arm, fast asleep within seconds. We took our bassett hound to a rescue weeks ago, but it used to be that I'd often lay awake at night, unable to go back to sleep from Eric and Eleanor snoring in counterpoint. It was a familiar occasion, then, when Katie snored in my arms, and Eric snored next to me. I said out loud, "Between the two of you, I just can't catch a break!" Eric woke up, we realized Katie was out for the count, and he took her, limp, back to her crib. It was a few minutes later when the bedroom door rattled, the windows started to shake, and I jumped out of bed, yelling to Eric (who was now laying on the couch), "Did you hear that!?!?"
He thought I was crazy. Only Dad's email proved me correct later that morning.
A couple days ago, I told Eric he needed to go to a sleep clinic in case he has apnea. A friend of ours snored horribly, and when the doctors discovered the level of his apnea, they removed his back of the throat thingy, and he couldn't make the snoring sound if he wanted to after that. Of course, apnea is a serious thing with serious health consequences...but I wouldn't mind getting to sleep a little easier some nights.
The thing to remember, I guess, is that snoring is in her genes. Three out of four of grandparents snore (yes, Mom, you are a regular snorer). And I'm sure I let out a few zzzzs every now and then, too. But somehow, no one else is nearly as cute as a little nine month-old baby.
Finally, I took her to bed with me. She was snuggled in the crook of my arm, fast asleep within seconds. We took our bassett hound to a rescue weeks ago, but it used to be that I'd often lay awake at night, unable to go back to sleep from Eric and Eleanor snoring in counterpoint. It was a familiar occasion, then, when Katie snored in my arms, and Eric snored next to me. I said out loud, "Between the two of you, I just can't catch a break!" Eric woke up, we realized Katie was out for the count, and he took her, limp, back to her crib. It was a few minutes later when the bedroom door rattled, the windows started to shake, and I jumped out of bed, yelling to Eric (who was now laying on the couch), "Did you hear that!?!?"
He thought I was crazy. Only Dad's email proved me correct later that morning.
A couple days ago, I told Eric he needed to go to a sleep clinic in case he has apnea. A friend of ours snored horribly, and when the doctors discovered the level of his apnea, they removed his back of the throat thingy, and he couldn't make the snoring sound if he wanted to after that. Of course, apnea is a serious thing with serious health consequences...but I wouldn't mind getting to sleep a little easier some nights.
The thing to remember, I guess, is that snoring is in her genes. Three out of four of grandparents snore (yes, Mom, you are a regular snorer). And I'm sure I let out a few zzzzs every now and then, too. But somehow, no one else is nearly as cute as a little nine month-old baby.
Friday, April 18, 2008
EARTHQUAKE!!!
No kidding- About 4:30 this morning. Eric thought I was crazy.
We had just gotten Katie back in her crib. Eric was sleeping on the couch because he was snoring so loudly. I thought the cat was scratching at the bedroom door, until the window started to rattle, and suddenly, it sounded like heavy trucks were driving past the house. When it stopped, I jumped out of bed and asked Eric if he had heard it. He thought I was crazy.
Then I got the email from Dad, saying the St. Louis had gotten an earthquake. Vindicated!
So Eric's watching Katie at home today, and I was here in my office talking to Mom when the ceiling panels started to rattle and the building shimmied. Everyone was out in the hall within seconds. Two in one day! Now if only they'd cancel school...
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Another ear infection...
I took Katie to the doctor yesterday evening after picking her up from day care. She's been tugging at her right ear for a couple days and had a fever that I attributed to her two top teeth coming in. The fever got pretty high yesterday, and now she's on antibiotics. The PA we saw thinks she didn't have a strong enough dose last month, so it didn't get rid of all of the infection. And, I think I have an ear infection again as well.
So she and I are home today. She's feeling a lot better and her fever is down. She was rubbing her eyes like she was tired, so I put her down for a nap...and she's really fighting it.
But this brings me to the larger point of this post: one of my best friends is getting married. He'll also be a dad shortly thereafter. I'm starting a list of things we've learned, in the hopes that it'll help him out along the way, as he and his wife figure things out. So JP, this is for you:
1. Like I said, be cool when the baby comes. If you stress and overschedule, you'll have a stressed baby. Keeping it cool will pay off in the long run when your kiddo can take things in stride, when other babies freak out.
2. Ear infections are secondary infections. If and when the baby goes to day care, he or she will be sick every month (I was told this by my professor, and it is oh so true). Once the baby gets over their viral infection, watch for ear tugging- they probably have an ear infection because they tend to crop up after a virus.
3. Buy stock in Puff's Plus and lavender baby wash.
4. Love isn't even strong enough to describe what you feel for your child. When poop grossed you before, wiping it off your child's ass isn't so bad. After all, this is your child...
5. And babies can make the highest pitch squeals known to humans. But it's still so damn cute.
On that note, I've got to get Katie settled back in to her nap.
So she and I are home today. She's feeling a lot better and her fever is down. She was rubbing her eyes like she was tired, so I put her down for a nap...and she's really fighting it.
But this brings me to the larger point of this post: one of my best friends is getting married. He'll also be a dad shortly thereafter. I'm starting a list of things we've learned, in the hopes that it'll help him out along the way, as he and his wife figure things out. So JP, this is for you:
1. Like I said, be cool when the baby comes. If you stress and overschedule, you'll have a stressed baby. Keeping it cool will pay off in the long run when your kiddo can take things in stride, when other babies freak out.
2. Ear infections are secondary infections. If and when the baby goes to day care, he or she will be sick every month (I was told this by my professor, and it is oh so true). Once the baby gets over their viral infection, watch for ear tugging- they probably have an ear infection because they tend to crop up after a virus.
3. Buy stock in Puff's Plus and lavender baby wash.
4. Love isn't even strong enough to describe what you feel for your child. When poop grossed you before, wiping it off your child's ass isn't so bad. After all, this is your child...
5. And babies can make the highest pitch squeals known to humans. But it's still so damn cute.
On that note, I've got to get Katie settled back in to her nap.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
If only I had a video camera with me this morning
In what surely could have been a disaster, I witnessed something so comical this morning, you couldn't make it up.
A little background info is necessary to truly get it:
We have two cats, Sita and Daphne. Sita LOVES Katie- she will try and calm her when she's upset (although this means she tries to jump in the crib with Katie in it). Katie can pull, tug and tackle Sita, and the cat just takes it. Understand, Sita takes crap from no one, but she loves her baby as much as Katie is amused by her. Daphne, on the other hand, steers clear of the baby. It may be Katie's shrieks of joy upon sighting her, but Daphne turns the other direction when Katie sets her sights on her.
Also, our bathroom is between both bedrooms, and I can watch Katie play as I get ready in the morning.
So, this morning, I notice Daphne stretched out on the floor of Katie's bedroom. Katie is hanging onto the baby gate into the bathroom watching me, but when she sees Daphne, she sets herself on the floor and crawls over to the cat that normally ignores her. What happens next exactly, I can only guess; I assume Katie gave Daphne the Sita treatment...but when I looked over a few seconds later, Katie was grasping Daphne's tail as the cat shrieked from pain and dragged Katie in circles around the room.
To be clear, let me repeat this last point: Daphne was dragging Katie around the room. Katie was holding onto Daphne's tail. They were both going in circles as Daphne tried to shed this unwelcome attention. The cat finally turned around and batted at the baby, who let out a scream. I hurdled over the baby gate, picked Katie up and calmed her down. But I've been laughing about it all day. Katie had no scratches- not that Daphne didn't try to scratch the shit out of her.
I couldn't make this up. It was straight out of a cartoon. I washed Katie's hands in case she did have a few scratches, but I'll be paying close attention to see if she "remembers" this incident and steers clear of Daphne, the way Daphne's tried so hard to do herself.
A little background info is necessary to truly get it:
We have two cats, Sita and Daphne. Sita LOVES Katie- she will try and calm her when she's upset (although this means she tries to jump in the crib with Katie in it). Katie can pull, tug and tackle Sita, and the cat just takes it. Understand, Sita takes crap from no one, but she loves her baby as much as Katie is amused by her. Daphne, on the other hand, steers clear of the baby. It may be Katie's shrieks of joy upon sighting her, but Daphne turns the other direction when Katie sets her sights on her.
Also, our bathroom is between both bedrooms, and I can watch Katie play as I get ready in the morning.
So, this morning, I notice Daphne stretched out on the floor of Katie's bedroom. Katie is hanging onto the baby gate into the bathroom watching me, but when she sees Daphne, she sets herself on the floor and crawls over to the cat that normally ignores her. What happens next exactly, I can only guess; I assume Katie gave Daphne the Sita treatment...but when I looked over a few seconds later, Katie was grasping Daphne's tail as the cat shrieked from pain and dragged Katie in circles around the room.
To be clear, let me repeat this last point: Daphne was dragging Katie around the room. Katie was holding onto Daphne's tail. They were both going in circles as Daphne tried to shed this unwelcome attention. The cat finally turned around and batted at the baby, who let out a scream. I hurdled over the baby gate, picked Katie up and calmed her down. But I've been laughing about it all day. Katie had no scratches- not that Daphne didn't try to scratch the shit out of her.
I couldn't make this up. It was straight out of a cartoon. I washed Katie's hands in case she did have a few scratches, but I'll be paying close attention to see if she "remembers" this incident and steers clear of Daphne, the way Daphne's tried so hard to do herself.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Boxed brownies, and tantrums
I've gone and done it: made my first boxed-mix of something since Katie was born. This is a big, big deal because Eric and I pride ourselves on making everything from scratch: spaghetti sauce, sauces of all sorts, cakes, cookies, icing, you name it. If we buy pre-made cookies, it's to eat the dough, not the cookie. But last night, on a Target run, I went down the spice aisle, and there were those Girardelli brownies right next to the icing. Just like that, I said goodbye to Ina Garten's 100-step outrageous, homemade brownies, and sold my soul to the convenience of boxed mixes.
I knew this would happen. It was only a matter of time. During my last trimester, I was home with little school work to do- it was the only time I was able to fully concentrate on being pregnant and getting ready for Katie- I was a cooking fool. There was a constant supply of desserts on hand and I assure you, they were NOT pre-fab. Despite my seriously swollen ankles, I spent hours making the deep dish apple pies (the recipe from Thanksgiving), oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cakes, lime curd tarts, all from scratch. Of course, this, and my escalating blood pressure, may have had something to do with the thirty pounds I gained in the last twelve weeks of my pregnancy, but we ate very well last summer. I remember the day I started having contractions, I had made two loaves of cinnamon swirl bread, and the night before we went to the hospital (labor lasted over 50 hours), I made some sort of chicken and fontina dish I had seen on the food network. Oh, it was so good.
But, on our countertop, sits on a pan of brownies with canned frosting...did I mention I somehow miraculously fit into my pre-pregnancy pants? Just all of a sudden, I can wear my old jeans. Despite the brownies.
And now, to the tantrums. Previously, I stated Katie's been "asserting" herself. Last night, it turned into tantrums. She DOES NOT want to be held. She DOES NOT want to be in her play pen, and when she's tired of it, she DOES NOT want to be in high chair any more. We'll see how it goes at day care this week. I'll ask her teachers if she does the same thing with them, although the babies are only cooped up if they're sleeping in their cribs, so I imagine she'll be just fine.
What's brewing, though, is a meeting of the wills. Katie got her stubborn-genes from both sides, and she's up against the two of us- we'll see how long this lasts. This morning, Eric was cooking breakfast, I was trying to work, and she did NOT want to be in her high chair or her play pen. We just let her stew...
But! That brings me to: I think she's saying Mama...and we may have even heard Papa, too!!!!
I knew this would happen. It was only a matter of time. During my last trimester, I was home with little school work to do- it was the only time I was able to fully concentrate on being pregnant and getting ready for Katie- I was a cooking fool. There was a constant supply of desserts on hand and I assure you, they were NOT pre-fab. Despite my seriously swollen ankles, I spent hours making the deep dish apple pies (the recipe from Thanksgiving), oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cakes, lime curd tarts, all from scratch. Of course, this, and my escalating blood pressure, may have had something to do with the thirty pounds I gained in the last twelve weeks of my pregnancy, but we ate very well last summer. I remember the day I started having contractions, I had made two loaves of cinnamon swirl bread, and the night before we went to the hospital (labor lasted over 50 hours), I made some sort of chicken and fontina dish I had seen on the food network. Oh, it was so good.
But, on our countertop, sits on a pan of brownies with canned frosting...did I mention I somehow miraculously fit into my pre-pregnancy pants? Just all of a sudden, I can wear my old jeans. Despite the brownies.
And now, to the tantrums. Previously, I stated Katie's been "asserting" herself. Last night, it turned into tantrums. She DOES NOT want to be held. She DOES NOT want to be in her play pen, and when she's tired of it, she DOES NOT want to be in high chair any more. We'll see how it goes at day care this week. I'll ask her teachers if she does the same thing with them, although the babies are only cooped up if they're sleeping in their cribs, so I imagine she'll be just fine.
What's brewing, though, is a meeting of the wills. Katie got her stubborn-genes from both sides, and she's up against the two of us- we'll see how long this lasts. This morning, Eric was cooking breakfast, I was trying to work, and she did NOT want to be in her high chair or her play pen. We just let her stew...
But! That brings me to: I think she's saying Mama...and we may have even heard Papa, too!!!!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Katie's upper teeth?
As of, well, right now, Katie only has her two bottom teeth. But, when she's laughing (or crying, for that matter) on the changing table, I think I've spotted her two top teeth coming in. It looks like the ridges on her two bottom teeth, so we'll see.
I would say she's not fussier than usual, but that's not true. She's learning how to assert what she really wants to be doing, and that's one of three things: playing, crawling, or "walking." When she was born and I was learning how to breastfeed, we would finger-feed her formula. Those first few weeks, she would let out this adorable squeal (adorable only to me, I'm sure) whenever she wasn't getting enough to eat. I think that squeal may have stemmed from the immediate gratification of being finger-fed versus nursing, but we haven't heard it for awhile...until recently. Now, she'll squeal with impatience when I'm holding her on my lap for too long, for instance, instead of lending her my fingers to walk.
I'm wondering, though, if these top two teeth will put an end to breastfeeding. The bottom two didn't hurt, me or her. I guess the thing is, I haven't been breastfeeding too much this semester. Over Christmas break, I was trying to re-dedicate myself to nursing. An erratic schedule had depleted my supply, and I thought I was back on top of it over break. When she got dehydrated that last week before school started back up after largely rejecting the bottle, I decided it was time to quit nursing in order to monitor her fluid intake.
Emotionally, neither Katie nor I were ready for it. When I would go to bed, and she would wake back up, Eric would have to bring her to me in bed to nurse her back to sleep. And I realized it would be economically stupid: I would be home with her so much, feeding her formula just wouldn't make sense. And then, we put her in day care full-time through March and April. To alleviate some of the guilt, I started pumping more regularly so that she largely drinks breastmilk through the day. When we get home at night, it's her dinner of solids, and then a bottle before bed. So in reality, I nurse first thing in the morning, and that's about it.
I don't know when I'll wean her off the breast for good. If and when I have to have my thyroid scan this summer or fall, it will definitely have to be then. But if the doctor gives me the all-clear, I may nurse well past her first birthday. That is, of course, unless these two top teeth change all that.
I would say she's not fussier than usual, but that's not true. She's learning how to assert what she really wants to be doing, and that's one of three things: playing, crawling, or "walking." When she was born and I was learning how to breastfeed, we would finger-feed her formula. Those first few weeks, she would let out this adorable squeal (adorable only to me, I'm sure) whenever she wasn't getting enough to eat. I think that squeal may have stemmed from the immediate gratification of being finger-fed versus nursing, but we haven't heard it for awhile...until recently. Now, she'll squeal with impatience when I'm holding her on my lap for too long, for instance, instead of lending her my fingers to walk.
I'm wondering, though, if these top two teeth will put an end to breastfeeding. The bottom two didn't hurt, me or her. I guess the thing is, I haven't been breastfeeding too much this semester. Over Christmas break, I was trying to re-dedicate myself to nursing. An erratic schedule had depleted my supply, and I thought I was back on top of it over break. When she got dehydrated that last week before school started back up after largely rejecting the bottle, I decided it was time to quit nursing in order to monitor her fluid intake.
Emotionally, neither Katie nor I were ready for it. When I would go to bed, and she would wake back up, Eric would have to bring her to me in bed to nurse her back to sleep. And I realized it would be economically stupid: I would be home with her so much, feeding her formula just wouldn't make sense. And then, we put her in day care full-time through March and April. To alleviate some of the guilt, I started pumping more regularly so that she largely drinks breastmilk through the day. When we get home at night, it's her dinner of solids, and then a bottle before bed. So in reality, I nurse first thing in the morning, and that's about it.
I don't know when I'll wean her off the breast for good. If and when I have to have my thyroid scan this summer or fall, it will definitely have to be then. But if the doctor gives me the all-clear, I may nurse well past her first birthday. That is, of course, unless these two top teeth change all that.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Finding an outlet: An introduction
A few years ago, the word "blogosphere" made me shudder from its pretentiousness. And yet, here I am...so why?
First, I have an amazing daughter. Eric and I were just talking tonight about how we swear she's really five or ten years-old, but trapped in an eight month-olds body. She's beautiful, and I completely underestimated how much fun it would be to be a mother- and how much it would change my life, and my perspective on the world.
Second, we live far away from our families and most of our close friends. This way, we can keep in touch.
Third, and this is completely different: I'm an aspiring academic (re: doctoral student) wondering if there's not something better she could be doing with herself than aspiring to be an academic. What I mean by this is, I entered grad school basically to be a writer with an education. I want to change the world. And I'm beginning to see that academia isn't necessarily the place this happens, and that instead, it sometimes works to reinforce those things I wish to change.
Fourth, I want an outlet for my thoughts. This has a practical motivation: I need to be published, so I'll do it myself, darnit. And, I want to share my thoughts...so please understand that this blog will consist of Katie updates and political writing. But I'll be sparing and deliberate when I bring anyone's attention to this blog...
So this brings me to this blog: I'm a writer. I'm a journalist. I'm an activist. I care deeply about human rights, but I don't see how writing research papers for the rest of my life accomplishes that, by itself. I'm a feminist. And I'm a mother (and a wife). Put this all together, and I need an outlet- what better place than the democratic internet(s)?
In short, I'm a mother wondering how to raise her daughter using the tools of my education. How can I set an example, and help Katie become a self-assured, self-reliant, independent assertive woman? I'm also searching for ways- via little acts of subversion- to engage in praxis: how can I practice what I learn?
With that, I'll end with my favorite quote:
Those of us who stand outside the circle of this society's definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucible of difference...know that survival is not an academic skill. It is learning how to stand alone, unpopular and sometimes reviled, and how to make common cause with those others identified as outside the structures in order to define and seek a world in which we can all flourish. For the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. -Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider
First, I have an amazing daughter. Eric and I were just talking tonight about how we swear she's really five or ten years-old, but trapped in an eight month-olds body. She's beautiful, and I completely underestimated how much fun it would be to be a mother- and how much it would change my life, and my perspective on the world.
Second, we live far away from our families and most of our close friends. This way, we can keep in touch.
Third, and this is completely different: I'm an aspiring academic (re: doctoral student) wondering if there's not something better she could be doing with herself than aspiring to be an academic. What I mean by this is, I entered grad school basically to be a writer with an education. I want to change the world. And I'm beginning to see that academia isn't necessarily the place this happens, and that instead, it sometimes works to reinforce those things I wish to change.
Fourth, I want an outlet for my thoughts. This has a practical motivation: I need to be published, so I'll do it myself, darnit. And, I want to share my thoughts...so please understand that this blog will consist of Katie updates and political writing. But I'll be sparing and deliberate when I bring anyone's attention to this blog...
So this brings me to this blog: I'm a writer. I'm a journalist. I'm an activist. I care deeply about human rights, but I don't see how writing research papers for the rest of my life accomplishes that, by itself. I'm a feminist. And I'm a mother (and a wife). Put this all together, and I need an outlet- what better place than the democratic internet(s)?
In short, I'm a mother wondering how to raise her daughter using the tools of my education. How can I set an example, and help Katie become a self-assured, self-reliant, independent assertive woman? I'm also searching for ways- via little acts of subversion- to engage in praxis: how can I practice what I learn?
With that, I'll end with my favorite quote:
Those of us who stand outside the circle of this society's definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucible of difference...know that survival is not an academic skill. It is learning how to stand alone, unpopular and sometimes reviled, and how to make common cause with those others identified as outside the structures in order to define and seek a world in which we can all flourish. For the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. -Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
