Positive comments!

I have some good things to share about how the end of the job transition has gone.

I had a casual conversation with my boss the other day, a get-to-know-you kind of thing, and it turns out he's a biker, too! He and I were reminiscing over some of the hardest Ragbrai days in the past few years, and one was the day we biked into Audubon into a headwind so strong that you had to pedal to get down the hills (and of course, up them, too). The day after was much easier, into Waukee, and then I remembered that the day after was the day that I had my stitches taken out after my accident. I kind of blurted it out before I realized that I didn't want my new boss to know what a retard I was in nearly killing myself, but it turns out he had already heard about it!! I didn't even know the person who told him, so word was REALLY getting around Deere. My reputation, it appears, had preceded me. He's a pretty funny guy, tho, and he's already gotten a couple of glass-shard-related jokes at my expense. Makes me feel welcome, anyway! (and, stupid, all over again).


I felt a lot better, tho, when I had confessed to him that I was happy to be in this position regardless of part-time or not because my previous working relationship with my manager left a lot to be desired. He said he could tell from my year-end comments (which I hadn't realized he'd read... ) and that they seemed to be "out of line" with what other managers had said in their comments. He has said since then that he has high expectations, and that the few things I'm working are critical to accomplish.

I also had a conversation with his boss's boss (3 levels higher than me). This guy said he likes to interview everyone who comes into his organization (a couple hundred, probably), but that I had snuck past him in the way I got hired. But he had read my resume and my past year-end comments from previous managers and thought I was worth a shot after reading those. He said they don't give just anybody the opportunity to work part-time. So, after I had sent a (pathetic) email to HR at IVS, they sent it to this guy first. He must've looked me up immediately, because I got a call the very next day from HR saying they had interest. I was so flattered that he read about me and thought I was worth giving a chance. AND, he had read Tom's comments!! So, as worried as I was that Tom had somehow marred my Deere reputation by putting those asshole comments in about me, I have built up enough clout on my own that his remarks seem out of place to other managers (Managers worth working for, I might add). I can't tell you how good I feel having these positive comments said to me. :) Ahh...

Emily is really close to being able to sit on her own. In her bouncy chair, she tucks her chin down like she's trying to sit up, although she's pretty wobbly on her own. She likes grabbing at toys, and we're looking around the living room trying to decide when and how to babyproof. At her 4-month check-up, she weighed 16 lbs (90th percentile), and length is 26 1/4" (95th). She cried in my arms through the post-vaccine fever, which breaks my heart but she fared a little better than last time. And, on the bright side for me, at least she was a little bit snuggly for a while!

A very full life

So it's weird to think that I thought I had a very full life before Emily was born. There's so much that's been added to my life that I wonder what has been replaced and leaked out. My whole social world is changing. We were supposed to go to "prom" in Ames on Saturday night, but there was a snowstorm so we skipped. It would've been no problem to go if we didn't have Emily, but the thought of being stuck in a ditch with a baby in a snowstorm in the middle of the night was too much of a risk for us to take. I was pretty bummed to miss it - a bunch of old farts in retro prom dresses and free beer - but on the other hand I got a very good night's sleep and had a happy morning with Emily that I would've been too tired to enjoy had I been out dancing the night before. It's frustrating that in order to have a good time the way I used to, I have to give up something - sleep, schedule, productive time, something. There's really no way around it. *sigh*

I ate some dark chocolate M&M's tonight after dinner, and after it took an extra hour to get Emily to sleep tonight, I looked up the caffeine content and it turns out I had quite a bit!! I guess it's nice that she wasn't crying, just happily awake, and hopefully she'll sleep a bit later in the morning because of it. I probably will jinx it by telling you this, but Emily has slept through the night for the past week - 7 nights in a row. It has been wonderful!

Day care

Emily seems to be having a good time at daycare. Our provider Amanda is absolutely wonderful - she does all kinds of things with the kids, and doesn't hesitate to include Emily in the older kid stuff like storytime and exchanging "valentines" (scribbles on paper scraps). Emily probably thinks she's as big as the other kids are, watching and learning from them, and they sure seem to like her too. And, Amanda writes down what Emily does during the day, with quite a bit of fun detail which I just LOVE. Here are a few of my favorites from over the past few days:

"Read books in Emma's room ~ Emily happily listening, content"
"Tummy time ~ did awesome lifting up her head! She loved "chatting" with the boys."
"Changed blow-out diaper, laundered outfit"
"One-on-one play ~ Baby Brain Games Activities. What a smiley girl :) "
"Held, bouncing ~ guiding her not to hit at me & kids"

Doesn't it sound like she's having fun? There are days of course where she has a hard time, and spends the day mostly unhappy. Monday, Travis picked her up and said that Amanda looked pretty tired, and we should probably start budgeting for hazard pay! The worst part isn't picking her up afterwards, but going to take her back the next time. I just can't shake the feeling that if I prepare better or do things right, she'll have an easier time, even though I know there's no way that can be true. My heart still aches a little, and I feel immensely better when I pick her up and she's happy, or content and sleeping.

Tomorrow, Emily goes to her first Iowa State basketball game, and next week she and I are going to Rockford to spend a day. All in all, things are going pretty well for us. :)

Growing so fast!

Hope everybody had a good Groundhog's Day!

Saturday was the BRR ride - a 26-mile bike ride - so my parents came down, and Travis, Dan, and Dad went off and bike while my mom and Emily and I played. We went up to Ames last night to celebrate a college friend's escape from credit card debt, so we are pretty tired today. I can't believe how wiped out I am today! Emily is too - she's been asleep for 2 hours now, when a normal nap for her is about 50 minutes.

She's pretty amazing these days. Her pictures of course are at the link to the right. She is learning to sit up on her own, although rolling over still eludes her. She loves to hear herself talk, apparently, since she'll babble while she's playing with toys. She particularly likes to play with this litle gurgle in her throat, and she sounds like a soprano Chewbacca. She has started to figure out how to use her hands - within the last week or so, she's started reaching a hand out and hitting whatever toy she's looking at. And then she pulls it to her mouth, without fail, whether she actually has a grip on the toy or not! She is the size of an average 6-month old, at one week shy of 4-months. She has pooped out nearly every outfit she's worn for the last week, so we're starting to put her in bigger diapers (the 16-22 lb size!), not so much for the size of her booty but to contain the quantity of output. She's SO hard to hold onto now, cuz she wiggles constantly, like jumping and trying to climb up over my shoulder. She's amazing, and I'm having so much fun being her mom. Her smiles and excited talking - unbelievable. I just love it :)

My house is filthy, there's practically nothing to eat in the kitchen, and I'm too exhausted to do the laundry so Travis is doing it while watching Family Guy's spoof of Star Wars ("Blue Harvest"). It's actually pretty funny, even if you don't have the Star Wars movies memorized. It's a pretty nice weekend at the Sullivans'!