Dr. Callie

Well, I successfully defended my dissertation and after much frustration and angst, got it turned in in time to officially say August 2014 is my graduation date. Maybe sometime I'll feel like writing in more detail about what the final few months were like, but for now I'll just say it felt like I was jumping onto a moving train and holding onto the railing for dear life.

What am I doing now? Well, my adviser and I have started a new collaboration with a group at MIT, they were very interested in my model/sim. I've turned the last few chapters of my thesis into a manuscript that we're working through and getting ready to submit as my fourth publication. Officially, my contract is through the end of August, but there is the slim possibility that I might be able to stay on for a temporary post-doc until I find a job. In the meantime, I'm taking some online courses on basic Computer Science concepts and programming languages to make myself a better candidate for a Software Engineering position. At this point in time, I have one interview for a company (don't want to say who right now) in a few weeks, and I've applied for an additional 4 jobs. I'm really trying to take my time with the process so I can make sure I'm considering only the best opportunities and don't put myself in a position to settle.

What our life has been up to:

Our summer has consisted of an uptake in exercise. I'm sad that the summer is coming to a close and need to come up with a plan for how to continue the routine once the cold weather kicks in and my boot camp program ends. MWF I go to boot camp in the mornings and frequently come home to this sweet scene:

 TTSu Brian meets his running club and comes home to the reverse (i.e. Juliana and Mom). Once Juliana started climbing out of her crib earlier this year, we changed her bed to the toddler bed, but her stint in that bed was quite short. She's now consistently sleeping in the twin bed in her room, complete with at least 5 blankets in the middle of summer even though it makes her too hot. We did have a gate outside of her door once the climbing out of the crib began, but we've now removed it from her door, and she's so much happier at bedtime. If she wakes up in the middle of the night, she actually stays in her bed crying out for Dada, but in the morning she quietly wakes up and comes into our room for a morning snuggle before getting up for the day. Sometimes she'll fall back asleep.

Playing.

 Going on a run with Dad around the cul de sac.

We went to the orchard and picked strawberries, just like last year. Our visit this year was much shorter than last year (we got there late and most of the strawberries had already been picked), and she ate almost as much as she picked. Including the stems.

Juliana loves playing with her baby dolls. On the steps are Araya and Araya's sister.

She is learning how to dress herself and get into drawers, so she wanted to wear Mom's underwear one day. We've taken baby steps to potty training by implementing a sticker chart, but we also aren't majorly pushing it because of a few things: (1) she's not to the point where she can control her toddler impulses by stopping play to go to the potty (2) our road trips to visit friends and family will significantly change once she needs a potty on the turnpike and we're 20 miles from the next service station (3) she's still perfecting getting her pants on and off and (4) she's getting much better at recognizing when she needs to pee/poop but she's not totally there yet.

July 4th was a busy day for us. We started off with Brian running in a 5k (placed 1st in his age group). Juliana was thrilled with the free donuts and wanted to run with him. Apparently she needs to be 4 years old to compete.

After the 5k, we picked up Grandma and Bill and went to Idlewild, the kids amusement park near Pittsburgh. We got there in time to have a packed lunch, including some 4th of July themed sugar cookies.

Juliana loved going through the Storybook Forest which depicts nursery rhymes, and stories. I felt like we were constantly pushing her through to the next house or scene, just because there was so much to be done there and I was trying to see how she'd do with messing up her mid-day nap schedule.

Seeing the school house.

Enjoying a lollipop from the pirate ship while sitting in the Little Engine That Could.

 Trying to pull out the sword in the stone.

Enjoying the view inside the Old Woman's Shoe.

We got to visit Daniel Tiger, but I think she was a little scared by the sheer size of him!

 Finally, she got to ride some rides for little kids! I think she would've had more fun had there been other little kids with her. She rode a few rides, but then started to have a meltdown toward the end (tiredness) because she wanted Mommy and Daddy to stay with her on the ride.

"Cheese!" face!

Wiped out on the way home.

Juliana has been trying lots of new foods, and throughly enjoyed her taco (although she took it apart and then saw us eating ours like normal tacos and wanted a new one).

With her hair getting longer, and trying to grow her bangs out a bit (so they're always getting in her face), we've been trying lots of new hairstyles. Like a single ponytail:

A headband-type braid:

Or two braids:

 You might wonder how she sits still during this process, and it's with the help of Elmo or Curious George on the iPad.

The end of July was a time when we were going to Pipestem for a week with the whole family. We headed down to Nana and Papa's early though to help and visit. Juliana loved getting to be outside and help with the planting.

 Side note: that purple hat came from REI. We went there to look for some new running shirts for Brian, and she found this hat and fell in love. I didn't want to just give it to her without a real reason, so I told her she could get it if she used the potty. Most expensive potty trip ;-)

Helping Nana, or taking Nana where Juliana wants to go?

Pipestem was a great trip. So much different than 2 years ago. 2 years ago, Juliana was 3 months old, so Brian and I were super tired the whole time. At the beginning of the week we got the news that Dad's cancer was back so he and Mom left for treatment. It was fun, but tough. This year, Juliana had some new cousins to play with, and she loved the freedom of going outside at every possible moment, constantly having someone to play with, and the playground that was behind the cabin where she would sit and swing for a long time. It was fun for me to see her enjoying all the fun parts of going to Pipestem that I remember from being little and our trips, plus I'm already looking forward to the next trip 2 years from now.

 One of the last days we took the gondola down to the river where she played with her cousins. The tram was "loud" which is why she's covering her ears.

Last weekend we had a friend (9 mo old) for a sleep over and as a prelude to the experience, I kept asking Juliana if she'd be my big helper. She did a great job. There was about an hour in the middle of the night when both kids were awake (one crying, the other big girl wanted Mommy with her in the room the whole time), and a few tears over needing to let baby borrow her duckie towel, and baby interested in her baby dolls. But other than that, she did great. As a special reward we took her to Toys R Us to pick out a toy. I told her before we went into the store that we would see a lot of new toys that she would want but we were only going to get one. She did fantastic in the store. She definitely has moments of impulsiveness, but in the toy store she did great. I took her around to see some different types of toys (little person, baby dolls, kitchen, duplos, etc), but she really wanted the twin stroller. It's not like she needs anymore toys, I know, but I just couldn't resist and I was so impressed by how well behaved she was at the store.

I've also been working on lots of new craft projects. Most of the knitting projects are gifts and so I can't post pictures yet. I got frustrated about a month ago when there was a full moon outside and the light was streaming in behind our blinds right across my pillow into my face. I've also been worried about Juliana sleeping in the twin bed with the cords for the blinds near her. I don't think she'd mess with them, but the stories you hear... So anyway, I figured out a way to make an essentially cordless Roman shade by putting the cords in between the patterned curtain and the blackout liner behind it. The cord to pull the shade up comes out the top corner pocket. Outside of that, I put them together with fabric glue, a wooden down at the bottom, and slip stitching the curtain fabric over and onto the blackout lining. I made 2 curtains for our bedroom and 2 for Juliana's bedroom. The amount it darkens the room is unreal, and all of us sleep so much better.

 One of the lab members is expecting a boy in a few weeks so I enjoyed making this diaper cake for her mini-shower with the lab on Monday. I used 88 NB diapers and 3 sleep and plays to create the cake layers. I then used straws to put the layers stacked together. I wrapped tulle around the layers and then added on the blue ribbon bows. The additional gift is a "Welcome Home" kit which I put into a plastic box the size of a shoebox. I'll include details in another post about ideas for baby shower gifts, because I came up with a couple of great ones!

Juliana is doing great. Her new phrase is "I think so" but it sounds more like "I fink so". She also says "I don't think so". She is starting to dress herself, mostly at our encouraging. I realize that this can make morning and nighttime routine even longer, but it's an important skill for her to learn!