In everyone's family there is at least one crazy

My Dad's side of the family seemed to have some how gotten more than there fair share of the crazy though.  We had an unplanned extra trip to Maine this weekend to attend the funeral of my great Aunt Rose.  She was my Dad's aunt and was a colorful and interesting character.  Her health had been declining over the last several years, and took a turn for the worst in the last couple of months.  She died last Sunday, May 24th, in the hospital of heart failure, end-stage kidney disease, and pneumonia at the ripe old age of 92.  While I have certainly known this woman all my life, being one of 3 members of my Dad's side of the family that we consistently visited, she was not an easy person to be close with.  With those she loved, she was generous and caring, but she had an ornery streak a mile wide that made me a little intimidated of her for as long as I can remember.  I have many good memories of her...she was famous for announcing as we were heading out from a visit that "Aunt Rose Loves You!" and she always provided us with some juicy bit of family gossip to mull over until the next time we visited.  She loved Tim, and began hitting on him long before we were ever married, Aunt Rose loved him too! :)  Before she began showing significant signs of age, she loved to cook and spent a great deal of time at Christmas talking about making her "Cow Pies."  Thankfully, it sounds a lot more disgusting than it really was (just peanut butter patties covered in chocolate).  

Since my Dad's side of the family has been weeded down so much over the years (many long stories that I will someday write, but never post out of respect for the fact that skeletons sometimes just need to remain in closets), we all felt it was extremely important to make the time to attend the services.  We spent Friday night at the wake and then the funeral was Saturday morning.  I spent a great deal of the last week worrying about Noah's behavior through these events.  Noah has never been to a full church service and as a toddler on the extremely active end of the scales, you might see why I was a bit concerned about all of this.  He behaved like an angel Friday evening at the funeral home where we spent some time with familiar friends and where he met a number of member's of my Dad's family, most of whom had never laid eyes on him.  He ran around the hallways of the funeral home a bit, and thankfully my Dad's youngest sister, Laurie, brought her two children who had a blast looking after Noah and helping him to stay out of trouble so I could visit a little.  I saw members of Dad's side of the family for the first time in decades, many of whom had distinct trouble remembering if my first name was Christine or Christina...if you don't know, then perhaps I shouldn't be wasting my time talking with you thanks!  I was glad I went for Rachel & Pris (Aunt Rose's 2 daughters and the only other members of Dad's family we ever saw regularly), but in general it was awkward and I was only too happy to cut out a little early when Noah started indicating it was time for bed.

Saturday morning arrived and off we went back to the funeral home to meet up as both Tims, and Dad were all pall bearers.  We organized transportation and were on our way.  As we arrived at the church, there was the usual solomn air to the environment and as we stepped through the doors into the prayer space I laid eyes on something I never thought I would see at a funeral, Elvis, Elvis Presley.  There he was plain as day in the first row of the back section, in a white, multi-colored bedazzled jumpsuit, complete with cape, sunglasses, and wig with side burns.  I may have audibly gasped, I can't be sure, but I wasn't the only one who noticed obviously.  The usually very professional and respectable funeral director turned to the pall bearers and ever so calmly announced in an unaffected tone that only a funeral director could pull off that "oh look, Elvis has entered the building."  It was about the most inappropriate thing I could think to do at a funeral, but somehow, being a member of my Dad's side of the family, it didn't surprise me all that much.  I knew there was no way we would escape the day without some form of drama, and at least I have a story to tell now! :)  

Thankfully the service for Aunt Rose was beautiful, very well done and respectful and Elvis turned out to be one of my Dad's countless cousin's and a son of one of Aunt Rose's brothers.  He stayed in full "King" regalia until he left the luncheon afterward supposedly on his way to an Elvis impersonation gig, which is one of his sources of income.  Only at an event involving my Dad's side of the family can something like this happen! (Sorry for the less than ideal quality picture, it was taken on my brother's iPhone stealthfully in an attempt to not create more of a scene than what was already taking place!)

In other news, Noah did a great job and was a very good little man throughout the 2 days.  We did have to spend some of the funeral out in the hallway watching through the glass to avoid disrupting everyone else, but I think it was important for him to be there.  He slept like an angel in the car after church, while we were at the cemetary, and until we got back to the funeral home to pick up cars on the way to the luncheon.  While quite a bit of food ended up on the floor underneath his high chair at lunch, he was a really good little man and impressed many family member's with his manners and how well-behaved he was.  Another major event navigated, let's hope for less drama, and no more Elvis...a boring week would be welcome!

(You can just barely make out Elvis in the top left background of this picture depicting Noah's ability to enjoy spinach dip as well as the rest of them!)

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

Phew! We had a very busy holiday weekend here. Usually I like to have a little less work and a little more fun going on for the holidays, but we are still playing catch up from the time-stretched semester we just finished. We had some plans to clean up the yard (the weeds on the "lawn" were actually going to seed on us!!), catch up on some errands and laundry, and then relax and have fun on Monday. Tim had to work Saturday and was supposed to work half a day on Sunday in exchange for Monday off. I wasn't surprised when he called and said he wasn't going to be home until closer to 3pm...oh well, such is the grocery business. I ended up getting quite a bit of cleaning done, the patio furniture was clean enough to sit on, Noah's play house and toys were dusted free of most of the green pollen film that is ever present this time of year, and the kitchen was mostly presentable. Noah and I spent some time running around Saturday morning running errands, and did find him a sprinkler for when it decides to consistently stay warmer than 65 degrees. Its cute, in the shape of a sunflower and its the perfect size for Noah. It doesn't do anything fancy, just spray water, which is kind of the whole point isn't it? Pictures to come when the weather warms up some more.

Monday we had a lunch planned with a friend of ours from New Zealand. She came over for a cookout and some quality time with Noah of course. There was a mutual adoration society going on between the two of them. Within 15 minutes of her arrival, Noah had a new best friend, of course Donna loved every minute of it as well!

After lunch, the whole group of us walked to the T stop together. Donna headed back to her temporary home to do much needed laundry and the 3 of us headed into the city for some walking and people watching. And were there ever people to watch. The Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market areas were a zoo. We spent some time walking around there, checking some things out. Then, we walked to the water front and took a walk around the park there for a while. We let Noah run loose since he had been strapped into the stroller for so long. He loved every minute of it, but kept looking back occasionally to make sure Mommy wasn't too far behind.


We found a cute little playground and let Noah run around in there for a while, but he didn't really seem too interested in staying. He kept going over to the gate and pointing and whining to go out. I guess he figures we bring him to playgrounds all the time and he doesn't get to roam in open parks often, so he wanted to continue his exploration.


We walked all along the waterfront, down by the marina, near the New England Aquarium, and then back over to Quincy Market to find some dinner.


While we were down by the water, we got a couple of cute pictures with the little dude. So cute in his bucket hat, no?


Noah got tired of walking after a bit and wasn't really in the mood to get back in the stroller, so Tim hoisted him up on his shoulders. Noah loves to be up there, but really needs to work on his shoulder riding etiquette some. He spent a great deal of time using Tim's ears as reigns, grabbing his nose to hold on, it was quite comical to watch, but I imagine less fun to experience first hand (if Tim thinks that is bad, he should try breastfeeding!).


Dinner was a bit of a debacle, the initial indecision over where to eat in the first place, an extra slow waiter, the restaurant we ultimately chose running out of some really common ingredients, etc., but all in all it was a good day. (Incidentally, Noah was a perfect angel at the restaurant despite the slowness, he ended up with more patience for the situation than Tim and I had). It was very nice to be out and get some sun and fresh air. As long as we plan our eating plans before we go out next time, we should be good to go.

Our fun but unnecessary trip to Maine

As you can see by the title, we spent the past weekend in Maine, hanging with all of the Memeres and Peperes and getting an admittedly much needed break from the city. The point of the trip wasn't strictly for visiting, though that was an added bonus. We really needed out of the apartment because the landlord was supposed to be having some guys in to re-grout and glaze the tiles in the shower. The shower has been a problem for over a year and a half at least. The grout and the caulking are constantly getting moldy and full of mildew from the inside and rotting away, leaving room for more leaking and mold and loose tiles. Tim has done some basic work on it once already before Noah was born, but the landlord, in his typical lazy, apathetic fashion has been ignoring the problem for quite some time. When the water starting running in streams into the basement and was eroding a hole near the foundation, I reiterated the problem and as a stop gap, installed a second shower curtain on the back wall of the shower to alleviate the leaking. Finally, the landlord got off his hind end and both parties agreed upon a weekend when the repairs would take place. We planned a weekend trip up north specifically so that all creatures, human and feline, would be out of the house so the work could be done and we could all avoid the fumes. (You see where this is going right?)

Friday morning I get an email saying the glaze guys were in, took one look at the extent of the damage, and left saying the wall board behind the tile was rotted (keep in mind I told the landlord this over a year and a half ago) and that he wouldn't glaze until repairs were made. The landlord assured me that he would have one of "his guys" come in over the weekend to make the repairs, glazing would be rescheduled until early June (enter another potential weekend evacuation), and the shower would be functional by the time we arrived home on Sunday evening. Okay, fine. Sunday morning I check my email again only to find that no one has actually done anything at all on the shower all weekend and that "his guy Winston" would be coming in on Thursday to remove the tiles, replace the rotten wall board, re-tile, and re-grout. Plastic sheeting would be put up to protect the curing grout and all would be functional for our Friday morning showers. I am not holding my breath. We'll see tomorrow when "Winston" arrives and gets a good look at the extent of the damage.

While the shower wasn't getting fixed, we at least made the best of things and did a couple of fun activities around town. Our Boston Children's Museum memberships get us in to countless other children's museums for free, so we spent a cold and damp Saturday at the Portland Children's Museum checking things out. Its definitely a lot smaller than Boston, but its really cute and Noah had a blast touching everything. Here he is checking out the air jets that were keeping the beach balls floating in the air above his head. He could have cared less about the floating ball, for him it was all about the fun black tube!


We checked out the rest of the exhibits, he tried on a miniature version of a fire fighter's gear, we touched a star fish, he had a blast banging on a Chinese gong, he almost stole a stuffed owl puppet from their nature exhibit (Noah and stuffed animals are an instant match made in heaven), and he even got to "fly" a fighter jet, see...


After the museum, we went out to dinner at a local seafood place with Memere L. and Tom, Memere & Pepere B., and our family friends, the Kings. Great food, a waitress who loves kids and a plate of macaroni and cheese and all was right with the world. Noah sat happily in his high chair and sampled a bit of everything from onion rings (yes, the child actually liked them), to some fish, scallops, his mac & cheese, some of my garlic mashed potatoes, and probably about 50 other things. Nobody can say the kid doesn't like food, and he certainly isn't picky. Overall he was a perfect angel in the restaurant, no food throwing, minimal loudness, who could ask for anything more!

Sunday was a bit more of a lazy day. We hung out in the sunroom. Pepere L. came to visit for lunch and a couple of hours of helping Noah learn how to step up out of the sunroom and step down back into the sunroom. Funny how that sort of simple thing never gets old for a toddler just learning the skill. He was one happy boy.


Later in the afternoon, the sun came out and it warmed up a bit so Memere B. and I decided to take the little man to visit the beach. This is somehow the first time we have actually made it to the real ocean-type beach. We, of course spent a week last July at the lake with the sandy beach there. I imagine Noah doesn't remember a stitch of that since he was only 6 months old. Let's just say, Noah was not the biggest fan of the experience. From the minute I stuck his little toes into the dry sand he started furrowing his brow and whining his concerns over the scenario.


We tried to move him down closer to the water where the sand was a bit firmer, but nothing doing. He wouldn't sit down and play with his sand toys until we put down a towel for his highness. He played a bit, but not with his usual enthusiasm and he would occasionally look around and let out an adorable concerned little whimper. When his hand actually touched the sand, he would immediately hold it out to me to be brushed off. When else is he actually concerned about being dirty???? Strange little man, but let's hope as the weather warms up more and he has a few more exposures to the beach, he will come to appreciate the ocean as much as his momma does. Better luck next time I guess...at least it wasn't a 2 hour drive to get there!

More swimming success

Noah seems to be really enjoying our Monday morning swimming classes.  He has been learning new skills every week, and he is really starting to amaze me with how much he seems to love being in the water with me.  Last week during our "free play" period he learned to kick his legs!  It doesn't seem like much, but for a little guy who just learned about 2 weeks ago what his legs were, that is a major feat!  Every class, the instructor has us put the babies' hands on the wall and encourage them to kick their legs.  Most of the time this results in confused looks and not much kicking.  When the instructor came around and encouraged Noah to kick his legs while she physically moved his legs in a kicking motion, something seemed to click in his head.  He became a kicking fiend and must have spent a good 15 minutes straight just kicking away (while I did all of the hard work and propelled him through the water).  

This Monday, Noah sort of learned to blow bubbles in the water.  At least he tested out putting his face in a couple of times.  Our course the mommies demonstrate bubble blowing a couple of times to get the little ones used to it.  Once Noah saw Mommy do this he decided he needed to see it a couple more times, so he shoved my face back in the water a couple times for me to do some more bubble blowing demonstrations.  He decided that since Mommy was doing it, he certainly could try it out.  He stuck his little face in the water and blew some bubbles, lifted his head up and smiled proudly, stuck his face in again and blew some more bubbles, and laughed, then he stuck his little face in a third time and did what every toddler does, he inhaled.  There was coughing and sputtering, but later in the class he did try it out again, so there is still hope for the little swimming wonder.  Too cute!  Its exciting for me to see him love being in the water as much as he does, hopefully it continues as he grows so we can spend time swimming together sometime soon!  June 1st is the last class for this session and unfortunately the summer classes all run in 1 week increments, with classes 5 days per week...obviously that isn't working with our schedule.  So come September, we'll be signing back up again for some more Mommy & Noah swimming fun.

Parenthood: The unexpected, Part 1

In many ways no matter how prepared for parenthood you think you are after taking the childbirth classes, reading every parenting book ever published, and seeking the advice of helpful and unhelpful sources alike, you can never really be prepared for the atom bomb proportion of changes your life will experience when you become a parent. The types of places you go out to shifts, the restaurants you eat at changes, and you shop at different stores for different things.

One thing I never would have expected is that people will treat you differently when you become a parent. You get smiles from perfect strangers when you are out with a perfectly behaved and happy toddler and either looks of pity and understanding or utter disdain when you are unfortunate enough to be out in public with an overtired and hungry little person. Even more shocking are the people who give you the feeling that you are toting around a communicable disease when you walk through the door with your child. I had my first experience with this unpleasant type of human being yesterday evening on an innocent trip to a local bookstore.

Noah has entered a phase where he love to be read to, for hours over the course of a day. He has favorite books that are quickly becoming memorized due to their seemingly endless repetition. Now, while I complain occasionally due to the over reading of certain favorites (i.e., Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?), I am absolutely head over heels ecstatic that he seem to be loving reading. A love of reading will hopefully lead to a love of learning and school and its a passion that will carry you countless places in life. Long story short, we needed to add some variety to the current library so I wouldn't grow homicidal of the poor Brown Bear! Enter our intended walk to Porter Square Books last night. It is a local independent bookstore in the area that has gotten wonderful reviews, is rumored to have a great kid's selection, and was in walking distance of our place to boot! We had high hopes for this place.

Noah was strapped quietly in his stroller when we entered the store. We didn't realize that there was an author speaking that evening, but figured we would just check out the kid's books, find some keepers fairly quickly, and be on our way. Within 2 minutes of reaching the kid's section, we were asked by an employee to put Noah's quiet musical toy away. I was a bit put out by the way the employee asked, but understood that people were actually interested in listening to the author drone on about how wonderful his writing is. Where I draw the line is when a customer, who was clearly there not to spend money, but instead to listen to the speaker, came up to us and asked us to pick our books and move on. The speaker was apparently a friend of hers and the wee man's very quiet babbling was disturbing her listening experience. She danced around the bush and attempted to save face when I came out and asked her point blank if she wanted us to leave? She didn't come out and say it, but was clearly quite satisfied when we decided that as paying customers we suddenly didn't feel welcome enough to spend any money. On what planet is it not okay to bring a quiet, contained, and very well-behaved toddler into a book store....IN THE KID'S SECTION to pick out some new books???? I have honestly never been so insulted in my entire life. At first I was embarrassed that we had somehow caused a scene, but then upon reflection, I realized that we hadn't actually done anything wrong at all! Instead we had just encountered a miserly old woman who clearly has never had children (or she would have known how well-behaved he was being in comparison to what it could have been) and was far more interested in her own self centered desires to consider that other people might have an agenda too. In the process of making us feel 2 inches tall for daring to bring a child into a bookstore that is open to the public, she ensured that we would never be shopping there again. Instead we'll walk the 3 tenths of a mile further down the road to a CHILDREN'S ONLY bookstore established by a couple of mother's who know what its like to raise and nurture a small person. Lesson learned, never again will I back down or apologize when someone tells me to take my well-behaved child else where!

Playing in the backyard

We have been having a great time in the backyard the last week or so.  There is playing, and a bubble machine, and running in and out of his house, and me asking him repeatedly to please not slam the door.  There is also Noah attempting to drink out of the gas hose and running around with his "cordless phone" like his life depends on it.  All in all, its a great time and it certainly beats me chasing him out of the driveway every 2 minutes! :) 

Here are a couple of pictures of the fun from this week.  We finally got the wee dude to appreciate the adorableness of his bucket hat.  At least now when we got to the beach, he will keep it on his head long enough to protect him from the sun. (Notice the presence of the phone?)

Now he is actually talking on the phone.  We're not sure who he is calling, but at least he isn't ringing up the phone bill.

We also had some good fun at breakfast on Saturday morning.  Mommy and Noah had the same breakfast, some whole grain waffles dipped in blueberry yogurt and some strawberries.  Noah truly got into the dipping part.  It is new favorite activity and he is surprisingly good at it.  Terribly cute watching him pick up a piece of hot dog, dip carefully in ketchup and then into the mouth it goes!

After breakfast and the ensuing clean up we played outside in the sandbox.  I attempted to use the table as it was initially intended, with water on one side and a sand area on the other.  When it first arrived, my initial instinct was to fill the whole thing with sand to prevent a mud pit from forming.  After a couple of weeks, I started to reconsider and thought perhaps that I was being too uptight (not me??) and Uncle Tim and I moved the sand over to one side and filled it with water.  After one afternoon of watching Noah dump all the water on the sand side, himself, the ground, mush the wet sand up and then start throwing it, I decided my first instinct was absolutely correct.  The water disappeared and its a sand table again.  Maybe we can try the water again later in the summer

After some dusting off, we decided to go for a walk around the driveway.  Noah has taken a huge interest in the cars lately.  He likes to check the tires out, poke his finger in the grill, try to open the doors.  It was high time he got a chance behind the wheel to test out his button pressing skills.  I don't think he missed any of the buttons, and he certainly seemed to be having a good time!

Happy Mother's Day

We had a really nice Mother's day here at home this year. We decided against the traditional meal out in favor of the first beer can chicken of the summer. Memere & Pepere B. drove down from Maine to join us and of course Uncle Tim didn't want to miss out on the tasty chicken action either. Tim got up with the wee man and let me sleep until almost 8:30am. We had a tasty pancake breakfast and got ready for the day. The boys got me some wonderful cards and a great gift. Instead of jewelry or knick knacks, they decided to give me a long weekend trip to the Cape next month. Tim and I have been before, but its one of those places that is so close that you don't think of going...that and with Tim's work schedule we hardly ever have more than 1 day off together a week. How fun will it be to all go together for a mini-vacation to the beach for some rest and relaxation. Of course there will also be the toddler running around to chase after, but hey, we'll be chasing him somewhere else other than home for a few days. I have such wonderful boys to spoil me...how lucky can a girl get. Thank you both for a wonderful mother's day!

Memere, Mommy, & Noah (not the greatest picture, but it was taken on Mother's Day at least!)

And of course Noah decided to help out with the chores for Mother's Day. Here he is mowing the patio!

We don't own a house, but Noah does

Based on Noah's love affair with being outside, Tim and I decided this weekend that perhaps we needed to start filling out the space in the backyard. If you remember from last year, we still have the cute little swing attached to the back porch. That is as popular as ever, if not more so.
Please see Exhibit A:

He will literally stand below the swing pointing up at it and grunting emphatically until you put him up in there and start pushing. He laughs hysterically and loves every minute of it. Dare you try and take him out before he is properly finished, the little dude will clutch the red bar with his feet and start pulling it back towards himself indicating that you should abandon all plans of removing him from the swing and instead reattach the safety clips and resume the swinging if you don't mind. And if you do mind, too bad for you...a temper tantrum will be invoked upon your sorry soul. He is a man who clearly has no opinions about anything.

Incidentally, here is a picture of one such tantrum. This was from Sunday when I brought the little man inside for lunch. He had been up for close to 5 hours at this point, and had played hard that morning. I had to physically remove him from the swing when it got to be 11:45am. Lunch needed to be eaten before all heck broke loose. He threw the conniption fit on the kitchen floor and then surprisingly decided that the next appropriate action would be to remove one of my bras from the dirty laundry basket waiting to go down stairs and put it around his neck. He then walked around the kitchen following me about 4 inches behind and whining pathetically while "wearing" the bra. Someday when he is 18 and bigger than me, I am going to threaten to haul this out and show his girlfriend if he gives me any trouble!!


In order to provide some alternate types of activities to engage in while in the backyard, we decided to look around for a climbing structure or a playhouse of some sort. I called a few of the grandparents and put the word out that we were looking for something and would they mind casually checking out a couple of yard sales. A couple hours later, Pepere B. is on the phone saying they would help out if we wanted to buy a new one. After a bit of searching around and reading some reviews, I found one that looked nice and didn't involve a $199 shipping charge (are you kidding me...really people??? Almost $200 in shipping charges for an item that was listed at $269...I'll pass thanks!).

Here is Noah checking out the one we decided on. Tim picked it up Saturday night while I put the dude down for bed. Not only did he have to take the whole thing out of the box to fit it in the car, but he also had to tie the two biggest pieces to the roof. It was a sight to behold. Too bad it was too dark to take a good picture of the situation. We assembled it in the backyard by the light of Pepere L.'s insanely bright work lights so that it was ready to be enjoyed Sunday. No one spoils the little dude...nope, not him.

"Yes, can I help you? Oh no, this bank doesn't give out money, it only accepts deposits...we take cash, animal crackers, goldfish snacks, and Nutragrain bars! Got any of those???"

This last picture should actually be in the swimming post, since it happened on Monday, but I liked all of the swimming pictures together and didn't want a random picture of Noah dressed in there. Both Tim and I knew this was bound to happen one of these times, the transition from 2 naps a day to 1 has been going about as well as can be expected with such an active little dude. Here is what happens when you spend the morning at swim class, then playing in the backyard nonstop for a hour. We got most of lunch in him, but when Memere L. went to go get some fruit and the clean up towel, the day's activities just seemed to catch up to him and he fell asleep sitting up in his highchair. I wonder if there is a baby that has managed to escape toddlerhood without a picture like this being taken. Classic and too cute not to share.

This afternoon I give my final exam to my class and after the grading is done I can wash my hands of all of the extra stress teaching has brought me this semester. I intend on giving myself a nice pedicure in the next few days so that I can enjoy my cute painted toes for Mother's Day on Sunday.

First there was grading, then there was complaining

So the grading commenced and as everyone knows with life, the good is nice, but the bad stands out like a sore thumb and repeatedly smacks you until your cheek is throbbing.  I had, as you might expect a couple of excellent papers.  Students who, followed the assignment, had some great thoughts and articulated themselves very well.  I also had, as you might expect some abysmal ones as well.  Ones that make you wonder how these students got into college to begin with.  One paper included a number of random combinations of words that didn't actually form sentences.  They related to the topic about which she was supposed to be writing, too bad they didn't actually contain both a noun and a verb.  She is a lost cause though and not the story I want to tell really. 

The story I want to tell is about a girl, one of my problem children, we'll call her "B."  At the beginning of the semester, she was the student I figured was going to drop the class because she showed up to 1 out of the first 6 classes.  ONE class of SIX???  She missed the first quarter of the semester.  Then, she came crying to my office about how she has been so sick and had all of the these health issues and she is now worried about her class participation grade.  I told her to start showing up to class at that point and, perhaps start participating in class discussions and then she wouldn't have to be worried about her participation grade.  Later in the semester she emailed me concerned about her participation grade in the class.  I don't ask much, perhaps occasionally it might be good if you actually said something throughout the course of a class, it doesn't even necessarily have to be intelligent, just SAY SOMETHING.  Nope, she never did.  But hey, I felt a small battle was won given the fact that she was actually showing up to class most of the time.   Then it came time to hand in the papers.  These were due by the end of class on the last day of classes.  Wouldn't you know that high maintenance "B" emailed me 20 minutes before that class started that she was getting ready to print her paper and when she went to open up her document, only the outline appeared.  (Sidenote: Have you ever heard of that happening ever??? I didn't think so).  I emailed her back and said, I hadn't ever heard of anything like that happening and I told her that if she didn't have the paper passed in by the end of class, I would be applying the late policy to her paper (-1 letter grade for it being late, and a 0 for a grade if it is not turned in within 48 hours of the deadline).  Over the course of 4 emails that morning after class, she whined and pleaded and begged.  Then I told her to have her paper in my email box by Monday morning at 8am and she would just receive the 1 lower letter grade.  She claims that she attempted the paper to me 14 times over the course of the weekend!!!!  Fourteen...really????  I got her paper at 8:25am on Monday.  I decided to just accept it and grade the darn thing before anything else happened.  I read it and couldn't believe my eyes.  It was awful, no logic, presenting thoughts without completely discussing them, oh and there was the minor fact that the assignment asked student to write about a controversy existing surrounding brain research and SHE NEVER mentioned the brain.  An entire paper for a neuroscience class that never talked about the brain.  Is she insane????  Clearly she must be.  So I did what I could and gave her a C-.  Unfortunately with the lateness of the paper, she ended up with a D.  Wouldn't you know that within and hour of me posting the grades online she is at my office door.  

She wanted to talk about her grade of course.  I told her off the bat, I would gladly answer any questions she had and describe to her how I graded the papers, but I would not under any circumstances change her grade.  She was not a happy person and after detailing each of the issues and the complete lack of discussion of the brain, she asked why this was never brought up during the review of her outline.  Um, dear, you never sent me an outline.  I got a document with 3 different paper topics on it and in response to this I sent emails detailing how she needed to focus on the brain mechanisms of their chosen topic.  Too bad she took that as optional.  Long story slightly shortened, she left my office in tears indicating that she would just overload her schedule and take the class again next semester.  Um, too bad its not being offered next semester.  Next time, try to put a bit of effort into your work and stop expecting that you will be handed good grades on a silver platter.  Somehow, I don't think that little lecture will at all reach home with our friend "B.'  She is the perfect example of what I hope I never was a decade ago myself.

He swims and shivers simultaneously

Last week Noah and I started our Mommy & Me swim classes.  I already posted about how he was lukewarm about the concept the first class.  He was a bit better this week, and even Daddy got to join us to watch us have some fun in the pool.  Of course the first 10 minutes or so he was a clingy little monkey and didn't want to do much of anything other than suction cup himself to me, but after a few minutes he figure out he could cling and splash at the same time and then he started warming up to the idea.

Check it out, he loves the splashing part!

After the splashing came some songs and some jumping in and when the Humpty Dumpty part came again, all was right with the world and he was having a blast.  So now we have splashing and jumping in...okay we are moving somewhere.  After a few songs and some more splashing, we tried out the noodle.  He didn't know what to make of the noodle at first and I am not sure he really saw it as anything other than a really long chew toy, but we attempted at least! 

Here is evidence of our valiant attempt

Then, in between the songs and jigs we do at the beginning of class and the Hokey Pokey at the end of class (did I ever envision myself talking like this...um NO!), we get free play time.  This really means let the kids put toys in their mouths while the Mommies float them around and do all of the heavy lifting.  We found a ball that was interesting and we played with that for a while, see:

Sadly, Mr. Man's teeth were chattering almost from the second we got into the water this week.  And I have to admit, even I was a bit on the chilly side by the time the class was over.  But it was a little cute to see his little bottom lip shivering when we stopped moving for a second or two!