The New Nursery

 Our nursery has been ready for almost three weeks now. I'm glad that I pushed ahead and got things ready early, because I don't have much energy to put together furniture or organize living spaces right now. It's been fun to put this nursery together; we weren't able to have a coordinated nursery space when Sam was a baby, because of our living situation and circumstances back then.

I especially love the floral rug and the series of bug prints that we got from the Land of Nod for this room. We picked orange for an accent color, which I think is very cheerful. Although we do have a little bit of pink in the flowers and storage bins, I'm hoping that pink will never be a major accent color in this bedroom. I don't like how pink is such a pre-selected and promoted color for little baby girls and toddlers these days. If anything, I think it is ironic, since in the early 20th century pink used to be the color associated with boys, not girls.

J and I spent a few hours mulling over which crib bedding to get. We both wanted orange to be an accent color for the bedding, but we couldn't find anything that we both liked. We ended up getting solid light orange fitted sheets from Carousel Designs, and then the Georgia Nursery Bedding bumper and Lara Eyelet Crib Skirt from Pottery Barn Kids. The quilt draped over the side of the bed was made by one of my friends from work, who happened to pick colors that fit well with our bedding color scheme.

Spy Party!

A little over a week ago, we threw a spy-themed birthday party for Sam. During recess at school, Sam sometimes pretends to be a spy with a few of his classmates, so he was very interested in having these school friends (as well as a few neighborhood friends) over for his spy party. He's been thinking about this party for a long time, and even wrote up a specific guest list that he kept referencing in the weeks leading up to the party. Each time we received an RSVP about the party, he would make little marks on this master guest list.

I originally hoped to have an additional party or celebration with Sam's thirteen (!) second cousins that live in the area, but I realized as Sam's birthday approached that I needed to keep things as simple as possible this year (especially with my earlier false labor scare). In truth, I was worried that I would go into labor before we even threw this spy party. My in-laws came to help out, which was wonderful. Although I still did more than I probably should have, it was really great for us to have their added help.

J designed an awesome invitation for this party. One parent said that they almost threw away the invitation when it came in the mail, because they were disturbed that there was government-related document addressed to their six-year-old son:

The kids did a few spy-themed activities. We took their fingerprints (to document their identity as spy agents) right after they arrived. J also set up a laser maze out of red string, which the kids enjoyed. We also played "laser limbo" and helped the kids make some "walkie-talkies" out of disposable cups and string. The kids also got to decode a scrambled message (written with invisible ink) with "Confidential 5-in-1" spy pens (one of the party favors) which was fun.

Here the kids are playing "Spy, spy, bad guy!" (i.e. "Duck, duck, goose!") while my in-laws worked to set up the table for lunch. Sam wanted to have everyone eat cheese pizza, grapes, and apple juice.

 

Sam with his BFF from school, L. I found these cute glasses with attached mustaches at Target, which we handed to kids soon after they arrived at the party. It was cute to see several of them wearing the glasses for a good portion of the activities.

Sam and his friends had a fantastic time, which made me really happy. I'm glad that he was able to have such a fun celebration, which was especially made possible because of the efforts of his dad (J came up with all of the ideas for activities) and grandparents.

Sam the Six-Year-Old Spy!

 

This is the first year, since Sam was three, that his birthday present hasn't revolved directly around a full costume. We gave him knight costume at age three, a Captain America costume at age four, and an Optimus Prime costume at age five. A few months ago he said that he wanted a Darth Vader costume for his birthday this year, but that request fell into oblivion and hasn't been mentioned for weeks and weeks. Sam is, though, still interested in dressing up, as evidenced by all of the spy gear that he received from us and other family members. He woke up around 5:20 this morning, eager to open his presents - although I made him go back to bed until it was 6:00 am. He's especially excited about the night vision goggles, the spy watch, and the walkie-talkies. I'm excited about the "Encyclopedia Brown" book, which I think Sam and I will enjoy reading together. He already has read several Nate the Great books, and I think he's ready to be introduced to a similar series.

When Sam gets home from school today, I'm going to show him this video clip that my sisters V and L sent to Sam. Does anyone else remember this from the "Square One TV" show? I really loved this show; I distinctly remember this segment and used to sing the song, although I haven't thought about it for years. I've had the song stuck in my head all day, though, ever since I got this email with the clip from my sisters:

Last night I was a little nervous that I wasn't even going to be able to celebrate with Sam this morning. In the evening started to have strongish contractions - they weren't terribly painful, but they definitely were stronger and tighter than the Braxton Hicks contractions I've felt for several weeks. I was nervous enough that I put all of Sam's wrapped presents by the front door, along with several sticky notes about Sam's birthday requests and school schedule, in case we needed to pass those things along to my in-laws in the middle of the night. Luckily, though, the contractions slowed down after a few hours, and I haven't felt too uncomfortable today so far. Wouldn't it have been unusual if Sam and his little sibling ended up with the same birth date?

UPDATE: Here are two more pictures from Sam's birthday itself. I'm glad he had such a happy day. In the first photo, he is opening a present from my dad (which arrived in the mail while he was at school). The second is a photo from Sam's birthday dinner at his favorite restaurant, Panera. We each chose a pastry as a celebratory treat, but I ended up eating Sam's because he decided he wanted my cherry pastry more than the chocolate chip "muffie" that he chose.

Triumph!

I'm feeling triumphant right now, having finished teaching my last class for the school year. Before I got pregnant, I was worried that I might have trouble keeping up with my work if I was sick or had any health problems. But today I can say that I taught for a whole academic year while pregnant, without canceling class once. Yay! I was tempted to cancel class a few times, even when I was driving to work during my first trimester and felt nauseated, but my adrenaline always kicked in and helped me to get through each class session.

And now, I'm done. I don't have to worry about throwing up from morning sickness in front of my class, or being able to stand on my feet for 1.5 hours, or, as of late, worrying that my water might break in the middle of lecture. Phew!

Really, all in all, these past nine months have been really great for me. I've been able to be a little bit more indulgent and do things "for me," since Sam has been in kindergarten. I've had time to work during the day and spent time with J in the evenings - a luxury which has been rare over the past several years, since I usually would watch Sam during the day (if I wasn't in the classroom) and working at night. I've also had time to sing in two university choirs and start a training program to be a docent at a local art museum. And, you know, grow a baby on the side.

It's been rejuvenating for me to do a lot of the extra activities, particularly singing. I realize that I won't be able to be so selfish and indulgent with my time for the next few years, particularly with a new baby in the house. But I hope to look back on this period of free time during the day with fondness. And I know that this indulgent phase will likely happen again one day, once Baby #2 starts kindergarten! And, hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with some of these activities in the meantime. I plan to keep up with the docent program, and I hope to continue with choir (even if I'm not as involved as I was over this past year).

Baby Shower!

My kind friends Rachael and Carrie threw a baby shower for me last Saturday. They both are excellent hostesses in their own right, so I should have anticipated such a well-thought-out and delightful shower when they offered to combine forces. Nonetheless, I was still in awe of the attention to detail and care that went into this celebration. For one thing, the decorations were lovely and very feminine, even down to the china plates and parfait glasses.

We also had some fun activities and games at the party, which were organized by the hostesses and some of the other guests. All of them were creative and a few activities revolved around art, which made me feel like this shower truly was tailor made for me and my interests. For example, my friend Meka came up with a game where you had to guess the painter for different paintings of mothers with children.

My mother-in-law also helped with an activity in which we made pages for an alphabet book. We haven't finished all of the pages yet (we're going to let some family members create some of the pages when they come in town this summer), but I'm really tickled by how things look thus far. This will be a cute and memorable book to read to the baby.

I spent so much time visiting with people at the shower that I didn't stop to take pictures of the guests themselves! A fairly small group of friends and cousins came, but it felt like just the right amount of people. It was so nice to be in a space with charming decorations, surrounded by people that are very dear to me. They also gave some very lovely and thoughtful gifts for the baby. Now I feel ready for this baby to come!

Listening to the Baby

Sam, J and I spent part of yesterday afternoon in the room that will be the nursery for the new baby. Sam helped decide where some of the baby toys should be kept, and then he played in his "rocket ship" while J and I put a few other things together (you can see a sneak peek at a few nursery decorations in the background of this photo.

Afterward, I sat in a chair to relax and played "doctor" and "dentist" with Sam. My favorite part of the checkup was when Sam "listened" to the baby's heart beat through his pretend stethoscope. He says that she is healthy, so that's good!

I love this photo of Sam, because I think his facial expression also hints at the expectation and wonder he has about this new baby. We often talk about what the baby will be like and what kind of a personality she might have. We are all anxious to meet her.

Female Authority and Pregnancy

 In my case, the blackboard should say "The art teacher is pregnant, not fat," but I felt like the image was quite fitting with this post nonetheless!

I don't feel like this is the appropriate forum to complain about my occasional problems at work, so I'm not going to delve into specifics here. But I did want to record some recent observations about being a young female professor and the authority that I expect to have in my classroom (whether virtual or physical).

In my experience, the vast majority of students are very respectful of me and my course policies. There have been a few instances in which I have felt undermined, belittled, and had my authority challenged by male students. These male students have varied in their age - some of them have been considerably older than me, and a few have been younger than me. I am inclined to think that these male students feel like they can question my authority based on my gender. I do recognize, though, that one quarter I had my authority consistently challenged by a young female student. In that case, I feel like that student's attitude and approach was partially due to her personality, but also fueled by the fact that I am relatively young in comparison with other faculty members on campus.

It's been interesting to observe how my pregnancy this year seems to affect the way that students perceive my authority as an instructor. I feel like some students are intimidated by the fact that I am pregnant - at least when they interact with me. I rarely have students mention or query about my pregnancy to me, unless I first mention something about the topic myself. I also feel like what I say seems to have a bit more weight and bearing with students at times, I guess because I weigh more and have a physically larger presence in the classroom.

On the other hand, this year I have felt like other students do not take me as seriously because I am pregnant. Perhaps this is because my pregnancy makes me seem more like an individual than a teacher? Or perhaps this is an issue that relates to gender - am I even more female (and thus more susceptible to gender discrimination) due to my inherently-female profile right now? I think both of these are valid possibilities, although I assume that many students don't take me seriously because I don't look "normal." I have become an Other through my pregnancy, and that visual element of difference perhaps waters down my identity and authority to a more superficial or stereotypical level. Sure, I know that I look distorted and disproportionate, and I recognize that I waddle around in front of the classroom. I do look silly. Sometimes I can hardly take myself seriously when I look in the mirror, especially when I can't find clothes that fit. But what I say and what I expect from my students is serious and important to me, regardless of my appearance, gender, or current state of being.