First week of work!!

I'm back! I survived the first week! Yipeee!

My thoughts are sort of everywhere. I thought the training we had was useful, and it was nice to get to know my colleagues from across the firm. I also think it was great to ease in - our hotel was across the street from the firm's office, and I was able to go over to see Bryan and Eden during lunch breaks, and immediately after the festivities were over.

Eden got to "see" a lot of DC - I have pictures of her sleeping in front of many monuments! :) And we got to hang out with Meg, which was awesome - we miss her a lot. Maggie (her puggle) is HUGE! And sweet as ever. Bryan got to play tour guide to some friends of ours who were in the city for the first time (this was only Bryan's second time in DC... but he knew where the "big stuff" was).

I think this week was a good transition time. I was able to see Eden a lot Monday through Thursday, and then Friday was the first day away all day. I was very busy (more training, this time in Boston) so the day pretty much flew by. I missed her, and I missed Bryan, but I think we're all going to be OK!

That said, I am so amped about my firm. I love it so far. The people are awesome, which I already knew, and the firm's philosophy is really great. One reason I chose this firm is its balanced, practical approach to life and work. And it's already come into play. We have a "wellness" room for nursing mothers to pump in, and it's awesome. Not only is there a comfy chair, necessary for relaxation "getting things going" so to speak (sorry), there's a computer, so I can pump and work (and BILL!). And there's a fridge, to store whatever I pump. And best of all, there's a SINK so I can clean the parts of the pump!! And the room operates on a schedule, so I put myself in for certain times of the day, every day until January. Assuming that I can get away, I'm guaranteed to have the room, and I think it's going to be pretty easy keeping Eden on breastmilk. Also on Friday there was a Halloween party - everyone brought their kids in, and we had tons of ghosts and goblins (and a surprising number of Incredibles...) in the office, which was awesome. It was great to see that.

Another really exciting thing is I have an amazing secretary! I worked with her a lot last summer and I've been quietly hoping I would end up with her ever since. I'm really excited to get her opinions on a whole lot of things.

Maybe the most uplifting part of my day was walking in to my office at 5:00 for the first time and seeing a beautiful orchid plant from my wonderful, super thoughtful Aunt Gena, welcoming me!! It was nice to be reminded that there are people out there pulling for me, excited as I am. Getting all the good wishes from friends all over was so heartwarming, and that orchid brought it all into my home away from home. It made me tear up a little, and still does. I am not sure if that even makes sense...

Overall the week was good. I got plenty of time with Bryan and Eden, I'm excited about my job and look forward to getting started, and I feel incredibly supported by the people around me - whether here in Boston, back home in OK, or even out in the blogosphere. Thanks for the love!

Heading to DC - see you next weekend!

Starting work tomorrow. Still excited, and still sad. I'll let you know how it works out. In the meantime, enjoy the fruits of my joy-filled last day as a stay-at-home mommy:

Sitting pretty

Check me out... I can sit up all by myself!

Four Months!

Dear Eden,

One year ago we'd just found out you were on your way. I was bursting with the news, but it was still a precious secret. I'd just begun to be sick - at the Passion Conference I had to keep eating crackers (and I swear if I never see a Wheat Thin again in my life I will be totally happy!). But I was already falling in love with you. And here we are, a whole year later, and you are four months old. I can hardly fathom how much life has changed since then. I never could have imagined how awesome it was going to be.

I love this age. You're getting more independent, playing by yourself some, but you still want Mommy and Daddy a lot too. You really know us. You catch our eyes in a crowded room and reward us with a huge smile. You're sturdy and strong, but you still like to cuddle too. Mommy's "Kissy Monster" routine is hilarious, and you're starting to "kiss" back - which looks oddly like you're trying to eat our faces. But we love it!

You're doing such amazing things lately. You started rolling over from your tummy to your back last week, and a few weeks ago you started laughing. You've discovered Nino, and you are totally content to stare at him. He wants nothing to do with you, but you love to pet him - and get a fistful of hair and try to eat him. Don't worry, one day he'll come around and you two will be great friends. You also love John and Kelli's dog, Bella. Monday night you told Bella a long, apparently exciting, story about your day. She was very patient and listened very carefully, and occasionally gave you some big, wet kisses to thank you for the attention.

You're learning to sit up! You can sit for a few seconds unassisted, but when you get distracted at all you topple over and smile. Today you, Daddy, and I went for a walk, then went out to lunch. And you sat in a high chair for the very first time! You did great! And we had you strapped in so you couldn't eat it. But you gave it your best shot anyway.

We've finally settled into an eating routine, and napping is coming along, though it's still a bit unpredictable. You're still sleeping through the night - last night you slept from about 7:15pm to 7:00am! And then again from 8:30 - 11! You're like your Dad - you like your sleep. If you've gotten enough, you wake up happy, but if you get startled awake or jolted out of sleep, you're Little Miss Cranky Pants for awhile.

I'm starting work on Monday. I'm so sad to be leaving you, but I know it's going to be great for you to be at home with Daddy. And someone's got to make some money so you can have diapers and stuff. :)

I love you baby girl. Keep growing big and strong!! And keep being the sweet, loving, fun, adorable girl you are.

Love,
Mommy

P.S. Aren't we a cute happy family?

Grades

Apparently I missed this earlier, but Harvard has decided to switch from a traditional grading system to one similar to Yale's, Honors-Pass-Low Pass-Fail. My first reaction was "Well, crap. Why did they do this now, after I've finished?" But then I thought about it a bit more...

It seems like the only effect this will have will be to reduce the gray areas. There will be no more A-/B+ distinctions, but there will still essentially be As, Bs, a rare C (I've heard they exist, but I'm not totally convinced...), and people who fall off the face of the planet and therefore fail. One thing I think it will do for students, though, is give them more faith in the grading system - as it was when I was there it seemed extremely arbitrary, and I think that was largely because we had pluses and minuses and it was all a crapshoot (honest professors would even admit that). This way, there will be clear "Honors" students, clear "Low Pass" students (rarely, probably), and everyone else will Pass. I think it will take some pressure off, and will allow people like me, who are only aiming to Pass anyway, to relax a bit. Not that HLS is any more stressful than any other law school (probably less so, actually, because as Dean Kagan (I think? or was it Jon Hanson?) says, once you get in you're pretty much "off the treadmill" - you're employable as long as you aren't crazy and you maintain some minimal degree of studiousness... but that's another post altogether.).

Anyway, those are my quick thoughts on that. I reserve the right to change my opinion, of course. Anyone else have thoughts?

Look at me!!

We just (well, a few hours ago) got back from a very refreshing fall retreat (more on that later) and somebody wanted to show off her new trick!

Precious

One of the few pictures lately in which her hands are not in her mouth(Dad messed up her hair right before this...):

Graduation, and New Milestone

Our baby girl graduated from physical therapy today! Her torticollis is completely gone!! Yipeee! Her PT gave hear a clean bill of health, and said she looks "perfect!" She's also developmentally ahead of her age. Such an overachiever. :)

While we were at her PT appointment, Eden decided it was time to roll over from her tummy to her back! She's been working on it for a while, and she's gotten so close so many times, we knew by the end of this week she'd have it down. But we didn't expect it to be Monday! We had her on the floor on her tummy, and she figured it out, and rolled all the way to her back. We were all three so excited we all said "Yay!" really loud, and it scared her - she started to cry! So sad, but so hilarious at the same time. We were so excited!!

I'm sorry the pictures and video have been more scarce - Bryan and I are currently sharing a computer, which makes it difficult to get anything done after answering email and reading blogs (oh so important). I did post the third month on Snapfish, and I'll get to the fourth month when it gets a bit closer to her birthday, probably next week (so I don't have to do it twice - it takes a long time!). In the meantime, enjoy this video of Eden, who was supposed to be sleeping, instead telling her bee friends all about her day: