Snowbound Herpetologist

Well, hello, there!  It is has been a very, very long while since I've posted - many things have changed.  Annika just had her third birthday, Maya is 6 and in kindergarten.  I just successfully went through my third year review as an Assistant Professor and have been renewed until I go up for tenure.  Husband is on sabbatical, so we moved the entire family to Panama for 6 months for a lovely, work/collaboration-filled sabbatical with some of the top thinkers in the world, complete with the cutest little school for the girls touting opportunities for immersive Spanish.  There is even an absolutely amazing swimming pool (like 5 star, at the hotel that receives a zillion European and American tourists) that looks like it jumped out of a postcard and for which we just bought a $500 annual membership! Cue screeching tire sounds. We have been in Panama since January 10th and were just now really getting into a groove with both work and kids (although I had to fly back to the North C

Hi, everyone - no time for blogging!  We are all alive, though, and things are going well - just busy :) Here are some photos of recent events! Cider donuts and pumpkins = North Country Fall Everybody loves donuts! Maya makes me take photos of every. single. flower. we ever walk by. We spend a lot of time eating snacks in the back of our truck, apparently...? It froze with a vengeance and the tomatillos weren't ripe, but I picked them anyway. Making tomatillo salsa! This is husband's speciality :) I went on a business trip and husband sent me this photo of waking the babies in the morning :)   Welcome to the Great Gray Growout, 2018-2020.  I'm never dyeing my hair again, and I hope to have it completely natural by my 40th birthday.  It's going to take that long to grow it out!  This is the beginning.

I only have a few minutes to post because a) we moved my entire department to a new building on campus this week (I *never* want to move an entire lab again, it was horrible and still not finished) and b) husband is about to leave for Peru - the kids are in rare form this morning and it's epic.  I feel like I was already in a stress debt from writing a zillion lectures this semester, and then the summer has been equally stressful and sleep deprived, so I have retained the debt long after I thought I would clear it. We took Annika for another blood draw this weekend to see if her anemia is improving with the supplemental iron, but I have to say, she still eats a ton of non-food items, so I am skeptical. Her WCC appointment went well, though, and she is nice and huge.  Developmentally, she still seems right on track - running, climbing, talking.  I still can't understand most of what she says (because it literally all sounds the same), but she's *trying* to make tons of wor

Annika went to the pediatrician this morning for her 15 month WCC, so I thought I'd do a quick update of the growth charts and throw a few recent photos up! Maya, Annika, and I flew alone to California - the plane rides were nothing short of a disaster, but we survived.  Annika only slept for 5 minutes on one of the the four legs, basically crashing out as we landed at my parents' airport.  Good times. Maya is going through a bit of an ill-behaved phase, but we are trying to suss out the root of it (unclear) and provide a strong, yet supportive, framework for her to re-find her center.  P.S. I think her teenage years might break me. Enjoy the photos! Sisters in a box ("sister" is one of Annika's favorite new words) The *only* time she slept...as we taxied in The 30 seconds I got to spend on the beach before Annika went ballistic about the wind  Story time with Grandma Judy! Do you ever have a day where nothing seems like it's wh

The semester is very close to ending, so I have a few minutes to update while I drink my afternoon coffee (which is vital to power through the rest of the things I have to do this afternoon, which is the pile of shit that I've been avoiding while teaching because I don't want to deal with it!).  Indeed, this might be the very first month since Annika was born when I did the update actually on the 24th! Annika at 14 months is impressive in many ways, anxiety-inducing in others.  Her motor skills (gross and fine) are all awesome - stairs are messy and she can't handle much perturbation to her balance, but overall, she's moving well, handling toys, and using a spoon (although in an unorthodox fashion, see video below).  Her verbal skills, though, are less impressive.  Maya had 30+ words and another 20+ signs by 13 months, and Annika is hovering around a dozen words (and maybe 5 signs) at 14 months: mama, dada, maya (ya-ya), owl (who-who), la la la (that damn book is equa

I mean seriously - look at the determination in those eyes! Also, a few videos: