Baby Dickey » Em&Steve

to teach in the best way possible

babydickey — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:36:46 +0000

I started my new job on Monday teaching 4 sections of introductory human biology at a community college (2 classes MWF, 2 classes TTh). I passed out a questionnaire and told the students they didn’t even have to write their name on it because I wasn’t grading it; it was just for my own curiosity. I wanted to know where they were coming from–how much background knowledge they had. I also included some questions like “what’s your favorite area of biology” and “what are your expectations of me, as your instructor?” I got a lot of similar answers on that last one.

Teach in the best way possible. Teach in a way that we can understand. Be fair. Answer all our questions. Don’t talk down to us, we’re here to learn. Help me pass the class. Help me get a good grade. I want an A+.

Mainly reasonable requests. I can only hope to teach in the best way possible, right? That should be a goal of mine. Having never done this before, it’s a learning process for me, too. They of course don’t know that I’ve never done this before (unless they googled me and came across my blog and are reading this right now, haha. HELLO!)

That’s my classroom. I went to check it out a few days before classes started and I brought Ryan with me. He is chasing after my bottle of mountain dew, haha. See how he crawls? With one knee and one foot, lol. My classes are packed–just about every single seat is taken.

It’s 30–40 students per class… for a total of around 130–140 students. I will never learn their names. As of right now, I could pick out about 3 of them. The ones that keep asking me questions. I wonder if I’ll ever learn them all.……

Not your average teacher? On the first day I asked if they knew who this was (at least 1 person in every class did):

I announced my leadership with ICAN (and had 2 women talk to me after class about it).

I gave them my cell phone number.

I let them go 20 minutes early on the first day.

I don’t assign homework outside of the classroom.

But I also…

Don’t provide them with my class notes.
Give them a quiz every week.
Have three exams + a final.
Allow them to make up missed (in-class) assignments at only half credit.

And…

I give extra credit for Cora.

And? I pump between classes in an office with 3 other people (a mix of males and females), behind only a cubicle wall. Today someone walked in on me, I wasn’t wearing a cover. I kind of put a hand up to hide myself? and we continued on our conversation. She didn’t say a word about it–not sure if she didn’t even realize what I was doing or if she really didn’t care at all. Wait till the day a student comes in to talk to me and I’m pumping. Ha.

My first day of pumping, when I used my shirt as a “cover.”

So far? I love it. The first day everyone was pretty silent, but they’re starting to relax a bit and get more comfortable. They’re answering my questions instead of staring at me. They’re laughing at my jokes (thank god). And today? I did an entire lecture on how to question everything and be a skeptic. It’s a skill that takes practice. But I hope I made them aware of how important it is to learn that ability. My challenge? To not use birth related examples for everything, haha!

My first day.

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I messed with it until it was RIGHT!

babydickey — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:18:52 +0000

That’s right, Ryan better look like me! Why it matters, I don’t know. But who doesn’t want their cute lil baby to resemble them? And ever since Ryan was born everyone and their mom has said how Ryan is identical to Steve. Well look at this, bitches.

Mmmhmm. And so what if I had to change up the photo combos a few times until it said it? There are no rules to this game. I play my way. I found it at myheritage.com if you want to try it out.

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Who traded babies with me?!

babydickey — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:07:00 +0000

Seriously, I feel like I came home from BlogHer to a new baby! Or as Steve says, “he’s getting past the baby cute stage… he’s like an adult now.” Haha. I don’t know about that cute part, because he’s still pretty freaking adorable to me!

I missed Ryan so much while I was gone, I could hardly wait to get back and squeeeeeze him! I was expecting a baby that had missed me just as much and imagined a day full of cuddles and naps. Wow, I was WRONG. He was terrible… like the worst ever. I think he was making me pay for leaving him?! He screamed and screamed and he would not sleep. I felt terrible because I was gone for 4 days and I had already had it–like, get me out of here!! (again!)

The next day was a whole new day. And a whole new baby. Maybe it’s because I was gone for 4 days. Maybe it’s a coincidence and it’s his age, his personality. MAYBE it’s because I didn’t return to work (because I start my new job next week) so I’ve been home all day, every day with him! He hasn’t had a bottle in over a week AND I’m way less stressed and don’t get as frustrated–even my mom noticed a change in me. ANY way you want to view it… I love it!

All of that made me nervous about going back to work next week… new job, new stresses… but my hours out of the house are less–by like half! So I think that will help a lot–much of the work I can do from home (preparing lectures, grading papers).

But Ryan is all smiles, he plays on the floor by himself for what seems like FOREVER and if I get down there and play with him, he’s all giggles. It’s just so adorable.

He mimics when I chew (trying to teach him to eat — baby led weaning style), can pull himself up to stand, “talks” all the time–he’s had mamama down for awhile, but I swear I’m now hearing dadada and kitty! Maybe it’s all in my head though

Still no interest in food… we’ve tried banana, carrot, avocado, and cheerios. Twitter friends reassured me that he doesn’t need rice cereal or anything else–if he was hungry and interested, he’d EAT! We offer it to him almost every day now. He’s just a boob man, what can I say.

We had his first bday party theme narrowed down to 4 (I know, we plan ahead, lol)–safari animals, trains, monsters or dinosaurs. Steve made the final vote and I love it–MONSTERS! Because he is a monster. A stinky monster, a whiny monster, a mobile monster, a biting monster… mama’s lil monster

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10 exciting random facts

babydickey — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:10:36 +0000

1. Ryan is starting to clap his hands

2. Today was my last day at work

3. Tomorrow I leave for NYC for BlogHer10 (thanks to my amazing sponsor, Simplisse Breastfeeding Products–love them!)

4. Ryan likes to shake his head, like he’s saying “no”

5. In 2.5 weeks I start my NEW job as an instructor at our local college. I’m teaching 4 sections of Biology.

6. I’m going to meet some pretty amazing people this weekend, get some SOLID sleep, miss my baby (and hubby) tons, and have a lot of fun.

7. Ryan quickly went from crawling to pulling himself up to stand (after which he starts screaming because he doesn’t know how to get down… hahaha)

8. Nervous and excited. About everything.

9. I’m below my pre-preggo weight.

10. Shari Criso’s DVD that helped me get through the early stages of breastfeeding is being offered online right now for FREE. To help keep it free, let’s send lots of traffic to her site! Simply Breastfeeding

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Adventure: defined by a mom

babydickey — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 03:03:50 +0000

I would have considered myself adventurous… you know, in my previous life. I enjoyed new things–anything exciting, thrilling, maybe dangerous. I’ve camped on the ground, under the stars, with the dingoes in the Australian outback. I’ve swam with stingrays and sharks and wild dolphins. I’ve zip-lined through the rainforest. I’ve fed wild monkeys. I went crawling through underground caves. I survived Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I’ve been white-water rafting and skydiving. I’ve stood at the back end of a horse and helped birth a foal.

Okay, some more adventurous than others, but all pretty exciting. I’d LOVE to go skydiving again. I remember being so jealous of the professionals (yea, that guy strapped to my back) because they got to jump out of planes every day of their lives.

Now?

I’m a mom.

Jump out of a plane?! Yea, I’d still love to, but… there’s Ryan. I guess you could say I care more about my life now?! I mean, what IF something happened to me–then what would happen to poor Ryan? There’s no way I could do something that crazy anymore. (At least, not until Ryan is old enough to do it with me

So what’s adventurous to me now? FLYING. And I don’t mean flying through the air from 15,000 feet up with a parachute. I mean flying on a plane. To BlogHer. I am flying without my baby. What if something happens?!

I LOVE flying. I’ve never been the least bit scared. But it’s like the first thing on my mind right now. That and the adventure of leaving my baby boy for 4 days. That’s 3 nights. He’s never been away from me for 1 night. I know he’ll survive, but I don’t want him to just survive. I want him to be ok. To be great! And I worry about him being great when his mama is away.

THAT is my new “adventure.”

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Pretty soon I'm going to have the no-sleep sillies

babydickey — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 14:08:00 +0000

Maybe I already do? I love co-sleeping and wouldn’t change a thing, but sometimes it’s pretty hard. Ryan makes noises, he tosses and turns, he farts. All things wake me up.. the slightest whimper and I’m awake (but a level 4 earthquake? nope, slept right though that). And lately, if you follow me on twitter you already know, we’ve been having issues. Ryan takes naps during the day pretty well, but at night? AH! He fights sleep, he cries as soon as I walk out of the room, he ever wakes up crying randomly when I’m right next to him! He goes to bed between 7 and 8pm and I just can’t go to bed that early with him, I have things to do! But the past few nights… I haven’t really had a choice.

I walked into work on Friday (30 minutes late–bad night, bad morning) and started sobbing, from pure exhaustion and stress. So I went home. Yesterday Steve took Ryan over to his parents’ house all morning so that I could have some me-time and get stuff done. It helped a TON. I’m really hoping this no-sleep thing or this can’t-sleep-without-mama thing is just a phase… maybe because he’s learning to crawl? Babies seem to have sleep problems during a huge developmental change. Or maybe he isn’t feeling well? Either way.… I NEED SLEEP!

And then I see this article in my inbox today: Parents of newborns miss out on SIX MONTHS worth of sleep in their child’s first two years

How’s that for birth control?

The article says most get less than 4 hours of sleep a night, which can lead to mood swings and depression. Ummmm, yea that sounds about right! And the constant exhaustion can create irritable couples who do nothing but argue, which can be detrimental to the relationship. Thankfully, I don’t think Steve and I have that problem. Yea I think I’M more cranky than usual, but Steve is just… awesome. He’s so understanding and relaxed and patient. Plus, I think it might actually help that we work opposite shifts and don’t see each other much except for weekends. There’s no TIME to argue! Haha. OR that I’m the one co-sleeping with Ryan so I’m the one whose sleep gets interrupted constantly, whereas Steve sleeps solidly (even if it is only for 5 hours).

Experts suggest that adults need at least 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, but it varies with some needing 8 or some needing only 3. I believe I belong to the 8-hour group and there is no way I’m getting that. I’d say I’m “in bed” for 6–7 hours a night, but I’m constantly awoken by Ryan… so the study is probably pretty accurate in that I actually get about 4 hours.

And Ryan is 7 months old? 4 hours of sleep a night for 7 months? No wonder I’m cranky. I get frustrated so much more easily than ever before. Usually on the weekends, Steve will take Ryan one morning and let me sleep in (yes, sleeping till 8:30am is SLEEPING IN)!

The study says two-thirds of moms and dads get fewer than 4 hours of sleep a night. Of those, 12% get fewer that 2.5 hours!! AH! I think I’d be DEAD!

So the 6 month loss of sleep in your baby’s first 2 years of life? That’s based on an average of getting 5 hours of sleep a night (for a total of 3,650 hours over 2 years), but if you’re only getting the 4 hours suggested (for a total of 2,738 hours over 2 years), that difference is 6months worth of time. CRAZY.

*A third of new parents say they argue at least 5 times a week
*A quarter of mothers say they suffer from mood swings and depression
*A fifth say they are often irritated by their partner just from being so exhausted
*1 in 20 couples said they separated due to exhaustion

And apparently napping and getting an hour of sleep here and there doesn’t help. It doesn’t add to your “basal sleep.” I’d still say nap when you can! Sleep when your baby sleeps. Because I think it does help… but I guess in the long run, this article is saying you need to get 5 uninterrupted hours of sleep a night. HOW?!

How many hours of sleep do you think you get a night? Do you think it has affected your mood? Your relationship? Your job???

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Ryan's first overnight!

babydickey — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:40:13 +0000

Two of my wonderful friends are renewing their vows in two weeks. Saturday night we had a party in their honor–a casino night. It was lots of fun! Steve even won 3rd place at the end of the night and got a gift card to Chipotle Anyway, the party started at 7pm, which is Ryan’s bedtime. I didn’t want Steve to have to stay home because all we have together are the weekends and he needs to get out of the house sometimes too! So.… we got a babysitter. My mom! At first we planned on just having her come over and stay at our house until we got home. But then we all decided he’d take a trip to her house and stay the whole night. AHHH!!!

I was one nervous mama. Ryan had never been away from us for a whole night… I didn’t know how he’d handle it. He’s used to sleeping in bed next to his mama! He also nurses like… 2–3 times a night. Really, I was a bit more worried about my mom than about Ryan–if he was up all night, how my mom would be feeling the next day, haha.

Before she came to pick him up, I was explaining to him what was happening… I wanted him to know that we’d pick him up the next morning and that we weren’t leaving him and we’d be back. I started tearing up… I felt so bad! I was so worried for him! I didn’t want him to wonder what happened to me.

The good news? He survived!! The great news? He did AWESOME! He slept in my mom’s bed next to her–I told her that’d probably be easiest for him (and her)! And he didn’t wake up until 3:30am. She fed him and he ate a full 3 oz, went right back to sleep, and woke up for the day around 6am. He didn’t get as much sleep as he does at home, so he has been pretty tired today–taking wonderfully long naps but otherwise he’s doing very well.

So here’s me: OMG he doesn’t need me?! Haha. But no worries–my mom put him down this morning for his first nap of the day (we didn’t go pick him up till like 10am) and she said he was saying “mamamama” and “dadadadada” — awww!!! He wanted us! And when we both went to pick him up, he was soo happy. And I felt like I hadn’t seen him in FOREVER. He’s such an awesome lil boy.

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Update on life with the Dickey's

babydickey — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:55:04 +0000

First off… Ryan is going to be SIX MONTHS on Sunday! I can’t believe it, he’s such a big boy. But I’ll save all that mushy stuff for another post.

Last weekend we went to the lakehouse to celebrate a friend’s upcoming wedding. PSA: WEAR SUNSCREEN! I didn’t wear enough and from the back you’d think I was a lobster. I missed the celebration that ensued Saturday night because I was lying on the couch with wet towels covering my legs and back. I even felt slightly nauseous and light-headed, but that passed pretty quickly. I had fun anyway!!! (But am still paying for it — right now I’m in the itchy phase and I’m wiggling in my chair at work).

Sunday was Father’s Day and I couldn’t even get up with Ryan and let Steve sleep in because when I got up, I thought I was going to throw up and I hurt so bad all over! But I think Steve forgave me when I made him one of his favorite dinners — white pizza! YUM!

We are making progress on Ryan’s nursery! My awesome friend helped me scrape the glue off and wash the walls so it’s almost all gone and ready for painting! And when I say she helped me, I mean she pretty much did it all while I held my unusually cranky baby (he just knew I was trying to get something done — that’s how it works, right?)

This weekend is Steve’s family reunion — a golf tourney at the lakehouse. So excited! And don’t worry, I’m avoiding the sun this time.

I was working on creating new buttons and banners for this blog and started considering making a whole new blog — in ADDITION to this one. I have giveaway readers and I have baby dickey readers… and I’m not sure I like combining the two (meaning, I’m not sure my readers enjoy it?). What do you guys think? If I keep Baby Dickey strictly reviews and giveaways (since this is the site that has built up the PR and visitors needed) and create a new site that’s new-mom rants and raves, photos, attachment parenting info, etc.? Not sure I can handle the work right now of creating a whole new blog, but… we’ll see, I’ve been wanting to for awhile, I’m just a bit attached to Baby Dickey

PSA: WEAR SUNSCREEN!
(Coppertone, you can contact me at erdickey@gmail.com about payment for providing this public service announcement).

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The online dating world of... mommy groups

babydickey — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:01:53 +0000

I was starting to get a little bored… home from work by 1:30, Steve gone at work, and hanging out with a baby that lacks great conversation skills (googahhbluuaahh can only get you so far).

It’s much better now because my two best friends are home (one is a teacher so she’s off for the summer and the other just moved back into town) and my mom and a few other friends are also teachers and are off for the summer now. My friends practically tripled! Haha. And it has been wonderful–making plans, getting out of the house… re-learning how to speak without using baby gibberish (although I often catch myself “blowing bubbles” — without the bubbles, of course — out in public).

But I’d love for Ryan to meet some friends — and meeting some moms wouldn’t hurt me either. So the search began. I seriously felt like I was online dating! You find people in your area on the internet and you just throw yourself out there, like a blind date, and hope it all goes well.

My problem? Most mom groups I found meet on weekday mornings. Apparently working moms don’t make mom groups? Maybe I should start one.… but this is what I did find:

~Bubble Club. It’s a swim class for babies! It’s for 2 weeks (8 classes) in July and we signed up, I can’t wait!

~Story time at the library. This is Tuesday evenings and I haven’t gone yet, but I want to. It’s just close to Ryan’s bedtime (7pm) and last time I tried to take him out near his bedtime (see below) it did NOT go well, haha. But I’ll try it.

~LLL (La Leche League). Meets the evening of the second Wednesday of every month. I’ve been twice and there are lots of babies near Ryan’s age, but the 2nd time I brought him with me and he cried the whole time until I finally walked out in the middle of it.

~Rockford Moms Club. They meet most of the time in the mornings when I’m at work, but they do have SOME gatherings in the evening or on weekends–like going for walks at the park. I hope I can make it to a meetup soon!

What are all of you involved in? What ways do you get out and meet people? Hmmm… I wonder if there are Dad groups too? And I wonder if Steve would go… sometimes he needs to get out of the house too!

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Happy Father's Day!

babydickey — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 01:33:13 +0000

Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.
Ryan and I are both so lucky to have Steve. He’s the best daddy anyone could ask for. He’s so good with kids, I love watching him interact with Ryan. Steve has made up many games with him.… baby in the mirror, monster game (holding Ryan and letting him knock down everything on the counter/shelf–great thing to teach him, right? lol), and making soup (sitting with Ryan with a pot, wooden spoon, and closed package of Ramen–Ryan loves it). Steve even wears Ryan while he’s mowing the lawn (we have a non-motorized push mower) and takes him grocery shopping. What more could I ask for?!

This weekend we were at his parents’ lakehouse and his sister was there. She had her fiance’s 3-year-old son with her and Steve was so good with him. He was constantly playing and joking with him. One thing he was doing was saying things like, “I bet you can’t run around that tree!… I bet you can’t go from here to there…” And he’d count for him and tell him he had the world record. Me? I’m sitting there thinking to myself, “I bet you can’t go take a nap right now.” Hahaha, only joking. Kind of. My point is that Steve is a natural with kids and I can’t wait to see him playing with Ryan when he’s older.

As many of you know, Steve is with Ryan all morning while I’m at work. When I get home, Steve leaves for work. At times we both feel a little bit like single parents. He has said, “I’m a damn good stay at home mom.” And I completely agree. He does so much for our family and I’m the luckiest lady around

Happy Father’s Day, Steve! We love you to the moon and back 9,999,999,999,999,999 times!

Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful daddy’s out there! Especially my hubby, my dad, and his dad!

Me and my dad

My dad and Ryan

Steve’s dad and Ryan

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