Quick Kid Update

Even though I have a few other thoughts percolating in my mind (gender identity and baby clothes, trip to Colorado, why I'm becoming an accountant), I decided to write a quick kid update. I realized that I've been trying to use the blog to track Ava's milestones, since I don't have a baby book for her, and I could miss a few if I don't get them in here pronto!

Miss A mastered the art of sitting up in early July, and the day before we left for Colorado (July 9), Emma and I observed her go from her belly to a sitting up position for the first time. She kept working on it while we were away, and now she's a master sitter-upper. In fact, when I go to get her after a nap (or check on her while she's falling asleep - it's kind of a problem!), she's usually sitting up.

Over the weekend, she pulled herself more or less up to standing in her crib. I know, yikes, right? It's too early! No photographic evidence of this yet, but for your reference, Jonah did not do this til he was almost four months older than she is. We're in trouble.

She saw the doctor for her six month check up yesterday, and she is growing growing growing! She is now 28 inches tall, taller than Jonah was at six months, and weighs 16 lb 11 oz.

About a month ago, we did one disastrous day of attempted cold-turkey potty training with Jonah. We took off his diaper and told him he was going to use the potty and wear big boy underpants from then on. Not only did he not use the potty, he refused to even wear the underpants. So he went commando under his shorts, wet himself once (and freaked out), and then peed like crazy during his nap, during which he wore a diaper. (We're not masochists.) Then he held it until bedtime. Clearly he can do it, but convincing him to even sit on the potty fully clothed is a battle. Good times.

Tonight, after both he and Ava went to bed, Jonah climbed into her crib and wound up the mobile, much to the delight of both of them. (This from a kid who, while he was sleeping in the crib, never climbed in nor out of it!) Mean Mommy went in, admonished him, and put him back in his bed.

Finally, in case you didn't know, I WON the Sling and Swaddle Journey! I'm so thrilled. My prizes arrived over the weekend, and I think the best one is the new breast pump. I'm actually looking forward to giving it a try. I can't believe I'm actually saying that!

Got milestones?

We're tired. And it's not because of a lack of food.

(Ava's first cereal: Friday, June 19, 2009.)

It's because we're 5.5 months old, and we really, really want to crawl.

On a side note, I do see some similarities between Ava and Jonah at this age. But I think his eyes were already brown. Hers still have a lot of blue, but some brown in the middle. I wonder how they will turn out?

Jonah's first cereal, mid-March, 2007

Oreos and other diet foods

I was a skinny kid. I can't find any photos, so you'll have to trust me on that.

That lasted through college. Perhaps it was all the walking I did in school (no car), or maybe it was the crappy food. But I never really gained the freshman fifteen, even though I probably could have used it. Once I graduated, though, I started to gain a little. Not a lot all at once, just five pounds or so a year. By the time I hit 30, I was more than 50 pounds heavier than I'd been when I graduated from high school. (Hmm...no photos of this era, either. Go figure.) But in the summer of 2004, after needing to buy size 16 shorts, and after seeing my sister eat Oreos while on Weight Watchers (more on her later), I decided it was time to lose some weight. I figured if I could eat Oreos while on a diet, that was the diet for me.

Six months later, I had lost 40 pounds and bought a size 6 wedding dress off the rack. I looked great, and I felt great.

So naturally, I turned back to Weight Watchers after both my pregnancies. I gained nearly 60 pounds when I was pregnant with Jonah, and lost all of it before he was a year old. I kept it off for a few months, but my weight started to creep back up when we decided to start trying for #2. (I treated both my pregnancies as my last opportunity to eat whatever I want, and once the decision was made, I guess I started a little early.) I only gained about 40 pounds with Ava, but I started fifteen pounds heavier. Weight Watchers has once again been my savior, though. She's five months old, and I've been below my pre-pregnancy weight for nearly a month. And that's with hardly any exercise. Now I just need to lose 10-15 more pounds and I'll be at my goal.

(Warning: here's the part where I go all WW cheerleader on y'all.)

The great thing about Weight Watchers is learning tips for a new lifestyle. This is not just a diet, it's a new way of life. I've made a lot of small changes in my eating habits that have really added up when it comes to weight loss. Best of all, I'm setting an example for my kids. I'm sure they'll inherit good genes—neither Matt nor I have ever been grossly overweight—but they'll also inherit good eating habits. (I hope. Jonah's a picky eater, but at least we're keeping him away from junk food.)

But don't take my word for it. Here's a photo of my sister from two years ago.

We were all pretty worried about her. She did not inherit the best genes, and her risk for things like diabetes and heart disease were only exacerbated by her weight.

When I had Jonah, I was truly concerned that she might not be able to run around with him on the playground, or worse, that she might not be around to see him grow up.

Here she is today, having lost more than 40% of her body weight.

It's taken a few tries, but she's lost it all with Weight Watchers and exercise. This former couch potato is now a gym rat who actually runs. I'm inspired by her story, and thrilled that she's doing something to be sure she'll be around for her niece and nephew, and hopefully, someday, her own as-yet-hypothetical kid.

Katie and Ava, spring 2009

Katie and Jonah, summer 2008
(I couldn't find a more recent picture of them!)

You're going back to school for what now?

Masters of Science in Accounting.

Lots of people have been asking about it, so I thought I'd write a bit about it. Yes, I'm going back to school to get a degree in accounting. Yes, I already have a graduate degree in social work, perhaps the 180 degree opposite of accounting. Sometimes I think I'm a bit nuts. Sometimes, when I say it, I feel like I have to hang my head in shame, like I'm some sort of traitor or defector. My favorite grad school professor wrote me a recommendation, and when I first asked him to do it, he told me he'd be happy to write a rec for a job in social work, but that he didn't think he was the right person to write this. (I talked him into writing it, since they ask for my aptitude for graduate study in general and not accounting or business specifically.)

It started in April, when I was working on our taxes. Now granted, I was just entering numbers into TurboTax, not really doing any real accounting. But two things occurred to me while I was doing it. First, I really liked working with those numbers. My jobs since getting my MSW have been all about working with people. (Well, duh.) I think I'm a little burned out on people. I realize that there will be people involved in an accounting career, but I like the idea of focusing on those numbers. In addition, I've done some accounting and financial management for the EMA Fund, so I have a little bit of an idea of what I might be in for. And I'm not a clinical social worker. I concentrated in management and community practice. So I've never been interested in being a therapist.

The second thing that occurred to me while I was working on our taxes was that I really need to earn more money. Don't get me wrong - I'm eight years past my masters degree, and I earn plenty of money. For someone who lives, well, pretty much anywhere other than Boston. But childcare for two kids is eating up my entire salary (and it would even if I were working full-time – remember, full-time work requires full-time childcare). Once Jonah starts preschool in the fall, it will eat up more than my entire salary. We can swing it, but it would be nice to minimize that financial hit by creating opportunities for higher earnings in the future.

I don't want to be a CPA, so don't start signing up to have me do your taxes. Instead, I'd like to be a private accountant, keeping track of some company's money. Down the road, if the day comes that we can manage with me making a lower salary, I'd love to work for a nonprofit again. In the meantime, though, perhaps I can do some pro bono accounting work to fill my need to repair the world. (EMA is first on my list, of course!)

To write this blog post, I did a google search on "What is accounting?" The first definition I found read:

Quite simply, accounting is a language: a language that provides information about the financial position of an organization. When you study accounting you are essentially learning this specialized language. By learning this language you can communicate and understand the financial operations of any and all types of organizations.

(Source: http://www.moneyinstructor.com/lesson/accountingintro.asp)

I've always been good at languages. And also math. I almost majored in math. So you can see why this field might be appealing to me. I like how accounting is so...concrete.

So, assuming I get in, I'll be enrolling at UMass Boston in January 2010. (Here's a bonus - since I used to teach GMAT courses for The Princeton Review, I've already taken--and aced--the GMAT.) UMB has a fabulous program. They're really geared toward working students, so I'll be able to continue to work part-time while taking classes at night. I think I can swing two courses per semester (and two in the summer), so I'll be done in about 2 1/2 years. Just in time to stop paying for childcare for two kids.

Back to Basics

I've gotten some super-cute shots of the kids lately. This contest (follow me! twitter.com/Mom_04) has really been good for my photo-taking. Jonah has started to pay more attention to Ava, and Ava has discovered her feet. So without further ado, here are some of the best: