Eli's first day of "school"

At the beginning of September, Eli had a very big day -- his first day at the baby-sitter's! 

Eli goes to a sitter's house with just a few other young kids (including his favorite Madeline!), but Ryan calls it "school".  In the few weeks he has been going to "school", he definitely has learned a lot!

We were very lucky to work out schedules so that one of us was home with Eli everyday for more than 8 months and we are very lucky that we were recommended to a great sitter!  It's comforting to know that Eli is in good hands the 3 days a week that we're not with him. 

Working Mom (Summer)

While posting photos of Eli is my favorite blog activity, I thought I would dedicate a post to my (current) thoughts on being a "Working Mom".

I have mentioned before that I never really planned to take a lot time off and went back to work part-time 7 weeks after Eli was born.  The Spring semester was tough, for both Ryan and I, but we made it through with only a few minor glitches.  Overall, I think we did pretty well!  I took Eli to work twice (Thanks to awesome grad students Carlee and Katie for baby-sitting!) and Ryan took him once (Thanks to wonderful undergrad Kim for baby-sitting!).  3 schedule conflicts over 10 weeks wasn't too bad!  And we are both so lucky that we work at places where it's possible to bring in a baby and no one bats an eye ... actually ... almost everyone was overly excited to see Eli!  You really gotta love academia!

It's Summer in the land of academics now, and I am back "full-time".  Well ... not really full-time, but my full-time summer schedule, which is Monday-Thursday.  I usually work all 15 weeks of the summer, but I am taking off about 3.5 weeks this year.  It's been a nice transition back into work.  Being away so much during the Spring semester was actually very frustrating for me.  I LOVED being home most days with Eli, but my replacement emailed and called daily and there were quite a few issues when things would normally run smoothly.  By the end of the semester, as much as I would miss Eli, I was happy to be back to my job.  It's almost easier to be at work then it was to be at home worried about work. 

How is it possible that I can now be back "full-time"?  Now that it's summer, Ryan is totally off from work.  Well, not totally off, but he teaches online classes, so he is a "Stay At Home Dad" this summer.  Yes, it is true.  He is AMAZING.  I should have him blog and tell you all about his time home with Eli, but, in my opinion, he is doing a great job and I am so grateful that when I am at work, I know that Eli is at home with Daddy! 

It has been wonderful to be spending more time with my students and I even worked with some old colleagues on a manuscript recently.  I feel so satisfied being able to accomplish things at work.  I have a big workshop coming up that I am in charge of and I think it is actually all coming together nicely.  Overall, work has been going well and it feels great to be back.

Though I do really miss Eli like CRAZY while I am at work and often rush home much earlier than I used to, just to get some good snuggle time in.

While I totally get how some moms love staying home with their kids (I LOVE my days home with Eli), I actually love my career and feel accomplished because of it.  I think that's what makes the difference.  I am a happy Working Mom. 

Though check-in with me in the Fall when I am back at work completely full time and Eli's spending 20 hours a week with a baby-sitter.

Eli's first pet

Could the son of two nerdy science professors possibly have a normal first pet?

No, of course not.

Eli's first pet is a shoal of transgenic zebrafish known as GloFish.

Eli with his GloFish!

 What are GloFish?, you ask?

GloFish are a zebrafish (Danio rerio, as my 8-year-old nephew quickly identified!) with an inserted transgene from either a jellyfish or a sea anemone.  These genes are for fluorescent proteins that are expressed in the muscles of the zebrafish and make them "glow".  They now sell red, orange, green, blue and purple (you can now buy them at your local pet store!).  Eli has a few green and a bunch of blue ones.

Green GloFish
(Photo by Ryan Wynne)

Blue GloFish
(Photo by Ryan Wynne)

 
Sure, Eli is probably a bit young for a pet of his own (Wait, I am not supposed to buy my 5-month-old his own pet?).  Truthfully, these are some research subjects that are just spending the summer with us from Ryan's lab.  Ryan has been working on a few shoaling studies with his undergraduate students, based on some experiments I did during my thesis work** (a long time ago!). As Ryan is home with Eli all summer, we thought it would be fun for Eli to start doing a bit of research and earn his keep (Wait, I am not supposed to have my 5-month-old doing research?).  


**Totally nerdy side note -- While getting some links for this post, I discovered that my old thesis paper is actually mentioned on the GloFish Science page.  I am that much of a nerd that I am a little excited about it!**   

Mommy goes back to work

Eli's first lesson on Animal Biodiversity

On Monday, February 13th, I decided I should go back to work.

As I wrote about before, the plan was always to go back to work part-time this spring.  As college professors, Ryan & I were both able to work our schedules out so that one of us is always with Eli.  I work all day Mondays and Wednesday mornings and Ryan works the rest of the week.  This is basically Ryan's normal schedule (shifted a bit) and I am just teaching less classes and am taking time off of my coordinator position.  I am only teaching 2 classes (as opposed to 5) and had some awesome grad students covering for me until I decided I was ready to go back.

In those first weeks, I waivered on when I would go back.  I just didn't want to leave him.  He was my little man and he needed me!      

I stayed home with Eli for 7 weeks.  I was all cleared from my doctors and Eli was doing very well and Ryan was a confident daddy, so I decided to head back to academia!

That first day, I was a bit worried about how I would do.  I was excited to be back teaching (which I love), but I was definitely missing my little man at home.  I was very grateful that my boss was in (he is technically on sabbatical) and was very supportive.  I was also very happy that my friend Becky has started teaching my class and is on campus on Mondays, so I had a good friend (and a mommy of a young baby) to chat with over lunch!

It was a long 10-hour day (of course!), but the best part was when I got home. 

An immediate and giant smile from Eli!!!!
It was so sweet!  One of his first real, directed, social smiles!

A very happy working mommy!