May 2011

By Dr. Yasmine Kalkstein

35th week of pregnancy...









Sivan knows she can't be rough with me, so Adam gets his share...





Yes, we let our kid do this...






Because look how she smiles!! You'd let her jump on your couch too for this smile, wouldn't you?




Miss Independent above. She just kept going.








Petting farm in NJ.





After pesach Seder (above). Sivan was "faking" and was up until 11 pm that night running the hallway. Pesach pix below.





Below is Sivan drawing her first "family portrait"



I have been hearing that people want a blog update...honestly, what have I been thinking not updating this blog? I mean with all my free time...(very sarcastic).
No, the truth is, I'm glad people care that much and want to see our life!

Little "poppy" is larger than a cantaloupe now (Cantaloupe is a new spelling word for me--I'm not sure why it can't just be spelled cantelope. Seems like with every pregnancy I learn new things--the first pregnancy it was how to spell "nauseous" and this pregnancy, it's how to spell "cantaloupe"). I have 5.5 weeks to go (I think 5 is what I'm aiming for).

Sivan is getting excited about being a big sister. She told me that I looked fat today and but then smiled slyly because she knows I'm not really fat. I'm not sure Adam knows that I'm not really fat though. Sivan is, on one level, ready to move out (she is rejecting her "baby buckle" in the carseat, wants to be FOUR!, and wants to head to kindergarten next week). On the other hand, there's definitely some additional neediness. I think we just need this baby to come soon and get all the anticipation over with! On the other hand, the baby needs to wait until I'm done with my mile-long "things to do" list. :) Sivan used to say "we don't know yet if it's a boy or a girl" but now she says "I think he's a girl". Oh the disappointment she will face if little Poppy turns out to be a boy!

Adam and I are slowly winding down our semesters, although Adam is stuck teaching summer session (or if you are from West Point reading this...Adam is thrilled to have the honor of teaching summer session). I am so glad to not have to commute in every day at this point. My office is clean--I told my secretary she had to look at it, because by the end of the semester, my desk and floor were buried in papers. I can't even imagine what the custodian thought. My hole puncher lost it's backing so I'd just punch holes all over the floor. I came in to my clean office today and the custodian had vacuumed. She must have been so excited to finally be able to do so! What can I say? When I try to rush home to see Sivan, cleaning my office was just not a priority.

Adam and I, after experiencing this past year, are not sure parents are meant to work full-time and have children. It's been somewhat brutal, although largely because we make seeing Sivan a priority, and so we come home earlier to do so and have to make up the difference at night. In any case, we're a little panicked about how to function with two, but as they say "cross that bridge when you get there"...(whatever the expression is).

Sivan is a little diva...she begs to wear make-up, wants her nails painted, soaks her hair by herself in the sink every morning to "make the curls gorgeous" and asks me for hair product. Her mother on the other hand is lucky if I look half decent leaving the house. So she doesn't get it from me! Or maybe she has the time to beautify herself and I just don't. She is super excited it's finally summer and she can wear dresses--she has worn a dress virtually every day this week. On the other hand, Sivan is also an active kid (while wearing a dress). She jumps off of our couches (we are SUCH cool parents letting her do that, right?), and recently removed our towel bar practicing her gymnastics. Yes, we have a hole in our wall now.

Honestly, the greatest thing right now, besides our health, is the weather. It's seriously perfect. Finally. No need for a/c, no need for heat. About time. Winter was brutal. We deserve this beautiful weather!!

Here's our cozi site for some other funny stories/quotes: http://family.cozi.com/kalksteinjournal/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2020 Summer (Make that Thanksgiving Card)

By Dr. Yasmine Kalkstein
Image
So, I was reminded yesterday I never sent out our annual summer card. Uh...2020 folks?  Can we just use 2020 and Coronavirus for all excuses? So, I decided this year, our 2020 Summer Card is a 2020 Thanksgiving Card.  And it's not a printing.  It's an online blog entry.  Wow, how far we have fallen... But at least I have some good pictures? 2020 started out with an amazing first week.  We had Sivan's bat mitzvah and barely a day goes by that I don't think how lucky we were to have our Israeli bat mitzvah pre-pandemic.   Per tradition, we did hers at 12.  During Chanukkah, we started in Rehovot and the kids saw their friends, and then headed to Emek Yezreal as our next base, while we explored that area bit, and then headed down the Jordan valley to the Dead Sea, where we spent a few days, and then to the desert (Mitzpeh Ramon) and then back to Jerusalem.  Sivan's bat mitzvah included a few celebrations--we did a tunnel ceremony, which meant an...
Read more

Happy 5782

By Dr. Yasmine Kalkstein
Image
Hello friends and family! Happy 5782 and Fall of 2021! . We hope this email finds you well, and that the start of the school year has gone well for all.  We've had an eventful year, although like many, it had its share of frustrations. As for us, Yasmine enjoyed her first year at West Point--it's been an inspiring place to work where our Army's commitment to a better world and character is so clear.  Yasmine works as the Lead Integrator at the Character Integration Advisory Group and is not ever bored.  She also loved teaching cadets.  Her typical attire is the uniform on the right, not left :) She even helped coach the coxswains on West Point Crew. Adam is also at West Point and just got full professor this year, a promotion that is the highest level in academia. His favorite memory was his severe weather trip, where he took a group of cadets to go find a tornado (I think Yasmine just simplified that one a lot).  Check out usmaweatheraid.blogspot.com if you wa...
Read more

Teaching thoughts: Positive Feedback

By Dr. Yasmine Kalkstein
This is going to sound totally dumb and simple.  But it's a simple revelation I had the other day. I LOVE being taught.  I relish feedback.  Right now I have five teachers--my art teacher, my horseback riding teacher, my Krav Maga instructor, and Talya, my colleague/mentor on the Fulbright.  Adam and I also started parent training, where we are being taught skills that may help us with our strong-willed angels.  I love my interactions with all of these instructors and realize it's because I relish feedback, and in particular positive feedback.  I should swim a few times a week, but without a swim teacher, I'm not interested.   I should do Yoga by myself, but I need someone to teach me.  I LOVE having feedback.  Yes, I have studied behaviorism.  I have heard a million times "positive feedback" (hell, I even teach that it's important) but I'd hereby like to apologize to all those around me in my life.  I do not do this enou...
Read more