Excuses, excuses

So we have even more reason to excuse Abby for having her crying/screaming fits recently. It turns out that she has her bottom teeth coming in. Cathy even suggested that this might be the case but I poo pooed the notion that our daughter would be early in getting her teeth (the average is apparently at 7 months). I didn't even notice until Abby took the initiative to grab my finger, stick it into her mouth and rub it against her bottom gums. Poor girl. This is why she slobbers constantly and also makes this weird fishy face all of the time:

Fishy Face

Return of Ann

After the last post I feel compelled to clarify: Abby is not always crabby. In fact, she is mostly happy except when she gets sleepy. Recently, she has become extremely vocal (read: she loves to scream happily). Albert and I find this rather annoying because we see babies everywhere who are so perfectly behaved, quiet, smiling, etc. We ask ourselves everyday: How could such a loud child come from such quiet parents? We do, however, consider ourselves very lucky because she also happens to have a really loud laugh. She shares this with us particularly when we pretend to eat her:



Last week I started up at school again. The transition was much smoother than anticipated since I have essentially been back 60% for the last couple of months. It's just nice that it's official and I'm getting paid again. I hate to admit it because it makes me feel like a bad mother half the time but I really love being back in school. I love coming home with the feeling that I learned something today. I sometimes even tell Abby what I found to be interesting. I sometimes think that it will influence her to love science or engineering and buck the convention that women aren't supposed to be in these fields. I also realize that I sound totally neurotic. What I mean to say is that these dual roles I have: being an engineer in school and being a mother are both fulfilling. I also don't think that I could be one without the other anymore. As much as I love the things I learn, I also love to come home to giggling baby who I can pretend to eat.