Holden has finally started napping.  For the past 2 weeks, he has been consistently taking naps that are anywhere from 45 minutes to almost 2 hours long.  This is the first time this has happened in his very short life.  I don’t know why he is only now starting to nap.  Well, I have a few guesses, namely that he was EATING for the first 9 weeks of his life and now he has to catch up on his beauty sleep.  If he doesn’t get his nap, he gets incredibly cranky.  Problem is, if we’re out and about, he still resists sleep.  He can be absolutely exhausted, but he will always prefer to stay awake so he won’t miss anything.  During the week when I am at home more often, it’s easier to get him down for a nap (because it’s nice and boring here at home).  

Some of the things that we have done with Holden in the past week that have distracted him from sleep include:

rock climbing!

Visiting with Eva and Chester (Chester is 9 months old and is only slightly bigger than Holden):

And attending the South End Art Hop (not pictured).

In my “free” time since Holden started napping, I’ve been feverishly applying for jobs and working on a manuscript.  I’ve uploaded my CV and cover letter to 6 companies  (none of which are in VT).  And actually, none of them are hiring for anything I would be qualified to do, but it’s always good to have this information on file with a company for when something does come up.  Applying for industry jobs has been an interesting experience for me.  I’ve encountered a whole new lexicon, including words like “pipeline,” “investor,” and the formerly elusive “compensation,” and “bonus plan.”  The hiring cycle for industry is different than for academics in that they typically advertise jobs at the end of the year when they know what their budgets look like for the following year (just some friendly advice I got from a scientist at one of the companies in which I’m interested).  The job search process has forced me to really think (once again) about my priorities and where I want to be professionally and where we want to be as a family (geographically and otherwise).  We’re asking the kinds of questions that I’m sure many families ask themselves daily: “How do I keep myself feeling fulfilled and challenged professionally while also nurturing and enjoying my family?”  “How do I keep my life from becoming stagnant and dull without it becoming chaotic and stressful?”  I don’t know how we will find the proper balance, but I’m prepared to do some trial-and-error and continual tweaking to get it right.  To further ensure that I am at least sort of competitive for these jobs, I’ve begun working on a manuscript in earnest.  The data are from my dissertation and they have been waiting patiently in Microsoft Excel-land to be described in some mediocre journal that nobody reads.  The only real time I have to work completely uninterrupted is late at night after the boy has nodded off.  I’ve been loading up on iced coffee at 9PM and sitting at the kitchen table, wading through articles and trying to cram as much progress into a 3-hour stretch as I can.  By midnight, I am spent and can’t really concentrate any more.  At least Rob is my writing buddy, who joins me at the kitchen table in solidarity, working on his own writing.  I am aiming to get a draft of the manuscript done by Tuesday, so that I can get on that plane to WV with at least one more item at least partially off my plate.