Monday, February 27, 2006

Four Weeks That Changed My Life

Yes, it was four weeks ago tomorrow that our son arrived. I feel like I haven't done much in the past month except drink lots of coffee, hold our little baby, and try to figure out what I need to lecture about next. I'm poorly functioning in all spheres of my life--as a researcher, teacher, husband, son, and friend. Most of this is due to sleep deprivation, but it doesn't help that I'm not exercising and I'm consuming way too much caffeine.

I have made a couple of important decisions: (1) I'm going to delay applying tenure for another year, and (2) I'm going to take a family leave during the fall semester, which means I won't have to teach. I'll use that time to spend with Will, but I'll also travel to some meetings and working on grant proposals with my grad students. This means that I just have to make it to early June, and then I'll have about six months away from having to teach--my longest break in nearly 14 years!

Monday, February 6, 2006

He's Finally Here


In his crib on Sunday
Originally uploaded by The Prof.
Our son William was born last Monday, Jan. 30, at 11:02 p.m.

He's simply amazing.

He's utterly beautiful.

I love just holding him for as long as possible and staring into his face.

The importance of everything else now pales in comparison. How will I ever get any work done?!