13 months

Sibyl is 13 months old! She is a handful now that she is mobile. She gets into everything and most of the time only wants to read books. She says "Mama" almost exclusively, it seems. She also signs "more," "please," and "all done." And she has a great sense of humor.

I left this past Monday for Pennsylvania so I could defend my dissertation. I was anxious about flying into State College so I gave myself an extra day, just in case it snowed. I rehearsed the presentation several times on Tuesday and wandered the town reliving fond memories. It has all come and gone so quickly, compared to the years of writing and preparing data! The actual defense was fun, in a manner of speaking. I flew home Wednesday evening, after defending in the morning.

My mom helped Evan with the girls while I was gone and she spent a lot of time explaining to Iris about the PhD and the dissertation. So when I talked to Iris on Thursday morning she said, "I'm so proud of you, Mommy, that you got your PhD!" Granddad sent me flowers and my boss got me some champagne. I still don't quite feel like I'm done -- especially since I do have some revisions to make.

Flowers from Granddad 

 Iris is doing well -- she has finally recovered from her pneumonia and is SO full of energy.