Dissertation Defense

After much preparation, my doctoral dissertation defense was yesterday. The meeting went very well, my professors offered very constructive suggestions for improvement and did not ask me any questions that I did not know the answers to. My dissertation was accepted under the condition that I would make the modifications that my professors proposed. I have been working since the meeting to complete the modifications and I sent the revised version back to the committee members this evening. I'm hoping that no more modifications will be necessary. At the end of the meeting, they said "congratulations Dr. Iguchi," but I'm not sure that I'm really a "Dr." yet. I think my paper has to be approved by the dean before I can really claim that title.

Here is a picture of me and my dissertation committee:

Mommy's Tummy

There is lots of room to hide behind Mommy's big pregnant tummy.

Rainy Day

We've had such a rainy fall! Good thing we have our newly renovated basement to play in now. Noah loves it! The first time I brought him downstairs, he rolled around on the new carpet, climbed in and out of the shower several times, and scooted all over on his pony. What fun!

Getting Dizzy

Noah discovered spinning to get dizzy this afternoon.

Noah Says Apple

Noah said a new word this week - apple! This is the first time he has used a word to identify an object, so we are very excited.

Speech Therapy Evaluation

Since Noah is taking a little longer on talking, compared to most children, we are going to have a speech therapist come to the house once a week to work with him on expressive communication. We had an evaluation with a speech therapist and an occupational therapist earlier this week. I thought their report of his strengths summed up his personality nicely:

"Noah relates beautifully to both parents. Warmed up quickly to new people in unfamiliar environment. Used good eye contact during sustained turn taking social interactions. Points to direct adults' attention. Enjoys playing alongside other children during library time. Understands meaning of 'no.' Has a very gentle, easy-going temperament but typical for age occasionally tantrums. Gives a toy to adult on request. Showed good problem solving skills with ability to dump toy from bottle, use stick to get out of reach toy, and complete 4-piece form board puzzle (solved visually). Showed good understanding of language with ability to point to many pictures in a book on request, follow multiple 1-step directions, and point to many body parts. Able to explore his environment by crawling, walking, and climbing. Able to squat to pick up a toy and return to stand. Crawls up/down stairs. Used hands well to place toys in container, stack 5 blocks. Also feeds himself with fingers, beginning to use spoon. Opened shoes by pulling velcro. Eats good variety of food and drinks from sippy cup. Points and vocalizes or pulls parent to get needs met. Sleeps through the night."

Learning to be Gentle to Baby

I cleaned up my old Cabbage Patch Kids so that Noah could practice being nice and gentle to his baby brother. If he can learn that his new brother is not going to want to wrestle, I think we'll be okay.

Relaxing

 

Recliner...check! Remote...check! Nothing like watching TV in a diaper and socks. This guy knows how to relax.

33 Weeks Pregnant - Almost There!