Scott & Ellen

Halloweeners

2010-11-19T06:57:00.006-05:00

We had a moderate amount of fun over Halloween. Candy acquisition consisted of just going to the ward's Trunk or Treat. No kids came to our apartment though, so we consumed that bag of Twix or whatever it was that Ellen bought (obviously I really didn't participate in that - I wasn't fast enough).

Originally Natalia was going to be the black cat that Sonja was last year and Sonja was going to be a princess. Natalia wanted to wear both Sonja's princess dress and her black cat costume, as seen below. But Ellen found this pink-trimmed witch costume at Rite-Aid or something, so she became that. We told her she was a "witch princess" so she ran with that.

Making some Ikea Shelves...

Lots more pictures on the Flickr link to the right... -->

Blogs are so 2009...

2010-10-11T21:45:00.000-04:00

Wow, just wow. Easily our longest gap ever. Family and friends have long since stopped bugging us for updates, and probably have just resigned themselves to the belief that we've given up on blogging. I think it's just funny that our last post was titled Fall Picture Catch Up, as if that was a long gap or something. At least we have been updating pictures on Flickr, so those are at least as recent as June.

Seriously, it's almost been a year though, so quite a bit has happened. I went from being an inexperienced first year resident to an inexperienced second year radiology resident. Starting in July, I now take call, which means that I have to stay at the hospital after work until 8:00 AM the next day (= a full 24 hours), and read all the studies that come in overnight to the ER. Obviously, my vigilance has increased dramatically; I no longer have someone I can just turn to and ask,"What do you think? Nasty fracture or totally normal?" Technically, I can call the attending radiologists, it's just something you don't want to do unless you really need to. Especially at 4am. I haven't had to yet, but I imagine that's coming up in the near future. It's been a little easier to deal with because I've started a strange new sleeping schedule largely composed of short naps throughout the day rather than a long sleeping period at night. I've been doing this since March of this year and so far it's been mostly good. I can't get into it now, but maybe I'll have a post later about it.

Hopefully Ellen will tell you a bit more about her, but she's been good, on the whole. She's been getting a lot of freelance work lately from her old job. We had a lot of insurance headaches for Sonja's therapy, but it seemed to work out for the best for 2010. For 2009, they basically told us "sorry, we know you did everything you needed to do, but we don't care, and we're not paying for that year." For 2010, there does appear to be some money coming in.

I think the most major news about Sonja (at least as far as day to day life is concerned) is that she is potty-trained! Yes! That happened a while ago, starting at the beginning of June, and she did pretty well about going by herself when she needed to. Since she tries to avoid verbal communication when she doesn't have to, she pretty quickly adapted to just running to the bathroom and going when it was time. We tried to teach her to say "I want potty" but that's sort of less effective with her (even though we're still trying obviously). She's gradually moved passed wetting the bed and needing the potty chair; these last 2 changes are much more recent.

With Natalia, there's something new just about every week, so I won't waste my time trying to go into everything. She really won't stop talking all the time. She loves when I come home; halfway across the apartment when I open the door, there is a distinctly audible "I HEAR DADDY!!" And she has been saying "hi" to everything probably for a year now - that hasn't slowed at all, although she has been limiting it lately to living things rather than inanimate objects and abstract concepts ("hi happy" being an example of one of her phrases from just a couple months ago when she saw one of us smiling). She's also a slave to routine, like most normal toddlers, I imagine. She has a strict bedtime routine, which wasn't changed much by getting her a twin bed to sleep in a couple months ago. Bedtime consists of reading a book, then a "book for bed" where she gets to choose a book to take to bed with her, then finding her beloved pink blanket, then getting in bed, then prayers, then singing "itsy bitsy spider" and "twinkle twinkle little star" in that order.

Here are some videos for your amusement.

This is Natalia saying hi to her cousin Scarlett (Marissa's daughter)

And... Natalia giving us her repertoire of songs (these are just her favorite)

Those are the major things. I plan on uploading a lot of videos to YouTube in the near future, so hopefully that will be fun for everyone. And by everyone, I mean grandparents. I will let you know.

Fall Picture Catchup

2009-11-08T22:14:00.004-05:00

We've been MIA, but we're trying to shape up. We also moved. We posted lots of new pics here.

Natalia is obsessed with her hat. She had to wear it to sleep in last night. That must have been comfortable. She also insists on wearing it to church today.

Halloween was double cute, with Sonja in her same cat costume as last year (hey, why not?) and Natalia as a ladybug. We carved our first pumpkin too, but nothing fancy. I definitely learned about what to do different next year. The best part was Scott dried and made some delicious flavored pumpkin seeds.

Looks better than it tastes:

At the ward Halloween party (unfortunately, I cannot get Sonja to look at the camera ever):

Mommy and chocolate is all a girl needs:

I think we all look weird here except Natalia, but it's the only one with all of us:

Sharing candy:

That's quite enough sharing for now:

Mouths full:

A word of advice...

2009-09-04T01:11:00.001-04:00

Don't ever let me borrow your laptop.

Videoz of teh childrenz

2009-08-21T13:57:00.005-04:00

I just found out that Google Video is no more. Well, it still exists, but no more uploading I guess. So my videos will have to go somewhere else. Somewhere where you can become famous just by dancing and lip syncing a song in the comfort of your own room, or by taking a picture of yourself every day for 6 years. That's right, YouTube. I was going to do Flickr video, but they only allow 90 second clips.

Anyway, the videos on my channel are a little less viral. Right now, it's just a couple videos of the girls (mainly Natalia for now). Here's a sample, where Ellen reads the book Moo Baa La La La to her. If you press that HQ button in the lower right, you can see it in its (near) original quality.

Other videos can be seen on my YouTube channel here. More to come, although it will be sort of in reverse chronology, since the ones here now are the latest that we've taken.

2009-08-20T18:14:00.001-04:00

My punishment for finishing all my cases and getting out of work early: a flat tire on my bike. Nice.

What I Do

2009-08-18T14:05:00.009-04:00

Some of you may be curious about this. For those that aren't? Sweet.

I'm a radiology resident. That means i'm learning how to be a radiologist. I have 13 different 4-week rotations per year - the rotations are through different anatomy and methods of imaging. For instance, Chest, Neuro, Abdominal CT, Abdominal Ultrasound, Pediatrics, Nuclear Medicine, Musculoskeletal, Breast, Interventional, Gastrointestinal Fluoroscopy. Well, actually that's all of them.

Right now, I'm on nuclear medicine. It is a unique specialty in that it is all about imaging the patient from the inside instead of the outside. Basically we inject a radioactive particle that is usually connected to a biological molecule, and then measure the radioactive signal that the stuck particle gives off from inside the body.

Got it? Riiiight...

So for example, attach radioactive fluorine to some sugar, and inject it. Anywhere that sugar goes, you'll be able to detect the signal given off by the fluorine. Cancers are really active and consume a lot of sugar. So they give off a high signal, and you can find little cancers that have spread places in the body you normally couldn't see with a CAT scan or MRI even.

Here is a case I just looked at:

On the left is a front (anterior) view, on the right is a back (posterior) view of the same person. Click to enlarge.

This is called a bone scan. We used a radioactive material called Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) and attached it to a molecule called MDP (which contains phosphate), and it attaches to calcium. So anywhere you have a lot of calcium activity (i.e. bones) you are going to get a radioactive signal from Tc-99m.

The above was from a 9-year old boy. He had some back pain or something, anyway, that part was negative for any findings. The cool part is the growth plates. Can you see the really bright lines on the knees and shoulders and ankles (and a couple other places)? That means there is a lot of activity there. Pretty cool, right? When you get to be 16-18 or so, those lines fade away as the growth plates close up and stop their activity.

Anyway, so what do I do? I think that was the original question. I sit at a desk with a computer with 3-6 monitors. I have a list of all the patients that need nuclear medicine studies to be read. Then, I load them up and dictate (voice recognition software) what I think into the microphone. Then the attending radiologist (my boss) comes by and tells me what I thought that was wrong. Then I fix what I did wrong and submit it. Yay! It's actually pretty enjoyable for me. Oh, there's also conferences and stuff. And I have to study a lot at night.

But overall, this has been a pretty cool rotation. The volume is low, so there is a lot of time during the workday to learn and discuss cases. Or blog about your job. Shhhhhhh...

Post with a text

2009-08-02T18:25:00.002-04:00

I can post to this blog with a text message? Awesome. Watch out, Twitter nerds.

It Is Finished.

2009-07-28T16:45:00.005-04:00

I just checked, and my last blog post was here, on September 24 of last year. That's some serious neglect, easily my longest ever. I can explain, really. Well maybe not explain, but throw down some excuses that you may or may not choose to accept. Anyway.

The big excuse for me not blogging is really this: I recently was involved in an atrocity called an intern year. There's a lot of mixed feelings still going on in my head about this. On one hand, I got to work with a bunch of cool people (interns, residents, attendings) and even learned some medicine in the process while meeting a few cool patients. On the other hand, basically everything else sucked.

I suppose it's relative. The most difficult aspect of any situation differs from person to person. Given two men who've lost their job, for example, one might feel an extreme loss of self assurance and self image derived from his lack of ability to care for his family. The other may find the sudden change in schedule and new job-finding duties incredibly jarring. For me, if there's any sense of waste or lack of purpose in a situation, I really can't deal with it for very long.

Well, was there a sense of waste in my intern year? Umm... well, actually I can't think of a better definition for an intern. Someone who perpetually cleans up messes others shouldn't have made.

There's a reason there really isn't an "intern" job description. You just do what everyone demands you do. A form "needs" to be signed at 3am? Well, I'll be right there. The patient's family wants to complain about the food? Well, I can do a whole lot about that, thanks for giving me a call.

I'm normally a pretty cheerful guy, but it really got to be too much. I started experiencing something that I've never experienced in my life: constant seething rage.

Sure I've been mad before. I just never have been this kind of mad. It's different.

First, I'm going to come right out and admit my lack of blogging (and lack of writing of any kind, really, including emails and such) was not a result of lack of time. I've used the excuse, of course, and the "spend the night at the hospital every 4th night working 30 hours straight" and the "one day off a week maximum" really didn't afford me a whole lot of leisure time, but I did have it.

No, time wasn't the main problem. You've noticed, of course, that when you're mad about something, it's hard to care about anything else. It's also essentially impossible to change the situtation when you don't even know that you're mad.

In other words, motivation to do most productive and/or useful tasks pretty much dropped out the window. For example, I just basically stopped planning out my week on Sunday, something I normally find extremely low-investment and high-yield; it used to be enjoyable most of the time and, failing that, at least I forced myself to do it. Nope. Completely stopped. Either I didn't see the point because I was working every day that week or I was so wasted I fell asleep looking at my Outlook calendar. There were definitely things I could have planned. Even working 80 hours and sleeping 56 (some of which were ostensibly supposed to overlap since I spent the night at the hospital 1-2 nights a week), that's 168 - 80 - 56 = 32 other hours I could have used for emails and blogging and all that stuff.

But lo, let us rejoice, for this is not a sad story, but a happy one. I am able to write this to you now because when the burden finally lifted on March 24th, and I returned home, after having spent the night at the hospital with minimal head-nodding-in-my-chair naps, I was able to fall upon my bed and begin the cleansing process.

There were two weeks between ending internship and starting radiology, and that was great, but it was less about the time off and more about the perspective change. I had a couple weeks off in December as well, but in the back of my mind during that vacation, I was just dreading the return, and all I could see ahead was more of the same. This time, after internship was all done, I would often sit in a chair and smile as I envisioned waking up and going to do something I really liked... I could feel the anger just diffuse out of me.

Although the anger went away, the bad habits are still dying down. The shortness and impatience with other people, something I developed subconsciously as a coping mechanism during internship, certainly didn't disappear overnight, and I think I'm still working on that. But, it's happening.

I'm doing radiology now, and it's tiring and there's a lot more reading/studying than there was during internship. But, I like it. Strange feeling, that. Right now I'm on a nuclear medicine rotation, which is pretty low-volume and high-teaching, and full of advanced physics and other nerdery that I eat up.

So I have both the motivation and time to tell you about it. No excuse, anymore. Which means: I'm back. At least for today.

What an Inspiration

2009-07-15T01:28:00.003-04:00

I've really been moved by the horrible story of Byrd and Melanie Billings who were killed last week. They were well off and, instead of spending money on themselves, used their resources to adopt children - mostly those with special needs. They left 17 children behind. Our family had "special needs" thrust upon us. The Billings family volunteered to have their lives changed forever, to spend the rest of their days making a difference rather than enjoy the good life. Knowing what it really is like, I really can't fathom that decision, which makes me realize how far I still am from being Christlike.

May their family find healing and comfort.

Brother, Can You Spare A Hundred Million Dimes?

2009-07-10T02:16:00.001-04:00

Wow, it's been a long time since our last post. Frankly, I've been kind of discouraged about posting, given the constant subject of thought and discussion in our household. But a lot has happened. I'll try to post about other things too.

We made a decision that we felt really good about and has been really good for Sonja. A couple weeks ago, we started her on very expensive 20-hour-a-week applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy. Some insurances cover it; ours does not, automatically, at least. We are in the process of applying and waiting and possibly appealing. But if it doesn't, we are getting some miraculous help from some amazingly generous people in our lives. Believe me, if we owned a house or car, we would sell it in a heartbeat. The best part, though, is that we are at peace. We know it's what she needs.

Basically, this therapy is very evidence-based and data-driven. Sonja has two therapists who work with her during the week and a PhD who assesses her once a week at our team meeting to set the curriculum for the following week. It's hard core, which is what she needs. They teach skills over and over until she gets it. Her physical imitation skills were basically nonexistent. The very first day she learned clapping by imitating. Two weeks later, she has generalized it by following the actions during song time in nursery (generalizing meaning she has been taught clapping and patting her head, but in nursery she was stomping her feet and doing other actions not explicitly taught her). She is imitating me more as well. I can't emphasize enough what a huge step this is - imitation is how children start to learn. She has also learned a lot of words, also through repetition (eg, several objects on the table and she has to "give me the spoon" or whatever they ask). She doesn't pass a skill until she gets it 100% two days in a row. Her verbal imitation is really good already, so it's just a matter of working on her language processing and teaching her to listen to each part of a sentence. She's learning English as a foreign language right now, basically. I wish we had done this sooner. But she's making really good progress. She loves it too, because she gets to watch Curious George and eat M&Ms as a motivator between tasks.

I've also added something from my old life back in - I'm going to a book group once a month and reading the books! Actually, I've never belonged to a book group, so I get a little too excited about it. I haven't read a book in like a year that didn't have the word "autism" in the title and suddenly I've read a book and two novellas. So exciting!

Natalia is imitating sounds and she understands and is trying to say "thank you," "again," and "all done." She points to Mom and Dad and says "Dada" for both of us. She will also twist her fat body back and forth when you tell her to dance and she will stop immediately when you tell her to stop. It's hilarious. It's also odd because, at almost 3, Sonja is also learning these skills, including pointing (it's taking awhile - her motor skills are behind) and following verbal instructions. I'm just glad both of my girls are progressing, albeit at different rates.

Very cute picture alert! (in no particular order)

Natalia's rule number 1: Mommy's pants are not a prize to be given up lightly.

Rule number 2: Mommy's finger is not a prize to be given up lightly. Actually anything to do with Mommy's personage is not to be let go of under any circumstances, especially hair or pinched bits of skin:

Sonja playing with playdoh again:

Natalia learning to walk after bath time:

Three cuties at the Lincoln Park Zoo:

Natalia the clown. She actually kept it on for about 3 second before taking it off:

This picture is blurry because I had to snap it quickly. When we offer her a spoonful of green beans or peas, she snaps into this tragic pose until she thinks the coast is clear. But it never is. We make her eat them anyway:

A meeting of the minds - sharing blades of grass. Check out that muffin top (on Natalia of course). We can't get any shirts to cover her belly, poor thing:

Sonja in Natalia's chair. After Natalia gets out, she gets in and requests the "seatbelt" to be put on. She is definitely jealous of the attention paid to Natalia at mealtime:

Natalia asleep. Her mean parents kept her up after 6:30:

Natalia loving attention from Grandma:

Chocolate face:

Sonja's first pigtails. This took me awhile, but she was pretty patient with me:

As mentioned before, Sonja likes to sit wherever Natalia sits:

Baby with Milk Jug: A Study

My Little Sonja

2009-04-26T00:36:00.004-04:00

I love my little Sonja. She is getting more fun to hang around - much better eye contact, developing opinions on things (mostly nonverbal), responding more to simple questions such as "what do you want" and "what's that?" She's starting to answer things like "what are they doing?" if she sees a picture of animals sleeping, for example. Still a long way to go, as was emphasized to me when she got evaluated for placement in a special education program at the school - response to verbal direction being the biggest problem for a school setting. Don't worry, Sonja, we'll get there. She said her first four word sentence two weeks ago - "I want blue marker." That's the structure of all her sentences, "I want..." but it is effective.

She got surgery to put in ear tubes a couple weeks ago (her ears have been blocked up for months with fluid). A minor procedure. It was heartbreaking to see all the amazingly brave little kids in the waiting room waiting for much worse stuff - children with deformities, cancer, mental disabilities and in wheelchairs. If you know a family with a handicapped child, please help them! I can't imagine the burdens they must feel.

I'm posting these pictures because Sonja looked freaking cute drugged up in her hospital gown.

Not happy with her banana-like appearance:

The socks seem to make the outfit work:

See how serene I look once my child has been drugged? This gives me all kinds of ideas...

So pretty, yet so wasted:

Sonja's favorite part of the Lincoln Park Zoo:

Looking for the seal (psst, it's right behind you):

Sonja's admiration for Cardinal Richelieu cannot be denied:

Thanks, Grandma H for the play-doh. It's my favorite:

She likes playing with her trains until Natalia tries to get in on the action (which is most of the time):

Fell asleep waiting for Mommy. Sorry, babe!

Catch up - Natalia

2009-04-25T23:24:00.000-04:00

I've been waiting for Scott to post like he promised, but a man's promises are like dust in the wind. Or something...
We have been really sick. Scott got a week and a half off after his/our indescribably hard year, and he used it to take care of us. Poor Scott. At least no one ended up in the hospital from it, unlike a couple of Sonja's friends.
On a lighter note, I have some freaking cute pictures to post, so here I go. Here's Natalia's, and I'll try to post one for Sonja soon. Natalia is 9 months old and very mobile.

She continues her need to wear sweats to encase her chunk.

First swing - a pensive and joyful experience for all

Daddy's toys are her favorite.

She happily plays with others until she sees or hears Mommy. Then she realizes she was miserable the whole time. You really have to click on the pictures to get the full effect of her expression. She has a temper...

Revving up:

Realizing I'm not going to get her:

She loves to pull herself on everything and share her ball or block with me or Sonja. Sonja tries to push her away and WWIII ensues.

For the Grandparents

2009-03-15T22:57:00.004-04:00

Congratulations and good job to my sister Audrey for delivering my niece Ava and nephew Zachary after having a C-section with her first. She's a fighter. I can't even imagine what it's like to have three kids under three. I hope the twins will act in tandem and entertain each other, so they will essentially only be one child. I just realized their initials are A and Z. Pretty cute idea.

Not to compete, but I took some cute pictures this weekend. Scott had Saturday off so we actually had a little family time. Imagine that. Our family is so screwed up right now, I don't mind telling you ("you" meaning the blogosphere). We have some serious relationship building to do starting in one week, when Scott finishes his crappy internship year and gets a week and a half off before his radiology year begins. I don't even know what to do with all the extra time, except I will definitely be putting Scott to work doing household projects. Haha, don't worry, I'm only half serious.

A monster under the bed is sucking up Natalia. You can't tell, but she is yelling her head off. She was SOOO mad I was laughing and taking pictures instead of getting her fat bum unstuck.

With the help of pictures as triggers, Sonja can now say, "I want..." and what she wants, if she can get out the word. She requested pancakes for dinner and since it takes quite an effort for her sometimes, I almost always give in. She initiates it by getting out the syrup and waving it in my face. Then I get her little picture book and she gets the pictures she wants and gives them to me. Then I help her point at each picture and she will say the "I want" sentence.

She watched and waited patiently and ecstatically while I made the pancakes (hugging the syrup tightly the whole time). She would eat pancakes for every meal if she could.

So Saturday I hitched a ride to Ikea. I haven't been in about 4-5 years. It was fun. I bought a lot of stuff for Sonja's room to help make it more interesting and conducive to play. I'm spacing out the present-giving to make it more fun. Today was the tent ($9.99 - yes, that's right - cheap crap is awesome). This picture is right after I set it up. I thought maybe she would not know what to do, but she definitely did. She couldn't wait to rush in there. Tip for other parents: don't set up a tent in your child's room right before bedtime.

From disorganized mind, through fingers, to keyboard, to blog post

2009-03-10T00:34:00.009-04:00

I finally got my taxes done last week! I usually get them done the first week in February, but one of our financial institutions applied for an extension so we didn't get our statements for a while. My perfect record ruined! I guess many people got more than that ruined last year (ie, their financial freedom, their careers, etc.), so I shouldn't complain.

I've also been freelancing at night after the kids go to bed, so I've been MIA. It's been a ridiculous whirlwind, but I was so grateful to get the work, especially considering the state of our economy. I honestly thought the company I work for might be hurting too, but they're doing fine. But I have no work tonight, and I'm going out 4 evenings this week - one for parent training class with Scott for Sonja (yes, I consider that a date), one girls' movie night, and two couples' dates. This differs greatly from every other week for the past year, so I hope this is a new trend and not an anomaly.

Also, MY SISTER IS HAVING HER TWINS TOMORROW! Apparently they are measuring almost 8 lbs each. No, that is not a typo. I can't believe it. It seemed like only yesterday she called me to freak out about finding two heartbeats instead of one. I hope everything goes beautifully and that the little girl and guy sleep through the night from day one. She has a toddler already, so she'll need it.

Here is some cuteness to give a point to this post:

Lunch on the run:

Dinner standing up:

Hiding from Mommy's camera:

Too curious to hide for long:

Cute pose:

Hand over my peaches or the baby gets it. Oh wait, that's me:

Easter comes early when you're almost too big for the dress:

I fell! How undignified of me!

Wearing Sonja's necklace. Natalia's babysitter got a little bored, I think.

My Three Loves

2009-02-13T01:24:00.011-05:00

So I love a lot of people, but for the purposes of practicality, I have three great loves, and wish to highlight them here for the recent commercially dictated holiday.

What I love about Scott:

1. He rides his bike every day at 6 or 7 in the morning to work - in the torrential rain, below freezing temps, whatever it happens to be that day. And he doesn't complain about it. Even on the day that was 20 below, he didn't ask me for the car until I offered, and then his eyes lit up.
2. He still loves my post-two-baby body.
3. He always stays positive about Sonja and prevents me from melting down.
4. He pushes his three girls to try new things.
5. When he's home with the girls, he lets me go take a nap. And after pulling 30 hour shifts, he still is patient with the girls when they're yelling. He'll get down on Sonja's level, hold her hands, and try to calm her. That takes stamina.

What I love about Sonja:

Proudly displaying her first ring pop from one of her therapists:

A dedicated reader:

1. She tries REALLY hard every day to learn to speak and to follow my directions. She climbs Mount Everest every day when other kids are strolling through the park.
2. In therapy she gets poked, prodded, tested, made to walk on her hands in wheelbarrow fashion, made to climb over bean bag chairs to get a puzzle piece, swung, slid, and put on annoying diets (that part is over, luckily) and bears it with equanimity (well, for her age).
3. A lot of kids do this, but I love how when I go looking for her, she will hide in a corner and close or cover her eyes to hide (with a gap to peek through her fingers of course). She has a big smile like she's being so tricky.
4. She gets scared at the oddest things,like Dora's teacher's bike breaking, or at Dora's jack-in-the-box, and will hide behind the couch and peek out.
5. She loves me so much that she lets me taste her precious ring pop.

What I love about Natalia:

She overheard that she was fat and she's trying to work it off:

Mom, don't take pictures, you're embarrassing me!

She loves Aunt Audrey's blanket so much.

1. When I come into a room, she gazes up at me adoringly. She does this with anyone, but I like to think it's a little longer with me.
2. She has the fattest little baby bum I've ever seen and the biggest cheeks as well.
3. She finds any excuse she can to smile or clap (although I don't have a picture of her smiling recently for some reason).
4. She loves Sonja SO MUCH and refuses to be detered by Sonja ignoring her.
5. She's the happiest person in the house and gives everyone else a reason to smile.

Thoughts on January

2009-02-02T22:58:00.007-05:00

Last year, I noticed how lame most people's blogs were in January (in the sense that no one blogged much - us included). This year is no different. I assume it was for the same reasons that January is depressing - it's post-holiday and really cold. I really think they should move the months back one, so December is in the middle of winter. That way we have something to look forward to during the dreary weather.

My mom said that when we moved to Arizona from California, it took her awhile to appreciate the desert beauty, but by the time we had to move again, she missed it terribly (I'm paraphrasing, Mom!). Having grown up there, I love the interesting rocks, dry heat which makes for cool shade and cool evenings, clear star-filled nights with meteor sightings when we took the time to look, a drop-dead gorgeous sunset every single dusk, and the most amazing smell of all - orange blossoms every spring. I feel bad for my younger siblings who don't remember those days, but they have their own great memories I am sure.

(This photo is not doctored - the skies and mountains look exactly like that.)

Since then I have always loved the desert heat and hated the cold, especially snow. It's miserable, really inconvenient, and sometimes deadly. It takes three times as long to get out the door and start your car, and five times if you have children. Now me in Chicago isn't like Heather Jones in Kazakhstan, but I think the extremes of this particular winter have somehow shocked me into changing my attitude. I get to drive on Lake Shore Drive twice a week for Sonja's speech therapy and it is just beautiful. Snow has covered the lake as far out as it is frozen and past that is Mediterranean blue. I'm in a white and blue heaven. The Chicago skyscrapers are beautiful. And there is something so soul-strengthening about dragging your kids out in a blizzard for a playdate and seeing people cross-country skiing past you on the knee-deep snow covering the sidewalk. I feel tough - my soul has been blistered. Toughened to the winter, toughened to my daughter's struggles, toughened to being alone most of this past year to deal with the drama. And when the hard part of those things can be kept at a distance the beautiful things become more apparent.

(This is the closest picture I could find to what I drive by every Tuesday and Thursday - picture the icy parts with snow on top.)

Today, I gave Sonja an old cellphone and instead of pushing random buttons and tossing it aside, she held it up to her ear and started babbling, imitating me. That is a huge step developmentally. It took everything I had not to jump up and down screaming. Maybe I don't have to teach her to do everything myself.

Christmas isn't complete until we blog about it

2008-12-31T03:37:00.019-05:00

Wow, all of those amazing comments are just beautiful (not the Blagojevich post, the one before). We love all of you.

We had a really good Christmas. My parents scrimped and sacrificed to pay for their deadbeat daughter (haha?) and her family to come out since Scott had two golden weeks off for Christmas. Thanks Mom and Dad for working so hard and playing with my babes. I keep promising to pay them back with things when we start doing better, like sending them on a cruise or something. That's for much later! And in another wonderful turn of events, Scott's parents AND Chris, Amanda, and Cody were able to drive down to see us. Somehow we have no pictures of this, although they took several. We were so glad we didn't have to miss them, even though they are crazy busy. Thanks guys!

Here we are at Thanksgiving Point. We were trying to find someplace Sonja could interact with animals. Mostly she wanted to interact with the manure-colored snow. We spent most of the time stopping her from eating it.

Here we are at my uncle's sometimes annual nativity get-together. They have a ton of regalia and Natalia was not left out. Here she is with Grandpa and Uncle Sam.

Sonja did really well. The first day we were there, she started pointing at things farther away and labeling them. Huge step. She's acquiring more words, but the harder thing - using them in a communicative way - is still elusive. She is starting to say "bubbles" to request them since she loves them so much. While we were there, my aunt hooked us up with a specialist at BYU who observed her for a while and gave us a bunch of things we could do with her to elicit speech. I actually just found out she's the associate dean of education. I think the techniques are starting to work. She's made lots of improvements. I won't bore you with the details, but I'll post periodic updates (maybe videos if I catch anything) for the grandparents. Natalia charmed up a storm. Everywhere we went people were making comments. It was a little crazy. I think it was how incredibly fat her cheeks were and the fact that she smiles and looks at everyone like they are the most exciting person she has ever seen (as in the following picture - what a tease).

Girls playing nice?

We ate at some great restaurants there. There is an all-you-can-eat sushi place ($18 a person for dinner - really good deal for sushi) right off I-15 exit 276 in American Fork. It is soooo good. It's called the Sushi House and it's not as nearly full as it should be (maybe because of the holidays). We went there twice. Also there's an Argentinean place called Tango House on north State Street in Provo - their empanadas are to die for! And their crepes with dulce de leche. Mmmmm.

We got some great stuff, mostly kid-oriented, but that's exciting to us - money for a double stroller (yes, we finally cracked), old movies (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Philadelphia Story), winter clothes and shoes, a drawing easel, bath toys, and clothes for Sonja, and a treadmill for Natalia. Okay, the last one was a joke, but holy fatty!

Here are some more pictures with no comment except that Sonja looooves the snow.

Can't live with him...

2008-12-16T05:53:00.003-05:00

Our illustrious governor has helped me understand why our Illinois taxes are so high - we're paying them to commit crimes and rob the state! I was laughing pretty hard, though, when they read some of his comments. He doesn't beat around the bush, that's for sure. He wants money. Man, first Eliot Spitzer, now Blagojevich. We are picking the wrong states to live, except for the following...

I haven't been paying attention to the news much, but apparently my grandparents followed Blagojevich news even before it was cool because his father is a Serbian immigrant (as is my grandfather). They informed me that when Blag got out of jail, he went and signed a bill requiring health care companies to cover $36,000 a year for autism treatment. Why do men do this? They make you want to slap them, then the next minute they are doing something really sweet that makes you want to go crazy on them in a good way. I'm so lucky - I didn't have to bribe him or sleep with him, and I got what I wanted.

Confirmed

2008-12-08T23:33:00.002-05:00

So after 4 plus months, we finally have an official diagnosis. I thought I was prepared, but who can truly prepare for five people sitting in a semi-circle in front of you saying that your beautiful little girl is autistic. Time seemed to slow down and there was a weird buzzing in my head. The therapists and doctor were very nice and positive about her prognosis that she would most likely be able to be mainstreamed with aggressive intervention. As far as her normal social life, there's no way to predict how she will turn out. I feel so inadequate and tired and lost because there are so many decisions to make right now about her treatment. I got her diagnosed at Illinois Masonic, which is where I would like to get her therapy, but there is a waiting list. I know I will feel much better once she is finally getting all the treatments she can in a predictable schedule.

I felt a lot of bitterness when we couldn't have kids and everyone else seemed to be popping them out fine. Now I kind of feel bitter about everyone having normal kids easily when none of this is coming easily for us. I hope it goes away soon because bitterness keeps me from sleeping. I just don't know why it is being made doubly hard for us. Are we just extra "special"?

Sorry, I know we're very lucky in many ways. I'm just being irrational on my blog and comparing our worst with other people's best. The positives in the meeting we had were that there was no mental retardation, her visual problem solving isn't delayed at all, and that she was starting to say words. These all contribute to a good prognosis with the right therapies and a mom who will work her butt off (like I'm not already). I just wish I were two people so one of me could do the work and the other could take a nap. Like "Multiplicity." Who hasn't wished that?

We love you all and have been so blessed by people's service to us - just ignore the negativity. It's my grief talking. It won't always be this bad.

24

2008-11-26T23:14:00.004-05:00

I hope I didn't offend anyone with my last post. We all have our weaknesses. Like my "El Cuerpo del Deseo" phase. Maybe the best Spanish soap opera of all time! Certainly as silly as Twilight.

Anyway, "24" is on again and I don't really have time to watch it, but I do miss our NY group that got together every Sunday/Monday whenever it was on to watch and poke fun at the plot holes and talk in Kiefer's gravelly voice. They had a black president in a few seasons - David Palmer. I remember thinking, "Wow, it will be years before that really happens. Surely not any time soon." I have learned not to doubt "24." This season they have a woman president. So it's only a few short years away! Wait, that means that L.A. will get two nuclear bombs soon...Okay, maybe it's not fail proof.

Anyway, David Palmer was the best president ever, and now that the actor does the All State commercials, I find myself trusting everything he says. "He's right. I should get All State insurance," I think to myself. "He was such a good president, he can't let me down."

Not About Twilight!

2008-11-24T23:08:00.003-05:00

I haven't read the books. I can't believe how many people are emailing me, blogging, asking me for the books (which I don't have), or otherwise in a kerfuffle. And these are not girls. These are 30-something women. Now, I don't begrudge anyone their fun. I'm just afraid to read them now because I could easily fall prey to the mania. I'm 30 and Edward's 17. That's a crime in all 50 states, right? This is why I never saw Titanic. Too much swooning. But I do like Jane Austen stuff. Some swooning, but on a much lower level. Also, some Spanish telenovelas are awesome as well. So sue me.

Also, if I read Twilight, I would have to hide it from Scott and keep it a deep dark secret from him forever because I'm pretty sure he would lose not just respect for me but affection and trust as well. He has an unnatural hatred of it. And he's about as far from a vampire temperament as possible (unless you count sucking the juices out of fruit to make smoothies), so I would probably end up dissatisfied with our marriage. Maybe I'll enjoy them vicariously through my daughters later.

Sonja's two other therapies start tomorrow and I finally got a date with the specialist for diagnosis - December 8. They will observe her for an hour and half and then just let me have it. I'm sure that will be quite a surreal experience.

Working Mommy

2008-11-15T11:10:00.004-05:00

I'm in a meeting downtown right now. I can't believe I accepted a freelance job when I'm going nuts already. It's called being desperately poor. So I'll be MIA for the next week.
There are some differences from when I was working before...
1. No sleep - have to understand complicated oncology clinical trials and microbiology. Aah!
2. I told the meeting planner I had to pump before the meeting. She kind of freaked out. Sorry!
3. I got my laptop out and there were milk bottle rings on it. Very professional.

Thoughts on Last Night

2008-11-05T12:14:00.002-05:00

Wow. I can't believe it. I still can't believe it. I was glued to the TV all night and all morning. I really need sleep. Even as an independent, I have to say watching Obama's speech was one of the great moments of my life. He is incredibly inspiring. What is his secret? I think part of it, for me, is his contrast to GWB. GWB's own biographers admit that he is not a self-examining, listening type, which happen to be Obama's strengths. People are talking about him like he's Jesus, and obviously they will be disappointed. But for those who are old enough (only 30!) to remember presidents (Republicans and Democrats) who were deliberative, thoughtful, and intelligent, and who sought the opinion of experts regardless of party, this will be a welcome reintroduction of those qualities. I keep forgetting there are many young people who think an administration of extreme secrecy who serves only its own party is the norm. And I truly don't mean that in a Republican-bashing way. I'm criticizing the Bush administration, not the Republican party as a whole, even though they share the responsibility of electing him a second time. (Although Kerry was not very awe-inspiring, it's true)

Of course this is the honeymoon period and there will be a reality check soon, especially with the mess he's inheriting. But early reports are encouraging: one of his top priorities in picking a cabinet is bipartisanship. To not surround himself with yes men. Music to my ears.

I remember in 2004 getting emails either implying or downright stating that this was the most important election ever and that God wanted George W. Bush to be president. Now I'm thinking that might have been true because had Kerry won in 2004, Obama would not have won in 2008. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

(For any of you who won't get the last part, I'm JOKING. I do NOT think God endorses political candidates or parties. It's just fun to tease people who think that.)

Halloween Cuties

2008-11-01T02:06:00.012-04:00

So, on a lighter note, we had a good Halloween. Yesterday I took Sonja to the drugstore to get a plastic pumpkin and she fell in love with it. She was holding it all night and all the next day.

We tried to do scenarios with asking Daddy for candy and putting it in the pumpkin. Not sure what sunk in. Today we went to a trunk-or-treat and I told Sonja we were dressing her as a cat (my costume from when I was 2). I drew whiskers on her face which she seemed to love because she held totally still with a interested look on her face. When she saw herself in the mirror, there was definitely some examining going on. When we were ready to go, she had her pumpkin all ready and went to the door. I don't know how she knew what to do, maybe it was random. I realize this video overlaps with the pics a bit, but it's for the grandparents.

Isn't there supposed to be candy in here?

Natalia as a Halloween marshmallow:

Sonja didn't get the asking for treats and had a hard time focusing on picking a treat out, but once she had one, everything else was unimportant as she intently tried to open it.

Several people talked to her, "Oh, are you a cat? So cute!" etc. She ignored them until one guy said, "Are you a cat? Can you say meow?" She looked straight in his eyes and said a perfect, "Meow." What the crap?!! He didn't think anything of it, but I obviously was like, "No, you don't understand. She hasn't said any animal sounds but moo for the past year. This is HUGE!" What triggers these moments of clarity I don't know. But they keep me going.

Another fun moment in a very hard week (rough nights of little sleep, mostly) also happened today. Natalia had a poopy diaper, and every time I touched a wipe to her bum she started giggling. I wasn't doing anything different than usual, but this time it was hilarious to her. If only every diaper changing was that jovial.

In looking at video (don't you love video?), I see a difference in Sonja just since her birthday. She responded to me saying, "Bye bye, Sonja" in a store for the first time yesterday by turning around and following me instead of just staring off into space. And in the past two weeks her tantrums around Natalia have dramatically decreased. She still won't acknowledge the baby, but she is starting to passively accept her presence as an inevitability. This is due, I think, first to all the prayers and fasting on our behalf. Also, to me giving her my own therapy sessions several hours a day and just getting in her face. My voice is so sore from talking almost all day and repeating, repeating, repeating. I annoy myself so bad, and hopefully Sonja too, so one day she'll say, "Be quiet, Mom. I understood you the first 50 times."

Questions

2008-10-26T21:56:00.003-04:00

So some of you have questions:
1. I was looking back through video. It seemed at first that there was a behavior change around the time of Sonja's shots, but then looking more carefully I realized she NEVER responded to her name even before, and though she was more alert and responsive, she manifested subtle characteristics before her shots that became more of a problem later. Very autonomous, walking around in her own world, not responsive to requests. Now it results in tantrums because more is expected of her and she wants things and has trouble both understanding and speaking. Since there are normally huge leaps in development around the time of shots, I can see why some people would think there is a connection when those leaps don't occur, but there continues to be NO EVIDENCE other than anecdotal stories. I totally understand that impulse to protect your child and I have been tempted to give into the hysteria myself. And if a double-blind study comes out showing that there is a connection, I will embrace it. But the studies so far show no connection. And even without the shots, her personality would have been the same.

2. Autumn, I would never "dis" the gluten-free diet! It's just freakin' hard! She's made some progress, so we're going to take her off it to see if she regresses again or if the progress continues. One of Scott's pediatric resident friends said having a new baby in the family and moving can cause a child to regress three months each. So I'm trying to be patient and just show her lots of love and attention.

3. Her therapy starts this week. No word on when for the developmental pediatrician.

4. I talked to Emma from our NY ward, who went through the same thing with her oldest and a newborn. It was so good to at least get some of my feelings of fear and frustration validated. The pressure of feeling you have to interact with them 24/7 to stimulate their development is overwhelming. She helped me see it's not a sprint and that I have to relax, do what's necessary for the short term to survive, then plan for the long term. She is incredibly smart and determined and it was good to be able to pick her brain. Thanks so much.

Thanks to Grandma Lund for these cute matching dresses. Sonja kept running towards me, so it was hard to get this pic.

Natalia showing a bit of chunky leg:

Progress

2008-10-19T01:54:00.008-04:00

First, thank you to everyone who fasted for us. It is very humbling to have people do that for you. It makes us feel our efforts are that much more consecrated towards a worthy purpose even when the chaos seems to be unmanageable.

Early Intervention (state program for 0 to 3) came over yesterday and determined that Sonja qualifies for therapy. She will get one hour a week each of developmental, occupational, and speech therapy. The speech has to go through our insurance, so that will be delayed a month or so. In the meantime, we will get two developmental a week - I pushed for that :) With our income, it will only cost $20 a month and they will come to our house. This is such a relief. Being poor in a blue state rocks! The developmental pediatrician specialist is booked until January, so we won't get an official diagnosis until then.

Our regular pediatrician said from what he observed, whatever she has is a mild form, since he got her to look at him briefly and smile (although it took a lot of effort). He said that it is difficult to tease out all the contributing factors to her condition, since she almost certainly has regression from moving, having a new sister, Daddy going from being a 4th year med student around all the time to being a busy intern gone all the time, and Mommy being super tired and cranky. He said it was good she wasn't getting assessed until January so we had time to "normalize" her environment and provide some stability to get her back to baseline. He told Scott that on his days off he needed to take Sonja out for a half-day Daddy-daughter date so she felt special (YES! It's so much more effective when a doctor says it rather than a nagging wife). She will also be getting a hearing test (I wish that were the problem, but I don't think so.) Also, he said to cut back on fruit to see if that helps with the gut issues. That leaves rice, I guess.

We got a wonderful gift this week of Scott's patients going home, so he got a whole weekend off. He hasn't had that since August. Saturday he took her to the Harris pool. Last time she hated it, but this time she loved it. My mom and I sat on the sidelines. She was smiling and figuring out how to balance on one of those floaty toys. I really have seen incremental improvements from spending colossal amounts of time to try to get her out of her shell. I think she is feeling more secure and loved. I just want to state here that although we have slightly messed up our poor daughter with our crazy life, if she had been normal, she would have developed normally. So we didn't make her this way - I just have to keep telling myself that.

She is saying more words, probably 10 more this week, partly due to my mom being here and me spending more time with Sonja. She is very good at unapplied knowledge. She is still not using words in context to communicate, except for "Go," and "up'n'down." With lots of repetition, she will reply "TWO!" when I ask her how old she is and say, "BIG!" and lift up her hands when I ask how big she is. Here's hoping not every word or skill takes weeks to learn! We are working on her imaginative play - she doesn't imitate adults at all and simply draws in the rug with her little play dolls. Responding to her name is still a pipe dream at this point. But there is progress.

I promise not to turn this into a Cure Autism Now blog, but this is what I'm immersed in right now.

Breaktime for Mommy

2008-10-13T00:31:00.003-04:00

Thanks again for all the comments. As I learn more, I will update. I have some calls placed, but no one is calling me back yet! If I have questions, I will definitely be emailing some of you.

So I have been grieving so much, I realized it wasn't doing my babies any good. I haven't been able to eat for days and my milk was drying up. I had to keep watching SNL clips on Hulu to get it to come back. Weird, right? Tonight Sonja went to bed without a fight, so I took Natalia into the kitchen. She cooed and smiled, and I made some brownies (I haven't had chocolate in over a week, which is some kind of a record), and listened to Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue". That album is the quickest way to transport me back to NY. I highly recommend it to relax and feel like a sophisticated adult after being a mommy all day.

I then called Scott at the hospital to talk about the bad and the good of the day:

The bad: Sonja has gone on an eating and drinking strike. She won't drink anything but juice or eat anything but rice and bananas. It's a game of chicken to see who will crack first. I gave in around 6:30 in the evening and gave her juice. I always give in. I may try Kendra's smoothie idea, since she's started eating crayons rather than her hot dog (Sonja, not Kendra). Also, the diet is doing nothing for her GI problems or sleeping, but I'm hoping since they started at the same time (4 weeks ago), we can resolve them both by treating the stomach issues.

The good: We have a book of nursery rhymes and when I got to "There was an old woman who lived in a", I paused and she looked up at me and said "SHOE" in a completely grown up way. She's still in there! Also, right before bed, she came up to me and said, "TEE," and handed me something. It was a lowercase magnetic letter "t" she had found. Neither Scott nor I had taught her lowercase letters. There is a game she plays with lowercase letters on her toy computer, but there's no way she could have taught herself ALL of the letters, right? So I brought up a website that shows each lowercase letter like flashcards to test her. Sure enough, she got about 70% of them. I was really floored. It makes up for a lot of the blank stares or general ignoring me.

Also good - I got asked to the bishop's office to receive a calling. The counselor asked me how we were. I was very honest - I told him everything and that our family needed help (there may have been a few tears...). He promised to let the bishop know and bore his testimony of the atonement. He said that it's tempting to think of how unfair things often are, but that the atonement is the great equalizer. It heals all the pain and leaves us with the sweet experiences. It was good to hear.

And he didn't give me the calling! But I swear that's not why I told him...

More Details...

2008-10-03T22:09:00.006-04:00

Thanks for all the beautiful comments. Turbo, you hang in there too.

On the car: the police found it Friday morning and rang our buzzer at 3 AM to tell us. The perp was joyriding, but they claimed someone else stole it and they were just driving it. They didn't know it was stolen. So since there are no witnesses, they can only be charged with a misdemeanor of trespassing in a stolen vehicle. At least they got caught for something. And Geico can sue the guy for the damage, no matter what the charges. Then the police rang our buzzer again at 4:45 to have us fill out the paperwork so we wouldn't have to come down. I guess they needed it to hold the guy. Props to the Chicago police for finding it. I think they assumed we had established a 24-hour command center in our apartment to find the car, when actually we were asleep. There's some damage to the passenger side and the license plates and registration are gone, but that's it.

On Sonja: Amanda brought up a good point about Sonja's skills. She is very good at her ABCs, coloring, and puzzles. She is almost obsessed. Other than a few words and, of course, her letters, she doesn't talk or even communicate or appear to understand what we are saying. There are blank stares, running around, hand flapping, and no responding to her name whatsoever. She appears to be brilliant in her own private world. It's very heartbreaking to watch my beautiful daughter struggle and it's so frustrating having to wait until next Friday to see the pediatrician. In the meantime, to curb her horrible gastrointestinal symptoms (also associated with autism), this week I eliminated all dairy (casein) and wheat (gluten - also in oats, barley, rye, and pretty much everything else). This is very difficult and expensive, but there's some anecdotal evidence this helps some autistic symptoms. No clinical trials yet. It seems to be helping her GI problems, so I might try adding back one or the other to see if it gets worse again. It might end up being as simple as a lactose intolerance. It's difficult to communicate how stressful this has been for both of us, since she doesn't eat meat or vegetables, so that leaves...fruit. I've been successful with rice milk mixed with strawberries and rice-flour pancakes. I have to cook everything from scratch - I'm not terribly into cooking, so it's been interesting. Hopefully she will eventually get hungry enough to eat the vegetables and chicken I'm cooking. She does love hummus, thank goodness. Last night was bad - Sonja screamed and cried until midnight. Tonight it was only babbling and somewhat crying for 2 hours. Not sure if this is diet related or something else. This is uncharted territory, since every child is different. No one child responds the same to all this stuff. On the upside, today she came up to me with a blanket over her head and yanked it off, said "Peekaboo" while smiling and looking at me in the eyes. We played that for a while, something she hasn't done in a long time. What a precious moment that is to me now.

I've realized how important the spirit is in trying to read what my daughter wants and needs. I am humbled at how much I need the Lord's help. I feel completely alone. As supportive as Scott is, he is gone a ridiculous amount of time. I know he's stressed too. Yesterday he was off and it was his birthday. He started the day at 8:00 with going to the auto body shop with the adjuster, going to two police stations, babysitting the kids while I went grocery shopping, and general slavery. At about 10:00 pm, in between the kids screaming, I gave him his card, some jelly bellies, and a kiss and told him I loved him. Cause I do! I promise I owe you one babe! We'll get through this survival mode, and like Elder Wirthlin said, we'll be happier afterwards because of our trials now. I truly believe it.

And for so long after Natalia was born I thought I wasn't cut out to be a mom, with all the tantrums about the baby and the constant stress. After all, tons of women have two kids and weren't getting beaten down like I was. I felt like such a failure and a whiner. Now I know I WAS cut out to be a mom. I was cut out by God specifically to be Sonja's and Natalia's mom. And I feel very privileged.

Welcome to Chicago

2008-10-01T15:49:00.003-04:00

Anyone who has been reading our blog this year may have noticed the chaos and turmoil that have ensued. Well, I hope this next bit is the cherry on top and not the tip of the iceberg (maybe the recession will be the iceberg. That way we can all participate). Sonja is developmentally delayed. For a while we thought it was just how Sonja is, but she is lacking enough social and verbal skills consistent with...well...I wouldn't panic and say it was autism, but we're getting her evaluated by her pediatrician at her next checkup in a couple weeks.

Last night I was crying to my mom on the phone and I was thinking that I couldn't take one more thing. I was at my limit. So today we had a little ward children's music group at 9. I really felt it was important to take Sonja to get her as much interaction with others as possible. We got dressed, fed, and headed out the door to...no car. Yep, our car got stolen today. And our car seats and strollers. Crack addicts - can't I get a break?

But the joke's on you. It's due for a tuneup.

Junk in the Trunk, and Stomach, and Legs...

2008-09-26T17:58:00.007-04:00

Natalia had her two month checkup today. I decided not to bother finding a babysitter for Sonja (unlikely anyway) and took them both. I realized I needed to confront my fears of Sonja throwing tantrums in public. She still avoids the baby and throws fits when Natalia cries, although not as bad as before. I wisely packed my laptop and an Elmo DVD. That was a lifesaver, although extremely heavy with all my other crap.

Natalia was an angel. She let the doctor poke and prod and she actually smiled at me when he looked in her ears, although you could tell she was uncomfortable. She screamed at her shots. Her scream sounds like a grown woman's. It's really odd. But she started smiling again a minute later. She just refuses to be buzz-killed.

But the oddest thing was her weight. She is 15.3 lbs. The nurses said they had never seen a two-month old that big. One thought she was 6 months. And to quote the doctor when he took off her diaper and saw the 5 rolls of fat on each leg: "Wow. Yeah, she's big!" Yikes. Sorry Natalia if I'm feeding you too much! She is totally out of her size 1 diapers and I have an entire case left!

A Quick (Bad) Comparison

2008-09-24T23:36:00.004-04:00

So I know some people wanted some comparison shots between the two girls. I tried to find some that were similar in pose, but really I must have been shooting them from different angles for some reason. I may try to pose Natalia exactly like one of Sonja's at a later time, but for now, here's what I have. Enjoy.

Fun Week

2008-09-23T00:59:00.007-04:00

My sister came to help last week and it was so helpful. Our floors were damaged beyond repair when our whole apartment flooded in the middle of the night 10 days after Natalia was born. (I didn't blog about it because I felt my blog was getting too Debbie Downer. Luckily no permanent damage and no one got electrocuted!) On the bright side, our crappy floor which was my least favorite thing about the apartment got replaced with gorgeous hardwood. So my sister helped get us out of the apartment every day for a week while the guys worked. Here are some pics of our topsy-turvy week with furniture everywhere:

Andrea gets a taste of parenting. Thanks babe for coming!

We got to spend some girly time watching the new Sense and Sensibility (better than the previous, in my opinion) and going out to breakfast with the babes.

So after Andrea left, Scott had a day off (yay!), so we went to Navy Pier and the Children's Museum. I had no idea how fun Navy Pier was. Ferris Wheels, Dippin' Dots, boat tours, gorgeous Lake Michigan, etc. Anyway, the library has free passes to different museums and our friend just happened to have the Children's Museum pass and handed it over to me to check out. Here is Sonja admiring the view, getting soaking wet, Natalia chilling, and other cute things. Notice Sonja's rat tail is gone. I just chopped it off when she was in the bath and it turned out all cute!:

Then it was our friend Jeff's birthday and they had a little party. We are so glad our NY friends moved to Chicago, even if it was just for a year. In a testament to their awesome sociableness, they've only been here a few weeks and already had a bunch of people over. I played Dance Dance Revolution for the first time there and loved it. Sonja was dancing all over the place and clapping, so I think we're going to get a generic version to get me back in shape and entertain Sonja during the dreary winter. It's cheaper and more fun than a treadmill and I seriously think it was an answer to my prayers about Sonja and I going stir-crazy.

W-A-T-E-R

2008-09-17T01:18:00.000-04:00

So Sonja and I decided to reenact our favorite scene from "The Miracle Worker." As you may know, she doesn't talk. It almost seems out of stubbornness. But today I let her practice drinking water out of my big girl glass. She drank some and said in perfect English, "Water." I freaked out: "Yes, water, Sonja! Good girl! Can you say it again? Water!" She said it again and at that point I realized this had been done much better by Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. And Sonja's not deaf, so it's not as miraculous, but it's exciting to me!

Also, Sonja's tantrums when Natalia cries are dropping dramatically. Now it's just whining or general crying for a few minutes. And on Sunday, out of the blue, Sonja came over to the baby and kissed her twice, then looked at me for approval. I was in shock! She has gone back to ignoring her, but this is progress!

Hi there! Let's Play!

2008-09-12T18:59:00.007-04:00

So Sonja got this little faux-laptop toy for ... her sister's birthday I guess, from Ellen's mom, and immediately took a liking to it. At first she didn't know even how to turn it on, but once she did, it was a whole lot of fun: every time you turn it on, it goes "Hi there! Let's play! Choose an activity!" and then when you push the same button to turn it off, it goes "Bye-bye!" and has a little monkey flipping around on its screen. That's all she did for about two weeks. "Hi there! Let's play! Choose an activity! Bye-bye! Hi there, let's play! Choose an ac... bye-bye! Hi ther... bye bye!" We tried to have her play it in another room, but eventually decided on maybe teaching her the games on it.

There are about 30 different ones, and they range from picking a letter, to identifying right and left, picking the "one that doesn't belong" and so forth. The "choose the uppercase letter ... " proved to be the favorite, but the only one she could get was "A." And then only sometimes.

See, Sonja has known 'A' and 'S' for about 9 months now. She picked them up quickly after about a year old, could identify them (The 'A' train in NYC for example), and then just stopped learning new ones. She was done learning, satisfied with 2 letters I guess. Any attempt to teach her new ones was pointless. She eventually picked up on "O" about 4 months ago maybe. But then Elmo came along. He has a little alphabet game on the Sesame Street site where you just press a letter and he says it along with something that starts with that letter. I=ice, D=drum, etc. Numbers also work, where he counts out various objects. She usually just pounds the keyboard, and because she can't reach that far, gets a lot of zippers, violins, bells, and nets. Oh, he also just laughs if you hit the space bar. I have a video from August 2nd where she is just pounding the space bar and some other lower keys over and over.

Then, I think like the next day or something, just out of the blue, she stopped all that pounding (which she had done for 5 months or so) and started picking and choosing letters she wanted him to say. She would actually stick out her index finger and it looks like she was searching out specific letters, going up even to the numbers. I couldn't see any pattern to it, but it seemed like she had something in mind. So we just let her do this for hours. I also found another, non-Elmo one here (the keyboard option). She liked that one too.

Little by little, I started noticing some difference in how much attention she payed to that faux-laptop "find the uppercase letter" monkey game. She wasn't really getting many right, but she seemed like she wanted to; if she got it wrong she would grab my hand and so I would guide her to the right one. And then one day about two weeks ago, she was getting all of them. It was kind of sudden, so I made a video. As you can see, she only gets them wrong when she tries to predict the next one before it even shows up.

Political Comments

2008-09-05T23:25:00.005-04:00

So I just had to comment on the McCain VP pick because of Smash's hilarious blog post. Full disclosure: I am an independent and not registered as either Dem or Rep. I will probably vote for Obama (like it will matter - it's not a swing state and he lives two blocks from me), but I wouldn't be too upset if McCain won. He's not a friend of Bush's, at least. Anyway, the whole Sarah Palin thing is so funny to me. People are debating whether it's a political move - OF COURSE it is. Do you think McCain's staff prayed and fasted about it or something? He doesn't even know her. She's a younger woman (to try to make McCain seem more hip and a glass-ceiling breaker) and she has a similar "maverick" philosophy. People are making fun of her, but I actually think she's got that "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" idealism thing going on where she's not a Washington insider, so all the corruption and backroom deals may actually disgust her, rather than her being the instigator of them. (Note: I said, "MAY disgust her"). We'll see.

But what disgusts ME, as always, are the talking heads who are paid to put a spin on things to further the interests of their own party. I can't believe people listen to Bill O'Reilly or Hannity and Colmes and actually nod their head like those guys have a set of principles. The principles they argue for are whatever is expedient at the moment. And don't get me started on Karl Rove (growing rich and fat off the Iraq War and subsequent book deals). And I'm going to steal this video clip from Smash also because it shows a big reason why I refuse to align myself with either of these parties of stinking cesspoolness. I love "The Daily Show." It's very biased, but its true genius comes from showing the hypocrisy in political media coverage, as follows:

Natalia's blessing and current state

2008-09-05T00:49:00.010-04:00

This was a couple weeks ago, but here are pictures from Natalia's blessing. Sonja had a royal tantrum starting right at the beginning of sacrament meeting and I was out in the hall in tears with her because she would NOT calm down, even for juice, and I thought I would miss the blessing. My sister luckily was looking back at the door so she could see me gesturing to come out. But then our nursery leader saw our plight and came out to watch her so we could listen in peace. Anticipating needs like that is one of the qualities I most admire and I am trying to develop more!

We couldn't get a picture with everyone because of more tantrums (seriously Sonja, don't you get that we can go out and have more fun if you DON'T do that?) She is so illogical :) And I look horrendous, but c'est la vie.

I always think it's hilarious when a little girl's prissy outfit belies her monkey-like tendencies. And Scott looks like he's modeling. Love the suit, babe!

Here is our singing angel. She has a horrible case of baby acne in this photo, so we had to use flattering lighting. Poor sweetie!

Moments of peace. Notice her habit of sticking her finger in the ribbon around her Lambie's neck? Stay tuned for a fun post about that later, entitled, "Worst Mother Ever."

And here is a current one of Tiny Talia. She is over 12 lbs - her huge cheeks tell the story (don't worry, I'll post more in a bit):

Keeping up with the girls

2008-09-05T00:25:00.009-04:00

So, to catch up...things are going crazy enough that I have eaten some humble pie and asked for help. My sister Andrea is coming out again (she was just here passing through on her move to Rochester) to help out for a week. Then my mom will probably come out again later. The normal me would be embarrassed, but the current me is so giddy at the thought of help that I can't contain myself. I could actually take Sonja out to the zoo or something. Or the Museum of Science and Industry, which is 5 minutes away and has lots of kid-friendly stuff to do. It's free weekdays all September, and we went today on Scott's day off. There were the expected number of tantrums and there was torrential rain, so we got kind of wet (we refused to pay $14 for parking when there is parking just a few blocks away on the street). But I think the Sonster had fun. She likes getting wet, as evidenced by some of the pictures (and she kept baptizing that dog she is holding - it was pretty cute).

Late Night Musings - What couples do you miss?

2008-08-19T00:23:00.004-04:00

So Natalia has now transitioned to no sleeping at night. I was hoping it would go the other way. An interesting side effect of one hour of sleep in a 24-hour period is my brain comes up with the weirdest things - almost hallucinations. One night the Ensign was open to a picture of President Packer and I got irrationally mad at him because he was smiling and I thought, "Oh, sure, YOU'RE getting enough sleep. And you've never had to breast feed. What do YOU know about it?" It made no sense really. But I still carry a little resentment in my heart towards him.

Also, that Garrett Weber-Gale is a hottie, right? (the guy screaming with Mike Phelps as they watch the 4 X 100 relay). Just sayin'.

But another night I went through all the couples I knew that I was really sad about them breaking up (something is wrong with that sentence). Anyway, I have to say Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley were up there. Also Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder. Anyone else you can think of?

We're Still Alive!

2008-08-12T22:02:00.006-04:00

Hi all of you. This is the mother speaking. Yes, I have a second to blog. This is because Scott took Sonster to the park, bathed her, and put her to bed. Then, instead of having me cut his hair, he got someone else in the ward to do it and left on his bike with a backpack full of smoothie materials (sherbet, frozen fruit, and juices) to pay for his haircut in smoothies. His old job at Jamba Juice is a gift that just keeps on giving!

And Natalia is asleep. I love her so much! She is a very good baby so far. No inconsolable crying - just fusses when she wants something. Which is good because Sonja is turning into a full-blown terror. Any little sound Talia (a.k.a. Tiny T - just made it up but I like it) makes sends her into a frenzy of throwing herself off chairs, kicking her mom and sister, and generally scaring everyone. After having talked to several mothers, I think the new sibling thing merely jump-started the terrible twos rather than causing permanent emotional damage. I'm trying to keep a sense of humor through it all, even though it is difficult to keep the babes separate. And since church has many fussy babies, Sonja has epic fits. The only thing to do is ride it out, I guess. Thanks to my mom for coming out to help for a week! That first week is a hurdle I'm glad to have over, as I feel physically much better.

I am amazed that, although it is almost kicking my butt every day to take care of both of them, it is much easier to handle the second baby since they just eat, poop, and sleep and I've seen that all before. Also, I am used to not sleeping through the night, so it's not traumatic like it was the first time. I am very lucky for many reasons, but one thing I have been blessed with after both babies is the opposite of post-partum depression. You could argue that I am normally a little depressed, but after giving birth, I have felt like my best self and that everything in the world is wonderful - my hormones have aligned themselves, I am functional, and even though I am exhausted, my ability to handle it is enhanced. Maybe people can't tell from the outside since I still look like I got beat up, but inside I feel great. With Sonja it lasted about 6 months, so we'll see if we can ride the same high this time around.

Thanks to all of the great comments on our blog. I feel the love and am very touched. Here are some pics to amuse you.

I can't believe I'm posting this of myself, but Tiny T is so cute I can't help it. (And it will make other new moms feel better about their appearance.) Hey, I have eyeshadow on - don't know how that happened.

Here we are giving Sonja lots of attention in a new sprinkler park we found. Sonja has started a life-long research project on the effect of water on sticks:

Tiny T looks on with interest:

More pictures, slightly more fun

2008-07-28T10:28:00.002-04:00

So, I did actually take more pictures than the three I posted last. I put the rest up on Flickr. Here are some more samples:

The End of the Pregnancy

2008-07-26T10:21:00.008-04:00

Hey, so I just thought I would post this really quick, by way of announcement and such. I'll put more pictures/detells up later.

The kid is out!

Yesterday (July 25th) at 4:16 pm, Ellen pushed out our second baby! She had been having random painful (but not super-intense) contractions off and on for a couple days and then went to triage yesterday morning (at 39 weeks 2 days). They decided to keep her and gave her an oxytocin drip. Her contractions kept going up and up, and then in the afternoon, 8 contractions worth of pushing later, our baby came out! It was much less pushing and than last time, so the baby didn't have the deformed head and petechiae in the face that Sonja had. She also cried more. A lot more. This does not bode well.

These are the only three pictures I could find where she is not screaming her head off. She's not super comfortable with the idea of being out of the womb yet. I'm hoping that resolves itself sometime within the next 18 years.

She weighed 8 lb 13 oz, one oz less than Sonja. They don't get a length here until they feel head deformity has gone down. Oh, and her name is Natalia Mira. Mira being the middle name, not the last name.

Thanks

2008-07-21T15:47:00.002-04:00

So I am very touched by everyone's well-wishing. I was reminded by Alicia that she moved to NY very pregnant and with a little one already and THEN broke her arm.

Then yesterday we had a RS lesson on handling death. The woman giving the lesson was from Africa (she just said Africa, didn't specify a country. I guess they are all arbitrary European creations anyway) and she told her story of having her first child. It was during a horrible war and the doctors had told her she had to deliver at a hospital for the baby to survive (didn't provide details). Because of the war, she couldn't get to the hospital and gave birth to her baby in her home, and then it died shortly thereafter. And she said even though she was sad, she thanked God because it probably saved her baby from the suffering going on around her. Oh my goodness. I can't even comment eloquently on that.

Anyway, I am very grateful for a hospital close by, healthy babies, and people that love me (and I love them), even from afar. I may need a mood stabilizer to help me remember that sometimes, but I am grateful.

You need HOW many?

2008-07-18T14:12:00.002-04:00

So Wednesday we get back from Target and blocking the way to our door are boxes and boxes of condoms (10,000 to be exact). They were being delivered to our neighbor Carlos. We choose to believe that it is for his job working with youth. Also, the boxes said "Made in Vietnam" and "Thailand." Don't they need them more there than here? Yes. The answer is yes.

Emotional breakdown and cute pics!

2008-07-17T16:02:00.006-04:00

I don't really have anyone else to talk to, so I'm going to vent in an irrational manner. I am now at 4 cm for anyone who's interested. So I have spent today lying on the couch trying to calm my irregular contractions and crying and getting up to stop Sonja from some disaster. I guess it's just anxiety. ***EDITED TO KEEP THE PEACE*** My hubby is on call until tomorrow afternoon (he's on call or post call 4 days a week), and poor Sonja is pulling and jumping on me to go do fun things. I didn't have this reaction the first time, probably because Scott was doing a research year and around a lot, I had friends around me, and no other child to worry about. Scott pointed out that people shouldn't have to stop their lives just because we had unprotected sex 9 months ago. He certainly has a way with words. He's right, of course. If I could afford hired help, I would definitely do it. Rest assured, if there's a next time (big IF), it will be when we can afford help. I hate being so helpless. I like to do things on my own.

To cheer me up, I will post random cute pictures of Sonja to give her some attention before the new baby takes over :) Warning: these are freaking cute.

Sonja at the park with some new friends and her stick:

Sonja loves our craigslist love sack:

Obsessed with Mommy's wedge flip flops (she gets them on and walks around all by herself):

Sonja is delighted to discover she has TWO Lambies! (she found my backup for when I wash the original).

FREAK OUT!

2008-07-09T00:19:00.004-04:00

So, at 35 weeks they told me I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced and my doctor said I could go anytime. This week my appointment was nowhere on their calendar. They wouldn't fit me in until 1:30, which was 3 hours of entertaining Sonja. Ummm, maybe not. And I got to pay $6 parking for the privilege of them saying this to my face. I was so mad. I wanted to see if I had progressed. I'm definitely having tons of irregular contractions. Sigh.

So last week I freaked out a bit, since we hadn't prepared and didn't know very many people in the ward to impose upon. My wonderful sister offered to come out to stay with me (with her little boy). People are so nice sometimes.

Freakout part 2 - So with Sonja I got a linea negra that faded away, but not one stretch mark. "I must just be one of those lucky ones," I thought smugly to myself. Then last week, I noticed these funny wide veins on my stomach. "What is that, that looks like...AAAAAAHHHHH!" Stretch marks. Yes. I wonder if this means my second baby will be bigger than my 8 lb 14 oz Sonster. I sincerely hope not. Without going into detail, having a normal-sized baby can make recovery time much quicker (and sitting much more pleasant). Of course many have to have C-sections and many have 10 lb babies, so I'm basically just a whiner. But a 7-pounder would be heaven. Scott was great about my mini-crisis, though. I had read guys comments in pregnancy books about being less attracted to their wives now that they had stretch marks. I asked Scott if it was a huge turnoff. His words were, "Maybe if you were having some other guy's baby." So since I'm not, everything is fine. He is so nice. Of course, after I was complaining about how difficult it was to carry a baby at the end he also said, "What's your problem? Crack whores do it all the time." So his sensitivity ebbs and flows.

Shoutout #2

2008-06-28T02:14:00.002-04:00

This shoutout is for two very crafty ladies. One is Miggs who made me this beautiful nursing cover.

You may not be able to see it here, but the stitching is beautifully done, in a cute pink, and there is an insert through the top part that keeps it stiff so it doesn't sag. And a cute buckle around the neck. And it's folded back to show the little pocket. Seriously, I had no idea how much care she would put into it and I love, love, love it. Also, she offered to come by in her car to pick up stuff to take it to Goodwill for us when we were moving, which was such a wonderful gift of time and effort. Here I am getting cheesy again, but I was so overwhelmed with her kindness. Thanks so much, Miggs.

The other lady is my sister Audrey who randomly sent me this beautiful toy for Sonja.

Maybe I'm the last one to find out about this, but you look for the toys in the bag through the beads. You use the pictures in the little book to guide you. It keeps me busy, that's all I know. I've found all of them but the ring. Audrey is such a skilled person (as well as very level-headed and practical). It's sewn so professionally and it's such a cute fabric. Also, she is a very calm voice of reason when I am freaking out (like about having babies, for example), which is so helpful. I wish I could repay these guys, but with what? My talents lie elsewhere, I fear, but maybe I'll surprise myself someday. I know, I'll mention them in my best-selling memoirs. I'm thinking up titles now, so any suggestions would be welcome. Maybe Ellen, Smellin, Watermelon: How a Third-Grade Outcast Became an International Success Story (specific success yet to be determined - and yes, that was my nickname).

Scott's Family Part Two

2008-06-27T12:16:00.001-04:00

Now, don't worry, we did other fun things with Scott's family besides seeing Scott graduate.

There were walks and playtime in Central Park with sticks:

And the highlight of Sonja's life, meeting her favorite celebrity in Times Square. Can you see the adoration in her face? This is a little girl in love:

This was on a trek to Ciao Bella gelato in Grand Central. No pictures, but much enjoyment was had. Steve is more obsessed with gelatos and sorbets than Scott is, and that is saying quite a bit. There was much pontificating and discussion by all of us on these frozen treats. After, we went to Gristede's and bought up pints of Ciao Bella - which to our delight, we found are also sold in Chicago! Jeff and Caitlin, you are in luck.

The next day we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge to Grimaldi's (our last time! although I am excited to have Chicago deep dish pizza).

And to round off the day, Sonja had another exciting celebrity encounter at the pier with...well, I don't know who this is. If anyone does, let me know. But she certainly loved it and kept kissing its tummy.

In conclusion, we all had a great time with Lori, Steve, and Marissa. Sonja kept looking for papa and grandma in the living room after they were gone. It's sad we live far away from family, but hopefully in the next 5-10 years we'll make enough to afford to fly out more. Or they could move somewhere with a large university hospital and we could live right by them :)

Oh yeah...Graduation

2008-06-27T02:07:00.001-04:00

Amid the hubbub of moving and my impending delivery, Scott also graduated from medical school and became a "doctor". I am so proud of him. His present from me is a desk he is assembling himself :) We had a wonderful time with Scott's parents and sister. It was seriously so fun to have them stay with us, since we hardly ever have family come. Sonja learned the words "papa" and "grandma" right away, even though she wouldn't say "mama" still. Here we are at the Class Day afterparty. It's hard to see, but I love the crazy expressions on Sonja's face, caused by her glee at eating coconut gelato - the best I have ever had. (BTW, that was the best catered affair I've ever been to - loads of shrimp, artichoke dip, loads of gelato, chocolate, - every dish was my favorite).

Afterwards, walking home with views of the GW Bridge. Goodbye, bridge!

The next day was the main graduation with a very good speech by the university president. Scott was on the jumbotron no fewer than 5 times.

Pics after graduation (horrible of me, but what can you do):

Scott with two other graduates - I think their names were Ayden and Spencer :) I can't believe Ayden sat through the whole thing. It was loooooong.

Scott's class graduation was great, but we were too far away to get good pics, and outside was way too windy, so this is what we got:

Steve and Marissa:

Steve and Lori with the fam:

Since the main campus graduation was so crowded, Lori asked us to go back to get pictures with the campus in the background, which turned out to be HIGHLY embarrassing when everyone else was in normal clothes, but here are the best of those (don't worry, Lori, we'll post all of them on flickr for you):

And later at the bookstore:

A bookstore employee stopped us and told us we weren't allowed to take pictures in the bookstore. I wanted to retort back, "Well, I think male bookstore employees shouldn't be allowed to wear that much blush." But I refrained.

Playing catchup - Moving

2008-06-25T22:58:00.008-04:00

Sooo, how does this blogging thing work again? It's been about one month of constant effort to get our internet hooked up because our building was on Comcast's "under construction" list and it is hard to change the records of big corporations. Our neighbors that moved in in May said they just gave up. But not Scottie. Now our whole building is rewired so every apartment can get it if they want. Hooray for Scott, champion of the little guy! Anyway, now we have access to the internet and our pics at the same time, so, after a long, awkward silence, here goes:

Here is evidence of Scott's moving ordeal: waiting countless hours for a mammoth tow truck, towing it, waiting many hours for movers to arrive, moving, then driving all night to get to our place in time for the other movers to show up.

In a demonstration of Scott's love of photography, he still had the presence of mind to take a panorama:

When Scott arrived at our place, around 11, we waited for the movers to come - and waited. Then we called them - all their phone numbers were disconnected. Ummm, slight panic. Lots of calling to other movers to see if anyone could move that day. Scott falling asleep on the grass. Me chasing around Sonja, since with the rearrangement of everything in the truck, her pack-n-play was no longer accessible. Listening to our neighbor blast the entire Moody Blues album In Search of the Lost Chord. I think I was probably the only other person in this South Side neighborhood who would be able to identify such an obscure album thanks to my mother's one-time obsession and my extreme whiteness. I didn't realize the Moody Blues had multi-racial appeal. The original movers finally showed up around 2:30. Thanks. You could have called earlier. So we got everything in around 5:00.

Here is me using what is called a "phone book" to find food. I haven't used one of those since before I was married, or the advent of Google, whichever came first.

Here is a "before" picture. We're not quite ready for the "after" picture. Scott is assembling a desk there as I type. Thanks FreshDirect for your abundant, free boxes.

We have had way too many repair problems (refrigerator leaking, not cooling, kitchen sink not hooked up, dishwasher not hooked up, both bathtubs leaking, etc), people not showing up (Best Buy installation, our desk delivery - they lost it and we had to order a new one), and other headaches to blog about fully. But one thing that has gone smoothly is getting car, because Scott's brother Chris is a car genius and found it, negotiated the payment, and got insurance for us. Thanks Chris! Also, I was really worried about Sonja in a carseat. Well, here is how she is every time she gets put in one. Cute as a bug in a rug, either reading, looking out the window, or falling asleep (for those picky readers, yes, we adjusted the straps to be at her shoulder - here she's just trying it on for size).

Here is where the Best Buy delivery guys left our washer/dryer after telling us they couldn't install it because our dryer vent didn't extend down far enough for them to attach it, so they couldn't install the plug (yes, it comes separately), hoses, or anything. Then it took two appointments for them to actually show up again. Thanks. Four days of me not being able to get to the front door with my hugeness.

But otherwise, we love it here. The neighbors are great, our place is big and has just had a complete gut rehab with new appliances (which I think contributed to nothing being hooked up), our church is within walking distance, the area is gorgeous, and it's just the right combo of city and suburb life for us right now. There are still restaurants around that deliver! I don't think I could live without that. Or a Target, which is 10 minutes away! Also, Jesse Jackson preaches at a beautiful building right next to us every Saturday. We haven't figured out where Obama's house is around here yet though. Those are the only two celebs in our area that we know of. Definitely a different world from our NY experience, but it's super interesting.

Shoutout #1

2008-06-11T23:00:00.006-04:00

So, yeah, we still don't have internet, so I'm using Scott's phone hooked up to his laptop. But I couldn't not blog because I'm bursting at the seams to say stuff. Scott asked me today how I liked it here so far. I answered truthfully that I loved it so far - pretty area, nice neighbors (who brought us wine - we'll be using that nice wine to cook, thank you very much!), big apartment, car, dishwasher, soon-to-be washer/dryer. Then he said, "Yeah, I miss our friends, but I really like it here." That's when it hit me what was missing. People to share the goodness with. I miss our friends a lot - there's no one who truly will understand that NY part of our lives except those who've lived it with us. Anyway, there have been a lot of people who have rendered us service these past few weeks and I wanted to mention them in sporadic blogs to come. Know that what you've done means a lot to us and we will always carry those good acts in our hearts (sorry, I'm a little sappy right now, but it's true!). I'm going to start in no particular order, so don't be offended. This blog will be those who helped us move. I was so afraid no one would come and we would be moving stuff ourselves (like when we moved in - it was just us and Eric Orton - luckily I had no kids at the time). So, I really want to thank:

Bill: He was the first to come with Paul and worked really hard. He also was commenting on Cinderella that Sonja was watching, which was funny. Thanks so much!

Paul: He was having back problems and had company coming in a few hours, but still came and worked his butt off. We hope you are feeling better.

Phil: He claimed he had no muscles but could give what he lacked there with heart. Turns out he has both, as he helped Scott move some of the heaviest boxes and furniture from the lobby.

Andrea: She had the company coming, but came and cleaned EVERYTHING for me, since I was a little useless. I couldn't even get the shower curtain down, so she did it (DO NOT, REPEAT, DO NOT MOVE 7 MONTHS PREGNANT). She also brought a ton of snacks for our trip (they saved Scott, since he was stuck forever in Palookaville (is there a correct spelling for this?) with a broken-down truck and I loved them as well. She kept me sane when I was forgetting things left and right. I love you, babe!

Doug: Not only a mover, he was especially useful in dealing with the angry truck driver stuck behind us on our VERY narrow street (and maybe other angry people I didn't see).

Jon: He showed up ON HIS BIRTHDAY to help us move, thus sacrificing time with his family (Jess will get her own shoutout later). What good people.

Kevin: The only teenager to come. I love the Bonafacio family. I just basically told him to do stuff I couldn't physically do (which was most everything) and he did it. He also helped Scott move our washer/dryer to their place. He is a really good guy.

Bracken: He was babysitting the Bean all day and still came with her to help. Then he let me hang at their place for an hour before I left for the airport so I could feed Sonja, wipe the sweat off my face, and generally attempt to look like a normal person. That time was so great to rejuvenate myself before the second part of the craziness began. Thanks for letting us intrude. We probably kept the Bean up way past her naptime. Sorry about that!

Random guy off the street named "Jet": Scott paid him $10 to help for an hour. I'm grateful to him because I would have paid him more.

The only thing we left in the apartment by mistake were those original Fruitopias that Scott blogged about finding in Canada and lovingly packing 10 of in his suitcase. Sorry Scott. To his credit, he was disappointed, but didn't get too upset, mostly because we had gotten to Chicago in one piece and it was done.

Chicago: Land of No Internet

2008-06-07T11:30:00.003-04:00

Hopefully, you, faithful readers, can empathize with the lack of posts. It is due to two factors. One, the move from New York to Chicago caused some serious busyness. Two, once arriving in Chicago, we found ourselves without the Internet and with no real solution for remedying the problem.

The only cable company in the area, Comcast, said that our building was under construction and so they couldn't come and install cable here. This is false, and is in the process of being clarified. AT&T had no problem sending us a modem and signing us up for DSL, but there is no phone jack in the apartment.

So... I decided to sign up for the unlimited data transfer plan for internet on my cell phone, then on a whim, hooked the phone to my computer with a USB cable. Then, on my phone (which is also a PDA), started up a program called "Internet Sharing." I pressed "Connect" and bam! Internet on my computer. But only on one computer at once, of course, and only if my phone is around (which prevents me from doing errands while Ellen wants to use the internet). Clearly, a temporary solution. But at least I can write this quick post.

Stay tuned for the pre-graduation festivities I mentioned, plus graduation, plus tales of moving in which my Penske truck broke down and I had to move all my stuff to a new Penske truck in The Middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania! Some fun stuff!

Visiting America Jr.

2008-05-24T18:58:00.007-04:00

Most Americans, if they have been to a foreign country, have at least been to Canada or Mexico. I haven't been to a lot of foreign countries (Japan for the mission, Italy, and a quick drive into Mexico), so when my friend told me he was going to be busy doing a medicine rotation during the ISMRM (International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine) conference in Toronto, and wanted me to go to present our work, I was pretty excited. Free trips are always cool.

Flying in was relatively uneventful. Oh wait, except for they forgot to give us customs declarations cards on the plane and since I haven't been out of the country forever, I didn't think about that. Oh, and they only had French cards. I looked over the shoulder of this British couple next to me to read their cards so I could fill mine in; apparently British Airways remembers to give them to you. So I get in line, get passed through after I told the lady my life story and explained why in the world I would want to go to Canada, and then go to another line. Everyone gives the woman in this line their cards, she smiles, takes them, and passes them through to the left. When she gets to me, she looks at the card all confused and says:

"Um, please follow that hall to the right." Then she gives me back my card. Crap, what did I do? I follow this hall and end up in this big empty room that looks like it is built to handle about 500 people. I'm the only one except for 2 cops. One of tells me to come to him, and I do so, give him my passport and customs card, and he looks at it even more quizzically than the first woman. He then shows it to his buddy with a confused expression who follows suit with the same look. He then puts on a latex glove.

Great.

Fortunately that glove never ended up in my bodily orifices. He gets on his computer and types and clicks for like 5 minutes and then says, "Um, do you have your driver's license?" Luckily I did. I didn't think I needed it because I had my passport, but I had it shoved in my wallet like usual so I handed it to him. He then went back to his computer and did his thing for 10 more minutes with a very pensive, investigative look on his face. I almost yelled out, "Ok, I'll tell you where I hid the bodies!" but I stayed patient.

Finally he came up to me and told me that I was welcome in the country, and he just had to run a background check on me. Which is fine, but I couldn't help looking around at all the no people in the room. Why me? Was it random? If random, why check one out of every 2000 people? Was I the only one in the whole airport going to Canada for the first time? Who knows.

So, yeah. The ISMRM. It's this huge conference every year that gathers together all the scientists and doctors that work on (MRI) Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and for a week, there are non-stop conferences (simultaneous in like 8 rooms), a huge poster room, and talks by MRI bigwigs. The Toronto Metro Conference Center, where I stayed, is gigantic. Check this out.

Click on the picture to see it bigger, and then think of it being twice the size of what it looks like. I had to stitch 2 pictures together to get this view. If you look down the aisle, you can see how far forward the seats go, kinda. This is the main conference room.

I needed to get breakfast so I went to the overpriced concession-type cafe thing in the conference center. I grabbed a croissant and took a glance into the cooler to get a Snapple or cranberry juice, whatever. Much to my amazement, inside this cooler was a small bottle of something that brought forth intense involuntary feelings of nostalgia mixed with joy. Strawberry Passion Awareness Fruitopia.

Some of you may remember this drink from the 1990s. It was a juice, kind of like Snapple, but with some real fruit pulp mixed in with it. They made like a million different flavors, with Strawberry Passion Awareness being the most popular (in the country and in my mouth). I loved it and drank it as often as I could. If you knew me in high school you would know that I lived for this drink. My girlfriend then even gave me a case of them for a present and I mounted them on my windowsill like trophies, savoring them so they would last longer.

When I got back from my mission in 2000, one of the first things I did was go to the supermarket and buy a bottle of SPA Fruitopia. They had it, but much to my surprise (I had forgotten to look carefully at the bottle) it tasted completely different. What was once a Strawberry Kiwi Snapple-like pink was now neon red, and what was once juice was now high fructose corn syrup and citric acid. It tasted like a red Minute Maid lemonade, which is fine when you are expecting citric acid and corn syrup, not real fruit juice (and corn syrup).

A crappy picture of the crappy replacement Fruitopias. Strawberry Passion Awareness is on the far left. They don't make it anymore; it's now called Minute Maid Strawberry Passion.

So back to my super interesting story. To sum up, Canada has the real (original) Fruitopias! I found out on the internets that, apparently, they stopped making them (or handed the production over to Minute Maid) in America because Snapple was kicking their butts in sales. But they were always popular in Canada, so they kept selling them there. Just one of the reasons why I shouldn't be calling Canada "America Jr."

(Another plus: Canada uses real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. So, this was even better than what I got in high school).

After the first day of going to conferences (Monday May 5) and finding out that I wasn't going to present my e-poster (I still didn't know exactly what that was) until Thursday, I decided to take a quick self-tour around the downtown Toronto area. What is the first thing that strikes you when you see this sign?

If "Canadian Diabetes Awards" caught your eye first, then rest assured you are not alone. I had to do a double take to figure out they were not actually giving out prizes for uncontrolled blood sugar.

The next day at lunch after picking up a 1.8 liter juice box of Strawberry Passion Awareness Fruitopia at the supermarket, I walked around Queen's Quay (a quay is like a dock or pier) downtown and took some pictures.

It's a pretty cool place, and there are plenty more pictures on Flickr.

Also, that day I went to some of the poster sessions. Again, in a gigantic room. And again, a picture that doesn't do it justice but tries really really hard:

Again, clicking to enlarge is appropriate.

Here is a picture of me between sessions, connecting to the internet using my phone via its internal 802.11 wireless card via a network set up for the conference. Remember, I couldn't use my cell phone for talking or texting for that week because of the whole "different country" thing. If I had used any of that, Verizon would have gleefully charged me like 69 cents a minute plus some other fees. So I had to rely on the Internet for everything.

The conference itself was really interesting, when I understood what the speaker was talking about. For that reason, I tended to stay near the basic lectures rather than hitting up the advanced stuff about improving gradient spin-echo times and zzzzzzzz... what now?

After eating lunch and downing a can of Strawberry Passion Awareness, I walked around and took more pictures of downtown Toronto:

Here is part of a "Discovery Walk" where you walk around downtown and find the only places where there are trees in the area.

Here is what passes for graffiti in Canada. If you have young children present, you might want to avert their eyes from this offensive language:
Yikes. I can't get that out of my head.

On the last day, before my e-poster presentation type thing, I took a visit to the CN tower, right next door to the conference center. The CN tower is used for broadcasting and for taking tourists' money to give them an elevator ride to observatories on the top. It is the tallest completed tower in the world (a hotel in Dubai surpassed it recently, but it's not done yet). On the top, in what is called the Glass Floor Room, there is a, well, a glass floor. These glass panes can support 85,000 pounds each, a fact that I am glad I read before I attempted to step onto it.

Here is the tower (vertical panorama stitch) from a flower garden at the base.

It's tall.

And here is me looking the opposite direction (i.e. down), standing on the glass floor (after repeating the mantra "85,000 pounds, 85,000 pounds, 85,000 pounds...").

At this point I am standing on a glass window 1,122 feet up. That's 112 stories, for those counting. Rogers Stadium (where the Blue Jays play) is on the upper right.

Also, to show you have cajones, it is requisite that you take a picture where you are lying down on the glass.

I hate that picture of me, but it was the only one that showed both the ground and me in a somewhat visible light. I asked the tallest guy there to take it for me, a big bus driver taking kids on a field trip (he looked like that guy on Ocean's 11, who pretends to beat up George Clooney in that room). This huge guy also kept jumping on the glass panes and freaking everybody right out.

So then, it was around 2:00 and I had to go present my e-poster. I found out that an e-poster was where you stand next to a computer and show powerpoint slides to people. Having explained these slides to literally dozens of people during my research year, I found this to be pretty easy. Two people showed up, and I thought I did a pretty good job.

My e-poster, at good old computer 25.

Then, my half hour was up, and I left the conference to grab my bag from the hotel and head to the airport. First, of course, I had to pick up 10 cans of Strawberry Passion Awareness Fruitopia in juice concentrate form. It took over 20 minutes to figure out how to stuff them in my already crammed suitcase, but I did it, and without a single burst can when I got home Thursday night.

(National anthem) Oh, Canada... something something something! You saved Fruitopia, something la la laaaaa.

Goodbye Canada. May your strawberries always be passionately aware.

Lots of stuff happened.

2008-05-22T14:53:00.002-04:00

So, you may be thinking that with the dearth of posts in the past couple weeks, not much has happened. How wrong you would be. I went to Toronto for a scientific conference, we took trips to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and the Central Park Zoo, and I became a doctor for reals.

So, that's what we're going to be covering in the next couple posts. Stay tuned.

Our New Home

2008-05-13T17:00:00.003-04:00

Okay, I know I haven't posted forever, and then suddenly two at once. Sorry. I forgot that I didn't tell people that Scott found an apartment in Chicago. I debated going with him but I'm glad I didn't, not only because he was much more mobile without us, but it was much cheaper. But it turned out to be good because I made a great Chloe to his Jack Bauer. I was taking calls and making appointments for him, saying things like, "Okay, at 4:00, you're going to be meeting a man named Jaz at the corner of 55th and Cornell. He'll know you." I seriously had him hopping around to around 15 apartments, taking pictures of everything.

So he really loved this one place - 2 bed/2 bath, covered parking, sweet kitchen, but neglected to really notice or tell me that the walls didn't reach the ceiling and there were no doors on the bedrooms - they just kind of opened into the main room. This is a problem when you have two babies and require sleep to function. We might as well have been living in a studio. I wouldn't have known had he not taken a picture that happened to catch those facts. Phew. To Scott's credit, he got an estimate to complete the walls and add doors - $4200. Even after the owner said he would pay half, it was still too much.

Plan B was a garden (read basement) apartment that I guess Scott didn't consider that much because it had an uncovered parking spot and he was in love with the other place. But as I was looking through all his pictures the night before his last day there, it struck me how sweet this apartment was (besides the laundry hookup and central air, of course): 1700 square feet, right across the street from a playground, $1300 a month, the best kitchen we had seen, only 8 units in the building (so it's quiet, hopefully), and two very nice bathrooms. And it was painted a warm yellow, which I love. He didn't take a picture of the master bedroom, or the closet space, so that's a little gamble, but I felt really good when we made our decision. It's a lease option, meaning we had to pay an extra nonrefundable $1300 on top of the security deposit, but 10% of our rent goes to a down payment of buying the place if we want. Anyway, here are a couple pictures below or you can click here to see all seven.

I'm assuming it's so cheap because it's in the basement (although it gets plenty of light), but hopefully there's nothing crazy we've yet to discover.

Random Comments and Resolutions

2008-05-12T21:34:00.006-04:00

To contrast my recent complaining, here are some mostly happy thoughts in outline form for easy reading:

1. Scott got home from Toronto Thursday and called me from the airport. I told him to take a cab instead of the bus and train. He said, "No way - that's $30 more expensive." He is quite the cheapskate about cabs. Something in my voice must have convinced him it was worth it though because he was home 20 minutes later instead of an hour and a half, in time to put Sonja to bed and get up with her in the morning. Aaahh. Scott can be funny sometimes about practical matters, but he is most often very wise about relationship maintenance.

2. I found out that molars are emerging on 3 of Sonster's 4 back gums. No wonder she is crying at night! Poor sweetie. She has never accepted teething rings before and now she will lie on the floor and chew vigorously for 15 minutes straight. What a patient little girl. So now I give her Tylenol and Orajel, which definitely helps.

3. We were very afraid about our financial situation, pondering the fact that Scott won't get his first paycheck until July 31st, and we have many, many expenses before then (moving, getting a car, etc). But surprise money is emerging from unexpected places. So we just might make it. I love surprise money.

4. Many girls' nights and activities are emerging to help make the most of my time with my friends before moving day. I'm having so much fun. Also, Scott's parents are both coming to visit us for graduation for the first time together (his mom came once before). It only took 5 years! I prefer to think it is NY and not we who is inhospitable :)

5. So I alluded to Sonja having changed once I got back from vacation and I never said how. Basically, when she met me at the door, she wouldn't look me in the face (like she does with strangers in her shy kind of way) and just hugged me and giggled and giggled. That was pretty cute. Major changes I noticed since then were that:
a. Scott and Sonja had gone to the park pretty much every day and he let her climb on or do whatever she thought herself capable of. So now she can climb regular ladders, linked fence type ladders, and various other contraptions better than some kids much bigger than her. Scott had to show me because I didn't believe him. I never would have let her do those things, so it's good she had this time with him. Of course, he didn't teach her to say, "Mama," but I was left very impressed and wondering what other talents she has that I'm stifling.
b. She is so clingy that nursery is a disaster and leaving her with a babysitter is close to that as well until she warms up to the person. Possibly she remembers that once I went away and didn't come back for a whole week, which is a huge chunk of her life. She strangles me, crawls up my whole body, and would stand on my head if she could, I think. She must be really scared!

Sonja go sleep, Mommy go sleep

2008-05-07T04:29:00.002-04:00

So it is 4:30 in the morning. I thought for sure the 4 hours of sleep I got yesterday had to be the worst. Sonja was fine - I have been having a lot of problems falling asleep lately, I think because of subconscious stress about the move. And yesterday at 5:45 am Sonja's play cell phone (real, but old) started beeping periodically to let me know it was running out of batteries. But I couldn't find it because it only beeped sporadically. So by that time I was up and couldn't get back to sleep.

So back to tonight/this morning. I was so exhausted and thought for sure I would be able to fall asleep unaided. By 2:15 I was crying and literally praying to be able to fall asleep. I took a Benadryl at about 2:30. At 2:45 Sonja started crying. And...hasn't...stopped. It has gotten much worse now, maybe because I went in to comfort her. But after half an hour of hysterical choking crying in someone who has never done that at night, I think it was right to go in. She definitely just wants me. When I went in again half an hour ago, she was trying to leap out of her pack n play. No easy feat, but she was close. Her separation anxiety has reached ridiculous proportions. I tried lying on the floor and sleeping by her, explaining, "Sonja go sleep, lambie go sleep, blankie go sleep, mommy go sleep," but she wasn't having that. Her screaming got even louder. At 4:30 I stood up and said to Sonja, "Sweetie, I think I'm going to snap," and I left. I am currently waiting for a neighbor to pound on my door to tell me to shut up my kid.

Okay, I don't hear her suddenly. And I heard a thunk, but that could be from another apartment. Should I go in and make sure she's not hurt and risk her waking up? Stay tuned for another adventure of "Mommy in Crazyland."

Pregnant Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Naps, and Food Every Hour

2008-04-23T22:17:00.010-04:00

So my roommate reunion was extremely successful - more fun than I could have possibly imagined. The worst part was being reminded how much I love and admire these girls and how much I miss them. Here are Trisha (27 weeks), me (25 weeks), Karen (21 weeks), and Celeste (18 weeks). I think we scared people everywhere we went, even in Utah.

First we had a delicious breakfast of croissants, strawberries, and cheese at Celeste's darling house. It's in a very hip/cool part of Salt Lake. I don't want to say exactly where so as to protect Celeste's privacy, but if you are curious, just ask me. Really cool feel to the neighborhood and amazing restaurants, which I will mention in a moment.

We went shopping at the Gateway twice in two days. Here we are at Anthropologie, a store I love but prices are a little above my Target/H&M norm. Well, I bought my first item there - a blue and silver flowy shirt, for the pregnant and not pregnant alike. That's all I bought, except for TONS of food.

We had dinner at a French place, The Paris, where I got very good gnocchi (I know, it's Italian, but I didn't feel like meat for some reason). Then occurred a truly momentous thing - I got my first pedicure. It was aaaawesome. I didn't know they massaged your feet and legs, filed your rough skin, or that you should bring flip flops. Now I know.

Note the picture. Sitting right behind the person taking the picture was Ashley Tisdale getting a manicure (we found out after she left). If only I had known, I could have halted production on the latest High School Musical movie by causing some disfiguring "accident" involving hot wax or exfoliating her eyeballs. Then we watched a movie and ate Haagen Dazs till I was good and truly sick.

The next day we got a late start, since Celeste had to present at a midwifery conference and I slept in. Yes, one of my friends is a professor. And I like to sleep. Now you know how we spend our time. We hung around the Gateway (sans Karen, who had to do family stuff) and went out with Celeste's husband Matt to eat. Old-time Inwood 1st ward members may remember Matt and Celeste when they lived here a few years ago. Anyway, we went to Mazza, the most amazing Lebanese restaurant. Get the potatoes harra (or even the amazing French fries) with aioli sauce. Nuff said. Celeste remarked we all looked like sister-wives (three pregnant women clustering around one guy). I think she was right, especially since he was holding Celeste's hand, but I was finishing off his plate of fries. I am such a pig. But I ask you, where else can you see pretend polygamists, cowboy-hat types, and lesbians in the same restaurant? Not even NY can boast that, I think. That is true diversity!

Then we went back to Celeste and Matt's and talked for a long time. That was the best part of the day (except for the food, of course). They are the most politically informed lay people I know, and Trish is no slouch either. Free exchange of ideas with no one taking offense and I learned a lot, which is always my goal. Perfect. Except I again made myself sick with ice cream.

At the end of the night, no one felt beautiful enough to get their picture taken except Matt. Look how thin and perky he is. He must not be pregnant.

In summary, my heart and stomach are still full to bursting from my experiences. And love and thanks to Scott, whose voice went from chipper Wednesday and Thursday to weary and beaten to a pulp by Sunday night. More later about my arrival home and the strange Sonja that I encountered.

Guilt Trip

2008-04-17T16:55:00.002-04:00

I left my baby (and my husband) yesterday for 5 days to have a little me-time in Utah with my old roommates. It was sooo hard to leave the Sonster. She was being so cute when I left. Apparently she has been pacing around the apartment hoping to find me in one of the rooms. She keeps saying, "Dada," when looking for me. I guess that's me.

So I have been talking to all the little girls I see and I gave one little girl candy (with her mother's permission, of course!) when she wouldn't leave the candy aisle of the store to follow her mom. I am such a sucker. Hopefully being pregnant makes me look harmless enough, rather than a crazed mom pining for her baby and stalking other cute little girls to give them candy. It's more that I don't want my babe to be sad and think I've abandoned her. On the other hand, I got the best sleep of my life last night. Utah is so quiet.

I also went to Supertarget for Italian sodas and Gandalfo's for a Whitestone Bridge sandwich (mmmm). We're going to a spin-off of the Bombay House tonight, also. Tomorrow, off to roommate fun, with Chicago apartment hunting in between.

Park time fun and more!

2008-04-06T14:00:00.000-04:00

So this video and some of these pictures are a couple weeks old, but still worth posting. I wish I had time to edit it down a little for time, but it isn't that long, and I figured you could do that yourself if you get bored.

We went to the park a couple weeks ago. This was before I found out I was going to Chicago and thus before I knew I needed to take the Physics GRE (yes that's right, another test for me - I'll get into that in another post). So, I had some time on my hands - and going to the park with Sonja frequently was the best way to take my mind off the nervousness I was feeling about the Match.

I am constantly surprised at how brave of a girl she is - she puts my circa 1980 17-month-old self to shame, I'm sure. She loves to go down slides, stairs, climb on tables, etc. without any reservation. After just one time down the slide with me holding her, she wanted to do it herself. And again... and again...

The funniest part is that I have to convince her to sit down before she gets onto the slide. If I don't, she'll just step right out on it, falling back hard onto it, but still sliding the rest of the way down just fine, and of course wanting to do it again.

Here's a quick, closer snapshot (with some motion blur, sorry).

Moving along... here are some of the other pictures in our newest Flickr set, New York Winter. These first couple ones actually aren't from winter, technically, since they show Sonja in her Easter dress.

Here is us celebrating Ellen's 30th birthday with a cake from Carrot Top. I mean... I made it.

So that's all for this post. But you should really check out the new Flickr pictures. Some are pretty funny.

Tagged

2008-04-04T21:27:00.002-04:00

So I got tagged by the Julester:

A. ATTACHED OR SINGLE? Attached
B: BEST FRIENDS? I usually have small groups of friends, but no one BFF. Erin T is my best friend from high school and college.
C: CAKE OR PIE? Cake. That is a ridiculous question. Chocolate with chocolate or vanilla frosting. Ganache is lovely as well. Although warm peach or cherry pie with vanilla ice cream is not shabby at all.
D: DAY OF CHOICE? I like each day for different reasons. Sunday-restful, Monday-the week is fresh with no mistakes in it, Friday night I have the most motivation to clean and organize for some reason. Saturday is my laziest, so I usually feel the worst about myself. If I get off my behind and go outside, it is often the best day.
E: ESSENTIAL ITEMS? Without Sonja: Reading materials, lotion for my 80-year-old hands, my old-school PDA, nail file/clippers - I hate snags!
F: FAVORITE COLORS? Yellow makes me happy in general. I have other favorite colors for specific contexts.
G: GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS? These aren't even food. The correct answer is chocolate.
H: HOMETOWN? Don't have one. San Diego (born), then LA, then Mesa, AZ, Peoria, AZ, and Orem, UT. I guess AZ in general is where I spent the most time.
I: FAVORITE INDULGENCE? Bubble baths with a good book.It would be a neck and back massage, but I haven't had a professional one ever.
J: JANUARY OR JULY? July - any time I can go outside in my flip flops
K: KIDS? An 18-month-old girl and another girl coming end of July.
L: LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT... My family, wonderful friends, beautiful films, music, good books.
M: MARRIAGE DATE? August 23, 2002
N: NUMBER OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS? 2 sisters and 1 brother. Another sister that passed away, after whom Sonja is named. Two great brother-in-laws.
O: ORANGES OR APPLES? Depends on mood. Maybe oranges.
P: PHOBIA OR FEARS? Rats, rejection, crowds of people (hard in NY), having people think badly of me, my husband telling me one day that he's gay or in love with someone else (that's not specific to Scott! - I had that fear way before I met him - stemming from a friend's experience. Scott is the least likely person to tell me these things, but hey, it's still scary to think about!)
Q: QUOTE? The only one I can think of right now is by Dave Barry: "A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person." I am not perfect, but I try - esp to customer service workers, people on the phone - their jobs are hard enough, I'm sure.
R: REASONS TO SMILE? Spring is coming. Chicago awaits. We await baby.
S: SUPERMAN OR WONDER WOMAN? Superman. I don't know what Wonder Woman does.
T: TAG 5 PEOPLE. Audrey, Andrea T, Jana A, Jess, miggs - if they want. I would say Celeste, but I don't know if she likes being tagged. And anyone else who wants!
U: UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME? My thumbs are different lengths.
V: VEGETABLE? Edamame (soy beans in the pod), or roasted asparagus with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mmmmm.
W: WORST HABIT? Twisting my hair into loops with my right hand. Also, apologizing to everyone for no reason, just in case they are irritated with me.
X: X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND? Ultrasound, I guess. They both are useful and not painful.
Y: YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? Sourdough bread, brie cheese, sushi, brownies, a perfectly ripe peach, virgin pina coladas or any drink, sorbet, or gelato Scott makes
Z: ZODIAC SIGN? Aries - I don't know Scott's or the babe's.

Pregnant Woman Saves (1/8th of) a Man on the Tracks

2008-04-03T23:23:00.005-04:00

That should be the headline of tomorrow's NY Times. Or at least AM New York. But you know me, I am extremely humble and self-effacing, and don't like attention. So I will just blog about it to everyone I know.

First, I had a rare night out with some friends: Julia, Andrea, and Christina. I can't remember the last time we've been out together. We went to La Vela on the UWS. It was so quiet and restful - a complete contrast from my Washington Heights neighborhood. Or from my apartment for that matter. Thanks, Christina, for recommending it. The gnocchi were deliciosos. We talked for over two wonderful hours. Julia looks completely not pregnant, except that before, her middle section was almost concave and now it's just straight. Okay, I kid, I kid. There was a little bump and it was adorable.

Warning: cute girls below.

Anyway, Julia parted company to go back to the UES. I bet she regrets living there now, because she missed the most heart-pounding adrenaline rush of the night. So the remaining three of us were in our own little world talking on the platform of the 1 train at 79th and Broadway and in the back of my head I hear screaming and yelling from the other side of the platform. This is not unusual and I continue to ignore it until the words "There's a man on the tracks!" breaks its way through to my brain. We turn around to look, and there is a man with bushy white hair and a trench coat stumbling his way on the tracks. We kind of stare in shock - he was a little ways down. I'm ashamed to admit the first thought in my head was, "Man, those drunks are always causing a ruckus." Then, I realize, "Oh, wait, this man is in real danger."

Then we have the idea of telling the attendant whose station was luckily right by us (the idea mainly comes from the people across the way shouting, "Tell the attendant!" They must have thought we were idiots.) Anyway, a man rushes past us and with another woman tries to convince him to come to the ledge so they can pull him up. They start and I run over there as I see them struggling. Half of his body was over the ledge by then, and I think I dragged about an 1/8 to 1/4 of him the rest of the way (hey, 1/8 of a man still counts, right?). Surprisingly, he did not reek of alcohol, but was instead a confused older man. He got back up on the platform and said, "I think I left my glasses down there" and looks down into the tracks like he's going back down. The other man smiles uncertainly and says, "Um, I don't think that would be worth the risk." And the incident was over. The older man then sits down to read his paper like nothing happened! He must have some form of dementia, poor guy. So then we tell the attendant the track is clear. I felt really involved in a kind of dorky superhero way. I want Valerie Bertinelli to play me in the made-for-TV movie. Laura Flynn-Boyle and Marg Helgenberger can play Andrea and Christina. I realize these people are older and not perfect fits (and the last two have huge botoxed lips), but it's 12:30 and I'm going to bed.

Anyway, it was a total rush. I'm not blogging about this to get praise. Mostly that these things happen so fast and it was the quick reactions of EVERYONE ELSE that saved his life. I was so slow to assess the situation. But I had never seen someone on the tracks before so now I can leave NY with that checked off my list. Also, I figure, if I can go find people saving lives and rush over to "assist," I will have saved the equivalent of a whole person before too long. With my current rate (1/8th of a person every 30 years), I will only have to live 210 more years. Or maybe I could speed up the process by creating dangerous situations for people to get into and then "save them." Like deep holes covered with a thin layer of sod.

I realize the grandparents are wondering, "Why do I have to read this junk when I want pictures of the Sonster in her Easter get-up?" I promise to do that Friday or Saturday.

Thanks guys! Random Loose Ends

2008-03-26T14:30:00.004-04:00

I'll blog about my b-day and Easter soon, but I just have to say thanks for all the well wishing! We love you all. And yes, I want to get together with everyone before we go. Time is so short! We find out March 20 and we move probably the end of May. We'll probably go out the end of April to check out housing and I'll be gone also in April for a while.

For those of you who don't understand our friend Jeff's English of "be straight kickin it Chicago style," Jeff and Caitlin will also be moving to Chicago for a year - sweet! Also, my sister and brother-in-law are moving to Rochester for business school (congrats Ryan), so the Lunds will continue their presence in NY. Of course they wait until we move - do they hate us or something? They made their decision AFTER we announced we were moving. Very suspicious.

Last week, we forgot to mention that Scott's brother Mikey went into the MTC! We love you Mike and are so excited.

There, a little more caught up. Scott is studying day and night for the physics GRE because he wants to get a physics degree at the same time as his residency. I got a headache just typing that. But whatever Scottie wants, Scottie gets. I am drowning in all the confusing paperwork UofC sent as well as looking for housing and stressing over every decision because I hate making any kind of lasting decision. And moving involves a lot of those. We're very happy though, just explaining the lack of blogs...

Not much going on this week

2008-03-20T17:11:00.008-04:00

So, I haven't blogged on this blog in a while, because Ellen has been so good at keeping you updated on what has been going on here. Delegation is great.

Anyway, like I said, not much went on this week. But, I'll give you a brief timeline in case you were curious.

Monday:
On Monday at noon, I found out if I was going to match to a residency in radiology, i.e., have a certain job for the next 5 years, or if I was going to have to frantically call and fax and beg for one.
Fortunately, at noon, the computer that determines all our fates sent me an automated email saying that I did not, in fact, have to look for a job, but that it had found one for me, and due to an implicit agreement, I was eternally bound (or something) to it. Of course, it did not say where it was.

You see, in order to give the people who get a less ideal email (You didn't match! Sorry, please play again!) a chance to find another place to work than at the program of their dreams, they wait until Thursday to tell you where you are actually going. So, for three days, you know you are going somewhere, just not where.

And despite what you might think, from 11:40 to 12:00 I promise I only pressed the "Check for email" button on my email client under 100 times.

Tuesday:
Ellen and her fetus had a doctor's appointment for 9 am on Tuesday, and it was the 20-week ultrasound. 20 weeks is a great time to visualize genitalia, and Tuesday was no different. I was going to call this post:

X-sperm Defends Its Title!

But, there were quite a few other things happening that the title wouldn't make much sense if I were to write about all the Match stuff too.

In case you are very clever, or understand a bit about reproductive science, or just understand that if something "defends its title," then that means the same thing happened as last time, you may have already figured out that we found out we are having another girl! That's right, everyone, Sonja is going to have a little sister and we are going to save some serious cash on clothing, toys, etc. For all the kind friends and family that are going to want to get her these things anyway, I am setting up an amazon.com wishlist to which you can direct your generosity. (Just don't ask why the new baby wants an audio receiver and surround sound speakers).

Wednesday:
Not much happened. Just went to the park for like 20 minutes with Sonja going down the slide and spent the rest of the time working on a research project and being nervous about the next day, which was:

Thursday:
I spent the morning working on my project, pretending that I wasn't thinking about the "reception" in the hospital restaurant, which was scheduled at noon.

Ellen, Sonja and I left our apartment and walked down to the restaurant, where my entire class stood around in a large open room, chilling, drinking soda, and eating hors d' oeuvres . In a side room, behind guarded doors, was a table with 150 envelopes, each containing the fate of an individual medical student. The reception was actually scheduled for 11:30 and these doors were set to be open at 12:00. We all kind of sat around, talking and pretending like we didn't care what was going on. Well, I mainly chased Sonja around the open area there.

Our friends were there too, both without any appetite. Not the story with us though, a pregnant woman and a guy who enjoys free food almost as much as free money. We chowed down on the yakitori chicken and spinach/pesto pastry cup things, and toasted bread with beef topped with guacamole, and fruit, cheese, and crackers. As this was a special event, we let Sonja eat all the cheese she wanted, of which she partook most heartily.

Anyway, before we knew it, the doors had been opened and people started shutting up, as they walked into the room and found their envelopes. I also did this, found my envelope, and came back and sat down with Ellen and our friends. Inside the envelope were these eloquent words:

Congratulations, you have matched!
Program Name: Radiology-Diagnostic
Institution Name: Univ of Chicago Med Ctr-IL

So that's the story basically. University of Chicago. It was my first choice, because of the sweet research program they have there (mainly focusing on computer-assisted diagnosis of radiological images, one of my principal interests). So, I was (and still am) super pumped.

Well, that was today, so I guess I don't really know what else that could happen the rest of the week, but that's enough for one week for me, thanks.

Beautiful Week

2008-03-08T00:04:00.006-05:00

Last week was really not fun (see previous posts). This week (starting last Friday) has been wonderful, I think partially because of the warmer weather, which flips my attitude around 180 degrees. Since a lot has happened this week that I'm happy about, I'm going to borrow a blogging title from my friend: Things I'm grateful for this week.

Tamara Hall, upon reading my miserable posts, came over to babysit while I took a nap, despite having her own stuff to worry about. I don’t say this lightly - she is a truly wonderful person
Warmer weather with that hint of spring air coming through the window
Beautiful, intelligent friends having babies who are sure to be equally beautiful and intelligent (congrats, Julia!)
On Saturday, I woke up feeling truly hungry in the first time in 4 months. We decided to go to Petite Abeille, and since I couldn’t decide whether to order their amazing waffles or their amazing omelets, I ordered one of each to take some home. I forgot how heaping huge the plates were, but that didn’t stop me from eating nearly all of both. When the frenzy was over, I was truly shocked
On our way back, Sonja took off full speed ahead on the subway platform until she found a guitarist playing. She stood in front of him and swayed back and forth in her little Sonja dance like his little monkey till I thought she would break a hip. People were openly laughing and, of course, I had to give him money. Him and his cute little dancing monkey
Hanging out with Kristy, Ayden, Hudson, Lindsay, and Lucy on Tuesday
Lunch Bunch on Wednesday, comparing baby and birthing stories
Watching The Biggest Loser on Tuesdays – but it must always be accompanied by cake, brownies, a big bowl of ice cream, or chocolate. Does this mean I am evil? Do I get perverse pleasure eating delicious treats while these people are working out like crazy? No comment. (I have to say in my defense that this is the only show I watch regularly and the only reality show period. Scott barely tolerates that I watch it. So might as well milk it for all it’s worth.) But I really am happy for the participants as they start looking and feeling so much better
Last week I posted that I had only gained 3 lbs even though I am almost halfway through pregnancy. I got a lecture at my ob/gyn appointment this week. I guess my body listened because I have been waking up in the middle of the night starving. I have to eat a whole other meal before I can get back to sleep. As a result, I have gained 3 more lbs… just this week. I feel great!
My old roommates are planning a reunion in Utah, which I couldn’t afford to go to. And my miles on American had expired last month (after 4 years!). How convenient for them. They wouldn’t let me reactivate them in time to fly in April – they were going to make me pay $120, which I considered, since it’s still cheaper than a flight, but then I had to receive 3 months of emails before getting them back. What is the point of that? Then I randomly discovered I had a free flight on Delta, which I never would have guessed I had (so American is out $120 and a future customer.) My friend calls it one of those “tender mercies” and I agree. And the best part is Scott has agreed to babysit (no grumbling or anything) for 5 days. I love you, sweetie! I can’t believe I’m going to have 5 days of alone time. Even flying pregnant will be a treat. Now I have to figure out what to do with myself there. I might even get my first manicure or pedicure, as long as I have my peeps around to tell me what to do. I'm open to suggestions.

Mystery Solved

2008-02-28T08:55:00.002-05:00

So we figured out that I had food poisoning! And because I kept it down, it lasted longer. (My stomach has been refined in the fires of South American parasites. I think it's bionic now, or something.) Scott was kind enough to help figure this out by eating some of my Indian food last night and he was vomiting all night. Thanks for sacrificing your body for this experiment, babe!

So we're broken-hearted that Kismat, our favorite Indian place, has done this to us. Even though it is the first time in four years, it will be awhile before we can forget this betrayal. And although the love affair is over, I can only hope that one day we can at least be friends.

Update: Bad Attitude Mixed with Gratitude

2008-02-27T23:10:00.004-05:00

Our heat and hot water came back on last night, thank goodness. I was chilled to the bone. I really hope that doesn't happen again. Aah, New York.

In other news, I am so nauseated, I can't eat anything. I must have a bug on top of being pregnant, because it's extra bad. I've only gained 3 lbs so far and it should be more like 8 or 9. At the same time I am hungry enough to eat a horse. Poor Sonja and Scott have borne the brunt of my weakness and irritability. Plus I can't seem to sleep more than 4 hours at a time. If I go to bed at 10, I get up at 2 and stay awake all night. Last night it was only 3 hours because I kept thinking I would have to dash to the bathroom any second. Help!

That was a lot of pregnant complaining. There are also good things to be grateful for. I can feel the little munchkin moving around A LOT. That movement and the pregnancy in general are so different, I'm wondering if that means it's a boy. Or a very willful girl (yikes). I can't wait to find out the sex (in a couple weeks). We have no idea on names. Also the building next to us caught fire yesterday, but it didn't spread to our apartment (and didn't spread to the Bennions apt). That is a blessing. Also, we won't be living in this apartment next winter - yay. For now, I have hot water, so I can go soak in a bath with a nerdy Robert Jordan novel and forget my troubles for a while (Andrea T, you'll be proud to know I'm already on book 4 - of 11, soon to be 12. Yes, I am a total geek).

Winter Wonderland

2008-02-23T23:12:00.004-05:00

So our super just called at 10:00 tonight (never a good sign) to inform us that after our first big snow storm, our heat and hot water will be out for up to two days. Apparently there is an oil leak so if they try to light the boiler, the building could burn down. That might be just what our building needs, actually. This has been going on for at least three winters and they keep talking about replacing the boiler during the summer when it's not used as much, but, of course, then they don't need to repair it and the cycle continues.

At least they called us this time unlike the last few times this winter. If I hadn't bought a space heater for little Sonja's room, I would be hopping mad right now, knowing she would be up all night freezing her little toes off. (I think the super was really surprised I didn't freak out at him, which I have been known to do after spending half the day with Sonja in front of the open oven to warm ourselves.) My other consolation is that even if we stay in the city for Scott's residency, we'll be living in another apartment (which has to be better, right? right?)

On a lighter note, when I was finding a picture for the previous post, Sonja was sitting on my lap and every time the Jim Morrison picture came up, she smiled and said, "HI!" I tried to get her to say, "Hi, Jim," but she wasn't interested. I bet Jim loved babies.

Music for the Masses (of white people like me)

2008-02-21T22:35:00.009-05:00

Some sharp-eyed readers may note that (half) the title is from a Depeche Mode album (I'll let you guess which half). I just liked it for a title. Nothing to do with Jim Morrison (that comes later). So, I think Julia just tagged me. I hate to assume. I'm always paranoid if someone tags or blogs about an Ellen that they may be talking about someone else and thinking, "What a loser! I can't believe she thought it was her. I meant my sister-in-law Ellen."

Regardless, the tag is the first 10 songs to appear in shuffle on your iPod. Scott actually got me a Zen mp3 player for Christmas that is pretty sweet for my needs. I can't believe the coolness of the songs that came up. I was expecting some slightly embarrassing ones, but I'm not embarrassed by any of these. Should I be? It's really funny that, like Julia, I got a Diana Krall song on there. I don't have very many by her.

1. Riders on the Storm - The Doors
2. O Mio Babbino Caro - Renee Fleming - Puccini
3. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - The Police
4. Pretty - The Cranberries
5. Miss Clare Remembered - Enya
6. Nearness of You - Diana Krall
7. Brandenburg Concerto No 6 in B-flat Major, BWV 1051 III Allegro - Bach
8. Ice Cream - Sarah McLachlan
9. Lovesong - The Cure
10. La Danse des Couteaux - Brotherhood of the Wolf soundtrack (one of my favorite movies)
And one more for fun
11. La Valse - Amelie soundtrack (so beautiful!)

I also had a couple lectures come up (The World of Byzantium and Great Masters: Tchaikovsky) from The Teaching Company, which I didn't include because they aren't songs. They're pretty sweet, though. They get amazing college professors to record really interesting lectures on every topic imaginable. It gives you warm feelings of intellectual stimulation without the responsibility of remembering anything.

Anyway, I tag Celeste, Christina, and Andrea T and B, Amanda, Audrey, miggs, and anyone else. You can use your computer if you don't have a mp3 player.

Mr Viagra (No, Not Scott)

2008-02-16T00:45:00.005-05:00

So in my old job working with pharmaceutical clients, I got to hear a little of how difficult it is to find names for new drugs these days. There are government restrictions that the name can't be too obviously claiming what it does or promise too much (like No-stroke, for example). There are probably many other government restrictions as well. Also, it can't mean anything in other languages, and it can't be a person's name. Before they choose a name, they search for people who could have that last name. I heard (not from the company that makes this drug, so it can't be verified) that they found a Senor Cialis in Spain (the erectile dysfunction drug) and had to get his permission to use it, I guess for legal ramification purposes. I guess no one wants to be known, essentially, as Mr. Viagra. Can you imagine if that was some obscure Italian last name?

Anyway, the reason I am talking about this is because, even though I understand it is difficult to find drug names, sometimes these names are so odd that hearing them over and over just makes it funnier. If you have a favorite, please pass it on, but mine is currently Amitiza, for constipation. The pronunciation would make this exchange work:

Mr. V: Amitiza.
Sen C: You are? I wouldn't have guessed. You always look so serious, and well...constipated.

I've been trying to interject this name into conversations where appropriate, such as "Just kidding, Scott, you know Amitiza."

I swear I'm not always this dorky about drug names, but I think this one deserves special attention. Also, the commercials say you can go from 3-4 BMs a week to 5-6. That's 2 more a week. I guess I don't understand why that's so great. You could take X-lax and get that in one day for a fraction of the price. Maybe not so practical though.

Materialism

2008-02-15T21:08:00.002-05:00

So I have some personal goals - one of them is to become less materialistic. I read this great article in the BYU Magazine for alumni on how materialistic our society is. We have to have everything new, everything the latest model. I love how it tries to explain how blind we are to it, like fish to water. Things that sound reasonable to us are actually extremely wasteful and indulgent compared to other eras and other places. My favorite parts are how it discusses Mormons having the same expectations of luxury as small, two-income families even though we have more financial burdens: larger families, tithing, food storage, charitable contributions, missions, and often only one income. Hence the amazing amount of debt and bankruptcies among Mormons, I suppose. I never thought about that being the reason. Also that being materialistic out of concern for our children is no excuse. Anyway, it made me think a lot about my thought processes. Why does Sonja have to have every toy? Every cute outfit? Why do her clothes always have to be new if baby clothes barely get worn? Many times there is nothing wrong with used things other than my psychological rejection of them (don't get me wrong, she does wear used, but she has mostly new). I don't know if that last sentence made sense, but I have to go, so it must remain. Anyway, my first goal along these lines is to purge myself of excess junk I don't need. Ciao!

Valentine's Day Remembered

2008-02-11T17:41:00.000-05:00

My first Valentine's Day where I was actually dating someone seriously was with Scott in the year 2002 - remember that year? Coldplay, the internet - so long ago...

Anyway, he made it a great one. We went to a Mexican restaurant, then he gave me beautiful yellow roses (since he knew I wasn't a red rose person). He also gave me chocolates and a card. I gave him a book,The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. Maybe cheesy, but what are you supposed to get a guy? I had no idea.

So every year Scott has gotten me beautiful and interesting flowers. I have also decided that store-bought cards are such a waste of money. Like five bucks! So a hand-written note is what I'm planning (the loan fairy has left us for good). But even when Scott does get a job, I think flowers is all I want. With chocolate of course. Quality chocolates. That goes without saying.

Taxation With Representation Ain't So Hot Either

2008-02-07T19:49:00.000-05:00

Thanks guys for all your well-wishing on the previous post. We love all of you and will keep everyone updated!

I wanted to give everyone some more good news and say that I finished our taxes yesterday - in one night. That is the fasted I have ever done it. Granted I don't have a house and didn't itemize my deductions. But we have several investment accounts, student loans, and other higher-education issues. I also converted my IRA to a Roth IRA, which was actually the hardest part to deal with.

"How did you get stuck doing them?" you may ask. When Scott and I got married, I immediately took over all tax issues. This need for control stems from my dad driving my mom crazy for years with procrastinating doing the taxes, filing for extensions, etc. I think one year they were three years behind.

Lest you think I am a tax genius, I owe it all to www.taxact.com (thank you Ryan MacDonald for the tip). I filled out everything online through the deluxe system for $16.95 and it filed everything for me, as well as reviewing everything and alerting me to possible inconsistencies that might flag an audit. The navigation is incredibly user-friendly. Maybe everyone reading this already has a system they use, and I'm a little slow. I used to do everything by hand. The best part is I don't have to send in any W-2s or other backup documents and I will get my return next week some time. I know, I must be still stuck in the '80s to be so impressed by this stuff.

I wonder if Smash's guy J.Po. gets any breaks from all the tax power he wields in Washington...

Part Deux

2008-02-06T00:17:00.000-05:00

For those of you who saw me in my ready-to-pop state, I am so sorry to have injured your eyesight. I can't believe how big Sonja was or how far out I carried her. Or how eager I was for her to come out (read: cranky). I can't believe I didn't get stretch marks. This time at least...

The reason I am reminiscing is because for those few who may not have heard, we will hopefully be having an encore of this event in July. Yep, I'm about 15 weeks along (5 weeks from half-way and finding out the gender). We were very surprised it happened so fast compared to our first attempt. Scott was completely clueless when I gave him a card from Sonja informing him she was going to be a big sister.

This pregnancy has gone so much faster than my first because someone small and cute keeps my mind off it. The first months were difficult - mostly finding a variety of food for my picky eater when I was so nauseated I didn't even want to touch food. But now I am feeling much better and eating much more. I'm excited and nervous to balance two kids with Scott pretty much MIA in internship/residency. No word on where we will move (and where I will give birth) until March. I always wanted four kids, but now facing having two, I think I'm going to just take it day by day. Four seems impossible, at least with Scott's schedule and my lazy, can't-do attitude. He'll probably be done with residency in his late 30s, but I will also be in my late 30s and more unwilling to have another babe. He should have married an 18-year-old.

A Very Special Holiday Edition Post that you May Miss

2008-02-03T20:59:00.000-05:00

I posted more about our holidays, but since I started it earlier than Ellen's last post, but finished it later, it appears below hers. I mean, down there.

(I provided the link, because I know many people are scroll-challenged.)

It has many pictures, but you have already seen these if you followed the link to our Flickr page from my Christmas Vacay Part One post.

Who Is Cuter?

2008-01-29T18:24:00.001-05:00

A friend just posted a cute tribute to her baby and commented on the extra attention she gets in New York, since babies are more rare, than say, Utah. I was thinking about this, and also the sad phenomenon that white babies (especially with blonde hair and blue eyes like little Sonja) get more attention here, especially in our neighborhood, because of their rarity.

When I was waiting for hours at the Medicaid clinic, Scott and Sonja came to visit after about five hours to bring me a bagel. She came in and although there were several other children in the room, the response was very different to her. The entire room reacted. There were gasps, oohs and aahs and compliments in English and Spanish. I felt that first reaction of pride as a mother ("yep, my baby is adorable"), but then immediately after came embarrassment and almost shame. There were a lot of cute babies there, but they got no attention, presumably because they didn't stand out.

Rarity (or perceived rarity) does create attention and desire (eg, diamonds - ooh, sparkly and shiny - I must have one). I saw this in Argentina too. Anyone with lighter hair or eyes got all the attention (and jobs), even if they were uglier (buck teeth, big nose, it didn't matter). I personally used to resent blondes, mostly that so many attractive brunettes felt they had to dye their hair blonde (sometimes with nasty results). I even dated a guy who admitted that blondes attracted more attention for him. You can probably guess how long that lasted. Then there was Scott who LOOOVED brunettes. He showed me his teenage journal where he describes his perfect woman as having dark hair. That relationship worked out a little better. Of course, I don't resent my child for having blonde hair and blue eyes. She has her father's coloring, which I obviously fell for.

Anyway, I guess my point is that dark-complexioned babies are just as cute and the lack of attention they get only reinforces for them the attitude that they "aren't as good," which I can't bear. No child should feel inferior like that.

Christmas Chapter Two: The Orem

2008-01-26T20:47:00.000-05:00

Well, part 2 is a little late in coming, mainly because my Part 1 entry was so amazing, I didn't want to try to top it.

After Christmas, we headed to Ellen's family's place in Orem to have Christmas II and for general merriment. Our first night we got there, we opened many copious presents, mainly so Sonja could have something to play in:

The dress being opened behind her was a classic German dress, given by Ellen's very German grandmother. We immediately stopped Sonja from enjoying herself in the box so she could model it for us. Then we ordered her to dance, so we could have a cute picture.

My brother-in-law Ryan received the gift of his dreams: onsie pajamas. Unfortunately, no convenience flap in the lower rear area, but still amazingly comfortable... or so I heard...

****

After that crazy night, we settled into some vacation-like contentment and Sonja discovered the Wii with her cousin Ethan.

Right here she's saying, hey - do you want to play? I've already beat this one.

Because my grandparents H live in Salt Lake, we went and visited them on New Years Day with my sister and her husband. Sonja sensed some boredom early on and tried to entertain us, first with the truffle shuffle...

And acting like a chicken...

But she got bored eventually and then all she wanted to do was play poker and eat Andes mints.

We also tried to take a picture with my grandpa, but Sonja just wanted to watch the bowl games (she really wanted to see USC get beat by Illinois, but I kept telling her they didn't have a chance - look who's right now! Huh?)

****

Later that week, we took a trip (with Ellen's sister Audrey) to BYU to check out the new large and spacious buildings and inhale some nostalgia. Since I had been there, they replaced the SFLC with this large snowy courtyard and a building around it. (click for zoomage)

Just standing next to these trees in the Alumni House (working title: "Alumni R Awesome Building") fulfills my Christmas tree need for the next 5-6 years.

****

When we got home from that, we saw Sonja doing this. I'm still not sure what it was all about. A Jello mold helmet of some sort.

And then later, when I asked her if she was ready to go back to our apartment in New York, she gave me my most favorite face of all:

Brains are funny things

2008-01-15T23:19:00.000-05:00

I've never told anyone this, but every time I blow dry my hair, I think of the movie Breakdown with Kurt Russell. I saw this movie when I was about 19. Can anyone tell me why I have done this for 10 years? I don't remember a blow drying scene in that movie. The only thing I can think of is the wife in Breakdown is the same as in Apollo 13, where she loses her ring down the shower drain. Maybe I used to think about losing my ring down the shower, then thought about the actress and that she was in Breakdown (by this time, of course, I am blow drying my hair). Then I must have lost thinking about losing my ring but kept the Breakdown part.
I'm glad I shared.

Girly and Nerdy Post

2008-01-14T23:27:00.000-05:00

Be warned, this is an extremely girly post. Scott has nothing to do with it, even though it is also quite nerdy. So, I've been waiting to blog about this for three months because I decided to give it out for Christmas presents. Anyway, in October I saw the best BBC production since Pride and Prejudice, and in my controversial opinion, better than that. It's called North and South (I'm too lazy to italicize titles.) Not the Civil War drama. It's based on a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell (I have the book, but haven't read it yet - I want to savor it). The production is almost Bronte-like in terms of emotional impact, without being melodramatic. Also slightly Dickensian in terms of social conscience without all the drunks having pointless conversations that he likes to throw in (and that I like to fast forward). The male character, unlike in Austen novels, is fully explored and very dynamic. It's set in the 1860s, when hairstyles and clothes were much more attractive than during Austen's time, thank goodness. And as any good BBC production should, it has a very attractive, brooding male lead with an amazingly sexy voice (trained in acting by the RSC - he's dang good). And it has the best ending scene - no disappointingly stilted conversation or cheesy anticlimactic overkill that drags forever. The acting, pacing, and restraint shown in this production should be a model for all future productions.
In summary, all I can say is if you do not watch this, your life will not be as full.
But don't take my word for it:

My sister Audrey, "Umm, I already watched it three times." (in 4 days - it's 4 hours long)
My friend Kristy, "The chemistry those 2 had was incredible...This movie really gives pride and prejudice some fierce competition."

Thanks ladies for your input, and to the rest of you, you are welcome. If I am to be ostracized for my gushy girly nerdiness, it was still worth it.

PS - I bought three online for presents and tried to buy one for myself after Christmas but it blocked me from buying any more, saying I had purchased my limit. Either Amazon is running out, or it is staging an intervention for me. Hey, my money is as good as anyone else's!

Such Great Ideas

2008-01-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

I usually never post random links or whatever, but I read this and just had to put it up. It's so awesome. And to think it happened in my town!

Men wheel out corpse in bid to cash check

Christmas Vacay: Chapter Boise

2008-01-06T17:48:00.000-05:00

So as many people know, we did the dual in-law visits this year again for the Holidays. First, Boise (Scott's), then Orem (Ellen's).

We tried to pack light but ended up packing pretty much everything, including Sonja:

The trip was a time of much discovery for Sonja, not only my parents' new house and people she hasn't seen for a long time, but she discovered the ancient game of peek-a-boo.

She will play peek-a-boo with anything she finds, including (as you see) airline safety instructions, blankets, her coat, and her fingers if necessary.

We saw her second cousin Hannah (my cousin Ryan's daughter), and Sonja taught her how to eat cheese and ham.

We had a fun Christmas party where my mom made an extreme amount of food:

This included food prep by Sonja and her cousin Cody.

Hugs were attempted (mostly unsuccessful):

Of course, with everyone there, we had to pose for a tender family picture.

Because Micah and Marissa had to leave for Real Christmas with his family, we had Pre-Christmas where we opened all their presents.
Here's me styling with my new thermal sweatshirt thing and some hot scrub pants.

Then we had Real Christmas. Most people were pretty excited about their presents, including Sonja, who received some magnetic blocks for the fridge.

She did a dance afterwards with some bows. Cody provided the refreshments.

Afterwards, we were all kind of in a gambling mood, so we decided to pit the toddlers together in a UFC-style no-holds-bared match. Cody turned out to have some moves and quickly ended the match in an arm lock, after which Sonja tapped out quickly.

We left a couple days after Christmas to ... Orem! There will be plenty more on that later.

You can look at the whole set of pictures on our Flickr site (yes, there is so much more).

And P.S., no I don't like or use the word "vacay," I just really liked Stranger Than Fiction, and the word kept popping into my mind, so I had to include it.

Lip Service

2007-12-14T20:20:00.000-05:00

Here is my plea to all my female (and maybe some male) friends, family, and acquaintances. Please, please do not get collagen injected in your lips. Ever, ever, ever. I am not anti-plastic surgery. If you need a little tweak here and there, far be it from me to judge. But lip work is always noticeable and never attractive. So many stars seem to think they have subtlely dropped ten years, when actually, those big lips automatically age you. I am watching CSI season 7 on DVD with Scott, and Marg Helgenberger's lips are completely lopsided. I can't focus on anything else (hence the post). And yet EVERYONE continues to do it!
Anyway, I found this link that shows the horrors. If you want fuller looking lips, put on a light lip gloss!
http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com/archives/cat_bad_collagen_in_lips.html

Samuel Beckett should have written a play about the postal service

2007-12-14T02:52:00.000-05:00

I have finally figured out how the US postal service works, at least in my area. I have had sooo many problems trying to get packages from them that they just don't want to relinquish. Going down to the local office you find huge lines with one person showing up for a minute, then disappearing for 15 to look for a package, talk on the phone, order pizza, who knows. Anyway, I have finally found a consistent pattern (not joking, this has happened exactly the same way multiple times).
1. I receive a "Sorry we missed you" slip in my mailbox. That's funny, I've been home ALL day waiting for the package. How about more like "Sorry I'm too lazy to do my job" (hahahaha.....haha, sigh)
2. I get online and request redelivery of the package for the next day and receive a confirmation number.
3. I wait at home all day and it does not come.
4. I call the local post office to inquire whether everyone was sick and unable to deliver the package. After asking what I wanted twice and being on hold for 15 minutes total, they inform me they can't help me and I must call the 1-800 number. Click. It apparently took them 15 minutes of diligently looking to find the number for me.
5. I call the 1-800 number and tell them what happened. They don't care, but take down my request to have the package redelivered for the next day.
6. I wait at home all day in naive expectation and it does not come. I have become a character in an absurdist play. (What is life but periods of pointless waiting?) Or that Seinfeld where they wait the entire episode for a table and never get it. Either/or.
7. Internal debate ensues over whether or not I should go down to the post office the next day to pick up the huge package and balance it on top of the stroller hoping it doesn't cave in on my sweetie, thus risking it being delivered while I'm gone trying to retrieve it.
8. The next day I am so fraught with indecision that I do nothing and lie down with a headache.
9. Once I have been beaten into submission and the will to live sucked out of me, I get a knock on the door. A friendly delivery man gives me my package, my energy to ask him any questions about how their system works having been crushed by existential despair. The postal service has now achieved its real goal.
10. And that's how the postal service works.

My New Favorite Comic

2007-12-12T13:27:00.000-05:00

So my friend Dave from my med school class added me on Facebook yesterday and of course I did what you always should do when you make a new Facebook friend - check out all their pictures and links to websites you had no idea they had.

So, Dave, by inadvertently adding me as a friend, introduced me to his blog, which introduced me to a webcomic called xkcd. Marketing majors, take careful note: this is how it happens. Anyway, xkcd is so randomly hilarious, I seriously loved every strip. But, I will mention, that it's not for everyone. It uses a lot of weird random humor, in a combination with a lot of nerdy topics, which both suit me perfectly, as most of you already know.

Here is one of my favorites (less nerdy than the average, click to make it bigger):

And another (about as nerdy as it gets):

In related news, I started another blog. This one is more about my random thoughts and stuff, and is anonymous, so I can feel more free to say things about stuff that happens to me without someone blogging my name and then saying, "So he thinks my company stinks like dog pee? Well, I'm never hiring him!" Also, I can be more random and basically talk about stuff that doesn't belong here on this more pictures-and-videos-of-Sonja-family-oriented blog. Obviously permanently linking from here would remove the anonymity, so I'll provide the link, but I'm taking it down after a couple days. Email me at malenien (my gmail) if you want the link after it is down.

Feel free to add it to your RSS feeds, or to the links on your own blog, just don't add my name to the link. Thanks. More of my favorite xkcd comics are there.

The link is gone.

Cooperstown III

2007-11-18T21:58:00.000-05:00

Well, Ellen really wanted to go up to Cooperstown again, but given the price and inconvenience of my schedule, there wasn't really an opportunity to head up for a week in October like we did last year.

But... the hospital up there (Bassett) has a really nice transition year program for which I received an invitation to interview. A transition year is a one-year program for students right after they finish medical school, and it kind of combines internal medicine with surgery with electives; basically it's cushier than a regular internship, but still counts in the sense that radiology programs will hire me as a resident after the transition year - you don't HAVE to do an internship.

The interview up there was really nice - it was my first interview and I think it pretty much ruined the rest for me. They put you up in a bed and breakfast and give you like $30 each for dinner the night before. Plus, when they found out I was married, they also gave Ellen $30 too and got me a queen bed.

It really made us reflect on how Sonja has grown in the past year (faithful readers will remember that we took her up to Cooperstown when she was 2 weeks old last year).

Here is a comparison picture from the same place, Fly Creek Cider Mill - one last year and one this year. See if you can spot the difference.

Because we were only there for one night, there wasn't a big opportunity to take pictures of lots of pretty leaves and stuff, but we did spend some time in the back of Fly Creek, checking out the ducks.

The bed & breakfast, The Inn at Cooperstown, was very cool. I realize that it probably is the first of its kind that I have been to. It kind of carries on the tradition of the medieval inn, you know, where it's basically just like somebody's house with a lot of rooms in it. They even had like a family room with board games and stuff. We also found out that Sonja loves climbing stairs and went up like 3 flights as fast as she could. Descending? Not so much - couldn't really figure that out too well. Here are some shots from our hotel room.

Anything is fair game to go in the mouth, obviously.

I don't think I have talked about how much she loves bananas. That's its own separate post.

Nice shot from on Mommy's shoulder.

The car ride to Cooperstown is about 4 hours by car from our apartment. She did pretty well for the 8 hours total, but did require quite a bit of stimulation from us in the form of books, cups, blocks, and crackers (or, as she says, "Caca?"). Here she is during one of her more serene moments with her favorite stuffed animal, Lambie (she always gives a huge smile when it is first handed to her).

Ladybug Ball

2007-10-30T20:56:00.001-04:00

Wow, it has been a long time since the last blog. Here are pics from the ward Halloween party. Sonja receives the lion's share of the family's primping time and energy, so there was no time for me or Scott to dress up.

She was really into walking around that night and also snagged a bag of Skittles from a mystery source, which made her daddy very happy. He swears he didn't put her up to it.

Scott's Birthday

2007-10-10T23:21:00.000-04:00

So Scott's birthday was Sunday and we had a little party, combined with Sonja's b-day, since hers is three days before Daddy's. Pictures are below, but I wanted to list some of my favorite Scottie characteristics (fuller dedication to come at a later date):

1. Loves fruit flavors and makes fruit drinks of all kinds, including Jamba Juice.
2. Never refuses my subtle hints to make me food and is a very good cook (sushi, Italian, Middle Eastern, etc).
3. Generally is a very happy person with a positive outlook - perfect to counteract my drama.
4. Never "doesn't want to talk." He always wants to talk.
5. Is incredibly smart and clear headed, even when tired.
6. Loves children and is the one to push Sonja to do new things (eat with a spoon, hold her own bottle), unlike me, the coddler.
7. Loves learning anything and everything - new languages, new typing systems.
8. Regarding #7, he doesn't type using the normal keyboard layout. He uses the Dvorak layout, which lessens strain on the wrist (you can switch systems in Windows). Since most keyboards are labeled the standard way, he has to memorize the new layout. He types around 60 wpm that way.
9. Is a geek at heart who loves anime, geeky board games, and LOTR. He has yet to fall prey to Star Trek or Harry Potter, but I'm working on it.
10. Gives me really good gifts, better than I would think of for myself - not good as in expensive, but as in things I actually use and enjoy.

Here is Scott getting Mahjongg:

Jeff and Caitlin feigning enjoyment:

General merriment:

Sonja warily opening a present. Who are these people? Also, Julia's and Christina's awesome pedicures:

Scott makes pot stickers:

Addendum: The timing of the party was good, because just as everyone went home, our bathroom started raining brown liquid, and our cold water (including toilet) was subsequently turned off for the better part of three days. It just got fixed at 5:00 Wednesday, thank goodness, as my mother and brother are arriving this evening and staying until Monday. I told the super Tuesday that they were coming and that if the bathroom wasn't fixed, I thought it was reasonable to expect to use his bathroom downstairs. I don't know if that made a difference, but it was fixed the next day. So we had a few hours to clean up the brown lake, wash the shower curtains and rug, and generally clean.

More New York-y things

2007-10-07T13:09:00.000-04:00

This post is very outdated, having happened the day after we went to the Bronx Zoo - see a couple posts before. As the second half of our 5th anniversary week celebration, we decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, go to Grimaldi's (a pizza place in Brooklyn that was reputed to be really good), and then grab ice cream at the eponomous Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, just up the street. This is called the Brooklyn Bridge Trifecta. Well, at least I call it that. Anyway, it is a very popular group of activities that we have always wanted to try.

So, on August 30, we grabbed our friends, the Smiths, and started downtown at Chambers St., walking across the bridge from the entrance there.

Ayden went about 100 feet before an alternate mode of transportation was necessary.

Looking back at Manhattan for the last time (well, until later that night).

A long shot of the bridge supports. See if you can find Ellen! (ok, not too hard)

Right after we fed her some bitter beer.

We stopped for a quick family shot, looking back at the city.

Getting to Grimaldi's wasn't too hard, and we only had to wait about 15 minutes (there were seats, but not a place for our needs at the time, i.e. 3 high chairs). Also, we got there at about 5:45. Wait until 7pm or so, and it looks like the line to buy U2 tickets or something. See, Grimaldi's has a reputation for having awesome, authentic pizza, which explains the lines. They use a coal-fired oven that gets up to like 800-900 degrees. These kinds of ovens are illegal on the island of Manhattan, because I don't know, it might start fires and maybe also it's illegal to have really good pizza on the island. I actually didn't take any pictures inside the restaurant, but I did take a video or two.

We got pepperoni and olive pizza, and it was true to its reputation - super good. Ellen, who usually doesn't like pepperoni, loved this fresh crispy kind and devoured it. And the olives were like real Mediterranean olives - you know, like the ones you get on a Greek salad or something. Everything was really fresh and tasted like they just made it.

We then headed down the street to grab some ice cream at the aforementioned Brooklyn Ice Cream factory on the pier. I had heard that the ice cream tasted fresh, and their vanilla ruled. Also, that everyone working there acts like they hate their lives. I found all this to be true.

Chocolate chip, strawberry, and chocolate. A symbol of the compromises one makes in a marriage.

Sonja practicing walking. This was before she could walk on her own, the subject of the last post. Yes, I realize reading this blog feels like watching Memento.

Sonja excited that the camera is out again.

A composite of about 3 shots at dusk, stitched together.

After some fun time at the pier, we left to the foot of the bridge. We were tired, but in the end voted to cross the bridge again rather than take the subway from Brooklyn. We were crazy. I stopped and took some pictures on the way across.

This is also a composite of 3 shots, but at different exposures, added together. You can see the South Street Seaport in the lower right.

I then turned my camera the other way and did the same thing. This is the Manhattan Bridge.

Well, that's pretty much it. We made it across, went home, and slept like loser married people. Fun times all around.

Oh, plus I should mention it's my birthday today. More (but not much) on that later.

No Strings Attached

2007-10-01T00:05:00.001-04:00

This post is a little bit late, as this video is about a week or so old, so – sorry about that. It's a good one though, although a little bit long – you can fast forward to the end where the view changes a little, otherwise it's all pretty much the same. I won't ruin the surprise for you, but you won't have to wait long.

In other news, I have added hundreds more pictures to Flickr, spanning the months of June to September. The link, as always, is here.

That's Entertainment?

2007-09-19T22:03:00.000-04:00

I could blog about the jackhammers that were used right outside our apartment from midnight to 4 am last week. I could blog about how I love Charlie Rose interviews. But no, I feel a little more shallow than that tonight. When I have a second to think about Hollywood, one of the thoughts that flashes through my brain is this: Okay, I realize that sometimes Hollywood has to borrow ideas from the past (because they just HAVE to produce hundreds of movies a year to fill the devastating movie shortage plaguing the planet), so they run out of novel concepts. But why do they copy ideas from each other and release them all at once? Maybe people read a script, reject it, but then think, "Hey, that meteor hitting the earth is still a good idea. Let's make a movie about it and call it Deep Impact." Meanwhile, the script they rejected gets picked up by another studio and made as Armageddon.

There were the magicians (The Prestige and The Illusionist), the Capote movies, the year of Jane Austen (okay, that was a good year). Currently there is a name that is being used a lot (maybe because some studio exec named his son this). There is I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Good Luck, Chuck (with Jessica Alba), and now this TV show called Chuck, all in one year. I only know one person named Chuck, and that is Chuck Norris. And Chuck E. Cheese. Also, Peppermint Patty called Charlie Brown "Chuck," but that's it. I sincerely doubt there are that many naturally occurring "Chucks" in real life.

The 5A Post Aminal Meal

2007-09-08T10:11:00.000-04:00

So, since I mentioned that the zoo was part of our 5th anniversary celebration, you would be justified in recoiling in horror if I told you that we didn't go out for dinner for our anniversary.

Save your recoils. We went. People that went to Jeff's wedding will recognize where we had dinner. It's a place called Landmarc, a French restaurant for poor people. Meaning they have entrees under $50 a plate. Pretty good, especially for the Time Warner Center, which has such restaurants as Per Se and some other jillion dollar a plate places.

Well, we dropped the child off at our friends' house and went out on the town. Soooo good. I had this lobster risotto and Ellen had a skirt steak with Argentinian chimichurri sauce on it. And we talked about how significant being married for 5 years is. For example, did you know that 5 is the number of fingers you have on your hand? There are 5 letters in both of our names? You can drift into an American port on a floating door from your capsized freighter and then vote for the president in 5 years?

Pretty cool stuff. Sorry about the lack of pictures. Here's an appetizer we got, called warm goat cheese profiteroles:

The Aminals

2007-09-01T00:13:00.000-04:00

In the ultimate expression of procrastination on my part, I have decided (with Ellen) to finally visit some sites around the city in what will probably be our last year in New York (reminder: we have been here 4 years as of this month).

On Wednesday was our Fifth Anniversary (observed). Our real 5A was last Thursday, but I was in Palo Alto, so celebrating together was somewhat difficult. Having never been to the Bronx Zoo, some place I have always wanted to go, because I heard it was 1. big, 2. free on Wednesdays, we decided to head there. I wouldn't say I really love zoos so much, but I really think animals are awesome. And the Bronx Zoo is a place where animals like to hang out, conveniently for my viewing pleasure.

It was a fun (long) ride on the 1 and 2 trains (next time we're taking the bus that goes directly there!)

The first thing we saw were the monkeys in Jungle World (silver leaf langurs). They had just had a baby, and were fighting over it. It was really hot and steamy in there. Well, ok, not so hot, just misty.

Here is a quick video I put together in the same Jungle World, obviously. Note Sonja's classic excited grunt on seeing the video camera.

We also saw baboons, flamingos, a snake, a panther, and some antelopes. I'll let you figure out which is which.

Sonja was having so much fun that she fell asleep when we hit the lion in Africa, then woke up just in time for the red panda.

And then we got a small cheeseburger and some fries, with a small Icee in the Zoo cafeteria. Price: $12.00. I'm not kidding.

I figured there needed to be some proof that it was the Bronx Zoo that we visited, and not Africa or something. So, I took this picture. Note: there is no evidence that I was ever there.

Split personality

2007-08-27T23:12:00.000-04:00

Sonja is normally a very good-natured little girl. So I was very surprised that, upon returning from a trip to Utah a couple days ago, she began crying hysterically when I put her in her crib - as if she were on fire or something. Also, instead of subsiding, after about half an hour, they were more frenzied than ever. I thought this was teething at first, since she has another tooth coming in. I had studied a lot before she was born about the first 6 months of life. But I was hazy after that. When I started reading about separation anxiety yesterday, I finally recognized what was going on. I didn't realize it happened so early, or that it applied to bedtime. I thought it was more of a stranger thing. Now I can't even stand or sit next to her. She has to be sitting in my lap. About half the time, THAT isn't enough and she keeps climbing up my body until I'm holding her in my arms. Heaven forbid I have to stand up and do something, because then comes the tugging and pulling and wailing. What happened to my happy baby?

Here is an example of how she behaves (since I'm too much of a softy to take a picture of my actual baby in distress):

Obviously, Sonja has not planned ahead for this need to be held, as she has eaten enough to make her a very chunky little monkey. It becomes exhausting quickly. Note to babies - your weight and the time you get held in mommy's arms are inversely proportional. I guess we don't want them weight conscious too early, so never mind. I love that she thinks I can solve all her problems by simply holding her. I'm pretty cool to her right now, so I better enjoy it while I can. She wants to eat what I eat, see what I see, and do what I do. I love my chunky monkey!

San Francisco Treating

2007-08-19T16:49:00.000-04:00

There are many of you out there that have heard that I am in the Bay Area of California, and have been here since August 1st. For those of you who haven't heard, I am in the Bay Area (of California), and have been here since August 1st. I am, sadly, all alone, and don't have a car. That's all right though, since I didn't come out here to party. I came to check out the Stanford University radiology program, and see if I like them, and if they like me. I will fly back to New York on the 25th. Sorry. I know you have all missed me.

So far, it's been pretty cool. Everyone here is really nice, and there's very little formality with even the senior doctors, i.e. a lot of first-name basis action going on. The attending doctors also are very accommodating to the students rotating through, and like to teach and make sure we understand what the heck they're looking at. Columbia is very good at teaching, too - there are one or two radiologists in each area (chest, abdomen, musculoskeletal, etc) that are just great at helping students learn. So, I'm feeling better and better about this specialty. Sorry surgery people, but dealing with (the majority, not all) of your personalities is something I am happy choosing on a strictly limited basis.

So, it's looking good for radiology.

On another note, last Saturday, I had the opportunity for a little quid pro quo with the couple for which I am house-sitting. She had worked in the Oakland Temple Pageant this year and part of their job as volunteers in this massive thing is to take home a bunch of laundry (the costumes) and wash it all in their machines. So, since she was going to be out of town on the 11th, when the costumes were supposed to be returned, she told me that if I used her car to drive the costumes up to the Oakland Temple, that I could use the car for the rest of the day, to check out San Francisco and all that fun stuff. So I took her up on her offer.

These two pictures are to prove to you that I actually went, and didn't just use stock photography of the Oakland Temple.

I then headed over across the Bay Bridge and decided to go explore San Francisco. Now, I didn't really know where I was going. All I knew was that the Golden Gate Bridge was up in the Northwest, and I needed to take the 101 to get home. Getting to the temple is a little complicated, so I had properly Google Mapped that trip, but the rest was randomness. I drove around until I saw something that looked cool: Fisherman's Wharf. I parked and checked that out.

This is a submarine used in WWII. It remains parked in the wharf. You could actually go inside and check it out. Price: something like $15. Nope. Looks plenty good from the outside, thanks. It's called the Pampanino. Part of the USS Navy's Affirmative Action submarine series.

This was a huge warehouse with all these old school World's Fair arcade-style games in it. Some of them date from around the beginning of the 1900s. They all cost 25 cents, probably not their original price when they were built, since 25 cents in 1915 was something like $400 in today's money. Note the scale model of Harry's Hash House on the bottom picture. You may be wondering, "Is that what I think it is?" It is.

I wandered around on the pier over by Golden Gate National Park, and found a lot of cool boats. Here is a large wooden boat. Before we got our motorboat when I was little, that was what our boat looked like. It was hard climbing all the way up the mast and securing the riggings when I was only 6, but it built a lot of character.

I also tried to take a picture from the pier that had not only the words "San Francisco" in it, but also the Transamerica Building.

This guy is a quadriplegic and paints pictures holding the brush in his mouth. Pretty cool.

This guy paints himself white and stands like a statue. It was hard not to give him money. Ok, not really.

Since I had to pay $2 per half-hour for parking, but up to 3 hours was free if you were validated, I went to a restaurant, Fisherman's Grotto No. 9 for some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Mmmmm. Touristy delicious.

This is obviously not a picture of the bread bowl with soup, but the basket of sourdough bread that I got prior to the soup. I was too hungry to remember I had a camera once they brought the chowder.

So, then I got in my car and somehow made it to highway 101 and somehow made it back to where I was staying.

Then, I went to see the Bourne Ultimatum. It ruled, as expected.

Okay, okay

2007-07-29T02:01:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the lack of posts. Thanks to Christina for calling me on it. A true friend tells you when things have gone too far.
Anyway she "tagged" me to answer these questions. I wasn't sure and had to confirm with her verbally that I was supposed to answer these questions. I'm definitely not hip to the jive.

Jobs I have had:

1. Order processor (worked at call center) at Nu Skin (no outbound calls, thank goodness!)
2. Editorial assistant at FARMS (at BYU, now called something else)
3. Freelance copyeditor at LDS fiction publisher
4. Editorial assistant up to Associate Managing Editor at medical communications company, now freelance
5. Web writer for my dad's business
6. Writing Fellow at BYU

Movies I can watch over and over:

1. Laura
2. A Room with a View
3. The Big Sleep
4. Pride and Prejudice (either Colin Firth or Keira Knightley version)
5. The Scarlet Pimpernel (with Jane Seymour and Anthony Andrews)
6. Stalag 17

Places I have lived:

1. San Diego
2. Los Angeles
3. Mesa, AZ (2 different houses)
4. Glendale, AZ
5. Peoria, AZ
6. Orem and Provo, UT
7. Argentina - various cities
8. NYC

TV Shows I watch:

1. Heroes
2. Anything on the Food Network
3. Curious George and Jakers (for Sonja, of course)
4. Antique Roadshow (occasionally)
5. Charlie Rose

Foods I like:

1. Brownies
2. Cupcakes
3. Ice cream
4. Salmon
5. Sushi
6. Italian, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Argentinian
7. Love trying new stuff

I'd rather be:

1. Reading
2. At the beach or pool
3. Reading at the beach or pool
4. In Italy, Hawaii, or Santa Barbara

Websites I visit daily:

1. My email
2. news.google.com - news gets sifted to me from all over the world!
3. Friends blogs, though not all on the same day necessarily

I'm going to add one:
Places I want to travel in order of priority:
1. Japan
2. Spain
3. Argentina (again)
4. Dubai, UAE (again)
5. Australia/New Zealand
6. Everywhere else!

Clap Clap Clap ...

2007-07-01T21:39:00.000-04:00

Well, in another major milestone, Sonja has finally learned to clap. You can have your talking and walking - for me this is the big one. It shows her appreciation of fine performance art. Also, you may notice some serious table/high chair banging. This is how she shows her appreciation for the high quality food that she was just fed.

Please ignore the man with the embarrassing falsetto in the background.

Mmmm... yummy oil

2007-06-22T10:55:00.000-04:00

Generally, when I read an article in a magazine, or a newspaper, that's it. I note it for its humor, or its interestingness, or lack thereof, and I never look at it again. But there are those rare few that I love to read over and over - well, at least every six months or so.

"The Oil We Eat" by Richard Manning is one of those. It originally appeared in Harper's magazine in February 2004, and it really resonated with me. I recently read it again, and this time I decided to share it with you:

The secret of great wealth with no obvious source is some forgotten crime, forgotten because it was done neatly. —Balzac

The journalist's rule says: follow the money. This rule, however, is not really axiomatic but derivative, in that money, as even our vice president will tell you, is really a way of tracking energy. We'll follow the energy.

We learn as children that there is no free lunch, that you don't get something from nothing, that what goes up must come down, and so on. The scientific version of these verities is only slightly more complex. As James Prescott Joule discovered in the nineteenth century, there is only so much energy. You can change it from motion to heat, from heat to light, but there will never be more of it and there will never be less of it. The conservation of energy is not an option, it is a fact. This is the first law of thermodynamics.

Special as we humans are, we get no exemptions from the rules. The rest here...

Dvorak Madness

2007-06-16T21:35:00.000-04:00

So I have started learning a new language. Ok, no not really, but it feels like it. After reading an article from my Wikihow RSS Feed about how to switch to a Dvorak keyboard layout, I decided to give it a try.

For those of you who aren't aware, the common keyboard layout currently used everywhere in the U.S., the QWERTY layout, was invented in the 1860s by a guy named Christopher Sholes, who also invented the typewriter. Now, Sholes was a smart guy; when he played around with his invention, he noticed that it always jammed when he would type too fast. So, he came up with a layout that would slow down anyone who used it. Hence, QWERTY. Yes, the keyboard that we all use was designed to be as slow as possible.

In the 1930s, when typewriters were much better and hardly ever jammed, a man named August Dvorak thought it would be better if the keyboard was designed to be as fast as possible. Here's what he came up with:

All the vowels are on one side and all the most common consonants are on the other, on the home row, the place where you normally rest your hands most often. So you don't move your hands as much and you alternate hands more, which can make it a lot faster. A and M are the only ones in the same place.

I decided to switch to the new keyboard layout for three reasons:

I thought that the idea of a keyboard designed to slow me down was lame.
I never really learned to type the proper, Mavis Beacon way, where you don't look at the keyboard. I had a habit of being inefficient by liking the left shift more than the right, so I would reach over and hit, say, the T with my right hand.
The fastest typists in the world use Dvorak.

With this new layout, of course you can't look at the keys unless you want to rip them all out and replace them. No thanks. I just had to kind of remember where they were.

I started like 3 weeks ago and I've almost gotten to the same speed as before, but I make a few more mistakes, like messing up the vowels, and sometimes it's so fast that I CApitalize the first two letters of sentences more. It has been kind of like learning a new language, although not that hard, and a lot faster. It is interesting to feel the same feelings of getting comfortable with something that was just recently super weird.

Well anyway, I can definitely type the word "the" a lot faster now. At least there's that.

This article written completely in the Dvorak keyboard layout.