My last nights...


Oh it feels good. I'm in the homestretch of my last month of night float as a chief resident and I can see then end.  I have just five more nights on night float. Ever.
Don't get me wrong, I do like what I do and have some amazing people that I get to work with every night (mds, rns, mas, lots of important people); the work is never (or hardly ever) boring and most of the time I get to be a part of a lot of new babies birthdays (and who can complain about that)!

However, it means that I get lots of special insomnia time over the weekend and hence, have both a few interesting articles and a few books reviews to post. It is hard to find anything productive to do at home between the hours of midnight and 0400 when I am trying not to wake my whiny dog up....

Articles:
If you haven't read my other one about the Pill, it is worth the time...

Also:
Work hours
My MO about MDs in training is simple; especially if we ever move to a nationalized health care where salaries are less. Education needs to be cheaper and less taxing. I'm not in this for the money, but it would be hard to argue that you could afford a private med school without significant changes in cost if salaries dropped significantly.

Books:

I liked this. It is a series of essays, most of them older, written by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker.  The genre is mostly what I would say social economics; sort of in the vein of Freakanomics.
Entertaining, thought provoking, and fun to read.
I found myself thinking more about everyday things and why they are the way they are; say for example ketchup or mustard :)

Yup. I read this whole thing last saturday night from 0000 to 0400. It was just about perfect for that time of night. Based loosely on the Titanic fiasco and a few key characters, it was entertaining, a bit fluffy, and kept me from being bored out of my mind.
Fancy academic literature? No. Entertaining nighttime read? Absolutely.

I had heard a lot about this book, and honestly, was a bit dissapointed. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the story and the characters didn't captivate me and I found myself rushing to finish it (this is because I hate not finishing books even if I don't like them-left over from my mom telling me that I had to at least read the first 100 pages; which, when the book isn't long basically means you read the whole thing whether you like it or not). Anyways, lukewarm from me.

I had high hopes for this one; it sounded intriguing; and although I liked the plot I found the characters to be too simple for me; not enough development for such complex decisions.
I think I felt disconnected from them and it made it hard for me to relate to their decisions and instead of identifying with them I felt myself mostly judging them for their actions; because of this I found it hard to have sympathy for their actions/outcomes.
This one is worth the time because the premise of it is unique; especially given the changes in our understanding of obstetric care; but for many people, the surprise that is felt at the birth of one of these children is still the norm (this will make sense if you read it, but if I elaborate then I will ruin it...)

Anyone have any other suggestions for me?
Going into the weekend and need at least two midnight reads....

Food for thought.

So as you may know, I am somewhat involved in women's health and such...
I care very much that women have access to birth control (be it whatever type they may prefer).

This is an interesting article about the origin of "the Pill." Namely, the creator of it and some of the medical science behind why/how it was made as well as some commentary about what women's menstrual cycles used to be like and how some of the things that have happened now have changed it.

I'm not trying to be controversial, but think it is an intriguing read, on whatever side you might come down on....

http://www.gladwell.com/2000/2000_03_10_a_rock.html

Happenings

We have been chugging along in these last few months, settling into our house, welcoming Mark's sis and husband to SLC (woohoo!) and just generally enjoying the fun that is a 2.5 year old little peanut.

K got a notepad and pencil from school and has suddenly become VERY interested in writing. It is all we can do to tear her away from her trusty pencil and her attempts at letters, shapes, and whatever else is on her mind. We had premonitions earlier on that she might be a lefty but they have been confirmed in a big way....

She has also somehow managed to totally destroy all the running shoes I buy her in no less than one month. I have no idea how to keep up with her! I even resorted to buying boys shoes in the hopes that they might be able to keep up with her, but this is how they fared:

Not much better....so I'm taking suggestions if anyone has kid-proof shoe suggestions let me know...K needs shoes that play as hard as she does :)

That's all on this front!

Freetime.

I have found some of it :) And the process have read a few books and seen a few movies (well, ok, one book and one movie). I didn't find that much...

Here are my thoughts:

book:
Heft  by Liz Moore.

This was a thought provoking book. It follows the unlikely lives of two people, one a morbidly obese housebound ex-professor; the other a high school student with big talent but lots of things to overcome.
The unique voice that the author has given each character is very touching.  I also think she did a really thoughtful job portraying the struggles of the professor and the long process he partook to end up where he was (housebound and unable to really live).
Not a super hard read, but one worth the time.

movie:
Les Mis.

Ok. So I have to caveat this by saying this is my favorite musical. Of all time. And by favorite, I mean, favorite like I have the whole two disc original London cast recording memorized. Really memorized. Including the intervening dialogue.
Needless to say, I was interested to see how this would measure up, and I was curious to see if I would make it without signing during the movie.
On the second point, I did manange not to sing, but don't judge me if I lip-synced the whole thing.
On the first point, I came out somewhere in the middle.
The story is timeless and heart-wrenching. Anyone could say the words and sing the songs and the sadness and redemtion would somehow come through; that being said, some were able to say it better than others.
Points:

1. Russell Crowe cannot sing. I found my opinion of him as an actor, and yes, a man rapidly declining as he shouted at me and ruined some of the most powerful songs in the movie.
2. The original Jean Val Jean (the bishop) should have gotten a bigger role :)
3. Marius is, alas, quite beautiful.  But his friends could sing better than he could
4. Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway did the best of the actors, in the attempting to sing arena.
5. Eponine was the original Miss Saigon, and yes she can sing.
6. See the movie; it is worth the time even if the singing isn't quite up to snuff.

And bring some tissues.
A Lot of tissues.
Like a lot. really.

Favorite Comments from K:

I know a lot of people have been doing this on their blog, and since it has been, oh a million years, since my last post I thought this would be a fun way to restart it :)
K is at SUCH a fun age. So many new thoughts, new discoveries, and the huge explosion in her vocab has been so fun. She can really talk to me!

This post will be a running post and I will add to it as new awesome phrases come up. It might be more for me, but hopefully it will entertain you too.

Me: K-how old are you?
K: two. Can I be thirty with you?
M: K what are you making in your kitchen?
K: Pumpkin pie candy.
M: What are you making now?
K: Pumpkin pie chili.
M: How about now?
K: Pumpkin pie salad.
M: What does mommy do?
K: Mommy's a doctor.
M: What does daddy do?
K: Daddy hikes.

K: Mommy- you like the potty?
M: Yeah?
K: We don't put our heads in the potty.
M: yeah.
K: Its dirty.

K: We don't eat our poop!
M: YES
K: It's dirty.

K: He snowing the blower!!
  on watching Dad snowblow...

M: Where do you work K?
K: In a tiny hospital with tiny babies.

K: Can I ride with you in the front seat when I am a big grown up?
M: yes :)

K: I'm going to work. I have my pager.

M when picking up K from daycare: Say bye to your friends.
K: Bye! Those are my work friends.

K: Are we taking the alligator up?
(confusion between "elevator" and "alligator" :)

Also, every night before K goes to bed, we say our prayers. I am going to be keeping a "best of" K prayers because they are are always changing.
I start and ask K what/who we should pray for tonight. These are some of the answers:

1. Babies
2. Chairs
3. That we don't poop in our diapers anymore
4. Always for our daycare friends Dominic and K (and Jackson) and that Jackson wouldn't be sad
5. the gym and the courtyard (play areas at school)
6. Mommy and Daddy
7. Her cousin, K, and baby P
8. Everybody
9. That momma doesn't have to go to work tonight (I was just on nights...)

These are such a sweet time and I love getting to hear what she thinks about before she goes to sleep :)

This will be a running post so keep checking back in if this is your type of entertainment...I will post a few more posts too and try to revive the defunct blog!

Hope you all are enjoying your winters!

What I'm Reading...

My sis-in-law (who is imminently due with a new baby and thus faces the challenge of a newborn + toddler...she is a stronger woman than I) recommended a new book for me to read.
It is called "Bringing up Bebe" by Pamela Druckerman (see below).

In short, it is the telling of an American journalist's perspective on French child rearing.
Also, it is awesome. Seriously.
It reminds me a lot of another one of my favorite books "A Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy." The book is an honest look at another culture's child-rearing attitudes and where it gets them. I think I like books like these because they are both informational and informative. Sort of like "babywise" meets "happiest baby on the block" meets your best friend.
As K gets older, I find parenting to be changing (no surprise) and it is becoming less about making sure she doesn't eat dog poop to more about teaching her to be a part of our family. I am constantly surprised by both what she does (and doesn't do). She is a tidy little lady who doesn't seem to mind picking up, but I am not as successful at teaching her good table skills.
One of the big things that Druckerman seems to emphasize about the difference between American and French parenting is the absence, and presence, respectively of "Waiting." I found this especially poignant as I am often responding to K whenever asked; the French, however, seem to have a big role for teaching their kids to "wait," even just for a response from Mom. Whether the "wait" is because mom is talking, eating, going the bathroom, whatever, the point is to try to teach the kiddos that although they are important, they may have to wait in line if other things are going on that are important to Mom.
Now this isn't an end-all be-all guide to parenting, I think it is a valuable perspective to add especially as K becomes older and interrupts our meals by pointing to my armpit hair and asking "What's that???"
Awesome. The joys of motherhood.
Let me know what you all think...

Shameless cuteness.

This past weekend we did K's two year photo shoot.
I am going to make it a tradition, and since this is the second year I have done it, I'd say we are well on our way.
Our friend from church Michael Friberg shot about an hour both at our house and Liberty Park and I was SO impressed. Now admittedly, he normally shoots important things like the cover for the NY Times, but he was willing to spend a bit of time with us (not quite front page news, but you know).
K loved the camera for about the first 45 minutes and kept posing-it was so funny because I have never seen her do this before!!! And then, at the end, she had had enough and just laid down on the sidewalk. So we called it a wrap.
I will try not to put too many pics, but it was just so fun and everyday I look at this little blonde pixie and wonder what on earth we did to deserve such a sweet little girl :-)
Happy almost 2 years old Baby K!!!

We love you and think you are the cutest little person around....