Friday, July 29, 2011
A nice editorial piece on medicine.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/why-would-anyone-choose-to-become-a-doctor/?src=me&ref=health
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Love that Finny B.
The final countdown is still going on. I'm feeling more and more excited and increasingly more anxious for school to start. I'm feeling better about Fintan's childcare situation but overall it's definitely bittersweet for my days at home with him to be coming to a close. I find some days are better than others: some are filled with tears and others are filled with my strong mind and willful thoughts. Jeff and I are gearing up too. He, as always, is such an amazing support for me. Keeps me so ground and strong. I couldn't be embarking on this journey without him. Or, I should say, I wouldn't want to. I'm so glad he and Fintan will have August together too...Jeff and I couldn't love each other any more nor love a child any more. Lots of love going on in this household.
I spoke with a med student/mom the other night (she just finished her first year) and she told me she cried almost everyday for the first month. Oy. I remember a friend of mine in Atlanta told me that feeling guilty just comes with the territory as a working mom so just know you're going to feel that way move on. I imagine I'll be somewhere in between those two...
Yay! We've been setting up Fintan's play room for a little while now and received the final piece to the puzzle today-an awesome rug! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Dahl! Fin loves the colors and playing with his toys on it already :) It's perfect.
Fintan pushing his toy truck around
Smiling and telling daddy about his new rug.
One of Fintan's favorite things is to crawl over to the mail slot, stand up, and open and close it repeatedly. Every once in awhile he puts his hand/arm into the slot but mostly he LOVES standing there and opening and closing it. Pretty cute to watch :)
Open. Close. Open. Close. Open. Close. Open. Close.
Arm in slot
Fintan has been hit or miss on eating solids this week (could it be bc his teeth are bothering him so much?). Anyway, he really got into the blueberry/purple carrot combo the other day...I mean, really got into it! It was everywhere! What an angel face.
I spoke with a med student/mom the other night (she just finished her first year) and she told me she cried almost everyday for the first month. Oy. I remember a friend of mine in Atlanta told me that feeling guilty just comes with the territory as a working mom so just know you're going to feel that way move on. I imagine I'll be somewhere in between those two...
Yay! We've been setting up Fintan's play room for a little while now and received the final piece to the puzzle today-an awesome rug! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Dahl! Fin loves the colors and playing with his toys on it already :) It's perfect.
Fintan pushing his toy truck around
Smiling and telling daddy about his new rug.
One of Fintan's favorite things is to crawl over to the mail slot, stand up, and open and close it repeatedly. Every once in awhile he puts his hand/arm into the slot but mostly he LOVES standing there and opening and closing it. Pretty cute to watch :)
Open. Close. Open. Close. Open. Close. Open. Close.
Arm in slot
Fintan has been hit or miss on eating solids this week (could it be bc his teeth are bothering him so much?). Anyway, he really got into the blueberry/purple carrot combo the other day...I mean, really got into it! It was everywhere! What an angel face.
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Final Countdown!
Well, well, let's see...we've been a bit busy to update this here blog. We're in the final week of relaxing before school begins. I'm trying to stay grounded and 'in the moment,' to enjoy these last bits, but I often find my mind wandering to the future tasks at hand. Jeff and I went up north last week to spend time with my mom, aunts, and cousins, who had rented a cabin on Lake Vermillion. We had a great time and Fintan had another tooth poke through! No wonder he wasn't sleeping well. Every time it's a surprise! He has also taken to waking up at 4:30am crying and wanting to eat. We tried to let him cry it out to no avail. When we get him a bottle he CHUGS it and passes out so I guess he's going through a bit of a growth spurt. Anyway, back to the cabin, Fintan had a great time playing with his cousins and getting doted on by Nana, Great-Auntie and Uncle, and everyone else. He ate really well, played in a little pool Nana bought him, played with a new book cousin Sydney brought him, and charmed everyone :) OH, also, crawling around on the deck, the little tops of his feet became full of slivers :(! He never cried or anything so we didn't really realize it until later! Tough guy. We were able to pull a few out but the rest are superficial enough to work themselves out.
Also, last Wednesday, Fintan, Jeff, and I went to Jack and Jill Daycare for Fintan's first "transition day". That included all of us going to the center and hanging out in the "Medium Bear" room (9-13month-olds). That way Fintan would get used to the room, the people, with us there to reassure him. We stayed for about 1.5 hours and he did pretty well. The ladies that work there are great and the ratio is 4 babies to 1 caretaker. It was hectic and not a lot of 1-on-1 time or personal attention but the kids were happy overall and Fintan seemed to make some friends there. Well, during our weekend up north, the more we talked about our schedules we started to realize daycare didn't really make sense for us. My classes don't finish until 5:30pm, sometimes later, and Jeff's? Who knows. We do know that post work squash is usually the busiest of the day for lessons and the day care center closes at 6pm. We had initially planned on hiring someone two days a week to pick him up, bring him home, get him ready for bed, etc. On top of daycare, that got expensive quick. Once we realized that Jeff wouldn't even bringing Fintan into daycare until later in the day, sometimes not until 12, we were paying for something that didn't really work for our schedules. Alas, we went into overdrive to find a nanny. Posted the position on Saturday night, received a TON of replies, interviewed people today, and found a match! She's super sweet and flexible to work with our erratic schedules. What a load off! We feel great that Fintan will be able to be at home still, getting personal attention too. She's studying holistic nutrition online (not really sure what that is yet...) and has lots of experience with kids. Joanna is Fin's new buddy and I think he's almost as big as she is! HAha! We invited her over for a bbq Wednesday night so we could get to know each other better before I start school on Monday. Wish us luck!!
This week consists of more finishing touches on the house, trying to find some professional looking clothes (ugh), and enjoying every moment with Fintan and Jeff. We're getting excited though...the time that we've been working towards for a VERY long time is finally here.
Grandpa's Boy! Last weekend my dad and Deann were in MPLS for a wedding and were able to see Fintan twice in one weekend! Woot!
Grandpa teaching Fintan how to open and reach into his 'snack' can!
I love how his arm disappears reaching into the Puff's jar!
Matching shirts.
5:30am on the deck with Nana watching the sunrise.
Cousin Sydney showing Fintan the bears on the quilt.
Mike, Fintan, Uncle Rod, Becky, Syd the Kid, and Auntie Mary
Playing on the deck: Pre-slivers!
Nana and Mom on an evening kayak.
Great-Grandma feeding Finny B a bottle
I know Kung Fu! That's what his t-shirt says and his face too!
Cousins: Brady, Kayden, and Fintan! They were so good with Fintan and entertained him thoroughly. It was so sweet to see them together.
Playing with the same toys Mommy played with when she was a baby at Great-grandma's!
Eating kiwi, laughing at Daddy.
On a walk around Silver Lake looking at some sculptures.
Also, last Wednesday, Fintan, Jeff, and I went to Jack and Jill Daycare for Fintan's first "transition day". That included all of us going to the center and hanging out in the "Medium Bear" room (9-13month-olds). That way Fintan would get used to the room, the people, with us there to reassure him. We stayed for about 1.5 hours and he did pretty well. The ladies that work there are great and the ratio is 4 babies to 1 caretaker. It was hectic and not a lot of 1-on-1 time or personal attention but the kids were happy overall and Fintan seemed to make some friends there. Well, during our weekend up north, the more we talked about our schedules we started to realize daycare didn't really make sense for us. My classes don't finish until 5:30pm, sometimes later, and Jeff's? Who knows. We do know that post work squash is usually the busiest of the day for lessons and the day care center closes at 6pm. We had initially planned on hiring someone two days a week to pick him up, bring him home, get him ready for bed, etc. On top of daycare, that got expensive quick. Once we realized that Jeff wouldn't even bringing Fintan into daycare until later in the day, sometimes not until 12, we were paying for something that didn't really work for our schedules. Alas, we went into overdrive to find a nanny. Posted the position on Saturday night, received a TON of replies, interviewed people today, and found a match! She's super sweet and flexible to work with our erratic schedules. What a load off! We feel great that Fintan will be able to be at home still, getting personal attention too. She's studying holistic nutrition online (not really sure what that is yet...) and has lots of experience with kids. Joanna is Fin's new buddy and I think he's almost as big as she is! HAha! We invited her over for a bbq Wednesday night so we could get to know each other better before I start school on Monday. Wish us luck!!
This week consists of more finishing touches on the house, trying to find some professional looking clothes (ugh), and enjoying every moment with Fintan and Jeff. We're getting excited though...the time that we've been working towards for a VERY long time is finally here.
Grandpa's Boy! Last weekend my dad and Deann were in MPLS for a wedding and were able to see Fintan twice in one weekend! Woot!
Grandpa teaching Fintan how to open and reach into his 'snack' can!
I love how his arm disappears reaching into the Puff's jar!
Matching shirts.
5:30am on the deck with Nana watching the sunrise.
Cousin Sydney showing Fintan the bears on the quilt.
Mike, Fintan, Uncle Rod, Becky, Syd the Kid, and Auntie Mary
Playing on the deck: Pre-slivers!
Nana and Mom on an evening kayak.
Great-Grandma feeding Finny B a bottle
I know Kung Fu! That's what his t-shirt says and his face too!
Cousins: Brady, Kayden, and Fintan! They were so good with Fintan and entertained him thoroughly. It was so sweet to see them together.
Playing with the same toys Mommy played with when she was a baby at Great-grandma's!
Eating kiwi, laughing at Daddy.
On a walk around Silver Lake looking at some sculptures.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Fintan learning how to drink form a cup! He LOVES it and and grins every time he puts the cup down. He makes a huge mess and always spills everywhere but, like I said, he loves it and is learning so it keeps us laughing.
There's that grin I was talking about!
The owner of the club where Jeff is going to start working this Fall had us over for dinner last week. Jon has a salt water pool and we all had a dip before an amazing homemade, organic, local meal! We found a close substitute for Barbara in Atlanta! Sigh. We're lucky people. Jon's wife and two daughters are lovely and we had a great evening.
The O'Brien Family has a cat named Finnegan. So here are Fin the boy and Fin the cat!
There's that grin I was talking about!
The owner of the club where Jeff is going to start working this Fall had us over for dinner last week. Jon has a salt water pool and we all had a dip before an amazing homemade, organic, local meal! We found a close substitute for Barbara in Atlanta! Sigh. We're lucky people. Jon's wife and two daughters are lovely and we had a great evening.
The O'Brien Family has a cat named Finnegan. So here are Fin the boy and Fin the cat!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Happy Fourth of July!
We had a great weekend in northern MN, celebrating The Fourth of July. The weather was beautiful: warm, a bit humid, not too windy. After working so hard on our house we decided to take a little break and go relax at the cabin. It was great to get north but unfortunately Fintan couldn't find his rhythm regarding sleep. He woke up a few times each night and really early every morning. Sigh. Fintan loves his crib. Fintan did a great job meeting all of the family members. A little reserved (completely endearing) and then warmed up over time. He loved hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma Dahl and his Auntie's Haley and Kelsey. He loved his toys and even swam in the lake! The dogs were very happy to be outside all day and Diego obviously loved the water. When the evening came round though, they were none too happy about the cracking of fireworks :( Fintan really has the whole waving thing down now. Very cute.
Grandpa and his Grandson. A rare moment: Fintan sitting still!
Diego in heaven. Ran and jumped off the dock repeatedly. This is his happy place.
Fidel getting manhandled by Fintan. Incredibly tolerant.
Mom, Dad, and Fintan at the lake.
There were tons of kids around this Fourth! Fintan loved playing and watching them, especially little Joey Kotzian, Zahven Kotzian, and Delia Dahl!
Cousin Jesse with his daughter Delia and Fintan! Fin and Delia were interested in each other and Fintan always tried to steal her pacifier!
Cousins and cousins.
Grandma Dee, Auntie Haley, and Finny B on a boat ride.
The Aunties and Fintan! They certainly doted on him thoroughly and were super helpful. The help is always appreciated.
Haley is a badass cross-country skier/runner and during the summer, cross-trains by rolling skiing. The ladies went out one morning to all give it a try: it's so hard but really fun! Sort of addictive actually. We started to get the hang of it but ended up with some serious road-rash on our knees, elbows, and hips! Felt pretty tough walking around with our road wounds :)
Love this picture!
Make-shift bathtub. Fin had so much fun bathing outside.
We went for a boat ride and Fintan crashed on me. He never sleeps on us anymore so I was totally stoked :) How adorable is he in his little life jacket?!
For the past few Fourth of July's we've had a family swim to a buoy in the lake (off of McKinley Park in Tower, MN). It's about half a mile total. 12 of us made it this year and it was a blast! Some use floating devices, some go solo. Jeff and Fintan stayed at the cabin for nap-time.
Kayak trip around Duffy Island ending in a beautiful sunset with Auntie Haley, Great-Auntie Noreen, and Grandma Dee.
Kayaks and sunset.
The Aunties feeding Finny B!
Auntie Haley, Jeff, and I's annual 5K walk the morning of the Fourth. Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Kelsey took care of Fintan so we could get into town. Nice morning off-duty :)
Love small towns! Tower has a population of approximately 500 and by 8am on the Fourth of July, Main Street was completely lined with spectators chairs ready for the parade.
Great-Grandma Elsie and Great-Great-Auntie Edith with The Fourth First-timers: Delia, Fintan, and Viggo!
Practicing for the crawl race.
Fintan completed his first race on The Fourth! Jeff and I had been training Fintan for a couple weeks for the Baby Crawl. Well! When we showed up for the race it turned out that any kid under 2 could enter the race. SO there were kids that could walk and didn't even crawl but rather ran on their hands and feet. Jeff and I were PISSED-HAHAHAH! In all honesty though, after the cheaters 'won' or 'finished' the race the two legitimate babies were left at the starting line. The other baby's mom picked him up and he didn't even crawl but that little Finny B decided he wanted to finish and crawled and crossed the finish line all on his own! Jeff and I are pretty confident that he won the real crawling race. Sigh, next year he'll have the leg up and will kick all of those babies booties!
Starting Line. Fintan didn't show any signs of nerves.
This picture is HILARIOUS! See Jeff's hand motion?! He's in disbelief that Fintan is competing against these kids! HAHAhaHAAH!! The kid on the right of Fintan said he wanted to nap rather than crawl! Kids are so much fun.
Fintan is focused. Lone crawler.
Jeff proud. Fintan still focused.
Photo finish!
Grandpa and his Grandson. A rare moment: Fintan sitting still!
Diego in heaven. Ran and jumped off the dock repeatedly. This is his happy place.
Fidel getting manhandled by Fintan. Incredibly tolerant.
Mom, Dad, and Fintan at the lake.
There were tons of kids around this Fourth! Fintan loved playing and watching them, especially little Joey Kotzian, Zahven Kotzian, and Delia Dahl!
Cousin Jesse with his daughter Delia and Fintan! Fin and Delia were interested in each other and Fintan always tried to steal her pacifier!
Cousins and cousins.
Grandma Dee, Auntie Haley, and Finny B on a boat ride.
The Aunties and Fintan! They certainly doted on him thoroughly and were super helpful. The help is always appreciated.
Haley is a badass cross-country skier/runner and during the summer, cross-trains by rolling skiing. The ladies went out one morning to all give it a try: it's so hard but really fun! Sort of addictive actually. We started to get the hang of it but ended up with some serious road-rash on our knees, elbows, and hips! Felt pretty tough walking around with our road wounds :)
Love this picture!
Make-shift bathtub. Fin had so much fun bathing outside.
We went for a boat ride and Fintan crashed on me. He never sleeps on us anymore so I was totally stoked :) How adorable is he in his little life jacket?!
For the past few Fourth of July's we've had a family swim to a buoy in the lake (off of McKinley Park in Tower, MN). It's about half a mile total. 12 of us made it this year and it was a blast! Some use floating devices, some go solo. Jeff and Fintan stayed at the cabin for nap-time.
Kayak trip around Duffy Island ending in a beautiful sunset with Auntie Haley, Great-Auntie Noreen, and Grandma Dee.
Kayaks and sunset.
The Aunties feeding Finny B!
Auntie Haley, Jeff, and I's annual 5K walk the morning of the Fourth. Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Kelsey took care of Fintan so we could get into town. Nice morning off-duty :)
Love small towns! Tower has a population of approximately 500 and by 8am on the Fourth of July, Main Street was completely lined with spectators chairs ready for the parade.
Great-Grandma Elsie and Great-Great-Auntie Edith with The Fourth First-timers: Delia, Fintan, and Viggo!
Practicing for the crawl race.
Fintan completed his first race on The Fourth! Jeff and I had been training Fintan for a couple weeks for the Baby Crawl. Well! When we showed up for the race it turned out that any kid under 2 could enter the race. SO there were kids that could walk and didn't even crawl but rather ran on their hands and feet. Jeff and I were PISSED-HAHAHAH! In all honesty though, after the cheaters 'won' or 'finished' the race the two legitimate babies were left at the starting line. The other baby's mom picked him up and he didn't even crawl but that little Finny B decided he wanted to finish and crawled and crossed the finish line all on his own! Jeff and I are pretty confident that he won the real crawling race. Sigh, next year he'll have the leg up and will kick all of those babies booties!
Starting Line. Fintan didn't show any signs of nerves.
This picture is HILARIOUS! See Jeff's hand motion?! He's in disbelief that Fintan is competing against these kids! HAHAhaHAAH!! The kid on the right of Fintan said he wanted to nap rather than crawl! Kids are so much fun.
Fintan is focused. Lone crawler.
Jeff proud. Fintan still focused.
Photo finish!
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