A is starting to develop his own look and personality now, but there still are some striking similarities to M when he was a baby. Can you tell the difference? Try pop quiz #1 too.

We got this Triple Hit Baseball toy for M's second birthday and have used it a few times already. We all enjoy this toy. Brief Review

Tags: toys, Amazon

Over the next week or two, I'm going to try and review M's favorite toys. Not just the ones he has and likes to play with, but the ones he really loves. I'll start with the LeapFrog Farm Magnetic Animal Set, available for about $13 from Amazon.com. Brief Review

Tags: Amazon, toys

It's always nice to have a long weekend, but it can be tiring to have a two-year-old toddler and a ten-week-old baby at home together for four straight days. I know it sounds wimpy, but we are definitely more tired on weekends and holidays than regular weekdays, when M goes to daycare and J goes to work. In a way, going to work is like taking a break! I do love the extra time we spend together because I know those days are numbered. A will start daycare soon and I'll be going back to the wards and clinics. This holiday weekend we spent hanging around at home for the most part (it was chilly). We went to the annual Thanksgiving meal generously provided by my school's graduate student organization (it was our first time) which was pretty good especially considering it took no kitchen effort on my part. Hopefully once we have a bigger kitchen (and more time), we can start a big family tradition at home.

Tags: holiday

Okay, here's another reference to Sesame Street (but much more cheery). You know how sometimes you have a song stuck in your head and it cycles over and over throughout your whole day? And you might even hum it unconsciously? When you have kids, there is a whole new repertoire of catchy tunes that can invade your thoughts. We recently watched a Preschool Sesame Street episode for the first time (we don't watch much television), and there is a catchy tune called "Take a Rest," which is about taking naps. It's got a catchy calypso beat and Bert, Grover and Cookie Monster each go through verses that end in the following chorus:

It's time to
Take a rest
Take a rest
Put my head on my pillow and my hands on my chest
I love being busy
But sometimes it's best
To take it slow
Take it easy
Take a rest

Aside from the fact that it's wonderful thinking about lying down and taking a nap, it's really a catchy song. I often catch J humming it too. I've forgotten how creative Sesame Street was and am looking forward to watching it with my kids over the next several years.

Okay, so this is kind of morbid...

Tags: holiday

There's a Starbucks within walking distance of our home (what a shock), and we've started strolling over there every once in a while when I need a chocolate-y coffee fix. J and I usually share a Java Chip Frappuccino with whipped cream (J wants the whipped cream and who am I to complain?). M likes to ride his tricycle over there too, and while I'd be happy to get him some steamed milk or apple cider, we always get him a cup of ice water. He loves ice water. Especially from Starbucks (I think it's the cup). He won't let me push his tricycle on the way there, but he will on the way back while he savors his ice water. It's a treat for all of us (simple pleasures, yes).

About coffee and breastfeeding, while I am sure it is fine to have coffee while I'm breastfeeding (everything in moderation just like during pregnancy), I tend to play it safe when it comes to what I eat and drink. I pump extra milk and use pre-pumped milk for several feeds after I have a decent serving of caffeine. I'm sure this is just paranoid behavior, but even if it was safe, I'd hate to think that it was the reason why A couldn't sleep well during a particular night.

Tags: breastfeeding

That's the title of an article in yesterday's New York Times (they require a log-in to read older articles). It describes how unprofessional some medical students have been dressing in recent years. Short skirts, flip flops, jeans, and the like. In California, people tend to dress pretty casual and I have noticed on occasion that some students dress inappropriately, even for my casual taste. If my internist showed up in a miniskirt and flip flops, I'm not sure how I'd feel. Perhaps it would be more distressing if it was my first encounter with a particular physician. If it was someone I had been seeing for a while, i don't think I'd mind, though I would probably notice a less-than-professional attire. When I was on my surgery rotation, the clerkship director told us that we should watch how we dress for clinic, because studies have shown that your attire could affect your ability to gain the trust of your patient (a study was done in the American Journal of Medicine last year). She urged us to look at ourselves in the mirror each morning and ask "Do I look like a doctor?" and then ask "Would my grandmother think that I look like doctor?" I guess it depends on your patients, but ultimately, it's probably better to be safe and dress in a professional manner as much as you can.

Tags: school

Okay, so we're a bit cheesy and we wanted the boys to each have a fun stuffed animal associated with their Chinese zodiac sign. Matthew was born in the Year of the Monkey and Andy, the Year of the Dog. We decided to go with Curious George and Snowy (also known as Milou of the TinTin adventures). Matthew has taken quite a liking to George and for a while he served as a growth comparison. Andy hasn't quite gotten to know Snowy very well but we're sure he'll find him to be a treasured friend as he grows.
Both were purchased online. George was found at Fun to Collect, while Snowy was found in a little store called Strawberry Jam. They were both around $45 (I know, I know, it's a lot, but we're hoping they'll last a lifetime) and we had positive experiences with both merchants.

Tags: toys

I've written a little bit about my experiences on the wards. I'm writing about each clerkship separately as well, and will be adding more as I go along. I started with my Psychiatry rotation, and will continue with Internal Medicine, Surgery and Pediatrics soon. Read more

Tags: school

M learned how to drop small toys behind the sofa yesterday, and it's been hard for us to fish them out. While it's kind of irritating, he's very cute about it. I'll say to him, "M, I don't think Mommy can reach it," to which he'll reply "M reach." He'll stick his little arm behind the sofa and try to reach the toys, which is pretty funny.



We end up trying to hook them from under the sofa with the end of an umbrella handle, but it can be quite difficult. And it's a pain to move the sofa, since we have a sectional that has to be dismantled to be moved (EKTORP from IKEA). So I mentioned to J that we should get one of those grabbers that people use to pick up things on the floor or reach up into high cabinets and he thought that would be handy. So, I searched for "grabber" on Amazon.com and a few clicks later, found this PikStik Lite for about $7.



At 32" long, it easily reaches into most places that we need to get to, and it seemed like a low-risk investment at $7. Since I have an Amazon Prime trial right now, there was no minimum for free 2-day shipping, and in fact, we received it today after placing the order yesterday. It's very lightweight and seemingly fairly sturdy. It has a decent grip strength too, and I was able to fish out a tiny stuffed bird toy from behind the sofa in one try. The jaws rotate too, for added flexibility. I wish I had it when I was pregnant and had to pick up socks off the floor or climb up on a stool to reach items in the upper kitchen cabinets. I'm sure we'll find this to be very useful. In fact, I think I'll go try to fish out that sock that fell behind the dryer a few weeks ago.

Tags: Amazon, M

My folks were in town for a wedding over the weekend and came by for an obligatory grandparent visit. It was the first time they saw A in person as well, so I think they had a lot of fun, even though it was a very short trip. Unfortunately we won't be seeing them for Thanksgiving this year, but will be spending Christmas with them instead. I can't believe we're into the holiday season already!

Tags: grandparents

We live in graduate student family housing and the carpeting was designed to be durable, rather than comfortable. In other words, it's very industrial and not at all plush. Jason describes our flooring as "concrete with a layer of felt on top." I'm always worried that M is going to take a spill and fracture something - our floors are that hard. And it's really uncomfortable when I'm kneeling down or sitting on the floor to play with the kids (or maybe I am just getting old). In any case, I wanted to either get a nice, plush rug in the middle of the living room or some kind of play mat. Function trumped fashion when it came to this choice and we went with a $33 (shipping included) EVA foam play mat from Costco.com. A rug would have been nice, but even a cheap one would have cost at least a hundred dollars for the size we needed. This mat is 6ft x 6ft and has letters and numbers. It fits nicely in the living room, bordered by the sectional and also comes with a set of 50 foam blocks. The pieces are about a third of an inch thick, so it's not terribly supportive but is better than nothing. I found some 1/2 inch thick mats online but they were about $50 plus shipping from retailers that I had never heard of.

I should note that the colors vary and don't necessarily alternate as nicely as the ones in the website image. We have same-colored squares adjacent to each other in the set, but I don't mind. The letters and numbers pop out like puzzle pieces, although we aren't planning to take them apart (M might have other ideas though). There are also edge pieces to make the clean square shape. I figured it was a fairly low-risk purchase that was worth a try. Costco not only has a great return policy but they also refund your shipping cost if you bought it online (didn't matter in this case). That's great for things that aren't available in the store. I think we'll probably keep it despite the fact that our living room now looks like a daycare - my knees feel better already and it's nice to have a softer play area for the kids that is easy to clean.

Tags: Costco, toys

The weather has been kind of dreary here, and it rained recently. I wanted to get M some rain boots so he could splash in the puddles and keep his feet dry. I ended up going with these cute Western Chief frog boots which have the pull-on handles to make it easier to put them on himself. They are listed at about $30 on our favorite online shoe retailer, Shoebuy.com. While there are a few sites that list these boots for less (~$24), I used the coupon SAVE10 to save $10 off. And since we had bought shoes there within the last 60 days, we saved an additional 10%. No shipping costs or tax (and free return shipping) made this a nice no-risk deal under $20. They seemed roomy (we ordered a size 7; he currently wears a pair each of 6 and 6.5 shoes), and we could easily tuck his pants into the boots. M liked them and loved stomping around in the puddles this weekend. I thought he might have trouble walking around in them but he didn't at all. I checked the coupon today and it still works, but I am not sure when it expires. There are a lot of other varieties of boots as well. I'm thinking of picking up a pair or two for Christmas gifts.

Tags: shoes, M

People always comment on how parents take tons of photos of the first child and then not as many for subsequent children, and speculate it's because there's less "novelty" to the situation. I'd have to disagree somewhat, and say that we'd love to take tons of shots of A but it's so much harder when you have a toddler running around all over the place. Here's a rare shot that J took that captured both boys being cute.

Tags: M, A

I've been chatting more with people about having children in medical school and added a few thoughts today. We all agreed that relative to having and raising children, medical school seems a lot less intimidating. Before I had kids, I never felt like I had too much extra time on my hands to do lots of fun stuff. Medical school has a way of taking up all the time you have. But now, I don't even know what I would do with all the extra time I'd have if I didn't have a family to raise. I guess it's all relative. Read more

Tags: school

If you have an Amazon.com account, you may be eligible for a free trial of several months of Amazon Prime, their somewhat new unlimited express shipping program. I was eligible for a 3-month free trial earlier this year, which was really nice. And then for some reason, i guess they brought back the free trials (but this time I was only eligible for 1 month). I think with the holidays around the corner, they are trying to hook people onto this service. I really like it, though I am not sure I want to fork over $79 per year to have this service. I usually order things with plenty of time in advance so that I don't need express shipping, but it sure was nice to have it for a short time. The only thing is you have to remember to cancel the service before the trial ends or you will be charged. I actually forgot to cancel the service until a few days after the trial ended and was charged, but I contacted customer service and was refunded the amount (I had not utilized the express shipping after the trial ended).

You get:
* Free Two-Day Shipping on items sold by Amazon.com (not third-party sellers)
* Overnight Shipping for $3.99 per item
* No minimum purchase required (usually free shipping has a $25 minimum)
* Up to four family members living in the same household can use this service

You can check to see if you are eligible by going to "Your Account" and then scrolling down to "Subscriptions Management." Click on "Manage your Amazon Prime membership" and you will see if you are eligible. I have no idea what their criteria is for who gets a free trial and for how long (some people get it for four months, some people get it for one), but it you shop at Amazon.com a lot, it is worth trying out, especially it you're shopping for gifts for the holidays and want to make sure you have them on time.

Tags: Amazon

Sometimes it's tough being a baby. We went for A's two-month old checkup today. He's doing great and is growing like a champ, but got 4 immunization shots and oral rotavirus vaccine. He only cried (screamed) for a few minutes. I had to bite my lip to keep from doing the same.

Tags: A, health

Here's a photo of M I took this morning when we dropped him off at daycare. He's been going there since he was about 10 weeks old, and he really likes it. Some days he doesn't really want to leave (at least not right away), since they have so many fun toys and activities there. He also has lots of friends too. It's really cute. I can't believe how fast he's growing up. Time really flies by, and it's extra-noticeable when you have kids. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that he was a tiny little newborn too. Sigh.






Oh, and I almost forgot - the pop quiz. A is on the left, M on the right. Even I thought that was tough.

Tags: M, daycare

A few of you have seen these already, but here's a question for the rest of you - can you tell which baby is M and which is A? Or are we just messing with you and posted the same baby to be confusing?! The answer will be revealed tomorrow.

Tags: M, A

How much is peace of mind worth to you? How about $90? This is probably one of the best baby products we own. Read more

Tags: safety

What is it about putting silly looking hats with ears on our babies? I couldn't resist buying it. I love this picture of my boys - it's going on my desktop.

Tags: M, A

I couldn't help myself on a recent Costco trip. This Baby Einstein stuffed dragon chair was only $29.99 in the store, which is strange since it's listed as $49.99 online at Costco.com (but I guess that includes shipping). M loves this thing, and even says goodbye to it in the morning ("Bye bye dragon chair!"). Unfortunately, the store seems to be out of stock now (at least when I was there last week). That's one important thing you have to remember about Costco. if you see something you really like, you should probably buy it rather than think it over because there is a good chance it won't be there if you wait and come back later. I know it's supporting a bad spontaneous shopping habit, but with Costco, you can always return it later, and you might be sorry if you missed your chance.
Update on 11/7/06: Stopped by Costco today and they have lots more in store now.

Tags: toys

I get a lot of questions about how to apply to medical school. I'm not sure I did it the right way (is there a right way?) but here's my story. Read more

Tags: school

There are a few things that I think are essential buys for new parents and this bath tub is one of them. Read more

Tired of spending too much money on fancy burp cloths? The answer might be as simple as a shop towel. Read more

Tags: Costco

After extensive research, we decided to go with a three-wheeled stroller with air filled tires to carry our child from infancy to toddlerhood. We didn't want to spend more than $300, but we wanted a full-featured, high quality, smooth riding stroller. After almost two years of use, the Zooper has fulfilled all of our needs extremely well. We are convinced that this is still one of the best values in strollers. Comprehensive Review

Tags: travel, gear

1. Citibank Platinum Dividend Card
2. American Express Costco Card
3. Chase Amazon Visa Card
Read more