On the last morning of our trip to Hawaii, we wanted to take it easy with the kids, but at the same time, let them burn some energy before boarding the plane for the flight home. This was successfully accomplished with some inexpensive bubble-blowing toys we had purchased while we were there.

Despite only costing a few dollars (~$3 each), these things were pretty awesome. Sometimes it can be hard for my kids to adequately blow bubbles with those little wands than come in the bottles of soap solution. Powered with a single AA battery (included with the toy), these blowers provided plenty of energy to blow hundreds of bubbles in a fairly short period of time.

Tags: A, M, toys, travel

This is a photo-heavy post, but I couldn't find just one or two photos that captured the fun the boys were having. These were taken in Hawaii, after a hot and humid morning outdoors.

We retreated to the comfort of air-conditioning (plus I think the boys were due for a nap, although I can't quite remember if that ever happened). They spent a decent amount of time leaping off the sofa while I put together a quick snack, and we were all very entertained by this particular activity.

Every time they jumped, my heart would skip a beat because they just kept getting braver and jumping higher and farther. Fortunately, they never jumped on top of each other, or at the same time. Otherwise we would have had some bumped heads for sure.

Just look at how happy they are.


Anticipating the jump:


Look at that height!


They could have done this for hours.


This time, with the towel:

Tags: A, M, travel

Here's a hint.

Tags: travel, M, A

I started a new section about the places we visited in Oahu, and the first place I posted about was the Waikiki Aquarium. More photos too. Here's one I thought was really cute. My toddler is offering his beloved towel to the fish.

Tags: travel

In preparation for or trip to Hawaii, I knew that as a last resort for keeping the kids busy on the plane, we'd have to pull out the "big guns," otherwise known as movies. In order to do so, we'd have to use headphones or earbuds so as not to disturb the other passengers (I've been on flights where people watch movies or play video games without headphones, and it can be pretty annoying). I didn't think the boys would like using earbuds (which is all we had at home) so I went on the hunt for some kid-appropriate headphones. Read more (photos too)

Tags: travel

I knew it was going to be challenging to keep the kids from going crazy on the airplane. After all, it is a fairly long flight (over five hours from California), considering it is domestic. I have no idea how people take young kids on 20+ hour flights to Australia. Even I would start to go nuts on flights that long. Read more

Tags: travel

Some of you may have missed the first set of photos I posted, since they got archived when May 1 rolled around (you can click by month in the right column). You can also see the post here.

Tags: travel, website

As expected, my three-year-old loved being on the airplane. He listened carefully to all the pilot's announcements and was very strict about keeping his seat belt on. We brought along some toy planes for him to play with (including one that matched our own flight), which he enjoyed very much as you can see below. He was pretty easy to handle on the plane, and was kept busy with a bunch of toys and a couple of dvds (which he watched on my husband's laptop).

He had a couple of stubborn moments in the airport on the way back home, where he refused to walk or sit in the stroller and insisted on being carried or staying where he was to watch the airplanes. Normally, I don't mind picking him up, since walking through the airport as a toddler must be pretty tiring. But with all our carry-on stuff, it was impossible to do. He nearly had a full meltdown in the airport (a rare event, but always seems to happen in the most crowded and busiest of places). Eventually, after a stern talk about behaving, he relented and quickly went back to being his normal self. As a whole, traveling with him was much easier than I had expected. Keeping his little brother busy was challenging, but I'll write more about that later.

Tags: travel, M

Walking up and down the aisles (is it just me or are they getting narrower?) during the flight helped a little bit.

Tags: travel, A, J

Well, we survived! And of course, I think we all had a good time (especially the kids). We just dropped off the boys at daycare and picked up my laptop, and I am now going to attack the mess that used to be the living room floor (luggage, laundry, mail, toys) and I think my husband is going to take a much-needed nap.

We deleted the blurry/bad photos off the camera, and have over 400 remaining to download. Of those, I think maybe a hundred or so are some real winners, some of which I will try to format and post over the next few days.

Here are a few that I emailed my mom today. I'll be back soon to post more about our trip. For those of you who were curious, it was helpful to have the carseat (for my little guy) on the plane, and no, it does not fit through the xray machine at the airport (we have the Britax Decathlon). They have to check it manually.

Tags: travel, A, M, J, me

Well, we're leaving pretty soon for our vacation and boy, do I have tons to do before we go. This will be my last post until next week (probably Wednesday), since I won't have my computer, nor do we plan to have internet access. Actually, we're not leaving quite yet, but I am taking my computer in this afternoon for some trackpad button maintenance (it clicks funny). I've already got ideas for posts swirling around in my head, including the continuation of the process of choosing a specialty, some really cute kids' travel stuff that I can write about after our trip, as well as photos from our vacation.

I can't remember if I ever said where we are going. We're off to Hawaii for a few days, which should be fun. Airfare was not too bad (~$270 per ticket) and my husband really wanted to do something fun to celebrate my finishing medical school. I hope we survive the plane rides without too much drama, and that the boys get over the jet lag quickly and only wake up at 3am for one or two nights. Oh boy is this going to be fun. We'll certainly be taking lots of photos and I'll be sure to post as soon as I can once we get back (don't worry mom. And yes, we'll be careful).

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Tags: M, me, A, travel

Now that I am finished with rotations, I have a fairly flexible schedule. But even though I should feel more relaxed, it almost seems as though I have more to do! I think it has to do with the fact that during rotations, I put off anything that isn't urgent or immediate. That list grows pretty quickly and of course, when I finally address it, it's impossible to manage.

Here's a short list of what I did yesterday:
1. Researched kindergarten options (more to come on this soon). Sounds early right? Believe me, it isn't. It's a very complicated situation in our area.
2. Spoke with a mortgage lender. We're curious to see if we are eligible for any special first-time homebuyer physician loans. This is in part related to #1.
3. Called our local AAA life insurance agent to discuss options and quotes. At my school's financial aid exit interview, I was reminded about the importance of life insurance for those who have children or other dependents. When our first was born, I remember thinking it would probably be a good idea to buy some. Seeing as how I am more than 3 years behind schedule, I figured I should take care of this before I start intern year. Looks like we'll be picking up some term insurance.
4. Shopped for dress shirts and ties for my husband online. Now that he'll be a real attending, he should probably look the part.
5. Made 3 dozen chocolate-chip cookies for my kids' preschool teachers in appreciation for all their hard work this week. It's the NAEYC Week of the Young Child and they've packed the week full of fun activities for the kids. More to come on this soon.
6. Finally finished my intern biography and survey (due today) as well as formatted a photo to send for their files. I have yet to read and sign my contract but I can get to that tomorrow.
7. Updated the website.
8. Purchased some travel insurance (again, through AAA) for our upcoming vacation. I usually don't buy into these things, but with all the airline bankruptcies and the ridiculous policy of specifically not covering strollers and carseats in their usual luggage damage protection, I figured $60 was not a terrible price to pay to make sure we were covered. Schedule delays, lost luggage, and health coverage were included too.
9. Three loads of regular laundry, and then the bath rugs as well (minor potty accident).
10. Collected some outgrown baby and maternity work clothing to pass on to a good friend.

There were a bunch of things I didn't get to yesterday, but are on deck for today:
1. Research, research, research!
2. Read through my residency contract, sign it, and mail it in.
3. Make a huge macaroni casserole for the daycare potluck tomorrow.
4. Organize my school loans (including undergrad) so I know who all my lenders are and what the repayment will be.
5. On a related note, fill out the paperwork to defer my subsidized loans while I am an intern.

There are more, but I should probably stop writing these lists and work on #4 and then start #3 so I can be ready in time for dinner.

Tags: M, school, safety, daycare, travel, website

I know I already posted a photo for today, but here's another one, since I didn't get to post one on Sunday.

There's a very neat activity they have at preschool every once in a while, where everyone brings in a fruit to share in a massive fruit salad. My son got a kick out of lugging this pineapple to share with his friends. I'm sure this was a bit of a nightmare to cut up, but they're currently in season and very juicy and sweet. I'll probably pick up another one for us to grill up with some chicken later this week. The weather is starting to get better (even though for some reason it's been chilly the last few days), which means spending some more time outdoors. I'm looking forward to some warmer weather right about now.

Speaking of pineapples, we've got a family vacation in the works. It'll be the first real vacation we've had in a long time (although I guess some would argue that taking two toddlers on a trip doesn't equal a vacation), but I'm excited nonetheless. It'll be our first big trip since Disneyland, and we're not driving this time! More to come on this soon, since I'll be planning the details this week.

Tags: M, food, travel

Guess where we're going tomorrow (I mean today)?



To see model trains of course!

I'm up late and about to dictate some off-service summaries. What a week! If I still have some energy left afterwards, I'll try to post a new photo of the boys.

Tags: travel

Way back before any of the baby chaos arrived, we did fun grown-up stuff, like watch movies, travel, and hang out. In 2003, we were lucky enough to get tickets to some television show tapings, and my sister-in-law K came along as well. One of those tapings was "The Tonight Show." I like Jay Leno's monologue and his headlines always crack me up. I'm never able to catch him on TV anymore (seeing as how I rarely watch television these days). In any case, before the show starts, he picks a few people to come up and take photos with him (rather, someone usually shouts out "Jay, Jay! Can I take a photo with you?!" and that starts the whole mob scene). We happened to be sitting in the front row off to the side, and so I think it was easy enough for him to pick us (although, ahem, I was the only one of my party who had my hand up - no thanks to my shy and reserved companions, you know who you are). He chatted with us and asked where we were from and what we did and a staff member took out a polaroid and took our picture (no cameras are allowed in the studio). He was a very nice, normal guy. Whenever anyone sees this photo, they assume we were guests on the show, which is kind of funny. Pretty cool, eh?

Tags: travel, J, me, holiday

We went to a local park yesterday, and on the way home, both boys fell asleep in the car. Naptime is such a peaceful time.

Tags: M, A, travel

We used our early-entry ticket for the last day of our trip to Disneyland. I figured we'd have two days of scoping out what rides we wanted to go on by then, and it worked well for us. We left the park around 1pm, pretty late into what should have been nap time for the boys, and they were starting to get tired. We stopped by the gift shops for a souvenir.

A had already picked out a small stuffed baby Pooh bear at a store we had stopped into earlier, so he was set. I told M he could pick out something small, and he picked out a set of small toy cars (from the Cars movie). There was a large, wide open area outside the park, so we opened the package of cars for M to play with as we were leaving. He shared a car with A, and the two of them spent at least 10 minutes having a blast pushing their little cars around outside the entrance to Disneyland. Never mind that we had just spent over $300 in tickets to see the happiest place on earth, these guys were perfectly content rolling around $10 plastic cars outside the park. They were completely oblivious to their surroundings and were totally engrossed with playing with their cars. Who knew that possibly the most fun at Disneyland would be had just outside the park? It was a great way to end the trip.

Tags: travel, M, A

This one is a little bit blurry but I thought it was a fun photo.



Whenever someone else takes a photo for us, we often have to do some major cropping to get the photo centered properly. Unfortunately, most people tend to leave lots of space above people and not enough below (poor Dumbo got cut off). We were grateful for the assistance though - sure beats bringing a tripod to Disneyland. It's a lot like working in the hospital - you learn to travel really light.

Tags: travel, M, me

Look at this line. It's one of the many lines you have to stand in to spend a day at Disneyland. This one happened to be the early entry line, and we were shocked at just how many people had early entry tickets. We decided to buy the 3-day park hopper pass even though one or two days would have been plenty of time, only because you get a day of early admission to the park when you buy the 3-day tickets (marketing genius). That one extra hour you have is truly a golden one, as you can get on quite a few rides in an hour. I would happily have paid more for a day ticket that had early entry to the park. With two young children in tow, standing in line after line was not an option. In any case, there were several lines full of people with the same plan as ours, but luckily it didn't take that long for all of us to get into the park. And while we did have to stand in a lot of lines, they weren't nearly as long as they could have been.

Tags: travel, J, M, A

We went on this ride several times:



It's a cute ride, and extra points to Disneyland for making it interactive. There's a little lever that you can push up or down to make your elephant move in that direction. M really enjoyed that quite a bit:



I'm not sure what the age/height restrictions were, but A was able to ride on it too. It was definitely a family favorite.

Tags: travel

I apologize - I said I'd post more vacation photos yesterday, but now it's technically the next day. For some reason, A had a tough time getting to bed tonight, and so everything got pushed back a bit.

But, back to the photo. What was A looking at?



It's the Disneyland Parade of Dreams. We watched it on the first night of our Disneyland trip (three days long).

Tomorrow: flying elephants!

Tags: travel

I'll be posting more about our recent vacation over the next few days. I'd do it now, except I should probably be sleeping. Instead, I am trying to research some new diaper options for A, since it seems as though he finds the waistband on the Pampers Cruisers to be itchy these days. I did take a little nap from 8:30pm to 10:30pm, which partially explains why I am awake at the moment. In the meantime, here's an introductory photo to start things off. Try to guess what A is looking at. I'll post the answer tomorrow.

Tags: travel, A

This post is a little different from usual, but I wanted to at least share some thoughts about the recent news from Burma/Myanmar. Part of the reason I started this site was so that I could have some sort of record for Matthew and Andy to look back on and read about when they are older. I think it'll be interesting to read about what their parents were up to, what their mom was thinking about as they were growing up, all the different schools they attended, the places we visited, and so forth. It'll also serve to show them how the world and their lives have changed over time.

My family immigrated from Burma in 1975, for reasons that are now again becoming clear to the rest of the world. Jason and I visited my grandmother there several years ago (she has since passed on), and I was taken by what a peaceful society it was (with the exception of the military, of course). Strangers everywhere would approach us and invite us into their homes, chat with us at the marketplace, and welcome us to their community. It is a tragedy that despite fair elections favoring a democratic government, the military regime has refused to cooperate. Schools close without any notice, currency is deemed useless on any given day, and the military pretty much bullies its way through the country. Raw sewage runs alongside many of the town sidewalks, and many people are poor, hungry, and helpless. And I feel helpless. I've got lots of relatives there, specifically in the small towns where the military has now settled. I'm not sure what I can do, but I feel like I have to do something. I'll be looking into ways I can get involved once our living situation is more stable (I hate living among unpacked boxes - I can't find anything), but if anyone has ideas, I'd appreciate any suggestions.

I don't know much about politics, but I do feel that if there was ever an appropriate time for our government to invade another country, this might be one of them. I guess teak and jade don't compare to oil.

Tags: travel, safety, J, me

We recently visited another aquarium, and had a pretty good time there. It was much less crowded than the last one we went to, so it was really easy for the boys to get up close to see the fish. In this photo, I like how everyone is pointing at (or reaching for) a fish:



At the end of the trip, I told M he could pick out a toy for himself, and asked if he would help choose one for A too, since his birthday was coming up. He happily obliged, and chose a small stuffed turtle for himself. When it came time to pick something out for A, he picked out a huge stuffed shark. I told him it might be a little bit too big for A and so we decided on a medium-sized one instead. I had to fork over a small fortune, but I think the profits went to a good cause. And besides, it was the going to be M's first "present" for A.

They looked very cute while we strolled around afterwards. Strangers who walked by them couldn't help but smile at the sight of two little boys with their plush aquarium animals in tow. A seemed to enjoy his gift from M as well.



His stuffed shark came in handy on our drive back home, during which it served to support his head while he napped. And boy, did it do a good job. A didn't move all the way home.

Tags: M, A, travel

Oh, how I love Dr. Seuss.

Over the holiday weekend, we took a few road trips and visited a zoo and an aquarium. The boys seemed to really enjoy looking at the animals (although M was often more interested in pushing elevator buttons and holding stair handrails). But look at this shot of A and me, as we're looking into the giant tank:



A is really craning his neck to get a good view of what is going on. Pretty neat huh? Now look at this:


Whoa! That is one BIG sunfish. I love how A's is gawking at it too. He looks so funny there, doesn't he? It's like he realizes just how massive this thing is and is trying to absorb the moment as much as he can. It cracks me up. He was pretty mesmerized by all the tanks and colors and seemed soothed by the water. He kept reaching out to try and touch everything too.

I've been thinking about starting a small fish tank for the boys. J actually used to have these huge, beautifully-maintained tanks, but they got really labor-intensive, and we just haven't had time to think about starting one up again. I'm thinking we should start small (goldfish?) and see what happens.

Tags: travel, A

I'm really lucky that I don't have to commute most of the time. The exception is when I rotate through other nearby hospitals like I am doing on Ob/Gyn. My door-to-door commute takes about 25 minutes with no traffic, which is not bad. But since I am so used to not having to drive to work/school, it seems like a long time to be in the car. And I hate the time I lose with my family because I have to leave earlier to get to the hospital. I usually give myself 30 minutes to get there (which is cutting it close - one little traffic jam and I'd be late), but that means I can miss up to 40 more minutes per day with the kids compared with my usual 10-minute route to the university hospital. And while it might not seem like a lot, it really is. I'm not a fan of commuting. But M might disagree.









I start my last weekend call on this rotation today, and I am definitely looking forward to it. I'm not exactly sure why there needs to be a continuous 26-or-so hour shift on labor and delivery, but it is what it is. And it's not usually the kind of call where you get to sleep either. So, I'll be glad to be able to check on my babies and cover them up in the middle of the night again once this weekend is over.

Tags: M, travel

We take the train to the Farmer's Market every now and then. Even though M loves trains, he's a bit scared by the loud screeching sounds they make as they brake at the station. A gets scared too. But they both still stop whatever they are doing every time a train goes by and we end up standing beside the tracks for a while to watch them at the station. Maybe it's like watching horror movies, where you're scared but can't look away.

Tags: M, travel

A is becoming more mobile every day, but he hasn't really started to crawl just yet. He is, however, able to move around quite a bit by rolling. Since he can roll from front to back and back to front, he's figured out that if he does that enough, he can get around the room. He can also pivot on his tummy quite well, so he usually has a good view of his surroundings. He can pull himself forward too, sort of an army-crawl, which is pretty cute. He's very active, and J likens changing his diaper to a round of Greco-Roman wrestling, although technically it's more like freestyle wrestling, since Greco-Roman is all above-the-waist. He can also sit up (but cannot pull himself up to sitting yet) and loves to sit in the high chair (review in progress, we LOVE our high chair) at the dinner table with us.

Here he is lying on the outdoor play blanket (another review to come soon):

Tags: A, travel

We're always looking for fun things to do on the weekend that aren't too far or costly. Today, we decided to take the train two stops to a neighboring city's Farmer's Market (right on the train line). M loves trains, so it was especially exciting for him (his first time). Both boys were kind of scared when the actual train came by, since it's pretty loud up close, but I think they enjoyed it anyway. It's been a bit drizzly here, but fortunately, the weather held up and we only got a few droplets of rain while we were there. I haven't been to the Farmer's Market in a while, since our local one is kind of a pain to get to and has terrible parking. It's also super-crowded, even though we're out and about pretty early (both boys almost always get up around 6:30am). We weren't planning on shopping, but picked up some frozen homemade dumplings, naan, paratha, and some really yummy homemade cookies. M scored a balloon animal clown fish too. We'll pick up produce the next time we go, since we're pretty stocked at home right now. The strawberries were amazingly tempting (I love strawberry season) and there were farm-fresh eggs. Next time, I'll bring an insulated bag to carry our stuff home. I was pretty impressed at the variety of available produce, as well as international goods. I was planning to make chicken curry for dinner tomorrow night, so it was great that we found the Indian breads. We had the pork and napa cabbage dumplings for lunch and they were the best we've had in a long time. Needless to say, we'll probably be working this trip into our Sunday outing rotation from now on, along wth the local children's museum and the zoo.

Here's M looking thoughtful on the train:


We decided not to bring the stroller since we weren't sure how we'd manage it on the train and at the market. I carried A in the sling (which he likes) and he quickly fell asleep (which he often does when we're out):

Tags: travel, M, me, A

I had to fly to Chicago for a meeting over the last couple of days (more about this later) and on my return flight, a fellow passenger started feeling quite ill. A general announcement was made by the flight attendant requesting medical help ("Is there a doctor or nurse on board?" and I have to admit - I wasn't sure what I should do. I looked around to see if anyone had pressed the call button indicating that they could help and waited about 1 minute before another announcement was made overhead, requesting assistance. I probably shouldn't have hesitated, but at the same time, I'm not a doctor (yet) and it was a bit intimidating to think about where this could end up going if I did jump in to help. After another minute (and a mini self pep talk), I decided that at least offering to help would be the right thing to do (a medical student is better than no one, right?) I flagged down the flight attendant and asked if someone had come forward to help. She said a nurse was talking to the passenger, but they wanted to know if there was anyone else on board who might be able to help out as well. I told her I was a fourth-year medical student and that I would be happy to talk to and/or examine the ill passenger, but she gave me a somewhat confused and skeptical look, and said "It has to be someone with credentials," and hustled off to assist the sick patient, who was far in the rear of the aircraft. Um...alrighty then.

I felt a bit silly, as if I was supposed to know that was the case (is that really the case?). I mean, if it were me, I'd want all the help I could get. But I guess the situation was stable with the nurse helping out, since I didn't hear any more announcements. What if there wasn't a nurse on board? Would they have said I should help? Is it a liability issue? I mean, even if I wasn't in the medical field, and I saw a sick person, I'd at least offer my help in any way that I could.

In any case, I felt rejected, like my few years of medical training didn't mean anything because I didn't have my diploma. Weird. I could be graduating tomorrow and I guess according to their policy, I would not be able to assist. Oh well. At least I tried.

It was a weird flight. There was a middle-aged woman on the plane who was sitting next to me, and her husband kept coming by to ask her questions (he was sitting somewhere else on the plane, and she kept switching seats between the one next to me and the one next to him - she moved next to me when he wanted to stretch out over the whole row). In any case, after a couple of times of me having to get up out of my aisle seat to let her back into the row, she said, "That's what happens when you get a husband." Hmm. I smiled politely, not really wanting to get into how not only do I have a husband, but two little kids waiting for me back home. It was a double whammy in terms of receiving somewhat patronizing comments. Maybe I was just being overly sensitive, but it was definitely a strange experience.

Tags: me, travel

What a crazy Christmas wedding weekend we had. Now that it's several weeks out, I can finally look back at it with some perspective. It was the first road trip we've taken since A was born. There were a few things that made life easier:

1. Driving at night. Even though we were both pretty tired afterwards, it really helped to be able to concentrate on driving to get there as soon as possible without worrying about the kids screaming in their car seats. We left around 9pm each time and arrived around 3am. Yikes! (but it was worth it). Coffee helped a bit.
2. Packing things that helped the kids feel comfortable: the Euro tub, a big container of toys and books (including a few new ones), favorite blankets, lots of snacks, an ice chest (with ice, milk, water, and yogurt), the baby swing, a play/sleep mat (a steal at Costco for about $35), the play pen, DVDs, and a booster seat.
3. Having a minivan (essential for #2 and #4), which we got when A was born. J is currently working on a review.
4. Packing many items into large clear plastic storage bins, so that they would stack easily in the car and be easy to move around if needed (diapers, toys, pump and bottles).
5. Packing clothes and toiletries into a separate duffel bag for each child, so everything would be easy to find.
6. Trying to stay close to our usual routine in terms of naps and bedtime. This meant me having to miss much of the wedding banquet so that I could get the kids to bed.

Despite everything we did, it was still hard on the kids, particularly M, who is happiest when our days are predictable and relaxed. Instead, it was very chaotic (it was a wedding after all) and there were tons of relatives who wanted to meet him. He did quite well in terms of not having any meltdowns, but I could tell that he was uncomfortable with all the attention and only felt safe in my lap or in J's arms. He usually does well playing with other young children as long as he has a few minutes to acclimate, but the wedding was a zoo! Even I felt overwhelmed with all the people and noise.

We were all glad to return home, especially since we had presents waiting for us under the tree. This was the first Christmas that M has really been aware of, and he quickly became a pro at opening gifts. He was a bit on edge for the next day or two, but once we settled into our regular routine again, he was fine.

Here are two photos from the gift unwrapping event. M is opening a play food set (from Costco, to go with his kitchen) and a ukulele. And yes, these were shot on the same day (Andrew had a wardrobe incident).

Tags: travel, holiday

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

We needed to transport our child to daycare by bicycle when L began commuting to work with our only car. We have logged several months of experience using the Burley Solo bicycle trailer which met our needs well. We have gained insights into bicycle trailer use that other parents in the market for such a product may wish to consider. Comprehensive Review

Tags: travel