Mayday! Mayday!

May has been quite the month, and many of you have not-so-subtlely mentioned that my blog has been sorely neglected. You're right. Does the fact that I was seeing patient labwork from May 6, today, on May 29, tell you how the month has gone?

May started out fairly well. As attending on our inpatient team, I knew it would be a busy month, as it inevitably always is. At least this month, I never had to return to the hospital in the afternoon to finish seeing patients as I have had to do in past months. Nevertheless, we were busy most of the month.

The first weekend was great, with a party at Jenny's house to celebrate the Kentucky Derby (we made derby hats and had hobby-horse races in the living room) and Cinco de Mayo. Margaritas and mint juleps, who could ask for more?

The next weekend was equally crazy, as we decided to finally rid ourselves of our rusty wrought iron mailbox in favor of a nice wooden one that Jeff fitted for a coach light (which isn't easy, BTW); in the midst of driving back and forth to Lookout Mountain taking items to and from Allison's yard sale (we sold nearly nothing, the reason I don't do yard sales). We squeezed in a trip to the marble fabricators to pick out a countertop for the bathroom (did I mention we're remodeling as well?)

After spending the weekend in the yard, I was beat, and figured I felt bunk because of it. Until I noticed the fever. That kept going up. And down. For nearly 5 days. Two doctor visits and bloodwork for mono (negative, thankfully) later, we had to pack up for a recruting trip in NC. Initially excited to head to the Triangle for the weekend, I could barely drag myself out of bed. Luckily, my fever finally broke Saturday AM in the hotel room (at the not-so-shiny Millenium hotel in Durham. Don't stay there.).

Only at Duke would they plant poison ivy on purpose. Check out this picture from the Native Plants section of Duke Gardens, which we visited during our trip. Wonder what sorry sap got that job!

Despite my disdain for all things Duke, the Gardens are beautiful. So much so that we didn't leave time for anything else. Jeff took many pictures of every manner of arbor you could think of (because they had them all) and I enjoyed the roses and paths, and bridges. Allison and Phil also enjoyed the flora and fauna. Elizabeth enjoyed the ride in her new Ergobaby (http://www.ergobaby.com/) carrier, which we absolutely love.

Sunday had us dining at a glorious German bakery in Durham (http://www.guglhupf.com/), then off to Chapel Hill for a short walk around campus. Elizabeth enjoyed the scenery, mommy and daddy enjoyed the quiet time. Elizabeth has now hung out in The Pit, and is an official Tar Heel after her attempt to drink from the Old Well. Then it was on to Charlotte to visit with Mary and Matt and the boys - a much needed reconnection with old friends(http://nevernegotiatewithtoddlers.blogspot.com/).

Returning home feeling refreshed and nearly completely recovered from the fever, the rat race resumed with fury, with a busy inpatient service and a full office schedule. Looking forward to a weekend at the lake with some girlfriends, I muddled through. Until Thursday at noon. When my stomach turned upside down and inside out. Repeatedly. Convinced I had a giant gallstone, I called my PCP in a panic. Turns out, my little germ-monger was just sharing a wonderful little bug she brought home from school. I've never been so sick in my life! First the fever thing and now this?!? Two and a half days of missed work in a month???? (Don't forget the missed days in January and February, too!)

Luckily, though not eating a whole lot, I was able to enjoy a weekend with the girls sans children, at Lake Weiss in Alabama, and get back home to my bathroom-without-sinks.

(Is this sounding like the psycho month from hell or what???)

Our home is a constant state of remodeling. Moving from room to room in some fashion we claim to be orderly, we have again halted the basement renovation. To do the upstairs bathrooms. Because who wants to have to redo the basement ceiling in a year when we do the bathrooms? So the hall bath, which "only" needed a new vanity, toilet, countertop and fixtures is next on the list. Having found a long enough vanity at a salvage place here in town (http://www.bennettsalvage.com/), we didn't quite fathom the finagling it would take to install it in the space vacated by the old vanity. It's in, though, and the marble guy was here today to measure for the countertop, and the faucets are in the mail. The bonus of finishing the hall bath? We get to gut the master bath! YEAY!! (wanna move in?)

As I write this, Jeff is hopefully in bed, resting up for his trip to Ohio with Elizabeth. I'm on call this weekend, and his friend Will is getting married in Columbus. Grammy and Papa will get to have free reign over baby spoiling this weekend while daddy hangs with his homies. So what's mommy going to do (besides possibly deliver some babies)???? Put up her feet? Read a good book? Of course not! She's going to pull up errant wisteria, weed, weedwack, and hopefully not get poison ivy. NO rest for the weary!!!

In preparing for her trip to Ohio, Elizabeth tried out her Indians visor. Which she insisted on putting on herself. Check out this video!

I must get to bed so I can moderately function tomorrow, my last day on service. What a month! Sorry to have been blog-absent. Hopefully next month will be better!

Here's that movie I was talking about! It's kind of dark...

What does the dog say?

After a harrowing 10 days of traveling (both to Boston and Nashville), all-nighters on labor and delivery, and mounds of paperwork at the office, this Doctor Mom was ready for a few days (really only about 24h) of R&R. Or, should I say, E&D (eating and drinking). And playing of course.

Elizabeth continues to win friends and influence people at all points, including the 4 Bridges Art Festival here in Chattanooga this weekend. This is a venue where we were quite happy of her immobility, as stroller confinement at least prevents expensive "oopsies".

Her newest trick is animal sounds. She especially likes cat and dog, but is getting better with duck and cow. She's also started spearing food with her baby fork, which, for our lazy eater, who would rather smear with her fingers, is quite an accomplishment.

(Of note, I've been trying to upload a video clip since last night, and after the third failed attempt I'm giving up. It was a really good clip, too.)

Time to head to work!

More milestones, more tears

Dr. Mom went to Boston last weekend for a big doctor conference (that wasn't the least bit boring - how geeky of me), and Elizabeth and Daddy got to stay at home and play. While I was away, she had her first official PT visit, and miraculously started moving around more. (maybe the mean physical therapist scared her into not being afraid of her push-along lion anymore)

Since Saturday she's been making laps around the house and up and down the hallway pushing Mr. Lion and looking totally cute, giggling when he plays a little song. Tonight, she cruised for a mere three steps around her Neurosmith activity block. Now we're cooking with gas! And when she fell down, she actually caught herself!

Little Lizzy Beth has also become quite the scat master. No, not that which comes out the backside of wild animals. Music. She's been making up her own little songs, they go like this: ba-ba-bum-bum-daa, da-da-da. Or something similar. With a melody and little dance to go along. It's hysterical.

She's also continued to sit herself up in bed, get stuck in the bedposts, and scream bloody murder. Sunday night, it lasted for at least 2 hours. Tonight, not so bad - only 30 minutes. Hopefully her next milestone will be laying back down.

Off to write a lecture for tomorrow on the wonders of the IUD. We'll call it, "how not to procreate like rabbits 101"

Up on her own

Usually, Elizabeth goes to bed without so much as a peep. 20 seconds of "no, please, mommy not bed not now" crying and she's done. Tonight, she screamed bloody murder for nearly a half hour.

When I went into her room, presuming I would find a teething not-quite-toddler seriously pissed off about bedtime, I was more than abruptly surprised to find her sitting up in the corner of her crib, straddle-legged, with one leg stuck out one side of the crib, and the other stuck out the back. She was stuck - and apparently had something to cry about. You see, Elizabeth is a wee bit slow in the movement department, and has only once before, in 18 months, been found upright in her crib. So we had a little celebration in her room (after I carefully removed her poor ankles from between the crib rungs) about what a big girl she is.

I don't think she understood the significance of our little celebration, but it made her daddy and I think she may move on her own after all. She just enjoyed the attention, the Tylenol, and the cup of "wahwah" she doesn't usually get at such a late hour.

Fork? I don't need no stinking fork!

18 month olds don't like veggies. But they DO like pasta sauce. And they WILL eat veggies disguised as spaghetti smothered in sauce and cheese.

My 18 month old eschews manners and utensils, in favor of a more visceral food satisfaction. It's full contact dinner. It tastes much better when she's up to her elbows in it.