Backfire

Gunner loves the movie, "The Incredibles". It is one of my favorites, and I'm happy that he likes it. Recently, he has been commenting on the show, asking me what the characters are doing (Doonat guy?). He likes it when Dash runs away from the bad guys (Wunning!). I think it's cute how he has woken up to the action on the show.

Yesterday, I decided to show him "Jack Jack Attack" on the second disk. I turned it on and left the room to finish up some dishes. I returned four minutes later as the short was finishing to find my sweet little movie-loving guy on the couch, shaking from head to toe, pointing at the TV, saying, "Baby?!...Baby?!!"

He was terrified!

And I felt terrible! I immediately picked him up and he glommed onto me like a wet shirt. I turned the little show back on and tried to talk him through it, saying things about how funny the little baby was for flying or disappearing, or bursting into a flaming monster. See, Gunner, isn't that hilarious?! Please, please think that it's hilarious! Mostly, though, I comforted him and told him over and over that the baby was okay.

G: "Baby?!"

Me: "The baby is okay."

G: "Baby K?!"

Me: "Yeah, the baby is just fine.

And then we got out our newly acquired library books and read about planes (Cop-ter!), trains (joo joo), and automobiles (Bus, Mommy!) to try to distract him.

I never thought that it would scare him, and I feel just terrible for putting him in into such a scary situation. But I'm glad I was there for him and realized quickly what was going on. And I'm grateful for the glomming cuddle time, since I have to take the cuddles when I can get them these days. I also guess I have learned to be a little more careful about what I expose him to. Although, really, who would have thought that it would have been scary?!

*Several days later, Gunner is still assuring us that the baby on the show is okay. Out of the blue, several times a day, he declares, "Dac Dac fine. Dac Dac fine." And we reply each time, "Yep, Jack Jack is just fine."

Residency App

I've had my application in for about 3 weeks now, and have heard back from several programs. My application strategy is to apply to 16 anesthesia programs, 10 medicine prelim years, and 10 transitional year programs. Of the anesthesia programs, 3 are in the pacific northwest, 2 in the mountain west, 2 in Ohio, 1 in new hampshire, 2 in Boston, and the remainder are scattered around missouri, michigan, minnesota, and wisconsin. I don't know if 20 is enough preliminary years, I hope it is because I don't want to have to scramble into a prelim surgery year somehwere, that would be pretty awful. For the readers who are not intimately involved in the drama of ERAS and the NRMP (electronic residency application service and national residency matching program, respectively), the difference between medicine and transitional years is that medicine programs are just that, medicine, and the transitional year is a mix of medicine, surgery, ER, and elective time. There are some pretty nice transitional years that I would love to go to, although interview invites have not yet come for those.

Mid-night Heart Breaker

Gunner crying in the middle of the night:

Momma!...

Momma!...

(pause)

Blue Car!!!

Gunner Speak

Love how this kid talks! If you're ever around him, here's a translation guide to some of his more obscure phrases:

On, On--Means, "Give me your hand (yes, "On" means Hand), and come here, now, please."
Lul You--Love you (usually accompanied by a kiss on the cheek and followed by a melted heart)
Cop-Ter--Helicopter (this is something he exclaims every time he sees or hears an airplane or helicopter in the sky)
Uh, Yah!--(accompanied by smile and bright eyes), means Yes
Huh?--UhHuh, also means Yes
Wuddy?--This means that he wants to play with the cardboard race track Spiff made for him, meaning, "Ready, Set, Go!"

Morchee--More please

Beenoon--Balloon

Beenoon-a-beenoon-a-beenoon-a-beenoon...--means there's a balloon over there that I need to run across the room to get.

BlueWhiVreen--Blue, White, Green

LellowWhi--Yellow, White

Blue Car/Car Blue--his new Dinaco Blue Lightning McQueen car. He has seen the movie but doesn't really get the whole character thing. He just loves the color, size, shape...everything about this little toy. He carries it everywhere with him, and sleeps with it at night.

The Next Few Days

So, it turns out that this surgical procedure actually bothers the patient more than the doctors and nurses say it will.  It also turns out that a toddler who has just undergone a surgical procedure, and who is feeling terribly sore and awful, is very very cranky.  Also, I feel horrible when I'm taking care of his wound site and he is saying, "Ow. Ow. Ow." and then hobbles away in obvious pain.  It also turns out that even though I feel very badly for him, and I am very sympathetic towards him and what we made him go through, my patience unfortunately has its limits when dealing with the cranky child.

Today was a very very long day.  I'm looking forward to the end of the week when the wound isn't so fresh.

Also, Happy 29th Birthday, Spiff!

Post-Op

Gunner's surgery went well! The surgeon was very pleased with the results, and he said that Gunner handled everything incredibly well. I was impressed with the staff at the hospital, and the nurses and doctors were all great. The first patient of the day didn't show up, so they were able to get us in early, so we didn't have to make Gunner fast for so long. And since it was an outpatient procedure, we were done and home before 1:00 in the afternoon.

Gunner did great with everything, although the longer we were there doing pre-op stuff, the more wary of everything and everyone he became. He was absolutely terrified of the scale, and he absolutely refused to sit in the crib. They gave him some medication to help calm him down, and he was hungry enough to ask for more of it. The meds worked like a charm, and the nurse told me that he was asleep before they even put the anesthesia mask on him.

The procedure took slightly less than two hours. I went back to the PACU to be with Gunner after he woke up from the anesthesia. As the nurse took me back, she told me that he woke up great, just quietly opened his eyes, which was a relief since I was expecting hysterics. When we entered the room, I glanced around the room and saw several little babies on stretchers. There was one in particular who looked especially small, and I was amazed at how young the baby was to be having surgery. Then I realized that particular tiny little guy was mine! He looked so small on the stretcher, and so pathetic lying there so placidly, hooked up to an IV.

I was very grateful when they let me hold him, and when we got back to the recovery room, Spiff and I took turns holding him and helping him come out of the effects of the anesthesia. Amazingly, after that wore off, he perked right up, and was running and jumping around the house just a few hours later. Today, he acts like nothing happened at all. Amazing!

I'm so glad it's done, and that it went well, and I am incredibly grateful for the great doctors and nurses who helped him yesterday.

Gunner's Surgery (Pre-op)

Our little boy is having surgery tomorrow.  It's an outpatient thing, relatively routine, and I'll tell you the details if you ask.  (I don't want to post them on a public setting.)  But even though it's supposedly a common thing and the recovery is supposedly not bad, I am insanely nervous.  Spiff is cool as a cucumber, and I assume this is because he has seen countless procedures and sees this as no big deal.

But it is a big deal.  Poor little Gunner has no idea what's coming, and I guess that's a good thing.  I am mostly worrying about the logistics of the whole thing.  He can't eat breakfast in the morning prior to the surgery, nor can he have anything to drink past 6:30 in the morning, which means that he probably won't get anything at all since he'll still be asleep at that point.  This also means that we will be dealing with an incredibly hungry and cranky toddler who is in a strange place and dealing with strange things and people.  Not a recipe for success.  And then there are the logistics of taking care of my post-op toddler.  I don't know what to expect about how he will handle it, what he will need, or how he will feel.

I just hope that he responds well to the pain medications, and that he doesn't really remember the whole experience.  I also have to deal with the guilt I am feeling about putting him through this in the first place.  It needs to be done, but I still have horrible guilt about taking him to the hospital to "be hurt".  And I feel so badly for him and his sweet little self to go through something like this.

Please say a prayer for us.

Stake Conference In Utah

I went to Stake Conference with my sister's family yesterday. Russel M. Nelson was in attendance because their stake got a new presidency. I'm sure he gave a wonderful talk at the end of the session, but I'll have to take it on faith since Gunner was a crazy person yesterday morning and was absolutely not in the mood to sit through a two-hour meeting. (Who ever is, really?) I walked the halls as he ran them, and I was able to catch a few sentences of the talks here and there.

But, here is the cool part...

I took my niece to get a drink before the meeting started. As we were walking down the hall, Elder Nelson was standing in the hallway with just one other guy. I said Hi to him. He looked right at me and said, "Good Morning."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! He practically said Hi to me!

I didn't have the guts to ask him to shake my hand, but I did drop down to my knees after we passed him and explained to my 3-year-old niece (who couldn't care less) that "That guy over there is Elder Nelson, one of our apostles! Can you believe he's standing Right There?! Isn't that neat!?"

So, that's what you might get for going to stake conference in Utah, where apostles still attend the conference in person instead of attending via satelite. Very cool. Sure wish I could have heard his talk.

Away rotation

So I'm going to go into anesthesia, and I'm currently doing a rotation at my number one choice, Major Medical Center in the midwest. The trouble is, as a newcomer, I don't know who anyone is or where anything is. Major Center has a rigid dress code of suits and ties all the time, but the residents still show up to the OR in regular clothes, change into scrubs, and leave in regular clothes. Should I do the same? or should I be the sore thumb who stands out in a suit when the residents go to lecture in mufti? I err the side of formality. The whole point of doing away rotations is to see if the program is a good fit, if you like the area, and if training there will help you accomplish your professional goals. I like being at Major Center, it's got world class resources and faculty. The problem is that I have no idea where I stand. I don't know if I"m doing the right things to impress the right people. I hate being 'on' all the time. Who should I ask for a letter of recommendation? I hate all the ambiguity. I will probably rank Major Center #1, but doubt very much that I will match here in March.
-SS

The poll Part 2

For those of you who don't know, we are expecting another addition to our clan. We don't yet know if it's a little man or a tiny little woman, but we will be finding out in a few weeks. Since it worked out pretty well last time, I think I will again have a weekly poll with our name options for you to vote on. Just so that there's no ambiguity, I will posting facetious names. Again, these are not real. Mindy and I have already decided that Zeal-for-the-Lord will be his name if he's a boy, and Taquandafaqweyah if it's a girl. So look on the banner to the side every week and cast your vote for names.
-ss

Small Truths

I am in Utah with my family while Spiff is getting ready to head to a month-long away rotation. Gunner and I miss him. I still can't imagine being away from him for that long, and I am hoping that he has a good experience at this new hospital and new rotation.

Gunner and I traveled on Wednesday, and I learned a few things on this trip:

1. Southwest is hands down the best airline company I have flown with. Their employees are generally friendly and helpful. I enjoyed my experience with them, and they even just changed their policy to allow people to check two bags for free, PLUS a carseat as a free special item. Awesome. I also enjoyed the layover since it was a chance for Gunner to get off the plane, run around, and use some of his energy. I no longer think that the best way to fly with kids is non-stop.

2. Traveling with a 21-month-old lap child is not fun. Never never do it.

3. When your child is throwing a screaming tantrum on the airplane 30 minutes before you're scheduled to land, no one looks at you. No one makes eye contact. No one offers to help, not even the flight attendants. They put their heads down while occasionally send vicious glances your direction, and make you feel like there is something else that you should be doing in order to control your very very very loud, bored, overtired, uncontrollable child. And yes, it is very embarrassing to be the mother of "That Child".

4. While I was being so very embarrassed by my tantrum-throwing one-year-old, I noticed that people were throwing the nasty looks. And while I desperately wanted Gunner to stop screaming, (Please Just Stop Screaming!!!), there was also a vindictive little part of me that thought, "Well, if no one is going to look at me or say anything nice at all, then he might as well scream! Scream, baby, scream!" I apologize to all the people who may be on future flights with me. I also promise not to pinch my child or make him cry on purpose...as long as you're nice to me.

5. It is much nicer to fly when the toddler falls asleep during take-off and wakes up during landing at the destination. I would love that to happen every time. Hopefully Gunner will read this post and behave accordingly when we fly home in a month.

6. I love love love the West. It's gorgeous. The mountains are so very beautiful. The dry heat is tolerable. It cools down at night. There is sometimes even a nice breeze! When I sweat, it actually does something to cool off my body! I am a Western Girl, and I am made for this type of weather. It is going to be very difficult for me to go home and back to heat plus humidity. Spiff might have to do some major convicing in order for me to go back. (Not really, Spiff. We love you and will be with you wherever you are. All I'm saying is that I want you to eventually bring me back...for good.)

Now it's off to a week-long camping trip and a visit to Yellowstone Park. I'm hoping to see some wild life, and I'm looking forward to cool weather. (It's supposed to get down into the low 40s at night. Doesn't that sound glorious?!) I'm sure you all wish you were me right now.

MICU part 2

I have learned a lot on this subinternship. I thought I would learn a lot about the administrative stuff, writing orders, all that crap. I have, but I've also learned a lot about thinking about disease. Consider the following comparison: treatment of disease is like hiking through the forest. At the beginnig of my third year, I was barely able to recognize anything abnormal, to notice that there were trees in this forest as 'twere. I was too focussed on walking along the path and getting the motions of a physical down. By the end of third year and where I am now, I can see trees, and occaisionally discern between types of trees. I can now recognize when something is abnormal and know what to do about it. But I still see a lot of individual trees. What my attending does which I cannot, is to stand back, and say "this is a 3rd generation mixed forest of deciduous and coniferous trees, typical of the pacific northwest, most specifically the costal region between latitude 35 and 50 degrees north. I can say "this guy is hypotensive, hyponatremic, hyperkalemic, is covered in non-blanching livedo, and has 2+ pitting edema of his lower extremities. He is also anuric." This pt does not immediately scream SEPSIS to me, although he does more now than he did 2 weeks ago. It's really hard to put all the pieces together and parse between the important,the urgent, and the less-important, and identify a unifying diagnosis and come up with an appropriate treatment plan. I guess that's why I'm still a student, huh? At least watching my brand new interns, I can see myself doing what they do and being able to at least function at that level.
SS

Bad things happen at night

It's true. I'm on my medical ICU rotation right now (MICU) and I'm on overnight call every 4th night. I usually sleep for 2-3 hours a night when I'm on, and then go home at 12 or 1 the following afternoon. That adds up to about 30 hours on at once, which happens every 4 nights so I work about 75-80 hours a week. This is a foreshadowing of internship. I have had two firsts for my medical career during this rotation.

Last tuesday night, we got a transfer from an outside hospital. It was an 84 year old lady with a history of small bowel obstruction, dementia, and coronary artery disease. She arrived on a levophed drip (powerful vasoconstrictive medication for maintenance of blood pressure), and intubated. Her family had allegedly retracted her DNR status and now wanted a full court press. We were barely able to get a femoral arterial line in, and when we checked the CT from the outside hospital, it confirmed our clinical suspicion that the bulk of her bowel was dead. Surgery was reluctant to take her to the OR, for the obvious reason that she would likely not survive her operation. We contacted her family and they informed us that they wished us to withdraw care, which we did. She expired about 10 minutes later as we watched.

Four nights ago we received a call that one of our patients was seizing, had probably aspirated, and was now becoming bradycardic (her heart was slowing). We ran upstairs, started bag masking her, and had to begin CPR. After several rounds of vasoactive drugs, her heart actualy started beating again and she returned to her baseline, which was incredible. This was my first experience in a code and I'm glad that I did 6 weeks of anesthesia to practice bag masking pt's, since that was my job.

MICU has been quite intense, that's for sure. I do enjoy the complexity of these patients, but caring for them is like trying to replace the transmission in a truck, at night, by flashlight, at gunpoint, when you're a bicycle mechanic. It's really hard for me to see the big picture, I can spot many of the abnormalities, and piece some of the parts together, but placing all of them together as part of a coherent whole is far beyond my current knowledge base.
Spiff.

What's On My Mind

We're back from a much-needed and great vacation to Michigan. We saw some family and spent time with some wonderful friends. We left the cabin with mixed feelings, being ready to be off of vacation, but not ready to leave our friends who live far from us. We were not quite ready to start life again, and were wishing for a few more days to decompress at home before Spiff started into 4th year.

But, we got home, and he started right up. Starting 4th year is sort of a strange thing. For the first time, he isn't starting up the same big thing as the rest of his class. Everyone picks their own schedules for 4th year, and so everyone has something different to start off the year. Some of his classmates are studying for and taking Step 2. Some are doing research electives. Some are out of town. Some are doing dissection with a very flexible schedule. And some, like Spiff, started off the year with a bang by doing an intense sub-internship. He is in the MICU (adult intensive care unit), and he is on a Q4 overnight call schedule for three weeks. The means that he has to spend the night at the hospital every fourth night for three weeks. It's pretty intense, he has to do a whole ton of rounding (like 8-12 hour each day!), and he's tired. I know there are residencies that do this kind of schedule for several years in a row, so I can't complain, but it's still a tough thing to start up with.

And then in just two weeks, Spiff heads up to Rochester, MN for a 4-week anesthesia away rotation. Gunner and I will be leaving to visit my family for those four weeks, and while Spiff is enjoying a nice, month-long interview process, I will be enjoying my family. We will be camping and visiting Yellowstone (which I haven't seen for 11 years). I will also be running this event with my sister. I'm not in very good shape, so I'm a bit nervous to tackle the distance and altitude. But as long as the team doesn't care that I'm super slow, I'm just excited to do such a cool event with one of my favorite running partners ever!

Also, we're enjoying Spiff's sister, Mhana's, adventures while she researches doctoral paper material in France for the Summer. Check out her blog here. She writes good, that one.

I also recently found out that one of my good friends from college has breast cancer. It has spread to her bones and is incurable, although the doctors say it is treatable. She is only 33, has a wonderful husband who loves her, and has three little kids. I can't stop thinking about her and how unfair the situation is. I keep praying that her treatment will give her years with her children, but it even that doesn't seem good enough. I want her to grow old with her sweet husband. I want her to see her children to adulthood. I feel so helpless. And I am already grieving for her.

Spiff and I have discussed many times recently how we seem to have so many good friends who are going through terrible trials in their lives. My friend with cancer, another good friend who's pregnant wife had cancer on her tongue (thank goodness it was taken out and she is cancer free for now), good friends with infertility problems, friends who's children have been diagnosed with serious health problems. They have all been on my mind and in my prayers. While I am so grateful for my own family's current health, I find myself feeling guilty being grateful that it's not me. At least for now.

I feel so helpless. I wish I could do more for these people I love so much, and each and every one of them have been shining examples of how we should handle trials that come our way. They rely on the Lord. They share their experiences with those who love them, so that we can all at least pray for them. I'm sure they suffer more than they show, but they certainly do seem to handle things better than the way I imagine myself handling similar situations if I faced them.

And that is what I have been thinking about lately. Now I'm going to bed. Hopefully Spiff can get a few hours of sleep in the on-call room at the ICU tonight.

OB-GYN part 1

It seems fitting that a specialty which refers to itself with a five letter abbreviation is one that is chock full of abbreviations, to the point that our syllabus was annotated with a glossary. I imagine this is some subconcious throw-back to the days when physicians spoke in latin both to impress their patients and to conceal their thoughts. Here's a sample:

CC: VB for 2hr
HPI: HC is a 38 yo G4P3103 at 37w5d c/o spontaneous VB this afternoon after waking from a nap. She denies any LOF, d/c, and has postive FM. Pt denies pain, no h/a, dizziness, RUQ pain, or VC. Pt only c/o BRB with dime sized clots. Denies any dysuria, pyuria, hematuria, no n/v/d.

Gyn Hx:
Pap-no hx of abnl pap
STI: neg trich, GC, CT, HIV.
Sx: LTCS for FTP

OB:
G1: 2001 IOL for dates at 41, F 6#7
G2: 2003 SVD at 33 F 4#1
G3: 2005 LTCS a 38 for FTP F 6#9
G4: current, pt desires TOLAC.

Med Hx: none
Sx: LTCS
Rx: PNV and Fe
Allergies: NKDA
Fmhx:
BrCA: mother, maternal aunt, MGM,
CAD: PGF
DM: mother, MGF

A/P
Pt is 38 G4P3103 c/o VB.
1. U/S
2. FFN, CBC,
3. consider MFM consult.


For the medical purists out there, I know that this is an incomplete H &P and that the assessment and plan are incomplete, but I'm illustrating a point. Here is a prose version:

HC is a 38 year old female with a history of 4 pregnancies, 3 deliveries, 2 term and one premature. She has a complaint of vaginal bleeding. She denies any loss of fluid, vaginal discharge (i.e. purulent discharge), and has felt fetal movement. Patient does not complain of a headache, right upper quadrant abdominal tenderness or vision changes.

Gynecological history:
patient has never had an abnormal pap smear
-no sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomonas, or human immunodeficiency virus.
-Her only procedure was a low transverse cesarean section
Obstetrical history:
-G= pregnancy
SVD= spontaneous vaginal delivery
IOL = induction of labor
x#y= lbs and oz
TOLAC= trial of labor after c-section

Family history:
MGM= maternal grandmother
CAD: coronary artery disease
DM: diabetes mellitus.
BrCa: breast cancer

NKDA: no known drug allergies
FFN: fetal fibronectin a test than can help predict the probablility of labor or rupture of fetal membranes.
MFM: maternal fetal medicine: high risk OB doctors.
U/S: ultrasound.


A lot of these abbreviations are very standard, but the OB specific ones can be challenging, especially since they can be interpreted multiple ways i.e. VB could mean vaginal birth, or vaginal bleeding. Mostly there has been a movement towards the standardization of abbreviations in medicine as well as a decrease in their use overall, but OB is a lone holdout.

My Portable Fomite

I wear a short white coat that I loathe. I have had it since my first day of medical school and have worn it nearly 6 days a week for the last calendar year. Sometimes I'm better at washing it than others. It has some ring around the collar, numerous ink stains in the breast pocket, and two pockets that are in the process of being torn off, and stained cuffs. It weighs between 6 and 7 pounds.
Contents:
Breast pocket: 1 cracked cheap-o school logo pen.
1 stolen Bic pen.
pocket lint.
Maxwell's pocket guide.
2007 Tarascon's Pharmacopia
1 pen light.
2 ID badges in a semi-opaque holder.
1 monofilament in badge holder.

Left inner pocket:
2009 Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial therapy
Pocket Medicine 3rd edition.
2 old H&P pages with notes.

Left outer pocket:
1 Littman Cardio 3 stethoscope with freebie Army light attached in the likely event that the penlight craps out.

Right inner pocket:
1 FACTS card (little card that I have to get signed periodically during a rotation)
1 gestational age wheel
1 old tongue depressor still in wrapper
2 procedure cards (similar to FACTS card)
2 scholarly papers
4 old H&P's
1 bandaid in wrapper.

Right outer pocket:
study book du jour, in this case Case Files for OB-GYN
2 current H&P's
1 more scholarly paper
1 page of notes from lecture
Sometimes a reflex hammer and tuning forks, depending on how likely I think it is that I'll do a neuro exam (usually these stay safely in my bag or even more safely in my locker 7 miles from the hospital).

Sleeves: miscellaneous dirt, MRSA, VRE, cruddies.


This little gem is my friend for another year, after which I can swap it for a longer version. After I graduate I am going to dowse this one in kerosene and set it on fire, both for sanitataion and catharsis.
-Spiff.

Gunneropolis

Gunner loves cars, and he has recently taken to driving them around on little "tracks". He uses anything that makes for a good road, including the circle on a See 'n Say, the straps on Spiff's school bag, and the tiny little loop on the base of a stacking toy. He's actually pretty creative. It has made me want to buy a new toy for him, a race track or road, something that would probably cost $20-70 that we shouldn't spend on a toy.

Today, my awesome friend, Maggie, helped me make this:
If you can't tell, it's a cuddly little felt town with roads for driving little cars around on, complete with red fire station, blue police station, gray library, pond w/ park benches, and a gazebo in some lucky person's backyard (lower left). I'll call it Gunneropolis. He loves it. I love it. It was fun to make, and it cost about $3.

Thanks, Maggie! Drive on, Gunner!

Lightbulb

Okay, two things before I tell my story:
1. I recently got out some toys for Gunner that I had kept hidden for a while. It is a set of pretend food and dishes. I got them for him for Christmas, and I hid them for a while because I was tired of picking them up off the floor.

2. Gunner loves helping me when I cook and bake. His job is to dump cupfuls and spoonfuls of ingredients into a bowl. He is always right there by my side when I make cookies, dumping in the salt and baking powder. Sometimes he doesn't get the dumping action quite right and gets a facefull of flour, to his great dismay, and my great entertainment! Of course, he enjoys the perk at the end of mixing of licking the beaters.

Alright, on to my story. I made dinner rolls the other day, and as usual, he was right by my side on a kitchen chair, helping me out. As I was rolling out and shaping the dough, with my rolling pin and pizza cutter, he gasped, climbed off the chair, and ran out of the kitchen. I thought he was just tired of baking or just excited to play with his long-lost toys. Then he returned with this:
I gave him his own little piece of dough to cut. Man, I stinkin' love watching him figure things out!

Potty Talk

Let me begin this little discussion by stating that I have no intention of potty training my son for a long while, so I'm not really looking for actual potty training advice at this time. That being said...

Gunner has been very interested in the potty lately. He plays "Pretend Potty" by having us help him sit on the potty and go through the motions with him. He runs to the potty after doing some business in his diaper to show us that he knows relatively what it's all about. He also runs up to me after I have done my business on the potty to help me pull up my pants. (Is this too much information? I don't know since I have forgotten what it's like to have any privacy.)

The other day, Gunner and I had a 10-minute conversation about the potty. He initiated this discussion by pointing at the potty, turning around, scooting his little tushy up to it, and the swinging a leg up, like he was saying, "I'm going to sit on this thing, now." So I helped him on, he sat there for a few seconds, and then hopped off. Then he sat on the floor with me and told me lots of baby-babbled stuff about the potty. Then he stood up, backed up to the toilet, swung his leg up, and sat back down on it. He continued this routine for several rounds. The whole thing was very endearing.

He is very obviously interested in the potty. I would like to fuel his interest and keep him excited about the potty, without actually potty training him yet. We have talked about getting him his own little potty, but a friend suggested getting a toddler-sized seat that connects right to the actual toilet seat instead.

So I am wondering what people's opinions and experiences are with their little ones. How did you fuel any existing interest? What devices/products did you use? And where do I find these gems?

Countdown

Wowzah, it's been hard to think of something to blog about lately. It's the end of 3rd year, and I'm really feeling it. My patience is low, my creativity is almost nonexistent, and I can hardly wait the two weeks for Spiff to be done with his OB/GYN rotation which marks the end of 3rd year and the beginning of a two-week vacation!!! I feel like a kid who just can't quite wait for Christmas. Maybe I should make a paper chain.

Before this turns into a total whine session, I'll write about some of the things we've been up to.

Spiff participated in his first triathlon a few weeks ago. It was a mini-tri, with a 200 yard swim, 9 mile bike ride, and 2 mile run. He said that the pool was very warm and the bike/run route was very hilly, and it was hot and sunny. But he had a good time and finished in 52 minutes, which put him at 5th in his 20-29 age group. Not bad for a first try!

I am amazed at how grown-up Gunner is these days. He is becoming so independent, and he knows what a big kid he is. He knows his body parts, he loves reading with us, and he loves, loves, loves being outside. He is also coming up with a whole bunch of new words. My favorite new ones:

Larli (Charlotte...his very best friend in the whole world)

Gah gahn (all gone)

Lellow (yellow)

Gaing (again)

Mmbomeh or Bubby (bummy/bum/tushy)

Our primary class is going well. Thank you for all of your fabulous suggestions! We have some great kids in our class, and I've actually been enjoying it. The 4-5 year olds are a whole lot different than the 2-3 year old nursery kids. The main differences are their capacity to color for a long period of time, and the fact that they want to tell us all kinds of stories. They ask over and over again if they can tell us something, and if we tell them to wait (for the sake of some kind of continuity in the lesson), they completely tune us out while they hold onto their thought. They wait for a pause in the lesson and then say, "NOW can I tell you something?"

Their stories are cute but hard to listen to. They ramble, and there is hardly ever a point. One time last week, we tried to wrap up a little girl's story by saying, "Alright, thank you." And she yelled at us, "I'm Not Finished Yet!!!"

Okay! Sorry to offend. Go right on and finish. We're all ears.

My favorite quote of the class so far:

Spiff asked, "Why should we obey our parents?"

One kid responded, "So we can get stickers."

Anyway, we're one day closer to the end of 3rd year. I can't believe Spiff is almost a 4th year! I'm going to go make my paper chain now.