Fort Point

Nikkor 12-24 @12mm f/4, 2.5 sec

Nikkor 12-24 @17mm f/22, 1 sec

Nikkor 12-24 @14mm f/4, 2.5 sec

Oh muh goodness, it's Christmas.

The only thing more fun than Christmas as a kid is Christmas with your kids. Seth had some priceless one-liners this year. Maybe he's just funny to his parents, but the kid cracks me up. Everytime he opened a gift he exclaimed "Oh muh goodness!" Here is a video montage of our Christmas.


Classic Ada at the park on Christmas Eve:

Ho ho ho

Seth: "I wanna ga-bage man, an a ga-bage twuck, and an etsdavayda...ya." (said at light speed in about 1.5 seconds)
Santa: "?"
Lindsay: "A garbage man with his truck, and an excavator."
Santa: "anything else?"
Seth: "and a boowdoza"

Winter tree (night)

Nikkor 12-24 @12mm, f/14, 30 seconds

Wind N Sea

Nikkor 12-24 @12mm, f/22, 1 second

My wife says this is a Rutman look on her face...

A Goodbye

A couple weekends ago we attended the funeral for my last surviving grandparent, "Grammy" as she liked to be called. Alhough she just recently passed, Alzheimer's disease took the woman I knew away several years ago. Her funeral was like a subdued family reunion where we were glad we could get together and talk about our memories. A few of mine:

• She had a terrific belly laugh and loved the Reader's Digest jokes.
  
• She seemed to think most ailments were related to GI regularity. I don't think my brothers nor I could ever show any signs of suffering in her presence whithout being asked if we had had our daily BM. I clearly remember hiding a stiff neck from her because I feared she would try to treat it with an enema.
  
• She was very outgoing and talked to EVERYONE in public (or at least it seemed like it to a shy, embarrassed kid).
  
• I loved the red, white, and blue pioneer bonnet she'd wear to 4th of July parades. I thought it was SO cool, but looking back on that, what was she thinking? When you're as pretty as she was, you can get away with a lot.

Goodbye Grammy, and thanks for the good times.

Black Friday in La Jolla

It's beginning to look like autumn/winter around here...

Hey ya.

In case you need help getting in the holiday spirit:

Ada update

This is what she looks like now.

This chick is toast!

If you have no interest in watching some of the best ghostbusters quotes for over 5 minutes, fast forward to 4:15 in this video

to understand what seth is saying in this video:

And in response to Lindsay's previous post, I totally would have dressed up for Halloween if only she would have agreed to wear this costume.

Maybe now you'll never slime a guy with a positron collider eh?

I think Halloween is really fun. The day I married Aaron (who would never be caught dead in a costume or anything that would encourage people to look at him), my costume-wearing days fizzled out. I just feel silly going all out on a costume and going to a party with a guy in a t-shirt and jeans. Dressing the kids up is even more fun though. Plus, at their age, they have no costume requests, so we can dress them up how WE want.
Being the Bill Murray fans that we are, Ghostbusters is in our top 10 comedies of all time. As I've been prepping Seth for Halloween, we've been watching it. He loves the scene where "the green ghost ate all the hot dogs!" Our love for all the great lines has been renewed. (Example: Rick Moranis to Sigourney Weaver-- “I taped ‘20 Minute Workout’ on my machine and played it back at high speed so it only took 10 minutes. I got a great workout.”) Anyway, it's been a fun couple of weeks as Aaron and I created a proton pack out of Dollar Store junk, and Seth's been running around the house asking--"where's the keymaster?"

We also threw in the yearly tradition of making caramel apples. I decided to let the caramel cook to a little higher temperature, hoping it wouldn't just pool at the bottom of the apples this year. The result was jaw-breaker caramel that coated the entire apple, but peeled right off. At least it was delicious. Some year I'll get it right.

Pumpkin patch

Although for me it's generally true that every moment is a photo op, I think it's generally understood that if you don't have pictures of your kids at the pumpkin patch you're a failure as a parent.

We went to the Del Mar pumpkin patch yesterday. Seth very much enjoyed the overpriced rides--the joy on his face was priceless.


Ada enjoyed herself as well.

Ironically, we decided that the pumpkins were too pricey at $10 for a regular sized gourd. So we had fun on the rides,

and then got pumpkins for a couple bucks at the grocery store.

Scripps Pier, La Jolla

Nikkor 12-24 @12mm, f/10, 1/400


Nikkor 12-24 @12mm, f/8, 1/250


Nikkor 12-24 @12mm, f/9, 1/320

Vacation

After my three month internal medicine rotation, I had a week off before starting my OB/GYN rotation, which I am currently two weeks into. That sentence in and of itself could produce countless blog posts, none of which would be interesting to most of the readers of this blog. Suffice to say that childbirth from the bottom end of the table involves every type of bodily fluid simultaneously, and somehow it's a beautiful thing. Anyway, I had a week off, which was pretty awesome after 70 hours/wk of work plus studying when I was home for a couple months. At the beginning of the week Lindsay's parents came down from the bay to see the kiddies, and Lindsay's brother Jeff and his family came down from Medford, OR to enjoy the zoo and seaworld and SoCal in general. Seth loved going to the beach with his grandparents, to the zoo with his cousins, and loved casually showing off to his grandfather his extensive knowledge of African ungulates, identifying everything from the gazelle, to the waterbuck, the topi, the wildebeest, the eland, the springbok, the oryx, and his personal fovorite, the kudu. (Seriously, ask him his favorite animal, he will say kudu). He also got to feed a giraffe at the zoo:

The other highlight of our week was our trip to Portland, OR with friends to go to the wedding of our close friends Jason and Olivia. We had a great time and I took a lot of pictures. Seriously, a lot of pictures. My buddy Pascual and I tag-teamed the photos for the wedding. It was a lot of work but we really had a lot of fun.


Ada at the wedding:

Other highlights from the trip include staying in a cool hotel or two, going out to breakfasts and lunches, spending time with other friends from San Diego who went to the wedding, hiking near Multnomah falls (with the aid of friends towing our kids so I could bring my camera gear), and exploring Portland (which, turns out, is a pretty cool city--a residency possibility in a couple years...?)

Multnomah Falls, OR

Nikkor 18-200mm @18mm, f/22, 1 sec


Nikkor 18-200mm @18mm, f/22, 1 sec


Nikkor 18-200mm @52mm, f/32, 1.3 sec

take me out to the ball game....

love this song, (as performed by Seth).

Notice that Seth skips the 3rd strike. He has a strange disdain for the number 3. He can count really well, but every time without fail says one, two, four, five, six, seven, etc, etc. He refuses to say 3. It's like he knows it's supposed to be there, he just leaves it out; not sure if it's out of stubbornness, spite, or if the number just rubs him the wrong way.

Blue eyes #2

I like Aaron's Birthday

Aaron just recently had a birthday. We celebrated by spending a wonderful afternoon/evening at Coronado beach and eating yummy sushi (thanks for the money mom and dad). We had so much fun that day. His parents asked him what he wanted for his birthday, and this totally melts me. He just wanted to make his wife happy. The story is this: He got me a fancy instant read thermometer for my birthday that I had been lusting after for a while (I'm such a foodie nerd). Seth destroyed it by throwing it into a sink of dishwater before I even got to use it. I was so disappointed, and we couldn't afford to get another one. So for Aaron's birthday, when his parents asked him what he wanted, he said he wanted that thermometer for me. It arrived a few days ago and works like a dream. I love it and I love the story behind it now when I use it. Happy birthday once again Aaron, and thanks for being such a sweetie.

Rats vs. Ruts

Its probably just mice, but I couldn't resist the alliteration. It's my turn to blog and the only thing on my mind the last couple of days (and keeping me up at night--as if i'm not already sleep deprived), are rodents. One of them keeps peeking out from behind my fridge as I write this! I hate how incredibly jumpy they make me. I stepped on one of Seth's little stuffed animals this morning and about had a heart attack. Everything is setting me off now. What makes them SO disturbing?
As for Seth, he just saw the mouse in our kitchen, and keeps saying "I like the mouse! He scared you! I'm not scared. Where is he?" He gets the biggest kick out of watching me squirm and shriek. (It IS pretty ridiculous).I'm with Mitch Hedberg, why can't I get a koala infestation?

Ada is getting bigger too

Ada is now intermittently eating solids:


And from time to time she gets lessons in good hygiene from her brother, who also learned this lesson early. I'm not sure what's more awesome--Seth deciding to shove an electric toothbrush into a toothless baby's mouth, or the fact that Ada's loving every second of it.

Getting bigger

Seth loves to watch the big kids play hockey and ice skate at the UTC mall ice rink a few minutes from our house. He wants so badly to get bigger so he can go on the ice too. Whenever we tell him he's small, he says "but I'm getting bigger!" Which is true, he is...although at a very sluggish pace. At 2 and 1/2 he still fits into clothes for 12-18 month kids. We've tried to convince him that the ultimate in bigness is defecation on the toilet and not in your pants--you know, give him something to shoot for.
Some videos of seth in the last week:

Reading one of his favorite books:


Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty (dancing to GNR):

Video

The last few months have been pretty busy, and I've not been updating the blog like I used to. We've been accumulating a bunch of videos that have just been hangin' out inside the belly of the video camera. It's time some of them see the light of day. Grandparents, enjoy.

This is a few weeks ago. Fatigue trumps hunger.


This video is 3 months old. At this rate, I think Seth will be skipping t-ball and going straight to the majors in a few years.


This video is also about three months old. I just wanted to show off how nice San Diego can be when you are not in the hospital the whole time the sun is out.

Recycled

A few months into my third year of med school, I finally found a couple spare moments to clean my corner of the room. In order to completely exorcise the demons of year one and two, I tossed three trees worth of notes and handmade notecards (recycled them actually). I suppose it would have been more satisfying to burn them, but the atmosphere doesn't need any more carbon, and I don't have a fireplace. Anyway, they're gone, whether I need them again or not. Good riddance first half of med school--you will not be missed.

I like my birthday

So, I just turned 33 and had a very enjoyable birthday. Aaron's a big online shopper, so gifts came to our front door while he was at the hospital. I was going to wait for Aaron before opening them, but there was no mistaking this baker's peel (it's kind of like a giant wooden spatula) when it showed up wrapped in black plastic. I had been wanting one because it's a nice tool to have when you're into baking pizza or rustic breads on a preheated, super hot stone (if you don't cook your pizza like this, I highly recommend it). He ordered a large one, thinking it would bring him big pizzas some day, but he didn't realize it would be THIS big. We had a decent laugh (I mean this thing's got a 3 foot handle) and Aaron said there was no way he'd let me return it because it's SO awesome. Well, I guess we'll add it to our collection--we have the hugest pepper grinder and wall clock too. I hope this doesn't start a trend of oversized gifts from friends or family who find our collection amusing. Our apartment is only so big.
My cousin and her husband, Jenn and Kris, treated us to awesome Thai food that night, as well as a delicious chocolaty dessert with raspberries. Thanks so much! Plus, our 2 year old boys had a dance party that night, much to our amusement. Those sweeties know how to cut a rug.
The next night, our incredibly thoughtful friends, Pasi and Lisa, came over to watch our kids for us so that I could enjoy some kid-free time with Aaron for my birthday. As if that wasn't awesome enough, they brought me a generous gift too. Aaron and I loved our picnic of fine cheeses (french port salut, scottish sharp white cheddar, 5 year old dutch gouda) at the beach, just the two of us.

blue eyes

da kids

Rutbullsons Unite

Our friends Sarah and Marcus, whom we met in Berkeley and have known for years, both flew to San Diego a couple weekends ago to see us. (Thanks so much for coming!) We combined our three last names and called it the Rutbullson Reunion, complete with reunion t-shirts.

Here we are playing our favorite game--Time's Up. I really should have taken a video of Marcus giving his clues, because there's no way of describing his antics with justice.

Our beach outing was memorable, but not the funnest. The dead guy next to us in the sand was a real bummer. Seriously though, it was sad. Somebody noticed that this guy laying in the sand was blue, so the lifeguards did CPR on him for a long time (thanks Aaron, for instructing those 20 year old kids who were scared to death how to correctly administer CPR). He was already beyond saving anyway. We waited for the paramedics to move the body before posing for this family photo.
We hope we can reunite again soon. Next year--Siberia! (Marcus is moving to Siberia for a year). Maybe we'll make Rutbullson Reunion ushankas (those awesome fur hats) .

Come home Dad

Now that I'm out of the classroom and working in the hospital, I no longer have the option to study/work at home. I'm usually gone when Seth wakes up in the morning so most of the time he doesn't see me until I get home later in the evening. Lindsay says he asks about me all the time, and sometimes gets upset that I'm not around. Sometimes he calls and leaves messages on my voicemail--it's usually something that makes me want to quit medicine and be a stay-at-home dad, like the above message he left last week. I haven't erased it from my phone yet.

What we're up to

Ada:

Ada's four months old now. She charms most everyone with her curls and smiles. She does the things babies her age do: rolls over, plays with toys, coos and laughs. She regularly gets mauled by her aggressively affectionate brother, but still adores him. They already seem to love each other (which totally melts me). She's really petite (not quite 11 pounds), and still eats like a newborn (ie--all the time). We're completely in love with this baby.

Seth:

Seth is always up to so much, where do I even begin? He's quite a talker these days--using full, long sentences. He's a ball of energy and wit. I'd say he's really into sports, or animals, or going to the beach, or books, but he's kind of into everything he tries (everything that doesn't involve sitting down quietly, like church). Which reminds me-- today during the first hour of church, he wanted to leave and go to the nursery where he can play with other children. I told him that he had to wait because there weren't any kids at the nursery yet. They were all in the same room with us, with their parents. He took matters into his own hands and immediately stood up on his seat and started motioning and shouting "come on kids!", trying to herd them in his direction.

One of Seth's best friends is a dog named Finn. Finn loves to fetch tennis balls, and the command to get him to release the ball into your hand is "drop it!" (Whenever Seth even sees a tennis ball he starts saying "drop it Finn!") Lately, whenever I put something in my mouth that Seth wants to eat, he tells me "drop it Mom!" I tested him on his request and spit up my half-chewed food into his hand one day. He went right ahead and ate it.

Seth has a somewhat bizarre relationship with his own legs. Periodically, I'll find him pulling at the skin on his thigh, getting really frustrated. I'll ask him what's wrong and he'll say "leg off! help mama!" I guess I'm one of those moms that's no fun, but I refuse to help my son remove his leg. (With my operating room background, I'm actually one of the few moms I know who has some experience with leg removal--but only gangrenous ones). I don't know what triggers this. It reminds me of a case I read about in an Oliver Sacks book (he's a neurologist). A patient didn't recognize his own leg and thought somebody had played a sick prank and put a severed leg in his bed. So when he went to throw this disgusting leg out of his bed, of course the rest of his body came with him. He and Seth need to talk. Anyway, sometimes Seth loves his legs. He often takes off his pants to enjoy them freely. Just today in the hallway at church, he removed his pants and said "No pants. I want legs."

Aaron:

Sweet Aaron chose a really difficult career path. Despite all his intellectual capability and talents, this past semester of medical school, followed by the medical licensing board exams nearly sent his cortisol levels (stress hormone) through the roof. We were really grateful for a 10 day break this last week. We went to the Bay Area where two sets of adoring grandparents could watch our kids so Aaron and I could have a little relaxation time together, just the two of us. We went to a Giants game (they beat the Rangers!), out to eat a few times, saw a movie, got some sleep, and of course Aaron found some time to play with his camera. It was great. Aaron starts his third year rotations tomorrow. I guess I'll be seeing him at Christmas break.

Lindsay:
In a nutshell, I'm tired, happy, and well nourished. I'll give you an example of why I'm tired. Last night, in the 5 1/2 hours that I was "in bed", I had to get up 4 times with the kids. It's a bit frustrating when I'm already getting up twice to feed Ada and Seth won't let Aaron comfort him at night lately. Oh well. I'll sleep when we're retired.
I'm happy because I've got everything I could possibly need and more. It's too mushy to go into all that thankfulness and family love stuff on the blog, but it's there.

As for being well nourished, I've become a bit of a food hobbyist, which I guess you could call a foodie. I've gotten into baking bread a lot. I mostly make 100% whole wheat, but occasionally I can't resist making a boule like the one in this picture, with a crisp crust and soft interior.

I love trying new things in the kitchen, particularly ethnic foods. Not all of it turns out, but it works out more often than not. A recent success that Aaron and I loved was this Thai coconut seafood soup. It was so pretty, Aaron had to take a picture of it. He says I should post more often on the blog about stuff I make in the kitchen. Maybe I'll feel like I can if we take photographs of Seth or Ada next to the food.