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.
