ACHE Conference - Chicago

This past week Desirae had to go it alone from Sunday afternoon until late Wednesday night since I was in Chicago for an ACHE Conference. I had a great time catching up with some USC classmates and attending a variety of classes about healthcare. One of the more important things that I did was go out to dinner with the Chief Executive and VP of Operations at Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla.  I've applied for a permanent position there (my fellowship is only for a year and it's over at the end of June). We ate a great restaurant called Hugos. It shares a kitchen with the famous Gibson's in the Rush Street section of town.  I had a great meal and was able to get to know my future boss better ;)
This is the lovely view from my room in the Blackstone, A Renaissance Hotel (Marriott) which was located across the street from the Hilton, Chicago.
I think that it's been newly remodeled since it had nice granite counter tops and an decent sized LCD TV.

This is a picture of part of the Lobby in the Chicago Hilton where the conference was hosted.  It was very lavish.  My preceptor and boss, Chris Van Gorder, is the chairman elect so he was staying in one of the suites.  He invited all of us from Scripps to come up to his room for drinks and to chat one evening.  His room was huge!  I think it was a quarter of the hotel floor.  He was told that many dignitaries had stayed in that room over the years.  Some notable names included Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.  

During one of my breaks between classes, I went down to the exhibit area where several schools with MHA programs were represented.  Since I knew that Eric had applied to UAB and VCU, I decided to visit their booths and ask them some questions about their programs.  In speaking with them I mentioned that my younger brother had applied and I was pleasantly surprised to find that a student from each school had interviewed Eric.  The guy from UAB seemed really excited about Eric so I thought that was a good sign.  Come to find out that was definitely the case since Eric got a call on Friday with the great news that he has been accepted to UAB's MHA program. (Congratulations, Eric!)  

On Tuesday night, Kim's family came into the big city and we all went out to eat at the food court in the mall.  Afterwards we went to the American Girl doll shop (one of only two in the nation) and a few other stores before going on a car tour of the city.  We went by Wrigley Field and Sears Tower.  Despite the limited time it was great to see all of the Fowlers.  If I had been better about planning things, I would have taken a class on Thursday morning and flown back to San Diego on Thursday night so I could have spent more time with the Fowlers.  (There's always next year).

Overall, I think it was a great conference and I look forward to meeting up with Eric one of these years.

Zoo

Stephen and I got zoo passes last summer, so I decided to use them again because Brooklyn is an animal lover, I have a double stroller that I need to get some use out of, and I could use the exercise (mostly the last one)!  (Speaking of working out, Brooklyn's got a cute booty!  I don't know where she gets it from!  Maybe it's just the stretch pants that make it look cute...)

 

First stop:  the camels.
Next up: the bears.  They're the official animal of the state of California.  So cute!
The giraffe.  I love how easy they are to see, those long necks come in handy strictly for public-viewing purposes!   
Last but not least, the armored-looking rhinos.  Did you know that the extra folds of skin increase the surface area and and provide built-in shade?  Me neither, until I read it in the Zoonooz magazine that comes in the mail as a benefit of our membership.  Their skin is also sensitive to insect bites and sunburn, so wallowing in the mud part of their healthy beauty regimen! 

I would have taken more pictures if my camera's battery didn't die on me!  It was fun quizzing Brooklyn on the way out, trying to see how many of the animals we saw that she remembered.  Here are a few of the things we saw:  bears, birds, camels, cats, elephants, flamingos, giraffes, kangaroos/wallabies, koalas, lions, monkeys, pigs.  Next time we'll have to make it to the polar bears, giant pandas, gorillas, reptiles, tigers, zebras, and the children's zoo, which includes a "petting paddock".  We also learned overhearing one of the tour buses, that koalas sleep about 20 hours every day!  We also saw the cutest little family of monkeys.  The mom and dad were holding the baby because it wasn't strong enough to swing from the branches alone.  I definitely think we'll have to go back soon.  The Wild Animal Park, different location, same pass, has a cool butterfly exhibit next month that we'll have to check out.  Hopefully we'll get some cool pic's there!  After going there, I totally feel like watching Madagascar!  I love the part when one of the animals, the giraffe, I think, is convinced that they've been relocated to the San Diego zoo. 

Beach House, Part 1

Life is really rough when you live a few blocks from a San Diego beach.  This we know because we "house-sat" for one of Stephen's coworkers last week who lives in Ocean Beach.  This cozy abode is a few blocks away from the sandy ocean, and a 5-minute drive from each of the following:  Sea World, the zoo, "old town," downtown, the airport, a sports arena, and at least 3 major shopping malls, to name a few things.  It is also near the wonderful Mission Bay and just next to Coronado Island, famous for the resort-style Hotel Del Coronado.  Did I mention that Stephen and I stayed in San Diego on our honeymoon?  It's a cool place to sight see or just relax.  

On Saturday morning, Stephen decided to walk to the beach with Brooklyn since he hadn't seen it yet and he wanted to know just how close it really was.  (Brooklyn and I had already cruised down earlier in the week on a short stroller ride)  Here's a summary of their hour or hour and a half adventure:

#1 (Above) Depart from house with sand-toy wagon.
#2 Arrive at beach.
#3 Ditch shoes, roll up pants, and build a sand castle.
#4  Romp around in the sand.
 

Beach House, part 2

#5  Destroy castle.
#6  Chase birds.  
#7  Return home with stickers on eyes and tell mom all about our trip!

I don't know why people think they need a vacation when they live here!  Unless of course, they can afford it.  In the meantime, our family will stick with the "stay-cation" of house-sitting unless someone in the family decides to get married or something... 

First Pet

Our BIG b-day gift for Brooklyn this year was supposed to be a fish, but because we got all caught up Disneylanding and house-sitting last week, the big birthday gift was postponed.  The fish finally made it home (from Stephen's work, where it has been living previously, with one of his co-workers) a week after her Brooklyn's big day.  We are actually the adoptive family because if there was a humane society for fish, it just might have ended up there.  Probably not, it was very well taken care of, but the owner was just done with it, I guess!  That's where we come into the picture...

It was probably better that we spread out the birthday fun, because this little beta fish has been a HUGE hit in our home.  I think Brooklyn is the happiest first time-pet owner I've ever seen!  Just look at that face!
Notice in the picture how there are 2 containers.  That's because Stephen decided to clean out the fish's home and transport the fish to our house in a less crowded container.  The fish bowl has some cool scenery stuff and a "hollow log", etc.  After scrubbing down the tank, Stephen decides to spoon out the fish to replace it in its home.  I was pretty nervous about this.  I had to leave the room and hold my breath. My fears were not assuaged by the things I heard next.  "Uh-oh! Dang it!  He went down the drain!"  No! No! No!  Worst case scenario!  Get her all jazzed about the fish and kill it before we even enjoy it!  Then, "Wait! He made it!  Come here, Oh... Oh!"

Me from the other room, "What's going on in there?!"

No response.

Long pause.

"Got it!"

Huge sighs of relief.  The fish litterally flipped out of the bowl, the spoon, and into the kitchen sink.  It disappeared.  There was another bowl in the sink, a big silver mixing bowl from dinner that was dirty but soaking up some dishwater.  I think this was partially covering the drain.  Needless to say, the fish disappeared, but finally was caught by Stephen who then RINSED him off in RUNNING tap water!  Wow.  What a trip!  Stephen and I both just stared at each other, our eyes huge with amazement.  We sounded like a broken record, I'm sure, "I can't believe he made it!"

Rewind.  Stephen,"Brooklyn, what should we name our new fish?" 

Hesitation... We knew this name choice would be very telling.  I thought Brooklyn would choose the name of a favorite friend or cousin.  We were both surprised by her response.

"Cookie."

Now I'm wondering if she just happened to notice some of these on the counter and was distractedly asking for one, but at any rate, the name stuck.

After some discussion later, we believe the name may have come from the similarity between the eyes of the fish and the eyes of Sesame Street's Cookie Monster.  Both are big bug-eyed creatures, but then again, so is Ian.

Here are some of the observations Brooklyn made about Cookie the first few minutes after he first settled (safely - whew!) into his cleaned home:

"Fish don't talk"

"Is that his bed?"

"Move around, Cookie!"

"He's smelling around."

"He stopped moving!"

"He's too vizzy..." (translation, vizzy= tired, like when I'm too busy to help Brooklyn, she translates that to me being tired.)

"I'm not happy about this!" (After being put into time-out on the stairs when she disobeyed us by feeding Cookie)

Besides a fun pet, Cookie makes a great catch for discipline tactics!  All we have to do is threaten to take the fish out of Brooklyn's room for her to immediately turn off the water works at bedtime or naptime!  Brooklyn likes to think that she and Ian and Cookie all sleep together in the same room.  Sometimes we bring Cookie (and the bowl) onto the kitchen table to hang out with us during the day while Ian is napping.  

One thing for sure, so far this fish has been one tough Cookie!

Four Months

Ian loves being entertained by his big sister.  It's sometimes hard to keep her out of these monthly photo shoots, though.  She will gets right up in his face and mimic whatever goofy thing I say.  

Stuff he enjoys doing, besides watching his sister: going on stroller walks, chillin' in the baby pouch as I walk around the park or outdoor mall by our apartment, "talking" to people, laughing when being tickled or playing peek-a-boo, sucking on his fingers, kicking his legs out, and watching his appendages move because he is figuring out that they are attached and he can somewhat manipulate them.

Brooklyn recently reported to us, "You call him Sweetie Pie, I call him Buddy Boy, and Dad calls him Ian."  I love how Brooklyn is also his spokesperson.  She will totally interrupt her own prayer to verbalize what she supposes he is thinking.  For example, (prayer begins) "Ian says, 'huh? I wanna say the prayer Brookie!' No Ian, I'm saying the prayer" (prayer continues).  She also "translates" his cries for me, often animatedly.   "He says, 'Mommy, I want milk!' " or "He's just tired."  

My attempts to civilize him have all been in vain.  Only his fingers and burp rags or receiving blankets make sufficient chew toys.  Brightly colored, store-bought, child-proof chew toys have been met with looks of "no thanks, not interested." Well, at least his own appendages are always handy!  He also likes watching Curious George sometimes in the morning with Brookie or a few scenes of an "action" movie with Dad in the evenings after work!

We'll see what his official height and weight stats are tomorrow when we go in for his 4-month check-up, but my guess is that he's about 15 pounds and, maybe 25 or 26 inches, really I have no clue, so we'll see!  I can't say the kid doesn't eat well! 

3 Months, Nearly a Month Ago!

We are happy to report that these irresistible smiles are not hard to come by...

The picture below was on the actual 3 month date, but after taking this one "serious" shot, the camera turned off because it was out of battery!  One little girl has asked, "Does he blink?"  Yes, but his big eyes are so OPEN all of the time!  He looks like he's permanently surprised or shocked, unless he's smiling or laughing. We prefer the happy over the serious face.