April 2, 2009
by marfmom
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Vroom, Vroom

I think I’ve figured out why my blood pressure is still not totally back to normal. I’ve decided at this point it has little to do with my recovering from childbirth and everything to do with driving in California. Today I had to drive Menininho to the pediatrician (about a 25 min. drive) to get him checked for reflux (which he unfortunately has). Over the course of my trip there and back:

# of times I was cut off: 2
# of times I was stuck behind a car going at least 10 mph BELOW the speed limit: 3
# of times I got lost on the way to the doctor: 1
# of times I got lost on the way home from the doctor: 2

*Sigh*

March 30, 2009
by marfmom
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Sunday Nap

This afternoon, we all decided to take a post-church nap (well, Mark and the baby decided…I just kind of found myself half awake on the couch in a puddle of drool and decided it was better to close my eyes again). After I awoke for real (and from a weird dream where I was BFFs with Ellen deGeneres and Portia de Rossi and helped Ellen get done up for their wedding), I went into the bedroom and found:

– Mark asleep on the bed

– Menininho (my Hungry Caterpillar) swaddled and asleep in his car seat

– and Oliver, looking at my sleepily with one eye open, trying to be casual, asleep in the bassinet

Wish I’d had the camera on me!

March 28, 2009
by marfmom
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Library

It’s been really nice having Mark work from home this week. We’ve eaten lunch together every day, he’s had more time to play with Menininho, and we’ve been able to make a quick trip here or there as a family. Yesterday, our trip was to the Milpitas library!

I’ve been craving some non-baby related reading as of late, and Mark being home to help with Menininho was the perfect opportunity to check out the library. You see, I know at some point I am going to be rejoining the work force, and part of me is afraid that when I do, I will not only have lost all connection to my field (public health) but also the ability to carry on an adult conversation. So, thanks to a conversation on healthcare reform with my friend Fi over Facebook, I decided to start reading the New York Times Healthcare section to Menininho.

(I know you are wondering what this has to do with the library, but bare with me.)

Last week was also Match Day, when all the 4th year med students find out where they will be spending their residency. Having just left a ward full of med students, I was very excited to hear where everyone was matched to. The NYT also did a big piece on Match Day, and it was in the main article that I read about the book Match Day by Brian Eule. I decided I had to read it because the whole idea of the Match Process and the psychological implications of it are interesting to me.

Anyway, I needed to go to the library to get a card so I could put out a request for the book. Since this was Menininho’s first trip to a library, I felt the need to bring along the camera.

From the outside, the library is so large it looks like it could *almost* rival Columbus Metropolitan Library. In fact, they even have a firetruck on display.

Inside however…well…there is a lot of empty space. I’m hoping this means they are planning on adding to their collections. There was an OK sized healthcare section. I checked out The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, by Anne Fadiman, and Ana’s Story, by Jenna Bush (the latter of which I’ve already finished and have to say I was not particularly impressed by, though it wasn’t bad).

Anyway, we had a great time at the library and can’t wait to go back and get more books! I hope that we can instill in Menininho a love of reading, too.