Catching up

If you haven't noticed, it's been a while since my last post. Practicum has been taking over most of my free time and being at the hospital full time, managing school work, and being mommy hasn't left much time to post! Fortunately, I completed my practicum on Wednesday which allows for much more family time and catching up on things like blogging.

Now the task at hand is finding me a job. All of my applications at the Columbia hospitals have been submitted, but because of the job market I am going to apply to the hospitals in Jefferson City (about 45 minutes away) as well. I would really like to be in the Intensive Care Nursery (ICN -- same as the NICU) at Boone Hospital, which is where I had Cohen, so I have been shadowing there when I can.

I have really enjoyed my time on Medical Oncology during practicum, though as one might suspect, it is a very difficult place to work. I have watched people my age be diagnosed and have a poor prognosis, patients that I have cared for die, and really learned a lot about what death means and what my place is in caring for these patients. If I were to work with adults I would prefer to be on a Medical Oncology floor because it is totally different from a Med-Surg floor. However, I LOVE BABIES. I have shadowed labor and delivery, postpartum, well baby, pediatrics, and the ICN and I would love to be anywhere the babies are. I find the more critical cases more interesting, but I'll take the babies wherever I can get them! :)

That is what is happening with me as our family transitions to "the real world" after so much time in school. We are all excited to see what the next few months hold and enjoy Cohen's first birthday without the weight of school work and other obligations related to that. I will still need to sit for boards, but that won't be until June at the earliest. Can you believe it's almost been a year already? Where did the time go?!

Piano man

M-I-Z....Z-O-U!

On Saturday we played Kansas and, in a very close game (74-71), WON! Cohen showed his tiger spirit all day long. Have you ever seen a cuter tiger fan?!

Out for a stroll....

The weather was so warm again last week, we decided to take advantage and go for an evening walk. I am getting antsy for spring to officially get here so we can go on walks more often!

Cohen and Emma

Even when I was pregnant, Emma loved Cohen. She would lay all over my belly at every opportunity. When we brought him home she always had a watchful eye on him, letting us know if she felt he needed something. Oscar likes Cohen, but seems more indifferent towards him. He will get down and play with Cohen, but he acts totally different with him than Emma does -- she is far more interactive. Now Cohen can chase Emma around the house and she plays with him all the time. Oscar seems to like that Emma isn't nagging him so much to play with her!

 April 2011

 He was having so much fun playing in his crib, Emma was barking because she wanted to play with him.

 So I let her play. Boy, I am a sucker!

 "Mommy, is she supposed to be in here?"

Perfecting the pincer grasp

As he gains more and more independence, Cohen is anxious to try anything and everything new. Last week we really started working on perfecting his pincer grasp and letting him feed himself. He was a little "handsy" initially, but now he's got it down. He eats those little puffs like a mad man now!

Giving up the pacifier

Cohen has made it very obvious this past week that he wants the pacifier to play with and that it is no longer a need. So, we are trying our best to get rid of it all together. We have nothing against pacifiers, but we do plan to have more kids and we don't want him stealing a new baby's pacifier. He actually took the pacifier out of another little girls mouth the other day and tried to use it -- time for the paci to go!

So far, the transition hasn't been terrible. He spends a little extra time fussing at nap and bed time, but he is getting more comfortable with going to sleep without it every day. We have 2 pacifiers, the one that we kept in his crib for nap and bed time and the one attached to his car seat (which sits in our family room when not in use). When we decided it was time to forfeit his pacifier, I put the pacifier from his crib in his dresser. Not thinking about the one attached to his car seat, I caught this smart little monkey tipping the car seat over to get to his pacifier and (while still attached to the strap) trying to crawl away with it!

BUSTED! These pictures were taken about a week ago and he really has made great progress. As I type this he is singing to himself in his crib to go to sleep for his morning nap. Mommy likes that much better than the screaming and crying that was happening last week at nap time!