It's the Great Pumpkin!

Elijah has been trying to say "pumpkin" since we got one a couple weeks ago. It kind of sounds like "pupl;kj". But there were lots of holiday activities this weekend. Friday they did a little Halloween party at daycare where Elijah refused to wear his costume. So Saturday, Micah tried to wear it and then Elijah put it on. We went to the library where they were having a little celebration with Halloween crafts.

Then we went to the Obama rally in the neighborhood. After an hour or so of bands, we decided to head home because little monkeys do not like to wait for dinner. Good thing we did, we heard Obama didn't speak until close to 7pm (it started at 4:30).

Sunday morning, Elijah and Mama rode the bus downtown where there was a Chicagoween party. At first it seemed pretty lame but then there was a cirucs act. Acrobats, jugglers, hula hoops, jump rope and music.  Needless to say Elijah thought it was pretty cool.  He alternated between having me hold him so he could see and then wanting to get down so he could dance, and then wanting me to pick him up because he couldn't see, etc. Below is him enjoying "Thriller".

Sunday night we went trick-or-treating with some other little kids and Elijah enjoyed pointing out all the "pupalsfd" at each house.  He also loved putting the candy in his bag.  Luckily, he didn't really know what it was until later.  He also got some apple cider which he promptly inhaled and then had a dinner of mostly cheese and candy. 

Mathmatical equations and Weird questions

After doing some calculations, I have discovered that in the last 16 months, I have been unemployed for 9 months.  And if you count the last 20 months, I have not been working 12 of those months (because 3 months I was on maternity leave). Ugh, that is depressing.  Last time I was unemployeed I kept track of all the jobs I applied for because I was afraid unemployment might track me down and force me to prove I had been trying to get a job.  Last week my husband asked me if I had been doing that this time and I said no.  He said I should and keep a running tally on Facebook or Twitter or something, which did not sound like something that would boost my confidence.  But, I had to take a break from sending out resumes, so I counted it out. 

Last time around I applied for 53 jobs and had 16 interviews before landing a job.  So far, this time around, I have applied to 49 jobs and have had 14 interviews.  While it's a little disheartening to think that I have sent my resume out for 102 jobs in the last year and a half, the fact that I have had 30 interviews makes me feel pretty good about my return.  Thirty percent is a pretty respectable percentage, I feel. Now the return on interviews seems less than excellent but I can now say that I have 2 out of 30 (which is 6%) because I now have a job!!! A temporary job, but it is a job that pays real money. And if you are like most people that live on the planet earth, you know that money is pretty essential to living.

Of all of my interviews, I had the weirdest one ever this week (not for the job I just got) and that is saying a lot coming from the interview queen here.  This was described to me in an email as a "phone screen", which usually means, let us confirm you are not a crazy and that you didn't just make up all the stuff on your resume.  I prepare by looking over the job description and jotting down some notes about some areas they might ask me about. I might as well have used one of Elijah's drawings for this one.  This is how the interview started:
"Hi, is this Emily?"
"Yes"
"Is this still a good time to talk?" (it is the scheduled phone interview time)
"Yes"
"Ok. Tell me something you learned this week."
"(pause)....That's a great question...(pause)...(insert lame answer)"
"Tell me something you're curious about."
"(pause)...Wow, there are a lot of things I'm curious about...(pause)...(insert another lame answer)"
Nothing about the job or my work background. Nothing.  She actually asked what book I was currently reading.  And there was no conversational chit-chat with this woman, it was just one questions after another.  And the weird thing is, this isn't even the supervisor in the department, this is the "talent manager" or some other ridiculously titled HR person. And it's not like it's some podunk nonprofit either, it is a university. What the what, right?

Needless to say this interview really rattled me as well as pissing me off.  She said I would get an email by the end of next week that would offer me an in person interview or one that says, and I am quoting, "Thanks, but no thanks."  I think it was a test to see if I could think on my feet and I would have to say that from my long silences during that phone conversation, I failed.

Dude, where's my car?

I'm including a guest post from my lovely husband. He took the time to write it out and send it to his friends, so no need for me to start from scratch, right? I have taken the liberty of editing it a little because he can be long winded verbose.

Had an adventure and felt like sharing...keep in mind I'm a verbose writer with a very limited understanding of grammar and proper punctuation.
On Monday, I had the fun of taking the American Pediatric Boards at a hotel by O'Hare. For those of you that don't know, it is a 335 question test divided into two 3.5 hour installments designed to test my knowledge of pediatric medicine that took place in one of the least accessible areas of Chicago. The test costs over $2000 (not covered by work) and despite the price tag utilizes very high tech scantron sheet and #2 pencils (of which I had to provide myself!). It is a grueling test of minutia and details that have little to do with the true, day to day grind of managing sick kids. I've done a poll and nobody I've ever worked with has seen Kaiser-Fleischer rings first hand, yet they always appear on standardized exams. Needless to say, it was quite painful. In graphic terms, it felt like a non-sedated colonoscopy minus the lubricant that lasted 7 hours to the tune of two grand that my medical insurance refused to cover because the only point of the test was to prove I was indeed full of crap.

Luckily, the exam took place at a hotel which meant a bar was nearby. As soon as I had bubbled in my last answer, I ran to enjoy a frosty pint of cold beer. In a matter of minutes the bar was full of pediatricians lamenting over the horrors of the highly expensive test. Afterwards, I suffered through rush hour traffic to a friend's apartment for more libations and pizza and the most excellent in crap cable TV, "Blade:Trinity". After a very strong margarita, I passed out to Wesley Snipes sword fighting Dracula with Chemical Brothers playing in the background (it was most awesome). I awoke at 4am in a daze and felt the need to get up and drive home. I stepped out in the bitter cold and looked across the street to a vacant spot which should have contained my car - a 1996 Acura Integra with a nice sized, rusted dent in the front driver side panel. It wasn't there. I walked up and down the street hoping I had simply misplaced it. I was still in a sleepy daze with added bewildered at my missing car. After calling the local impound to see if it got towed, I was told that I needed to know the liscence plate number for that.  Umm...I'll have to wait until I get home. I was locked out of my friends condo building and decided to take the "L" back to my place. Half way back to my place, I realized the closest stop to my apartment was the 47th and MLK stop - not exactly the best place to be at 5am on a Tuesday morning. I figured with my car probably stolen, the karmic odds of me getting mugged should be fairly low. That didn't stop me from speed walking the half mile between the 47th stop and my apartment. I would have run, but I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself.
Meanwhile, Emily had gotten up at 5 am and couldn't fall back asleep.  She decided to see if Micah had come home or slept at his friend's house (which is does occansionally when he goes out for drinks with him). No Micah but there was a voicemail on Emily's phone, which is weird because normally he would have just left a text. After listening to the voicemail explaining the allegedly stolen car, she figured there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. 
Once I got to my apartment, we called the police and confirmed there was no record of the car being towed. We made a quick inventory of items in the car: Elijah's car seat, my mp3 player, my phone charger, my work bag, etc. Nothing of serious importance...except what was in my work bag. Just some snacks and a bottle of water to keep me hydrated during the exam...oh, and my US passport. I'm headed to a conference tomorrow in Vancouver and you can't come back into the grand US of A without a passport. Mine was in my work bag, in my car, that was just stolen. Great. I immediately being freaking out that my trip to Vancouver has just been cancelled... As it turns out, you can get same-day passport service in Chicago! You just need to fill out several forms, get passport photos taken, and hand over a sizable sum of money. The best part was the waiting room in the federal building; before entering you are required to turn off (not airplane mode, but completely turn off) your phone. The only source of entertainment was a flat screen TV with the weather channel on mute. I submitted the paperwork, we went to a pub for lunch and several beers, and three hours later I had my new passport. I was actually quite impressed - a government institution came through in a pinch and got something done in less than 24 hours.
As for my car, I've filled a report with the police and informed my insurance. If the reports on the nightly news are true, it's most likely in pieces scattered about in some chop shop. She was taken out before her time - a casualty of immorality and economic hard times. She will be missed! (Cue montage of photos of me cruising down the road in my Acura...)
Micah

Cars Rule!

Oh Fall, How I've Missed You

Yesterday we went to the Pumpkin Patch through the Park District at Nicols Park. They had pony rides, petting zoo and of course a pumpkin patch.  Elijah loved to watch the ponies but said a definate "No" when I asked if he wanted to ride one.  But he had fun on the slide.

Today we went to the Garfield Conservatory and spent some time enjoying nature. Ah, I hope these 70 degree fall days stick around!

Book recommendation from Elijah

I picked up this book at the 57th Street Children's Book Fair last weekend. I had been closely examining the Curious George books and books about trucks (we got a steam shovel one) and at the last minute I grabbed this one without really looking that closely at it.  It had animals and it was a board book and those were really the only things that caught my attention. But...Elijah thinks it is the funniest thing we have ever read.  He started cracking up the first time I read it.  He was laughing so hard that it was making me laugh so I could hardly read it! What makes him like this book so much, I can't really say, it's a cute story - kind of like the old woman who swallowed a fly, they keep sending in more animals to catch the other animal.  Seriously, I read the book three times last night and he kept making the sign for "more". Maybe your kid will not find it as funny but Elijah highly recommends it.

Elijah's dance

Before 9 am

Elijah slept until 8am this morning! Normally, he starts making noise between 7:15 and 7:30 while I'm taking a shower. I finally went in to his room, you know to make sure he was still breathing.  He was waking up and as soon as I got him out of bed, he wanted me to read him books.  Then I was changing his diaper and he was throwing away the wet diaper before I put his dry diaper on, which was dumb on my part.  Yep, you guessed it, pee all over the floor (but you gotta love the hardwood floor).  The walk to daycare was full of talking (about what I don't know). As soon as we get to daycare he kisses me and says b-bye before I even take off his jacket.  I kind of like being able to take our time in the morning and not feeling rushed, but if you are thinking about having kids, this is what a morning looks like.

These are the Days

Every parent I have met has a "favorite age" of their child. I never really understood it because very age, except for maybe the very newborn where they don't sleep, has been my favorite.  But now might be my favorite. He's silly, he's a little self-sufficient, he likes giving hugs and kisses and everything is new and amazing. This past weekend we drove down to southern Indiana to visit my brother and his family. It was a long drive and the way down was a little rough but the rest of the weekend was great. On the way back, we took a scenic route and passed through a wind farm. Elijah loves fans and he was mesmorized by the giant windmills. When we finished driving through, he made the sign for "more".

Story time

Elijah loves his stories before bed and naps. Lately, I have read the nursery rhyme book about a million times. Ok, realistically, 2-3 times a day for the last 3 weeks so it feels like a million. I only read 1 rhyme per page otherwise it would take all day to read. Last night I was reading "Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe".  During the last verse where she "kissed them all soundly and sent them to bed", I always kiss him on the head or cheek. Last night when I got to that line, he leaned his cheek out so I could kiss him. That was the best part of my day.

Brave Little Boy

The last week and a half has been rife with air conditioner drama. Working, not working, thought it was fixed, it wasn't, found a leak, needs to be replaced, need a permit to get a crane to put it on the roof, no we don't, found the broken part... Anyway, you get the point...drama.  Elijah has been extremely good during this whole sitting in a 90 degree apartment waiting for the repairmen to get there. He did get a heat rash that if my husband weren't a pediatrician, I would have taken him to the doctor for because it looked pretty nasty. But it didn't seem to bother him too much and he loves running around in just his diaper.

Aside from all that, Elijah has been demonstrating his bravery and independence.  On Thursday night, we went to Micah's boss' house for a little pitch-in.  His boss has two HUGE, sweet dogs.  Elijah loves dogs and goes "woo woo"(that's woof woof) everytime we pass a dog or hear a dog out the window.  But the back of these dogs were taller than Elijah standing up so we weren't sure how he would react to them.  Once I put him down, he ran right over to one of the dogs and started petting him and rubbing his head on him.  Towards the end of the night he tried to climb on top of one of them who was laying down on the floor. The only time he got a little scared is when the dog barked, but he didn't cry, he just wanted me to pick him up for a minute. He also didn't like it when the dog tried to take some food out of his hand.

Yesterday the heat broke a little so we went to the park.  Elijah played in the sandbox for a long time, he loves it! Then we played on the playground a little bit. When he gets to the top of the slide, he holds his arms out for me to help him down. I did the first time and then the second time I let go half way down.  Oh my, his face! It lit up like you would not believe. Then he wanted to go down over and over all by himself. He was so excited and having so much fun, I wish I had had my camera to capture that little face so full of excitment.

Our New Home

We did finally make it to Chicago and our new place. After spending Friday at my parents' house, Elijah and I went to my sister's house while Micah and Nate went to meet the movers to unload the truck.  It was hot and sticky and the three flights of stairs was apparently made worse by the fact that our air conditioning was not working properly.  Everything made it upstairs to the sea of boxes that now covers the floors.  Because it was Sunday when we called our landloard about the air conditioner, it was Monday before it could be fixed. And then on Tuesday it cooled down so much that we turned it off, figures.  But it is supposed to be toasty this weekend.

Best parts of new place:
1. An office/guest room! Which right now is covered in boxes, but soon enough it will be functional.
2. A great park that's only a 10 minute walk with a little kid playground and a huge sandbox.
3. A restuarant called the Rajun Cajun, which despite its name does not serve cajun food but Indian food and soul food. It makes me laugh

Least favorite part:
Third floor walk up, again. If I could take the apartment and move it down a floor or two, I would live here forever.

I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed with the unpacking since Micah started work. The bedrooms are done and the kitchen and slowly I think the rest will come together. But it is hard with the little one "helping". Then there's that whole job thing. I need to get on that.

Day 6? What Day is It?

Driving through Missouri was a long day, made more interesting by billboards. Here are some of our favorites.
"Missouri Hick's BBQ"
"Redneck Steakhouse"
"World's Largest Rocking Chair"
"Vaccuum Cleaner Museum"

Day 5 - TX to OK

Pretty uneventful day, which I like.  Amarillo, TX to Tulsa, OK.

Quote of the day: "It's like every place we stop it hotter than the last"

Day 4 - NM to TX

We went from Albuquerque to Amarillo today.  It was a pretty good drive.  Elijah seems to be tolerating the car much better today.  Only a little fussiness at the beginning, a little nap and then awake most of the rest of the trip with hardly any crying.  We have passed the 1,000 mile marker so that makes me extremely happy because that's about half way. I felt like we haven't been making much progress because it is taking a lot longer than I had anticipated.  But we are probably only a day behind our original plans.

Day 3 - Getting the hang of it

Today we went from Flagstaff, AZ to Albuquerque, NM. It was the first time we have left at a decent hour and I felt like we made some real progress.  Elijah did fairly well, sleeping a lot and crying until falling asleep.  We stopped along the way and Micah texted us to tell us he stopped as well.  Ended up he was at the same stop we were so we all had lunch together.  He caught up while we stopped for a snack earlier that day.  When we got to Albuquerque we got to meet up with some friends that we knew when we were living in Indianapolis.  They moved to Ab... last summer and we all went to dinner. Unfortunately it was a little late for Elijah so he didn't make the best impression. Gone are the days when he would just fall asleep when tired no matter where we were (a bowling alley for example).  But after we put him to bed we were able to chat more with our friends, so it was good.  We had big plans of driving all the way to Oklahoma City tomorrow but we've decided that is a little unrealistic and are heading to Amarillo.

Day 2

We are sad to announce that the kitty we lost and found yesterday is now lost and we had to go on without her. Isadora "Izzy" Bhatti was a sweet, scaredy cat whose little tail would shake when you pet her. She was also a ridiculously good hider. We will miss her quite personality and Elijah will definately miss chasing her and squealing.  I also think he said "Izzy" the other day while chasing her. I hope she is okay and has found a safe place to live.  After waiting all morning for her to show up and tearing apart the hotel room, looking in every nook and cranny, we finally had to continue our trip.  We continued to Flagstaff, AZ and hope the rest of the trip moves along smoothly. So far, it's been kind of rough.

Day 1

Lost cat. Found cat. Leaving by 4pm is almost noon. Kid puked chicken and apples in the car. Waking sleeping kid for Border patrol car search (in which kid was only interested in the "woof woof", no we can't pet those dogs) . Finally made it to Phoenix at midnight. Everyone so tired, except for the kid. Get all the crap out of the way in the first day right?

More details to come.

Journey Starts Tomorrow

Well, we have almost everything packed up.  I'm picking up the massive truck today. Last day of daycare for the little one. Have to clean up the messy apartment before the inspection. Oh, and I have a phone interview today. I'm already tired, not a good sign.

Flirt

Elijah has replaced all waving with the blowing of kisses, which by all accounts is ADORABLE, if not a little awkward when saying good bye to people we don't know very well.  The other day we were out at a restaurant and Elijah was sitting in a high chair at the end of the booth as was a little girl at the table next to us.  As she was leaving, I said, "Say goodbye to your friend" and he blew her a kiss. The little girl's dad looked at him and said "hey, you better be bring in $100K before you start with that."

T minus 10 days

Most of you know we are heading back to the Midwest! In 10 days, we are pulling the U-Haul out of San Diego and driving 2,000 miles to Chicago and I've got to be honest with you, I'm already exhausted just thinking about it. We've got a decent amount of packing done, but plenty more to do. We have one confused little toddler and two nervous cats. Add one brother to help drive and you have the makings of a 1. potential blockbuster road trip movie 2. disaster 3. coming of age novel with highs and lows, lessons learned and everyone is a better person in the end (no comment on who is "coming of age"). I will be happy with #1 or #3 but only time will tell. This is only the teaser trailer, so come back for more. My goal is to actually document this experience, but we'll see if that actually happens.

Vocabulary Lesson

Elijah hasn't been much of talker (of real words) but has been very good with his sign language. BUT, in the last couple weeks he has decided to talk and here are some of his favorites:

"b-bye"
"ba(ll)"
"bubble" (seriously)
"cacka" (that's cracker)

Chasing Goats

Elijah had fun today at the Zoo. We went to the children's area, which had a petting zoo. He literally chased goats around to pet them. Meanwhile, a 4-year-old was hiding behind her parent's knee because she was scared.

He's a Maniac!

Everyday we get a "daily sheet" from Elijah's daycare. It's got the important info like if he ate his snacks and lunch and his diaper log. It also has a slew of activities and they check off the things he played with that day. They also write a little note about how his day was. Usually about once a week they write something like "Elijah had fun dancing with his friends" or "Elijah loves music". They have told me on multiple occasions that sometimes he just stands in front of the CD player and points to it, sometimes signing "please".

Because of that, we have crossed over to the dark side. I never understood why people play their children horrible music. Why would you have a CD of kids singing (badly)? Or ridiculous characters singing annoying songs? Micah was home by himself one night trying to make dinner and Elijah kept trying to "help". He discovered that Netflix has "The Wiggles" and he had fun dancing to the most ridiculous show I have seen in quite some time. So now we use that as a distraction pretty often, even though it is so bad.

Last night we went out for Mexican food with some friends. It had been a long day for Elijah so he was getting kind of restless. Luckily there was a mariachi band at the restaurant and that kept him totally entertained and dancing in his seat. I wish I had my camera! I've been trying to catch him dancing, but he is very selective about when he will dance and we haven't figured out which music makes him dance the most. Here is one of his moves:

Can't catch me!

One year and one day

Here's the little man all grown up. A couple nights ago I was getting him ready for bed. We usually read a story in the rocking chair and then I sing him a song and put him in his crib. I finished reading him his story and I started singing and he reached his arms for the crib and goes "ehhh". So I put him in his bed and he laid down. I guess he is now too big for bedtime songs too, or my voice is really as bad as I have always suspected it is.

I love that he is growing up and he can kind of understand things. But I feel like now comes the hard part. For the first year, it is all about physical growth and accomplishments, for the most part. There's not a whole lot you have to do to teach him how to sit up, stand up, crawl, walk, they figure a lot of that out themselves and from watching others. Now comes the part where you teach him right and wrong and manners and how to be a good person. How do you even teach someone that stuff? Especially a toddler whose vocabulary consists of "uh-oh" and 5 or 6 ASL signs. It's a big step for him reaching 1 but I think it's not really going to get easier. It kind of freaks me out a bit. Then I think that I am in the same place I was one year ago, wondering what in the world to do with this little baby. We figured out how to get him this far so I guess we just do the same thing we've been doing for the last year; make it up as we go.

Everything is New

I really got to step up my blogging! We are T-minus 6 days until Elijah's 1st birthday. Lots of new stuff going on for the little one.

First off, he is walking like nobody's business and at times, he's almost running. It's crazy to me how fast he got the hang of it.

Secondly, he has decided that baby food is, in fact, for babies and he has no interest in it. This happened about a month ago and has been good but considerably more messy. We are very proud of his willingness to try things, sometimes taking every piece on his tray and putting it in his mouth and then taking it out again. Every piece of food on the tray gets put in his mouth, not all of it stays there. His favorites are cheese, carrotts(if they have cinnamin on them) and bananas and anything on Mom's and Dad's plate, even if it is the same thing on his plate.

He is also transitioning to the 1 year old room at "school". They have a little bit more structured class time than the baby room. He has been spending time with the "Teddy Bear" classroom and seems to be doing really well. He was there all day yesterday and boy was he tired when he got home. Playing with the big kids is hard work!

Next hurdle, daylight savings time. What a stupid idea. The person who invented this clearly did not have children.

Hello February!

My new job, Micah's weird schedule and a series of illnesses have kept us pretty busy the last few weeks. I won't bore you with details but the good news is we are all feeling better and getting into a schedule. So here are some pictures of to get you up to date. Teething is hard

Devil horn hair

This one doesn't need a comment.

Driving the Batmoblie

At the Park

Two little boys (probably 4 years old) on the slides wanted Elijah to play with them and kept saying "come on, Baby, we have a mission" and trying to drag him by the arm. I tried to explain to them that he couldn't walk yet, but they said, "we can help him".

Happy New Year!

I've been working on the "obligitory New Year post" for a week or so and I've decided it's just crap. All this reflecting on the year and making resolutions for the next year, I've never been a fan. This year has been both good and bad, just like every year is (although this year had more extremes). Good bye 2009 and don't let the door hit your a$$ on the way out! That's how I feel about it. But just to give you warm fuzzies, here's some good stuff from the year:

• Welcomed our healthy, beautiful baby boy
• Celebrated 5 years of marriage (and 10 years of togetherness) with my hubby
• Lost 35 pounds. Yeah, you can all give me dirty looks. 28 pounds of that was baby weight and the other 7 lbs, I have 2 explainations: 3rd floor walk-up and unemployment, neither of which I recommend
• Turned 30 years old and it was actually pretty awesome
• Got a job!!!
• We were able to travel and people traveled to us so that Elijah could meet almost all of his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents and great-grandma (and great aunts and uncles and second cousins...)
• I read several books this year. For fun. And this was even before I lost my job. (Hurray Reading and Eating Ladies!)