FINALLY!! We closed on our new condo a few weeks just moved in three nights back. Still in boxes but we already love living there. The neighborhood is called Edgewater and we are situated between the lake and a great shopping/eating area called Andersonville. It was definitely worth the wait and I couldn't be happier! Stay tuned for photos!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Underwear
Elijah has been wearing underwear for some time now, but I still can't resist how adorable he looks in them. There's a bit of me that wishes he'd just skip pants altogether. As most of our clothes are hand-me-downs (thank you Simons), I'm not intimately acquainted with all of Elijah's underclothes and didn't even remember that he had a Spider Man pair. He was digging furiously in his drawer for them this morning and was very excited to put them on. They are "boxer briefs" but Elijah called them "long-sleeved underwear."
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Comprise
My mom was a writer and instilled within me an appreciation for language. When I was in elementary school, mom once made me a sticker chart with daily assignments. I only recall only one of the daily tasks, learn a new word. Now that I have my own little one, I love trying to weave new words into his vocabulary.
While discussing a recipe this evening, I said "comprise." Elijah asked what it meant and I decided to use our family as an example. "Our family is comprised of four people. Daddy, Mommy, Elephant and you," I said. Elijah quickly corrected me. "Six people," he said counting on his fingers. "Daddy, Mommy, Elephant, Blue Dog, Roscoe Village and Elijah," he announced with a smile.
While discussing a recipe this evening, I said "comprise." Elijah asked what it meant and I decided to use our family as an example. "Our family is comprised of four people. Daddy, Mommy, Elephant and you," I said. Elijah quickly corrected me. "Six people," he said counting on his fingers. "Daddy, Mommy, Elephant, Blue Dog, Roscoe Village and Elijah," he announced with a smile.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
The stories I can't tell
A belated Happy New Year. 2010 was a good but I am somehow convinced that the year to come will be even better. I just completed a six month stint on the inpatient psychiatry unit and my relief is palpable. I saw many fascinating patients and learned a great deal, but the hours were long and the unit was becoming claustrophobic. My first 3 months of the (academic) year were spent on the psychosis team. Some of my patients had substance-induced psychotic disorders but many of them had chronic schizophrenia. One of my more unique responsibilities was administering electroconvulsive (shock) therapy on Monday mornings. It gets a bad rap, but ECT is actually a very safe and effective treatment for depression, catatonia and other difficult to treat conditions. In this country, ECT is performed under general anesthesia, the procedure's most significant risk. I was responsible for setting up the ECT machine and adminstering the shocks. The purpose of ECT is to induce a seizure, the mechanisms are not clearly understood but ECT is essentially thought to "reboot" a patient's brain. Pretty cool.
My second three months were spent on the women's service. I had expected to see a lot of women with post-partum depression but this almost never happened. Most of my patients were young pregnant women with severe chronic illnesses, typically substance abuse and/or psychotic disorders. Many of these women had little insight into their illness and some of them did not even recognize that they were ill. In the case of one such patient, we had to call DCFS when her child was born and she didn't even understand why. It was intense but probably less so than one would expect. It seems that I have adjusted to this type of work as discussion of suicidality, hearing voices and smoking crack has become routine for me. Just a few nights back, I interviewed a man whose voices were telling him to attack people and set things on fire (something he had done in the past). I didn't even flinch. Heroin withdrawal? No big deal, won't kill you. You tried to break down the door with an axe? Sorry, but you'll be needing to stay with us for a few days.
My newest endeavor is the consult service. Our team is called to the medicine and surgical floors for a wide range of psychiatric issues. We determine if patients are fit to make medical decisions, help detox people off drugs/alcohol and make recommendations for use of psychiatric medications. We are called for most any "difficult" patient and work is anything but dull. If not for HIPAA, there would be so many fascinating stories to tell!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Eighty-five cents
An Elijah story, courtesy of his proud father.
I took Elijah down to the laundry room last night to start some washers. As usual, he likes to help a little, but also likes to play around in the room. We then went upstairs to have dinner during the time the clothes were washing, after which we would switch clothes to the dryers. During dinner Elijah brought me coins to the dinner table and asked if they added up to 85 cents.
I counted them out and said, no its 45 cents and some pennies. So he brought me more coins.
Still not enough. He made a third trip and finally had enough quarters, nickels and dimes, so I showed him which ones added up to 85.
We later went down to the laundry room and on the way out I noticed he grabbed some coins off the table. As I was loading clothes into the dryers I hear coins going into some vending machine, thinking uh oh, Elijah is throwing random coins into the vending machine, and then… kerplop, some can gets dispensed out.
I go over to the vending machine to see Elijah with a huge smile on his face, completely delighted with a can of Sprite just dispensed from the vending machine.
As I look, somewhat confused and amazed at what he just did, I notice the vending machine says 85 cents, right above the coin slot.
At that point I finally understood why Elijah was asking for exactly 85 cents, which is exactly what he put in. I have to admit, I did not expect this plan of action from my 4 year old, but obviously he had it planned out all along… What a smart, if somewhat mischievous, little cookie!
My boy ;-)
I took Elijah down to the laundry room last night to start some washers. As usual, he likes to help a little, but also likes to play around in the room. We then went upstairs to have dinner during the time the clothes were washing, after which we would switch clothes to the dryers. During dinner Elijah brought me coins to the dinner table and asked if they added up to 85 cents.
I counted them out and said, no its 45 cents and some pennies. So he brought me more coins.
Still not enough. He made a third trip and finally had enough quarters, nickels and dimes, so I showed him which ones added up to 85.
We later went down to the laundry room and on the way out I noticed he grabbed some coins off the table. As I was loading clothes into the dryers I hear coins going into some vending machine, thinking uh oh, Elijah is throwing random coins into the vending machine, and then… kerplop, some can gets dispensed out.
I go over to the vending machine to see Elijah with a huge smile on his face, completely delighted with a can of Sprite just dispensed from the vending machine.
As I look, somewhat confused and amazed at what he just did, I notice the vending machine says 85 cents, right above the coin slot.
At that point I finally understood why Elijah was asking for exactly 85 cents, which is exactly what he put in. I have to admit, I did not expect this plan of action from my 4 year old, but obviously he had it planned out all along… What a smart, if somewhat mischievous, little cookie!
My boy ;-)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Still here
My apologies for being away for so long. We are all here and well. It seems that all I do is work these days. This is my sixth consecutive month on a window-less psychiatric ward and I am most ready to move on.
I just returned from a brief getaway with my favorite two boys and am now feeling refreshed. We went to see family in Florida and stayed at sweet little hotel on Delray Beach (these photos are from Chicago though). It was wonderful to feel like a normal mom/wife/person again. Am now finishing up my month on the inpatient unit and looking forward to a new rotation in January. 
Thank you for all the birthday wishes!! A special thank you to.... Anna for the awesome book - I savored every page of Daddy Long Legs and Dear Enemy is even better. Linda for the delicious brownies and daily encouragement - what would I do without you? Gilia for the gorgeous sweater and gloves - they are keeping me cozy. Savta for the adorable hat and scarf - so cute that I've been wearing them around the house. Shelly for the awesome Ahava potions - luxury! Dad for the awesome new Nikon lens - so excited to kick my photography up a notch. Panda for the fabulous lunch and perfect gifts - am using them every day. Amiel for the mini shopping spree - you are the best! I am blessed to have such wonderful family and amazing friends! xooxoxooxoxo
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