Merry Christmas!

Fun with markers

Of course, they were non-toxic.

Winter Ice Cream and Holiday Jenny Party

Uncle Bryan and Aunt Lindsey stopped by for dinner last weekend. They also brought their ice cream machine, so we made chocolate ice cream with hazelnuts. Nothing like delicious homemade ice cream on a cold winter night. Really, there's always time for ice cream especially if it's homemade!




Also, every few months Lisa's college friends from Knox College get together for their Jenny Parties. We were at the Griffiths' house for the Jenny Party this weekend and not only the couples but their kids came too. Zoë enjoyed walking and playing with everyone, but her favorite had to be the household dog Freckles. Zoë now has two specific words in her vernacular - cat and dog - and she loved letting everyone know where the dog was in the house.

Tantrum!

Zoë has been exhibiting age appropriate behaviors which include temper tantrums. Sometimes her tantrums look like breath holding spells. The good news is that they usually only last a few seconds to a couple of minutes, and she doesn't have them very often. They are kind of funny to watch. Of course, laughing at her during these tantrums sometimes makes it worse, and (understandably) she gets angrier. This was a video filmed in the past 2 months.

Weekend celebrations - Holiday, birthday and possibly a new governor

Lisa and I had our holiday parties at our respective residency programs on friday. Once again, like last year, both our parties were on the same night of the year. This year, we spent more time at my holiday party because we only got to see my friends for about 20 minutes at last year's party. Luckily, our respective parties were only a few doors from each other - hers at the Omni Hotel, mine, like last year, at Grande Lux Cafe. It was a lot of fun with lots of drinking, eating and dancing. A few people got sick but certatinly nothing wrong with a little holiday cheer! People loved Zoë in her outfit which included a beret. I only snapped a few pictures before she and mom had to go home for Zoë's bedtime. I stayed behind to enjoy more festivities. After we closed Grande Lux, we all went to the W Hotel for drinks. Lauren and I then went to the Melrose Diner for a 2 am breakfast before I drove her home.


The next morning we all went to the farmer's market and bought fresh bread and cheese as well as enjoyed a nice mug of warm hot cider with caramel sauce. Delicious on a cold day. We also went into the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum where the farmer's market was held. Zoë was last there about 6 months ago in their butterfly exhibit, but Lisa had never been inside. After a nap, we all went to Irv and Jamie Birkner's house to celebrate their son Sam's 3 year birthday.

On the way home, we also stopped by Governor (or shall I say, soon to be former Governor) Blegojevich's home which was only a few blocks from the Birkner's. We didn't see the Governor because all the blinds were drawn, and the place was saturated with secret service, police and the media. Zoë could have cared less because she fell asleep in the car. She understands what's important in life.

Zoë's busy agenda

Peach has been taking more steps walking and recently discovered how much fun splashing water during bathtime could be.

A busy, long weekend with Aunt Becky

My sister, Becky, came for a 5 day visit from San Diego. Becky was able to watch Zoë while Lisa and I went to work during the day. Zoë enjoyed spending the days with her aunt! Zoë was also taking a lot of steps on her feet (video to come)!

Thanksgiving

We had an activity-filled Thanksgiving this year. First, Zoë got a contusion on her left cheek after slipping on the hardwood floor and hitting her cheek on a shelf. She was fine, but it left a noticable mark on her face.

From Black eye

From Black eye

We celebrated Thanksgiving first with our resident friends from Comer Children's Hospital hosted by Steve and Kelly.

From Bachta Thanksgiving 2008

From Bachta Thanksgiving 2008

Lisa had to work the friday after Thanksgiving so we weren't able to head to her parent's house until friday night. We therefore celebrated Thanksgiving with the Preston household on saturday. Zoë enjoyed playing with her cousins, Avery and Rowan, as well as all the toys in the house. We also enjoyed the fall weather by tossing the ball in the backyard and playing in the piles of leaves.


The morning after the Thanksgiving celebration, we were surprised to see a significant amount of snow on the ground. The plan was to play in the snow. However, the morning started with a visit from a possum in the backyard by which Uncle Tony ran into the backyard barefoot and caught the animal barehanded. The animal was not harmed in any way and was released a minute later. In fact, some food was left in the yard for him (at least we think it was a male).

From Thanksgiving 2008-3

Everyone then bundled up and made snow carvings in the yard. Zoë didn't thoroughly enjoy her first snow experience, but we hope to get her used to it soon. We returned to Chicago later that afternoon stuffed with poultry.

Appetizer to Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is certainly a favorite holiday in this household. Who can complain of eating and relaxing? The days before Thanksgiving we started to wind down after a very busy month - Lisa was finishing her call month in pediatric physical rehab, and I was finishing in the NICU. We spared no time in taking naps and eating good food this week. We also just tried a great Italian restaurant in the city, A Tavola, which was fantastic! Zoë especially liked the homemade gnocci. Unfortunately, we had to skip dessert because we were fast approaching Zoë's bedtime, but we certainly look forward to Thanksgiving these next few days! And we'll be going back to A Tavola for dessert!

Lisa's brother visits for the holidays

Lisa's twin brother, David, flew in from California for a 2 week visit with the family. He will be staying with us for a couple of days before heading down to Normal to see the parents. We'll all meet up with the Preston household this weekend after Lisa gets off work friday, so Thanksgiving will be a later celebration for us. While David was here, Lisa's other brother and his fiance, Bryan and Lindsey, came for dinner. I was post-call after my last NICU shift EVER (unless I decide to moonlight) and was quite tired. I wasn't feeling too well when I got home and later realized I had a case of gastroenteritis. Nonetheless, I was able to snap some photos of Zoë playing with everyone.

Mom joins Peach for lunch

Zoë's daycare had a special Thanksgiving lunch where the parents were invited to have lunch with their children. Dad stayed home because we had an electrician come and replace some lighting fixtures but mom, being only a few doors down, was able to have lunch with Zoë. This was also an opportunity to meet the other parents.

Obama, mutts and mutant fungi

A lot of hype has gone into President elect Obama's recent statement about being a "mutt" which we find interesting in our household since we're probably going to produce a few. We snapped a recent picture of Zoë during dinner. Some say she looks like me, others say she looks like Lisa. I think this picture really shows the mix of both parental genes, wouldn't you agree? Go hybrid vigor!

From Hyrbid vigor

And on a totally none related issue - during this same meal, Lisa found a huge mushroom in her Chinese dish. Does it remind you of anything? Kind of ruined our appetites.

From Hyrbid vigor

From Hyrbid vigor

Beginning steps

Zoë has been getting better daily walking with support and lately she has been standing for brief moments on her own and even taking tiny steps between mom and dad. We suspect she'll be walking on her own any day now, and her daycare teachers agree. In the meantime, I bought her a toy that converts between a walker, pull wagon and a steerable single seat truck which occupies a significant amount of her playtime at home.

Halloween

This was Zoë's second Halloween, but the first one she was only a couple of weeks old. Zoë went as a little piglet. She was too young for trick or treat, but her daycare did have a special event with the children dressed up in their costumes. Lisa is also in her pediatric physical rehab rotation so she dressed as Indiana Joan for the young patients. Though I work in a children's hospital, I'm currently in the NICU where the patients are babies, they're intubated, paralyzed, blindfolded under a UV bili light or hidden inside an isolate. So I didn't dress up. And I decided this year not to go to our annual Halloween party hosted by my resident program. Instead, Lisa and I took Zoë on a brief walk to pick up food while she was dressed in her piglet outfit. Besides, Chicago was crazy tonight with late nighters.

The Butt Sign

In pediatrics we often will joke that a baby who has been admitted to our inpatient service to be ready for discharge when we observe what we call the "butt sign". It's a term when the baby falls asleep with its derriere in the air. It's kind of a non-specific, non-sensitive way to indicate that the patient is healthy and perhaps ready for discharge. Zoë fell asleep last night exhibiting this very sign. Lisa and I had a good laugh taking this picture in the dark, and it came out nicely with the flash. We both knew she was a healthy girl.

From Butt Sign

From Butt Sign

New arrivals in the group

One of my friends in the residency program had her baby over a month ago. Vittoria is a beaufitul baby girl born to our favorite German-Italian couple. Our friends, Lauren and Marian, were kind to organize a baby shower for Ursula and her baby this past weekend (Vittoria's dad was out-of-town). Zoë and Lisa were able to make it to the baby shower, but I unfortunately was working the night shift in the pediatric ER. Lisa did snap some pictures of the event with some familiar faces from the residency program. In addition to Vittoria, another baby was present - Grayson who is our future chief's baby boy.

Ravioli!

Zoë got up from a nap and was hungry so Dad decided to feed her ravioli from our fake Italian friend, Chef Boy R Dee, despite Mom's disapproval (she was taking a nap so I thought she wouldn't mind). Zoë was cautious at first but then really enjoyed the raviolis though I think she enjoyed finger painting with the sauce more.





Needless to say, she had to get a bath right after lunch. I think I'm going to reserve pastas with sauces until dinner from now on (when Mom's not looking).

Zoë turns one!

Our girl turned numero uno this weekend. Grandparents from both sides of the family came to celebrate. It wasn't a big celebration since we agreed a long time ago that we thought it was silly for a one year old to have a huge family party. It worked out to be even smaller than we thought since none of Lisa's or my siblings were able to make it. The Hsu grandparents flew in the night of Oct. 10. Lisa was unfortunately on-call but we were able to get some pictures of Zoë playing with Grandpa/Grandma Hsu.



The next day we had breakfast dim sum in Chinatown at the Phoenix Restaurant followed by a brief stop at the Chinese grocery store.



Grandpa/Grandma Preston drove up that afternoon before Zoë's birthday to share in the birthday dinner. We all had dinner at a Cuban restaurant (Cafe 28). Afterwards, it was lemon/lime cake made by Grandma Preston and gift opening for Zoë. Zoë got to spend lots of quality time with both sets of grandparents and got lots of books, toys and attention. Of interest was a cloth rattle hand made by Aunt Cathy. We all thought it was cool in a creepy way. Grandpa and Grandma Preston returned home shortly after eating delicious birthday cake.





Zoë's official birthday was Oct. 12 which was also Chicago Marathon day so we walked half a block from our home to the 6.5 mile mark and saw the elite runner run by. Zoë enjoyed waving. Our plan is to get her interested in running early so she can run with mom and dad! Grandpa and Grandma Hsu left shortly after the marathon was over.

We're a classy family

The family was putzing around in bed today during a lazy afternoon after church. I like to think Lisa and I set good examples as role models for our daughter. Here's a frank video of what the Hsu household really is like. You do have to admit, after watching this video, Lisa is impressive. Yeah, that's the woman I married.

Standing on her own

Zoë has been standing on her own for awhile now but since I just got this on video I thought I'd include it to show how well she has been progressing with her feet.

The start of va-cay!

So, as I write, I'm taking my last call for at least a couple of months. I will have completed 3 straight months of inpatient call. It was tiring and the family is looking forward to vacation. Lisa and I have our first overlapping vacation in over a year, so we took this opportunity to do some short distance traveling with Zoë. Before hitting the road we took a couple of days to decompress - visiting the local playground, doing the much needed laundry, etc.



The road trip began with a drive to our previous "hometown", Champaign, IL, where I gave a decade of my life for two of my degrees. We passed through our old church, the Champaign Vineyard, to say hello to some friends. We then met up for lunch with the Garrisons - Neal, Amber and their son Grant - some of our closest friends. Neal and Amber are teachers as well as dedicated long distance runners. They were the ones who got Lisa and me into ultra-marathons, marathons and half-marathons.

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After a wonderful lunch with the Garrisons, the family drove to our old house in Champaign. We showed Zoë where she was conceived (TMI?) which could bring her years of wonderful counseling discussions if she understood what we were saying. It was strange to see the house with new windows and a different car on the driveway. I have to say, I don't miss Champaign one bit. It's nice to be living in the city again.



Afterwards, we went briefly to the University of Illinois to see my old medical school but more to use the bathroom because Lisa and I really had to pee. We didn't get a chance to take photos of the campus because Zoë was getting fussy so we decided it was time to get on the road to head off to Normal, IL to Lisa's parent's house to see some family. We saw Grandpa and Grandma Preston, Uncle Tony and Aunt Cathy, and Zoë's cousins Avery and Rowan. Zoë especially enjoyed playing with Avery and Rowan as well as all their toys. We also had the opportunity to see the progress that was made on Tony/Cathy's new home.



As we headed back to Chicago the next day we appreciated that Zoë made it through the trip like a champ though we did have to stop for a brief baby break on the way into the city. When we got home we walked to one of our favorite diners for dinner before heading home for a baby bath and then bed.

From back from Normal/Champaign va-cay 2008

Cherkas

My college buddy Neil recently moved back to Chicago so we all got together for brunch at Orange. Neil was one of my housemates at the University of Pennsylvania during our senior year, so he's the fourth among my former housemates to have met Zoë. Though it was a rainy day (and the Sox game got rained out, again), it was nice to catch up. Now that Neil lives only a mile from us we hope to see more of him.

From Cherkas and Orange

From Cherkas and Orange

I also recorded Zoë babbling and crawling in our office shortly after we got back from brunch.

Labor Day weekend with grandparents

Lisa's parents came into town last weekend after a summer in Maine. The visit had 2 purposes: 1) catch up with the family and see how much Zoë has grown, and 2) babysitting. Regarding the latter, Lisa and I had another one of our hectic weekends where both of us were working the entire Labor Day weekend. She had responsibilities at the hospital with charting patient admissions all weekend, and I was on-call overnight at the hospital. Unfortunately, Zoë's daycare was closed for the long-weekend so someone had to come in to watch her. Lisa's mom was happy to oblige (grandpa went back to Normal, IL the same day), and we were very grateful. Besides, Zoë loved hanging out with Grandma over the weekend.

Crawling!!!

She just really started doing it for longer distances 2 weeks ago, and now she's doing it like a champ! She'll be running fast marathons in no time. Just check out our first published video of Zoë keeping mom and dad busy.

Enjoying Bathtime

Zoë really has enjoyed being in the water, particularly during her bath times. She used to really hate her baths, but we think she started enjoying the tub ever since we started her in the swimming pool. She really loves splashing in the water. Afterwards she has liberty to retreat to her natural state by spending some naked time on the towel.

The Peach meets (and eats) her own

We had some delicious peaches from the farmer's market last week and because Zoë Peach was so interested in the fruit when we were eating, we let her try some. She really enjoyed sucking on the juice. Peach meets peach! This was also her first time eating table food.





And we usually end the dinner with a nice dose of iron sulfate.

Hanging at the beach before heading to Korea Town.

It was another Golden Weekend for me this weekend, one of three in the whole summer. Unfortunately, Lisa was on-call this weekend which shows you how well our schedules are matched up. Nonetheless, I wanted to savor every free moment away from the hospital. Zoë and I had some plans saturday starting with an afternoon run to the local farmer's market. As you may recall from a previous post, my brother-in-law's girlfriend, Lindsey, is assistant manager of a local farmer's market, so it was a real nice opportunity to see both Bryan and Lindsey. I also bought some nice organic peaches and plums as well as a nice cheese that tastes great when grilled.



Zoë and I then headed to the beach which is really close to our home. She wasn't a huge fan of the waves (I dipped her feet in the cold water) nor was she a fan of the hot sand. I think we were nearing her nap time so we ran back home after the beach. I got a lot of sand on my legs which I tracked everywhere in the house.



After a baby nap for Zoë we met up with my friends Marian and Ray, both residents in my program, for the Chicago Korean festival at Chicago's Korea Town. We had beef kalbi fresh off the grill, chicken skewers and ended the evening with a Korean dessert called pat bing soo which is ice cream, fruits, sweet bean and mochi on top of shaved ice. Delicious!



Zoë went to bed late so we slept in till 8am, shortly before mom got home from her call shift.

Stroll at the Zoo

We are fortunate to be living just steps from a free as well as the oldest zoo in the country, the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was my first day off in 2 weeks, I was tired, and I was looking forward to spending some quality family time. The family decided it was a good time to visit our animal neighbors. Zoë is now able to appreciate the things going on around her (she was always very focused but now she expresses if she's really content with what she sees). We've noticed she especially likes animals. For example, she has taken a liking to our cats, though Aslan does not like having his hair pulled. We normally pass the zoo in our running route so it was a natural stop this saturday. We also saw some street performers in the zoo including a juggling act. Afterwards, it was chill time at home while Zoë played it up again for the camera before heading out for sushi.

Haming it up

Zoë lately has really interacted with the camera. She's usually very serious and focused in public but people may not realize how much she smiles and laughs at home, so here are some random picture of her showing her pearly whites.

Ribs! (and prunes!)

Not necessarily the two words you want to have together. No worries, we didn't concoct a meat lover's meal for those who want to be more regular. Lisa decided to make ribs as a belated birthday meal for me. She in fact bought over 5 pounds of ribs, slowly roasted and basted the meat and served with a side of baked vegetables. Mmmmmmm...delicious! It was the first time ribs were made in our household. It certainly will not be the last! We also try to cook with Zoë hooked in our baby Bjorn so she gets used to the art of cooking. I think she enjoys it.

As for prunes, we found that Zoë loves them! We started to feed them to her because she has been a bit backed up lately (and thus resulting in huge blow-outs). Prunes seem to be doing the trick.

Celebrating Dad's birthday

It was my birthday this week. We kept my real birthday very mellow since it fell on a tuesday, and Lisa and I were both working. We essentially both came home from work after picking up Zoë, ordered some takeout for dinner and went to bed early.
The celebration was actually postponed until the weekend. Bryan and Lindsey came over friday night where Bryan made dinner - Polish sausage and purple carrots from their garden.
Lisa made birthday waffles for brunch in our new waffle iron the next day.
Zoë was in a fantastic mood (she usually is when we get to sleep until 7:30).
Lindsey just got a job as assistant manager to our local farmer's market, the Green City Market, which is open on saturdays and wednesdays. We took some time that afternoon to jog to the market as a family and check out the local produce.

Festivities with my resident friends began later that afternoon where reservation were made to play laser tag at Laser Quest. Lisa and Zoë didn't make it to laser tag, but they did meet up for Korean BBQ dinner at San Soo Ka San - a total meat/protein fest! Delicious! As usual Zoë got tons of attention. She even delighted everyone with her smiles.

Summer splish/splash

The weather has been fantastic the past week with temps in the low 70s. Mom was at work on saturday so it was just Zoë and Dad. For the July 4th weekend I therefore decided to take her to one of the many Chicago public pools for a swim. Uncle Bryan met us at the pool as well. At first, Zoë was very cautious and at times scared (see photos) but she warmed up very quickly to the kiddie pool area and soon was splashing the water like a pro. Afterwards we all went out for good Mexican food at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants (the best orchata and fish tacos) in Logan Square called El Cid.

Dad's no longer an intern

This was one of the busiest Chicago travel weekends of the summer for many reasons - the Taste of Chicago, the Cubs continued their cross-town rivalry against the White Sox, there were numerous neighborhood festivals, and the annual Chicago Gay Pride Parade. For these reasons we decided to stay near home this weekend and limit any travel by car because traffic was backed up throughout the city. Lisa and I have been to the Taste a few times and decided it was just too crowded to bring a baby (and just too expensive), it was impossible to get tickets for the game, and we were not willing to drive anywhere with the traffic this weekend to check out the local festivals; however, the Chicago Gay Pride Parade was one of the largest in the country and passed just a block and a half from our condo, so we decided this was the event to check out! Unfortunately, the weather was too tenuous to bring a baby outside among drunken revelers so that plan was ditched.
What the family did do was attend a dinner, a treat from my residency program, for the last night my friends and I would be medical interns. Zoë came along and met one of my attending's new babies. The music (and my friends) were loud so we did have to leave dinner earlier than others. Plus it was way past Zoë's bedtime, but as usual, Zoë got a lot of attention at the event.

More visitors from NYC

My friend Ellie was in town this week for a conference. Like my friend Rich, who was here a couple of weeks ago, and my sister (Aunt Becky), Ellie is also from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. I met her when I was doing a short post-doc there after graduate school. She was a huge help in coordinating my work with Dr. Stephen Nimer in their oncology department. We were able to meet briefly for breakfast wednesday before she headed off to her conference. She really insisted on seeing Zoë after following the blog, and Zoë, being well fed and well rested, was in a great mood to meet someone new.


That afternoon my college buddy Brian Yanish flew in from NYC to stay with us for 4 days. Brian was the best man in our wedding, and I've known him since middle school. In fact, we lived less than a mile from each other growing up but never really hung out until college. He currently is marketing a line of characters he's developed for children known as the Scrapkins which you can see on his website www.brianyanish.com. This was also his first time meeting Zoë. The days were packed with plans to see the city - Chicago Institute of Art, Millenium Park, Chinatown, Wicker Park, running down Lakeshore Drive, seeing a comedy show at night, going to a festival in support of bikes called Tour de Fat, and, of course, lots of eating. I was quite exhausted from the activities. Luckily, I was able to keep Zoë in daycare as we ran throughout the city on some of the days. She loves daycare anyway so everyone benefited. The day Brian returned to NYC the whole family was able to hang out, including Uncle Bryan and Aunt Lindsey, at the Tour de Fat Festival in Palmer Park. It was a great day though Zoë did get a little fussy near the end because she didn't get much of a nap during the entire day. Furthermore, Brian unfortunately also missed his flight because the train to the airport was delayed for track repairs. He therefore had to take an early morning flight back the next morning, but we all look forward to having Brian back again soon.

BBQ and a Paella Father's Day

We had another fun-filled weekend attending another BBQ and a paella party. Saturday Lisa's friend Jamie and her husband Irv hosted a BBQ where Irv made another delicious pulled pork. A lot of kids were there including another Zoë.


For our Father's Day entry, Mom has been invited to write an entry. Father's Day was spent sleeping in as a family, stirring to the sound of Zoë happily cooing and playing with her feet. Decidedly tired after weekend chores (never-ending laundry!) and pancakes and sausage, we took a much-needed morning nap. From there, we ran some errands, made some fresh strawberry crisp, and headed to Uncle Bryan's place for the first ever Paella Party! Using a recipe from Rick Bayless, Heather (one of Bryan's roommates) organized the cooking of a sizable amount of paella over an open fire in the backyard. Zoë and I watched from afar as Chris helped stir the dish to keep the fire from burning our dinner. After sampling the paella (yum!), enjoying the strawberry crisp and lots of fresh salsa, Zoë headed into her bedtime hours, and we headed home smelling of vegetable broth and smoke. We've decided that every Father's Day needs to involve Chris stirring a large 10 gallon pot of food over an open flame.

Zoë's Great-Grandparents Visit from Taiwan

My grandparents (Zoë's great-grandparents) were making their annual visit to their 3 children who live in the States (1 lives in Taiwan), their 10 grandchildren and the new addition of 3 great-grandchildren. They stopped through Chicago with my mom this week to meet Zoë for the first time. Zoë really enjoyed the time with them as you can tell in the photos.

Swimming!

Zoë went swimming for the first time this weekend. There is a baby swimming group organized among Lisa's resident friends who have toddlers. Lessons are led by a swimming instructor. I was at work when this occurred but Lisa said Zoë did well though she was very cautious being in the water. One of Lisa's colleagues took photos of the event.

Surprise visits (again) from Penn friends

My college buddy Rich stopped into town from NYC for a conference last weekend. As usual he gave me 24 hours notice which I've gotten quite accostumed to among a few friends now. Rich is an attending at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as a hem-onc specialist. He was one of the first people to meet Zoë in the hospital within a few hours after she was born. Though this past visit was short, it was nice to catch up, and Zoë seemed to enjoy seeing Uncle Rich (again).

A few days later, another college buddy of mine, Todd, also was in town for business. Zoë exhibited her first social smile with Todd so it was a reunion of sorts. We didn't get a chance to snap a photo with Todd because we had a late dinner, and Zoë was cranky and tired. Instead, here are some random photos from the past week of her playing with the cats and her toys.

Innocence lost

Is it me or is Zoë about to flip us the bird?

Anniversary/Memorial Weekend

This was the final of 3 consecutive weekends where the household had something to celebrate. This weekend we celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary. We started on saturday with an evening out with just the parents at Moto restaurant while Zoë was watched by my friends Laura, Marian and Lauren. They were gracious enough to go on babysitting duty while we enjoyed our first night out to dinner alone since Zoë was born. For some of you foodies, you may know that Moto is famous for it's unique food preparation and presentation such as an edible menu and food served in syringes. The owner was featured as a guest on Foodnetwork's Iron Chef. Dinner was 10 courses and interesting, but we have to admit that the food was a bit disappointing and not as good as it was hyped to be. In fact, the taste was quite average. We could name quite a few other restaurants that had far better food. Nonetheless, we don't regret trying it and are considering trying the neighboring restaurant, Otom, by the same owner. After about 3.5 hours of dinner, we headed back home where Zoë was already in the crib. Laura was actively babysitting (Lauren and Marian had to leave earlier), and she did a fantastic job!

The next day the family went to Chicago's Ritz-Carlton Hotel for a special family slumber party. Since Lisa and I had a rare overlapping day off on Memorial Day, we thought it would be nice to get away from the house for a night. We therefore indulged as a family in one of the hotel's family package deals. Zoë was welcomed with toys from the children's welcome toy wagon (we chose a t-shirt for her since the other toys were too small and therefore choking hazards). We decided to order in breakfast through room service. Zoë even got to "order" French toast for free from the kid's menu which mom and dad happily finished for her. We got to stroll around the Magnificent Mile neighborhood and did some brief shopping. Most of the weekend was spent lounging in our room, eating and watching tv. It was a much needed relaxing weeked, though not as relaxing as we had truly wished because Zoë is teething now and quite irritable as you can tell from some of the photos; however, one thing we recently discovered is that she does a great job sitting up by herself!

We got back home Memorial Day where we were greeted with a neighborhood parade. After another brief walk on a nice day, we're now home where Zoë is down for the obligatory baby nap.

Busy Birthday Weekend

This is the second of three busy weekends this month as far as social activities - last weekend was Mother's Day, next weekend is our 9 year wedding anniversary, and it was Lisa's birthday this weekend. Coincidently, my sister Becky also shares the same birthday, so Aunt Becky flew in from New York City friday and stayed with us over the weekend. But before she was picked up at the airport, Zoë, Lisa and I went to our first BBQ of the summer at my friends, Steve and Kelly's, place. Not only did quite a few of our resident gang show up, but Steve and Kelly announced their engagement! Congrats to them! Unfortunately, it was nearing Zoë's bedtime so Lisa had to take her home, and I didn't get any pictures of her being passed around among my resident friends (you'll just have to take my word for it). But you can enjoy the other BBQ photos.

After the BBQ, I picked up my sister from the airpot. She was able to hang out a bit before Lisa's family from Normal, IL arrived the next day. Her parents had recently returned from an Australia trip lasting a few months. Zoë hadn't seen them since the winter so she was very happy to see the grandparents. Also, Uncle Bryan and his girlfriend Lindsey, as well as Aunt Cathy and her kids (Zoë's two cousins from the Preston side), Rowan and Avery, were able to come up as well. We enjoyed Chicago style pizza while Grandpa Preston gave us an excellent slideshow of their trip in Australia/Samoa/New Zealand/French Polynesia. Rowan and Zoë are almost the same age (in fact, they would be only different in age by days but Zoë decided she couldn't stand the womb any longer and had to come a month early!). We got some adorable pictures of them alone together as well as with Grandpa and Grandma.

The next day, Aunt Becky got to spend some time carrying Zoë around our neighborhood as we went shopping. Zoë was very talkative! Aunt Becky is moving from NYC to San Diego in about a month so we may be seeing her in California in the near future.

Whew! And we have another fun-filled, busy weekend for Memorial Weekend.

Mother's Day Weekend

Unfortunately, Lisa had to work on Mother's Day and had to stay overnight at the hospital (thus the life of a physician), but we did have some quality family time this weekend. On friday we were able to find time to go out for sushi at our favorite neighborhood sushi restaurant. The next morning, after a nice long run in the running stroller, we took Zoë to our neighborhood farmer's market which just started 2 weeks ago after a long hiatus from the winter. We bought some delicious artisan bread and dessert pastries. We also stopped by a famous cupcake bakery, Cupcakes, which we just realized was only blocks from our home and bought a couple of cupcakes for a snack before dinner. Then for the evening, we went to an engagement party thrown by one of Lisa's resident friend. A busy schedule for a busy baby! By the time Zoë was in bed, it was way past her bedtime, but she handled everything real well. Here are some random pictures from the weekend.

Dim sum and butterflies

I had a day off tuesday so while Lisa was at work, my two other resident friends, Ali and Lauren who also had the day off, as well as Zoë all went to dim sum in Chinatown for lunch. After being stuffed with food, we also made room for bubbletea at one of our favorite drink places in Chinatown, Joy Yee's. We then headed to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum located literally a 10 minute walk from our condo to show Zoë the live butterfly/moth exhibit. She seemed to be really interested in the butterflies by the way she tracked every butterfly or moth that flew by. Ali and Lauren especially seemed to have fun with Zoë. As a result she slept very well that night.

Weekend with the Griffiths

Lisa and I had our first weekend free together in practically 6 weeks (Lisa was on head trauma and I was in the NICU). We used this opportunity for some quality family time and decided to visit our close friends, Lisa and Andy Griffith, and their twin boys, Zachary and Cayden, in Oakbrook, IL. It was a real nice day, and we met them for breakfast at their home before taking a stroll outside around their neighborhood pond. Zack and Cayden have a special place in our lives because they are our Godchildren. It is amazing how fast they are growing up! We can't believe they're in first grade already and sprouting to heights like their third/fourth grade counterparts. Zoë loved hanging out with them and especially had a fun time interacting with Andy. We look forward to seeing all of them real soon!
After hanging out with the Griffiths, we went to Oakbrook Mall to do some shopping, grab lunch and enjoy the outdoor weather.

Scoozi

My friends Natalie, Jen and Laura finished a relatively rough month of NICU in April so we had our off-service dinner. For those of you unfamiliar with medicine and/or residency, off-service dinners are times when physicians get together in a casual setting, usually a nice meal, and decompress from the rigors of the month. We had great Italian food at Scoozi's and all four-and-a-half of us (Zoë came along since Lisa was on-call) enjoyed gabbing, stuffing our faces and letting off some steam.

Zoë's first chop

It has been a little while since we've posted. Lisa's computer, where I do most of the blog, crashed over a week ago, and we are currently adjusting to my old laptop. Nonetheless, this thing works, so now with the updates!
Lisa and I have felt something really sharp in Zoë's mouth lately, particularly noticable when she gnaws on our fingers. Lisa especially feels it during breastfeeds (ouch!). I did a thorough sweep of our girl's mouth a couple of weeks ago which confirmed our suspicion - Zoë's first tooth is erupting! You can especially see the single mandibular tooth in one of her grinning pictures. She has a second one coming in just next to the first one but you have to look real close or feel her gums.
Also, I just finished another rotation, child protective services, where I dealt with child abuse/neglect. I saw and dealt with a lot of gruesome and sad situations involving children - burns, beatings, starvations, malnutrition - the list shockingly goes on and on. I went to criminal court to observe my attending, Dr. Glick, act as an expert witness (but before she could go on the stand the defendant pleaded guilty so it was good, but I was disappointed I didn't see my attending kick some pediatric ass). I also went to the juvenile court that dealt more with foster homes and child protective services. On top of this, I got to go to the police station where I saw autopsy photos of children who died from abuse and a video (nanny cam) of a real abuse case. Shocking and really put a lasting memory in my brain. I loved this rotation, and I really felt I was doing something meaningful.
To end this entry on an upnote, check out these photos of Zoë laughing and smiling.

Hello Spring!

The weather has been fantastic in Chicago lately with temps in the mid 60s to low 70s. Many of the fair-weather-runners are out (grrrr) running along Lakeshore path. Lisa and I welcomed the arrival of warm weather with lots of walks and runs with Zoë. However, there have been times when the temp was a bit more brisk than expected resulting in some very ruddy cheeks! Regardless, Zoë loves our walks and especially loves her ride in the running stroller! Check out the picks below. Yes, I'm post-call in one of the pics.