Rusty

Well I spent the better part of my evening catching up on other people's blogs and I was inspired to post. I looked at the old blog and realized I haven't posted since 11 days before Sam was born so I'm a little rusty with how to do this. Things have been slightly more hairy since the second child has come along. Let me just catch you up, Sam will be turning two on Christmas eve and Lydia will be 5 in just a few weeks. CRAZY! Lydia is loving preschool. She is learning quickly and she amazes me. Her vocabulary is increasing, math is coming along and she is even reading a bit but what really blows me away is her emotional development. She is so perceptive. She is such a caring little girl... I am completely in love with this child. And my Sam-Man. He is just incredible. It's so hard to picture him as just a toddler because he's huge. It makes me feel like he's growing up way too fast. Nothing can beat a Sammy hug and kiss (except of course hugs and kisses from your own children:-). Sam is starting to talk more which is so fun. This week I've heard him putting two words together several times, things like "mine nana" (my banana). He is also adding words like days. New word today is "Yona" for yogurt. He has a dangerous smile and lots of energy so watch out world this kid is going places!
Lydia and Sam love to play with each other. It usually requires me to say things like "Lydia get off your brother" or "Sam be gentle with Lydia", in fact, if you have been on the phone with me anytime in the last 12 months or so you have probably heard these exact words come out of my mouth. Lydia better enjoy this time of being bigger than Sam because it will not be long until the opposite is true. I think they weigh within a few pounds of each other but Lydia is much taller. I can't say how long that will last.

As for Shawn and I, he recently accepted a new position at Penn State. He seems to be enjoying it although I think he also misses his old lab and colleagues. No changes for me still plugging away at the cancer center. I love my patients but wish I had more time at home with kiddos. It feels like we spend all of our time working or driving places. We decided to cut back on some evening commitments so I'm hoping that will increase our family time together.

Last, but certainly not least, I feel I should mention we recently lost a dear friend Javier Garcia. What a great man. We have not seen Javi for several years but one of the special things about Javi is how happy he was and how geniune each and every friendship he made was. He was the kind of person that no matter how many years or miles were between you, He was always happy to see you and shared a great conversation with you. He will be missed. Shawn is currently in TX for Javier's memorial tomorrow. It seems unreal. My heart is sad.