14 Months...

JJ continues to develop a personality that guarantees multiple phone calls from teachers saying that he distracts the other children in class. I think the word "ham" comes to mind when he will babble something and then cheese and giggle. He has also started shushing us when he sees that Cubbie is sleeping (though he has no trouble poking his nose and playing with his tail at the same time).

His walking has become quite stable and is quickly transforming from a trot to an all out run. The only problem is that his brakes aren't quite developed so we have seen a few more crashes than in the past.

His words are slowly coming around as well. He definitely has "dada, mama, banana" and few occasional words down. I expected his words to take off the way his crawling and walking did, but this seems to be a slower process.

JJ's diet also has exploded over the past month or so. He seems to have some aversion to chicken and really all meats for that matter, but you cannot get this kid full with anything else. He can down pasta, vegetables, fruit/applesauce for dinner, and then keep asking Sara and I for more off our plates. It's impressive for a 14mo old.

And on that note, that's always bothered me... For years, I've never understood why a child is "14 months old" and not just "one year old." I haven't told anyone that I'm turning 360 months old next week, so when does someone turn "years old" and not "months old." That sounds like a bit, but I really don't know because I tell people he's 1 and it doesn't seem to register. When I say 14mo, they immediately know what to expect.

Sara and I took another JJ-less vacation in early June. We went to Playa del Carmen, Mexico to take part in Matt and Abby's wedding. Our resort was incredible and we both had a great time (assuming you subtract the two days of food poisoning). We spent tons of time on the white sand, in the ocean, and poolside drinking and eating in an all-inclusive way. A large group of us took a private catamaran ride and went snorkeling for the first time. Someone in our group (let's call him A. Utterback) couldn't handle it from motion sickness and had to be rescued back to shore. Actually, I think that name may have been too obvious, let's call him Andy U.

I had my graduation ceremony at the IMA the week we came back. It was the first time our graduation was held there, but it turned out very nice. Dinner was excellent and it was nice to have Sara and dad meet some of the people who trained me (since they've heard plenty of stories).

Since then I've been fighting off senior-itis, but with little success. I'm really just counting down the days till I get to start my own practice. The plan for now is to start training right after July 4th and then start seeing patients on July 11th. I'm gonna be flying solo for a few months, but a former IU resident is coming back to town and will be joining me in October. So far things are falling in place to start on time, but there's still lots to do to the office before we start.

Betty and Denny also stopped by this month and we made a return trip to Bijou. If you haven't had the chance to try Bijou up in Lebanon, you definitely should go for your next celebration. It's pricey, but you'll have a great time and the food is worth every penny. I was given the responsibility of choosing the wine for the first time and I have to admit I haven't been that nervous in a long time. It makes no sense why wines are so intimidating. I chose a Pinot Noir from Oregon (really for no other reason than I've been there) - hopefully it was good enough for the table that they'll trust me to try again next visit.

To those who haven't heard, or who have forgotten, Sara is throwing me a Hawaiian luau themed 30th birthday/graduation party on July 2nd. It'll be here at the house and starts around 4PM. We'll have pulled pork and plenty of other food, plus a variety of beers to sample. Please let me or Sara know if you haven't RSVP'd already so we can plan accordingly.

WE MADE IT!!!

12 months have come and gone... and we are ALL still alive to talk about it! (Even Cubbie!) And you are all lucky to have ME to tell you about it at this mile marker instead of Scott! (I guess I have a little more free time than he does!)

Not a day goes by that we have a hard time remembering this little guy...as we are sooo amazed at how fast time has gone, as well as, how BIG our little boy is now! Our "little" 8 pound 10 ounce J.J. is now 25 pounds and in the 93% for his height! Thanks to his cousin, Chase, J.J. has very quickly become a walking pro, as well as able to push and shove to get what he wants!

J.J. has been trying to talk for the past few months. I had been able to teach him a few signs..."more" and "all done"...so he had been able to tell a little bit. He also has "No, no, no!" down pat! Even waving his finger when someone says it! (Can you tell what he hears A LOT of?!?!?!) I was blessed to get a special surprise for Mother's Day...he said "DADA"! I said..."You're not supposed to say that! It's Mother's Day!" And what was J.J.'s reaction...he LAUGHED in my face! Since then, we have heard a few "MOM"s and Aunt Anna swears that he said "ANNA" today...but I think he was asking for a BANANA!

As for J.J.'s 1st Birthday Bash...I pretty much did EVERYTHING that Parents Magazine said to NOT do for a 1st Birthday Party! Small crowd...40 people is small right? Do not schedule the party during nap time...party was from 2-6pm so I made him take a nap 2 hours after he woke up that morning! Don't go overboard...are 30 balloons TOO many?? Scott's job was to just keep his mouth shut...but his eyes said it all when he came home from picking up the balloons! J.J. had a great time opening all his gifts and eating all the icing off his cake! We were blessed to have such wonderful family and friends help celebrate with us!

With April being one of the busiest months for us...we managed a vacation, I finished my mini training, celebrated MANY birthdays, and 2 Easter celebrations...I'm surprised we made it! We have now entered less than 2 months til Scott starts his new practice! We are all very excited about it! Scott has been picking out gloves, his desk and chair for his office, and the biggest decision...the name of the office! I'm not sure Hendricks Regional will approve of "The Cline Center of Excellence"...so maybe "Avon Neurology" will do?? (I'm sure the next few posts will be

more and more about our new journey!)

As April has come to an end, once again, I say we've made it! J.J. has been such a blessing to us and always makes our days sunny!

11 months...

Sorry this one is closer to 12 months than 11 months, but since JJ hasn't turned one yet it still counts...

Sara and I just flew in from Hawaii today and boy are my arms tired! Not really a joke, Sara's bags were heavy! I managed to get Sara and I down to one bag to save on bag check fees, but not without a fight. I had my neurology conference in Honolulu and of course Sara had to go with me to make sure I actually went. I only had conferences on Sunday and Monday, but we flew out last Thursday to get a couple extra days in. Last time we went we didn't get to see everything so we took a guided tour of the island. Started off toward Diamond Head and then spent a few minutes at Hanauma Bay, which is the big snorkling area. Winded our way up toward North Shore, stopping to see sea turtles resting on the beach, a macadamian nut farm, a Buddha shrine, and a horse ranch. Our last stop was the Dole Plantation and the pineapple ice cream alone was worth the trip. I wanted to go through the maze, but unfortunately there wasn't time. Fact of the day: It takes 18-20 months for a plant to produce a pineapple. The tour was well done and I recommend it for anyone who goes to Oahu.

My conference took up most of Sunday and Monday - giving Sara time to shop and hang out on the beach, though lots of clouds. Tuesday and early Wednesday were the hottest/sunniest days and we spent a good deal of those days on the beach or in the ocean. The rest of the time we wandered Waikiki pointing out all the people on the street who were obviously neurologists (I like to think I wasn't that obvious - though Sara disagreed).

Not all of the vacation went well as Sara got food poisoning on Saturday and I subsequently got food poisoning the morning that we left. Fact #2: Vomit bags are impressively waterproof and quite resilient to repeated blasts. Fortunately Sara recovered well over a day or so, and I'm slowly getting there.

We landed Thursday AM around 0930 and as we're walking to pick up our bags we hear Chase yelling about the airplanes outside and JJ's "Oooooh." Not sure he knew what to think at first but then he smiled and ran to Sara.

JJ stayed with Steve and Phyllis while we were gone. I was impressed that Sara didn't cry when we left, but you could tell she was missing him toward the end of the trip (and I was too). We stayed in close touch and everytime we heard him on the phone he was yelling and having fun (usually with Chase) so we knew he was ok. Cubbie stayed with my dad and other than taking up most of the bed it sounded like things went well there as well.

JJ had his one year pictures taken a couple weeks ago and we just got the pics in the mail. I was instructed not to post them yet, so I'll get some up as soon as I'm allowed. Next post will be after JJ turns 1, can't believe how quickly the past year went by.

10 Months...

Everything has been pretty much status quo around here. JJ is getting bigger by the day, Sara is staying busy trying to keep up with him (and Chase on Tuesdays), and I'm one month closer to graduation (not that I'm counting down or anything).

JJ has discovered a new skill in climbing stairs and is very willing to show you how good he is at it if you're not paying close attention. He continues to cruise over the house by crawling and is getting closer to piecing together walking. He's rock solid as long as he's holding onto something (couch, table, one of us) and stands pretty well. We have been pushing the couches apart and putting toys he likes on either side so that he has to walk between them. So far we get 2-3 steps and then a nosedive into the couch, but he's definitely getting better.

No definite words yet, but his babbling is getting clearer and more consistent. Can't imagine it'll be long now till we get a couple of words out of him, but I can't even count anymore how many times I've heard from people "the sooner they talk, the sooner they talk back." I guess we should just enjoy the semi-quiet for now.

Sara is progressing really well on her mini-marathon training. She ran her first training 5K last Saturday and was middle of the pack for women for her time. I thought that was pretty good for someone who has only been training for a few weeks and has not ran competitively since high school. I can't remember her time, but I do remember thinking that I probably couldn't do it. She has a 10K coming up this weekend and then 15K a few weeks later, but we'll be in Hawaii for that one so I gotta make sure she runs that one on Waikiki beach.

So far my resolutions are going well. Here's a quick recap/update:

1. I have increased my reading/studying (though not sure I'm quite at an extra hour/week).

2. I've reached a new belt loop since last year and I'm only 3# away from 200# for the first time since 8th grade.

3. Still have two months till he's supposed to be doing algebra... JJ isn't quite grasping polynomials yet, but he's pretty good at solving for x - so that's a start!

Aunt Betty found these baby scrubs while working in D.C. You can't see the emblem, but they are White House surgical scrubs.

I don't have anything else too exciting in terms of updates for me, so I'll just distract you with a few extra pictures of JJ here instead...

PS. Check my last post - Super Bowl prediction right on the money!

9 Months

January is nearly gone, and since I was at Riley all this month February could not come fast enough. If nothing else, Riley reminded me everyday not to appreciate JJ and not take him for granted because taking care of him could be MUCH more difficult. It's interesting to think about my approach to kids now compared to when I was there 2 years ago. I'm more comfortable dealing with the kids, but having a boy to compare the patients with really helps when discussing milestones, development, and weird stuff normal kids do. I cannot count the number of times I told a mom, "that's nothing... my son did that." I wouldn't say that I hated my time at Riley, but I don't see me looking back fondly 5 years from now either.

Since I had a rough schedule at work, Sara had an equally rough month at home. She not only took care of JJ by herself for the vast majority of the month, but added in training for the Mini-marathon. I have been impressed with her dedication. She only missed one training day this month and that was because it snowed like 3 inches the night before and was like 2 degrees out.

Now that JJ is approaching the big 01, his milestones are falling almost daily. He has mastered going from crawling to standing while holding onto the couch. Most days we don't even need to get all of his toys out because he just plays with the couch pillows and coasters over and over - and of course his socks which spend more time in his mouth than on his feet.

In addition to all his achievements, JJ has also picked up a couple bad habits - most notably biting. Wasn't a problem when he was all gums, but now that he has almost 4 teeth he can really do some damage. The other night we were playing on the couch and he leaned over and bit me on the arm. I told him "No, you don't do that" in a fairly stern voice and he immediately made a face as if he were going to cry. It was so funny I started laughing hysterically - of course that lesson didn't set in so he bit me again. Another warning resulted in more crying and a few tears - hopefully that one stuck because I hid my laughing behind a pillow.

JJ had his 9mo checkup on Friday and sounds like all went well. He is now 21.3 lbs (65%), 30in (95%), and his head circumference was in the 99th percentile. The first two could be misleading, but with a head measurement like that there is no chance he isn't my kid. No shots this time - saving those for his 12mo visit.

February will again keep us busy, but we're that much closer to our April trip to Hawaii and June trip to Mexico. It'll be tough to leave JJ here, but I just look at it as there's at least two weeks where no one will bite my arm!

Till next time...

PS. My Super Bowl pick is Green Bay by 6. Go Packers!

JJ's First Christmas

I hope everyone doesn't mind if I take my blog back from Sara today and give a few updates. She did a great job in my place and I expect her to continue adding posts in the months to come.

It has been a very busy month, especially in the last week... here's a quick rundown.

Saturday: Sara and I went to the wedding of her friend, Ryan, who used to work with Sara at Old Navy. The reception was at a small reception center (which I didn't know existed) by the movie theater in Metropolis. Between the wedding and the reception, there was enough time to walk through some stores and do some scouting for what I was going to get Sara for Christmas.

Sunday: We went to a post-church breakfast at Bob and Mary Francis' house. The food was great and we had a good time catching up with all the guests. I was essentially in a food coma during the Colts game that afternoon, but from what I vaguely remember they won.

Tuesday: JJ and Santa.

JJ isn't quite old enough for stranger anxiety, but I still expected him to scream instantly because my visions of Santa have been tainted by A Christmas Story. He actually did very well; only crying once he was repositioned on Santa's lap and he looked up to see who was holding him. I don't think it'll go so well next year so I'm putting this visit in the memory bank.

Wednesday: Sara, Stevie, Anna, and Betsy increased the family blood sugar by 20 points each with piles of Christmas cookies, rice crispy treats, oreo balls, and whatever else can come from a combination of sugar, chocolate, and icing.

I also received a contract in the mail from Hendricks Regional Health with a job offer. I interviewed out there a week before and apparently it went as well as I thought it did. They are offering me an opportunity to open my own practice in Avon - at 36 and Dan Jones. Barring any surprises or setbacks, I'll be signing the paperwork next month!

Friday: The Cline family Christmas was at our house this year. Donnie was able to make it back from MD or WV, wherever he is nowadays. Add in dad, Vickie and Alfredo, Theresa and the kids, and Donnie/Chandy and their kids and you have a FULL house. All went well until Jacob dropped the vegetables and salad all over the kitchen floor. Other than that it was a great night!

Christmas: Unfortunately I had to work at Wishard on Christmas morning so our Christmas didn't start till around noon, but it was worth the wait. JJ was better at opening presents than I expected, but of course his favorite gift was Cubbie's new rawhide bone. That afternoon we had Fon family Christmas, which once again resulted in a food coma. Chase and JJ got tons of gifts - as the smiles in this picture implies.

So that was a quick rundown of our busy week.

As for JJ milestone updates, he hasn't slowed down any. I don't think he was crawling for two weeks when I walked in to get him from a nap and he is standing in his crib. Now I can't keep him entertained with any of his toys because he just wants to crawl, pull to a stand, or follow Sara or me into the kitchen so he can play with Cubbie's toys.

Now is close enough to the start of 2011 that I'll throw out some New Years Resolutions:

1. Increase reading/studying by one hour/week to prep for our resident exam and board exam

2. Drop a few lbs, plan to be under 200# for the first time since 8th grade before I go to Hawaii in April. Hoping to get to around 190-195# for Matt's wedding in June, but going to be tough with all the mass I'm gonna put on working out with Andy.

3. Have JJ doing entry level algebra by his first birthday.

- Figure 2/3 won't be too bad. We'll see which ones work out by next Christmas 2011. Hope you all had an equally great Christmas. Stay safe for New Years!

Hello...it's ME again! :-)

Once again, you all have the pleasure of hearing from Mrs. Dr. Dad, MD.!!!

November and December are always so busy for everyone, so I'm not surprised that I am needing to keep up with the blog. Scott has been busy with work, having to work a few extra calls and such because a few other residents are out on medical leave, as well as picking up a few extra shifts to help pay for our Hawaii trip! The plan was for us to save the $50/week that I would get at Old Navy to pay for some of the trip...well, that has pretty much turned into paying my Old Navy Visa bill because I can't make it out of there with at least getting 1 thing! :-)

JJ was has been able to achieve A LOT of Firsts over the past few weeks!

1. He has achieved a 100% in crawling! (And yes...everyone was right about not wanting him to learn to crawl soo soon!) He knows just how to get to things and there is always a look of determination in his eyes if he really want to get something!

2. 1st Haircut! Yes...I know! He's only 7 months! But it was OUT OF CONTROL! We took him to Everyday Joe's in Brownsburg where Scott's barber, Tommy, had the pleasure of cutting my little boy's hair! Here's a few pictures to enjoy...

3. JJ's 1st Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving was wonderful! We were able to spend the day with my parents, Stephen, Anna, and Sheryl and Wood. Then we took JJ to a visit with Grandma Polly...and to surprise her with his new look, as she was the one who kept asking if we had gotten his hair cut yet! :-)

4. 1st TOOTH!!! JJ and I had gone to church with my family, went to mom's and had breakfast, JJ played, met Scott home from work, and all of a sudden I see something catch the light in JJ's mouth! Sure enough...his 1st tooth! We had gone ALL day without noticing it! Looking back at it, he just hadn't really been the same the few days before. A little cranky, sleepy, and just wanted to be held, but nothing out of control, so I had NO IDEA that this tooth was trying to make it's appearance! We don't have any pictures of it yet, as 99% of it is still in his gums, but I can already see the next one is going to be joining us soon! Maybe next month we'll have a picture!

5. Last but not least...I would have to say he is 99.9% with his sitting skills and has pretty much mastered getting into a sitting position from crawling! It is SOO funny to go walking in his room in the morning to see him just sitting there in his bed playing with his blanket and glow worm! He could probably sit there all day if I'd let him!

So there's JJ's 7th month in a glance! We are very excited for his 1st Christmas and can't to tell you all about the loud toys that do not turn off! :-)

Wishing you and your families all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Sara