Growing up too fast

A couple of things happened this week that warned me of how fast Ethan is growing up.
The first is that he lost his other top front tooth.  He now is truly toothless.  Good thing it is not corn on the cob season!

The second is this sign that Jason and I found taped to his bedroom door.

In case you cannot read, it says "Do Not come in. No throwing in the garbage."
Really?  He is 6. :(

Ski Week

Now that Ethan is in kindergarten, we are stuck with school vacation weeks to take vacations.  Here in California, probably due to budget cuts, all school kids get a "mid-winter break", otherwise known as ski week, in mid February.

Now, this sounds nice, but there is not much snow in Tahoe, and Alaina has not even been walking for a year, so I can't imagine her skiing.  Instead, we hit up our favorite vacation spot: Hawaii!

We spent 5 nights in Maui, enjoying the warm weather, swimming, and the beach.  The coolest part about Maui in winter is that hundreds of humpback whales migrate to Maui each winter to give birth.  The ocean is filled with them!  We went out on a really neat whale watching trip, and saw so many.  It is really amazing and incredible how huge these creatures are.

Otherwise, we mostly relaxed.  Alaina loved playing in the sand at the beach, and Ethan is getting really good a swimming independently.

As always, hard to come back, but certainly an enjoyable getaway!

New digs!

The past few weeks at work have been really busy.  On Ethan's birthday, we opened a new Children's hospital!   The pediatric services were really outgrowing our space within the UCSF adult hospital.  The new place is so much bigger--8 operating rooms, and 6 floors that are just ours!  The hospital is attached to a new adult cancer hospital as well as a OB hospital.

The transition has been interesting.  UCSF announced a few years ago that February 1 was opening day, and they were bound and determined to open that day no matter what.
Needless to say, things weren't really ready, with much of the ordered equipment having not arrived.
One of my colleagues was called in late one night the first week to anesthetize a girl who had broken her arm...only to find out that the battery for the drill that the surgeon needed could not be located.  They eventually had one couriered from across town!

Oh, and they "forgot" to hire staff for the cafeteria in the evenings, so it closed at 2pm.
But, 2 weeks later, we are in much better shape.  They are still short some staff, but at least the cafeteria is open till 7pm.


I have to say, it is really nice to work in a brand new facility with all new equipment and spaces.  The patient rooms are beautiful--all private with HUGE flat screen TVs and electronic room service.
The downside is that the new place is further from home...10-15 min more in the AM, but almost 30 minutes more in the evening. Something I will have to get used to.....

Here a picture of our group posing on Feb 2!

S-I-X!

Today, our little guy turned 6.  Just like the day he was born, this birthday fell on Superbowl Sunday.  This basically made the day a nonstop celebration.

It started with his birthday party at 10:00am.  If I had to pick out a theme for this year, it would definitely be Lego.  He is really into all types of Legos now.  The party, fittingly, was at a Lego place by our house that holds parties as well as classes and drop-in play time.  They led Ethan and his friends in creating super-hero helicopters.  It was a really big hit.  I have never seen a group of 5- and 6-year old boys be so quiet!

Tonight, we had a Superbowl party with Grandma and Grandpa Greenberg, Uncle Jeremy and Great-Grandma Cooper.  Ethan picked out his favorite for dinner--waffles and bacon.  He was so excited to open his presents, and got lots of Legos to keep him busy in the coming weeks.

We are very lucky to have such a good-natured, sweet little boy.  He is at such a great age right now, I wish I could bottle it for forever.  Happy Birthday Ethan!!!