melted smoosh

  1) St. Nicholas Day. the evening before December 6, Cecilia decided to use her Easy Bake oven to bake special brownies for St. Nicholas. she took some liberties with the directions and the resulting brownies were about 3 mm thick, but she was convinced he would love them anyway... and he did!  Cece put both shoes out in hopes of extra recognition ;) St. Nick brought chocolate coins, chocolate Santas in varying sizes, hot chocolate bombs, and baby food and a Chews Life decade rosary for Victoria 2) The Nutcracker. starting when she was three, Greta has gone to the Nutcracker each year with Nick as a special daddy/daughter date. then Cecilia joined them, and then one year we went with friends, and in 2020 we watched the Nutcracker over a specially streamed production. when it came back as a live production in 2021, I decided I wanted to join in on the tradition too. ;) this year, I was able to take advantage of a special sale to snag tickets just eleven rows back from the front. it mad

 dear Greta, your actual birthday was almost two months ago, but I still wanted to recap the celebration of double digits ! you have been so excited to turn ten. it is bittersweet for your sentimental mother, I'll tell you that much, but most of all, I am so proud of the young lady you are becoming. you are a fiercely loyal friend and a wonderful big sister. you are blunt and approach most situations (and people) with skepticism until they have proven worthy of your esteem -- a character trait you've had since infancy that we've worked to temper with kindness, but that I also know will serve you well as you continue to become more independent. let's just say we don't worry about you falling for any ne'er-do-wells. you love to entertain Elizabeth and Victoria, and in turn, they absolutely adore you. you are responsible enough that you sometimes stay home by yourself while I run a short errand (although it will be a few more years before you watch the babies on yo

dear Victoria, somehow, half a year has flown by! your little arms are so plump that Greta says they look like egg rolls. you can sit unsupported for a while, although eventually you slowly fold over in an impressive display of hamstring flexibility. you roll over and over and over again. you've finally figured out how to lay your bowling ball head down gently when you roll instead of smacking it against the floor!  rolling around under the dining room table while Mommy works! you absolutely love purees: carrots, sweet potatoes, turkey & apple, chicken & rice, and bananas are all favourites. you tolerate green beans. so far you have absolutely zero interest in your sippy cup of water. you hold your own bottle and generally drink 6 ounces four or five times a day. your new favourite activity is sitting up in the high chair to play with toys. and at daycare, you adore the little sit-me-up seat. you are such a big girl!  this month, you celebrated your first Christmas. Santa b

1) the PANRE-LA. this is the longform, at-home board certification exam that the National Commission for physician assistants recently rolled out. when I first graduated as a PA, we had to take a standard 300-question recertification exam in an official testing center every 6 years to maintain board-certified status (that's the -C at the end of PA-C, in case you were wondering!). I took my first recertification exam in 2014, when Greta was a baby. then they rolled back the certification requirements to taking the exam every 10 years. and now, based on updated research on adult learning, they offer the option to take the test at home as a longitudinal assessment. each quarter, you must complete 25 multiple choice questions that can be answered at any pace over the course of the quarter. before submitting your answer for each question, you report how confident you are in your answer, how relevant the question is to your particular scope of practice, and whether or not you used a refe

the dust has finally settled after a whirlwind eight weeks of birthdays and holidays! here's a quick look back at November.  1) turkey shoot. this is a traditional weekend basketball tournament hosted by our school, and this year, Greta not only got to play with the JV team (who made it to the final game for the first time!) but also got to perform with the cheer squad for the varsity boys' game. Cecilia performed with the Spirit Squad in between games. the school spirit was epic!  #21 -- her first official JV game (playing as a 4th grader with 5th & 6th grade -- it's a learning curve for sure and she naturally doesn't get as much playing time as she does on her own developmental 3rd & 4th grade team, but she absolutely loves it!) watching her steal balls is incredibly entertaining. I just think it's so funny that what we would never condone in regular daily life is actually what can win the game here. and once her hands get on that ball, she does not give