a "real" doctor.

this past week, david had his formal graduation from residency, a ceremonial event more to mark the end of surviving the past three years than anything, but it's a common misconception that now david is a "real" doctor.  i think this frustrates him somewhat since he was a "real" doctor three years ago when he graduated medical school, but now the general public perceives him as a "real" doctor as well.

we truly celebrated this occasion in an elaborate way we don't usually indulge in with our practical, frill-less lifestyle, but this really was the time to pull out all the stops if ever there was one.  not only to recognize david's great accomplishment, but to acknowledge all of the impressive achievements and milestones that have marked our time in chicago.  my parents very generously and thoughtfully took planning into their own hands (since the extent of my planning these days is about 4 hours ahead) and coordinated a unique, fun, kid-friendly weekend for the family.

we kicked things off with david's graduation dinner.  it was a great opportunity to get his class together, meet spouses and families and colleagues, and wish all 17 of them luck in their next steps.

the next day, we were surprised with a private trip down the chicago river.  the four of us, along with my parents, jeannette, uncle eric, aunt emmy, and the kaczanders enjoyed a very leisurely (aside from hitting a tree) meander through this breathtaking city over a picnic lunch.  the kids took well to the water--reese passed out immediately and bean learned quickly to stay in the fresh air watching the horizon to develop fast sea legs.  thanks to eric's narration, we were able to appreciate the lovely architecture and skyline we've come to know as home.  we will miss it.

after recovering somewhat from all our boating excitement, we finally, after three years, popped the cork on a bottle of dom perignon we received as a wedding gift.  so many times we've had appropriate occasions, but we decided on this day not only for its own merit, but also because it really signifies the end of an era full of excitement and celebration.

we followed up with dinner at one of our favorite family destinations, mythos in ravenswood.  wonderful, authentic greek food, friendly staff.  we have many happy memories there.  we wrapped things up with a memorable father's day brunch.  what a great final family weekend in chicago!

other than that, we have continued to ignore our impending move, in spite of severely reducing the number of days we have to pack and prepare by planning a last minute trip out to west virginia for a good old fashioned fourth of july family reunion.  the kids don't even have a week left in chicago.  i can't believe it.

and speaking of the two stinkers...these two are really something.  recently, i spent a whole week home with them by myself.  that's very rare; usually time off is punctuated by work days or visitors.  but we had a week long staycation that was really wonderful.  day after day just hanging out, going to the beach and park, visiting with friends...without the interruptions of going back to work, i had time to catch up on sleep, laundry and cleaning, and to finish a big knitting project.  i felt like the master of my own destiny.  like a real grownup, responsible to nobody but myself.  it was *awesome.*

 

reese is standing a little more every day and even taking a step or two here and there.  the other day i told him to stand up and throw me the ball, and he did.  very impressive.  he's also getting more possessive of his toys.  while bean is pretty good about rolling over and letting him play with anything to prevent a tantrum, sometimes we have a very angry little boy on our hands.

bean barely made it a week past her 2nd birthday before showing us all how terrible those twos can be. i used to think she said no to everything.  i don't know why i thought that, because now she actually says no to everything, very forcefully.  when we have time for her to exercise her impressively broad and assertive defiance, it's not so bad.  however, when we have a time crunch, it often leads to tantrums when she's forced to do things she feels compelled to say no to and doesn't have the required few minutes to say yes on her terms.  then we have a problem.  for months we've been happily changing diapers, brushing teeth, sitting on the potty, we even have songs for these fun activities.  it starts with the reflexive "no," and on further suggestion turns into a red faced, jugular popping roar of a word that's some derivitave of  "I SAID NO DAMMIT" that i can't quite understand. 

she's also doing more climbing and destroying...it's just about time to get out of our little apartment and get these kids some real space.  she keeps getting more clever...the other day she put a raspberry on her finger and said "look daddy, finger hat."  she pointed to a picture of the skyline and said, "chicago."

                                      

                                               bean, go lie next to your brother.

other than that, we're trying to enjoy chicago as much as we can while still working long hours and minding the tyrants.  this week was free admission at the shedd aquarium, which is about the only way to enjoy it with our kids at their current ages.  we said goodbye to our favorite exhibits.  david continues to appreciate the water view of the city, joining some friends on a sailing outing on lake michigan.  fortunately, there were no collisions.

house is plugging along according to schedule...floors and counters are in and our yard has grass.  our kids almost have a yard!

we are exactly one short week from david's true end of residency; i myself have three shifts left.  we have a good balance of work and play planned after that...we'll let you know what we're up to.