Tales of ToddlerLand: Toddler Communication

ToddlerLand:  A real life state of being where toddlers rule the world.   It can be fun and exciting, hilarious and surprising, and it can also be so frustrating that you want to pull your hair out.

Ryan is 21 months old now and so we've been living in ToddlerLand for quite some time.  We are only a few months away from entering into Terrible Two Land as well, which I'm sure is going to be full of just as many ups and downs.  We'll also be joining Big Sister Land in about 4.5 months....God help us!

I've decided that kids learning to talk is just about the funniest and sometimes most frustrating thing in the world.  She always knows what she wants, however I am still figuring it out most days.  The struggle is real my friends.

But, Ryan is freakin HILARIOUS.  Her verbal skills have really increased in the last couple of months and she absolutely cracks us up.  She puts multiple words together to make little sentences.  For instance, the other day, a picture frame fell off of the ledge above where she was playing.  I have NO IDEA how that happened, but thankfully it just crashed next to her instead of actually falling on her.  I jumped up to grab her and she said over and over "its ok, its ok, its ok."  It was pretty funny.  She'll also say "where'd go?" as in "Where did so and so go?"  "I get it." "Here ya go Mom," which for whatever reason comes out as "Here ya go Bub."

She's learned that there is a baby in my belly although I'm pretty certain she now thinks belly buttons are called "baby."  So she'll go around lifting up her shirt, my shirt, Josh's shirt and pointing to our belly buttons and saying "baby, baby, baby."  I'm just waiting for her to try to do it to some stranger and have them look at me like what the hell?!?!

Ryan perfected the word "no" quite some time ago and she doesn't hesitate to use it about 795 times a day.  Ironically, I use it at least that many times if not more.  I wonder where she learned that word from? :) Cars are called "gos," I think because I always say that cars "go."  The word for horse is "neigh," the girl loves to ask for a "cookie" and every child, boy or girl is a "gurl."  She regularly says "hi" to every person at the grocery store whether they are looking at her or not and the decibel with which she says it makes her seem like she's being paid as the Stop & Shop greeter.  Of course, if you give her a cellphone, she'll answer it with "hewwoo" because obviously, Mom and Dad say "hello" on the phone and not "hi."

Her response when Josh and I say "I love you" to her has been "too," a ToddlerLand version of I love you "too."  However, she recently started saying "I wuv youuuu" and sometimes I'll catch her saying it to me without being prompted.  My heart melts into a puddle every. single. time.

When it is getting close to nap time or bedtime she will regularly grab her stuffed animals and blanket and make her way to the couch where she lies down and says "nighhhh" (night) hoping that that will mean she can sleep on the couch.  VERY occasionally I will let that work for nap time but it's pretty cute either way.

I hear her say "Oh noooo" about 27 times a day.  Usually it's in reference to a toy that's fallen or something she's done on purpose like putting random objects in the toilet or dumping a bag of pretzels on the floor, but occasionally it has to do with a movie she's watching.  Like when Sleeping Beauty pricks her finger on the spinning wheel and Ryan yells "Ohhhh NOOOO."  I die.

Speaking of movies or television shows, if she's watching one and it ends or comes to a commercial, she'll look over at me and yell "it stawp it stawp!"  Hahaha the darn show stopped and she doesn't hesitate to let me know about it!

"Up" means up.  But "up" also means down, out, in and any other means of getting into or out of something be it her high chair, bathtub, carseat, onto our bed, out of the crib, etc.

She did finally figure out that my name is not "Da" and will wander the house yelling "Ma" or "Mama" daily.  Whenever the front door is being unlocked, she lights up and yells "Dada!"  It's super cute except for when it's our neighbors unlocking THEIR front door and not ours and then it's kind of sad in an adorable sort of way.

She knows the words and locations of many body parts and so we go through the list all the time.  Eyes, ears, nose, teeth, tongue, hands, feet, hair, and so on.

She understands SO MUCH.  Kids really are little sponges soaking up everything that we as parents say and do.  And while ToddlerLand has some real challenges, it really is amazing.

The Dandelion Lane Update

I thought it was high time I did a little update on my Etsy Shop, The Dandelion Lane.  I opened it almost a year ago and have done rather well for something that I have only sometimes put a lot of time and energy in to.

I lost some major motivation in the winter months after a rather busy summer/fall season and then with morning sickness due to baby #2, I lost even more motivation.  However, I have since picked it up again and have been sewing like crazy trying to add new designs and patterns to the shop.  I'd be lying if I didn't say that I pretty much want to keep every single item I make for Ryan or her sister to wear, but alas, I try to limit myself a tad.  I am, however, definitely anxious to create some matching sister outfits in the future!

Here are some examples of my newer listings:

 I can even get Ryan to be my little model sometimes. Though it typically requires M&M's as a bribe for pictures.  A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do!

I still take custom orders if there are color schemes or a specific look you are going for.  Please check out my shop and share it with your friends and family!

Easter 2015

Holidays change a lot when you have kids.  They also change a lot when you have a husband who is a resident.  And they change a lot when you live in a new state far far away from all of your family and normal traditions.  That's not to say that Easter or holidays can't be enjoyable, but they definitely take on a new "look" then they used to.  And I'll be the first to admit that I have a difficult time dealing with the new look sometimes.

So, it's necessary to forge new traditions and become at peace with a new "normal."  The things that I do now will be Ryan's and her new sister's "norm" and I'm sure they will eventually be mine too.

On Good Friday, Ryan had her second dentist appointment.  Gasp, not necessarily a good Friday right?!?!  And before you start to worry, I'm not planning to make dentist appointments an annual Good Friday tradition.  Haha!  But we made it through the appointment with only tears and no passing out episodes!  Thank the Lord!  It was a warm 60+ degrees and though the sun wasn't out, I am definitely welcoming the cloudy weather if it means I can leave the house without gloves, a down jacket, and winter boots on.  Ryan rocked some adorable bunny ears and I actually think she really likes them because I have randomly found her playing at the house the last few days while wearing them.

Josh has been on nights for the majority of the past three weeks which is always rough on everyone.  We are surviving, but it means that he could only be minimally present in today's Easter festivities.  We started out the morning with a bottle in Mom and Dad's bed followed by an exciting Easter basket surprise in the family room.  Ryan went straight for the M&M's in one of the eggs and proceeded to stuff her cheeks full of them before I decided she'd had enough candy before breakfast. :)  A girl after Dad's own heart.

Step away from my candy Mom!

I filled her basket full of some candy, jelly sandals, egg chalk, some new hair clips, a book, and my favorite, a stuffed animal unicorn that I'm sure I'm more obsessed with than she is.  But she had a really fun time taking all of the goodies out of her basket and of course, eating her candy.

I stole an idea from Pinterest and made us some festive pancakes for breakfast which were a hit with everyone.

And then we headed off to church as a family of three four.  It's always nice when that can happen because it is rare these days due to Josh's hectic schedule.

Josh slept the rest of the day in preparation for working this evening and Ryan and I spent the rest of the day like we normally do, playing, watching cartoons, and making entirely too many messes that I have yet to clean up.   There wasn't a big Easter dinner and we were out of our Easter clothes by noon, but we still had a nice day and ultimately the day is about Jesus anyway and his death and resurrection on the cross.

I hope our family and friends near and far had an enjoyable holiday as well.  Happy Easter everyone!

The OTHER Big News

Yup!  We announced on St. Patrick's Day last week that we are expecting Baby GIRL Scurlock #2 in August 2015!  Baby girl is due August 26th, so we will be having our second summer baby.  AND my sister-in-law Kristin is due with her first, a boy, just two days before me.  So exciting!

We found out just days before Christmas that we were expecting baby #2 and let's just say we were a little shocked, but we are excited to have two little girls only a couple of years a part.  Since I have two sisters myself, I'm thrilled beyond words that Ryan is going to have a little sister.  We waited until we were home in Bakersfield, CA to find out what we were having and it was so fun to celebrate the news with our families.  Ryan has absolutely no idea what is coming this summer, but she loved the balloons none the less.

I'm just about 18 weeks now and feeling pretty good, though I'm growing much faster the second time around!  I had pretty bad morning all day sickness for the first 12 weeks so that was part of my reason for not blogging much in the early months of 2015.  I definitely welcomed the 2nd trimester with open arms!

We are so excited that our family of three is growing to a family of four.  I'm sure things are gonna get a little nutty, but what else is new?!?!  God has certainly heaped many blessings on this family lately.

The Match, The SOAP, and the Reality of being an IMG (Part 2 update)

So, here we are, Match Day 2015.  Can it really be that it has already been a year since Match Day 2014, the day that inspired this ORIGINIAL post?  That post has become far and away my most read post on this blog to date.  I find it both humbling and heartbreaking that so many have found their way to my blog and either felt sorry for our story or inspired by it.

The post has been linked on other medical blogs and has been referenced in multiple forums on Student Doctor Net throughout the last year.  And because I can trace where my page views are coming from, I have seen the comments on those forums and blogs and I have to say, I have had moments where I felt very discouraged.  I realize that those that comment have neither been in our exact position, nor do they know Josh personally, and they are attempting to give a full (albeit harsh) picture of what not matching or perhaps WORSE in their eyes, matching into a prelim position means.  I've read things like "prelim positions are dead end positions," "he will never get a categorical position," "he will be worked to death and will not be respected as a prelim," and one of my personal favorites, after not getting into an American Medical School, "he should do something else and get on with life."

I have one thing to tell all the naysayers and the same thing to tell all those discouraged and disheartened about their Match success or lack their of, especially the IMG's.

Josh Matched Categorical General Surgery at the University of Massachusetts.

It pains me to say that THERE IS NO MAGICAL FORMULA to matching into categorical general surgery as a preliminary resident. Nor is there any perfect outline for finding a spot during SOAP or after.  There have been so many readers who have commented on my blog post and asked me to email you personally to answer your questions.  There have been readers who have tracked me down on Facebook or through my Etsy shop to ask questions about what we did and I understand, I really do.  You are grasping at straws here.  I understand the heartbreak you are going through after not Matching and I know the stress you have felt after not SOAPing.

What I am going to write here is what WE did and what worked for US but I know that our story is a combination of hardwork, determination, prayer, and luck.  Honestly, we needed all four of those components for this to work.  While I think that Josh is the perfect package for a surgical residency program, there was definitely an X-factor at work here.

This past year:

Joshua knew from day one as a preliminary resident that he would have to hit the ground running in his program.  First impressions are important but so are long term impressions.  He knew he couldn't start out strong in July and then begin to teeter off in the coming months.  It is a marathon not a sprint.  What you have to understand about Josh is that he is a very outgoing, competent, and  confident man as well as a natural leader.  It's possible that he thrives more under pressure than anywhere else so when he knows he has to go all-in, he does.   What you have to understand about the surgery program at UMass is that they don't treat their prelims differently than their categorical residents.  Joshua was in surgery regularly alongside attendings and the Program Director.  I'm certain that there are preliminary programs out there where this would not be the case, but Josh got lucky because he was at a program that would give him the chance to get noticed.

He got 4 entirely new letters of recommendation, three from surgical attendings he worked with during the first two months at UMass and one from the Program Director.  We believe this was key in him getting 5 interviews this year.  His test scores (Step 1: 232, Step 2: 235) and grades (graduating GPA: 3.7ish, Basic science GPA: 3.4ish) hadn't changed, if anything, he was at a disadvantage having been out of school for a year.  But we feel his new LOR's were EXTREMELY strong and so they were able to boost his application.

He was also asked to be on a committee for resident education at UMass as one of two PGY1 representatives.  We were surprised that even though he was a preliminary resident, he was given this task.  During the fall, he competed on a 3 person team comprised of one 5th year, one mid-level, and one intern in a "surgical olympics" type competition between other surgical residency programs on the East Coast.  UMass's team came in 2nd place and I feel Josh shined during that competition.  He showed confidence in himself and his surgical skills as well as pride in his program.  All of these things may not have determined his ability to obtain a categorical position, but I feel that getting your name and face out there within your program, especially if you are a prelim is of the utmost importance!  In other words, getting involved in these type of opportunities never hurts.

As it turns out, Josh Matched at his first choice program where he is currently a prelim, the University of Massachusetts.  We loved this program from the start and are so thrilled that not only did we choose them, but that they chose us.  I don't know if Josh would have matched at one of the other 4 programs he interviewed at if UMass didn't pan out, but I do know that he felt confident in all of his interviews and I would like to think that someone else wouldn't have passed him up either.  I guess we will never know and at this point, it no longer matters.

Many many things came together in order for this story to end in the successful manner that it has.  Maybe we just got totally lucky.  And if that's the case, we are thanking our lucky stars.  We have five years of a surgical residency ahead of us and you'd better believe we won't be taking any one day for granted.

Match Day 2015!

**If I haven't answered some of your questions, know that I plan to do a FAQ post as well in the next few days.  I wish I could respond to everyone that has been asking me to email them, but I'm only one person and I'm also a Mom and a wife.  I write this blog as mostly an online journal for family and friends and while I'm thrilled to be "helping" others in similar positions, I also don't know much more than what I've already written or read about online.  

Match Day 2015

I will do a big update on Josh and our second go around with The Match next week, but I just want to say with a HUGE amount of pride in my husband and in our success story that.....

WE MATCHED GENERAL SURGERY!

Oh Hey! Yes, the Scurlock's are still alive!

Wow, March 1st huh?  You wouldn't know it here in Massachusetts.  It seems we are stuck in the land of perpetual winter here as evidenced by the snow that I see falling outside my window tonight.

I wish I had a good excuse as to why I've been so absent on the blog these past two months.  I could say it has had something to do with a ridiculous bout of sickness that passed through Josh, Ryan, and I and then around the time that passed Ryan got sick again... and again.   I can't say that I've been overly busy as the absolutely insane amount of snow that Worcester has gotten has kept us house bound more days than I care to count.  But maybe it's kind of like when you sleep in an extra long amount of time and then you are more tired for the rest of the day than if you had just gotten up at a normal hour.  We have been so bored and "un" busy that I can't seem to find the motivation to do anything, even get out of my pajamas!  Okay... that's typical anyway.  Yoga pants for the win.

So what's been going on?

Well, Josh is getting ready to start his trauma rotation tomorrow.  He only has 4 months left of this year of residency.  Crazy.  He was gone off and on a lot in January for residency interviews and we are anxiously awaiting Match Day 2015.  I hope to update you all with happy news on March 20th.  For now, prayers are welcome!

Ryan will be 20 months old in a couple of days.  Say what?!?! This kid continues to crack us up daily.  Some of her new favorite words to use are "No" and "Stop,"  which are not necessarily MY favorite words that she says.  Ha!  She has recently become obsessed with Winnie the Pooh on Netflix and will regularly carry my computer around going "pooh, pooh, pooh."  It's pretty adorable.

We are completely pacifier free as of a few days ago, which went surprisingly better than I would have guessed and the fact that it's gone makes me feel like she's such a big kid all of the sudden.  Though, we still have bottles to get rid of eventually.  One thing at a time.  We also have been doing swimming lessons on Saturday mornings and she and I have a pretty good time swimming around and practicing our kicker feet.

We all survived our first blizzard, Juno, at the end of January.  Juno dumped a record 34.5 inches of snow on Worcester in a matter of two days.  There was a travel ban placed on the state and Josh was stuck at the hospital for about 48 hours.  However, despite the mass hysteria that it caused, other than the cable/internet going out, it was rather uneventful.  Not that I'm complaining.

We are heading to California next week for my brother's wedding and are SO anxious to enjoy some sunshine and mild temperatures.  I may never come back to MA.  Kidding.

I'll try to be more regular with my posting again.  And attempt to keep you updated on the changes that are sure to occur in the next few months.