Daddy Can 'Do

Avery loves to have her hair done. She would love if I put it in 2 braids every day. I lack the dexterity and the know-how to do it on a regular basis, so most days she is content with a ponytail +/- headband. Today I came home sick from work and found Avery with a ponytail. I wasn't sure if it was the same one from the prior day, but it turns out Daddy can make a mean-looking ponytail, with a little guidance from our girl.
Never mind that both kids were out of their pajamas and it was only 10 AM on a Saturday. Very impressive. No joke, Jon makes things happen on his days home alone with the kids. There is always park time, farmer's markets, jogs in the stroller, and vegetables on their plates. I'm a lucky mama and they are some lucky kids. And he, as a husband of a nurse practitioner who works weekends, is lucky too, to have this precious time with the kids that a lot of dads don't have (I think)!

Published

About 2 years ago an acquaintance of mine at work approached me to see if I might be interested in authoring a chapter for a Pediatric Surgical Nursing textbook; specifically to write about 1 of 2 neonatal surgical issues. After coercing my friend to co-write the chapter with me, I graciously accepted. Emi and I made a good team, I think. She could always motivate me when I felt overwhelmed and she is much more organized than I am. I brought to the table that I had written a chapter before, although about a much less complex and more concrete procedure rather than a complicated and at times controversial disease process. Somehow the deadline managed to coincide with Emi changing jobs and our big move and the birth of Landon. We were able to buy a little extra time, which put Emi stuck coming to the new house on several occasions, while I tended to a newborn and we reviewed our final drafts. The actual publishing of a textbook takes a long time. We submitted our final draft in March of 2011. I have since told Emi, don't ever let me do this again!!
Our editor was a wonderfully helpful woman, Dr. Carmel McComiskey from Maryland, who actually came to speak to the Advance Practice Nursing group at CHLA shortly after our chapter was finalized. I had the pleasure to meet her after she spoke. I stood in line to meet her and said "Hi, I am Karen Rapoport, I just wanted to shake your hand" and she said "No come here and let me hug you, you did a wonderful job." So nice to get that kind of affirmation from a really smart, inspirational lady. The textbook arrived at my house on April 12th; 13 months after we submitted our final draft. Remember Emi, never again :)

Egg Hunt Preparation

My friend Emi is a crafty girl. She and her husband recently came to have brunch with us and then we sent the boys to play tennis. I recruited Emi to help Avery decorate a little bag for an upcoming easter egg hunt. Of course she did a great job, insisting that gluing paper eggs onto a felt bag was not going to cut it. She even inspired/forced me to find the glue gun. Avery had a fun time. Here's a picture from the hunt, with the cute girl holding a cute bag full of loot!