Rattlesnake 10K

We are CRAZY EXCITED to let everyone know (who doesn't already) that we are going to Germany over xmas this year!!! Thanks to some help from Mara's parents and Mara's brother Josh, who lives there! We are planning to stay out for almost 2 weeks (maybe a couple days more). Mara has the time off school, and I'll have vacation to burn. With some of our friends (Greg & Nico and Nate & Kara) just getting back from European vacations, we have some good ideas of places to see and visit. Can't wait to get all the cousins together as well! Rohan, Thomas, Sam, Ryan, and Thomas-yet-to-be-determined sibling, will be a blast! We already got Rohan's passport photo and application sent off. Rohan was hilarious for his photo. It took 1 shot to get him, and he looks like a German officer. Straight lipped, blank stare, with no expression. The photographer said it usually takes 10 pictures for kids that small...:)
This week was pretty much our usual week. With the heat subsiding a bit, we were able to ramp our running back up a little. The temp at 9:00 was hitting in the cool mid-90s, WAY better than the mid 100s! We were able to hit up Jeanette's yoga class twice this week (Tues/Thurs), and also got about 90 minutes of climbing in beforehand. It's great to be able to workout before Jeanette kicks our butt (it's been harder, and feeling awesome!).
Thursday, we got a great workout in. We climbed for 90 min, then Mara did yoga while I put Rohan down. After Mara got back, we sat for a while, then around 10:30 decided we still had some energy, and went for a run. We wanted to just go at least 3-4mi, but ended up doing a 10K (6.2mi) since it felt so good. At mile 5 or so, we were greeted by the rattling of an assumed large rattlesnake. We didn't see it, but it was close, and you could hear there were 5-6 rattles, so it was older. Good thing it was off the sidewalk! Got our hearts going for that last 1.2mi push! That route is now known as our Rattlesnake 10K route...:)
Saturday we got Rohan's passport taken care of, and then hit a play area in the mall so he could wear himself out. Afterwards he took an good nap for us. Greg came up and we went to AZR and climbed for 2 1/2 hours. We were both climbing really strong, and Greg is getting his old form back.
Rohan was in desperate need of a bath Saturday morning. While Mara and I were sleeping in, Rohan decided to sneak into the fireplace and see what soot tasted and felt like. Apparently he loved it. Mara rushed him to the tub, and got him mostly cleaned before I got the camera. It was a cue for us to vacuum out the fireplace from this winter's fires. Good times...
Sunday was pretty low key again. We hit up Jimmy Johns for lunch then the Mesa Contemporary Art Museum in the afternoon. It was a small museum, but had some cool items. Most of the art is actually installation pieces outside, but they almost all have water, and they apparently don't run them in the summer. We saw them last winter, and we'll have to check them out again when it cools off. After that, and only 30 minutes of nap for Rohan, we hit the pool to completely wear him out. We were out for almost an hour, and he is getting really good in the pool. We mostly play on the steps so he can touch, but he's getting braver and trying to walk after us. He's only fallen in the deeper end a dozen or so times...:) Maybe it's time for water wings?
We capped the weekend off with breaded chicken & pepper kabobs and a 7.5mi run, what an awesome combo! We are slowly getting back into our training for the Marathon in January...yeah...less than 2 weeks after our return from Germany... We are going to try and get some runs in over there, but who knows how that'll go. Oh well. All we want to do is finish. No matter what it will be a personal record...:)
Hope everyone had a good week, dried out, and got out to enjoy the weekend!


Rohan Can't Sleep, Read & Drink At The Same Time:


Rohan LOVES Avril Lavigne...:(


Rohan Spots The Playground And Starts Running With Dad:


Riding The Dad:

Forgot to add a video...

I had added this video to Facebook, but forgot to add it to the blog (for those without FB accounts).
Rohan was being a goof-ball and showing off his new spitting skills, and also throwing in his "Strongman" pose for kicks. Needless to say, we had a blast with this...:)

What We Did Instead of Help The Stokes' Move...:)

This last week was pretty uneventful, which was nice, because it gave us a chance to workout more...:) We climbed a couple nights, and did yoga at AZR, as well as at home. We also ran a couple nights and even lifted afterwards (not something we usually do).
Rohan was being a goofball most of the weekend, and practically dances to anything with a beat, even commercials and TV ads. He's getting so much smarter too and helping with little chores with the dogs (like feeding & kenneling) as well as setting up his tray for himself.
We've stayed inside mostly to avoid the heat, but we took him (and the dogs) to the dog park. Rohan has been so much more interactive with the dogs, and has a couple favorite ones (like Twinkie). Most of the young puppies flock to him since he is about their size, and that usually ends up with Rohan getting knocked down and licked silly. He laughs it off and runs along, it's a lot of fun to watch...:) We also got a cool lighting show over the mountains on our way back. It's exciting to us since we don't get many lighting shows here...:(
Anyway, here are some pics of us goofing off this week. We also posted some pics from last week on the next post (below) so be sure to check those out too.


Chasing Down Rohan (HE'S GETTING FAST!):


An Odd Place To Practice His Piano:


Cool Lighting Strike (See Stills In The Slideshow):

Holy Shit They Found Our Camera!!!

Somehow, we lost a sweet camera at Chase Field, and the Lost & Found system got it back to us! We are geeked to have it back (hence the 1000 pictures we took this last week).
Here are some pics from the week before that we didn't get downloaded while our camera was in limbo...


Rohan Tub Time:

Get Well Dad!!!!

As almost everyone knows, my Dad had a surgery to remove a benign salivary tumor on his left jaw (under his ear). He had the surgery Thursday and has been doing great since! There was not intervention with the nerve, so no paralysis which is common when the nerve is involved. We hope he has a great week with Taylor & Kaylee! Nothing mends like grandkids...:)
With the heat ratcheting up, Mara and I have taken a small "break" from training for our full marathon. We haven't been following our training schedule much, rather just running 15 miles or so per week just to keep our legs fresh. Rohan, of course, has been logging the miles with us, and luckily we have found some Nike DriFit shirts for him at TJ Max. He stays REALLY cool and dry even on warm runs, like the 103°F one with did last night (Sunday).
This last week we did a lot of rearranging of our apartment to make it seem a little more spacious. We do miss the luxury of a house with lots of space room for Rohan to run. With the heat being so oppressive during the day we are limited to hitting splash pads and the pool, which Rohan loves. Rohan has been running so much more lately. Actual running, not just trying to run. He's gotten faster too! He was running around Target the other day and surprised us how easily he can get away. I understand what I used to do to my parents when I would hid in the clothing racks...:)
Friday night we had the opportunity to go to a DBack's game through TGEN. TGEN rented out a couple party suites in right field for mentors and interns for TGEN's Helios Scholarship program. I, believe it or not, am a mentor and we got tickets for me and him. One of the other mentors couldn't go so she gave me her ticket for Mara & Rohan was free. It was a lot of fun, and a great view of the game. We took Rohan to a play area a couple of times to ensure he was wiped out completely. Unfortunately we may have lost our camera at the game; as is evident by the lack of pictures on this post...:( We really hope it turns up at lost & found, but we're not holding our breathes. We will have to figure out a way to get another camera (since we don't have a digital camera fund). We liked the one we had, but it's still $180. We'd have to go to an older model and we'd lose our most favorite feature, the HD video. Until we figure out what to do, we'll only have our cell phone cameras and video (which suck, but it's all we got).
Saturday we got up early and hit Pinnacle Peak Park and did a nice easy family hike (Sorry, no pics...:(). Rohan loved his backpack, and still fits great in it. He was pointing at a lot of things and we were explaining them as we went. He even noticed the climbers at the peak too. He, of course, fell asleep, and took a good long nap afterwards.
Greg had some cousins in town this weekend and thought it would be a great idea to bring them to AZR. They had a blast! Again...no pics... We climbed for almost 3 hours and worked up a good appetite for FroYo...:) We hit up Yougurtology near the gym and replenished all those calories we burned climbing. Afterwards we took the time to hit the pool and cool off before and nice supper of salmon and saffron scallops (on super sale at Wally World!).
Sunday we slept in until almost 7am and made sure we got out of the house early to beat some of the heat. We hit up a splashpad for an hour or so, then walked around some outside malls with mister systems so it was tolerable.
We capped off Sunday with a nice 10K. It was crazy warm still at 8:30 (103°F) and cooled down to a not-so-cool 98°F by the time we finished. Rohan did great as usual, and his new DriFit shirt kept him comfortable enough to sleep the whole time. He did wake up at the end of the run, so we made sure he was well hydrated (us as well). The extended forcast is calling for 119°F by Sunday...Brrrrrrrr...:)
Well...enjoy the pics from this week. They are weak since we didn't download any from the camera before we lost it...:((( <---Super sad face

Happy 4th of July!!!

With the long weekend we decided to stay in Phoenix and relax a little. We had thought of escaping the heat and head up North to the Mogollon Rim or Grand Canyon, but the weather forecast wasn't too bad, and Rohan has really liked the pool and splash pads. Plus we wanted to spend some time with friends since most of the last few months Mara has been studying so we've neglected our social life (more so...:P).
Friday night we meet up with Greg, Nico, Sasha, and Xiomy and hit up the Diamondbacks/Dodgers game. TGen had a ticket discount so it was pretty cheap. The game was awesome (AZ won 12-5) with tons of hits and lots of distractions for Rohan. Rohan was dancing almost the whole night and was a lot of fun this time (compared to losing interest the last couple of times). He really liked the Black Eyed Peas songs the most. The dancing videos below encompass his demeanor for the night. He was a lot of fun!
After the game we headed to Jeanette's place for a going away party for one of Rohan's babysitters, Heidi, who is moving to Germany. It was great to see everyone, mostly friends from AZR. Rohan was cashed by then (After 11pm) and crashed on a rug in Heidi's room. There was lots of noise, and even people changing in the room, and he slept through it all! He woke up just as we were going to leave, but went right back down and even let us sleep in until the ungodly time of 7:30am.
Saturday was pretty low key. We bummed around most of the morning and then met Sasha at AZR to climb one more time with her before she left for 2 months. She is doing ER rotations in Ohio and Texas until September. Rohan is going to miss his "Brown Mom"...:( We've been climbing at least twice a week in between short runs due to the heat so we've made some pretty good strides in our climbing abilities. They've reinstalled the auto belays at the gym so we can climb routes by ourselves when it's just us and Rohan (instead of just bouldering). We capped Saturday night off with kabobs on the grill which included a great scene. I went to pour out the salsa for us and went to shake it up to mix it and the lid flew off and coated our counter, stove, floor, and wall with black bean and corn salsa. I asked why the lid was loose and classic Mara said "I might have been playing with the lid". Ya gotta love her...:)
Later we headed to the dog park to completely wear Rohan out (and the dogs!). Rohan is so interactive with the dogs, and since we are on the "passive" side, most of the dogs are very friendly towards Rohan and he absolutely LOVES that. Rohan has been running after dogs, and it's helped him get better at walking and running everywhere. Rohan also really liked the dog water fountain and enjoyed throughly soaking himself; much to the delight of onlookers...:) More video of that below.
Sunday Heather & John invited us to their place for a large BBQ and pool party. It was a lot of fun to meet everyone there, and we played pool volleyball for almost 3 hours! We were tired, but the workout was awesome! Rohan was charming everyone at the party and didn't mind being watched by others while we played. He was even shagging the volleyball a couple of times when it left the pool and bringing it back to the edge and throwing it in. He usually gave himself a round of applause which cracked everyone up...:) Thanks for throwing an awesome party Heather & John!!!
Monday we met up with Greg and Nico (after Mara's 2 hour work day) at REI, then grabbed lunch at Qdoba and hit some places to look for a desk for the Caldwell's. We headed back to their place for more pool time and relaxation. We LOVE their saltwater pool, it's awesome to swim in! We grilled out and hung out, capping off a great, long, active weekend.
We upgraded Rohan's wall yet again with some more holds. There was a little space left at the top, and now Rohan can climb very high and reach the poster above his wall! He climbs on it 3-4 times a day, and has really liked the new holds. He has shown more interest in the AZR climbing walls and we are going to try and get him in another harness and see how far up he'll climb. We're pretty sure he'll climb all the way (30+ feet)...:)
Hope you enjoy the TONS of videos and pictures!


Rohan Trying Out The Upgraded Upgraded Wall:


Rohan Shows His Groovin' Skills At The Baseball Game (These Are Hilarious!):






Sasha Keeps Rohan Cool At The Game:


Rohan Drinks From The Dog Fountain At The Dog Park:


Rohan "Sprints" To Mom (He's Getting FAST!):

18 Months

Rohan has made some pretty big advances lately:

Height: 31 3/4", 36th percentile

Weight: 24lbs, 26th percentile

He is still a bit small but right on for his growth curve.

Running: all the time, last night he ran the full distance of a softball field without stopping! I may or may not have been chasing him...:) Seriously this kid never stops, wonder where he gets that from?

Talking: mom, dad, (no, not mama/dada), ball, baseball, Sasha, Linus, Schroeder, more, WOW, uh-oh, there are probably a few I am forgetting. Sasha taught him a word or two, but they may not be appropriate, thanks Sash! Also, these "words" when used out of context can be a bit hard to decipher:) He has made a huge leap in this department, as of 2 weeks ago, he said uh-oh and dad consistently! He's a silent observer appearing quite serious sometimes, but he gets his point across when he wants something.

Toys: The puppies are his all time favorite toy, and that means ANY dog, not just ours, we are working on that one. He loves his puzzles and can match the pictures up, still has a bit of trouble making them fit sometimes. He has numerous balls of different sizes that he loves to kick/throw all over the apartment. Books remain some of his favorites. Of course, climbing! We may regret our decision to teach him to climb as he now sees anything as an obstacle to be climbed: people, pets, objects, pretty much nothing he won't try to climb! How could I forget, WATER, of any shape or form!

Chores: we didn't start this, he did. Every time it's time to feed the puppies he will help set up their dishes and pick them up when he deems they are done (Linus can be a bit pokey at times and Rohan will decide he's finished). He also helps kennel the puppies before "school", yelling something at them and chasing them into their kennels and shuts their doors. It's pretty cute.

Food: he continues to eat anything and everything. Thankfully he likes freeze-pops (he hated them last year) as they cool him off pretty quickly on these 110+ days.

Tantrums: daily, numerous times! He knows what time-out means already. And it kills me, but this kid is so much like me...screaming bloody murder, calms himself down, and comes out laughing at us, seriously I know you guys wished this on me, but wow! He is also absolutely like Mike in his passive resistance, and good god is that annoying. This morning we were walking out to the car, he didn't want to go so he buckled and laid like a ragdoll on the concrete and started to whine, sound familiar Larry & Deb???

Overall, he's an awesome kid (not a baby anymore) and he astounds us daily with the things he says and does! (I know, all kids do this, but hey, he's ours!) He's been so much fun lately!

Third Year Re-Cap

First of all, since I am doing a 3rd year re-cap, that must mean I am finally a 4th year medical student! Which also means that I have less than 1 year until graduation (May 14, 2011 to be exact!) and Dr. Syring!!! I am so incredibly lucky to have such an understanding and supportive husband, son, and extended family and friends. Thank you all!!!

Here is a quick run down of my clinical rotations this past year as well as my thoughts on each rotation:

Core required rotations:

• Family Medicine: 8 weeks, 2 rotations. My first 4 weeks were at an urgent care/family practice clinic, being there really opened my eyes to how many people abuse prescription drugs. I have to say I wasn't a huge fan of trying to determine if the patient was really in pain, just wanted the meds to sell, or was addicted and needed the meds. My second rotation was with a residency program that focused on teaching and it was AWESOME! I had a great time and learned a lot while being allowed to do as much as I was willing, which was pretty much anything:)
• Psychiatry: 4 weeks, well, not a whole lot to say about this one. I didn't enjoy it at all, but I had a pretty good idea that I wouldn't from working in the hospitals before. I did get to see a lot by going to the adult/adolescent jails, a juvenile delinquent facility, inpatient psych ward, and outpatient psych. Plenty of interesting stories...Overall, I just reaffirmed that this is NOT the patient population for me!
• Internal Medicine: 8 weeks, 2 rotations. First 4 weeks I was with a hospitalist who went to a few different hospitals and took care of patients that didn't have a family physician to see them while they were in-patient, usually for surgery. I got pretty good at doing a quick, but thorough history and physical. The second 4 weeks I was with another residency program at the local VA. They were very focused on teaching which was awesome! I got to do a lot and they had daily lectures on relevant topics in medicine. Great learning environment, but no kids:(
• Pediatrics: 4 weeks, LOVED IT! This rotation was inpatient and I got to see a wide variety of patients. I saw a ton of babies with respiratory illnesses, quite a few failure to thrive, numerous asthma patients and few with serious medical illnesses that were there for my whole rotation. Let's just say I am even more excited for this next year and nearly ALL pediatric rotations.
• Anesthesiology: 2 weeks. I learned a lot of medicine in this rotation and got to be VERY involved in a really interesting case with a surgeon. Ask me if you want to know more:) I had been seriously considering going in to Anesthesiology but quickly realized I can not sit still all day and have no patients to "talk" to, sleeping patients don't count:)
• Radiology: 2 weeks. I really liked this rotation since they assigned me to a preceptor that did mostly pediatric patients. I got pretty confident with looking at chest x-rays in kids (& adults) and even got to diagnose Rohan with bronchiolitis (he went to the ER that the radiologist works with while I was on the rotation) and had confirmation from them that Rohan most likely has tracheomalacia as evidenced by his CXR. Mike & I pretty much new that already. It's nothing too serious just means that he wheezes and has stridor (squeaks) easier than other kids when he gets a respiratory infection. Most kids grow out of it by age 3. Chest x-rays weren't the only thing we saw but they were definitely seen most frequently! We also read CT's, MRI's, Ultrasounds, and numerous diagnostic tests that go along with them. Overall a great rotation to help with reading pediatric radiology tests but not what I would want to do all the time.
• Obstetrics & Gynecology: 4 weeks, 2 rotations. I had a really great experience with my second preceptor, first one didn't see enough deliveries. I delivered a few babies, including the first of a set of twins! I loved the deliveries but was definitely drawn to the babies more than the moms...:)
• Surgery: 4 weeks. I had a fairly light rotation which is more than okay with me. I would love to do surgery, reminded me of my research days and the rats! BUT, there is no way I would want to do a surgery residency, brutal!

Elective rotations: The last 2 rotations of 3rd year could be of our choosing, and of course I chose 2 in pediatrics:)

• Pediatric Hematology & Oncology: 4 weeks. Cute little bald kids! Okay, all kidding aside, this was an awesome rotation! I loved working with all the kids during and after their cancer treatments as well as kids with bleeding or clotting disorders. The kids were fantastic, such great attitudes and determination, loved it! Heme/Onc is still in the running for a pediatric fellowship (after residency).
• Pediatric Cardiology: 4 weeks. Wow, did I ever learn a ton this month! Prior to this time, I will admit, I hadn't really heard a murmur but by my last day I could hear and even diagnose most murmurs. They quizzed me on my last day and wouldn't let me see the patient's chart or history, definitely makes diagnosis more challenging but I got them all right! I really enjoyed learning the EKG's and echocardiograms (U/S of the heart), even got to see a few prenatal echo's that diagnosed congenital heart defects before birth, way cool! Cardio is also still in the running :)

Throw in exams after each core rotation, a cumulative core rotation exam, MS III testing in Kirksville, Performance Evaluation (PE) boards in Philadelphia, and Cognitive Evaluation (CE) Step II Boards here in Phoenix and you can see what I have been and continue to be busy with besides having fun with my boys, climbing, and running:)

This next and FINAL year will be focused on Pediatric rotations including general out patient, in patient, NICU, PICU, ER, Allergy/Immunology, Heme/Onc again, and Pulmonology. I will also be doing another family medicine rotation and adult orthopedics.
We are really excited to work on applications, etc for residency and to finally find out where we'll be for the next 3 years but that isn't until March 2011...patience!

Feel free to ask any questions about the rotations/residency/whatever.