I have no idea what Ryan and Lora did in this tub, and to be honest, I don't want to know 

Kurse Katrina

So it's been a while since we updated this thing, but we are back by somewhat popular demand. By that I mean, everyone wanted to see what was happening with Liam. We are cool with that fact that everyone wants to see the cutest baby north of the equator.

Below are some images from my evacuation from Hurricane Katrina. I think Herbie Hancock said it best when he said "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." Right on Herbie. Wait... I think some one else said that. Jimmy Carter? Either way, he knew what he was talking about.

I evacuated to Panama City with my friends Rob and Andrea Beck. My friends Ryan and Lora McDonald came a little later. These are their pictures. Jen (who was in Utah at the time for the wedding of friend) had our camera with her. Below is how we dealt witht he fact that the whole country was watching, waiting to watch Katrina rip New Orleans a new one.

To fill you in a little, since these pictures have been taken I joined Jen in Utah. We have been here a for about a month and a half now. To continue my schooling, I am doing a rotation at the University of Utah in Pediatrics at Primary Children's Medical Center. After I finish with that, and after Jen and I buy a new car (since our Jeep got trashed by Katrina) Jen and I will move to Houston with the rest of my class to do a rotation in Houston. Hopefully, we will be able to return to New Orleans in January.

Enjoy..

Everybody, meet our new friend Lora. She and her husband are out here for a few years for his residency in Internal Medicine. Liam has taken quite a liking to her. 

Lora most generously donates the use of her pool to the swimming education of Liam. He clearly excels at the activity. I had to add this one cause I love the look on his face. Peace and serenity with a touch of "Mom!! You are embarassing me in front of our friends. Put the camera down." 

Now sit right back and hear a tale, a tale of a fateful ship.... The question you have to ask yourself is, is he more a Gilligan or a Skipper? 

Jen tries to take Liam swimming as much as possible. Its a great way to beat the heat down here, which is pretty brutal. 

It has become pretty clear that Liam loves the water. If we skip bath time, he cries. 

Liam on the way home to New Orleans after a long stay in Utah over the summer. He slept most of the way home, much to the joy of Jen who was flying all by herself with him. 

This has been our family interaction as of late. Liam and Jen came to the hospital to bring me lunch. Ahh, the Lakeiside country club. What a great place to start. It was an easy place to start out. 

Liam recently took his first trip to the aquarium with Mommy. I wasn't there so I can't speak first hand, but Jen said that he was mesmorized by the bright colors and water. 

It is so hot here recently that we have relented to letting Liam lay around the house in his skivvies. It is clear that he enjoys it greatly. He must get the gene from his Uncle Justin (a well known Nudist in his day, as well as the nefarious distinction of Captain Disgusto. You had to be there.) 

Reclining to recover from a hard day of breastfeeding and sleeping. It's so hard to be young.... 

Isn't it crazy how much pressure kids are under now a days? I mean they have to hold up to this unattainable body standard. This pressure is hitting kids earlier and earlier. Look at Liam's recent concern about the fact that he can pinch an inch already. Hell in a handbasket I tell you... 

If Liam is going to play sports like his Dad wants him to (again if you are reading this years later Boy, no pressure. I will only disown you for not wanting to) we have to start him on strength training early. Hence the rudimentary push-up that you see displayed here. He started this on his own accord by the way.  

Babies and Boredom

Well we are back. After a short break from posting, we have all new pictures up from the last month.

A lot of things have happened in the last month or so. I have been working OB at Lakeside Hospital out here in the Burbs of New Orleans. I have to say I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I mean anything is better than sitting around on my but al day reading about what I might do in the future. It has been nice to actually do something every day. Granted I have seen some awful things in the last month or so too. But I am so glad that the clinical years of my education are finally here.

In other news I passed my USMLE step I. I got about what I thought I would get scorewise. I have come to terms with the fact that comparative the rest of the field of medicine I am not all that smart. I am just the average medical student. I converge towards the largest part of the bell curve in every category. So any of you that holding on tosome delusion that I am going to cure cancer or something can feel free to let go of your unrealistic expectations. I am ok with it though. Anyone who knows me could have told me this years ago. It just took a while to convince myself of that fact. You know doctors, all ego...

Jen is doing well but is going stir crazy. It is so hot here that there is awful to be outside, so she is stuck in the house or on errands all the time. We can't go on our usual walks because it is just too uncomfortable. Right now she is looking in to getting a job in medical transcription that she can do at home. She takes such good care of Liam and can't bear the thought of leaving him to work.

Liam is getting bigger, as you can see in the pictures below. He is 95% percentile for weight, and weighs almost 15 pounds now. He is just over 2 feet long, and at 3 months old is starting to show his developmental progress. He smiles when you talk to him, and he loves to hear himself talk. Most of all he loves his bathtime, and will get fussy at night if we don't put him in the bath. He has discovered splashing, something that he does with a lot of gusto, and he is currently working on a plan to make Liam's bathtime bathtime for everybody.

We have lots of pictures below.. so enjoy

In other news, some of you may have heard of the phenomenon called podcasting. Basically what it is on demand radio. People make recordings and post them on the internet, and you can download them and listen to them. It has been around for about 6 months, and became so popular that Apple now has a free links to hundreds of them through the iTunes music store. So why do I bring this up?

I am going to start my own Podcast here pretty soon about my experiences in med school. I may do offshots of that idea later. Anyway, I wanted to make you aware. I am going to publish it through iTunes, and I will let you all know when I post the first episode. I hope you will subscribe to it and listen to it every once in a while.

Anyway... til next

Though it has been sometime since our last deposit, and in that time Liam has grown a lot. So Jen sent me some photos, which i have compiled into the many faces of Liam Nathan Poulson. Exhibit 1 is his usual state of quiet introspection. 

Pensive, thoughtful, solving the problems of future generations. Yes, young Liam is clearly and intellectual Tour de Force. When asked about how he felt about the burden of such clear intelect he simply, but astutely, replied "GAAAAAHHAHAHAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Words of Wisdom people. Words of Wisdom. 

The thing you have to ask yourself is, did he delibrately pose for this picture? 

But mostly nowadays we see this face. The face of sheer happiness and contentment. I am getting nervous that this kid is spoiling us. He is really easy to deal with, just a good kid all around. How could you not love that face? 

Look at this!! The last couple of weeks have been a lot of talking and smiling. We all get a great kick of making the Liam smile and laugh.