All day with mommy & visit with Dr. Porter

I had the day off today. The plan was to fly out today (Friday) with the baby to meet Uwe, who was attending a week long conference out of state and to spend the weekend together. But when those plans fell through, and I still had the day off, I made an appointment to see my OBGYN, Dr. Porter, and I was looking forward to it.

I know what you're thinking. Who looks forward to visiting their gynecologist on their day off? But Dr. Porter was my doctor throughout my pregnancy and he delivered Astrid. Uwe and I formed a special bond with him. When you're that vulnerable and your life (and your unborn baby's life) is placed into a doctor's hands, and that doctor takes such great care of you (and the baby comes out healthy), you're deeply grateful and indebted for the rest of your life.

You can see that Uwe and I aren't the only parents who feel that about him, as his entire office is covered in photos of babies that parents send him thanking him (newborns, toddlers, even graduation ceremony photos). All children that he has delivered throughout his long career. He's running out of wall space.

Also, since he's such a character, it's always fun to see him. If you think I'm nuts, well then you must know that Uwe wanted to go with me to see Dr. Porter. Uwe was there for every doctors visit I had when I was pregnant, and the two men got along so well that sometimes laying there on the examining room table listening to them banter, I'd start to think I was a third wheel.

I hadn't seen Dr. Porter since Astrid was a newborn, and I was long overdue for a checkup. I still heard of Dr. Porter through the grapevine though, since Uwe's coworker (Ingrid) had her son 4 months ago, and Dr. Porter also delivered her baby. Dr. Porter is in his late 60's to early 70's, and still full of wit and humor and sarcasm.

The first thing he said to me when he saw me was, "You got your figure back. Good for you." and then the next things was, "Is your husband in Germany for the World Cup? Or is he stuck back here?"

I had wanted to get a photo of Dr. Porter holding Astrid, but he had a cold and didn't want to get the baby sick. Here's Astrid sitting patiently in the waiting room. If you look up at the wall behind her, you can see the photo of Astrid and Dr. Porter the day she was born.Here's a close up. And yes, that's a caricature of Dr. Porter, above the photo.

Before I left Dr. Porter said to say hi to Uwe and to tell him that Germany wasn't going to win the World Cup, that Brazil was. What a character!

After my doctor's appointment, since we had to drive through Korea Town, we stopped at Korea Plaza, a Korean mall on Western for lunch. They've got a food court inside, a Korean grocery store, Korean shops, and Korean restaurants.

In the photo above Astrid is sitting in front of the indoor fountain, located in front of the elevators (that's surrounded in lightbulbs).

Astrid now wants to eat whatever I'm eating, and since I ordered a spicy dish for myself, I ordered kimbop (rice and veggies wrapped in seaweed) for her. She loved it.Driving down one of the side streets on the way back home, I had to stop and take a photo of this palm tree lined street. It was a picture perfect LA day.

It was the first time I've been off on a weekday to spend an entire day alone with Astrid, since I started working. She's so much more independent now and easier to care for. It was fun spending the day with her and I felt she enjoyed having me all to herself on a weekday as well. (No tears in the morning b/c I didn't have to leave for work.) When we got home I read to her for a little bit and then I laid down on the couch to rest for a bit, while she sat on the floor next to me and "read" her book. What a nice Friday treat!