I ran in my first 5k yesterday. Official finish time 25:10.5. 41st overall, 2nd in my age bracket. Fastest time of the day was somewhere in the 17 minute range. People are fast! I always thought that the hard part about running outside would be pacing, but having a whole bunch of other people around you to pace off of makes it a lot easier. If I were 1 minute faster, I would have won a chocolate bunny! C'est la vie.
To be honest, I only ran this race because I won a free entry from ColoradoSpringsGiveaways.com. But, based on my experience, I'm certainly going to keep an open mind for future events! I had a great time!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Monday, September 19, 2011
In response to Elisabeth Rohm's blog post on people.com.
She posted the link on fb, and I felt compelled to comment. So, to share:
As a dad, I probably fall into the categorization that you laid out in that I'm not getting into a panic over the child care place at the gym that only fed our 10 month old half his bottle, because he's easily distracted by the noise of the other kids. My worries tend to gravitate towards the 'Is some inattentive driver going to run a red light or drift out of their lane and completely annihilate us?'
"Look, as far as I’m concerned, terrible things happen to children all the time." In the context of your unvoiced concerns, this is the line that I tie to your self-confessed paranoia. This goes beyond a healthy dose. This is the slippery slope that makes airlines have a policy re-seat unaccompanied minors that are seated next to men, and make Gayle King proclaim, with my interpretation, that men are generally useless at helping children at best, and out to kidnap them on other atrocities, at worst, and the worst is more likely than the best.
This is not to downplay the terrible things that do happen to children. This is to paraphrase from Lenore Skenazy, in that we as a first world society are safer now than we've ever been, the difference is that we instantly hear of every single incident, with full detail.
I've come to the conclusion that the best I'm going to be able to do is to teach Emmett to make the best decisions he can with the information he has available, and for his mother and I to trust that those we put in charge of him are being diligent. If we find that they're not as diligent as we'd like, we do what we can in our control. We don't put them in charge of him any more. We'd Yelp/Angie's list about it, too.
All that aside, you're doing just fine. You know it, but it's nice to hear it from someone else now and then, eh?
No response yet.
One thing I do like about twitter and fb and the like is having more or less direct lines of communication with people, where a comment like this might actually draw a comment from the author.
She posted the link on fb, and I felt compelled to comment. So, to share:
As a dad, I probably fall into the categorization that you laid out in that I'm not getting into a panic over the child care place at the gym that only fed our 10 month old half his bottle, because he's easily distracted by the noise of the other kids. My worries tend to gravitate towards the 'Is some inattentive driver going to run a red light or drift out of their lane and completely annihilate us?'
"Look, as far as I’m concerned, terrible things happen to children all the time." In the context of your unvoiced concerns, this is the line that I tie to your self-confessed paranoia. This goes beyond a healthy dose. This is the slippery slope that makes airlines have a policy re-seat unaccompanied minors that are seated next to men, and make Gayle King proclaim, with my interpretation, that men are generally useless at helping children at best, and out to kidnap them on other atrocities, at worst, and the worst is more likely than the best.
This is not to downplay the terrible things that do happen to children. This is to paraphrase from Lenore Skenazy, in that we as a first world society are safer now than we've ever been, the difference is that we instantly hear of every single incident, with full detail.
I've come to the conclusion that the best I'm going to be able to do is to teach Emmett to make the best decisions he can with the information he has available, and for his mother and I to trust that those we put in charge of him are being diligent. If we find that they're not as diligent as we'd like, we do what we can in our control. We don't put them in charge of him any more. We'd Yelp/Angie's list about it, too.
All that aside, you're doing just fine. You know it, but it's nice to hear it from someone else now and then, eh?
No response yet.
One thing I do like about twitter and fb and the like is having more or less direct lines of communication with people, where a comment like this might actually draw a comment from the author.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
My Review of Joseph Marc 4007
Originally submitted at CoastalContacts.com
Superior structure and design give this sleek model its bold look with black exterior and orange interior.
Not quite yellow, but happy nonetheless
By Charlie from Colorado on 8/16/2011
Sizing: Feels true to size
Pros: Lightweight, Comfortable
Describe Yourself: Trendy/Stylish Dresser
The yellow as depicted in the photos is more of a honey color. I was expecting something a little more vivid than that.
Color aside, I'm fairly happy with the frames overall. Not having nose pads, they sit very close to my eyes, and my eyelashes brush against the lenses, but this is fairly common for me with glasses, so I'm not counting that against the rating.
(legalese)
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Bucket Lists
I randomly decided today to start my so-called bucket list.
The one item that I have on my list is to travel the blue ridge parkway and skyline drive by bicycle.
570 some miles. Not necessarily in one day. maybe over the course of a week or 10 days.
For a non-biker, am I nuts?
What's the term for the pipe-dream objectives like a bucket list, but there's no realistic way of achieving them?
Like driving to Prudhoe Bay, AK? Starting from the contiguous 48?
That, even to me, is a little crazy.
The one item that I have on my list is to travel the blue ridge parkway and skyline drive by bicycle.
570 some miles. Not necessarily in one day. maybe over the course of a week or 10 days.
For a non-biker, am I nuts?
What's the term for the pipe-dream objectives like a bucket list, but there's no realistic way of achieving them?
Like driving to Prudhoe Bay, AK? Starting from the contiguous 48?
That, even to me, is a little crazy.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Resurrection
April 13th, huh? That makes 84 days since the last post.
Microrevolt - my keyword as of late. How to change something that you feel like requires a monumental effort to change. Change something tiny. Shake it up just enough. So far, it's working. I mean, look! A post!
What has happened in the last 84 days?
A trip to New Jersey for a cousin's wedding. That incurred a pair of 4 hour plane rides. The outbound flight was less then spectacular. Emmett had a 20 minute meltdown, which felt like hours. Our fellow travellers were beyond compassionate, with some newly appointed grandmothers even volunteering to hold him and walk with him. Some humanity remains in the world, it seems. The return trip was even better, with no meltdowns at all.
In between was a whirlwind of activity, including leaving him with a previously unknown sitter for the first time ever. Faith was the daughter of a coworker of a cousin of mine, not the one getting married. (My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother knows this guy who knows this kid...) Between family visits and rehearsals and rehearsal dinners and a wedding and a reception, we managed to squeeze in 4 trips to Manhattan. Having not used it much when I lived there, I was pleasantly surprised at just how efficient public transport in the area is.
Note to those considering travelling with an infant. If at all possible, staying in a hotel that has a suite arrangement (Embassy Suites, e.g.) would be ideal, as having a separate room that you can close the door to makes life a lot easier.
While we didn't get to have dinner at our favorite restaurant in the city, we did have a lovely sampling of places new and old. Empanada Mama and Gray's Papaya made return appearances, and Bombay Talkie made an debut. We saw the Harry Potter prop exhibit, which I thought was a little over priced for what it was, but that's just my opinion.
We toured the Highline Park, had a fabulous lunch from the gourmet trucks at the lot at 30th under the highline, buzzed through Chelsea Market, and, of course, whisked our way through central park, seeing the carousel, the zoo, part of the lake (not the meer, not the pond, not the pool, not the reservoir, the lake.) the Conservatory Garden. There was a brief stop in the lobby of the natural history museum, and a longer traipse through the Met. There was a wander through Zabar's, and a dash through Times Square. We saw the backside of Lady Liberty, albeit from a distance. And we STILL didn't do everything we wanted to do. We did get a brief glimpse of 41 central park west, where I've imagined we could see ourselves.. once we win that powerball thingy.
Emmett actually handled our marathon touring quite well, and got a good amount of tan on his legs. (Shame on us forgetting the sunscreen!) Our backs did not fare as well.
Speaking of Emmett, he's 8 months old as of Sunday. He sits up so well now, taking a good long while before he topples over, unless he's reaching for something. He still hasn't quite mastered the art of crawling, instead preferring to slide along on his head while his legs do the pushing. When he's not scooting along thusly, he holds his head up quite nicely on his arms, though. Just needs to coordinate the two.
June 30th was our 10th wedding anniversary. It's kind of hard to fathom that, but here we are, and quite pleased with ourselves, to boot. Sadly, there were no blue boxes with white ribbon involved. I did, however, abide by the traditional wedding gift material of aluminum, surprising Laura with a Dell XPS 15z. despite being the same screen size as her old Studio 15, it's a wee bit wider. The resolution on the screen is higher, which is taking her some getting used to, but the processor is both faster and cooler, resulting in quieter use that doesn't shut down randomly due to overheating. It says it's 5 pounds, but it certainly feels heavier. While there have been some complaints on the net about finish quality, so far, it's held up nicely. Then again, it's only been a week.
That's been the two major events recently. Minor events include finally getting some mulch on the gardens (thank you to the black forest slash and mulch program), filing a claim for hail damage on the roof (no estimate yet though), discovering a leak in our plumbing causing a drip in our garage (haven't fully explored the extent of the leak at this point), and attending the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, which is much nicer than some of the other street 'art' festivals we've attended in the past, in that there's actually ART there, and a good amount of it.
Festival Anecdote: we attended a cooking demo where the guest chef was demonstrating making sausage. After hearing her say 'intestines' for the ump-teenth time, we established that it would make for an interesting, albeit liver-unfriendly, drinking game, taking a shot for every utterance of 'intestines'. There would have been no survivors.
Finally, my brush with blogdom. Helping some friends pack up their condo to move back to Ohio (I know, I don't understand it either.), a long time friend of theirs, Ashley, popped in to shoot some pictures. I just had to be a blog nerd.
<-aforementioned blog nerd.We are at 0 consecutive days of blog posts! Let's keep the streak going!
Reminds me of a witty response to 'how are you doing?' "I've beat my previous record for consecutive days alive!"
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Fits and starts
I'd like to say that I've been writing bits and pieces here and there over the last month and just not posting them because they don't seem worthwhile.
But then I'd be lying.
The cupcakes turned out well. Attempting to rig a pastry decorating bag out of sandwich baggies and a $1 grocery store tip doesn't work all that well. Especially when you're trying to do a triple color frosting.
But then I'd be lying.
The cupcakes turned out well. Attempting to rig a pastry decorating bag out of sandwich baggies and a $1 grocery store tip doesn't work all that well. Especially when you're trying to do a triple color frosting.
for whatever reason, I could only ever get two of the colors to come out at the same time, unless you count a slight hint of green that came out on the primarily orange/white ones.
By all accounts, my own included, they were quite tasty, and I think we might make them again next year, if only as an excuse to buy some Guinness.
On to other topics, Emmett's 5 months old this month. He survived another airplane trip to California, had a lovely meltdown during the baptism ceremony, and dipped his toes in the ocean again. We had a lovely day at the beach (It was in the 90s that day, so it was appropriate beach weather), and his parents got to stuff their faces on foods not available in Colorado.
He'll be enduring yet ANOTHER plane trip in June, this time to Newark, for one of my cousin's weddings. A 4 hour plane trip with a 7 month old ought be interesting. I know I'm racking up negative karma points for doing so, but I tried the trick of reserving the window and the aisle and leaving the middle seat empty, in hopes that whoever opts for that seat also opts for a relocation upon seeing the baby.
On to a different slant. Emmett met his first celebrity, and it wasn't even while we were in California! He met Tim Gunn, of Project Runway. He was doing a tour of the Lucky Jeans stores and signing books and taking pictures. He even commented positively on Emmett's attire, which is a bonus, coming from Tim.
I'll try to be better about posting more than monthly, but that might just be wishful thinking.
Peach out.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
February food and health miscellany
Pulled Pork Empanadas - These sound tasty enough to try...
However, I'm not sure that my cholesterol and triglycerides would benefit from these. I started getting headaches in the afternoons, and finally connected them with the amount of diet sodas that I was drinking. More or less one a day, sometimes two. So I dropped the diet drinks and the headaches went away. But then came the bloodwork. So regular sodas are out. I've found that the sucralose in the reduced calorie gatorades doesn't seem to cause headaches, but they still contain the dreaded high fructose corn syrup, so I may be sticking with a slice of lemon in the water for the time being, and/ora mix of something fizzy (club soda? tonic water? sparkling water? What's the diff?) and the 'simply juice' products. Besides, blueberries and pomegranates are good for you.
Speaking of HFCS, I tried one of the throwback Pepsis, the ones with real sugar. It tasted funny to me. How's that for silly?
I got a stern talking to from the nurse practition at work about my bloodwork. She's giving me 90 days to reign it in, or she's prescribing me a statin. Today is day 16. And I'm apparently Vitamin D deficient, so there's that too.
I think the hardest part at the moment will be the sweets and sodas. I've never really had much of a sweet tooth, but boy, when someone tells you to cut them out, you start to notice them everywhere.
However, I'm not sure that my cholesterol and triglycerides would benefit from these. I started getting headaches in the afternoons, and finally connected them with the amount of diet sodas that I was drinking. More or less one a day, sometimes two. So I dropped the diet drinks and the headaches went away. But then came the bloodwork. So regular sodas are out. I've found that the sucralose in the reduced calorie gatorades doesn't seem to cause headaches, but they still contain the dreaded high fructose corn syrup, so I may be sticking with a slice of lemon in the water for the time being, and/ora mix of something fizzy (club soda? tonic water? sparkling water? What's the diff?) and the 'simply juice' products. Besides, blueberries and pomegranates are good for you.
Speaking of HFCS, I tried one of the throwback Pepsis, the ones with real sugar. It tasted funny to me. How's that for silly?
I got a stern talking to from the nurse practition at work about my bloodwork. She's giving me 90 days to reign it in, or she's prescribing me a statin. Today is day 16. And I'm apparently Vitamin D deficient, so there's that too.
I think the hardest part at the moment will be the sweets and sodas. I've never really had much of a sweet tooth, but boy, when someone tells you to cut them out, you start to notice them everywhere.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Follow ups and one liners and other miscellany
More diapers:
Cotton Babies Flip covers:
Used with an insert or a pre-fold, just a waterproof cover, no pocket, in the same style/closure as the BumGenius products.
For daytime use, I like these. Easy enough to change whatever you're using as the insert and retain the cover itself, unless there's a mess in there. Wipe off the interior surface if you feel it necessary. He tends to fuss very easily once he's wet these, so we'll change these more frequently than a disposable. I can't see using these overnight for this reason, as the pocket liner on the BumGenius works very well for keeping moisture away from his skin.
We've also inherited a whole box of Bumkins all in ones from a friend, and I would rate these the same as the flips, with the exception that you toss the whole thing in the wash instead of replacing your prefold or insert. Also, they are not adjustable in size, so if one was exclusively using these, one would buy as many as you need to survive getting through laundry, and then do it again when your child grows up a size. Not my favorite for that reason.
So, of everything we've tried, I like the BumGenius' for overnight, and Flips for the daytime.
And disposables for travelling. (Or lazy days. Shh.)
One (two?) liners:
New phrase, Firesale Blowout: When everything must go! Into the laundry.
et cetera:
(That reminded me of a pet store with the name Pet Cetera. We couldn't tell if it was a play on Peter Cetera, or et cetera, but it was clever either way.)
First smile:
Or, first one I caught on camera. Whichever works for me.
I got myself a digital picture frame with a gift card that I got from Office Depot through one of their holiday promotions. This is one of those things that I wouldn't buy for myself, but since I had the gift card, I didn't feel bad about picking one up. It sits on my desk at work and keeps me company with pictures of my family all through the day.
There hasn't been any leftover pizza at work yet this month. Perhaps we will need to remedy that.
Oh, and results from the blood drive tell me that my cholesterol is almost to the 'see a doctor' level. I'm telling you all this so that you can remind me that I don't need onion rings or philly cheesesteaks. At least I'm back to playing hockey, so that should help somewhat.
Cotton Babies Flip covers:
Used with an insert or a pre-fold, just a waterproof cover, no pocket, in the same style/closure as the BumGenius products.
For daytime use, I like these. Easy enough to change whatever you're using as the insert and retain the cover itself, unless there's a mess in there. Wipe off the interior surface if you feel it necessary. He tends to fuss very easily once he's wet these, so we'll change these more frequently than a disposable. I can't see using these overnight for this reason, as the pocket liner on the BumGenius works very well for keeping moisture away from his skin.
We've also inherited a whole box of Bumkins all in ones from a friend, and I would rate these the same as the flips, with the exception that you toss the whole thing in the wash instead of replacing your prefold or insert. Also, they are not adjustable in size, so if one was exclusively using these, one would buy as many as you need to survive getting through laundry, and then do it again when your child grows up a size. Not my favorite for that reason.
So, of everything we've tried, I like the BumGenius' for overnight, and Flips for the daytime.
And disposables for travelling. (Or lazy days. Shh.)
One (two?) liners:
New phrase, Firesale Blowout: When everything must go! Into the laundry.
et cetera:
(That reminded me of a pet store with the name Pet Cetera. We couldn't tell if it was a play on Peter Cetera, or et cetera, but it was clever either way.)
First smile:
Or, first one I caught on camera. Whichever works for me.
I got myself a digital picture frame with a gift card that I got from Office Depot through one of their holiday promotions. This is one of those things that I wouldn't buy for myself, but since I had the gift card, I didn't feel bad about picking one up. It sits on my desk at work and keeps me company with pictures of my family all through the day.
There hasn't been any leftover pizza at work yet this month. Perhaps we will need to remedy that.
Oh, and results from the blood drive tell me that my cholesterol is almost to the 'see a doctor' level. I'm telling you all this so that you can remind me that I don't need onion rings or philly cheesesteaks. At least I'm back to playing hockey, so that should help somewhat.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Cloth Diapering Product reviews
I've had 6 weeks of trial and error with which to base these reviews on.
Cotton Babies BumGenius 4.0 One Size cloth pocket diapers with snaps
Overall excellent. Emmett has the snaps on these pretty much as tight as they go, and we've never had a problem with leaks. We like the base colors, and we might go get some of the snazzier patterned ones to use in warmer weather when he shouldn't need pants.
Absorbency is good, cleanup is easy, and the fabric doesn't appear to stain easily. These do afford the option of a thinner or thicker insert, depending on your preference or needs. I'm not sure I'd want to try to go all night on just one, but it could be an option, as he doesn't seem to fuss much when he's wet it, and more often than not, we have to go in and check.
gDiapers
Caveat: we bought these with the intent of going between the reusable and the flushable inserts. This only covers the reusable inserts.
Overall just okay. As with any Velcro style product, you do have to be careful with washing these, as the hooks tend to stick to things other than the loops, and trap fibers, eventually reducing the efficacy of how they attach. In the small size, they were too big for him until he was about 3 weeks old. There's a tiny size that we didn't know about at the time, but I would think that you would only get a minimal amount of use out of them. I personally don't care much for the elastic waistband. At times it looks really really constricting and uncomfortable, but Emmett hasn't complained about it yet.
Cleanup with the reusable inserts seems to be more complicated than it needs to be. There's a snap in nylon liner and the reusable or flushable pad. I appreciate the breathable liner aspect, but I think having the pant and the liner as two separate pieces is unnecessary. Also, the flushable insert calculates at about 35 cents each, as opposed to 14 cents each for a disposable diaper. I'm all for earth friendly, but I'm sorry, it needs to be price comparable to traditional products for me. It's like organic foods to me. When the conventional apples are $1/lb less, i have a hard time going for the organic ones.
I suppose we'll give the flushable inserts a go, as they might be a viable option for travel.
Cotton Babies Flip diaper covers with snaps
A future review, as we haven't received them yet. They should be here today though. We'll let you know.
To be used with your stereotypical cloth diaper.
Rinse Ace Sprayer (http://goo.gl/cfsUh)
Cloth diaper sprayers seem to have two deficiencies in my opinion. One, they're overly expensive for what you are buying. Two, they hook into the toilet supply line, so there's no option for warm water.
This sprayer hooks into the shower head attachment. It's got a hose long enough to reach our toilet comfortably, which happens to be right next to the shower, so for some, this might not be an option without a hose extension of some sort. I much prefer having hot water with which to spray, and adjustability as far as how strong the spray is through use of the shower knob. It's also detachable, so you can hide in for when company comes over.
To be honest, we still have some things to sort out, like having a pail nearby the changing table so that we don't have to deal with dirty diapers right away. A bucket seems like a rather inelegant solution, but it would probably be the most effective.
Cotton Babies BumGenius 4.0 One Size cloth pocket diapers with snaps
Overall excellent. Emmett has the snaps on these pretty much as tight as they go, and we've never had a problem with leaks. We like the base colors, and we might go get some of the snazzier patterned ones to use in warmer weather when he shouldn't need pants.
Absorbency is good, cleanup is easy, and the fabric doesn't appear to stain easily. These do afford the option of a thinner or thicker insert, depending on your preference or needs. I'm not sure I'd want to try to go all night on just one, but it could be an option, as he doesn't seem to fuss much when he's wet it, and more often than not, we have to go in and check.
gDiapers
Caveat: we bought these with the intent of going between the reusable and the flushable inserts. This only covers the reusable inserts.
Overall just okay. As with any Velcro style product, you do have to be careful with washing these, as the hooks tend to stick to things other than the loops, and trap fibers, eventually reducing the efficacy of how they attach. In the small size, they were too big for him until he was about 3 weeks old. There's a tiny size that we didn't know about at the time, but I would think that you would only get a minimal amount of use out of them. I personally don't care much for the elastic waistband. At times it looks really really constricting and uncomfortable, but Emmett hasn't complained about it yet.
Cleanup with the reusable inserts seems to be more complicated than it needs to be. There's a snap in nylon liner and the reusable or flushable pad. I appreciate the breathable liner aspect, but I think having the pant and the liner as two separate pieces is unnecessary. Also, the flushable insert calculates at about 35 cents each, as opposed to 14 cents each for a disposable diaper. I'm all for earth friendly, but I'm sorry, it needs to be price comparable to traditional products for me. It's like organic foods to me. When the conventional apples are $1/lb less, i have a hard time going for the organic ones.
I suppose we'll give the flushable inserts a go, as they might be a viable option for travel.
Cotton Babies Flip diaper covers with snaps
A future review, as we haven't received them yet. They should be here today though. We'll let you know.
To be used with your stereotypical cloth diaper.
Rinse Ace Sprayer (http://goo.gl/cfsUh)
Cloth diaper sprayers seem to have two deficiencies in my opinion. One, they're overly expensive for what you are buying. Two, they hook into the toilet supply line, so there's no option for warm water.
This sprayer hooks into the shower head attachment. It's got a hose long enough to reach our toilet comfortably, which happens to be right next to the shower, so for some, this might not be an option without a hose extension of some sort. I much prefer having hot water with which to spray, and adjustability as far as how strong the spray is through use of the shower knob. It's also detachable, so you can hide in for when company comes over.
To be honest, we still have some things to sort out, like having a pail nearby the changing table so that we don't have to deal with dirty diapers right away. A bucket seems like a rather inelegant solution, but it would probably be the most effective.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
What a difference a month makes!
Short and to the point, I'd rather be with Emmett than blogging.
At the moment, I can't be with Emmett, since he's in California visiting his grandparents, and I'm not, so I don't really have that as an excuse.
V, consider this your shoutout. Enjoy the leftover pizza.
Up until yesterday, I hadn't filled up my car with gas since October. I suppose since I can't have a car seat in it, there wasn't really much point.
Let me run through the new parent stuff:
Yes, it's awesome. Even at 3 AM when he won't sleep.
I seem to have become more or less immune to his cry, in that it doesn't irritate me. That doesn't mean it's not physically painful if he gets a good shout right in my ear.
Yes, you get sleep deprived. To the point where when talking with your spouse, you need to re-iterate what you're talking about, even if it's only been a few minutes, and there hasn't been anything else said since the last sentence. Pronouns don't work.
Flying with a 4 week old isn't so bad. We'll find out tomorrow how flying with a 5 week old is. Probably not much different. (famous last words)
Poop can have a trajectory.
While I don't mind having jury duty, tomorrow is awful inconvenient, but that's my fault for not asking to have it rescheduled.
I opted to stay home with wife and kid for 4 weeks after he made his appearance. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.
I'm a nerd when it comes to bath water temp. The floaty ducky with the 'hot' stamp on it is nice, but I like using the kitchen thermometer, just to be sure. I'm also a nerd when it comes to bottle temp.
One of my readers pointed out to me that they don't really HAVE to read this, as they pretty much have a good idea of what I'm going to say, because I've usually told them everything that goes into this blog. Thanks for reading anyway, D.
To come, more adventures in cloth diapering, that is, if I haven't been put onto a major trial and sequestered.
At the moment, I can't be with Emmett, since he's in California visiting his grandparents, and I'm not, so I don't really have that as an excuse.
V, consider this your shoutout. Enjoy the leftover pizza.
Up until yesterday, I hadn't filled up my car with gas since October. I suppose since I can't have a car seat in it, there wasn't really much point.
Let me run through the new parent stuff:
Yes, it's awesome. Even at 3 AM when he won't sleep.
I seem to have become more or less immune to his cry, in that it doesn't irritate me. That doesn't mean it's not physically painful if he gets a good shout right in my ear.
Yes, you get sleep deprived. To the point where when talking with your spouse, you need to re-iterate what you're talking about, even if it's only been a few minutes, and there hasn't been anything else said since the last sentence. Pronouns don't work.
Flying with a 4 week old isn't so bad. We'll find out tomorrow how flying with a 5 week old is. Probably not much different. (famous last words)
Poop can have a trajectory.
While I don't mind having jury duty, tomorrow is awful inconvenient, but that's my fault for not asking to have it rescheduled.
I opted to stay home with wife and kid for 4 weeks after he made his appearance. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.
I'm a nerd when it comes to bath water temp. The floaty ducky with the 'hot' stamp on it is nice, but I like using the kitchen thermometer, just to be sure. I'm also a nerd when it comes to bottle temp.
One of my readers pointed out to me that they don't really HAVE to read this, as they pretty much have a good idea of what I'm going to say, because I've usually told them everything that goes into this blog. Thanks for reading anyway, D.
To come, more adventures in cloth diapering, that is, if I haven't been put onto a major trial and sequestered.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Happy Birthday, kiddo!
Please welcome Emmett Thomas. Born 11/3/10, 9:09 AM. 6 pounds, 14 ounces, 19-3/4 inches.
Image used without Emmett's explicit consent.
At least the waiting game is over. Now I just have to re-orient myself with my own house, as I've woken up in so many different places in the last 24 hours.
Image used without Emmett's explicit consent.
At least the waiting game is over. Now I just have to re-orient myself with my own house, as I've woken up in so many different places in the last 24 hours.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Random Friday
1) Why do I continue to torture myself doing the incline? It's certainly not getting any easier. In fact, it's getting more painful.
2) Playing with the Slow Shutter app on my iPhone. Pretty nifty.
2) Playing with the Slow Shutter app on my iPhone. Pretty nifty.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The waiting game
We've made some progress, enough to indicate that we shouldn't make any plans, cause anything could happen at any time. The waiting part does kind of suck, as we have no real idea as to whether or not today is the day.
On the other hand, some advice I've received was to make plans, and the baby will pick the most inopportune time to show up. Mid-act at a theater performance. While on the long stretch of nothing between Wilkerson pass and Hartsel. On Pikes Peak Highway, behind a tour bus. You get the idea.
Taken from google maps street view without checking permissions.
On the other hand, some advice I've received was to make plans, and the baby will pick the most inopportune time to show up. Mid-act at a theater performance. While on the long stretch of nothing between Wilkerson pass and Hartsel. On Pikes Peak Highway, behind a tour bus. You get the idea.
 |
| The long stretch of nothing. |
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Danger, Will Robinson!
To continue on the Uncommon Sense post, I'm assembling the baby bathtub at the moment, and the first line of the warning sticker reads: "Babies have DROWNED in infant bath tubs."
I understand the sentiment. Watch your kid. Pay attention. Don't scare the bejeezus out of me.
It's confidence inspiring, and really makes me want to use your product.
On a different note, for Lauren, Go Giants!
I understand the sentiment. Watch your kid. Pay attention. Don't scare the bejeezus out of me.
It's confidence inspiring, and really makes me want to use your product.
On a different note, for Lauren, Go Giants!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Surprise!
So I'd been going back and forth about having a baby shower at work, just a few people, with some of the typical 'guess the delivery date' type games and a cake for good measure.
I procrastinate, so It's no surprise that it's 3 weeks from the due date and I hadn't really organized everything.
Thankfully, my wonderful co-workers are more organized than I. Double thankfully, I was lazy today, and didn't go to the gym, as that might have put a monkey wrench in the surprise plans.
With the promise of free food, I was lured away from my desk and to a conference room. Sadly, the promise did not include leftover pizza, as that would have been too perfect.
It did include me being completely surprised for the second time by Laura, a wonderful cake from one of the best bakeries in town, presents, and games! For the due date game, sadly, only one person picked an October date, which is what we're hoping for. Perhaps I should put in a late entry for myself, and pick tomorrow, going with the "Price is Right" $1 strategy.
In any case, Thanks again to everyone!
I procrastinate, so It's no surprise that it's 3 weeks from the due date and I hadn't really organized everything.
Thankfully, my wonderful co-workers are more organized than I. Double thankfully, I was lazy today, and didn't go to the gym, as that might have put a monkey wrench in the surprise plans.
With the promise of free food, I was lured away from my desk and to a conference room. Sadly, the promise did not include leftover pizza, as that would have been too perfect.
It did include me being completely surprised for the second time by Laura, a wonderful cake from one of the best bakeries in town, presents, and games! For the due date game, sadly, only one person picked an October date, which is what we're hoping for. Perhaps I should put in a late entry for myself, and pick tomorrow, going with the "Price is Right" $1 strategy.
In any case, Thanks again to everyone!
E.T. is the nickname we've given him, seeing as how his ultrasounds make him look like an alien.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Uncommon sense
I'm a follower of Free Range Kids, and this post is one of the more positive ones that I'll share. More often than not, the posts on Lenore's site are ones that demonstrate the fear and craziness that's permeated society due to the 24/7 availablility of bad news from all around the world. Sometimes, I have to stop reading because they're so aggravating.
I hope to teach moderation and self-sufficiency to our son. Everything in moderation, including moderation itself. Sometimes, you have ice cream and brownies for dinner, and it's okay.
-Photo by Rizka Budiati used under cc2.0
I hope to teach moderation and self-sufficiency to our son. Everything in moderation, including moderation itself. Sometimes, you have ice cream and brownies for dinner, and it's okay.
-Photo by Rizka Budiati used under cc2.0
Week 37
Today marks week 37 of pregnancy for Laura. He's officially safe to show up at any time now. We're as ready as we can be, I suppose. I'm sure we've forgotten something, but such is life, and I'm not going to stress about it. There's enough stress to go around for everybody, and I don't need to add more.
So this entire time, what is with babies being compared to fruits and vegetables in order to give an idea of how large they are? Especially when it's something that I've never heard of? What good is that supposed to do? Last week, I had to look up what a crenshaw melon was, just to have an idea.
Craziness.
This is a crenshaw melon.
So this entire time, what is with babies being compared to fruits and vegetables in order to give an idea of how large they are? Especially when it's something that I've never heard of? What good is that supposed to do? Last week, I had to look up what a crenshaw melon was, just to have an idea.
Craziness.
This is a crenshaw melon.
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