Wow! I'm sure you other parents out there have experienced this after your kid is on solids. But man, I was not ready for this one. Yesterday before I left for work, I was holding M and giving her some hugs and kisses when my nose was befouled. So, like any parent, I lifted her up to smell her bottom to see if that was in fact what was rotten in the state of Denmark. Nearly threw up. It was that bad. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for C, I was needing to leave for work. Needless to say, that bag o' diapers went into the garage trash immediately. It's one of those things that you probably wouldn't even wish on your worst enemies, although it'd be far more innocuous than many other things that are racing through your mind.
Beware the Atomic Poop.
In other news, M continues to soak up sign language and is even practicing words. She signs the following words with regularity and understanding their meaning: eat, more, all done, water, ball, baby. She is close to saying three words other than mama and dada: ball (sounds like bah, as in humbug), dog (like dog without the g) and light (which is just the 'L' drawn out a couple seconds).
In still other news, M enjoys aping us as we say and do things. When I was watching my 'Horns finally lose their horribly played game against LSU, I was growling and grousing about. Mallory then echoed my sentiments.
That's pretty much it for now. Work has been a bear this week, and shows no sign of letting up. But that's a good thing. I'd rather be so busy than bored. Since our lab did such a great job with the retesting of one of our GMP products, our CEO gave our manager the green light for an activity on the company. So yesterday we went bowling. Had a lot of fun with everybody and I even bowled my high game: 164. I only had two open frames and even had two strikes in a row.
Enjoy your day.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Happy Birthday M, Part 1: Conception to birth
It's crazy to think that it's been a year since you were born. There have been a few hard times, but overall it's been a great year. So let's start at the beginning.
It was early in the morning and Mommy had gotten out of bed because she was so anxious to see what the result was. We were trying to have you, but I still had no clue. So at about 6:30 in the morning, she crawled into bed and woke me up with the sweet words "Good morning Daddy." Now, I wasn't fully awake, but I understood exactly what she meant. And that's how it began.
Soon afterward, she started having morning sickness, so we kept a supply of crackers handy so she could munch on them in the morning to settle her tummy down. It didn't work most of the time, so I would get her some water and try to comfort her.
We wanted to wait as long as we could to tell people, but Mommy had to tell Mrs. Bird at work so she could find a new teacher. And since she had to know, we wanted to tell our family so they wouldn't get their feelings hurt. But it was good for Mommy so she could enjoy being pregnant more and could talk with other moms who could share in her excitement. One way we did that was by taking Bradley classes so Mommy could have you naturally. The breathing and mental exercises would come in handy later.
We were so excited to find out if you were a boy or girl so we could start calling you by your name instead of "it" and "the baby." But you were being modest, as Mommy liked to say, and you wouldn't let us see. So Mommy got up and walked around a little and the sonogram tech made an "earthquake" and you finally started to move your little leg. It took a lot of coercion, but we finally saw that we had a Mallory Joy on the way. However, it took mommy a lot of convincing, because she didn't want you to come out and be a boy and not have a set of boy clothes.
One of the things she loved to do was whenever she felt you kick, she would tell me to feel. It was fun the first few times, but it got a little old after awhile, because I felt that once you've felt one kick, you've felt them all. But as you got bigger, you started packing quite the punch.
We took a photo of you and Mommy every month so we could see the transformation taking place. As you got bigger, Mommy started getting sciatica, so we learned some exercises and she started sleeping with many pillows, so that Daddy only had a tiny sliver of bed to sleep on. One of my fondest memories during this time was helping both of you go to sleep. Mommy would lie on her side and you would immediately start flailing around. She thought maybe you were just jumping on the bed. But I would put my hand on her tummy and you would stop moving. It was something I looked forward to every night.
Perhaps the hardest part was having realistic expectations of when you would come. We both knew that first pregnancies usually went past the due date, but Mommy was convinced that she'd have you out by your due date. We went on long walks and even took a hike up Mount Bonnell to try to speed things up. When you still didn't come, we decided to induce. But after two hours on the highest levels of petocin, it was quite evident you were just gonna take your sweet time. The funny moment from that time was when our nurse Ed put your monitor on, your heartbeat was quite loud and so I asked him if we could turn it down. He said it'll be the last time we're able to turn your volume down. Boy was he right! God has given you quite the set of lungs.
That Saturday night, Mommy started to have real contractions. We started timing them around 8PM and saw that they were getting longer, stronger and closer together. Not wanting to go back to the hospital and come home empty-handed again, we tried everything to make sure this was it. We went on a walk, Mommy ate something, and then she took a shower. After all of this, the contractions still kept getting worse. So we decided to go in. The nurse examined Mommy and said that she was still only 1.5cm dilated. We decided shortly thereafter that you weren't coming and that we'd go home and try to get some sleep. Well, that really didn't happen. We probably only got 6 hours between us as the pain was getting worse.
Sunday morning we decided not to go to church, mainly because I didn't want Mommy to have to hear "You're still here?!" from all the well-meaning folks. And so we did all the exercises, went on a little walk and tried to keep her in as little pain as possible. But it was getting so bad Sunday night that we packed our bags and the cooler and headed on to the hospital to check in. Again. But this time there was great news. Mommy was at 4cm!! Which was good for the nurse, or Mommy might've hurt her. Just kidding. We had great care from all the nurses and doctors and Mommy was making good progress. The only bad thing was that you were face up, which meant very painful back labor for Mommy and the possibility of a C-section. So we settled into a routine of ice chips and peppermint oil after contractions, and Daddy counting for Mommy to help her hold the pushes. But you weren't coming, even after two hours of pushing. At this point, we decided that Mommy should get an epidural, even though we wanted no drugs. But she needed it. It was a very hard time, because I didn't want to see her in so much pain and she was doing such a good job. Dr. B-G said that if you were face down it wouldn't have taken nearly as long. Oh well. God had perfect timing as He always does. We just didn't feel it at the time. After another couple of hours of pushing, you were out and we were thankful Mommy didn't need a C-section. It was an amazing and disgusting thing, but you were here! It was exactly 5:30PM on Monday, March 21, 2005. I got to cut your umbilical cord and then I gave Mommy some hugs and kisses while they took you to clean you off and get weighed and checked. You were so tiny!!
We took some pictures and then let the family come in to see you and take pictures with you, but it had been pretty much since Friday night when we had any good sleep, so we took you to the room upstairs and settled in for the night. Everybody got some much-deserved rest!
It was early in the morning and Mommy had gotten out of bed because she was so anxious to see what the result was. We were trying to have you, but I still had no clue. So at about 6:30 in the morning, she crawled into bed and woke me up with the sweet words "Good morning Daddy." Now, I wasn't fully awake, but I understood exactly what she meant. And that's how it began.
Soon afterward, she started having morning sickness, so we kept a supply of crackers handy so she could munch on them in the morning to settle her tummy down. It didn't work most of the time, so I would get her some water and try to comfort her.
We wanted to wait as long as we could to tell people, but Mommy had to tell Mrs. Bird at work so she could find a new teacher. And since she had to know, we wanted to tell our family so they wouldn't get their feelings hurt. But it was good for Mommy so she could enjoy being pregnant more and could talk with other moms who could share in her excitement. One way we did that was by taking Bradley classes so Mommy could have you naturally. The breathing and mental exercises would come in handy later.
We were so excited to find out if you were a boy or girl so we could start calling you by your name instead of "it" and "the baby." But you were being modest, as Mommy liked to say, and you wouldn't let us see. So Mommy got up and walked around a little and the sonogram tech made an "earthquake" and you finally started to move your little leg. It took a lot of coercion, but we finally saw that we had a Mallory Joy on the way. However, it took mommy a lot of convincing, because she didn't want you to come out and be a boy and not have a set of boy clothes.
One of the things she loved to do was whenever she felt you kick, she would tell me to feel. It was fun the first few times, but it got a little old after awhile, because I felt that once you've felt one kick, you've felt them all. But as you got bigger, you started packing quite the punch.
We took a photo of you and Mommy every month so we could see the transformation taking place. As you got bigger, Mommy started getting sciatica, so we learned some exercises and she started sleeping with many pillows, so that Daddy only had a tiny sliver of bed to sleep on. One of my fondest memories during this time was helping both of you go to sleep. Mommy would lie on her side and you would immediately start flailing around. She thought maybe you were just jumping on the bed. But I would put my hand on her tummy and you would stop moving. It was something I looked forward to every night.
Perhaps the hardest part was having realistic expectations of when you would come. We both knew that first pregnancies usually went past the due date, but Mommy was convinced that she'd have you out by your due date. We went on long walks and even took a hike up Mount Bonnell to try to speed things up. When you still didn't come, we decided to induce. But after two hours on the highest levels of petocin, it was quite evident you were just gonna take your sweet time. The funny moment from that time was when our nurse Ed put your monitor on, your heartbeat was quite loud and so I asked him if we could turn it down. He said it'll be the last time we're able to turn your volume down. Boy was he right! God has given you quite the set of lungs.
That Saturday night, Mommy started to have real contractions. We started timing them around 8PM and saw that they were getting longer, stronger and closer together. Not wanting to go back to the hospital and come home empty-handed again, we tried everything to make sure this was it. We went on a walk, Mommy ate something, and then she took a shower. After all of this, the contractions still kept getting worse. So we decided to go in. The nurse examined Mommy and said that she was still only 1.5cm dilated. We decided shortly thereafter that you weren't coming and that we'd go home and try to get some sleep. Well, that really didn't happen. We probably only got 6 hours between us as the pain was getting worse.
Sunday morning we decided not to go to church, mainly because I didn't want Mommy to have to hear "You're still here?!" from all the well-meaning folks. And so we did all the exercises, went on a little walk and tried to keep her in as little pain as possible. But it was getting so bad Sunday night that we packed our bags and the cooler and headed on to the hospital to check in. Again. But this time there was great news. Mommy was at 4cm!! Which was good for the nurse, or Mommy might've hurt her. Just kidding. We had great care from all the nurses and doctors and Mommy was making good progress. The only bad thing was that you were face up, which meant very painful back labor for Mommy and the possibility of a C-section. So we settled into a routine of ice chips and peppermint oil after contractions, and Daddy counting for Mommy to help her hold the pushes. But you weren't coming, even after two hours of pushing. At this point, we decided that Mommy should get an epidural, even though we wanted no drugs. But she needed it. It was a very hard time, because I didn't want to see her in so much pain and she was doing such a good job. Dr. B-G said that if you were face down it wouldn't have taken nearly as long. Oh well. God had perfect timing as He always does. We just didn't feel it at the time. After another couple of hours of pushing, you were out and we were thankful Mommy didn't need a C-section. It was an amazing and disgusting thing, but you were here! It was exactly 5:30PM on Monday, March 21, 2005. I got to cut your umbilical cord and then I gave Mommy some hugs and kisses while they took you to clean you off and get weighed and checked. You were so tiny!!
We took some pictures and then let the family come in to see you and take pictures with you, but it had been pretty much since Friday night when we had any good sleep, so we took you to the room upstairs and settled in for the night. Everybody got some much-deserved rest!
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Bracket Busted
So, I picked Kansas to not only make the Final Four, but to lose to UConn in the title game. See, this is why I didn't fork over five bucks in my office pool. I hadn't watched much college ball, but I knew that KU had rock chalk Jay-hawked all over my 'Horns in the Big XII championship game. They're my 'Horns because I'm an alumnus of 2001. But for posterity and just to have something to talk about with friends and coworkers, I filled out a bracket on ESPN.
Some brief comments on the Tourney so far:
A&M suffered a severe Stomach Punch game against LSU last night. I really feel for my Aggie coworkers. But they have a bright future as long as Billy Gillespie stays.
Lamarcus Aldridge is for real. He's pretty much the only reason we won that Penn game on Friday night. He just needs to take it to the hole with more authority. None of this namby-pamby layup jazz. Throw it down like you mean it big man!
You thought the NFL had parity?! None of the 1-seeds beat the 16s by more than 16 points, with UConn nearly being on the wrong side of history against the Great Danes of Albany. And kudos for Jim Calhoun tipping his hat to those kids and their coach. They had a great game plan, but just couldn't hit those buckets at the end of the game.
The Big Least is exposed! Mo Valley and the CAA are not overinflated. I bet Dr. Littlepage from UVa is giddy as a school girl with the results of this first weekend, especially after the vitriol he endured from Jim Nance and Billy Packer during the Selection Show last Sunday. And major co-jones on his part for actually being accountable for the committee's picks. Sure, he danced around like a good politician, but it was good to see him defend himself. And even better when the Air Forces of the collegiate world backed him up.
The NCAA. It's faaaantastic.
And finally, props to my gal for letting me plop in front of the tube for hours on end watching this Madness. I love you C!
P.S. Coming Tuesday: Reminiscing on the first year of M and that crazy weekend one year ago.
Some brief comments on the Tourney so far:
A&M suffered a severe Stomach Punch game against LSU last night. I really feel for my Aggie coworkers. But they have a bright future as long as Billy Gillespie stays.
Lamarcus Aldridge is for real. He's pretty much the only reason we won that Penn game on Friday night. He just needs to take it to the hole with more authority. None of this namby-pamby layup jazz. Throw it down like you mean it big man!
You thought the NFL had parity?! None of the 1-seeds beat the 16s by more than 16 points, with UConn nearly being on the wrong side of history against the Great Danes of Albany. And kudos for Jim Calhoun tipping his hat to those kids and their coach. They had a great game plan, but just couldn't hit those buckets at the end of the game.
The Big Least is exposed! Mo Valley and the CAA are not overinflated. I bet Dr. Littlepage from UVa is giddy as a school girl with the results of this first weekend, especially after the vitriol he endured from Jim Nance and Billy Packer during the Selection Show last Sunday. And major co-jones on his part for actually being accountable for the committee's picks. Sure, he danced around like a good politician, but it was good to see him defend himself. And even better when the Air Forces of the collegiate world backed him up.
The NCAA. It's faaaantastic.
And finally, props to my gal for letting me plop in front of the tube for hours on end watching this Madness. I love you C!
P.S. Coming Tuesday: Reminiscing on the first year of M and that crazy weekend one year ago.
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