I'm somewhat at a loss.
Aislin has done some amazing things recently. She's crawled a little bit, even. When she went in for her second flu shot, she didn't even cry. She's been fairly amiable and cheerful, but never so much that it gets old. She loves fake coughing. She's discovered a fondness for dolls, and ever since has been getting a new doll every week. There's so much.
Last weekend, we finally had our house-warming party. We found out that our apartment living room is not as well-suited to entertaining large numbers of guests like our old one. With everyone there, it felt a little cramped. Still, we had a good time. My friend Eric pointed out, during one of the many interludes during which Aislin took center stage, that watching her try to crawl was incredibly suspenseful. It sounds ridiculous, but it's totally true. She kneels there in a crawling position and rocks back and forth until she falls over. Each time, you think "Oh, this is it! She's going to do it! Maybe this time she'll finally do it!"
One afternoon, she was playing with her green ball -- it's actually MY green ball: it's a ninja turtles ball from when I was a child -- and it rolled out of her reach. She adjusted herself into her crawling position and reached out for it. She touched it just enough to push it just a little further out of reach. So she moved her knees and reached out for it again. This process repeated a few times and I knew what I was seeing, though I don't think she knew what she was doing. She hasn't really done it since.
Our good friends Joel and Heather are moving to Pasadena even as I'm typing this. There was a going away party which included a white elephant gift exchange. At this party, during one of the break-off-into-small-groups-and-chat segments, Aislin looked up at Joel from her mother's arms and waved and said, "hi." Joel's eyes reportedly popped out of his head. I'm not sure why I didn't see it; I must have been thinking about something else.
Like this lump on my belly. A few nights ago, I discovered I have a lump on my belly. It's not sensitive, and I'm seeing the doctor on Monday, but still -- disconcerting. Lumps aren't good. A lump of coal is good. A lump of flesh is not good. Read Merchant of Venice if you don't believe me.
I have all of these ideas and ambitions. I have ideas for stories and ambitions to blog more often and write more and transcribe more and be a more profitable member of the family. But Aislin wears me out. The only time I really have to write is after everyone else goes to bed. And why aren't I in bed? That's what I want to know. I'm exhausted.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Aislin's growing up, but I'm the one in growing pains.
All right. Aislin's been doing some growing.
We've concluded that she's going to be tall. She's already tall for her age. Her pants are for a 12 month, and they're just barely long enough. But the waistline is too big, so she looks like she's thugging it.
She's super active all the time. Actually, she's napping right now. But most of the time, she's super active. She's always been looking around, but now she's unhappy staying still for too long. She gets bored. This would be an easy problem for her to solve if she just learned to crawl. The other night, it seemed like she was crawling backwards. So, that was funny. Later, she came very close to crawling in earnest, but didn't completely take off. Kate and I agree: She'll be crawling by Christmas.
She's been exploring her vocal abilities, too. She'll say "bah bah bah" and sometimes she'll say "hi." She waves at people. Yesterday, when Kate and I were driving home from Lebanon, she made a noise that sounded vaguely like "I love you," so Kate and I said in unison "I love you too." Pretty sure she didn't actually say it, but it was still cute, funny, and exciting.
Remember way on back when she had the habit of urinating when we took her diaper off? Well, she was over it for a while, but she seems to have picked it back up. I really preferred it when she wouldn't do that. Ah well. Soon she'll be crawling and her excrement will be everywhere. And all our stuff. More so than it already is. ~shudder~
We finally have the living room in a state in which we are comfortable entertaining guests. Until now, it's been pretty messy. Now, we've moved the mess into the study and the bedroom, so we just need to focus our energies in those two rooms and we'll be golden.
There's still quite a bit of work to do.
On that note, my friend Luke tells me he's going to Haiti for nine months. Okay. That means, he's got until Thursday to complete his finals, pack up his apartment, and leave. On the one hand, I'm kind of mad that so many of my friends are moving out of reach. Luke's going to Haiti. Joel and Heather are moving to Pasadena. Ted has a full-time job so he's pretty much only available to hang out on the weekend, like a normal person. At least Kevin's back. That pretty much makes up for it. But back to Luke. On the one hand, I'm mad. On the other hand, he is somewhat concerned about uprooting his life for the past, what, year? In less than a week? But he's able to do it. His furnishings are spartan enough to accommodate that. I wouldn't have a prayer. I need a four-bedroom house for all the junk Kate and I have accumulated. And if things keep progressing along the path they have been for the past three years, I'll never have one. I'll live with junk in plastic boxes stacked in the middle of the floor forever.
We've concluded that she's going to be tall. She's already tall for her age. Her pants are for a 12 month, and they're just barely long enough. But the waistline is too big, so she looks like she's thugging it.
She's super active all the time. Actually, she's napping right now. But most of the time, she's super active. She's always been looking around, but now she's unhappy staying still for too long. She gets bored. This would be an easy problem for her to solve if she just learned to crawl. The other night, it seemed like she was crawling backwards. So, that was funny. Later, she came very close to crawling in earnest, but didn't completely take off. Kate and I agree: She'll be crawling by Christmas.
She's been exploring her vocal abilities, too. She'll say "bah bah bah" and sometimes she'll say "hi." She waves at people. Yesterday, when Kate and I were driving home from Lebanon, she made a noise that sounded vaguely like "I love you," so Kate and I said in unison "I love you too." Pretty sure she didn't actually say it, but it was still cute, funny, and exciting.
Remember way on back when she had the habit of urinating when we took her diaper off? Well, she was over it for a while, but she seems to have picked it back up. I really preferred it when she wouldn't do that. Ah well. Soon she'll be crawling and her excrement will be everywhere. And all our stuff. More so than it already is. ~shudder~
We finally have the living room in a state in which we are comfortable entertaining guests. Until now, it's been pretty messy. Now, we've moved the mess into the study and the bedroom, so we just need to focus our energies in those two rooms and we'll be golden.
There's still quite a bit of work to do.
On that note, my friend Luke tells me he's going to Haiti for nine months. Okay. That means, he's got until Thursday to complete his finals, pack up his apartment, and leave. On the one hand, I'm kind of mad that so many of my friends are moving out of reach. Luke's going to Haiti. Joel and Heather are moving to Pasadena. Ted has a full-time job so he's pretty much only available to hang out on the weekend, like a normal person. At least Kevin's back. That pretty much makes up for it. But back to Luke. On the one hand, I'm mad. On the other hand, he is somewhat concerned about uprooting his life for the past, what, year? In less than a week? But he's able to do it. His furnishings are spartan enough to accommodate that. I wouldn't have a prayer. I need a four-bedroom house for all the junk Kate and I have accumulated. And if things keep progressing along the path they have been for the past three years, I'll never have one. I'll live with junk in plastic boxes stacked in the middle of the floor forever.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Rice Krispies
I guess I'll do an update before I get back to work. I've been transcribing a lot. My goal is to earn $1,000 each month, and to do that I only need to type 25 pages each weekday. It's not a problem as long as I stay on top of it. I fell behind, and I've been struggling to catch up ever since. I'm very close now though, so I'm feeling good about it.
Two days ago, Aislin had her six-month doctor's visit. Some of you may be thinking, "I thought she was older than six months." Well, you're right. And thanks for paying attention. You have something on your nose. :) She's actually seven months old, but I was about a month late in scheduling her four month appointment, and these two visits include several shots so they have to be adequately spaced apart for medical reasons I don't quite follow but it sounds believable enough so I just go with it. This time, Kate was able to come. It was really great to have her there. For some reason, and I can't figure this out, Aislin doesn't like getting shots. I don't know. But with Kate there, she just started nursing as soon as the shots were over, and Aislin calmed down and went to sleep. She provided much more comfort than I was ever able to on my own. At her last visit, I just had to carry her out crying. The contrast between the looks I got then and the looks we got now isn't as stark as you would think.
Lately, she's been having a hard time sleeping through the night. We asked the doctor about that, and she recommended rice cereal. When we were going to go to the store and pick some up, I asked Kate if Rice Krispies would do it. Sadly, I was totally serious. Kate laughed until she cried and said if I bought Rice Krispies, I would never live it down. She would make fun of me for the rest of my life. Turns out there's "Rice Cereal" next to baby formula and baby food down the baby aisle. Yeah, because I frequent the baby aisle so often. How was I to know Rice Krispies aren't the proper rice cereal? Doesn't every kid love snap, crackle, pop?
Anyway. We got the cereal, and Aislin loves it. We were totally lucky there. She eats it and eats it. And then, and this is the greatest part: She sleeps. She sleeps for hours on end. She still wakes up, but it's not every hour like it was. We're so grateful to you, rice cereal. Even if you don't snap, crackle, and pop.
Apart from transcribing, I've been trying to play a game Ted loaned me called Red Dead Redemption. It's set in the wild west. It's a fun game and everything, but between the baby and transcribing, I don't really have time. Any time I do have is spent trying to organize the new apartment some more. The study looks a lot better. I'm surrounded by books, and they're organized. It's great. Behind me, there's still a bunch of boxes full of stuff, but the room is much more navigable. It'll be great when it's done.
Speaking of done, I finished the book I was reading, High Fidelity. Yeah, just like the movie with Jack Black and John Cusack. It had a lot of things in common with Rabbit Run, which I detested, but I enjoyed this one. I think that's because, despite himself, the main character is easier to relate to. It seems to be a trend, though, in literature. The protagonist who is a child disguised as a man, or rather, the man who still feels and behaves like a child but has grown-up responsibilities and sometimes aspirations. These are the two camps I've found: The man-child (High Fidelity, Rabbit Run, Choke), and The libido's last gasp (Everyman, Toward the End of Time). There are probably more in-between, but I haven't read any recently.
I'm a little surprised Luke isn't online right now. He's got a radio show on KPSU that's really good, and he's normally chatting while he's playing music, but not today. I have to tell him Red Horse is closing. It's totally lame.
Okay. Well, until next time. Check out the movie trailers for Cowboys and Aliens and Green Lantern. I think they're pretty great.
Two days ago, Aislin had her six-month doctor's visit. Some of you may be thinking, "I thought she was older than six months." Well, you're right. And thanks for paying attention. You have something on your nose. :) She's actually seven months old, but I was about a month late in scheduling her four month appointment, and these two visits include several shots so they have to be adequately spaced apart for medical reasons I don't quite follow but it sounds believable enough so I just go with it. This time, Kate was able to come. It was really great to have her there. For some reason, and I can't figure this out, Aislin doesn't like getting shots. I don't know. But with Kate there, she just started nursing as soon as the shots were over, and Aislin calmed down and went to sleep. She provided much more comfort than I was ever able to on my own. At her last visit, I just had to carry her out crying. The contrast between the looks I got then and the looks we got now isn't as stark as you would think.
Lately, she's been having a hard time sleeping through the night. We asked the doctor about that, and she recommended rice cereal. When we were going to go to the store and pick some up, I asked Kate if Rice Krispies would do it. Sadly, I was totally serious. Kate laughed until she cried and said if I bought Rice Krispies, I would never live it down. She would make fun of me for the rest of my life. Turns out there's "Rice Cereal" next to baby formula and baby food down the baby aisle. Yeah, because I frequent the baby aisle so often. How was I to know Rice Krispies aren't the proper rice cereal? Doesn't every kid love snap, crackle, pop?
Anyway. We got the cereal, and Aislin loves it. We were totally lucky there. She eats it and eats it. And then, and this is the greatest part: She sleeps. She sleeps for hours on end. She still wakes up, but it's not every hour like it was. We're so grateful to you, rice cereal. Even if you don't snap, crackle, and pop.
Apart from transcribing, I've been trying to play a game Ted loaned me called Red Dead Redemption. It's set in the wild west. It's a fun game and everything, but between the baby and transcribing, I don't really have time. Any time I do have is spent trying to organize the new apartment some more. The study looks a lot better. I'm surrounded by books, and they're organized. It's great. Behind me, there's still a bunch of boxes full of stuff, but the room is much more navigable. It'll be great when it's done.
Speaking of done, I finished the book I was reading, High Fidelity. Yeah, just like the movie with Jack Black and John Cusack. It had a lot of things in common with Rabbit Run, which I detested, but I enjoyed this one. I think that's because, despite himself, the main character is easier to relate to. It seems to be a trend, though, in literature. The protagonist who is a child disguised as a man, or rather, the man who still feels and behaves like a child but has grown-up responsibilities and sometimes aspirations. These are the two camps I've found: The man-child (High Fidelity, Rabbit Run, Choke), and The libido's last gasp (Everyman, Toward the End of Time). There are probably more in-between, but I haven't read any recently.
I'm a little surprised Luke isn't online right now. He's got a radio show on KPSU that's really good, and he's normally chatting while he's playing music, but not today. I have to tell him Red Horse is closing. It's totally lame.
Okay. Well, until next time. Check out the movie trailers for Cowboys and Aliens and Green Lantern. I think they're pretty great.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Moved! The baby -- she has grown
Yes it has been a while. I have plenty of good reasons for this, and also plenty of new items in the meantime. Let's get started.
We successfully moved. We're very happy and excited about it, and our new place has many advantages over our old one. It's much bigger and has much more storage, has a larger dining room, and the parking lot is never full. It's also a townhouse-style apartment, so it's two levels. There's no one above or below us, only on either side. The walls seem thicker, too.
On the other hand, there's no dishwasher, there are no bodies above and below us to help keep the apartment warm, and we suspect our next-door neighbor is a ward of the State. He's kind of creepy. Ted and I thought he was homeless and scoping the place out when we first saw him. He's kept to himself, though; I'm not worried about him.
Aislin can now sit on her own, though she needs help getting into a sitting position. She doesn't crawl, although she desperately wants to. She'll lay on her stomach and come so close and then get frustrated she's not moving anywhere. On her back, she'll push with her feet and scoot. When we put her on her stomach now for tummy time, she just rolls over and scoots around instead of crawling. She's amazingly ticklish and laughs when Kate or I tickle her. She not only sticks out her tongue and gives Bronx cheers, she also makes a hissing-like noise while she's smiling that often leads into laughter. It's like that noise we make when we sort-of laugh at something. You'd recognize it if you heard it. She screams. She coos. She takes glasses of your face and ties to suck on them.
She's also been eating some solid food. Kate's fed her peas, and they make her diapers a disaster area.
I should get back to work. I've got a transcription that needs to get done, so I need to get after it. Now that my computer is set up (with a swanky new desk to boot) I should be able to make posts more regularly.
We successfully moved. We're very happy and excited about it, and our new place has many advantages over our old one. It's much bigger and has much more storage, has a larger dining room, and the parking lot is never full. It's also a townhouse-style apartment, so it's two levels. There's no one above or below us, only on either side. The walls seem thicker, too.
On the other hand, there's no dishwasher, there are no bodies above and below us to help keep the apartment warm, and we suspect our next-door neighbor is a ward of the State. He's kind of creepy. Ted and I thought he was homeless and scoping the place out when we first saw him. He's kept to himself, though; I'm not worried about him.
Aislin can now sit on her own, though she needs help getting into a sitting position. She doesn't crawl, although she desperately wants to. She'll lay on her stomach and come so close and then get frustrated she's not moving anywhere. On her back, she'll push with her feet and scoot. When we put her on her stomach now for tummy time, she just rolls over and scoots around instead of crawling. She's amazingly ticklish and laughs when Kate or I tickle her. She not only sticks out her tongue and gives Bronx cheers, she also makes a hissing-like noise while she's smiling that often leads into laughter. It's like that noise we make when we sort-of laugh at something. You'd recognize it if you heard it. She screams. She coos. She takes glasses of your face and ties to suck on them.
She's also been eating some solid food. Kate's fed her peas, and they make her diapers a disaster area.
I should get back to work. I've got a transcription that needs to get done, so I need to get after it. Now that my computer is set up (with a swanky new desk to boot) I should be able to make posts more regularly.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Anniversaries, Airplanes, and Aislin awash with relatives
Happy anniversary to me! Three years ago, I got married. Ever since I've felt a little closer to being an actual grown-up. Still not there yet, but getting ever closer.
All kinds of news. First of all, the reason I've been lacking in the posts lately is because Kate and I spent ten glorious days in Canada with her family. They had to meet this baby, you know. We were excited about it because it would be the first time Aislin would travel by airplane. The trip up went very well; any time we took off or landed, Kate nursed to keep Aislin distracted. The sucking action kept her ears acclimating to the altitude changes and the flights were very pleasant. The hardest part was the "indefinite delay" in the Seattle airport, but it didn't turn out to be very long.
After we landed, Kate's uncle Eric and his daughter Erica (who was a flower girl three years ago today) picked us up in Edmonton. We had about a two-hour drive ahead of us. They brought a car seat for Aislin so we wouldn't have to pack ours. She cried the entire car trip. Nursing didn't help. We didn't see Eric and Erica again. We later figured out it was the scent of the car seat, and a cycle through the washer without soap fixed the problem.
Aislin smiled at all her extended family. Her great grandfather Bob held her that first night, and Aislin tolerated it for a while. He said to me he remembered holding Kate's mom when she was that small. She loved Kate's uncles, especially. She'd smile at them and pinch their faces. Toward the end of our stay, she started daily explorations of her vocal range. It was unpleasant for Kate's grandparents -- at for Kate too -- but I secretly enjoyed it.
The trip consisted of Kate's aunts, uncles, and cousins stopping by to meet her and far more missed than captured Kodak moments. I finished 1984, read Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby and Toward the End of Time by John Updike. I always get my best reading done up there. I liked Hornby's book even though I know nothing about English football. It was an autobiographical account of his lifelong love/hate relationship/obsession with Arsenal. I could somewhat resonate with his experiences being somewhat of a Beaver fan, but I really enjoyed his narrative voice so I checked out High Fidelity and Juliet Naked when I got back. Updike's novel was much more cerebral and scandalous. It was basically about a retiree in a future Boston after a nuclear war between the States and China who is totally selfish and horny. Everything makes him think about fornication, so most of the time I was reading with a grimace on my face. But when it wasn't gross it was intelligent and lyrical. As I'm writing about it, I'm comparing it to Everyman by Philip Roth, which also featured a protagonist dealing with the libido's last gasp. Roth's book is much more accessible than Updike's, but not as beautifully-written. At least Roth's had a complete ending (he dies). Updike's character is left languishing before the inevitable that comes after the book ends, leaving him indefinitely waiting. I think it's Updike's last novel, and he incorporated poetry into the prose beautifully. Reading a novel by Updike is like reading poetry by Eliot: you're practically fooling yourself.
The airplane trips back to Oregon were not nearly as pleasant. Aislin slept the entire car ride over, but then screamed during almost the entirety of the flights. She wouldn't nurse, and had a diaper explosion right away. The trouble was, both flights were go-up, go-down; the seatbelt light didn't seem to ever go out. Our layover was so short they had a cart waiting to dash us across the airport to customs, which turned out to only be about 2/3 of the way to the gate. And then it turned out the very kind lady in the Edmonton Airport didn't include a boarding pass for Aislin, so they almost sent us back to get one. If we had been in the States I bet they would have, but since they were wonderfully kind Canadians they got it for us. We made our flight just barely. They had waited for us. By the time we drove in to our apartment parking lot (at 12:30 in the morning), we were exhausted and sighed for relief. It was a great trip, but we were glad to be home.
Because...
We found a new apartment! Remember, they raised our rent here? Like, out of our budget? Well, we found a new apartment that is much bigger than our current one, and is less per-month than even before they raised it here! AND they'll allow a piano. The only downside is no dishwasher, but with so many advantages it's easy to overlook that. I should be getting the key today. So exciting.
Also, don't tell Kate, but Mom and Dad have agreed to bravely watch Aislin tonight so I can take her out to dinner for our anniversary. I should go, actually, because I need to get flowers and a card.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Pleasantness
Yesterday, Aislin was such a wonderful baby. She was very pleasant and only cried a few times. When she did cry, she had very discernible concerns that I was able to meet. She took some naps, but even when she was awake, she just cooed when I couldn't play with her. It was a very nice day, considering she's teething.
Lately, she's been more difficult. She now has a tooth on her lower jaw, so that's super exciting. That excitement is countered by her mood. She's been very difficult. That seems to have passed for the moment, though.
Last night, she slept very well. The night before that, she slept even better. The night before that, she didn't sleep at all. It's a much better situation now.
We've been trying to prepare for our trip to Canada this Saturday to visit Kate's grandparents. This is our first time traveling with our baby; all of our previous journeys with babies have been both generally unpleasant and concerning babies that aren't ours. They were either crying or kicking our seat. Aislin won't be like that though. Not if she keeps up this pleasantness.
Yesterday, she was so pleasant I even got some transcribing done. Peggy sent me a file on an e-mail, and I downloaded it to my computer desktop and started working on it. I was about 40 pages in when I decided to move the file into the proper folder. When I opened the file again to make sure it moved okay, it was blank. I freaked out. After a few phone calls and about an hour of panic, I finally found a back up file that had most of my work on it. So I think we're good now, but it was scary. And frustrating. I'd never had anything like this happen.
Lately Kate and I have found the joy that is Modern Family. Yeah, it's been around for a year now, but we just found it. It's funny stuff. Didn't know.
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