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From psychologist Robert Brannon [with commentary from me]:
1. “NO SISSY STUFF!” — One may never do anything that even remotely suggests femininity. Masculinity is the RELENTLESS repudiation of the feminine. [Right! I'll have another Shirley Temple, please!]
2. “BE A BIG WHEEL” — Masculinity is measured by power, success, wealth and status. [Say, someone got an extra baby wipe?]
3. “BE A STURDY OAK” — Masculinity depends on remaining calm and reliable in a crisis, holding emotions in check. In fact, proving you’re a man depends upon never showing your emotions at all (except anger). [And an extra tissue? I always cry at the end of "Beaches".]
4. “GIVE ‘EM HELL” — Exude a aura of manly daring and aggression. Go for it. Take risks. [I'd prefer not to try scotch, thanks. I'll just have another Shirley Temple. And a tissue.]
I figure it’s time I reflect, a little, on the two years I’ve been a stay at home dad.
It’s been a wonderful experience, and I’m grateful that we are in a position where we can make it work. We don’t get to travel as much, or practice American consumerism as much as we would if we were both working, but we haven’t really missed it all that much. OK. A little. But it’s been worth those small sacrifices.
Emma continues to be the quiet, observant little girl we’ve seen from early on. Bouts of pensive observance are interrupted by joyous running and laughing. She is sugar and spice and everything nice. Though, as my friend Todd’s sister told him, “Remember this, because this is what will get you through them being teenagers.” That’s pretty funny, and, it seems to me, darn good advice.
She’s been going to pre-school since last fall, and we can tell it’s really helped her. During our Christmas visit with Margaret’s family, she didn’t cry when her cousin Andrew made noise - only when he really got in her face - and even that she tolerated pretty well. Although she still isn’t interacting with other kids so much. That’s pretty obvious at the stay-at-home dad playgroups we attend about once a week; Emma tends to hang out with me, rather than playing with the other kids, or on the playscapes.
For everything that is going so well, I still have little doubts. I wonder what little neuroses I’m training her for, without even realizing it. Are there things I’m doing that cause her to be reticent at the play dates? I suspect not, as the more intense interaction she gets at pre-school hasn’t really changed her behavior significantly. But still, one wonders.
Around home, she continues to delight and surprise us. The other day, she got upset when a refrigerator magnet wouldn’t stay on the refrigerator. I turned it over and pointed out that it wouldn’t stick because the magnet was missing. She took it over to the coffee table, where the actual magnet was, and tried to put it back in. I helped her a bit with that, and then she happily placed it on the ‘fridge. I was surprised that I didn’t have to make the connection for her (indeed, I didn’t necessarily remember the magnet was on the coffee table.) And, just yesterday, I mentioned that a dirty towel need to go into the laundry. So she took the towel from the bathroom into the laundry room, and dropped it into the laundry basket. I didn’t realize she was making those connections already, but she is, and it’s pretty cool to see!
I suppose that’s about enough. I’ve sort of made a New Year’s resolution that I would post a photo a week here, and I’d write a little something every week. We’ll see how that goes.
(NEW YORK) — JOHN LENNON WAS SHOT DEAD. THAT’S THE REPORT FROM NEW YORK POLICE ON THE FORMER BEATLE. IT HAPPENED OUTSIDE THE DAKOTA, THE LUXURY APARTMENT HOUSE WHERE HE AND HIS WIFE, YOKO ONO, LIVED. LENNON HAD JUST HAD HIS 40TH BIRTHDAY, IN OCTOBER.
AP-NA-1208 2346EST
BULLETIN (AP)
(NEW YORK) — OFFICERS AT THE 20TH POLICE PRECINCT IN NEW YORK CONFIRM THAT IT WAS FORMER BEATLE JOHN LENNON WHO WAS SHOT AND WOUNDD TONIGHT. AND A POLICE OFFICER DESCRIBED LENNON’S CONDITION AS SERIOUS. HE WAS TAKEN TO ROOSEVELT HOSPITAL.
IT HAPPENED ON THE CITY’S UPPER WEST SIDE, OUTSIDE THE DAKOTA. THAT’S THE LUXURY APARMENT HOUSE WHERE LENNON AND HIS WIFE, YOKO ONO, LIVE.
POLICE DESCRIBE THE SUSPECT THEY HAVE IN CUSTODY AS ”A LOCAL SCREWBALL.” AND THEY SAY THERE WAS NO APPARENT MOTIVE FOR THE SHOOTING.
AGAIN, LENNON’S CONDITION, ACCORDING TO A POLICE SPOKESMAN AT THE 20TH PRECENIT, IS SERIOUS.
AP-NA-1208 2337EST
BULLETIN (AP)
(NEW YORK) — THERE’S A REPORT THAT JOHN LENNON HAS BEEN SHOT. IT HAPPENED IN NEW YORK, ON THE UPPER WWEST SIDE.
POLICE SAY A MAN TENTATIVELY IDENTIFIED AS THE FORMER BEATLE WAS SHOT AND WOUNDED AND HAS BEEN TAKEN IN A POLICE CAR OT ROOSEVELT HOSTPITAL.
A SUSPECT HAS BEEN TAKEN IN TO CUSTODY.
NO WORD ON HOW SERIOUS IT IS.
AP-NA-1208 2324EST
Stay at home dads are a weird bunch of people. There are two types. Some Dads have earned the privilege and can afford to stay at home and others live off their wife’s income. I earned the privilege in my thirties and now I am 44. My daughter is two. After responding in a Christian way to that personal attack. I read and responded to other e-mails.
Updated: This guy is a stay at home dad, and, well, just visit the link to his blog, and read his profile. You’ll see.
I have a difficult time understanding how I don’t deserve to be a stay at home dad because I ain’t rich. We get by. I suppose I should be working, and our daughter should be raised for 8 hours a day by someone else.
How’s that for family values? He is one of that group of people who do blather on so about family values, right? We put family values in practice, and this guy thinks I haven’t earned the privelege to stay home with my daughter. I have a word for someone like that, but I won’t use them on this blog.
Another Update: Drag. Gerald Grantham has deleted his blog, and it’s been taken over by a blog spammer. Or whatever you call someone who finds recently deleted blogs and uses their names to drive traffic to objectionable sites.
The guy didn’t even let archive.org crawl it. He must be getting ready to run for Congress, or something.
Horse seems to be back in the rotation.
New words: Heavy. Wagon. Train. Quail (Yesterday, actually). Panda.
And “beard.”
Bite.
Dirty,
No-no.
And: Flower. Balloon. Pepper.
Speech therapist says to work on two word phrases, especially those with verbs. Emma see. Emma sit. Emma jump. Emma mow and trim the yard. Emma pick up all the rocks in the yard.
OK. Maybe not those last two.
Words for Tuesday:
Pear.
Also: Polar Bear. Seal. Kangaroo.
Additionally: Hold.
And: Tiger. Bottle.
Words for Monday:
Man, woman, boy, girl, eye.
OK. Just one:
“Cow.”
Moon. Earth. Geese.
Piano. Georgia. Sophie. Handlebars.
This evening: “OK.”
Not sure if she’s said this before, or I’ve listed it: “Hair,” and “hen”
“Pop” is new today, as is “bottom.”
Megan reports the following new words: Megan. Bagel.
She also tried, this morning, “mushroom.”
Goat, goose and toast.
Turkey has made a return.
New, today: Names of people. J.T., Emily and Cassie.
Also, Betty and Phil.
Just one - Snail.
She’s also saying “Hand.” Not sure I mentioned that.
Recipe Name: SUGAR CURED HAM
Course: Main Course
Serves: 20
Ingredients:
1 Pint Course Salt
3 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoon Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon Red Pepper
1 Fresh Pork Ham
Directions: Mix ingredients well. Roll hams and shoulders thoroughly in this mixture by rubbing on with hands and carefully putting some inside around the bone ends. Pack in real good. Do this on a newspaper and wrap paper lightly with rest of mixture on it. Place paper wrapped ham in the center of a large white muslin cloth wrap and twist tightly and tie ends together. Sew the loose ends of the cloth if necessary. Hang ham with bone end down in a cool place (unheated building) for three or four weeks or till meat stops dripping
Notes: The ham should be from a hog of about 200 pounds.
Recipe Name: Noodles (passed down from Bessie McAninch)
Course: Main
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
1 Egg
1 Egg shell half Milk
1 pinch Salt
flour
1 pint broth
Directions: Beat egg, milk and salt. Add by Spoonful: Flour Add & Mix until dough is almost too dry to stick together. Dust board & Roll thin - Roll into a roll & cut diagonally - dust and drop into boiling broth. Stir occasionally.
Recipe Name: Dumplings for 2 (passed down from Emma Jean Payne)
Course: Main
Serves: 0
Ingredients:
1 Cup Flour
1 pinch salt
1 pint broth
Directions: Add water 2-3 Tblsp at a time until dough can be hadnled. Will be just a bit tacky. Roll. Dust with flour and cut into strips 1 1/2 ” (approxametely) wide. Drop into boiling broth - pieces 2-2 1/2 inches long stretching as you drop them. Stir occasionally. Cook 5-10 minutes or until a sample says done.
Notes: From Emma Jean Payne.
Recipe Name: DILLED GREEN TOMATOES
Course: Appetizer
Serves: 60
Ingredients:
5 Pounds Small, Firm, Green Tomato’s
3 1/2 Cups Distilled vinegar
3 1/2 Cups Water
1/4 Cup Canning Salt
6 or 7 Cloves Garlic
6 or 7 Heads Fresh Dill (Or Dill Seed)
6 or 7 Leaves Bay
Directions: Wash and cut out stem area of tomatoes, cut into halves or quarters. Combine vinegar, water and salt, bring to a boil. Pack tomatoes into hot pint jars, leaving ¼ - inch head space. Add 1 Garlic clove, 1 head of dill or 2 tablespoons of dill seed, and 1 bay leaf to each jar. Pour hot liquid over tomatoes leaving ¼ inch head space. Adjust caps. Process 15 minutes in boiling water bath. Yield: about 6 to 7 pints
Notes: Makes a nice tangy relish to go with pork or beef entree’s.
Recipe Name: BUTTERMILK PIE
Course: Desert
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
1 Unbaked pie shell
1/2 cup Sugar
3 Tablespoon Flour
3 Eggs (Beaten)
2 Tablespoon Butter (Melted)
1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If using a refrigerated piecrust, fit into a pie tin, trim and crimp edges and set aside. Combine sugar and flour in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, butter, buttermilk and lemon juice and mix well. Pour into the prepared pie shell. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour, until pie is set. Remove from oven and cool on a rack for 30 minutes. Refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving. Makes 1 pie.
Notes: Buttermilk Pie is great for summer entertaining, as it travels fairly well and needs to be prepared ahead. Bake it early in the day, or even a day before serving, then slice the pie and garnish with fresh berries for a Southern summer sweet. One of Uncle Bill’s favorite’s
Cranberry Salad
Course: Appetizer
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
2 packages Strawberry Jello
3 Cups Water
1 lb Cranberries
2 Oranges
2 Cups Celery
1 Cup Ground Nuts
3 Cups Sugar
Directions: Mix 2 Strawberry Jellos with 3 cups water and let set until thickening. Grind or food process cranberries, celery, nuts. Chop oranges (remove seeds) and grind or food process them as well. When Jello has started thickening, mix in the cranberries, celery, nuts, oranges and 3 cups sugar. (Don’t forget the sugar!) Stir. Let refrigerate for a while. Or overnight. Whichever comes first.
Notes: From Jean Payne / Nancy Lyon / John Lyon / Linda Payne
Margaret reports that she’s saying “bow.”
She’s also saying “Mary,” in reference to the Maiden Mary “Little People” toy we purchased for her yesterday.
Also, she’s saying “more.” “More” is the first word that she’s regularly signed that she now speaks.
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Because they have free hosting. And other bloggy like features not available with PostNuke.
Clock. Pooh. Potty.
Not new, but used more: Ball.
Tree. Wash cloth. Gear.
Words I forgot: Deer.
She tried signing “leaf” today.
Today’s new words:
Not new, but used more: Hippo.
New: Noah. Pea. Hammer. Rotini. Dead-bolt.
Also: Horn. Pen.
Just one. “Tuba.”
Another word I forgot: “key.” Did I mention “E.T.?” Also Cock-a-doodle-do.”
And another new word this afternoon: “people”
And just early this evening, “handle,” and “hole.”
And: “hat.”
Just as we decided to cut back on the speech therapist appointments, Emma’s starting to add words at a fast clip.
In the last week, she’s added: beaver, bunny rabbit, hop-hop-hop, and dwa-dwa-dwa, which is either “wag-wag-wag” or “swat-swat-swat,” phrases she picked up from her “Tails” board book. She also added “uh-oh,” after 6 plus months of us using it. She also picked up E.T. Out of the blue. Without us using it consistently. (Same way she picked up “Nemo” and “Eeyore.”)
This morning, she added “whale” and “animal.”
The Gallery 1 install on this site is gone. Gone. Gone. Gone.
Subsumed into the Gallery 2 install I have hosted elsewhere.
Gallery 2, at this point, does not have an RSS feed, so the RSS block on the right has been removed. The link to the photo albums, on the left, points to the new…wait for it…photo albums.
Enjoy!
I mentioned that we’ve been trying to teach Emma sign langage.
Today I tried adding “banana” and “grapes”.
We’ve been using “fish” (which I’ve combined with “cracker” to symbolize “goldfish crackers”.)
And I also started using “hungry”, too.
The site where I get these signs is ASL Browser at the Michigan State University Communication Technology Laboratory.
Cripes. Since December I haven’t updated the blog portion? ‘S OK. There’s pictures and stuff.
But what’s happened in the last one, two, three, four, four and a half months?
Well, she’s walking all over, all by herself. Getting better at navigating steps. Today she showed me multiple times how good she is at getting up on the couch all by herself.
We’ve been teaching her some signs - or trying to. She knows the sign for “duck,” “bath,” “more,” and two others I can’t remember at the moment. Oh, “milk.”
She says “quack quack,” but not “duck.” She says “bubble,” but only when I try to get her to blow. Or I blow bubbles myself. She has said “clock,” “horse,” and “doggie,” but only once. There’s lots of little babbles and stuff she says, that don’t seem to mean anything. She says “da-da,” but it still seems pretty random. Oh, “ball,” but just once or twice.
She knows who mommy, daddy and Emma are. She knows where her toes, feet, knees, ears, cheeks, chin, mouth, tongue, nose, head and hair are. Today, we discussed the opposable thumb, and fingers. She still doesn’t get eyes all the time.
She knows what lots of stuff is, but can’t say it. We can ask her to bring us any number of her toys, and she will. But she won’t say their names. She even picked up Eeyore and Nemo without any particular effort on our part.
We’ve been taking her to a speech therapist, because our pediatrician was concerned that Emma:
- Didn’t really have any words.
- Wouldn’t bring us things when we asked her to do so.
- Didn’t seem to realize when books she was looking at were upside down.
Everything seems to be fine - hearing, motor skills, awareness of what’s going on. She just isn’t talking. C’est la.
We’re not worried.
Oh - and the other word she signs is “done.”
She loves pushing the power putton on the amp.
“Emma, no. That’s not for you! That’s” [click]…
Sigh.
So here’s something I found to help slow that down.
But it looks like, if we could find some place where we could buy some plastic, we could make our own. Would it be cheaper? Maybe…
“On their death bed, no one ever said, ‘I wish I had spent more time in the office.’”
Or, as another SAHD said to me today, “You’re not going to say ‘I wished I’d have gotten a job so I could put new windows in.’”
Thanks J.R. for the perspective.
So I cancelled the interview.
I just asked my Mom if was willing to shop online, and realized that maybe what some folks might appreciate would be a bit of a guide for online shopping. So. Here are my recommendations. Some might disagree, but this is what works for Margaret and I:
- Use an online shopping comparison site to compare prices and like items. I use froogle.google.com
- If you find an item you want on froogle, or a site like it, opt for a store that you’ve heard of over one you haven’t…even if you have to pay a few dollars more. There probably is a site that ranks online stores, but I don’t know of one. You can also go visit the site. If you are comfortable with how the site looks, you can try it. I have ordered things from sites because I was comfortable with what I saw on their website. I’ve never been burnt by it. But generally, I’ll opt for someplace I’ve heard of.
- When you order an item (say, CDs or Books) you might try to batch your purchases. Many times, you won’t have to pay tax, but often you’ll have to pay shipping. Might as well have them ship you as much stuff as possible. It’s cheaper that way - rather than ordering single items from several different stores.
- Speaking of shipping…check the shipping costs. Shipping can vary from store to store, and sometimes it’s just outrageous. If I can’t easily figure out the shipping cost, I’ll go shop somewhere else. I don’t have time to try to figure out their stupid website.
- We usually pick the cheapest shipping. Just shop early enough that you can afford to get your stuff in a week or so.
- Ebay is a good place to shop. But…check the rating of the seller. If they are a new seller, they might not have a very good rating yet. It will take some time to learn the ropes, but you can find some nice stuff on Ebay.
- A word of caution - I bought my first Mac laptop from a fellow on Ebay. He had a good rating, and was friendly to deal with, and was accomodating when the laptop didn’t ship when it was supposed to. Several months later, I saw that a number of people had problems with the seller, and Ebay had suspended his account. I think this is rare among sellers with high volume and good ratings. With this seller, he was selling items he didn’t actually have in stock.
- And, most importantly - don’t use a check card to make your purchases. Use a credit card. Generally, your bank won’t do anything for you if you run into problems having used your check card, but a credit card company will work with you.
I hope this is somewhat helpful. Anything you think should be added? Create an account, log in, and leave some comments!
Just, you know, happy birthday. And stuff.
Movies:
Lord of the Rings DVD Box SetStar Wars DVD Box Set
Music:
Todd Snider - East Nashville SkylineiTunes Gift Card - available at Target.
Computer Stuff:Griffin iMic
Books:Tony Hillerman - Skeleton Man
Tools:
A reasonably priced set of Vice Grips
You know, the music from the elephant pull toy doesn’t really mesh with Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony. And particularly not the “Allegro con brio” movement.
Were I to neglect wishing my beautiful little daughter a happiest of happy birthdays.
And, I suspect, this will be, in fact, her happiest birthday ever.
I hope it’s not all downhill from here…
I just added a block on the left that shows what music Emma and I have been listening to.
Yay! I don’t have to go back to using a PeeCee, WinAmp and BlogAmp for that functionality.
Check out http://www.kung-foo.tv/itti.php if you’re interested…but note it’s a Mac OS X app.
Stuff she’s currently doing:
Self feeding Cheerios, green beans, turkey, lima beans (has she no sense?), corn, peas, bread…
She tries to self feed slippery foods like bananas and squash. She’s figuring out ways to do that though.
We’ve given her pasta, steak, chicken…
She’s crawling around, pulling herself up on everything, trying to climb on everything, and standing unassisted for a few seconds, until she figures out what she’s doing.
She’s even taken an accidental step a couple of times.
She’s starting to chatter more, with the patterns of conversation. Lots of dadadadadada. Yesterday I heard adadadamamamamama.
Of course, she’s as cute as ever, and is up from her nap, so I gotta go.
Her latest thing is to crawl over us while we’re laying on the floor. We call it “four wheeling.”
She gets the biggest kick out of it, and I love watching her enjoy it so much.
Emma types:
a +Aazz+AA mmmmmm/ SZ..X
tfg yuvbbg jbkk,m , ,,J,.MJ.,JJMMMM,..Å QQ2I z
Today at lunch she said, with some emphasis, “bah-aow.”
So was she done with the vegetables and suggesting she might want her bottle?
I report. You decide.
She started crawling for real today.
It makes it much easier for her to chase down the kitties, who aren’t quite used to her new found mobility.
OK. Ellington isn’t used to her new found mobility. TC is more prone to sleeping on the back of the couch, safely out of reach.
And she LOVES chasing down the kitties.
In addition to discovering that she can:
A) Shift her viewpoint to see Eeyore when he’s hiding
2) Pull what Eeyore is hiding behind out of the way to see him
She’s getting quantifiably better at the army crawl, and was very close to a full crawl this afternoon.
When do I get the leash? KIDDING! I kid. I’m just kidding.
She did something new today - not earthshaking, but new.
I was playing hide and seek with a little worm rattle, hiding him behind one of her toys. She got smart, and started moving the toy out of the way to find the rattle. OK, so I was rattling it, but still.
Still no crawling proper, but she’s doing a pretty good army crawl.
Teething is not too bad. She’s not been too terribly cranky, much to my relief.
Emma writes:
y6hyijmujmfv sb ,l b v vyhcdAQ
Speaking of Emma. She’s officially teething, and is a little cranky about it.
She’s also doing a pretty good job of sitting up by herself. She still doesn’t like it when she falls backwards, though, unless it’s on mommy and daddy’s bed.
And she’s getting ever so closer to crawling. She’s just got to figure out how to move both legs, and hands in the proper succession.
She’s already started reaching up and pulling things off the coffee table. She got the camera the other day.
I can see she’s trying to put one knee in front of the other, and soon, she’ll be crawling across the floor. (Extra points to whomever can get the reference.)
She’s figured out she can pull down the bumpers we have up to see over them. It won’t be long till she is four wheeling right over them.
How long till she tries to do a header out of her crib?
Yikes! Time to lower the mattress.
We just got back from flying with her for the first time. And boy, are my arms tired. Bah-dumb-dumb.
At 8 monhts, she did well on the plane. We made sure to have bottle and/or juice and pacifier at the ready. She cried as we started descents both legs heading up, but did great coming back. Working my DaddyFu, I was able to shush her to sleep both times, so she slept through the landing. Including the DaddyFu in the airport during lay over, I think I’m still behind on manna points.
Her favorite part of flying was circling through the bumpy weather at Dallas/Ft. Worth yesterday. We hit a particularly bumpy spot. Mommy and Daddy didn’t enjoy it, but she had a great big grin on her face. Uppsie Doodle at 20K feet! Wheeeee!
We took a car seat with us, as we’d purchased a seat for her. I highly recommend that, rather than keeping them on your lap. It can be difficult if they start squirming around, the plane can’t land, it’s a bumpy ride and you can’t get up and you have a full bladder. Tickets are only half price.
I also recommend packing everything you need, then leaving behind half of your stuff. It’ll make carrying the kid’s stuff through the air port a lot easier. You won’t get a chance to listen to the iPod anyway. And you’re on vacation! Why do you need that laptop?
Oh. And Airplanes, against all expectations, don’t have anchors for car seats. Would that make things easier? Yeeeeeeeeeesssssssss. Dolts.
No more “upgrades” or enhancements. I’ve learned my lesson.
Oh, OK. Maybe one or two, here and there.
Sun, Jun 27th Update:
Family Tree back online, and fully functional. Took three rolls of duct tape, but it’s done. Last thing to do is to reinstall the bulletin board/discussion module.
Sat June 26th Update:
Finally. Photogallery reinstalled. Still some cleanup to do there, but at least the pictures for photoblogging are back online.
Family Tree and Weather modules need to be reinstalled. Also need to figure out the recipe module.
Fri June 25th Update:
OK. I have to reinstall the photogallery, weather, and family tree modules. Oh. And find the pictures, too.
*sigh*
All this work, only to put things back the way they were.
I suppose I should set up a “test” site, huh, before I start futzing around with life code.
I tried installing a module that busted the website. Then I tried upgrading. And that busted the website some more.
So here it is - back online.
Mostly. You’ll notice some of the modules are missing, and I’ll be replacing those as I can.
I apologize for the inconvenience.
There’s an interesting site which talks about each of these movies: spiritofbaraka.com
- Chronos
- Samsara
- Microcosmos
- Winged Migration
- Timescape
To take the place of the one that was stolen:
But here’s the one I was really looking for:
An incised slab in the churchyard at Kinkell, Aberdeenshire is believed to be the monument of Robert de Greenlaw, who died in 1411. On the slab, at the figure’s right hip, hangs a sword of very distinctive shape, with a wheel pommel and dramatically down-turned quillons. This replica, made by Del Tin Antiche, Italy, is very similar to that sword, and others found from that period. The same distinctive “claymore” downturned-quillons would later become a hallmark of the famous two-handed swords of the Scots Highlanders. This sword features a steel crossguard and pommel, a wooden grip wrapped in leather, and a fullered steel blade of chrome vanadium steel.
She spends more time on her tummy than on her back now, and is working mightily to get both her front and back up at the same time. She manages to get them both up and ready to go…just not at the same time.
She’s also getting pretty adept at scooting and turning around on her tummy, as witnessed in yesterday’s shots when she turned 180 degrees in bed.
Found a copy of the Lyon/McClain family gedcom I’d posted online several years ago, and it has been imported into the family tree.
There’s some still some cleanup to do, and I’ll need to add info that was removed when I posted the file online, but the info is at least in the tree now.
Yay!
I’m still figuring out the importing procedures.
I imported some family information from my wife’s side of the family, and they didn’t quite synch up.
So I combined the files on my laptop, using Reunion genealogy software for the Macintosh, and am reimporting the files into the website.
I also plan on installing some bulletin board software so I can host discussions about DaddyFu, Genealogy, or any other topics addressed on this site.
You heard…er…read it here first. I think Emma is going to be a lefty, just like her mom.
Also, she’s getting more vocal as time goes on. Right now, she is still in “vowel movement” mode,with a few consonants thrown in, and occasionally, her vocal stylings have the cadence of speech. I keep trying to get her to say “mommy” or “daddy” or “I’m Emma Lyon and I’m running for President of the United States and I’d like your vote.”
OK. Maybe not the last part. Not yet.
I am working on adding a genealogy module to the website.
I tried last night, and busted things for a while, till I figured out what was breaking things.
Wish me luck, eh?
The module is installed, and there’s data there, but…
I’m trying once more to import the family tree data. Previous imports have left spouses disconnected. One more time before I hit the website for tech support.
By the end of month seven a baby typically:
- Can self-feed some finger foods
- Makes wet razzing sounds
- Turns in the direction of a voice
- Plays peekaboo
- Imitates many sounds
- Distinguishes emotions by tone of voice
By the end of month eight a baby typically:
- Chews on objects
- Reaches for utensils when being fed
- Turns head away when finished eating
- May sleep between 11 and 13 hours a night; takes 2 to 3 naps (may vary)
- Rolls all the way around
- Sits unsupported
- Gets on arms and knees in crawling position
- Has specific cries for various needs
- Babbles enthusiastically
- Tests gravity by dropping objects over edge of high chair
- Responds to own name
- Has different reactions for different family members
- Shows some anxiety when removed from parent
At the beginning of month seven she is:
Turning in the direction of a voice, is trying to imitate sounds, reaches for utensils (beginning to do so), chews on objects, is rolling from back to tummy and started yesterday rolling more from tummy to back, is close to getting on arms and knees, babbles enthusiastically, and can perform complex proofs of obscure mathematical concepts in her head.
Old King Cole
Was a merry old soul,
And a Merry old soul was he…
He called for his pipe
And he called for his bowl
And then Castle Security showed up because there’s no smoking in a public space…
This has a good beat.
Eldorado
by Edgar Allan Poe
1849Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.But he grew old-
This knight so bold-
And o’er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow-
“Shadow,” said he,
“Where can it be-
This land of Eldorado?”“Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,”
The shade replied-
“If you seek for Eldorado!”
She’s now officially grabbing anything within her reach. Glasses. Hair (even chest hair.) Toys.
Which, of course, explains the stack of items under her chin during tummy time. Apparently, she wants it all…which bodes ill, perhaps, as I’d like to not raise a habitual consumer.
Mommy finally got to see Emma roll over. Again, she seemed to have done it by accident, rather than by design.
She’s turning herself 90 degrees in bed at night.
And, she’s starting on number two foods this afternoon. Corn and Sweet Potatoes.
I hate to do that to her, but at least it’s not peas, which she will have a bite or two of, kinda gag, swallow, then open wide for another bite.
She’s a trooper, I guess.
Well. She’s now eating applesauce (since yesterday) and carrots (today.)
I’m not sure she’s made her mind up about applesauce, but she seems to like the carrots OK.
*sniff*
Our little girl is growing up!
No word on what she thinks of Bobby Knight.- May sleep about six hours at night before waking (total sleep typically 14 to 17 hours)
- Rolls over (usually stomach to back is first)
- Sits with support
- Lifts head up 90 degrees
- Can follow a moving object for a 180-degree arc
- Babbles and amuses self with new noises
- Responds to all colors and shades
- Explores objects with his mouth
- Recognizes a bottle or breast
- Communicates pain, fear, loneliness and discomfort through crying
- Responds to a rattle or bell
She was looking at, I’m guessing, the hinges on our french doors…sorry. “Freedom Doors,” leading into the dining room.
I’ve been trying to imagine what it’s like as she figures stuff out. And it occurred to me, as I was talking with her, that she has no context. For anything.
She knows bottles, mom, dad, diaper change, bath…she’s learning the context for that kind of stuff.
But everything else on the planet? Not a clue.
And it’s not like it was back in the dawn of history. There were no hinges. Murals. Pooh. TV. Internet. LCD displays. Cars. Bottles. Rice cereal. Hip hop. March Madness. Nerf. Carpet. And on and on and on.
It shows what amazing creatures we humans are. And what little sponges our little…sponges are.
She did manage to turn herself over 180 degrees during tummy time. And with relatively little fussing, to boot.
A lot. Kinda cool, actually.
And the wife says she’s getting really close to rolling over.
I’m not seeing that quite yet, as she’s still not fond of tummy time.
Also, did we mention she’s sleeping ten to twelve hours a night, with a couple of naps during the day?
…That she can grab things. I think it’s still mostly accidental, but I catch her holding on to some of her little Fisher Price Gym toy dangly things more recently.
We’re also starting to feed her cereal. She’s not figured out the swallowing thing yet. Either that, or it’s so much more fun to spit it out.
And she still doesn’t like tummy time. I mean, like, really, really doesn’t like it. Oh, sometimes it’s OK, but right now, for instance, she’s hating it.
I’m pretty fond of this little human. I don’t know what happened, but there it is.
“Kids are serious. I mean, you lose a lot, but you gain a kid.” - A friend of Rufus
“Truer words were never spoken” - Rufus
“I didn’t realize babies come with hats. You guys crack me up. You don’t have jobs. You can’t walk or speak the language. You don’t have a dollar in your pockets but you got yourselves a hat so everything’s fine. I don’t want to alarm you or anything, but I’m Dad. And for you, son — for you — this will be the last time I pass the buck, but I think it should be clear from the get-go that it was Mom who named you Huckleberry. I guess she was feeling like life doesn’t present enough challenges to overcome on its own. And, honey, you’ve got a name now, too,” he says turning to his daughter.
“Your mom and I named you after an incredibly brave… woman; really not all that much older than you. Your name is Molly. Huck and Molly. So, what do I do? Well, you’re going to need food and clothes and doctors and dentists and there’s that. And should you have any questions along the way…”
My wife is taking care of the pictures website, posting photos and stats.
My favorite picture:
http://jelyon.com/blog_images/pose8.jpg
Hope you enjoy our new direction…on the keyboard: John Lyon, he wrote this…..
As the description notes - I’ll be posting about the joys and challenges of stay at home dadding.
So here’s the deal:
Our daughter, Emma Therese, was born November 5th.
The second week of December, I was given the news that my position would no longer be required at Steck-Vaughn, or Harcourt Supplemental Publishers, or Harcourt Achieve! Whatever they are calling themselves this week.
My wife was on maternity leave until the New Year - when she went back to work at Dell, on second shift. That allowed me to have my days free, if I needed them, and be around in the evenings while she was at work.
So I’ve been doing that since the first week of January, and it’s been great. The last few weeks have been particularly rewarding. More on that…later.
Emma, Eeyore and Mom
http://jelyon.net/images/emma_eeyore_&_Mommy.jpg
http://jelyon.net/images/newest_prine_fan.jpg
Burrita
http://jelyon.net/images/burrita.jpg
Eeyore and Emma
http://jelyon.net/images/eeyore.jpg
Note: Pictures to be posted in the gallery
http://jelyon.net/images/mommy_and_emma.jpg
