A Way To Catch Those Special Moments?

This looks interesting. It's a bluetooth earpiece with a built-in always-on video camera. It buffers the last few hours of video, and has a button to save the last 30 seconds as a clip. There's editing software to pull clips from the larger buffer. Apparently you can do it from certain smart phones as well, and post to various places.

It looks like just the sort of thing to capture those unexpected special moments. Just this morning my son was leaning back against the seat of the recliner while drinking from his sippy cup. He slipped (as he often does when leaning on furniture like that) and fell flat on his side, cup still in his mouth. It was cute and I recalled seeing this device. Maybe once the price comes down and the technology matures a little I'll get one.

Looxcie Wearable Bluetooth Camcorder System with White Camera Boom, Power Supply, Micro USB Cable, Ear Buds (Black)

What Say The Post-Vroomers?

Driving home from dinner out today, wife & kid in the car, I got to thinking about kids and toy cars.

Back in the day it was, as I imagine it still is, inevitable that a kid playing with a toy car would make "vroom! vroom!" noises, or something to that effect, while pushing it around through maneuvers that would make any Hollywood stunt driver cringe. I'm pretty sure my kid will do the same.

But what about the kids of the next generation, or, more accurately, the kids of the first generation to know only electric cars or whatever ultimately replaces cars powered by internal combustion? Will "vroom! vroom!" continue to be passed on from generation to generation like the many nursery rhymes that still get recited after outlasting all cultural context? Or like the "tick-tock" of clocks of yesteryear? Or will the youths of that future generation coin their own onomatopoeia?

I'm The Cat In The Hat, Baby

My son, who is now 15 months old, insists I wear my hat all the time, even at home.

I know I shouldn't take offense at that, and I'm really not sensitive about my baldness at all, but part of me wonders about what he's thinking.

I guess he probably just associates it with going-out fun-times dad. Or maybe he just thinks it's amusing that I have this thing on my head.

Anyway, I need a haircut and plan to do it tonight, so we'll see if that's it.

Trading Places Fisher Price Style

For his first birthday our son received a Fisher-Price Little People Build 'n Fun Jungle.

It's a bucket of building blocks with a couple Little People animals: a monkey and a zebra. The blocks include a couple pieces representing a stand of jungle vegetation and some tall grass, with a lion and tiger decal respectively. The lid serves as a base for the building blocks.

He enjoys it a lot, particularly the bucket which is rectangular and mostly transparent. He likes to put it on his head. It's okay, though; the bucket is irregularly shaped on the ends and has holes in the bottom so there's always a way for air to get in and out. And he never keeps it on for very long. The blocks seem to be easier for him to catch on to than the mega-blox he also got. I think the big shallow pegs and simple shapes help. He is starting to catch on to the mega-blox too now and I think the Fisher Price blocks contributed to that skill building.

They are not without flaws, however, as an astute reader may have already noted. The name of the toy implies a jungle theme, but two of the animals - the zebra and lion - are not jungle animals. And, as seen here, the lion and tiger have traded habitats.

It's Not A Swing - It's A Centrifuge!

Our now three-week-old baby has had two blow-outs over the weekend. Both were in his swing. It's the one from the Fisher Price Precious Planet collection. It looks harmless, but evidently the action of the swinging gives a little extra impetus to the poops. At least it does for our kid.

Waaaaaah!

That's my boy!

Got the word - today's the day!

Got the word - today's the day! He's scheduled to be delivered at 1:30 this afternoon. More later if I'm coherent. :)

A Belated Dad Update

We went to visit my brother and his family in Tennessee the weekend before Halloween. We usually visit earlier for our nephew's birthday party, but since My father couldn't make the trip we decided to wait until my parents' next visit. They're there this week. My father is looking better than we had anticipated, and is getting around pretty well. He used to look a bit like Justin Wilson, but he's leaning a bit more towards Larry King now.

Anyway, we all went to the zoo for a Halloween event they have for the kids. Basically they decorate the zoo and have a path you walk along and get a bit of candy and cheap toys at several stations along the way. My dad had to sit down a couple times along they way, but he got through pretty well. (He was a bit tired the next day.) It was fun, though a lot of the animals were tucked away for the event, lest the costumed crowds upset them. I got a few pictures and will be posting some to Flickr soon, possibly tonight.

So what did you do for Halloween?

One For The Kids

Here's a silly little design I doodled tonight just for the kids. Well, playful adults can get it too. Who wouldn't want a ride in a rocket-powered monkey-driven car? Well, a shirt with one on it is the next best thing. This is already one of my favorites. :)

400th Design On Cafepress - and Another Gratifying Sale

My 400th design - Will Work For The Weekend just came online yesterday in the Cafepress Marketplace. The inspiration for it should be fairly obvious.

I also got my first sale of Untimely Ripp'd, on a toddler shirt. I knew someone out there would get it.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Last Weekend - Finally

I just realized I said I'd blog about what we did last weekend, but never did. I'm a bit restless in anticipation of tomorrow (see previous entry) so I guess I'll work a bit of that off by writing this entry.

It started off with an invitation to a birthday party for a cousin of my wife's who she hasn't seen for years. Turns out it was sent at the instigation of another cousin we saw at my wife's grandmother's recent funeral. It was to be in relatively unfamiliar territory for us, a couple hours' drive away in Williamsburg, and with mostly strangers attending, so at the last minute, in the hotel suite we shared with my in-laws, we decided to blow it off.

Instead of going to the party, we drove down the street to a K-Mart and bought swim suits, then hit the indoor pool at the hotel. It was nice, about 80 degrees, but a bit salty. I think maybe it was desalinated sea water, but maybe it was some weird chemical they were using. Who knows? We had fun, swimming back and forth (for the first time in a couple years) and playing around. Afterward we went out to eat, ending up at Chili's. On the way out there was a fife & drum playing next door.

Apparently, Jamestown was having its 400th anniversary, and Bush was there exploring his future career options. There were lots of people in town, taking shuttle buses to Jamestown for the celebrations.

While driving around deciding where to eat, we spotted some horses in a field surrounded by a split rail fence. We parked and walked across the street, hoping to put them a bit, but the wandered off to graze. One apparently had an itchy belly. He tried to scratch with his foot but couldn't reach, so he lowered himself to the ground and wriggled around. It was weird.

The next day we were trying to figure out what to do with our Sunday. We hadn't really found anything compelling in the brochures in the lobby. My sisters in law and their kids planned to go to Busch Gardens. My in-laws mentioned that they have a deal for residents where we can get a season pass for the price of a one-day ticket, so we figured what the heck, there's nothing to lose. We went and had fun.

We pretty much followed the same path through the park we followed last July, entering through the England area, then heading over to Italy. My wife insisted on riding the Escape From Pompei ride, getting herself splashed while I took her picture from a covered observation area. Then she rode some other rides. I didn't ride much since my back was twinging me a bit and I wanted to wait until it warmed up some. Did I mention it was sixty degrees when we arrived?

We rode the teacups, or Turkish Delight as it's called there, and hopped the train to the Canada area (or New France as they call it.) We could smell the smoked meat as we got off. Then we could smell the smoke from the designated smoking area and all the designated smokers who were there. We had arrived at the park around 11 AM, so we headed over to the German area and the Octoberfest food pavilion. We got in the cafeteria-style line and got fries, cake, drinks, and some institutional-grade pizzas. Yum! The carrot cake was pretty good. Lots of raisins, though I think it would have been better with a few less. There were German-style dancers and a band there entertaining the crowd and getting everyone to yell out "oi! oi! oi!" Her family showed up there and we talked and ate as families do, and the five-year-old refused to eat as five-year-olds do.

We headed out and took a spin on the bumper cars. I bumped my wife pretty good a few times, and she gave as good as she got. It was fun. The back of my head was hurting from smiling the whole time. After that we rode the Katapult (or Scrambler as the painted-over plate on the center structure read.) Man, that thing really whips you around. It felt like we were about to be flung across the park every time we went around. It was great. If it wasn't such a line I would have liked to go on it again. The bumper cars too.

After that we had about an hour or so before the time we wanted to head out so we'd get home right around sunset. We thought about taking a round trip on the skycars, but we asked and found out we would have to get out and get back in line at each of the other two stations. We skipped that, vowing to ride them next time, and headed toward the park entrance. When we got there it was near time for the Pirates 4-D show to begin, so we headed in.

The seats were wet, so we knew we were in for a little splashing. We picked a pair of dry seats and waited. I marveled at with the 3-D glasses on my hand looked like it was coming right at me. My wife didn't find it quite so marvelous, so I stopped. The show started. It starred Leslie Nielson and Eric Idle (who wrote it) and was obviously made with the kids in mind. The 3-D was decent, and the additional effects - spraying water, blowing air, buzzing seats, added a lot of fun to it. It was actually enjoyable having Leslie Nielson spit water on us.

After the show it was time to go, and we headed out right on schedule. There was a bit of traffic on the way home, but ultimately it only took a half hour extra.

I'm not sure when we're going to go again, but I am looking forward to it. My wife is going to be really stressed in the coming month, and more if we have to try the IVF more than once, so a little fun escape at the right time will be just the ticket.

The picture above is the Griffin, Busch Garden's latest roller coaster, as seen from the train. It was open for a one-day sneak preview opening on Mother's Day. Top center you can see the sigle car, three rows of ten seats each, I believe, poised at the top of the big drop 250 feet up. We watched it a few times from various vantage points. The car stops, hanging over the edge for a few seconds, building the suspense for the riders. The it drops plunging straight down for a portion of the drop, as you can see by the track. We did not go on that ride, though I believe one of my sisters in law did. She's a friggin nut.

The Ball Is Rolling

Other than the consult with the doctor and the IVF consultant Tuesday, we took our first official step in the IVF process Wednesday: Getting blood drawn for a panel of pre-procedure tests. They're testing us both for a number of diseases, including HIV and hepatitis, and running a genetic screen on me. We discussed it, and we figure that if something wrong is found in my genes that is likely causing my poor sperm production, but that's all it would possibly do to any son of ours, we'd still go ahead without sex selection since we know the technology for him to get around the problem already exists (or else he wouldn't) and can only get better in the next twenty years. (BTW - going by the most likely date we'd schedule the IVF, it looks like the due date would be two days before my birthday. One of our nephews' birthday is the day before mine, so that would be quite a week! If the baby were born a couple days late - I think I was born like ten days late - that would be the best birthday present I ever got. :) )

The last time I had blood drawn was probably before my appendectomy a few years ago, but there was so much going on then I don't really remember it. This time around, they took, I think, five vials of blood. It didn't take long, though, and I had only the smallest little drop of blood on the gauze pad afterward.

Tonight was also the start of other changes. For some years we have not been doing much cooking to speak of. Sad to say, I've largely been living on frozen food and sandwiches and restaurant meals. My wife made herself the occasional batch of cheese bread, but was otherwise the same as me. We have decided to ween ourselves off the convenience foods and try to eat healthier & fresher. Tonight she made me a pasta bake with chicken & cheese & whole-wheat penne. Very nice, and with enough left over for at least a couple lunches.

This weekend I'll be attempting to finally finish the paint job in the front room and hallway. I had tried weekend before last, but ran out of the glaze I was sponging on. We got glaze & paint to mix a new batch. The least we could get was a gallon & a quart, so there should be plenty enough to finish, with plenty left over for later touch-ups. We've still got the guest room to install flooring in, but we have to get rid of some stuff that's in it now - particularly our old bed. (We plan to get an inflatable to put in the den if we do have company, and when we finally furnish the front room we may get a sleeper sofa for there. But the priority, assuming the IVF works, will be to convert the guest room into the baby room. There's a smaller bedroom, but that's to be my wife's studio for drawing, quilting, or whatever else she's inclined to do. In order to make this baby thing work we've also got to work on delegating a lot more at Secret Headquarters, as my wife does most of the paperwork & data entry now. Gotta offload that job so she can focus on the baby and the more creative aspects of the business and life in general.

And some potential good news: it looks like we'll likely be able to get additional financing for an additional cycle of IVF on our own, so, assuming we can get help for another from family, it looks like we'll probably be able to do three cycles. At a 40% chance each try, that comes to about a 78% chance of pregnancy, with a 63% chance it'll happen in two or less tries.

Here we go...

Regrouping

Okay. I have a low sperm count. Very low. I've got an appointment with a urologist Tuesday. My count is too low to realistically hope to improve it to the point that we don't have to go for IVF, so we've started the ball rolling scheduling that. We do think it's a good idea to get me checked out to see if the count is being lowered by some condition that could do me other harm and get that fixed if needed. If they find some sort of reversible blockage and can raise my count significantly, then so much the better, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think I'm over the initial shock. The fact that we can afford at least one try at IVF ourselves and may be able to borrow from our parents for an additional try if necessary helps, since it means we're not sunk yet. It's just not going to be as easy as we'd initially hoped. I can deal with that. As I understand things the IVF is actually more of a sure thing than the IUI was, even if I had a normal count, since pretty much the only thing left to chance is the implantation, and even that is prodded along a bit to improve conditions.

With that in mind, I feel comfortable sharing a bit more about the experience yesterday. In chronological order...

When did Hustler go hardcore? In the "collection room" which was essentially a restroom with a lounge with a love seat, (that's a two-seat couch, for any readers from countries where they don't call them that,) they had a magazine bucket with several copies of Penthouse, Playboy, Hustler, Black Tail, Big Black Butts, and some biker babe magazine. We started out with my wife flipping through a Penthouse while I took matters in hand, but there were too many ads & articles about electronics & stuff, and one nasty picture of some sports player with a bloody nose, so we switched to a Hustler. That was a bit better. The girls were no prettier, but Hustler really knows how to focus on their core competency. The last time I looked at a Hustler was almost twelve years ago, just before I tossed out my porn stash in advance of my wife's first visit to New Orleans. (I figured they were obsolete then. :) ) Back then any penetration was in the ads or in the odd video review, and censored with dots and such. Now they seem to hold nothing back. I'm pretty sure I spotted a come shot on one page, though my wife flipped by pretty quick on that one. I think she got a bit absorbed in the thing because she kept lingering over the articles & ads & cartoons. I had to remind her what we were looking at it for. :) Actually, it probably helped me hold off longer and build up a bigger deposit.

Later, after we got the bad news and went ahead with the IUI I got to push the plunger to inject the sperm into her. I think that might have been a bit more fun had the count been higher, but that's how it goes. Hopefully one of those sperm will get lucky.

Later still, at Secret Headquarters, we locked the doors, turned off the light so people looking in the windows couldn't see, and supplemented the injection a bit.

Today was a bit hectic, having our nephews & niece & SIL over while our oldest nephew cut our lawn (got some pics of the stream in back - will post them later,) doing some catch-up work at Secret Headquarters, eating dinner out with my wife's parents, but I hope to do a bit more supplementing tonight. Might as well with up to four eggs in play.

Once again, wish us luck!

Conception May Be Soon If Not Imminent

We are scheduled to go in for an ultrasound to check my wife's follicles Sunday, with an IUI presumably Monday. She's been on Clomid. This morning she got a solid line on the ovulation predictor test and called in to see if we should go in today. A nurse will be calling back.

If we go, it may be on short notice, so I may be incommunicado for a bit. We have to drive over 50 miles to the place and we've not been there yet.

Wish us luck!

Update: Appointment at 2:30 this afternoon. Leaving at 1:00 eastern. Now the heart is fluttering. :)

Puppy Love

Our five-year-old nephew is in love with our 15-year-old nephew's girlfriend. He had his first soccer practice yesterday and cried & refused to play because instead of watching she was in the car with his cousin. Awwww.