Yep, he’s got no strength to hold himself up. So Steph is using the natural two-finger head pinch to hold up Gavin. (About 4 days old here!)
He’s cute as a button even if we may have picked up a little Tibetan baby from the hospital instead of our own.
I'm so tired...
(In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I’ve poured out my heart to someone special in my life. Words are a mere trifle of all I truly feel in my heart.)
To my dearest:
I love you so much that I can’t wait to see you after a long, weary day.
You help me to block out all the noise and chatter of my mind.
You envelop me in your warmth and my skin tingles under your moist kisses.
You never question my motives and always listen to me without judging.
I feel as if I can tell you anything.
My voice becomes as sweet as a songbird in your stead.
I’ve shown you every side of myself, even the darkest places.
You never turn away.
I could spend every waking hour with you.
You are a respite for my mind and body.
You are my sanctuary, my meditation.
And when we part ways after our brief union, I am left standing in a dreamy fog.
Speechless.
Dear shower head, you bring me peace and calm.
I never appreciated you so much before the baby came into our life. Please never leave me.
I love you…especially in pulsating massage mode.
Love is in the air!
Should I teach Gavin about the middle finger? Before his friends teach him? On Sunday, I watched the Super Bowl along with the halftime show featuring Madonna. I enjoyed it as much as anyone without HD TV can. (We used to have HD Cable, but I couldn’t justify $120 for 3 hours of TV a month. So, we now have basic cable…18 channels. I think.)
Madonna sang some of her classic songs and her contortionists wriggled and twisted themselves around her. LMFAO made their appearance. Then there was M.I.A. (who sang the catchy “Paper Planes” song…) onscreen doing her thing and suddenly flicks everyone off! (I thought she was looking directly at me when she threw up the middle finger and let’s just say she and I “had a moment”. For a second, I thought it was a proposition.) The thing is that it never registered in my brain as offensive or disrespectful. In fact, it wasn’t until I read about her now infamous left hand salute that I realized that it was a big deal. But, to who?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but a middle finger is just like the other fingers, only a little longer. If given the choice to be offended by either a Janet Jackson areola or M.I.A. finger during Superbowl, I’ll pick Janet anytime…which reminds me that I should start taping these saucy halftime shows.
Gavin’s not old enough to understand what offensive gestures are. (An example would be picking someone else’s nose, which is why his fingers are constantly scavenging my nostrils. If it was anyone else, I’d fly off the handle. Maybe not for Lindsay Lohan, though. I digress.) In this instance, I got off explanation free. But, it got me wondering how to approach this 4 years from now, when Gavin sees something like this, the media is up in arms (and bans middle fingers in the U.S.A. to “protect our ignorance innocence children”) and he wonders why.
I’m in the boat where I’d rather the Worm learn these gestures from me (I’ve got a bag full of them.) rather than from someone else. Will I teach him the middle finger? Yes. Why? Because I want him to know how to use it correctly…like when someone cuts you off on the freeway, or when some kid tells him a momma joke, or when his boss tells him he’s gotta work on the weekend. Correct usage is important. Flipping the bird is an art. Waving the one finger salute used to be meaningful. It’s gone to s#!t due to abuse and overuse. I’m going to make it rise to superpower status again, just like our country.
A middle finger means nothing unless the attached brain and body have some reason to throw it up. Secondly, it has to be directed at someone or something. M.I.A’s wagging finger meant nothing to me. We’ve got no beef, (unless she hates my blog). Maybe it was meant for someone in particular, but only she knows this. And the people who are crying that their 5-year-old is now screwed up after seeing this during a “family show” is looking for someone to blame. Your 5-year-old is screwed up because you smoke crack and burn cigarettes on your kid’s arms.
A wise man once told me, “Don’t fear the finger (unless there’s a booger on it).” Ok I said that, but let’s pretend I’m wise.
Where was I going with this blog post? Oh yeah, right here:
In my country, this is how we say 'Hi'
If you want to know some cool history about the middle finger, see link below:
We finally get Gavin home from the hospital, 1.5 days after our special delivery. I’m excited. But, it wasn’t without much fighting with the hospital staff. They’re telling Steph to relax and try and rest in the hospital, yet they are coming in every 2 hours to take her vitals or give her food or clean the room, etc.
I took this ridiculousness as more CYA than care, especially for a natural birth without meds. (It’s incredible what the body is capable of doing when unmedicated. In other countries, women give birth and then go home from the hospital in the same day.) I can see why epidurals keep women at the hospital…it’s because it numbs their entire lower half!
So, I pushed the issue. Over and over again until the hospital staff heard me. (We also have the luxury of being only 10 minutes from that hospital and 2 minutes from another, so that was also a factor…it’s not like we were 4 days camel ride away.)
I just wanted to get home so that I could take care of my wife and baby…in our warm, cozy home.
And as you can see, the Worm (not nicknamed yet…) is having his meditation time. Peaceful and serene, isn’t he?
Dude, Where's My Bag?
Yes, dude is in the title twice. The first dude is for the company name, Diaper Dude. The second dude is for the name of this particular bag, the Dude Bag. Got it? Good.
This guy, Chris Pegula, is a genius. He invented these diaper bags for men. He knew that men didn’t want to embarrass themselves by carrying diapers and baby stuff in a pink and paisley pussycat themed bag. (Just a little emasculating, don’t you think?) So, he created Diaper Dude, bags that are functional and manly. And manly.
This particular Dude Bag is the original gangsta’. It’s what made Diaper Dude, well, Diaper Dude. It’s a shoulder bag with just enough compartments for you to keep track of your stuff. (Too many compartments and it starts to be a woman’s bag…like, I have an earrings pocket, phone pocket, watch pocket, breath mints pocket, credit cards pocket, change pocket, keys pocket, mascara pocket, lipstick pocket, and even a pocket pocket. It’s a pocket to hold a pocket. And men wonder why women can’t find anything in their purses…)
I love this bag. This is our only diaper bag (which says a lot). We have the gray and orange one. There are a few other styles and all are Y-chromosome friendly (for example: camo, black, and plaid). The bag is easy to carry and has an adjustable strap. The zippers are large enough for my hands and durable for when we have to cram everything into one pocket for no reason, which happens often with me.
There are a ton of features that I like on this bag: cellphone holder, two front small pockets, a large middle pocket and two rear stretchy stuff pouches in the back. I use every part of this bag and it’s got everything I need and nothing I don’t. (Steph even likes it, and she’s not a dude!) There’s really not much that blows my mind about this bag, but that’s the beauty of it. It does exactly what it was designed for, no more, no less. It’s durable, dependable, and useful, just like a dad should be. It fits perfectly into the fabric of our lives. (Isn’t that from a commercial?)
By the way, they’ve even added a few bag designs for the not-so-girly girls.
———-
Overall Rating: 10 Worms
Ease of Use: 10 Worms
Performance: 10 Worms
Features: 9 Worms
Durability: 10 Worms
Manliness: 10 Worms (It’s made by a dude, for a dude.)
Retail Price: $60
———-
Pros:
Large zippers, easy access pockets, changing pad, padded back, cellphone pocket, stroller clips, key clip, durable polyester material.
Cons:
Waterproof outer would be nice.
Things I would modify:
Make the cell phone pocket larger. Mine barely fits and it’s an HTC Droid.
Where to find:
Summer Infant Best View Color Video Monitor (Silver)
I’m a little old-fashioned. Not old-fashioned 90’s style, but old-fashioned 70’s style. There’s a lot of technology that I believe should be left out of parenting. A video monitor WAS one of them. I don’t know why, but I guess BC (before child), I thought that I should be able to hear a baby crying through 3 walls and a door no problem. Silly me. I learned quickly that the Summer Best View video monitor in the baby’s room was almost as incredible an addition to the family as the baby.
We mounted the video camera about 15″ above the top of baby’s crib. From that vantage point, I can pan and zoom to any part of the crib without a problem. In the daytime, the screen is color. At night, the infrared kicks in automatically (I assume it’s infrared, but someone please correct me if I’m wrong here.) and I’ve got night vision. The camera has plenty of range of motion as well, which increases the number of mounting options.
I use this camera every day. It’s another one of the items in my house that gets a lot of use and wear. So far, the Summer Infant Best View Camera has been holding up very well. Once I put Gavin to nap, I can see what he’s doing and hear what noises he is making before he falls asleep. I love it. Now, I don’t have to run to his room every time I hear a noise. I can just look at the monitor and avoid waking up the baby. The silent mode is excellent for when you are watching TV or something and only need a visual sign if the baby makes noise. The LED’s light up on the monitor according to the sound level in the baby’s room.
We don’t have a need for the A/V output portion of the Summer Infant Best View Monitor, but someone mentioned on another website that they hooked it up to their TV and recorded some of the video from the monitor. (That’s a great idea, especially if your baby starts to do things alone in his crib before showing it off to the family!)
I used to think that having a video monitor was a lazy man’s way of taking care of his baby. But, I was very wrong. It is great for checking on the baby without disturbing him. I can do it while typing out this blog! I can do it while hanging out in the garage! I can do it while watching a movie in the living room! It’s baby management at my fingertips. It’s so handy, I may even continue to use the camera well into Gavin’s teenage years…
NOTE: If you are going to mount the camera above the baby’s crib, you need to find a place to hide or shield the camera’s power cord from the baby’s reach.
———-
Overall Rating: 7 Worms
Ease of Use: 10 Worms
Performance: 8 Worms
Features: 8 Worms
Durability: 7 Worms
Manliness: 10 Worms (Come on, it’s a gadget!)
Retail Price: $199
———-
Pros:
Provides easy monitoring of baby room, both video and audio. Silent audio mode. Remote controlled pan, scan, and zoom. Day and night viewing. Can add up to 3 extra cameras. A/V outputs to a TV.
Cons:
Could use more volume control. Vertical axis movement makes a bit of noise. Video could be a little more crisp in night mode. When you are moving the camera, the audio cuts in and out. Battery life? (I don’t know, but I’ve heard elsewhere that battery life could be poor. I’ve been using this product for 9 months now and yes, there’s been a degradation in the battery life, but not much. If the battery dies within a year or so, I will adjust my rating accordingly. But, so far, it’s been fine.)
Things I would modify:
Higher resolution night vision. I guess it would be nice to have a thermometer built into the unit to remotely monitor baby room temperature.
Where to find:
Cleaned Up and Ready to...Sleep
This picture was taken a little while after the incident with the lederhosen and the pitchfork. What? I’m trying to make this picture interesting…Ok, he’s napping soon after completing his descent from the warmth of mom’s womb.
Me vs. Gavin 