Pictures!
I've posted a whole bunch of pictures from my trip to Hawaii. They are at this site. I should warn you that there are a LOT of them (155) and they are pretty rough---minimal corrections for exposure, red eye, etc. Eventually, I'll post a select bunch of perfect ones to my own website. In the meantime, enjoy!

Keiki

I'm just back from my first vacation ever. I got to go to Hawaii (jealous, aren't you?) We spent many days on the white sand beaches there. While the sun was hot, I didn't get burned (or even tan) since I was snug in my little tent and shaded from the sun's rays. My Daddy would build the tent for me wherever we would go---even under difficult conditions when the tradewinds were blowing fiercely. One of the best things about the trip was that I got to use my not inconsiderable charms on all the people around me. As people would walk by, I would flash them my smile, crinkle up my nose, and stare at them with my blue eyes. Naturally, they were immediately taken with me. I got to meet a lot of people on the beach this way.

Hawaii is a land of many Japanese people. They seem to especially love me---perhaps because my big blue eyes cause me to resemble Japanese anime characters. Often, they would stop me as we were strolling down the street, touch my feet or my cheeks, and say adoringly in a high-pitched voice, "keiki," which is the Hawaiian word for baby.

We took a lot of pictures, which I'll post up to my website soon. Yawn. I'm tired from taking the redeye into California this AM. More on my first vacation tomorrow.

Packing

We're deep in the throes of last minute packing. My Mommy is worried that thegentle luggage handlers at the airport will destroy my main stroller, so I'm going to get to ride around in an umbrella stroller instead---just like the big boys ride in. I got to ride around the living room last night and this was really fun. It's a lot easier to look out and see the world around you where you're not horizontal.

I'm up early this morning. Usually, I like to sleep in until around 10 or so, but there was so much going on, and I'm so looking forward to the trip that here it is only 8:30 and already I'm enjoying my breakfast. Before that, I was playing with some of my toys. I made my froggy make noise on a number of occasions, much to my delight. Right now, I like toys with fairly narrow parts to grip. Some of my toys have wide gripping areas, and I find it hard to grasp these. My stffed Eeyore, with a thin plastic gripping ring, is another of my favorites.

Yesterday, my Mommy took me on a drive to Concord, which is near Walnut Creek, to look at bathroom tiles and tubs at a place there. Now, normally I really enjoy car rides though they doo make me quite sleepy. By the end of this trip though, I was pretty sick of being in the car. The trip was TOO LONG. Next time I go on a long car ride, I definitely want someone in the back to keep me company.

Well, that's it. I'll talk to you again on the 19th.

Aloha

I'm going on my first real vacation with my parents, and it looks like it will be a good one. We're all going to Hawaii for 10(!) days. While this is good new for me, it's not so good for you guys because there will be no blog entries while I am gone, so I'm afraid this is the last one for a while. Since I have such sensitive skin, I'm not planning on working on my tan while in Hawaii. Instead, my parents have borrowed a small tent from a neighbor. During the sunny parts of the day, I will get to relax in the shade and comfort of my own little tent; thereby avoiding the sun's harmful rays. My Mommy also picked up a small plastic storage box that will serve both as a place to store my stuff on the trip over and back and as a tiny Aidan-sized swimming pool for me to splash about in while I sit on the beach. So I think we've got it all planned.

Yesterday, I had a fun treat. My Mommy took me into the bathroom and let me look into the big mirror there. Inside the mirror was another baby. He smiled and laughed when he saw me as did I. Then she turned me a little to the side. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of *another* baby near the medicine cabinet. He smiled at me and gave me a big laugh. I looked from side to side at all three of us babies. We all seem to like standing, we're all strikingly handsome, and we're all very friendly. I wonder how Mommy and Daddy find the time to give me all the attention when there are these other two charming little guys to look after.

Social Butterfly

I love people--I mean all people, everyone around me. I like to smile at them, laugh loudly as they smile back, and make noises at them when they talk to me. My Mommy, whose sort of shy, finds herself meeting all sorts of people thanks to me. People stop and look at me and I like to wave and greet them. Sometimes, I get distracted by all the neat people and things there are to see. When my Mommy takes me out of the house and tries to feed me, it takes forever because of all the distractions from the people around me. In fact, sometimes I get a little too wrapped up in this and forget to eat for a long time (of course, then I'm really unhappy because I'm hungry.)

It's great to be a social butterfly!

Left-handed compliment?

My Daddy and my Uncle Dave are surprisingly interested in the hand with which I do things. Well, I like to keep them guessing. So far, I'm fairly ambidextrous. If a toy is to my right, I'll reach out with my right hand to snag it up. If it's to me left, I'll use the left. Truth be told, picking things up is pretty hard so I often like to use both hands. While rolling myself over, I tend to pin my right shoulder on the ground and have the left above the ground. In greeting and reaching out to others, I'll use either hand.

So, to answer the big question of what handedness am I, it's going to remain a secret a bit longer.

Rollin', rollin' rollin'

I did it. I finally did it! ...but no one saw me. I managed to roll completely over yesterday. I had been lying on my back on a quilt in the middle of the floor. I've taken to rolling onto my side in that position, but it's hard to figure out what to do with your shoulder and elbow to turn completely over. Well, somehow I figured it out. I was on my side when Mommy left to do something in the kitchen and when she returned I was all the way over on my tummy! Hooray for me. Of course, once I was on my tummy, I wasn't happy about it and insisted on eating then and there rather than repeating the trick for Mommy.

So there it is. I've learned to roll over, but no one's actually witnessed me doing it. Sigh.

More Milestones

I hit some more developmental milestones over the weekend. Since it had been a while since I've been in my big swing, Mommy decided to put me in it on Sunday morning. She also wanted to make sure that I was not bored, so on the little tray at the front of the swing, she placed my stuffed Eeyore rattle. When she next came into the room, she was astonished to find that I had picked up the stuffed Eeyore from the tray and was playing with it. This reaching out and taking things that are not simply placed in my hands is a new thing for me. I've been trying my new skill out on lots of objects---the hanging squeeze toys in my gymini, the plastic stars and mirrors on my swing and in my bouncy seat, I'll even reach out and grab my Daddy's hand as he's giving me a bottle. Grabbing things is great! These hands sure are useful.

I also had an almost milestone yesterday. While I was lying on my back on the ground, I got interested in what my Mommy was doing on the couch to my right, so I leaned over to see. In fact, I leaned over so far that I nearly turned over.

Locomotion

Yesterday I did an amazing thing. My Mommy set me in the center of a quilt she keeps on the floor for me to lie on. At the corner of the quilt, some 2-3 feet distant were two of my toys---a stuffed bunny with a rattle in it and a froggy that makes froggy noises when you open his mouth. MY Mommy made them make noise so I'd know where they are. Now for the amazing part---I slowly wriggled my way from the center of the quilt to a point where I could reach out and grab the toys. I'm quite proud of this achievement.

Now I don't move like the rest of the world does. My method of moving involves thrashing about with my hands in legs in the general direction I wish to go. In doing this, my head ends up on the ground. Then, I lift my head up again and repeat the process. It's not the most efficient way to get around, but it at least lets me move a bit in the direction I want to go. I was exhausted by the time I was able to reach out and touch my toys. I could barely keep my head up. But, still I was happy and making lots of noises. I got where I wanted to go ALL BY MYSELF!

The Joke's on Them

Lately, my Daddy has taken to trying to get me to laugh by pulling my face close to his and going "hee hee hee" in a high pitched voice. Often, this will cause me to smile and laugh myself. I laugh---my big open mouthed laugh where I sometimes struggle to get enough air into my lungs to keep it up---he laughs, "hee hee hee." He seems to think that I don't get the fact that we're together laughing at nothing. What he doesn't get is that while he thinks he's playing with me with his laughing, it's actually the reverse. It is funny to see the way my little laugh in response to him can get him to do the same silly thing over and over. That's the joke---and it's on him.

Over the weekend, I got to see some new people. My cousin Molly and her friend Ed came all the way from the east coast just to visit me. (Well, not quite, they also stopped by San Francisco for a couple of days en route to visiting me.) They were lots of fun holding me and playing with me. In fact, I got to sit at the dinner table on Ed's lap while everyone (except me) was having dinner. I don't usually get to do that. They do professional photography, so naturally they brought along a camera. In this case, a super-deluxe zoom camera that my Daddy was salivating over. They took lots of pictures of me, which, once they burn a CD, I'll post to my site.

Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, my Mommy did a dramatic photo shoot of me in various christening outfits. She posted them to shutterfly.com to get prints made (we only had the digitial camera because Mommy's batteries died on her cameras). The fancy christening gown with beribboned bonnet was Mommy's when she was a baby. The jacket with the white cap was Daddy's when he was a baby, and the white cotton number with embroidered collar was my Uncle Dave's. Anyway, here's the first batch of shots:

my christening outfit photos

It was a hot day yesterday, so I spent much of the afternoon in maximum coolness and comfort, wearing only a diaper. Toward evening, my Daddy came home while my Mommy went out and did errands. We sat together on the porch as the sun slowly descended in the sky. Mommy insisted I wear clothes while I was outside. As we were sitting, we watched Zippy the hummingbird busy himself by hurrying back and forth between the hummingbird feeder on the porch and some nearby trees. Later in the evening, Mommy got out a footprint that was made of me when I was only a few weeks old. We were both astonished at how much bigger my feet have gotten in that time. My blonde hair continues to grow in rapidly--especially in the front. I'm not sure you'll be able to see it in pictures, but I suspect that in not too long a time, you'll think of me as a whole new (and even cuter) little guy.

Master Aidan-sen

I went with Mommy and Daddy to a Japanese restaurant for lunch (well, they had lunch, I watched). While we were there, the waitress, who was fascinatingly dressed in a mauve kimono kept on remarking about how cute and wonderful I was. She suggested I would make a great child model. After lunch, Mommy had to send some faxes, so she and I came in to Daddy's office. While there, pretty much the entire first floor staff spent a good 15 minutes fawning over me. Said one woman, with my looks I'll rule the world some day. I hope so!

Every night when my Daddy comes home from work, I get really excited and happy to see him. When he comes up to me I instantly smile and laugh and flail my arms and legs about ridiculously to signal my delight. He usually sings songs to me just after he gets home. Lately, he's been singing a song called James James Morrison Morrison. It's about a boy who "took great care of his mother, though he was only three." In only a little more than two and a half years I'll be three. I'll be looking forward to taking care of Mommy then.

One interesting thing about my reaction when my Daddy comes home is that it didn't used to happen. I remember way back when I was a young boy, people and things were mostly just indistinguishable blurs. In addition to this obstacle, it was quite difficult for me to control my face enough to convey an emotion (other than by crying -- I had this down immediately.) I've come a long way, baby.

It was a rainy, dreary day yesterday, so Mommy and I stayed inside all day. Mommy does all sorts of things to entertain me, but my favorite is when she recites nursery rhymes. While Daddy, when he says these things, does it in a sing-songy kind of voice, Mommy is in deadly earnest. She wants me to feel the drama of each word:
Hickory dickory dock
Mommy wants me to understand and appreciate the plot line:
The mouse ran up the clock
Mommy wants me to feel the tension building in the telling:
The clock struck one
And down he comes
Finally, the denouement:
Hickory Dickory Dock
Mommy is funny.

Growth Spurt?

Yesterday, I had my biggest day of eating ever, topping the 30 oz mark. I was eating so much and so often that my Mommy swore she could literally see me growing throughout the day. Despite my eating surge, we did manage to get outside to visit one of my favorite places, the Stanford Mall. This is an open-air mall with lots of pretty flowers and trees along its promenades. What Mommy likes to do is strategically position herself and me in a central area where there are lots of bistro tables. There, Mommy will get a sandwich and then I will have a bottle and we'll watch the people passing by. Or, more likely, they'll watch us. This is a great spot for others to admire how cute and wonderful I am. They often stop to comment, which makes both Mommy and I very happy.

Give me a hand

I love to play with my hands. They're especially fun when paired with my bib. For instance, last night I found it tremendously funny to reach my hands under my bib and then pull them and it up to my face, half covering it. I would laugh and shriek with delight at how I was able to change my world. My Mommy would put the bib back down over my chest, and I would repeat the process. I have to admit though, sometimes I'd get a little scared of the darkness from having a bib over my eyes.

I can do other things with my hands too, like grab stuff. When my Daddy is feeding me, I like to grab onto the "handlebars" of the bottle, his two big thumbs. I can put my whole hand around his giant sized thumbs. This makes the whole experience of having a bottle that much more fun. Last night, my Mommy had one of my toys out--Celeste the Sun. Celeste has many delightful dangly things sticking out of her. I made my first tentative steps toward reaching out and grabbing the dangly things. Reaching out is apparently a milestone, so Mommy was very happy with my attempts to grab. We'll see how she feels about it in a few months when I reach out to grab her Lenox figurines.

Quake

I had another milestone in my life yesterday---my first earthquake. It measured 5.4 on the "not the Richter" scale, so it was a pretty small quake. I was sitting on my Mommy's lap when we both felt a rumbling. The computer monitor started to sway from side to side as well. Then, the whole thing was over. It didn't last very long. My Daddy was outside taking a walk, and he said he felt it even less than we did.

My Mommy is increasingly concerned that I'm becoming addicted to TV. Now, mostly I have a lot of trouble following the dialog (particularly the sexy innuendoes on some shows), but I love the lights and the colors. Sometimes, when I'm sitting by my parents, I'll crane my neck sharply to one side to get a better view of something really interesting on TV. Baseball is a favorite. I like the simple patterns of the grass, the ball, and the uniforms. Much easier for me to follow than the nature specials Mommy watches, where everyone is camouflaged.

I suggested to Mommy that part of the reason I'm becoming a TV addict is that she always has the darn thing on. I think that all by herself, Mommy is able to favorably affect the Nielsen numbers of The Learning Channel. We're always watching it.

Happy Mother's Day
I made my Mommy a card for mother's day. I used a highlighter, a pencil, and a fountain pen to make the design. I guess it's my first piece of art. I've posted it in my archive photo album in the folder labeled "memory box". Enjoy.

Picture Time

I've posted some new pictures of myself in the "volume 1" directory of the photo album. Some of you may wonder where all the other photos went. Well, my other photo site is completely full of great photos of me, so I've moved to a new one. If you want access to the old photos, go to my web site and click on the "photo album archive" there. These are photos of me sitting on the porch on Sunday when I was listening to the Giants game with my Daddy while Mommy went off to buy groceries.

My Daddy is a funny guy. Yesterday, he was babysitting me and stepped out to put the garbage out on the porch when the wind blew the door shut...and locked. As a result, he was locked outside the house and I was inside while Mommy was off in Walnut Creek with the house inspection. Daddy was quite unhappy at this turn of events. Luckily, the screen door in the back was open. The problem, though, is that this door in on the second story of the structure. Daddy made his way to the porch, then used a couple of boards to scale up to the second floor and let himself back inside. Whew. What a relief.

Movin' on Up

Well, it looks like we're moving to the house in Walnut Creek with the big jungle gym after all. My Mommy and Daddy decided that they weren't going to do better price and quality-wise than there, so they met the seller's counteroffer. Tomorrow, Mommy goes up to the place to look over the shoulder of the building inspector and we're scheduled to close on June 28. Yippee, a new home!\

Here are some details about it:

This single story detached, ranch home has 4 bedroom(s), 2 full bath(s) and is approximately 2048 sq. ft. Rooms include a family room, dining area. Other features include 2 fireplace(s), ceiling fan(s), window treatments. This home has a 2 car garage, covered patio. Recreation amenities include community swimming pool(s), community children's play area. The lot is a corner lot, fenced. The property is located on 0.22 acre(s).

We'll have a picture shortly.

Good & Plenty

Last night I played a new game with my Daddy. He discovered that I get really excited when he holds both my little hands and oscillates my arms back and forth. I love this! Even better was when he incorporated this into a singing game. I sat astride his waist with his knees tucked up to support my back. He held both my hands and bounced around signing the Good & Plenty theme song:

Once upon a time there was an engineer
Choo Choo Charlie was his name, we hear.
He had an engine and he sure had fun
He used Good & Plenty candy to make his train run.
Charlie says "Love my Good & Plenty!"
Charlie says "Really rings my bell!"
Charlie says "Love my Good & Plenty!"
Don't know any other candy that I love so well!

He would sing faster and faster and this was an absolute delight. I had my mouth wide open smiling and laughing as the Good & Plenty train rolled on and on.

In less happy news, our offer on the Walnut Creek place was flatly rejected by the seller. Looks like we'll be living in refrigerator boxes instead. At least the weather stays nice so living in a box is not too bad.

Graduation Day

Yippee! My Mommy has decided I'm now big and strong enough to graduate to the next size nipples on my Avent bottles. I now move up to size 1 from size 0. So far, the early results are encouraging, because it's easier to get stuff from these nipples, I seem to be eating even more than I usually do. My Daddy likes that I also am eating a lot faster than I usually do, which means more time to play and interact and less time of staring off into space with a glazed expression. The only potential downside to this is that there is now a slightly higher chance of my spitting up with these nipples. I'm a pretty weird baby in that respect--I never spit up. Not once, not ever (knock on wood).

We went on another house hunting trip, but it was really unsuccessful. In fact, so unsuccessful that my parents have made an offer on the property with the big jungle gym in the backyard that I mentioned in my previous entry. Wish us luck! Also, I learned that my Mommy and Daddy received an offer on their place in New Jersey. It had only been on the market for 3 days when the first offer came in. They've countered this offer. Again, wish us luck.

Well, that's all the news. It's a beautiful day, so I'm going to sit out on the porch with my Daddy.

House Hunting

Yesterday, we all went house hunting together. We saw 7 different places and ended up with two of these still being in the running for our next home. My favorite was a place in Walnut Creek that sits on a corner lot. This house has the neat feature of having an enormous playground structure (done in wood) already installed. While I'm still a little too small to enjoy this now, it won't be long before I can start climbing and jumping and swinging. I made myself really at home in this place. I stopped off to eat a bit while we were there and I had two (!) rest stops there as well.

This place offers the convenient feature that access to all of that is right out in my back yard. The other place we looked at doesn't have a playground, but is in a lovely hilly section of a town called Lafayette. I would be able to walk to school if we lived here. This house was wonderfully airy with a zillion skylights.

The big problem with house hunting is that I'm stuck in my stupid car seat all day. By the evening, I was clearly voicing my displeasure with this arrangement and it took Mommy a long time to convince me that the period of being strapped in was mercifully over.

Where does he put it all?

Last night before bed I was hungry. I mean really hungry. I mean like the kind of hungry that folks on Survivor feel after being in the island 23 days. Mommy set me down to eat last night before bed and started in on my usual amount (which is a bit under 4 oz.) Having polished that off, I still wanted more. By the time I was done, I had eaten more in one sitting than I had before in my entire life---8.5 oz. Mommy wondered where I could possibly fit all that milk given my small size. After finishing, I lay back half-dazed from all the food and gurgled happily.

Earlier this evening, we all watched the Phillies defeat the Giants. While there are many shows that I pay little attention to, baseball is not one of them. I really enjoy the high contrast uniforms and the play of light and dark as the brightly colored player stride up to the plate in the darkened stadium. From my bouncy seat, I craned my neck around to get a better view.

My Daddy has invented a little song to greet me when he comes home from work. I always laugh when I hear it. It goes like this:

Mister Baby, Mister Baby
Yessir, no sir, don't mean maybe

That's it. I think he needs more lyrics.

Today, we're all going off house hunting to the hills east of Berkeley. I can't wait to see where we're going to live next. I hope it has a nice yard for me to play in.

Not that I'm not always the greatest company in the world, but my Mommy wanted to go off and do some shopping by herself, so on Saturday my Daddy took care of me instead. We got to do many fun things together. For a while, he kept me entertained with the following exciting game: He would initially keep his head some distance from mine and then slowly swoop in toward me. As he did so, he said the word "baaaaaa-byyyyy" in a high pitched voice. This I found to be hilariously funny. When I'm really amused, I give a big open mouthed smile (not exactly a toothy smile though since I have no teeth) and kind of gurgle. This was great.

We also watched some movies together. Daddy has noticed that my taste in movies tends to run to edgier stuff. The afternoon's movie menu was a kind of controlled experiment to test this effect. Early in the afternoon, during one of my feedings, we watched "Sexy Beast" together. As far as I can tell, this movie consists almost entirely of English swear words and yelling. I was spellbound. I turned my head to the side of the bouncy seat and stared intently at the screen throughout the picture. Later in the afternoon, we watched "Serendipity", a light romantic comedy with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. This movie was not the least bit edgy at all, and I paid no attention. Of course, my favorite movie of all time is Traffic. I think as I get older, I'm starting to exude the same smoldering sexuality as Benicio del Toro (or maybe not).

Sniffle snuffle

I encountered a new and not so great milestone a couple of days ago. For the first time in my life, I have the sniffles. I don't really like it very much. For one thing, it makes it harder to enjoy a refreshing bottle of milk. The reason is that with my nose stuffed up, I like to breathe through my mouth. But this gets in the way of eating and sometimes I miscoordinated the two activities and end up sputtering and having to take a break from the happy pleasure of milk drinking.

It's been hot here lately and Mommy seems to have picked out some special rubberized diapers for swimming. I've never been swimming before, but it sounds great--like the world's biggest bath. After initially having some trepidations about baths, I've really warmed to them. I like to splash and laugh and wiggle around. Apparently with this "pool" thing, there's lots of room to do all these activities. I can't wait.

Since I've been sniffly, I've also been a lot more sleepy. I spent much of the day yesterday just relaxing and dozing on and off. I did wake up to watch the Yankees-A's game with my Daddy last night. The Yankees won on a two run homer by Jorge Posada. Daddy and I were both delighted.

I'm growing bigger all the time. Daddy weighed me this morning and I now weigh 15 pounds! I'm now on the brink of being dangerously large for several of my baby toys. Mommy also counted up the days since my birth and notes that I'm FOUR months old today. Happy birthday to me.

New Photos

I've posted some new photos of myself under the folder "baby playing poker". The highlights show me playing poker and winning handsomely.

Over the weekend, I discovered something new and fun--when I kick and bounce my bouncy seat, the "fun panel" plays songs and lights. I had never notived these before but now that I have, they're tremendously amusing. Every time the lights flach and the sounds play, I smile and laugh until I nearly topple sideways in the chair! I've also discovered how to put my hands in my mouth. I really enjoy doing a lot of the time, but especially when I'm hungry. Unfortunately, it's hard to fit a bottly in my mouth when I have my hands jammed in there. Still working out the solution to this problem.

People just keep coming and going in the house. My Daddy came home last night and we gto to spend the evening bonding with one another. I missed him, and I think he missed me too. The sad news is that my Uncle Jack departed early this morning for the east coast. Lots of people come and go but only my Mommy and Daddy seem to stay for longer than about a week or so.

Bye bye

For the next 4 days, my Daddy is going away to Texas, which my Mommy calls "big hat country." He's goiing to an Internet conference (so he can learn how to surf the net more effectively I suppose). He also says that he's going to ride a horsie while he's there (yes, he really talks like that, referring to horses as "horsies".) I'm going to miss him while he's away. I've been alive now for about 108 days, so his departure for the next 4 means that he'll be gone for almost 4% of my life, which seems to me to be a long time. Meanwhile, my Mommy and Uncle Jack will take care of me.

Poker Night

I've added lots of new photos to my web site. I helped Mommy scan them in yesterday afternoon. There are new photos in the Dave and Julie folder that finally prove that Aunt Julie did not leave Uncle Dave at home when she came to visit. There are also more Easter photos in the Easter folder and pctures in the new Grammy's Visit folder taken when Mommy's Mommy came to see me. In addition, there are pictures in the Lake Tahoe folder from the first time I saw snow and the first time I met my cousins, Meryl, Libby, and Matthew.

I got to see my Uncle Jack for the first time ever yesterday. He's funny. He likes to make all sorts of amusing faces at me, which got me to laugh a lot. My Mommy called me a gigglepuss (one of her favorite terms of endearment) as a result of my laughing and smiling. Later that evening, I got to do something completely new---learn how to play poker. My Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Jack decided to play a few hands of poker complete with cards from the Luxor, a casino I visited in utero, and poker chips. I got to handle one of the most expensive chips, worth 25 cents, and generally had a good time sitting on people's laps and advising them as to what they should do. Mommy was the big winner last night making $1.40! I hope she spends it on more outfits for me.

I continue to sleep through the nights without any problem. Last night, I had numerous evening feedings and, by the time I wnet to bed, I was quite full. I was able to go about 8 hours between feedings (a full night's rest for my parents). Mommy is still wondering whether this sort of thing is normal or not. I don't know, but I'm a happy smiling baby, so what's to worry about.

Poker Night'

I got to see my Uncle Jack for the first time ever yesterday. He's funny. He likes to make all sorts of amusing faces at me, which got me to laugh a lot. My Mommy called me a gigglepuss (one of her favorite terms of endearment) as a result of my laughing and smiling. Later that evening, I got to do something completely new---learn how to play poker. My Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Jack decided to play a few hands of poker complete with cards from the Luxor, a casino I visited in utero, and poker chips. I got to handle one of the most expensive chips, worth 25 cents, and generally had a good time sitting on people's laps and advising them as to what they should do. Mommy was the big winner last night making $1.40! I hope she spends it on more outfits for me.

I continue to sleep through the nights without any problem. Last night, I had numerous evening feedings and, by the time I wnet to bed, I was quite full. I was able to go about 8 hours between feedings (a full night's rest for my parents). Mommy is still wondering whether this sort of thing is normal or not. I don't know, but I'm a happy smiling baby, so what's to worry about.

Sleepy Boy

I set a new sleeping record last night. In fact, I was so effective at sleeping that my Mommy is starting to get worried about me. I had been pretty hungry for much of the day (in fact Mommy was barely keeping up with my eating) and it looked like I might be enjoying some formula last night if things did not change. Well, they did change. I ate at 10:30 last night, went to bed, and did not get up again until 6am. Really, I was not even up then, Mommy woke me. I was happy enough to eat when I awoke.

This delay in eating got Mommy sufficiently concerned that she got out the thermometer to take my temperature (well within normal range), and she cracked open a zillion baby books to see what was going on. My Daddy seemed unconcerned. If anything, he's probably happy that I'm already able to sleep through the night.

On Saturday night, I had a bath. This was the first time since I was in the hospital that my Mommy and Daddy both helped bathe me. Normally Mommy does this, but one Saturday when she was out shopping, my Daddy tried it on his own. This event was a total disaster. I get very upset almost immediately. Also, in his confusion over trying to keep my head above water, juggle all the towels and washcloths and so on, my Daddy neglected to take off my socks, so my feet were sodden. This was no fun. Thankfully, Mommy is actually competent at bathing me so I had a nice bath. This was good because it was very hot here over the weekend, and I was sweaty.

Today I see a new relative -- my Uncle Jack.

My First Plane Ride
I had my first plane ride this past week. We flew from San Jose to Detroit and then drove from there to Ann Arbor. So far, I like every mode of transportation I’ve been on and the plane is not exception. Thanks to a law created by Laura Bush (according to the flight attendant) I’m guaranteed a window seat whenever I fly. This is great although I’m still a little too short to see out the window. I like the dull hum of the jet engine. It makes me so sleepy…yawn. I slept pretty much the whole way during the flight. In fact, I was so sleepy that my Mommy had great difficulty rousing me to give me a little milk so my ears would get unblocked on takeoff and landing. Happily, I got enough good sucks in to make my ears pop, so I felt just fine.

While normally passengers around a young baby dread the trip, the folks around me looked with delight at the end of the trip and told me how cute and wonderful I was. I’m not like the other kids I guess, I just like to dream of flying around in airplanes.

The next day, I got to ride around in a new kind of car, a Subaru, driven by a realtor who was showing my Mommy and Daddy some places they might like to live in. I checked these places out too and pretty much liked them all equally. They were all a lot bigger than our little apartment in Palo Alto. Once again, I made a good impression. The realtor said I was a perfect baby because of my excellent manners.

The night after seeing the realtor, my Mommy was feeding me in the hotel room when she smashed her foot off of a narrow door frame leading to the bathroom. Mommy was very unhappy—she had the same angry purple face I get when I’m really hungry—and she could not walk very well. The next day, we went to a place called the hospital where they fix hurt people like Mommy. Before they fix them, though, they make them wait four hours to make sure they’re really hurt and not just faking it. At the end, Mommy got to wear a special bootie show for her broken toe and was hobbling around on crutches. This made our trip to the airport really fun. I got to ride in a wheelchair through the airport on Mommy’s lap. Daddy pushed us both as well as all our carry-on luggage from the entrance of the airport to the gate, which the airline had thoughtfully located the maximum distance away.

Getting off the airplane, Mommy got to ride in a really neat form of transportation. I was envious. In San Jose, where we landed, rather than having a jetway leading directly to the terminal, they have an old-fashioned system whereby they wheel steps up to the plane and the people walk down to the tarmac. Well, Mommy couldn’t negotiate the steps, so instead they pulled up this big forklift thing and moved the steps out of the way. Mommy was then hoisted down in the forklift and whisked away in the wheelchair to the car. What a trip! My trips are always filled with many exciting events—blizzards, lost wallets, broken feet, forklifts, and so on.

Because my Mommy cannot move around very well, my Daddy has been at home all day these past several days taking care of lots of things. For instance, when I want to be picked up and bounced around, my Daddy is there to do it. I like that.

Recently, Mommy mentioned that in a month I would be old enough to hold a rattle on my own. My Daddy, having infinite faith in my abilities, insisted that I could do it now. He quickly pulled out a rattle and started trying to get me to hold it. I grasped it firmly (I like gripping things) and occasionally waved it around. When I did that, it made an unexpected noise, which caused me to smile. I even flung it down to the ground a couple of times. Best of all, from Daddy’s perspective, I did all of this with my left hand. My Daddy is convinced that I have an excellent chance to have a long career as a modestly effective middle relief pitcher if only I end up being left handed. We shall see.

Today was a hot day, and I was perspiring. Occasionally, it would get so hot that I would complain and my Daddy would have to figure out some way to make it cooler. At the end of the day, I got to take a bath, which was cool and very refreshing. Now I’m a clean and shiny happy baby.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Tomorrow I'm going on my first plane flight (ex utero that is). The whole family is flying to beautiful Detroit (Ann Arbor actually but Detroit airport) to see if we want to live in Michigan. I'll let you know how I liked it when I return on Friday. Here's good news -- the city of Detroit has now made it easier for my Mommy and Daddy to apply for Section 8 housing! Now we won't have to live in the projects.

Something to Aspire To

After hearing about my eating exploits, my Uncle Dave suggests this exciting potential profession for me -- the International Federation of Competitive Eating. I wonder if they have an event for eating from a bottle? I also wonder just what all the "majors" are in competitive eating?

Sleepy Guy

I seem to have fallen into a new equilibrium in my eating. Starting last week, I decided that my usual amount of food (110ccs) was not nearly enough to keep me happy. My Mommy decided to increase my food amount to 125ccs, which made me a lot happier. Still, I would get hungry pretty frequently and by Friday, I was eating her out of house and home. I slowed down some over the weekend.

In addition to eating more at a sitting, I'm able to go longer between meals, particularly at night. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights I went five to six hours between feedings. Actually, I could have gone longer on some of these but my Mommy woke me up. This is a happy thing since six hour intervals are much more conducive to normal sleep than were my usual four hour ones.

On Sunday, we all got in the car to drive to the Pacific Ocean. It was very sunny and pretty until we crossed over to the other side of the Santa Cruz mountains. There we found lots of clouds over the ocean. I saw several surfers and got to wander around the beach a bit (actually, Mommy wandered and I rode along). I had to get bundled up very warmly against the strong sea breeze. I was wearing my insulated SnoKid hat, but my Mommy turned the iconic snowflake to the other side to seem more in the beachy spirit.

That night, we went to Chevy's, a Mexican restaurant chain. The highlight for me was the balloon man, who came by and made me a teddy bear hugging a heart. The big red balloon heart is shiny and pretty. It fascinates me. To show my approval, I kicked the balloon bear a couple of times.

My Nain (Grandmother Diana) is going back to Wilkes-Barre today. I'll miss her. She liked to hold me and feed me. She also sang some odd little songs like "The Troll of the Hill." She also had an odd way of asking me whether I needed to burp. Instead of asking me directly, like my Mommy does, she would gently inquire, "Does baby have a bubble? Do you have a bubble?" She would also describe my expression when I was hungry as my "angry purple face." I suppose I do turn a little bit purple while telling the adults around me that I'm hungry. That's only because I'm using all my energy to convey to them forcefully my feelings.

Cleaning

Yesterday, I was a very helpful little guy. My Mommy decided to clean her closet -- a mammoth project equivalent to clearing the rubble from ground zero. For such a big project, she needed me to be content to lie quietly watching her. Now normally I like to get lots of attention, but I decided to give her a break. The closet looks a lot better.

Later in the evening, my parents and grandmother went out to a restaurant with me to eat. Once again, they expected me to lie quietly. Well, after doing this all day, I decided that this was too much to ask. I was up and about shortly after my Mommy began her salad. I figured if they can eat, I can eat. I loudly placed my order for milk. Happily, I got to eat along side everyone else during dinner. I even got to sit on my Daddy's lap as he gave me pretend sips of wine (Mommy didn't like that much).

Baby Bunny

I posted a new set of pictures to my website. They are under the Easter folder. Highlights include several pictures of me in my Easter finery including bunny ears (doesn't everyone wear bunny ears for Easter?) Also, there are a couple of pictures of me smiling -- see, I told you I could figure that one out. Today, my Mommy and my grandmother are taking me to San Francisco to play with the sea lions. Arf-arf-arf.

Easter

I went to my first church service yesterday. I like to get up early, so my Mommy and Daddy thought to take advantage of this by attending a sunrise service at a local Methodist church. The service was held out on the church lawn on a kind of foggy morning. I was glad I had my blanket with me because it's a little cool at that time of day. During the singing, I noticed some mourning doves perched on the roof above the choir, They seemed to be dancing to the music. There's a distinctive California vibe to the service. The collection was taken by young teenage girls from the choir. One of them was prominently wearing a gateway.com sweatshirt.

After the service, I came home for a photo session. My Mommy dressed me in my flopsy bunny outfit. She also bought a little set of bunny ears to place on my head (I have a feeling I'll be dreading these pictures coming out on holidays when I'm older.) Naturally, I held up my end of the bargain by sitting and looking cute. There should be some photos posted shortly.

After the photo session, my Mommy wanted to go to something more formal, so she whisked me off to another church service. This one was just plain weird. Instead of saying the Lord's prayer in the usual way, it was like fill in the blanks. You were free to say "our father/mother/creator" for the first line. Also, "for thine is the kingdom/kindom". Despite my Mommy's latent socialist tendencies, this service was too liberal even for her. On the plus side, I did get to see my first transvestite at the church!

I was delighted to get some nice gifts for Easter including a strange toy from my Nain that I can kick to make music and visual effects. I haven't yet tried it, but I'm looking forward to it.

Ticklish

My Mommy and Daddy discovered a new thing about me yesterday -- I'm ticklish. As I was sitting on the couch with my Daddy, he was rubbling my tummy in his usual Buddha style. For some reason, he decided to tweak around the bottom and sides of my ribs. I looked at him quizzically, then my face bloomed into an enormous smile. I didn't exactly laugh, but tickling is definitely funny. So far, we haven't got a picture of one of my big smiles, but if you think my other expressions are cute, you're going to love my smile.

Smiling is fun.

Comments

Uh oh. It looks like the comments site I was using seems to have killed my use of their commenting software. Maybe it will come back online. Otherwise, I'll have to find some new way to implement comments.

The comments seem to have self-corrected. Apparently the server handling them was just down for a while.

Picture Time

I've uploaded some new photos to my website. They are located in the folder labeled "Dave and Julie Visit." They are mostly all pictures from the visit although there is one photo from Tahoe. It is of a sign warning of the danger of contracting the plague by feeding the squirrels. My Mommy does not want me to get the plague.

While this batch of photos contain no pictures of Dave, there are a whole bunch of photos with him coming soon from WalMart that my Mommy will post to the site. Please be patient.

Jaws?

For the first time, I went out to the store with my Daddy last night. My Mommy takes me out sometimes in the afternoons, but my Daddy has never done so until now. First, his style is a lot different from Mommy's -- he zipped me into and out of the car. No taking a million things along just in case, no special outfits, just a blanket and a soothie and off we rode. I liked the ride over there. We hit all green lights, so we were whizzing along. When we got into the store, I started to feel a little hungry, but quickly forgot about this as long as we kept moving. As the trip progressed, we had to move faster and faster so that I would forget that I was hungry. By the end, we were about hurtling through the store at breakneck speed. Whee!

Back in the car, I was distinctly hungry. I would be happy as long as we were moving fast, but I would let my Daddy know that he needed to hurry home whenever we would get stuck at a red light. Why is he waiting? Doesn't he know I'm hungry? I'm like a shark, I need to keep moving to be happy. Once I was home and eating, however, I was once again content to be still.

Adieu

Sadly, my Uncle Dave and Aunt Julie left this morning. My Mommy was planning to sleep through the morning as they were leaving, but I decided that I did not want to miss the last few minutes of their being with us. I get us all up at about 10 to 7, had a quick meal, got changed, and was in high spirits to see them off. They picked me up and held me one last time before disappearing. It's strange how people seem to appear and disappear so much in my life. I'll miss them.

I had a new experience the night before, we all went out to the Gordon Biersch brew pub. Yay! It was baby's first brew pub. My Uncle Dave picked it out (perhaps inspired by all those thirst inducing Celtic songs he sang to me.) It was really noisy in the pub, but I didn't mind. The set us at a table with a special stroller area behind the seats. I got to sit in my stroller very comfortably as the evening wore on. I was also lucky enough to have a bath yesterday, so I was really looking my best for our night out.

It's been a busy weekend for me. Yesterday, I got to go out on a tour of the Stanford campus with my parents and Aunt Julie and Uncle Dave. For me, the highlight was taking an open-air lunch by a pretty fountain in front of the college bookstore. Upon returning from this trip, everyone else, perhaps inspired by my example of eating, decided to go out to lunch. They took me along with them though I just watched them eat rather than ordering anything myself. So far, I've been out to restaurants about 5 times, and I've been good (read - quiet as a mouse) all five. I hope they see how great I am to take on outings.

In the evening, we all watched the academy awards together. This is my first time seeing the Oscars. I thought that the exquisite Gyneth Paltrow's dress was an exquisite nightmare, by the way. I also thought Whoopi Goldberg rather unfunny. I got a bit fussy during the middle of the show (the Sidney Poitier tribute I found to be overlong and tiresome) so my Uncle Dave regaled me by singing Celtic rock songs. Mostly, these songs seemed concerned with extolling the virtues of drinking.

My aunt and uncle are really nice to me and like to bounce me around, sing to me, and play with me. I like the extra attention. As far as I'm concerned, they're welcome anytime.

A Hint of a Smile

I'm starting to get the hang of a new developmental milestone -- smiling. While I've had a number of other expressions, especially the pout, down since I came out of the hospital, the smile has proven to be more difficult for me. Earlier this week, my Mommy was playing with me and telling me what a great guy I was in her cute singsongy voice (does she always talk like that?) when she did something absolutely hilarious. She put her face close to mine and went "brrrrr-rrrrrrr-rrrrrr-rrrrr". Now, this may not sound that funny to you, but you had to be there. I smiled. She wasn't sure it was a real smile, so she's tried the same thing again on a number of occasions since. Oddly, the bit does not get old for me -- I still smile when she goes "brrrr-rrrrr-rrrr".

Smiling is fun, but Mommy is funnier.

Memories

Most adults trace their daily experiences by linking back across time and space to relationships between past events that either they experienced, read about, or were otherwise affected by. In other words, their experiences in the here and now are viewed through the filter of their memories. My situation is fundamentally different. I really have no memories to speak of. Everything is new to me and there is nothing to which to relate it. Psychologists often refer to the notion of pegs, like one uses to hang coats on or Victorian era cubbies in which to place related items as the way most people remember and categorize things. For me the cubbies are mostly all empty and the pegs are bare. Indeed, the pegs or cubbies themselves might not really exist for me. Right now, I am without a past for the most part.

There are cases of patients suffering brain injury which reduces them to having no ability to store incidents in long-term memory. It's as though there past stops at a point in time and all new events are stored for the moment and then lost. The film Memento is about this situation. These people write down everything in an attempt to physically mimic the process of moving items from perishable short-term memory into a more durable form. While I can move things into longer term storage, like them, most experiences are new to me and I have neither context nor the ability to make a physical record (I don't really have words) to relate one thing to another.

Neuroscientists argue that dreams are an essential part of the process of shifting the chaos of images of everyday life into a durable form and, more importantly, making sense of them in terms of generalities and concepts. Dreams are messy and disordered things of course, although the messiness -- the noise injected into the images of daily life -- seem to be essential in making unexpected connections. I spend a lot of my time dreaming, making connections, trying to make sense of the chaos of the world.

I like to look at boundaries. I am fascinated by the spaces where light meets dark. When we were in a restaurant recently, I spent much of the time staring at a light in a faux copper shade. Somehow right at the boundary where the shade met the light, it ceased to be white and bright and became gray and suddenly dark just beyond the fringes of the lampshade. When I'm in my swing, there is a metal bar that pierces through the surrounding light in the room and makes it suddenly dark. The blue metal silhouettes against the light. As the swing rocks, the silhouetted form moves as well in an arc across space. This fascinates me. Somehow, I think the boundaries are where I'll find the connections between the light and the dark, between the physical objects around me and the light that illuminates them.

Boundaries are some of the most biologically diverse parts of an ecosystem. Where a meadow suddenly gives way to a wooded area there is typically an abundance of life existing only there -- at the border -- an nowhere else. Many animals can only live on these borders, not quite in either ecosystem but bridging them. This is where I focus my attentions, on the edges, on the periphery.

Goo - gle Baby

I have a happy announcement. Thanks to everyone interested in my adventures, my website is now the "I feel lucky" listing on Google when you type in the search term "Aidan Morgan." That means I'm now the most famous Aidan Morgan on the Internet. Yippee!

Growing Boy

Two nights ago, I had a hard time letting my parents know what I wanted. I tried hard, I really did, but they could not figure it out. See, I'm on another growth spurt and need more milk than I did a week ago. The night in question, my parents gave me the usual 110cc feeding around 9pm, but I was still hungry. They figured this part out and gave me another 40ccs around 10pm, but I was still hungry. I cried and cried, but they could not figure it out -- they changed me, they put me in one of the myriad of entertaining swings and bouncy seats that are around the house, they rocked me, they rubbed my back and tummy. In short, they did everything but what I wanted -- I was hungry and wanted more food. A little after 11, all other possibilities were exhausted and they tried feeding me again -- another 110ccs. Ah, sweet relief.

I think now they've figured out that I'm growing and need more food than what I've had up until now. They sometimes give me 125ccs at a sitting, which is a lot even for me. Still, I'm pretty happy. I have a bib that says, "Joy is a full tummy." Isn't that the truth.

Chain Reaction

I got to go on my first big trip this weekend. My Mommy and Daddy took me to Lake Tahoe to see my cousins, Meryl, Libby, and Matthew, and my Uncle Ted and Aunt Holly. Now, they don't normally live in Lake Tahoe, but Uncle Ted was attending a medical conference there to "learn" about new techniques (and the company that makes them). There were a lot of firsts on this trip -- it was my first time out of Palo Alto, my first time out of the state (we stayed in Incline Village, Nevada), and my first time seeing snow. Snow is pretty. It's also quite cold. I opened my mouth as it was snow flurrying and ate some of the snowflakes to see what that would be like. It was really cold -- I like milk much better. It was also my first time meeting my cousins. They seened to like me a lot -- they picked me up and liked to peek into my stroller to look at me while we were all eating together.

The trip for my parents was not quite so good. My Daddy's wallet was lost/stolen on Saturday, probably while my parents were having fun taking turns sliding down a big hill on a snow saucer, so he's currently driver's license-less. In addition, the trip home was not too much fun. To get to Lake Tahoe, you have to drive over Donner Pass, which is a 7700 foot ridgeline. The weather there can be nasty, and it was on the trip back. While the trip to Tahoe took us about 4.5 hours, the trip back took 8.5 hours! A lot of this time was spent stopped when they closed down I-80 due to blizzard conditions. When they reopened it, they made us put chains on our car and drive down at 15mph. It took forever and was pretty scary at times.

Happily, we all got home safely.

Bye bye

We all drove to the airport this morning to see my Grandma Dorothy off. I was sad to see her go, and I think she was sad to leave me as well. At the curbisde by the airport, she spent her last few minutes before boarding the plane holding my head in her arms and telling her how much she loved me and was going to miss me. I wanted to say that I loved her too, but words are difficult for me right now. Instead, I said "eh" but I think she knew what I meant.

Shiny Happy Baby

My parents sang me a new song based on an REM tune yesterday:

Shiny happy baby laughing

Meet me in the crowd
Baby baby
Throw your love around
Love me love me
Take him into town
Happy happy
Put him on the ground
Where the flowers grow
Gold and silver shine

Shiny happy baby holding hands
Shiny happy baby laughing

Everyone around
Loves him, loves him
Hold him in your arms
Take him take him
There's no time to cry
Happy happy
Keep him in your heart
Where tomorrow shines
Gold and silver shine

Shiny happy baby holding hands
Shiny happy baby laughing

I've added a couple more cute pictures of myself to the site. They are located in the Golden Gate folder, though they were not taken at the bridge or at Muir Woods.

Airplane Baby

My Daddy and I like to play a game. He picks me up under my arms and spread my arms wide to be like wings, then head facing forward, we fly around the room together while he makes interesting airplane noises. Airplane baby! I love the motion of flying around, banking steeply, climbing and diving low. Of course, this little game makes my Mommy nervous. Oh well.

Even when I'm feeling fussy, airplane baby immdiately lifts my spirits. Whee! I'm flying.

The latest photos are posted under the Golden Gate folder in my photo album.

Please note -- space is becoming tight in my album. In the coming weeks, the pointer on my webpage will switch to an alternative album I've already set up. I will also add a pointer to the Archive Vol 1 album, which is what you are looking at now. Please note this so you don't become confused in the transition.

In Fine Fettle

After my last post, a lot of you were asking how I was doing. Well, after that initial day and night of feeling bad, I perked up for the weekend. I spent most of Saturday sleeping. I was really tired from all the energy expended fussing on Friday. On Saturday night, my Mommy and Daddy left me to go out themselves for the first time in awhile. My grandmother kept me company though, so I wasn't lonely.

On Sunday we all piled into the car and headed to Muir Woods to see the redwoods. They're very tall. I think my perspective, lying on my back in my stroller, gave me a better appreciation for just how tall compared to the standing up method of looking at things that the others in my family use. I wonder why they don't have strollers too? After that, we drove to the Golden Gate Bridge to watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. It was a gorgeous sunset though it became quite cold with the winds gusting in from off the ocean. I've posted a photo of Mommy and me standing on a rock overlooking the Golden Gate.

During part of the ride home, we couldn't go fast because of traffic. I become restless when the car is not moving fast enough. Thankfully, we got on the interstate soon enough and I was sound asleep as we rolled home.

Flu?

The last couple of days have been really hard ones for me. On Thursday, I went to the doctor for a checkup. I got weighed (10.8 lbs) and measured (21" long). This was all fine with me, but then came the bad part. I got four (!) nasty shots and they drew blood from my poor little foot. The shots were really painful! I let them know this in no uncertain terms after the first shot, but it did not seem to get them to change their minds about the subsequent ones. At least I know I touched my Mommy's heart with my cries. Tears were streaming down her face as they were doing this to me.

After the shots, I was a little sore and a little cranky all afternoon. I also had less of an appetite than I normally do. By evening, however, I had returned my usual equilibrium. Friday morning was much of the same until around noon. At that point, I started to feel bad. My Daddy was in sole charge of my on Friday as my Mommy and Grandma Dorothy were off partying in San Francisco. He was trying to get work done instead of spending all his time paying attention to me when I am not feeling well. Hah, little chance of that. I've pretty much been miserable since that time. I sometimes get these little coughs that scare me into screaming. Sometimes I just scream cause I don’t feel well. I'm getting a raw throat from all my "talking."

The doctor offered the possibility that I might have a reaction to one of my shots (my Mommy think it was a flu shot). Well, I'm definitely having a reaction. I hope it ends soon.

Normally, I get pretty fussy in the early evening, and it is difficult to get me to calm down. I used to think this was inevitable, and there was nothing to be done, but now I'm not so sure. I was fussy last night, so my grandmother Dorothy spent lots of time picking me up, patting me on the back, and talking in a singsongy way to me. This kept me calm for awhile. When it came time for dinner, she had to put me down, so I went in my big swing. (I now have enough neck strength that my head doesn't loll in an odd way in this device anymore.) This kept me happy for a little while, but about half way through dinner, I was unhappy again. My grandmother Dorothy plucked me out of the swing and laid me down on my tummy on a blanket on the floor. My Mommy and Daddy both shook their heads and seriously questioned the wisdom of that move since for them it seems to work poorly. Well, just to let them know that I'm still full of surprises, I went straight to sleep in this position! They were amazed.

My grandmother gloated happily over how her vast experience with little guys like me gives her an intuition that they simply do not have. Hee hee. I think she may be right.

New Visitor

My grandmother Dorothy came to visit me last night. This was a tremendous accomplishment since she had never been on a plane before in her life. (Although my Mommy tells me she thought she wanted to be a flight attendant when she was growing up -- go figure.) For the whole car ride home, she fawned all over me saying how beautiful and perfect I was. I got a lot of this from my Mommy and Daddy when I was first born, but somehow the gushing praise seems to have slackened. It's nice to have a new source!

She also did my midnight feeding as well.

From the bureau of weights and measures, I was measured two days ago and came in at 21" -- so I'm still growing at the rate of an inch per month. I weigh about 11 pounds. I'm going to see my pediatrician on Thursday, so I'll have official statistics -- including percentile rankings relative to my other baby colleagues then.

Pacifica

This Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day -- sunny, mid 70s, not a cloud in the sky -- so we decided to go for a ride to the Pacific Ocean. Now, I really like car rides, the smooth purr of the engine, all the gentle bouncing around, the commotion of the other cars. Of course, it makes me really sleepy just thinking about all of this. Anyway, we went for a ride to a place called Pacifica. We walked around on a sort of pebbly beach and watched some people surf. It looked like the waves were quite large. I wanted to go out an body surf, but my parents wouldn't let me. Boo hiss.

We then drove south on a prettty road called the Pacific Coast Highway. It winds between the mountains and the shoreline, so there are lots of great views on both sides. Eventually, we stopped at a town called Montara and sat on a bench overlooking the ocean so that I could have some food. By this time it was about 3:30 and the sun was starting to descend in the sky. On this coast, the sun sets right into the ocean, so the light sort of dances off the water. I saw some seagulls and pelicans as I ate happily.

After that, we drove home. During part of this time, we were stuck in a traffic jam, and I became unhappy. I like MOTION, not being slowed down.

I've posted a bunch of new photos on my website in a folder labeled "Pacifica". These are mostly photos of me although there are a couple scenery shots of some of the beaches I visited.

Mr. Mom

Yesterday my Daddy took care of me for the bulk of the day while my Mommy went out to look at houses in the Berekeley area. She found some nice houses although they're all really expensive. In any event, this was probably the most extended period yet where my Daddy had sole charge of me. I decided to give him a break and be on my best behavior - eating exactly every four hours and not complaining too much about it and so on. We went for a couple of walks yesterday. It was a gorgeous day and, as a special treat, I kept my eyes open instead of napping during the second of the walks. I also got to eat outside once as well.

After my Mommy came home in the early evening, I became fussier. I seem to have developed a fussy period from 5ish to 8ish every night with calm periods throughout the rest of the day. My Daddy went off to play poker last night, so he only got calm periods and not fussy ones. Lucky him.

Sitting on the Bouncy Seat

The bouncy seat presents a unique set of challenges for me. I'm kind of a slouchy sitter and when I get tired, I get really slouchy. Well, the bouncy seat is pretty good for my slouchy sitting style, but it seems like I slowly drift to one side of the chair until I'm in nearly a horizontal position and am half dangling off the side. Yesterday was an extreme example of this. I drifted off until my head literally was hanging out past the side of the chair suspended over the floor. I looked sort of like this
...cccc
o--|--c
...../\

where the "o" is my head, the "c"s are the chair and the other items are my arms and legs.
Even more amazing is that despite how uncomfortable this looks, I was able to rest comfortably this way for awhile. My Daddy would prop me up to a more normal sitting position and I would slowly drift down again. We played this game for several times until he came up with the idea of erecting a wall to keep my head vertical. Ah.

Binary

My moods swing almost instantly from one end of the pole to the other. Yesterday after eating in the evening, I absolutely could not find a comfortable position. I didn't like being on my back, nor on my belly, nor on the swing, nor in the bouncy seat, nor in the crib, nor on the floor in the gymini. In short, I was an unhappy little guy. I like to express my unhappiness with ear popping banshee screams.

"Waah"

"Waah"

(Yes, we infants really do say "waah" with a harshness you can only imagine.)

My Daddy was in charge of amusing me tonight and he hit upon a sure fire solution. He put me in my infant carrier (a thing which attaches to the stroller and becomes a car seat). This made me extremely unhappy. I hate being confined.

"Waah"

Then he did something incredibly fun -- he took me outside and walked me up the stairs out to the parking area of where we live. Ah, the rhythmic thumping of being bounced up the stairs -- sweetness, harmony, perfection. He had not made it to the top before I fell asleep. I then slept peacefully for the next four hours.

Binary.

It's been awhile since I posted to the blog. Mostly, this was due to my Daddy's being out of town and the difficulties I have working the keyboard alone. Well, he's back to help, so I'm back online. First, a little business. My good friends at Yahoo managed to screw up my web settings in making an "improvement" to geocities. As a result, my guestbook was completely wiped out. Feel free to put in new entries so it doesn't look so bare.

While my Daddy was away, I continue to just coast along smoothly through life. My Mommy has hit upon a new and improved night feeding schedule. This entails making sure that leading up to the wee hours, I have a surfeit of food. Fortified with many ccs of food, I am able to go up to five happy hours through the night without waking. This seems to work well for both of us.

Over the weekend, I went on a couple of walks. One was to the Arastradero nature preserve. Here I saw several people riding on horsies. I even got to pet one of the horsies. I also saw a northern harrier. This was pretty amazing. We were walking through the woods when up above us we heard a whirring of wings and then straight along the path in front of us this bird came swooping down low. We had to duck to get out of the way.

I also saw my first Monarch Butterfly. My Mommy claims that I am overstating the number of things I "see" in that I spend most of the time on my walks by sleeping. It is pretty hard to see when your eyes are closed. In any event, the monarch was a genuine sighting. I was awake and my daddy positioned my face about 6 inches from the butterfly, which has landed on a yellow flower. I liked the butterfly --it was very pretty.

I've uploaded a couple of new photos to my website. You'll find them in the February 2002 folder. In addition, my Daddy uploaded some photos he took at Bayfront Park, which is a salt flat abutting the bay. They can be found at here under the subfolder Bayfront Park.

My Daddy likes to live in airplanes, so he is going to fly around the country for the next several days. He'll by in NYC trying to get a job at NYU starting tonight through Thursday morning. Then he is flying to Rochester and will be there trying to get a job on Thursday and Friday. Finally, he's going to help Canadian generic drug manufacturers defeat the evil big brands by going to a meeting in Toronto on Saturday. He flies back to San Francisco on Sunday. I'll miss him. I also might not say to much in my weblog since he's a big help with the typing.

Rainy Days and Mondays

It was a dreary weekend weather-wise. Most of both days it was either raining or threatening to rain, and this made it difficult for me to get out too much. I did manage a couple of walks though. One was a nighttime walk on Saturday. This required that I get more bundled up than I ever have been in my life. My Mommy does not want me to feel the chill air, so many layers of clothing were stacked on me. My Daddy dressed in a couple of layers too but complained of being hot as the walk progressed. Night is quite interesting – for one thing, the sky is dark and there are little white dots in the sky that sort of shine. I also saw a sliver of white off in the distance – the sliver of the moon heading to its new moon phase. This was the first time that I had seen the moon. Goodnight moon.

During the next day, my Mommy went out on errands so my Daddy was left to watch me. This went well until he decided to try to give me a bath. While I didn’t disagree that a bath would be a good idea, my Daddy’s bathing skills leave much to be desired. He could only find one towel and he neglected to remove my socks when he put me in my baby tub. I let him know in no uncertain terms that this is simply not the way things are to be done as far as bathing me.

“Waaaaaaah,” I let loose my most blood-curdling banshee scream.

This resulted in an abrupt end to the bath and a quick retreat to what was initially a comfy towel—though growing less comfy by the minute owing to my drying off in it. Later that afternoon, he had a new idea, if I won’t come to the bath, let the bath come to me. More precisely, we went for a walk and during the last bit of it water – bath water – started falling from the sky. While I didn’t get very clean from this sky water, I did enjoy the smells of humidity and moist soil and the sound of the sky water falling on the leaves of the trees and bushes. I saw a very damp jay huddling unsuccessfully under a bush. I myself was mostly dry thanks to my Daddy’s huddling over me as a human umbrella and thanks to my many layers of clothing.

The Joys of the Baby Bjorn

Sometimes I get a bit fussy always being in the same two or three locations. While those locations do provide hours of fascination and enjoyment, sometimes a boy needs a change of pace. For me, the best is when I get to ride around with my Daddy in the Baby Bjorn. The Baby Bjorn is a frontpack (kind of the opposite of a backpack). I get to sit up pressed next to my Daddy's chest and look out over the sides at the bouncy world. Of course, all this bounciness often makes me sleepy -- yawn.

It's supposed to rain here for the next couple of days, so I was determined to get outside. I started my outdoor campaign by the middle of the afternoon, so the my Mommy would be only to happy to have my Daddy and I out of the house and out of her hair. My Daddy came home and we were both on the same wavelength -- a walk was definitely in order. I bundled up in my outdoor clothes, a big fleecy Baby Gap hooded sweatshirt. In addition to the nice insulative qualities of this piece of clothing, it is also expandable, from the size of it I should have it until I'm a teenager. After fumbling around with the sleeves in search of my arms, we were off.

Sometimes I'm like a light switch, on and off. The minute a smelled the earthy smell of the outdoors and felt the cool breeze on my cheek, I quieted down and started to enjoy the scenery. I saw many interesting things on this walk: a motorcycle cop pulling over a hapless motorist just outside my house. The cop had big shiny boots, which fascinated me. As we went tromping through the woods, I got a big sloppy kiss from a sheepdog. Actually, the Baby Bjorn got the kiss since I'm pretty inaccessible when I'm "driving" in there. The sheepdog and his owner seemed very friendly and asked how old I was. I let my Daddy tell them since I was mostly asleep. I saw my first full sized poodle as well. He ran around us in happy circles as we walked, but he never wanted to stop to be petted. We also saw a big furry gray cat that went darting behind a concrete retaining wall when we approached. I loved my walk and was sad to see it end.

Not much to report yesterday. I'm feeling much better compared to Monday and am back to being my usual serene self. I had a bath yesterday, which I really needed since the residue from the milk, particularly the milk laced with vitamins, works its way into the little creases in my neck and gives me a delightful earthy perfumy scent. Eau de latte I call it. While initially I didn't much like baths, I'm now starting to warm to them and reather enjoyed splashing around for a bit. I had on an especially cute outfit yesterday, footie pajamas where the tops of the feet had floppy rabbit ears and bunny faces. Licorice did a double take mistaking me for twin baby bunnies.

I've posted two new photos to the website. These are moody black and whites of me taken last night. They are in the weekend walk folder.

Gaseous Planets

I was not a happy guy for much of yesterday, and I think it’s mostly my Mommy’s fault. Yesterday morning I slept peacefully and was my usual perfectly behaved self. By the afternoon, however, I was feeling irritable and out of sorts. I could only manage a few minutes of sleep at a time before becoming grouchy and irritable. Both my parents were a little worried about this abrupt change in my behavior. By the evening, it was obvious the cause of my discomfort – a bad case of gas. Unfortunately, there is no Gas-X or other way to alleviate this condition, so I just had to kind of suffer through it, but I let my parents know that I was not happy about the situation. Now, as to the cause of this, I have two theories:

Theory 1 – The Burrito Hypothesis

While shopping for yet more goodies for me, my Mommy stopped off at the Buena Burriteria for a lovely burrito. My theory is that the impact of the assorted Mexican spices and pinto beans in her milk was anything but buena for me. I think it should be called the mala burriteria.

Theory 2 – The Three Musketeers Hypothesis

After the burrito, my Mommy came home and had a 3 Musketeers bar. For my sake, she’s been staying away from chocolate since the hospital stressed the problems of gassiness this could cause for me. Well, the temptation proved irresistible (I know how that can be). It felt like Porthos, Athos, and whatever the third guy’s name is were having a swordfight inside my tummy. Or more accurately, were discharging considerable musketry. Yikes.

By midnight I had more or less settled down, and I’m feeling much better this morning. There’s a lesson here somewhere.

I've posted a whole bunch of new photos to my website. They show me playing with one of my favorite toys, something called a Gymini, as well as shots from my walk to the dish.

Weekend Outings

It was a busy weekend for me as I got to make my first two extended outings of my life. My father has been lobbying for the last week or so to put me in an infant carrier and take me out on some walks. Really, they’re only walks for him, for me they’re rides. Well, he finally prevailed upon my Mommy to take me out on a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon for a test walk. Everyone wondered how I would behave in the great outdoors. Well, I was on my most perfect behavior, mainly because all of the light breezes and sunshine, the gentle rocking of each of my Daddy’s strides, the cheeping of the birds is all quite soporific. I managed to stay awake for about the first five minutes of the journey – long enough to see some trees and birds – and then fell asleep for the rest of the trip.

Heartened by the success of this outing, my Daddy had bigger and better things planned for Sunday. It was predicted to be 70 degrees and gorgeous and it was indeed. Since we were going on a longer outing, I ate a hearty breakfast of 130ccs of milk, got a fresh diaper, and was eager to be on my way. For this journey, we climbed to the top of the foothills overlooking the Stanford campus, an elevation gain of about 1000 feet. At the top of the hill was a big satellite dish used for all sorts of scientific endeavors at Stanford. It was huge!

I got to see lots of things for the first time on this trip. We saw some groundhogs watching us as we strode by. I got to pet my first cow, a sweet brown animal that was grazing in a field near the satellite dish. I also got to see many pretty mountains and gaze out at the bay. It was really pretty. Well, actually I did less gazing and more sleeping. I managed to stay awake for about the first fifteen minutes of a two hour hike, but then slept for the rest of the journey. When I came home, my Daddy and I sat out on the porch in the sun and had a lovely open air lunch together. I had my favorite food – milk.

I thought I’d give my parents a break over the weekend by actually sleeping at night. Instead, I like to be awake from the late afternoon into the early evening. They seem to like this arrangement much better and, since it gets dark early, I still get to satisfy my craving for the night life by being awake then.

For my 4am feedings, my Daddy and I like to watch movies. The trick is to choose a movie that is visually interesting and that you’ve seen many times, so continuity is not important. Our first movie together, Traffic, is supposed to teach me to just say no to drugs (or to teach me Spanish, I’m not sure which.) I really like Steven Soderburgh’s use of color filters. I’m a big primary color guy myself. Now we’re watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I’m quite taken by the haunting score and I’m working on my Mandarin phonemes.

Well, I've completely settled into a routine now. Unfortunately for my mother and father, the routine entials my being my usual awake and playful self all during the best hours of the day -- from 11pm until around 8am -- and then sleeping through the boring parts of the day. There's nothing like sunlight and many noises to put a little boy like me to sleep.

I continue to gain weight and eat like a demon (or a vampire to be more precise since I get little lines of milk running donw each corner of my mouth.) It looks like a beautiful day today, so I'll probably go for a walk,

Night Feeding

Blackness all around. No light at all. In the background, the white noise of the fan swirls and eddies with the rhythm of my mother’s breathing, providing a kind of foundation for her breaths. She pauses, sets herself again, and starts a new riff. This one louder, more deeply felt, more insistent. I struggle to find a comfortable position, moving side to side. It’s not easy for me. I have to work hard to move at all. Moving is difficult. I strain, I arch my back, I stretch my arms outward into the darkness until I can no longer see them. I struggle to find a comfortable position.

I add my voice to the song, to the bass line of the fan and the insistent tempo set by my mother’s breathing.

“Eeep,” I cry out in the darkness.

“Eeep,” I add my soprano voice soaring above the rhythm section.

I am the soloist. I am a trumpet player weaving a brassy and dangerous line high above the rhythm section, trying the very top of my range. I’m Ella Fitzgerald, scatting my way around the swirl of rhythms below. I’m floating on a little raft of my own making coursing along the waters of the night sounds.
I’m ad libbing. I don’t know where this is all going. I’m on a tightrope with no net below, a tiny flying Wallenda. The rhythm section follows along, sustaining my line, following the random course I’m setting. A random walk, where the next note is just as likely to be higher as it is lower. Or a random walk with drift, only the drift is in volume. I’m starting to feel my voice now, to warm my chops. I’m drifting from piano to forte. I’m drifting from largo to presto. The path itself is uncertain with many switchbacks and rests along the way, but I’m feeling, I’m getting the drift.

I can hear my own heart beating in the background, creating a counterpoint, a syncopation, with the rest of the rhythm section.

“Eeep.”

Maybe it’s not that I’m adding my voice to the song, to my mother’s rhythmic breathing. To the inhale-exhale-inhale inexorability of my mother’s breathing. Maybe it’s echolocation, like bats do. It’s dark in here, much too dark for me to see in struggling to find a comfortable position. Maybe I can echolocate, use my voice to find boundaries, to define perimeters, to find comfort.

Maybe I can hear the vibrations bounce off the sides of my bassinet, bounce off the gentle breathing of my mother, swirl around in a kind of Gaussian blur in the complex vortices of the fan. Maybe that’s what I can do.

“Eeep.”

I’m hungry now. I wasn’t sure before, but now I’m definitely hungry. I’ve echo located off myself, self-echolocation. My sonic blasts bounce inside as well as out and come back amplified. They bounce around the echo chamber of my empty stomach and come back amplified. I’m hungry.

“Aaah”

A louder and more sustained blast just to be sure. Distantly it comes back from all parts of the darkened room, but this is a slow freight train compared to the express train delivering the message from my stomach. Pony express compared to the jangled vectors and bit of information coursing along at light speed over the information superhighway.

“AAAAAAH,” the stomach message hits the reply key.

I’m definitely hungry.

Hamster

The good news is that I'm increasingly awake these last few days. I like to look around and see my world. I also really love swinging in my swings. The little one is better for me right now than the big one due to the difficulty of keeping my head erect. The bad news is that much of my wakefulness is at night. Yes, like my cute furry friend the hamster, I've decided that nocturnal is the way to go!

I've posted some more photos on my website. These are in the folder "Homecoming" and show my last few hours in the hospital before coming home. I'm in my Baa Baa Little Sheep outfit, which received rave reviews. I'm a little clotheshorse -- er -- clothessheep.

Remington Steele -- er -- Fong

Today I had my first trip to visit my pediatrician, Remington Fong. Doctor Fong is an incredibly nice person and, unlike most doctors, relatively on time in his schedule. He gave me a clean bill of health. I continue to grow and gain weight. I'm now 19.75 inches long and weigh 7 pounds 12 ounces. Both are up significantly since my previous weigh-in last Friday. He also did a preemie adjusted correction for my height and weight percentiles. Weight wise, I am quite brawny coming in at the 75th percentile. I'm of average height coming in at the 50th percentile. My father was disappointed by the height news since he wants me to grow up to be Shaq. If you don't adjust, I'm still a pretty tiny guy for a one month old -- I'm at the 10th percentile in weight and the 5th percentile in height unadjusted.

I would imagine Doctor Fong took a lot of kidding in his childhood. After all, the only other Remington I've heard of is the fictional TV detective played by Pierce Brosnan, Remington Steele.

I got to watch my first major sporting event yesterday -- a tremendous Super Bowl matchup between the Rams and the Patriots. Seems only fitting in a season where the American flag is displayed so prominently around the country that the Patriots should pull off the stunning upset. I was riveted through the whole game.

On Sunday, I did my best Bellagio impression to date. Circumcision seems to improve the force and variety of the water ballet I'm capable of. If only I had a nice musical accompaniment.

So far, I'm a night owl. I like to stay up late and eat much more after dark than during the day. Happily, my parents also love this lifestyle too!

I've posted a new batch of photos on my website. They are under the February 2002 folder and are exceptionally cute, if I do say so myself. Some of you have asked about hard copies of my greatest hits. Well, my good friends at Yahoo will sell them to you if you click "Buy Photo" when viewing a picture that you like. To do this, however, you have to sign up for a Yahoo account which will then let you buy photos effortlessly (but not costlessly).

Letter from Grandmother

I received this nice letter from my grandmother (nain, in Welsh). I liked it so much I thought I'd share it with you.

_______
Welcome home, Aidan!

It's a whole new world outside Lucile Packard! When you decide to travel east, I've got your crib all ready for you!

Gave your Grandma Timek a few pictures of you and your parents from your early days. She's so happy you are able to go home. Also saw your Uncle Jack! Your great-aunt Maxine stopped by this afternoon, and she too is delighted that you are home.

Remember, Aidan, those people taking care of you are your parents. That means that they have to do everything you want them to do. I think they are quick learners, so they will be easy to train.

Love,

Nain

Memories

I've uploaded images in the photo section of my website of three items in my memory box. One is a sign that was made by the hospital when I was first born. Notice how intially I only had a last name, Morgan. After a few days, my parents came up with my first name, Aidan. The second item is a sign my Daddy made for me when I was in the NICU. The lettering is uncial, designed to invoke my Celtic roots. Finally, I've also scanned my ankle bracelet.

Signs and seasons

Another day filled with firsts for me. This was my first full day living with my parents. So far, everything seems to be going well. I still get along with them and they seem deliriously happy to have me around. It was also my first trip outside in daylight. I got to soak up the California sunshine in my Mommy's arms on the porch. One thing I noticed immediately, the sun is bright. I mostly kept my eyes shut while outside.

I also started more actively participating in my own feeding. During my 8pm bottle, I decided to take matters into my own hands -- literally -- I grabbed the bottle as it was in my mouth and used my own hands to keep it in a good position for me. This was a great achievement.

Looking over my Daddy reading the paper this morning, I noticed something called a horoscope. While my parents assure me this is all pseudoscience, I did take a few moments to look up my horoscope based on my birthdate and location. Here's what came up:

FREE Astro Profile
Name: Aidan
Date of Birth: December 30, 2001
Time of Birth: 03:52 PM
Birth Place: Stanford, Santa Clara, California, United States

Sun Sign: Capricorn
Practical Capricorn, the tenth sign of the zodiac, represents discipline, ambition, and rationality, making you the most determined and persistent sign of the zodiac, Aidan. Since you have such an unshakable faith in your own power, you have an extreme capacity for hard work and endurance.

Saturn, the planet of challenges and restrictions, is the ruler of Capricorn. Saturn is sometimes associated with bad luck; however, without the obstacles of Saturn we would never grow and evolve any further, which makes this planet the one that makes us tough, because it teaches us to develop patience and staying power.

Aidan, Capricorn is the third earth sign, which means you know that you can't live on inspiration alone, and therefore, you have become a down-to-earth realist, and are willing to take care of the daily chores. For that reason, stability and consistency are very important to you.

You, Capricorn, rule the tenth house of the horoscope, a sector associated with career, social standing, and personal aspirations. Furthermore, this house describes your ambitions and goals in life, as well as your public image and your reputation in your social circles.

Capricorn is a cardinal sign, meaning that you don't wait for others to take action - you charge right in making full use of your qualities of pragmatism, efficiency, and diligence.

You have many strengths, dear Capricorn, because with diligence and patience you work to reach the high goals you have set for yourself. Your calm, diplomatic, and pragmatic approach is admirable. On top of that, once you commit to something, you feel responsible and accountable for what you do, which makes you such a trustworthy and loyal person.

However, you have also weaknesses, Aidan. Sometimes, you can get very pessimistic and skeptical. You don't always have the flexibility to make a quick change in plans if something doesn't work. You are also known for being calculating and despotic at times, as well as cold and indifferent.

Rising Sign: Gemini
You are an original and creative thinker, Gemini Rising, and tend to dominate your circles intellectually. With the elegance of a dancer, you swing back and forth from one idea to another, with wit and eloquence. You also have the power to visualize your ideas, and express them scientifically. Since you identify yourself with your ideas, Aidan, your most dynamic form of expression is intellectual.

You are sprightly and versatile, and usually end up being the life of every party. Mostly it is you, who gets up on the table and entertains everyone with an improvised one-man show. You feel most alive if you have an audience, are the center of attention, and get an immediate reaction to your mental and verbal output.

If people don't laugh at your jokes, you lose your precious lively energy. In spite of your bubbly and cheerful personality, you can be quite sensitive, Aidan, and it doesn't take a lot to upset you. However, for others, it would take a great deal of perceptiveness and persistence to get down to your real feelings. It seems that you are perpetually wearing a mask hiding who you really are. Only in rare cases others are allowed to see the real you behind the mask, and that means a lot!

You don't open your heart to others easily, and if you happen to declare your love to someone, you might make a joke out of it, or switch the subject as soon as possible. You are a very cultivated person, Aidan, who has a lot of appreciation for beauty. Therefore, you enjoy developing your sensitivity in artistic domains. You could easily be a patron of the arts, a producer or an artist, a singer or a comedian, since you are such a cerebral person.

_____

This all sounds pretty good. It also take a lot of the guesswork out of having my parents figure out what my personality is going to be like. In my wanderings, I found a site that features horoscopes for star baseball players. Maybe one day I'll be sufficiently famous to merit such treatment.

Another first -- I got to meet Licorice, my parents guinea pig. Here is a collection of interesting guinea pig stuff I found on the web. Licorice seems very nice. She and I sometimes make similar noises, though I can be much louder than her when I want to be.

Homecoming

Yesterday was the second biggest day of my life (behind the day I was born). I got to finally go home from the hospital yesterday! In honor of my homecoming, my Mommy and Daddy dressed me up to the nines in a "baa baa little sheep outfit." This outfit features delightfully many layers – undershirt, pullover, smoking jacket, shoes, socks, and two hats. It took about a half hour to get all these things on me. I like to help to get dressed myself by flailing my arms and legs as much as possible during the dressing process. This really seems to speed things along!

Once I was all dressed, I got to make a final tour of my world in the IICN. I said goodbye to everyone and thanked them for helping me to get big and strong. Then, I was strapped into a five point harness child carrier thingy to go home. Sometimes my parents are amazingly dumb. The harness system has two shoulder straps held together with a sternum clip. These straps then clip down to a central seat belt like thingy between my legs. At first, they tried to squeeze my head between the sternum thingy. I hated this idea. Happily, another mother, who actually understood these devices suggested that they undo the two shoulder straps, so I could much more easily fit inside.
I then got to go on my first car ride. I really liked it though I was unconscious for much of the trip. I got to experience the best of American consumer culture on my first outing. We went to Blockbuster™ to pick up movies, then we went to Carl’s Jr.™ for some tasty burgers. Finally, we topped the evening off with a trip to Albertson’s™ for some champagne to celebrate my homecoming. After all this breast milk, it sure was nice to tip back a glass of Asti!

After this, I got down to the business of living. I eat about once every four hours – 8:30, 12:30, 4:30, and so on. My Daddy drew the short straw and was on the 4:30AM shift. I decided to get him going a little early, at 3:50AM, since I was feeling really hungry. I sucked down my standard feeding in a short time, but was not nearly ready for bed. After fussing around and eventually requiring my Mommy to come to the rescue, I managed to down close to another full meal by 5AM. After so much food, I was pretty much sated, so I went to bed.

Well, that’s about it so far. It’s neat to be home!