Friday, April 25, 2008

Humor

Greetings. Today is a wonderful day. The sun is shining (sort of), the birds are singing (damn things starting crooning at 0500 and woke me up), and I have 4 cubic yards of mulch about to be delivered. You might not think this to be the makings of a wonderful day, but I do, for I took leave from work today. I quickly realized I would not be able to do massive yard projects like today's if I also had to juggle watching the Bode-man. Thus, Ashley took him to day-care, so I'm all alone (well, Auburn and Dudley are here with me). The silence in the house is a bit unnerving, and I do feel like I should be doing something...

I had this great picture to show everyone. You see, the other day, Ashley was doing some work around the house. She was also wearing some loose-fitting jeans and a short shirt. At one point, she was crouched on the ground, doing exactly what, I can't remember. A wonderful side-effect of this position was Ashley doing a great impression of a plumber i.e. the dreaded crack was on display. It's not very often Ashley does something unlady like, and seeing that our camera is always within an arm's reach, I surreptitiously snapped a couple photographs. As a surprise, I made the picture the background of our computer. I had it up on the screen when she came into the office. Her initial reaction? Well, there was no reaction, which sometimes is the worst reaction possible. She took one look at the screen, one look at me, and promptly turned around. No words were necessary. The look in her eyes said enough. She was not amused. Evidently, humor, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I removed the file and deleted all copies (as far as she knows). Perhaps one day when she develops a better sense of humor, it will be seen on the web (the year 2284 is the target date).

Fortunately, I do have some other pictures that may satiate your appetites this morning. First, we have the five bulls: Frank, David, Teddy, Bode, and me.Next, we have Bode and Auburn relaxing on the world's greatest blanket.Last, we have Bode and Mommy...it's a little blurry, but it's still cute.Well, the mulch truck is here, and it's certainly not going to spread itself. Maybe I could somehow attach a sled to Auburn...

Pleasant day to all.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

D*mn Kid

The past weekend was going so well. We had a great day yesterday (Saturday). Bode was in an extremely happy mood. He was smiling and laughing and making these strange bird-like sounds. He was calm and cute when we went shopping, and when we fed him (peaches), he didn't make that big of a mess. Things were just so utopian-like...until bedtime. We should have realized we were in for a long night when we put him down. Usually, he goes right to sleep. This time, five minutes after he went to bed, he was screaming. He's done this a couple times before, and it usually means we didn't get a good burp out of him. So I went into his room, burped him good, and he was, we thought, in dreamland. Come to find out, he was really in this temporary fake sleep because he cried at 12:30, 12:52, 3:20, 5:40, and then slept in to 7:10 am. Each time he cried was about a 10-minute ordeal in getting him calmed down and resting peacefully. We've no idea why he was crying either. He's continued to do this for almost 10 days now. Last night (Wednesday), he slept all the way through, so we are hoping he's starting to move out of this phase...

I must ask everyone to keep our sister-in-law, Kathy, in your thoughts. Last Monday, Kathy's father, Keith, died unexpectedly. Kathy immediately went home to Tennessee. Dave (Ashley's brother) and Teddy (their 2-year old son) were able to get fairly cheap flights to Dayton. Ashley's parents remained in Dayton and drove Dave and Teddy to Tennessee on Wednesday. It was nice to see Dave and Teddy, even under these painful circumstances. JoAnn and Frank were able to see both their grandkids together for the first time; if only the kids' fathers were better looking...
Bode got a new toy this past week. It's this little duck-chair; he's not big enough to sit on it properly, but if we put the chair on its side, it makes for a nice way to prop Bode up, as he really enjoys being able to see things other than the ceiling.
Here's a shot of Bode and Auburn; we put Bode on the bed while we are getting ready for work in the morning. Auburn is on the bed because after breakfast, she usually needs a nap. Often, Auburn is on the bed when we go to work and still there when we get home. Certainly the working dog category is a misnomer...
Bode has started rolling over regularly and he's eating real food twice a day--bananas, applesauce, prunes, sweet potatoes, and peaches have all been given the Bode stamp of approval...not that he has a very discriminating pallet. He's yet to refuse anything. Spring has definitely arrived in Ohio, with the all the flowers blooming and leaves returning to the trees. Bode loves walking (being carried) up and down our street. The neighbors are very sweet to him and he seems to enjoy the socializing.

This last picture is a cute shot of Bode with his Nana. Note the presence of the Auburn blanket. We can only assume Bode is dreaming of scoring touchdowns while wearing the orange and blue in Jordan-Hare...the year 2029 is a long ways off, but we're already starting his Heisman campaign :-)
Pleasant day to all.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Nothing But Pictures

We had a great week, so rather than bore you with nonsensical commentary, I'll simply post photographs with some minor comments that help to enhance your picture viewing experience.

First, last month, Ashley and Bode had some professional photographs taken to mark the little guy's 3-month anniversary. I was not able to join them, so the pictures turned out great :-) Hopefully I'll make it to the 6-month session. Below, we have the Bode-man holding hands with Mommy. It's hard to tell, but the little hands are Bode's while the bigger hands are Ashley's...
Next, we have Bode and his Mommy. Ashley was a little disappointed that Bode wasn't giving any of his BIG grins (obviously attributed to my absence), but at least he has some semblance of a smile.
When I got home, Ashley was telling me about the photo-shoot. She said on the way from the car to the studio, a sniper was shooting at them and they had to run for cover. A few days later, she said she may have misremembered and the sniper fire was actually a car back-firing. Interesting; maybe she should run for President.

This weekend, Nana and Grandpa (Ashley's parents) came for a visit. Before their arrival, Bode could hardly contain his anticipation.
When they did arrive, he was all smiles. First, we have Bode sitting in Granddad's lap.
Next, we have him sitting with Nana.
We started feeding him real food this week. His first meal was yesterday (Saturday) morning, and he ate about 10 little tastes of banana baby food. He loved it, and showed no ill-effects. He had some more this morning; tonight, we'll take him out for a steak dinner.

Bode was baptized this morning in church. I didn't bring our camera, but Nana and Granddad took some shots. When I get a copy of them, I'll post them. Plus, we're getting a DVD of the whole event, so I'll try to upload the relevant parts. That will require some editing on my part, so it might be awhile (aka don't hold your breath in anticipation). Bode did great--was quite pleasant throughout and didn't make a peep. His little feet twitched a little when the water was poured on his head, but he actually seemed to enjoy the attention. What's even better is the water didn't burn his skin, so we know he's not a vampire (that was keeping me up at night with worry :-)

Pleasant day to you all.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Same Ol Same Ol

This post may be short because Bode is at the end of a nap cycle; once he wakes up, it's time for a change, a feed, and then some needed work on his belly aka tummy time. He still hasn't rolled over, something I blame on the inferior Rankin genes that have no doubt corrupted his genome. Maybe in a few years advances in gene therapy will create a process where we will be able to identify these weak genes and replace them with the McGuirk line. Until then, Bode will just have to learn to adapt to these less-than-ideal abilities.

Random health tip: Drink water. Lots of water. You've probably heard this before. The honest truth is there are NO studies that show drinking lots of water is actually good for you. However, it is better than drinking a 64 oz Coke from the Quick Shop or a Double Mocha Latte from Starbucks. Substitute water for all your beverages (a glass of milk or sugar free juice is still ok) for one week, and you'll be surprised how much better you feel. And don't whine and say you need your coffee to wake up. If you are properly hydrated, you don't need the caffeine. Of course, if you've been drinking coffee every morning for years, you'll likely get a bad headache because you're addicted. It takes about a week to get rid of this withdrawal symptom, but it is worth it in the long run. Ok, sorry about the soapbox...I know you come to this website for more important things, like to hear me discuss the positives of the Libertarian party. To begin...what? You really only care about the Bode-man update? Fine. I'm off the box.

Nothing happened this week. Well, maybe I should correct that statement and say nothing of note happened this week. There were lots of little things that really only parents find interesting--Bode laughed a cute little giggle, he made some vocal sounds we'd never heard, and one night he ate five whole spoonfuls of rice cereal. Like I said, it's nothing to call CNN about, but these events certainly bring joy to us.

The little guy has become quite the little pig when he eats. He's taken on some of Auburn's personality in that he fiercely guards his food. When eating from a bottle, he likes to hold on with his little hands ("My Bottle," says Bode), and if you take it away before he's done, he let's you have it with both lungs.
The weather did warm up in Dayton this week. In fact, I was able to run outside twice. Once was for the USAF annual physical fitness test (I passed--that 1.5 mile run is a doosy), and the second time was for a 5K race on base. No, I did not win, although I did come in first in the category of males born on 1 June 1973. Today, the weather continued to be somewhat pleasant (nice really isn't the right word just yet; maybe next week), so we loaded the dude into his riding machine and went for a walk. Bode really didn't take advantage of the new scenery provided by the outdoors, as he promptly fell asleep as soon as the chair started moving. I'm not sure how he's able to sleep with his arms up, but it's something he's done ever since he was born.

This week, we have Bode's four-month checkup. He'll get some shots, get weighed, measured, and hopefully be given a clean bill of health. We bought some more Dr. Seuss to read to him, and our neighbors gave us two bags full of children's books. Right now, we could probably read the phone book to him and he wouldn't know the difference. We think he just likes the sound of our voices. But, as many parents have found out before us, you don't really get new books/toys for your child; you are getting them so you don't have to hear/play with the same things over and over again.
Pleasant day to all, and enjoy doing your taxes (if only there was a flat tax...)