Bode Eating

By popular demand, here is the footage of Bode eating...more people demanded this than voted on American Idol. Enjoy (but, as you'll see, it's quite boring...)


Pleasant evening to all.

Post Memorial Day Blues

Well, Memorial Day Weekend has come and gone, and I think we spent the entire weekend eating. Well, maybe not the entire weekend, but we certainly strapped on the feed sack more than your average bear. Friday night, we went out to dinner. Buffalo Wild Wings has become one of our favorite restaurants. Certainly not because of the fine cuisine (although the wings are tasty); rather, there is a lot of ambient noise (tv's, people talking, etc.) and a lot of things to watch. Bode is enthralled by all that is going on, so he's quite well-behaved. However, sensory overload does take its toll and he's usually asleep by the time we finish eating. Saturday, Bode got us up early (before 0700; I remember when early meant before noon...yes, I'm getting old). Ashley and I took turns watching Bode and tried to catch up on the household chores (laundry, cleaning, mowing, etc...don't you wish you had this much fun on your weekends?) Auburn got into the spirit and "helped" me wash the comforter for our bed. Evidently a dog washes something by laying her big stinky body on it.

Fortunately, we didn't clean all day. At noon, we went to some friends house (Jen and Coy) for a little barbecue, which was very nice and relaxing. Coy was kind enough to let me play with his Wii (two years ago, that statement would have a vastly different meaning). He whupped me a number of times in some fighting game, and then destroyed me in this puzzle solving contest. I miss Pong...Saturday night we stayed at home, digested the food, and we each read a book. Ashley is reading Stephen King's Duma Key. When she first started, I ask her how it was. She said, "Ok, I don't know if I can get into it." I guess the action picked up because every time I turn around, Ashley is reading, many times with Bode zonked out on her lap. I finished reading Revelation, which is Book Eight in the Legacy of the Force series, a set of nine books in which Jacen Solo (Han and Leia's son--do I have to tell you people everything?) turns to the dark side and takes over the galaxy. It kind of feels like three books stretched out into nine (money grab?), so let's just say that I'm glad I only have one more to read. Below is a picture of my Star Wars book collection. I have 73 in all, which just means everyone now has 73 more reasons to come visit us in Dayton...or you could look at it another way and say you have 73 pieces of evidence documenting my loser-hood :-)Sunday, Ashley was nice enough to watch Bode while I went for a bike ride with a friend (Clay). I think Ashley just wanted some alone time to read her book. Clay and I rode 22 miles, which isn't really a whole lot, but for the first time back in the saddle all year, it was enough of a work out for me. I think we'll go again on Saturday. Ashley might join us because we're talking about getting a carrier to attach to our bikes so we could take Bode. I'm not looking forward to hauling that extra weight around, but, as Ashley pointed out, I can always use the extra exercise. Bode has also been "working out." We bought him an "exersaucer," which is a contraption which helps him stand up. He seems to enjoy banging and pulling on the toys.
The exersaucer must make Bode hungry because the kid ate a side of beef this past weekend. He's literally eating every 2-3 hours. Here is what he ate on Sunday. 0700: 7 oz milk (breakfast). 0900: 4 oz rice cereal and 3.5 oz Gerber pears (2nd breakfast). 1115: 7 oz milk (brunch). 1400: 3.5 oz Gerber sweet potatoes and 3.5 oz Gerber bananas (midafternoon snack). 1630: 6 oz milk (presupper). 1830: 3.5 oz Gerber mixed vegetables and 2.5 oz Gerber apple sauce (supper). 2030: 7 oz milk (bedtime snack). The dude is a little pig. I took a movie of him eating. The footage is actually quite boring and won't be winning any awards; I'll post it at a later date if I'm desperate for material. I guess we should be happy that he's a good eater. A lot of times, we can't get the spoon to his mouth fast enough; if we are dawdling, his little legs will start kicking, as if to say, "Hurry up, man, I'm starving!"

Monday was a trip to some friends' house (Clay and Sue) for more food. Clay introduced us to the world's greatest appetizer: bacon. Yes, bacon as an appetizer. Who would have thought. Of course, I guess you can serve bacon at any time and it would be welcome. I'm surprised there isn't a bacon-flavored Gatorade to quench that thirst after a long run on a hot day. We had a nice visit at Clay and Sue's, and sadly, the day came to an end. We spent Monday night at home, the five of us just resting in the family room discussing our busy week ahead: Wednesday morning, family pictures; Wednesday afternoon, meet with daycare to discuss Bode's "promotion" to the 6-12 month old room; Thursday morning, Bode's 6-month checkup; Friday morning, Jeff's 35-year checkup (yikes). I guess we'll have to figure out how to work somewhere in between. But until then, we all can catch up on our sleep.
Pleasant 4-day week to you all.

A quick movie

Ok, I'll add to this post later, but we just had to post this. We figured out that our incredibly advanced digital camera (circa 2003) will take digital movies. Below is a great little clip of Mommy tickling Bode. Probably not the most exciting footage, but for a parent, this clip is priceless.

I'll write more later about our week...maybe I'll be able to squeeze in a couple paragraphs over Memorial Day weekend about the mad, frenzied life we lead!

Our Son

Right after Ashley and I got married, we went through that funny phase most people go through when referring to each other. No, I'm not talking about cute little nicknames. Rather, it was simply strange to say, "This is my wife, Ashley," or "I'm meeting my wife for lunch." After a certain amount of time, the novelty wears off and changes are necessary to keep it fresh. If I'm feeling funny, I'll introduce Ashley as my first wife which is an entirely true statements albeit a little odd-sounding. Once I introduced Ashley as, "My chef and personal assistant," which she really didn't like. I offered to change it to "My chef and executive assistant," but she still found this to be a bit unflattering. Anyways, we are going through the same type of things with Bode aka our son. The other day, a meeting was ending and I was hurrying out the door. "Jeff, what's the rush?" "Oh, I have to get my son at day care." I smiled to myself after I said this because the statement had come so naturally, almost like Ashley and I are used to having this little bundle of joy, which is quite scary considering a year and a half ago Ashley was lamenting about her inability to keep plants alive in the house.

We had a nice week; nothing exciting, although I did run a PR in a 10k run on Tuesday. Didn't quite come close to the world record (26:40 something), but I thought I did pretty good for a guy that's about to turn 35 (yikes). We're fixing to take Bode to the golf course today. We're not going to play; we simply want to hit some golf balls, and the weather is sort of cooperating.

Now for the pictures. First, father and son hanging out on the couch.
We're thinking Bode looks like he's trying to figure out this crawling thing. We thought we'd hang his favorite toy just out of reach, and see if he could figure out how to get there. His little legs churn a bit, but it's kind of like watching a car in the mud: lots of action--legs flailing and arms wailing--but no motion. He does seem to enjoy it...for a little while...
We next have shots of Bode sitting up. He can't get to this position on his own, but he can stay there for about a minute or so, depending on how well he's balanced. And note how he's sitting. I figure he must have seen me sitting EXACTLY like he is because I regularly sit with my legs straight with the palms of my hands touching the heels of my feet (I of course, am kidding because if I tried to do this, my hamstrings would snap like overstretched rubber bands). I'm amazed how flexible Bode is...Finally, Bode and Auburn staking out their turf on the living room floor. He's starting to "pet" Auburn. It's more like tapping the dog, but he's actually gentle when he does it. We'll see if this continues as he gets older.Pleasant day to all.

Mommy's Day

Today is Mother's Day, and being that it was Ashley's first with a son, I wanted to make it extra special. Therefore, I thought Ashley would enjoy doing all the things traditional mothers had done. I piled all my dirty laundry on the floor and set the alarm clock for 0530. When it went off, I shoved Ashley out of bed and said, "Happy Mother's Day, Dear. My laundry needs to be done, the house is a mess, and Bode probably needs to be changed. Hopefully you can get all that done by 0800 because that's when I want my breakfast; nothing fancy, just two eggs, over-easy, a side of bacon, crisp but not burnt, and some cheese grits." Evidently I really misunderstood the meaning of Mother's Day...

We had a beautiful day in Dayton on Saturday. Warm sunshine, no clouds, no wind, no rain. We did some errands in the morning and in the afternoon, we walked to the store. Bode enjoyed the ride and we enjoyed not using any gas; at $3.79 a gallon, walking/riding a bike is the mode of transportation of choice. Today, the weather has been nothing but rain. It's not a constant downpour, but we've had intermittent heavy showers since early this morning. Temps are very cool--I'm wearing jeans and a sweat-shirt, which is anathema for the middle of May. The weather put a "damper" on our plans to go hit golf balls, so today has been rather dull. We did some house work, bought groceries, and went to a Mother's Day lunch at the sandwich shop. While eating, I broached a topic I thought was rather serious and has been keeping me up at night. You see, I don't know in what order to show Bode the Star Wars movies. I think he should see the original trilogy first followed by the prequels, just as I and the rest of Star Wars nation saw them. Ashley, and I could tell from the get-go she wasn't taking this conversation seriously, stated it's called Episode 1 for a reason, and then proceeded to make fun of me. I guess I'm undecided about this issue. I do have some time to mull this over, as he probably won't see the films until he's 8 or 9 years old, as he needs to have the proper mental capacity to fully understand all that is going on.

Not too many pictures from this week. First, we have Bode and his doggie...
Next, we have Bode and his Daddy...Finally, we have a great picture of Bode and Mommy on their first Mother's Day.
Pleasant Day to all.

Mother May I?

Hopefully you all had a good weekend. We had great fun...for some of the time. First, you may ask why am I writing this on a Monday. We are having the air conditioner's annual equipment checkup today, and my appointment window is 1 - 5 pm. So here I sit at home, awaiting the arrival of the HVAC technician. There is nothing really wrong with the AC unit--it was making an odd clicking sound, and since temperatures are starting to rise, we figured servicing it now might save us some pain during the middle of summer. It'd be nice if the tech gets here sooner rather than later...

We went to the zoo on Saturday. I forgot the camera, so we don't have any pictures; I blame Ashley because it is her job to keep me from doing stupid things. I guess we'll just have to go back. Maybe we'll wait until Bode is a little older and can better appreciate the things he is seeing. He seemed a bit too interested in things non-zoo related--the trash cans, the fascinating umbrella Mommy was holding, and the enigma of his own hand and how his fingers move. However, just getting out of the house was worth the hour drive, and after the rain stopped, it was a beautiful day. Ashley and I enjoyed seeing the animals--lions, tigers and bears, oh my, not to mention some rhinos, gorillas, elephants, and the reptile house (which I hated--those creatures give me the willies; Bode will be disowned if he decides on a career in herpetology).

An interesting thought occurred to me this weekend. I was watching the men's collegiate volleyball championship on TV. I think Penn State won...at least the Big 10 can win at something :-) Anyways, the men's uniform is a standard shirt and shorts that come down to just above the knee. It's a typical outfit any guy would wear at the gym. This begs the question: why do women volleyball players wear the bun-huggers? What is so different about the women's game that requires such shorter shorts? Do the short-shorts let them jump higher? Better mobility? I wish someone would tell me. I could find out if only I knew how to work the google on the internet machine...(taken from Blades of Glory)

Bode is teething. Poor little guy. Yesterday was really bad because he was crying and crying. And it was a different cry than we're used to hearing. It certainly wasn't the, "Hey, how about some food?" cry, nor was it the "I'd like to be held," whimper. This was a whailing, screaming cry with tears due to the pain and discomfort. He'd take his little hands and grab at his mouth and pull on his gums and gnaw on his fingers. The dude was hurting, and there wasn't much we could do to appease him. Ashley would try to rub his gums (you can feel a little tooth up top) and I would take him outside to try to get his mind off it. Sometimes, he'd settle down and be his normal happy self...until something would set the pain off and he'd start crying again. Fortunately, he hasn't really refused food, and we did give him some Tylenol last night. After some initial fussiness, he fell asleep and slept through the night. This morning, he seemed fine, so we're hoping he's ok at day care. We can't believe he's teething already. Who gave Bode permission to grow up so fast?

Fortunately, we do have some good pictures. First, here are a couple shots from feeding time. Bode loves the Gerber bananas; he's also had carrots, peas, peaches, pears, apple sauce, and prunes. He hasn't really rejected anything, but he doesn't seem as enthusiastic about the peas...just like his Mommy.

He's not yet the neatest of eaters. He still needs a good washing when he's done, but he doesn't whack the spoon near as often with his hands as he used to...
Next we have Bode doing his impression of a cowboy, except in his little world, cowboys ride stuffed dinosaurs.Every day after work, we take Auburn for a walk. Bode is still small enough to squeeze into the Baby-Bjorn carrier. He loves it. He also loves seeing the baby in the mirror; not quite sure if he knows it's himself that he's seeing.Finally, we conclude with a picture of Bode and Dudley; as you can see, Bode has just about surpassed Dudley in terms of size.Happy May and Pleasant Day.