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.

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.

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.

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.

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...)