September 19th, 2009
Yesterday I was able to get a before and after iPhone shot of the baby…
 A quick minute with Dad before departing for work.  Just arriving home from work. The iPhone (which she loves!) threw her off a bit - normally she's much more excited about my arrival. I promise  . Yesterday evening we had some friends over for dinner. It was the first time we’ve seen them in quite a while with the baby being sick the past few weeks. Apparently, Friday is not a good night to have people over for dinner. Just about everybody was falling asleep by 10:30.
Back in the day, a few months before the baby arrived, we’d make it until at least 12:30 or 1:00, playing Rock Band and everything. It made me feel better that everybody else was tired, too. Maybe it’s not directly related to having a 10 month old!
It’s a good thing we packed it in early last night. Courtney was up at 7:30, which is a generous wake time, but still too early for a Saturday as far as I’m concerned. We all got up and had a pretty mellow morning hanging out playing on the floor. But eventually Courtney got tired…
 I'll figure this book thing out sooner or later.  I think we'll have to make that much later. Maybe I'll just put my head down for a moment. Once we put her down for a nap Karen locked me in the garage until it was less unruly. After three and a half hours of hanging shelves and moving things around, I’m not really sure I made all that much progress. We really need a dumpster delivered so we can get rid of some crap. At least I can make it to the driver side of my car now without opening the garage door first.
Then we spent a little time reaching new heights.
 Look how high I can reach now! On to the main excitement of the day. Since we didn’t have any other offers, Karen came up with the great idea to visit our favorite Colombian restaurant. We love this place just off the Marrietta Square called Kiosco. It’s a tiny little restaurant that has maybe eight tables in the whole place. They have some authentic Colombian dishes and the people who own and operate it are super nice.
We would go more often, but it’s a solid 20 minute drive on the highway without traffic. And since we live in Atlanta, there’s almost always traffic on the highway. It hadn’t really occurred to me that we haven’t been there since before Courtney was born. So at least 10 months!
Since it’s rained ALL week and the watery stuff (we do live in a city so not sure it’s all water) continues to fall, the restaurant was pretty empty. At one point we were the only people in the restaurant. So I found it a little odd that a lady showed up with her guitar and started singing Colombian music. At least, I assume it was Colombian. It could have just been Latino music since my Spanish is so incredibly poor. Either way, it turns out that it’s Courtney’s first exposure to live music. And she seemed to really enjoy the show. It didn’t hurt that she was singing right next to our table and, as such, basically singing straight to Courtney.
 Courtney's first live entertainer - aside from Mom or Dad. The restaurant owner and the singer both asked what Courtney’s name is. Knowing my audience, I included her middle name. “Courtney Cecilia” I said. I’m pretty sure they never heard Courtney and immediately began referring to her as “Ceci.” Courtney’s Great Grandmother, Cecilia, is from Colombia so I guess it’s a bigger name down that way.
Courtney ate an incredible amount of food! She may have even eaten more than I did, and I was stuffed. She really liked the beef empanada, as well as the chicken, the fried plantains, and various other vegetables from our plates. And that was all in addition to the carrots, peas, beans, cheese, cheerios, etc. that we brought with us. So it appears the Colombian lineage is strong.
Because we have the most adorable little girl in the whole world (she was her normal social self), everybody who was in the restaurant during our visit was engaged at one point or another. It was certainly the most family oriented dinner outing we’ve had with Courtney. Very casual and very friendly.
We had such a nice evening at Kiosco that we’ve vowed to try and make it much more frequently.
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September 17th, 2009
During the week it’s hit or miss how much I get to see Courtney. Two days ago I got home late and JUST made it to see her for about five minutes before lights out for bed (Karen did the bath and was just finishing up book time). The next morning she wasn’t up yet before I left for work  .
This evening when I got home we were able to play on the floor for about 45 minutes. I miss a few days of good play time and it’s amazing how different she is. I know I’ve said it before, but it still just amazes me. Today she was putting smaller blocks and such into a box and carrying the box around. Just a few weeks ago the best thing going was picking up a single item and gnawing on it.
I picked her up and put her on her feet and she stood there rubbing her eyes, and for a good bit. I think the eye rubbing distracted her from the fact that she was standing there on her own. Once she finally realized it she squatted down to her butt. She’s just gotta be close to taking that first step!
 Standing there shaking her toy.  Last bit of play time before bath. From my limited perspective she seems to be almost completely back to her awesome, happy self. She really is so friggin cute!
I’m very happy tomorrow is Friday – it’s been a pretty long week at work! We’re having some people over for dinner and it’ll be the first time in a very long time. I feel like we haven’t seen any of our friends in forever. And since it’s at our house we can put Courtney down at her normal time and enjoy the company. Of course, it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop raining anytime soon. I just hope it doesn’t put a damper on things, so to speak.
Happy almost Friday.
Posted in Growing, Work in the Way | No Comments »
September 15th, 2009
I’m really sad at how fast the days are becoming shorter and shorter. At least, from a daylight perspective. My work days certainly aren’t getting any shorter!
My little girl really started to become more interactive in the Spring when the days were trending longer and longer. So a few times a week after I get home from work we’ll take a walk out by the pool and sit down for a bit. She’s surprisingly still when we sit out there. I suppose it has something to do with all of the exciting things to look at out there. Squirrels and chipmunks running all over the place, birds flying around, and all of the trees blowing in the wind (and dumping crap in the pool!).
Earlier in the Summer, Karen’s parents got us a “sporty” chair to put by the pool. It doesn’t exactly go with the Pottery Barn decor, but it’s a comfortable chair and Courtney really LOVES it. She’ll crawl around on my lap from one side to the other pulling herself up on the arms and back. She’s fascinated by all of the screws and ski parts that comprise the chair. And the chair has a pleasant woody smell to it.
 Hi Mama. We're just enjoying some quiet time by the pool. Anyway, I’m quite sad that our time by the pool in the evenings is coming to an end for a rather long time from her perspective. Sure, she won’t remember to miss it, but I will. So yet another reason to dislike the end of Summer.
And just when she was getting all excited about The Big Green Egg!
 I know it's football season and I'm ready for some grillin!
Posted in Pool, Summer | 2 Comments »
September 14th, 2009
I’ve been saying that ANY DAY now Courtney is going to walk… for quite a long time. She can stand on her own and pulls up on everything. In fact, she seems to be happiest when she’s standing while she plays. And she can really move around all over the place behind this little cart.
 Look at me "walk" all over the place!  Yes, I'm really just mocking you, Dad. But alas, no walking. Yet. I’m not one of those pressure dads. I’ll be happy whenever it is her first step arrives. I’d just like to be there when it happens, so I’m hoping she’ll do it on a weekend. I am a little disappointed in my prognosticating skills though.
This evening, while I was sitting on the floor with her after work, she placed a ring on the ring holder toy thingy. She did it a couple of times, but of course by the time I got my iPhone ready she had pretty much moved on. I was able to get one feeble attempt below. I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it! She’s definitely spending more time trying to figure things out. It’s moments like this that make it so darn cool!
 Yeah, I can put a ring on a thingy. I may have missed on this particular attempt, but I've got skilz! I have to say that whoever came up with the bowl that suctions itself to the table is pure genius! And, of course, my wife is pure genius for finding such an incredibly useful and cool thing. This is the first time I’ve seen her feed herself from anything other than her highchair tray. Good stuff.
 mmmm, Cheerios.  I can even do some double fisted eating action! It’s quite amazing at how quickly she continues to evolve. She really is a little miracle.
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September 12th, 2009
We made another trip to the pediatrician’s office today for another round of needles. But her blood work looks better and her fever is down. In the span of 24 hours, girl had a shot in her left thigh, a shot in her right thigh, her finger pricked, her toe pricked, a first attempt to draw blood from her left arm (which included repositioning several times once stuck), and a second attempt to draw blood. And a chest x-ray that wasn’t particularly enjoyable for her.
Aside from the rather distressful doctor visit, as you can see the day was fairly uneventful…
 You can tell from the blur there's a reason you shouldn't stand on the wrong side of the push cart.  Pediatrician taking more blood. This time from the toe. Ouch!  After doctor visit, playing with her stacking cups.  More fun with stacking cups.  With the lack of attention since the baby showed up, Hunter spends much of his time lounging. At least when Courtney isn't eating!  Courtney pretty happy even after her crappy couple of weeks.
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September 11th, 2009
Today while I was at work wrapping up a meeting my wife calls me. Normally I would have called her back, but there were a couple of side conversations going so I quietly answered it. Turns out that little girl had a fever of 103.6. Now, I don’t know a whole lot about the ins and outs of baby health, but I know enough to know that anything approaching 104 is not cool at all (pun intended).
Since it was lunchtime, and Karen sounded pretty distressed, I drove home to see if I could help stand around and look concerned. Karen had arranged an appointment with the pediatrician at 1:45, so I was pretty much just going home to see if there was anything I could help with until then.
Courtney felt like a hot potato as I held her while Karen took a shower and got ready for the doctor visit. I headed back to work when they departed for the doctor appointment.
A while later I got a text message from Karen telling me to pack up and meet her at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital. It’s not really the sort of message you want to get, ever. It turns out that her white blood cell count was over 20,000 and the pediatrician wanted to get some tests run over at the hospital. Apparently, this is a different illness than what she started with 10 days ago.
I have to say that it’s a really horrible experience watching your little girl get blood drawn. To make matters worse, the nurse had a difficult time finding a vein. The first needle had no luck finding blood even though she repositioned it several times after it had already pierced the skin (OUCH!). She looked for a vein in the other arm and couldn’t find any so went back to the first arm. Luckily, the second needle provided what they needed.
 The vampire is evil After the hospital, Karen took Courtney back over to the pediatrician’s for a shot of antibiotics. We won’t know what the tests yielded until tomorrow during our followup visit at the pediatrician. So we’ll keep our fingers crossed for good news.
Our little girl is such an incredible angel, that even while she’s sick she sat very quietly for several hours waiting for the tests to begin. She really is the cutest baby ever!
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September 10th, 2009
It’s taken a while, but football is finally back! As you can see, my little girl has been practicing and is ready. Perhaps we’ll have to break the rule about no TV until two years old on occasion.
 Did somebody say football? I'll get the beer!  I'm ready!  Touchdown! Actually, I’m really not all that into football, but with football comes lots more social events. So I am looking forward to all of the BBQs and whatnot. It’ll be interesting to see how our invitations change from last year now that we have a 9 month old. Will we spend a lot of time with our old friends like last season, or will we have to hope for invitations from some of our new parent friends? Either way, I’m sure we’ll be firing up the Big Green Egg several times so maybe we’ll end up with a more interesting mix of people.
Fantasy football is really the driving force behind the little interest I do have. But my interest is unlike most people. I don’t really root for one team, but rather individual players. And sometimes those players will conflict during certain match-ups. Like when I have the running back and my fantasy opponent has the wide receiver on the same team. I want the team to score just like my opponent, but they better run it into the end zone! I’m pretty into it when it comes down to Monday night football and we’re only a few points apart and both have players playing. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how staying up late on Monday night is going to go this year. I already go to bed too late, especially since Courtney is trending toward an earlier wake time.
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September 9th, 2009
Up until about 18 months ago, I was pretty sure that I would make it through life without ever experiencing a diaper change, let alone actually performing one. But I’m sort of a modern man in at least some respects. I believe in taking an active role in our daughter’s life and sharing the workload when I’m around. So here I am after 9 months of pregnancy and anticipation, and 9 months of truly incredible time getting to know our little girl, and Lord only knows how many diaper changes under my belt. I had almost considered myself somewhat of an expert. Until now.
We’ve had a few very minor rashes along our journey. But a little dab of Bubba’s Butt Paste or the like would clear it right up. I even began to believe that all this talk about diaper rashes from people was just a bunch of embellished stories. Not unlike the “record” fish that jumped off the line just before entering the boat. Now I understand.
I do the nighttime routine – bath, books and bed. So the other day when I was getting her out of her clothes for bath I was a bit taken aback by what has scarred my retinas. She was clearly not very happy about any sort of diaper change. And I can’t blame her. Nothing but blistering red everywhere! My poor little girl looked miserable!
Now, keeping in mind that I grew up in the South (feel free to add whatever accent you’re thinking about), let me just say that I don’t know nothing about no vajajays! I knew I was out matched on this one and called in the big guns – MAMA COME QUICK! Thank goodness my wife handles things like this so well. I would have been at the ER without any assistance.
BTW, I don’t have a southern accent at all, so don’t you feel silly for using it! Actually, I’ve been accused of being from Canada more often than not. Which I find rather odd, eh.
Now that it’s been a couple of days and my wife has polled Facebook and all kinds of other places, we’ve implemented a few remedies and she’s definitely on the mend. We tried the various butt pastes with added cornstarch and we weren’t making much headway. Then today Karen tried Lotrimin and things would appear to be improving markedly. I could see a big difference in just a day, and my retinas are thankful.
After a week of being sick with her first cold and the follow-on diaper rash, my little girl could certainly use a break! So with any luck tomorrow she’ll be completely perfect again and ready to keep winning hearts of everybody she encounters.
Posted in Illness | 3 Comments »
September 7th, 2009
Bummer. Why is it that long weekends always seem so, um, not long? I’m always sad the day before going back to work. At least tomorrow I’ll start the week with 20% behind me.
Our little girl was sick all last week and not quite back to normal all weekend. And I started getting sick Friday and have been sick all weekend. Mother Nature threw out nothing but clouds Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say, the last big weekend of the Summer was less than exciting.
At least today The Weather Channel, which is actually located here in Atlanta, got the forecast wrong again (shocker!) and instead of “mostly cloudy” we got nothing but blue sky. I took the morning shift with the baby (up at 6:30!) and earned a little time sitting by the pool absorbing some vitamin D. And during the afternoon nap, Karen even came out and joined me. All Summer Karen hardly goes in the pool at all, but now that it’s much cooler she decides to take a swim. I have to say, it seemed much colder than the thermometer indicated. Allegedly, the water was about 79 degrees, but I have to tell you, getting the buddies below the waterline was a challenge. Maybe it was just because the Sun made it so hot.
This morning when I let the dogs out I was sad to feel the coolness in the air. My wife is SO excited that Fall is in the air, but to me it just means we’re only days away from the pool becoming nothing more than a hassle, with no other benefit than catching leaves from the trees on three sides. I swore that this was going to be the year we get a cover for the pool, but here it is September and I haven’t even looked into it. I’ll be fishing leaves out twice a day before I know it.
I wonder how old a child has to be before then can efficiently pull leaves out of a pool? Since we don’t have any coal mines nearby, she’s gotta find some way to pay her way!
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September 5th, 2009
It would appear that we’re on the cusp of getting our precious little angel back. Today is the first day this week where she wasn’t just absolutely pitiful with her cold. She played and smiled and was generally back to her very engaging self. There was only one hiccup. She coughed a lot last night, so I don’t think she slept very well. It showed around lunchtime when she was extremely cranky. After a good hour and a half of solid nap time though she was happy happy.
We’re hoping for a really good night of sleep for her tonight. With any luck, she’ll wake up and resume her role of the happiest baby ever! She didn’t even cry when I put her down in the crib for nighty night. She’s pretty much screamed every time since we got back from our vacation to New Hampshire a few weeks ago. So a nice mellow transition to bed is a welcome return.
I at least got to leave the house all week for work, but my wife has been pretty much stuck here all week waiting for girl to get better. I like to get out of the house at least once a week for dinner, so even I’m starting to get excited about the prospect of getting out of the house as a family. If nothing else, it’d be nice to take advantage just a little bit of the long weekend to have some fun outside of the living room. Now, if only the weather would cooperate and turn nice and sunny!
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