TMI Tuesday: Wanting To Walk

Yep, our son has already master this position. 

For over two months now our son has expressed his desire to walk. As soon as we get him up and on his feet he starts taking steps. It really doesn’t matter where he is whether it be on the couch, the floor, or on a table in Cabela’s, he is always trying to get those darn legs to work. Sometimes he actually gets a little frustrated when things don’t go according to plan or if he is too tired and his legs don’t want to cooperate.

However, over the past couple of months he has gotten better. He is almost ready to support himself as there have been a number of occasions when I am barely supporting him as he stands there. Heck, he is even getting pretty good at doing squats. This kid is almost ready for boot camp (I am pretty sure he could achieve the minimum score on the ASVAB) if he could just make some more progress with his crawling.

While most kids are starting to explore the motions involved with crawling, our son wants nothing to do with them. He would much rather be on his back doing flutter kicks than on his belly shuffling across the floor. It is actually quite entertaining to watch and explains why he already has a baby six pack (note that this turns into a keg by the end of every meal… actually it is more like he wakes up with the six pack and goes to bed with a keg).

After a few minutes of kicking on his back he usually ends up pulling his feet toward his face with toes firmly in his grasp. You know what that means. That’s right, this is prime baby boom position and the rapid fire rocking usually produces a mighty breeze. With the kraken now released, the kicking resumes. At this point all you can do is try to keep yourself from falling off over in laughter.

It has actually taken some considerable effort to get him to be even remotely interested in the act of crawling and he is now finally getting comfortable on his stomach. This is a whole different round of entertainment these days as he pushes up with his arms and sticks his butt in the air but can’t seem to get his legs going at the same time. Maybe the joke is on us and he is actually practicing doing the worn. I guess we will have to find out.

TMI Tuesday: Baby Dents

A little moon topography... now this is a moonscape!

There have been a number of occasions, especially over the past year, when we would get a package in the mail only to find that it had been battered and dented while in transit to our doorstep. I have had to make countless calls because of this but it has usually been remedied by the time all is said and done. However, we did receive one gift this year that came to us a little dented but we didn’t care. Actually, it was completely normal.

Anyone who had seen a newborn knows what I am talking about. They come into this world a little oddly shaped and with a few dents in their head that make you wonder. Over time, things smooth out but some of the indents are slower to go away than others. So much so that a topographer might go insane trying to update the changing cranial landscape so frequently.

Every once in a while I still look at our son’s head and can’t help but thinking “that looks like it hurts.” I know if my head looked like that I would probably be drooling on myself and crapping my pants too. But it is all part of the developmental process and the thought quickly goes away. It is just odd to see little dents where his head is still forming. I like to think that his head has to work a little bit harder to make room for his huge brain… he is a smart little baby after all.

There are also other things that are still developing but slowly his muscles are displacing the insulation. Heck, daddy might not have a six pack but baby certainly does. It is actually surprising how strong that our son has become and how quickly his coordination is developing. It is a daily occurrence to find him doing different things and being able to better understand what is happening around him. It is sometimes hard to keep track but it is fun trying to keep up with him.  

But even with all of these things changing around him and the development progressing faster than anyone anticipated, those odd little dents in his head remain. He also remains in my eyes to be the perfect baby (I will enjoy this while it lasts). And while I have returned packages in the past with similar dents, our baby is perfect in his imperfections and there is no way I could even consider life without him.

TMI Tuesday: At Least It Hasn’t Hit The Fan

Yellow is the new white. 

Ever since we brought our son home from the hospital he has been pretty consistent at not doing one thing in his sleep… pooping. Of course, while there hasn’t been any mess there has been a fairly large amount of auditory pollution but that is a topic that I have already covered. But the simple, and kind of amazing, fact is that our son learned early on that it is not comfortable to sleep in your own poo. With that said, he does not abide by a rather famous saying… he does crap where he eats.

The eruption usually occurs late in the morning or early in the afternoon. The one commonality is that it happens either during or immediately after he has his bottle. Until recently there was little doubt when this happened at the colonic alarm would usually sound. However, recently our son has employed the sniper crap… you don’t realize what has happened until it is too late.

Because of these sneak attacks, there have been many casualties along the way. It is common for our son, like many babies his age, to wear a multitude of outfits during the day. While we have gotten pretty used to this routine there are occasions when we just have to take a step back, take a deep breath (not through our noses), and proceed with the usual hazmat procedures. Pretty astounding considering he is already wearing size four diapers.

And it never fails that the worst of these atomic tests occur outside of the house. Sometimes in the car and other times while we are eating in a restaurant (among other locations). Always concluding with a mischievous smirk. The latest occurred while having lunch on Saturday before we headed out looking for a new car. It was bad… it was the first time that we had to really clean the car seat.

In the end, his development and early habits are different than we could have ever anticipated. He is so far beyond where we ever expected him to be and I am excited to see how fast he continues to pick things up. Hopefully, this is a foreshadowing for an easy potty training but I am really not counting on that one. Until then we will just have to continue our vigilance when we sit down at a restaurant and hope that wind doesn’t carry the fall out across the dining room.

Prolonged Work Week

Spring is generally a busy time of year at the office. While the accounts remain steady, there are a variety of events and shows that take place in the Philadelphia area. Friday night was one of those events. While I had managed to stay away from the city earlier in the week, the final event was something that I could not avoid. So with the entire office heading into the city, we all cleared out and got on the road a little early to get together beforehand.

Well, that was the plan and I attempted to carry out that plan but ended up making the long trek through North Philadelphia via route 1 all the way over to the Wynnewood train station where I hoped on the R5 into the city. It is not a very long or complicated story, in fact it has happened a few times before, but I will save that for another post. In the end, I am glad that we all decided to leave a bit early because even with the long delay/detour I was still able to make it to the Comcast Center with a few minutes to spare.

The Philly Tech Week Signature Event is something that we attended last year so we expected the large crowd crammed into the lobby of the office building. While it can be challenging to get from one place to another, the interesting part of the night is stopping by all the booths to see what kinds of companies are there and the different technologies that are being developed. Scattered among the larger companies like Comcast and Microsoft are other, smaller, ventures that really puts the Philly tech scene in perspective.

There were companies present that offered a new way for businesses to track employee expenses, personal DNA testing kits (to test for illnesses), 3D printing companies making portraits of attendees, and brain training glasses designed to increase focus and performance. Of course, this is just a small sampling of the different people with whom I spoke. It was quite the variety and I am interested to see where all of these companies go over the next year.

With the music having gone silent and the bars closed, we all gathered near the door and went our separate ways for the overdue weekend. It was a long night and a long journey home but thankfully there was a lot to think about during that extended commute. If only things had gone so smoothly… but you will have to read more about that tomorrow.

An Unexpected Work Email

Soon after my son entered this world my wife and I were both on Facebook sending the first photos of his arrival and chatting with some family and friends about his early arrival. While on the social media site I also came across an interesting message from a company that I had not worked with for over three years. At my previous public relations firm I had led the account for this company and every now and again I would read the updates posted by the CEO and send a quick message here and there about where I was and what I was doing. However, this message was completely out of the blue.

The note was very simple requesting my email address so that he could have his head of PR get in touch with me. I didn’t give it a second thought and gladly sent him my work email. As day turned into night and other events clearly taking precedence in my mind, I had forgotten about the brief chat by the next morning. A couple of days later, having just woken up from a less than refreshing sleep in a hospital bed, I opened my work email and found a message which filled in a few of the missing pieces.

As it turns out, the company was once again looking to invest in public relation in the US and I was one whom the CEO thought of to get the process moving. Keep in mind that this was my favorite company and CEO to work with in the past but since that time I had little contact with him. It was flattering to say the least that he thought enough of me to circle back after such a long time.

When I first started working with this company they really were in the early stages of development and exposure. Over time we worked together to hit a number of milestones both in the size of the company and the funding that it had behind its continued development. Since I last worked with them they have increased in size by over 400% and all the things that we talked about in the past of wanting to do were now coming to fruition.

Since those email correspondences, I have spoken with the company over the phone and provided a little more background on what I am going now and the vast capabilities of my current company. We are moving forward in this exploratory process and I am hopeful that we will be able to work together as this is still a company that I am very excited about and I want to be a part of the growth and immense potential that it continues to possess. However, at the very least, I am happy that the CEO felt the same about me and that all the things that we discussed over three years ago are now a reality.

The Times They Are A Changing…

Hello... is it me your looking for? 

We are now getting to the point in the pregnancy when there is nothing that can really make my wife comfortable and, therefore, there is no way that I am going to be comfortable. Sleep is sporadic at best and the smallest amount of stress (completely unavoidable at this point) cause the occasional contraction. While that may be worrisome to many, we are at the point when this is a completely normal irregular thing to happen. It’s when they become regular that we have to considering hauling to the hospital.

We still have some things that we need to take care of around the house but, overall, everything seems to be under control. With that said, there seem to be things that will come about every other day that just throw all of our plans out the door (where they are stomped on and lit on fire). I guess that is just another way to prepare us for having a baby in our life… you really have to take things as they come once he arrives.

The doctor appointments are now every week with the mad rush out of the office becoming more and more difficult but still completely manageable. And so far, with the exception of a few times when we have had to wait a little longer than usual or reschedule due to weather, everything has checked out and our son is happy, healthy, and active to the point that even the nurses are surprised. The doctor actually considers our son’s development completely normal… I guess he shouldn’t get used to being described that way given the family around him.

It’s funny that many of the conversations that I’ve had with people they all expect me to be nervous and ‘not ready yet’ but, above all else, I am excited to see and hold our son. As each day passes the anticipation grows and the nerves subside ever so slightly. I don’t expect this to be easy but I am looking forward to his arrival probably more than anything else that I have waited for in my life.

I wish that was the only thing that was going on in our lives right now but nothing in life is ever easy no matter how smoothly things may seem to be progressing at times. We have to take the bad with the good no matter how hard it is to handle. With everything that surrounds us and occupies our days, I can’t wait for that moment when I can hold our baby and forget about everything else that is going on in the world (even if he decides to poop on me).

Firearms Friday: Army Sidearm Competition

Every once in a while, the United States Army makes it known that they are opening up competition to see if the current designs and technology are what they are looking for to replace the Beretta M9. Essentially, every time the Beretta contract begins winding down, there is new talk as to what will be the next sidearm issued to soldiers in the Army. While talks are frequent, it doesn’t mean that a change will be made as since 1911 the Army has only had 2 pistols, the aforementioned M9 adopted in 1985 and the M1911A1 adopted in 1911.

There are numerous factors that will be considered this time around that weren’t really part of the equation 30 years ago. Polymer frames have become an industry standard and preferred material for modern shooters, modularity is both readily available and cost effective as modern materials make for the faster and easier production of such parts, and manufacturing costs have gone down considerably with the advent of new processes and materials.

So what criteria will hold over from the last trial?

While there are some forces that prefer the larger .45ACP round, the Army is still set on issuing 9mm NATO rounds which provide greater round count, better recoil management, and less wear and tear on firearms in comparison to higher pressure rounds such as .40 S&W and .357 Sig. Parts interchangeability will be essential as servicing the sidearm will require readily available and standard sized parts… they want the armorer to be able to drop in a new barrel rather than have to fit it to the individual gun. Cost will be a major consideration as well especially given the history of Sig Sauer previously falling short to Beretta based on this criteria. Also, all firearms must be manufactured in the US.

Of course, the biggest requirements of them all are durability and combat accuracy. As was outlined in a recent Guns America article on the subject:

Whichever guns get entered will have to average 2,000 rounds between stoppages. The guns will have to run an average of 10,000 rounds before a true failure. And the guns will need a service life of 35,000 rounds. They will need to put 90% of rounds within a 4″ circle at 50 meters, which breaks down to about 7MOA. And they’ll need to be able to handle hot loads (at least 20% over SAAMI specs for their caliber).

While there are hundreds of potential participants, and even more opinions in the community as to what should be selected, there will no doubt be designs that we have seen previously and ones that will be a complete surprise. Those mystery entries are what is going to really make this competition interesting as there are always designs or features that will be developed for this competition that will eventually make it to the civilian market. I guess, in the end, the real question is how the previous finalists will fair against newer and younger competition?

A Long Baby Appointment

Here is your obligatory baby photo for this post (old picture from 20 weeks).

For the past several months we have been seeing the doctor every four weeks to check in and make sure our son is on schedule. Last night was the last appointment in that particular schedule as we will now be heading to the doctor every two or three weeks until our son’s birthday. Thankfully, everything has checked out so far and he is developing close to what the doctor expects (he is actually a week ahead of schedule at this point).

However, while the baby is progressing as planned, the doctor was running late last night… very late. We both made our way to the office a little quicker than expected and checked in at the front desk about twenty five minutes early. Once a couple of seats opened up in the waiting room we settled in for the duration as given the mass of people in the office we knew there was no way that they would be running on time. Our appointment time came and went with little expectation as to when we would be seen.

Jeopardy kept us occupied for a little while but our patience began slowly degrading as Wheel of Fortune gradually killed our brain cells. By the time that show ended there were still a few of us fidgeting in the waiting room and what little patience was left quickly vanished once Dancing With The Stars came on. Honestly, I don’t know how people can watch that show. Fortunately, it wasn’t long after the dancing started when we heard my wife’s name being called and we moved as fast as we could to the examining room.

This change in scenery was met with more waiting as we could hear the doctor and nurses scurrying up and down the hallways like mice trying to escape from a trash can. This was accompanied by the sounds of heartbeats from the adjacent rooms. It was nearly 8:30 when the doctor finally opened the door, listened to the heart rate, took the usual measurements, and answered the couple of questions that we had for her. We discussed the net appointment and were on our way out having waited over two hours for a ten minute appointment.

It was a long night that followed a long day but it was well worth the wait as we were able to once again hear our son and watch him as he kicked wondering why he was being poked and prodded. Like many nights, that is what grounds us. But we also learned the important lesson to never again make a doctor appointment the week of Thanksgiving… I think even the baby was not happy about having to sit in the waiting room so long.

It’s A…

Samantha and I pulled into the parking lot of Paoli Hospital a little later than we were expecting. It wasn’t a matter of choice as traffic was particularly bad this past week. We were both particularly eager to get into the building and excited to start see our baby again. After all, this was the ultrasound appointment that everyone has been asking about in one way or another and we had been waiting for this appointment for some time. Of course, the day finally came and we both got held up before leaving for the hospital and slowed down on our way there. That seems to be the case for many of our appointments.

Thankfully, the office was very understanding when we called to let us know of our delay and they greeted us warmly upon seeing us walk up to the front desk. It wasn’t long before we were sitting in front of the ultrasound monitor seeing our child kicking and punching the crap out of Mommy. While it was a little odd for me to watch it was even stranger for my wife as she could both see and feel the baby hit her stomach.

We sat there in awe of our child as measurement after measurement was taken and they checked the development. We watched the screen as image after image was captured and they confirmed the health and development time and again. Everything was progressing as it should when we heard a little chuckle from behind the screen. This was quickly followed with the question of whether we wanted to know the sex.

As it turns out, our baby passed the winkie test.

Our little baby boy, my son, is happy and healthy. He is an active little baby a day ahead of schedule. While I would have been happy no matter the sex of our child, knowing that we are having a boy did bring me a sense of relief. I would have loved our child no matter what but I know what it is like to be a little boy and I am looking forward to every moment that I can share that experience with my son. I have a feeling that my wife would have felt the same way if we had found out it was a girl.

Everything suddenly became a little more real in that moment. We will soon have a son. I will soon have a little boy who will carry on the family name. I am more nervous than I ever thought I would be but I think I am now ready to be a father. As an added bonus, my sister now owes me five dollars!