Tuesday, December 06, 2005

And baby makes four

First things first. Even though the blog updates have been AWOL, we've managed to keep the photo pages updated in a reasonable manner.



Annabelle Marie was born on November 21st, and weighed 9 pounds, 1 ounce. At her two-week checkup yesterday, she weighed in at 9 pounds, 6 ounces, which is a good healthy gain for a little squirt, especially after losing about 10 ounces initially. We're still auditioning "Chili Bean" for her, but that may be more of a literary name for the blog. In actual conversation, she's been known as Peanut.

We had plenty of company to help us celebrate Anna's arrival, and Thansgiving dinner.

A friend recommended a photographer to Stacy, and so she arranged for Jack and Annabelle to have their pictures taken. The photographer came to our house with her equipment, and did a really good job. The results speak for themselves, I think.

Jack has been pretty excited to have a new sister around the house. He's eager to hug her, give her kisses, replace her pacifier...anything he can do to help. He's having a slightly harder time being home all day, instead of at day care. Mommy and Daddy just don't have the same energy level as his regular playmates, I think. In January, he's going to go back two days a week so he doesn't miss out on too much of the fun.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Force Ten

Some wild times around Rancho Tornio. Jack picked up some bug from Stacy last week, which caused him to be sent home from daycare on Thursday with a fever, and a Friday off with Daddy. Aside from the fever and some messy-diaper-related issues, he didn't have any other symptoms and was pretty much ok with life. The fever finally broke Saturday night, and we had a good Football Day. Jack learned to say, "Go Bears," although they apparently didn't hear him.

I wanted to present a brief list of Jack's favorite things. I know that the holidays are coming up, and many people are interested in buying the boy a present or two, so here's the stuff:

1. Lions - Jack really like likes jungle animals, especially lions. He can't get enough of Hakuna Matata. Note that I didn't say The Lion King. He doesn't yet have the patience to watch all of the movie, but he loves the section from Hakuna Matata through Can You Feel the Love Tonight? I'm pretty sure it's because he likes to watch the lions.
2. Planes and helicopters - His favorite part of riding in the convertible is to look up in the sky for airplanes and helicopters, and one of his favorite books is a flying machines book.
3. Balls - All kinds of balls.
4. Horses - Loves horses. Loves 'em.
5. Apples - Right up there with horses.


We went to Apple Holler on Saturday, and had a good time picking apples, even in the midst of recurring fevers for the boy. We'll have pictures posted soon of Jack two-fisting it through the orchard with an apple in each hand.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Da Bears!

How 'bout dem NFC North leaders?


Sunday, August 21, 2005

What a talker!

I asked Steve to give me access to his blog, so I could jot down memories of Jack and Annabelle, too. My mom tells me that I will forget this little moments if I don't write them down, so here's my first one to get me started. -Stacy

Jack is really talking a lot these days. He will repeat anything, and he knows quite a few words on his own as well. Among his favorites...

Dog! Wolf, wolf, wolf, wolf, wolf.

Sasha. Meow.

Baby (which can include stuffed animals and "real" babies, like the one next door).

Eye (then he pokes your eye, in case you didn't know where it's located).

Truck...vroom, vroom, vroom.

Airplane and birdy (then he points to the sky).

Garbage.

Potty (because he thinks it's fun to try his potty seat).

And of course, Mommy and Daddy. Mommy is what he calls out when he first wakes up, and Daddy is what he says when he wants someone to read him a book.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Pigs on the Wing

I get up around 5 or 5:10 every morning. I get up, let Homer out, pour a cup of coffee and sit down to read my email. I usually have a enough time to get through my email and check a couple web sites before Stacy gets up for her shower, which is always closely followed by Jack's announcement that he is ready to get up. For twenty minutes or so, Jack and I hang out.

First thing, we feed the fish, and watch them go into a frenzy over those sweet, sweet flakes. mmmmmm....tetra flakes. Then, we hang out and read a few books, maybe play with a few toys.

This morning, I started the "This little piggy" game on his toes. The first couple of times through, Jack looked at me like I was a nut. I figured it wasn't appealing to him, so I picked up the book we had been reading and opened it.

Jack looked at me, raised his foot, and said "wee wee wee."

Monday, July 18, 2005

Bit Rate Variations in B-Flat

Stacy's company has a summer hours program, where the hours are adjusted a little longer for Monday through Thursday, and then everyone works a half day on Friday. It's a pretty sweet deal, and I'll vote for any candidate that proposes to make it law. The downside to this deal is that since she starts work later on Friday, she takes Jack in to daycare. You might be thinking, "More time at home in the morning before daycare, how can this be a downside?" and for the most part, you would be right. The downside is that Jack is in uber-momma's-boy mode, and does not like it when I take him out of the house in the morning, or if she leaves the house for any reason, or leaves the room momentarily, or anything that causes Jack to lose eye contact with the precious Mommy. He and I have worked out a daycare drop-off system where he is briefly upset to see me go, but he's usually over it a few seconds after I leave the room.

So Stacy takes Jack in on Friday morning, and of course he doesn't want her to leave. It turns out that this later drop-off time coincides with his regular breakfast, so she stays with him for some breakfast and meets his good friend Wally. "Wally" is one of Jack's words. This really only delays the inevitable, but it was a nice breakfast.

Back on the regular schedule today, so I took Jack to school. Stacy sent me an email to ask about the drop-off, since they can sometimes be rough when I do it, too. Here is my reply:


I'll tell you how the dropoff went...

We walked in, and one of the little girls saw Jack and immediately ran to the toys and grabbed a ball, and announced she had the ball. So, Jack and I continued into the next room so I could fill out his sheet. As I begin to fill out his sheet, he decides he wants down, and furthermore, he'd like to walk back into the other room. I set him down and open the door for him, and he's off to see about that ball. I finish his form, and go back in to give him a kiss goodbye, and I don't think he even noticed.

He sure likes playing with the kids.


It won't be long before he's asking me to drop him off a block before school.

Friday, July 15, 2005

The Big Money

Sometimes the big kids get to have their toys, too.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Blister in the Sun

*Drum Roll*

....and it's a girl! Stacy and I went to the ultrasound appointment yesterday, and the doctor declared with 99% certainty that our little Chili Bean is a girl. She shall henceforth be known as Annabelle Marie. She is developing normally, and looks like a charming little girl.

So, it's been a while since we've talked. The time just seems to fly by. There have been many additions to the photo album. Jack went on a trip to Oklahoma with Stacy, and then he got to stay with his Grandma and Grandpa during the week. He just loved playing with the dogs and feeding the horses. Well, and he loved playing in the dirt. That boy just loves dirt.

Hambone Progress Report - Jack has been filling in his teeth. He now has a couple of molars to match all those front teeth. He's even more talkative than ever, and knows quite a few words. His measurements have him in the 80% percentile, so he continues on pace to be a big boy.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

More Today than Yesterday

Jack has made his first appearance in the newspaper.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Peregrine White

Stacy is a girl on the move. You never know what she's going to do next. This time, she's gone and gotten herself a new job. Starting May 16, she will be an Associate Editor for Birds and Blooms magazine. Birds and Blooms is a product of Reiman Publishing, which is a fantastic company, with actual benefits and sick days and stuff.

What's up with the title of this post? The titles of this blog tend to be obscure to begin with, but what's up with this Peregrine White business? Peregrine White was the first child born to the Pilgrims, after landing at Plymouth Rock, and is my way to announce that Stacy and I are expecting a Thanksgiving baby of our own. No kidding, Thanksgiving due date. I have dubbed the new child "Chili Bean" and you'll notice that the blog has been renamed accordingly.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Answer

I was reading a Brewers weblog today, and someone had posted an article asking who was the greatest shortstop of all time. All the greats were noted -- Honus Wagner, Ernie Banks, etc. This was my response.

----


When I was a young pup, growing up in Appleton, I didn't get a chance to go to many Brewer games. When we did make the trek down to Milwaukee, it was a big deal and we made a big day of it. Since my parents didn't make a lot of money, the days when we could take a big trip to a Brewer game were few and far between.

One year, I want to say it was after the World Series year (1983, probably), my mom got incredible tickets from someone she worked with. First row behind the Brewers dugout. If I hadn't been 10 years old, with short legs, I could have put my feet up on the roof of the dugout. I was wearing my Robin Yount MVP t-shirt, and brought my glove for some dribbling foul balls. I had never been that close to a professional sporting event in my life. We took our seats as the players came out to warm up.

After the warmups, as the players were returning to the dugout, I stood against the back of the dugout and hollered to every player to toss me a ball. Some waved, some didn't notice me, and some probably ignored me. Robin Yount saw me, though, and tossed a soft lob up over the dugout. I couldn't believe my luck, and dove forward to catch it in my glove. The ball bounced on the roof of the dugout, and just before it rolled into my glove, an older kid who was sitting a couple seats over reached over me and grabbed it. He and his brother (or friend) cheered themselves, and I sat back in my seat. I gave my mom a look of resignation, since you can't really hold it against a kid for scrambling after a ball, but I was really disappointed.

I became aware of something going on. I looked back toward the field, and Robin was standing in front of the dugout again, pointing at the kid who got the ball.

"Give him the ball," he told the kid, and pointed to me.

It's hard to say who was more dumbfounded by this turn of events, me or the kid. Once again, Robin said, "Give him the ball." The kid handed it to me, as stunned as I that Robin Yount was talking to us.

I still have that ball today. It's not signed, and it's not under glass or anything. It's one of the baseballs I throw around when I play catch, and I never fail to remember the moment when Robin Yount stood up for a disappointed little boy, and made that little boy a lifelong Brewer fan.

Robin Yount is the best shortstop in the history of the game. I won't hear otherwise.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Miles Runs the Voodoo Down

The Internet is a big sprawling mess of stuff. Big. The Web is just a piece of the Internet, and even it is infinitely big. I try to visualize the number of web pages and it gets to be this big creepy cosmic thing, like in Stephen King's Dark Tower novels, where the entire universe is contained within a single rose growing in an empty lot in Manhattan. I like the recursion in that image. Aside from the recursion, though, is the concept of big. An entire universe contained within a rose, which is part of another entire universe contained within a blade of grass, which is in turn....well, you get my point.

Anyway, in amongst the billions of web pages, tucked away like a needle jammed into the middle of the Serengeti, is a monument. In the grand scheme of things, the monument is actually pretty small, but here it is, nonetheless. You could spend your whole life wandering the Serengeti and never step on that needle. If you were to search your whole life for that needle, you may never find it. Nonetheless, here that needle stands, in a dark, lightly-traveled corner of the Internet. It shall stand for as long as the mighty Blogger.com shall stand, and it will trumpet forth its simple message.

Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday, Dear Grandma
Happy Birthday to You

Love,
Hambone*

*As dictated to Daddy, this 23rd day of March in the year two thousand and five

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Naima

You never know where one of Stacy's articles will pop up next!

Monday, March 21, 2005

Wearing a Raincoat

Jack's first birthday has come and gone, and the pictures are nowhere to be found. That's not entirely true, though, since Uncle Scott has had a Powerbook fire lit under him, and has posted some pictures at his new picture page. Ah, picture pages. Some things just stick with you your whole life. But, I digress. I will try to follow Uncle Scott's example and post some pictures of my own this week.

We started out our Spring Travel Season with a bang. I ventured out to Las Vegas with Mom and Jeff on the 8th, and we lived the Downtown experience. We had a fantastic time, bolstered by some good winnings. We spent a couple of afternoons playing the horses, which wasn't terribly profitable, but it's sure a nice way to spend some time. A nice time, that is, is you can ignore the pathetic wrecks that populate Las Vegas sports books. I'd recommend actually going to the races -- the live action is much more fun and dynamic, and you'll be spared the spectacle of broken old men wasting their lives away in smoke and solitude.

Stacy and Jack flew down to Oklahoma on the 12th, and stayed until this past Thursday. Jack had a wonderful time visiting Grandma and Grandpa and all the fun family people, and re-stocked on OU jackets. He should be set for another year (it's a shame that the OU basketball couldn't keep it together for him).

We have an exciting couple of weeks ahead. We're going to Turtle Lake for Easter, which always leads to speculation on whether the dog population will exceed the people population. Then, in the following week, Dad is bringing the traveling road show to Milwaukee.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Mint Car

Another tooth has made an appearance. Jack now has his two front teeth, and only a couple of months after Christmas. It looks like 3 more are fighting their way through on the bottom. It won't be too long before he has a bright, white, shiny smile.

Jack is on a tear with the assisted walking. If there's something to hold on to for balance, he'll move right along. His favorite thing right now is to walk up and down the front of the couch, because it's at a perfect level for holding.

We spent the weekend in Minneapolis, where Jack commanded much attention. Sam shot some footage and then made a really good video, which I've made available via my .Mac page. The video is fairly big, so I recommend a high-speed connection for viewing it. That Sam sure sets the bar high for home video; I'll have to work on my editing skills, and I don't think we'll be able to truly compete until we have a digital camcorder of our own. Until that day, we can enjoy Sam's offering.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Drifting

Good golly, Miss Molly. It has been far too long since the last blog post. This post will serve as a toe dipping into the blog water, since I don't imagine I have a whole lot to write at this moment.

Jack finally has a tooth working in. It is clearly visible now when he smiles, and it looks like a second one is joining it. He hasn't been terribly upset about it, but it's hard to tell since his new favorite pastime is to yell at the top of his lungs. He has yet to learn that different complaints require different reponses. Right now, everything gets the howl.

We have settled back in after the holidays and our vacation. It's nice to have a little time to relax.