Watching the Wheels

The week of Thanksgiving saw us begin our Holiday travel season. Jack has been a good travelling boy on our trips to the cabin and to Minneapolis, but we were apprehensive about the drive to Oklahoma. It breaks down to two days of travel, 9 hours the first day and 6 hours the second, and that seemed like an awfully long time for a boy to tolerate his car seat. Also, the spectre of the first tooth has been looming for months, and Murphy dictated that it would make its appearance during this drive.

No need to worry. As long as regular stops are part of the trip, Jack travels better than I do. The first tooth remains hidden, which supports my belief that he's waiting to break out a mouthful all at once. Both hotels we stopped at had pools, and so Jack and Stacy went swimming, which is one of Jack's very favorite activities. The long drive actually worked out to be a pleasant part of our family vacation. Even when I got pulled over on the way back. It turns out that speeding tickets in Illinois are much more affordable than in Wisconsin.

We arrived in Ada early Monday afternoon, so Stacy and Jack were able to visit Grandma at school, and meet some of the people there. Tuesday was picture day. In the morning, Jack went to have his picture taken with Grandpa Bingham (as soon as I get a copy, I will post it). In the afternoon, we had our pictures taken as a family, and some more pictures of Jack were taken for our Christmas cards. Jack was a pretty good sport through most of it, but his patience did wear thin toward the end. It's probably a good thing that there aren't any more photo shoots in his immediate future.

Stacy's brother Steve arrived on Wednesday with his fiancee TJ and her daughter Brecklynn. Unfortunately, we managed to miss getting a picture of the three of them together. Hopefully, someone will send one along.

Thanksgiving Day was very exciting. Jack got to meet many new people in his family, and spent quite some time playing with Grandma Bingham on the floor. The day had its flaws, though, as the Bears were embarrassed on national television. We didn't have our camera with us, and so I don't have any pictures to post. I'm hoping that some will be provided. Grandpa Bingham took us for a tour of the property in his 6-wheeler, which Jack really enjoyed. He was particularly impressed by the huge piles of hay. Not so much by the cows--they were a little too sedentary for him I guess.

The official Hambone Holiday 2004 Album has been started. So far, it contains our visits to Racine and Ada. I expect it will grow regularly, as we decorate the house, and continue our travels.

Sheep Go To Heaven

Oh, this poor neglected blog. Just as soon as I start to pay more attention to it, and it gets its hopes up, they are dashed again by my dastardly capriciousness. That would be a good name for a band, except that it would be a challenge for many people to spell it. That would probably cut into online sales, since the searches would always fail.

So, what's up in the world of Hambone, you ask? Well, he's just starting to be a crawling machine. Grandma visited last night, and she got to witness some of the mobility firsthand. The secret to motivating him to move is to put something tantalizing like a dog toy or address book on the floor, and he'll scoot right over to it. He is content to have his toys delivered.

Still no teeth. I think he's just making sure they all come in at once, to save the hassle of spreading out the job. A more pessimistic person might think he's waiting for the long drives to and from Oklahoma next week. Not me, though; to me, the mouth is half-full.

We drove down to Racine on Sunday and got to meet Madison, and she is just a little darling. Jack tried to teach her the benefits of bellowing until you get what you want, but she seemed uninterested. We'll see how long that lasts.

We've all got Gary in our thoughts today. Hopefully, all will be well.

Word Up

So, Scott has been burning the midnight oil to get his own website in order. It looks like a wide variety of good stuff. I'm of the opinion that the more websites dedicated to good-lookin' people, the better. He has also started a blog, which distinguishes itself in its brevity.

We received some fantastic news over the weekend. Bambi and Barry have adopted a beautiful little girl named Madison Grace. I posted a picture of the happy family in my Fall Photo Album for your viewing and linking pleasure. We have certainly started to turn out the children in the past few years! Stacy and I are jealous of all the people that get to meet her over Thanksgiving, when we're in Oklahoma.

Jack's growth continues. No teeth yet. Eating plenty. Smiling at people. All people. All the time. Friday was his very first School Picture Day, so I hope to have some new pictures posted whenever we get them. I seem to remember always getting a free comb on picture day, but Jack missed out. He probably would have really enjoyed chewing on a nice comb.

I Can Do That

We've been using Stacy's camera to take short video clips of Jack, because it can be more fun to watch him laughing than it is to see a picture of him laughing. We haven't taken too many yet, but I thought it might be fun to take a couple and see how they would work in a clip-movie, like those that Stacy has made. You are hereby invited to the premiere of Laughing Jack. It's fairly big, so I would recommend downloading it on a high-speed connection. I'll probably get better at it as I make more, but this one isn't bad for a first effort.

Jack and I got to spend some time at home Thursday afternoon and Friday. His face has been fairly red and chapped since his drool output increased, and the ladies at daycare got worried the other day when it looked like a rash that was spreading. I took him in to the doctor, and it turned out to be nothing (although he's getting some serious lotion on his face to combat the redness and chapping), but out of the blue he showed some eye thing (either pink eye or some other eye virus), for which the doctor prescribed some antibiotic cream. Since day cares aren't wild about having kids with pink eye, and since I have 8 sick days that go unused every year, I decided to keep him home with me on Friday. We had a very good time. The best part is that we're staying home together on Monday, too, since that is an inservice training day at KinderCare. I guess you could call me Mr. Mom. Of course, then I'd have to smack you.

Roundabout

So, it's been a while since I posted an update, and so I think some general news about The Boy is probably in order. The concensus opinion seems to be that a tooth is going to show itself any minute now. We're basing this opinion on an incredible amount of drool, Jack's insistence on putting EVERYTHING in his mouth, and his tendency to smile a whole lot. You know...practicing for when he has the tooth. There's nothing like the bright smile of a single-toothed boy. And he'll be able to open cans, too.

Stacy and I took first and second place in the Lake Lucerne fantasy football league this weekend. The writing is on the wall...they may as well send all the money to us now, since we're warmed up and ready to steamroll.

Time of the Season

There are not many things better than Sunday in the fall. Of course, a Sunday in the fall where the Bears win would be better, but this isn't 1985.

Jack had his second swimming lesson with Stacy on Saturday, but didn't quite make it through the whole thing. He had some tough times this weekend, and Stacy thinks it's because a tooth is coming. I think he was upset that OU didn't play, and that the Bears lost to the Vikings. I guess that, like in most things, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me the News

Jack went in for his regularly scheduled checkup on Wednesday, so I get to pass on an update to his vital statistics:

21 lbs, .5 ounces (90% percentile)
28 inches (90% percentile)

I told Stacy that he is such a big boy because I was so good about making her drink milk during her pregnancy. I'm sure the Dairy Council will soon be seeking me out for endorsements...unless they talk to Stacy first. She seems to think I may be taking credit where I haven't necessarily earned it.

Jack also continued his War on Disease (tm) with some immunizations. He's finally done with a couple of them, and we threw in a flu shot for good measure. Once that flu shot was administered, he got all George-Bush-squinty and said of the flu germs, "Bring 'em on." I'm not certain that the flu germs noticed, but it sure inspired the rest of us in the room.

21st Century Digital Boy

I can no longer avoid this painful, though obvious, conclusion. I quite simply have too many email addresses. I hereby renounce all email addresses which are not steve@vitriol.net. It's just too much. Please make sure to use steve@vitriol.net when emailing me.

Thank you, drive through.

I'm the Punky QB Known as McMahon

Hambone and Company are proud to introduce our new Fall collection. We think that bibs and diapers are going to be the hallmark of the well-dressed baby in the Fall season.

We had a deckwarming party this weekend, and the weather cooperated nicely. We had a great time, and were glad everyone could come, especially those that made the trek down from Appleton. I know Jack did his best to make everyone feel welcome.

Of course, we all know what made this weekend so special, though. The Bears finally put the beatdown on the Packers in Lambeau Field. Yeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaa!!!!

Turn, Turn, Turn

It was a beautiful weekend at the lake, and a fitting end to the summer. We got a later start because Stacy went to see the Sarah McLachlan concert on Friday night with some friends. Early Saturday morning (and I mean early), girl, dogs, baby and I piled into the car and headed north.

Unfortunately, things were not all beautiful and peaceful this weekend. The draft for the Lucerne fantasy football league was held, and you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Stacy and I did pretty well, although I think everyone was happy with their results. That can't last.

Jack had a great time this weekend, especially once we realized that part of his difficulty sleeping in the cabin was due to the thin mattress in the pack n' play. Once we added an afghan underneath for some padding, he slept much better. We took a short video of Stacy and Grandma laughing with him. It's largish, so it may take a while to download if you're on a dialup connection.

Speaking of videos, Stacy made a new photo album video. This one is quite big, and will take a while even on a cable modem.

Didn't See Any Cops or Construction Workers

Stacy found out that we get a really good deal on YMCA memberships, so we decided to check it out this week. She'd been looking into taking some classes as a non-member, and it's a whole lot cheaper and more convenient if you're a member, anyway. Also, I've basically fallen off the wagon of using the weight room at work, and I think it will be nice to go somewhere specifically for exercising. So, while they're figuring out the paperwork for our membership, we decided to try out their pool yesterday.

There are two pools. One is a bigger pool for swimming laps and has a deep end, and the other seems to be mainly for kids, and is 3 feet throughout, I think. The big pool is about 83 degrees, and the little pool is about 88 degrees. Stacy took Jack into the little pool, and I think he spent the whole time gazing around, wide-eyed. I joined them in there after swimming some laps (15 minutes seems to be my current limit. I think it'll take a while for my body to rebuild that endurance). Jack just couldn't get enough of looking around at the other kids playing. Stacy is going to enroll the two of them in a swim class for parents and children 6 months old, so he'll get plenty of time to learn to enjoy the actual water, I think. He'll already lay back in the water and let it cover his ears, so he's off to a good start.

Keep Putting One Foot Ahead of the Other

I guess the hardest thing about having a blog is actually remembering to update the thing. I'm going to try to add a little something a few times a week, to try to get into the swing of things.

Jeff and Scott came down on Saturday to help me build a new deck. The old one was rotting away, and after looking into stamped concrete and paver stones, we decided to simply replace the old rotten deck with a new one. We discovered that every stone and brick in the neighborhood was buried on the dirt below the old deck. I'm glad Scott didn't know about that ahead of time, or he may not have come down. In the end, we built a really nice deck, to my mind. Check out the photo album.

Jack continues to grow like a weed. I'll be updating the summer album with a few new pictures later this morning. He has started eating some carrots and apple sauce and peaches, and eats a meal of rice cereal once a day at daycare. He still manages to find some room for formula and breast milk, though. When we took him in for his 4 month appointment in July, he weighed in at 18 pounds, so I imagine he's breaking 20 now. He's also left the 6 months size in the dust, and is comfortably wearing 9 month clothes.

If it's the weekend, there must be grandparents nearby

Jack continued his tri-state tour this weekend with a trip to Minnesota. Grandpa and Uncle Sam had visited shortly after Jack was born, but this was his first chance to meet Grandma and Aunt Julia. We are incredibly grateful that Jack is good-natured about travelling, since we do a lot of driving, and a foul-tempered baby is not a good traveling companion. [Editor's note -- I was informed by a snarky know-it-all that I misspelled travelling in an earlier entry. Travelling can be spelled with one or two L's, and in order to enjoy the richness of the English language, I reserve the right to use both variations. In fact, I extended the previous sentence, simply to show how nicely that works.]

We went to a Jazz festival on Saturday, because Sam knew some guys who were playing. The band was quite good, and the weather was pretty nice, so it made for a nice couple of hours. We spent the rest of the day hanging around the house, and had some tasty steak off the grill for dinner. All told, it was a nice visit.

Father's Day

It's our first Father's Day, and I'm living the good life. Stacy and Jack are going to make some cookies, I've already had some taco dip, and Stacy mowed the lawn. I've been watching the Brewer game. Every day should be Father's Day.

Jack made his first trip out-of-state this weekend, for the Henline family reunion in Illinois. As usual, he was the center of attention, and had a great time hanging out in the park all afternoon. I was worried that he would start to get fussy as time wore on, but he seems to be resigned to his fate as a travelling boy, and only began to complain when things were beginning to wind down.

We somehow managed to leave our camera in its case for the entire weekend. How dumb is that? I welcome any photos of the weekend that people want to send. I got some feedback on the choice of "Hambone" as a nickname. I think I'll characterize the reactions as....mixed.

The Big Summer Kickoff

Memorial Day weekend was a strange one, in that it rained a lot, but not when we were golfing. That must be some kind of record.

Jack had a good time up at the cabin, but had a hard time getting some sleep with all the action. I finally had to lay him down next to my laptop, and play some Bob Marley. The combination of the light from the screen, and the soothing tunes seemed to do the job. Even without sleep, he was a very happy baby most of the time, and he had a good old time meeting all the nice people. I think that as he gets older and more used to the action, he's going to be a very popular boy up north.

Grandma Linda and Uncle Montana are visiting this weekend, and Jack even got to have a day off of daycare, since they arrived Thursday afternoon. He's handling all this excitement about as well as he handled it last weekend--that is to say, he's trying to stay awake the whole time to take in all the fun. Fortunately, we recognized it earlier this weekend, and he's in the middle of a good long nap right now.

Jack is at a stage where he can't crawl, can't really grab any toys, and pretty much just hangs out and kicks to pass the time. Stacy found a fancy bouncer with a popper built in to it, that he just loves. It doesn't require him to do anything more than kick his feet out to stand up, and stuff pops for him. I don't believe I am exaggerating when I say that this is the greatest accomplishment of western civilization.