At my mother's request...

Here is what Quincy and the stroller look like.

I bet the spines are pretty uncomfortable.

I suspect, one of these weeks, Babycenter will say that Starbuck looks like a bowling ball. Isn't that how people describe childbirth? "It's like pushing a bowling ball...yadda yadda yadda."

Anyway, Starbuck is the size of a pineapple, this week.

Stroller Training

For those of you that don't really know my dog, Quincy...he has some temperment issues. He's a cranky old man...and, he's only 4. His biggest issues, lucky us, are with children. We've been working on a training routine to help him get more aquanited with kids. He's doing much better when he's with me and on a leash. But, he's not ready to be free around small kids, yet.

Thanks to the fine people at Shaundar's work, we recently received the stroller from our registry. Part of our "prepare for baby" training is supposed to be focused on the stroller. Today, Quincy and I went for a walk around the neighborhood with the stroller. In the stroller was Mr. Bear, a large teddy bear from my parents.

First of all, I haven't received so many strange looks since I walked around the neighborhood with my McCain/Palin hat on.

I wrapped the lease around the stroller handle so that it was attached. Technically, I only need to hold onto one and I would have both (stroller and dog). It actually worked pretty well.

I quickly learned, though, that I still needed to keep part of the leash in my hand. When Quincy would take a detour to pee, he would cause the stroller to turn when I didn't want it to. Once I got the hang of that, the rest of the walk was pretty mellow.

Hardest part was picking up when he pooped. Juggling the dog, the stroller, and a stinky bag of poop was tricky, but I managed.

Now...Quincy is big enough that, if he wanted to bolt, he would probably be able to topple the stroller, so more training is in order. But, good first round.

A vision of things to come?

So, let's talk about our current baby, Quincy, for a moment.

Last night, Shaundar and I were watching Heroes. Quincy starts barking from downstairs. I had just let him out 10 minutes prior. And, as our TV is on the 3rd floor and the back door is on the first, my response was, "Shut up, Quincy!" It was clear he just wanted attention, and I was busy watching Heroes.

2 minutes later, we hear the thunderous *badump-badump-badump* made by a Boston Terrier as Quincy races up two flights of stairs. He zooms around to the front of the chair that I am sitting in and stares at me. In his mouth is a plastic reusable bag that Shaundar keeps in his purse. The look on Quincy's face was, "You didn't listen to me...look what I did!"

Turns out, he had jumped on the couch, pulled Shaundar's purse off, and rummaged through it until he found something to play with, despite the millions of toys he has strewn around.

I got up to take it away, and he zipped into the guest room and under the bed.

Negative attention is better than no attention, I guess. As mad at we were, it did warrant a pretty good laugh.

Some pics

So...we had some maternity pics taken today by Shaundar's colleague Toshika. These are not those pics. She's going to work her photographer magic on those and we'll hopefully have them up in the near future. By the way...Thanks a million Toshika.

These are some of my attempts with our crappy camera in crappy light. The last one is my favorite. Remarkably, it didn't take too much convincing.

Sorry it's been a little while

So, I know it's been a little while since my last post. There really isn't a whole lot to talk about. I spent the last week in Austin. Shaundar is uncomfortable and cranky most of the time.

A colleague at Shaundar's work offered to take maternity pictures for us. Today is the big day. And, much like the day of our wedding which was also supposed to be outdoors, it's raining. I guess summer is finally over. What a stupid summer it's been. It doesn't get warm until July, then we have a beautiful first 2 weeks in September only to have it go away on the day we really want it to be sunny.

Oh, well...until my next post, here is a Baby Picture of the Day to tide you over.

Baby Video of the Day

Nothing like French kids rapping. I have no clue what he's saying, I'll need some help from Lise. But, I know the title is "It's So Tough to be a Baby."

This song was fairly popular, for some stupid reason, when I was in Jr. High, or something.

You're HUGE!

As you can see from the pictures, Shaundar is getting pretty big. And, we've still got 2 months to go.

Remarkably, when a woman gets pregnant, people think that gives them clearance to freely talk about your personal appearance.

Common phrases are:

"You are SO pregnant."
"You're HUGE."
"Are you sure you're not having twins?"

The doctor says we should tell these people, "My doctor says I look perfect."

I say, she should tell these people, "If you don't shut up, I'm going to shove my swollen pregnant foot in your fat mouth."

It's been a while since we've had a belly shot

At 31 weeks.

Shaundar



and Quincy



and Shaundar and Quincy



(notice the "I hate you for making me take this stupid picture" smile. Shaundar's smile is good, though.)

Let's talk about more scary birth things...OR...Reason #192 I am glad I'm a man.

Episiotomies.

Scared, yet?

I can honestly say that, prior to having to read about childbirth and junk, I had never heard of this procedure.

I think having a child is a lot like having a Security Clearance. You're not looped in until you have a "Need to know." Just like only the upper echelon of our government know about the alien bodies at Area 51, only people who have to go through childbirth know about Episiotomies.

If you don't know what an Episiotomy is, I am not going to tell you, because, obviously, you don't have a need to know. But, you can find out at this Top Secret website.

I imagine, from a Doctor's point of view, that the procedure is pretty easy. I mean...it seems a lot like kindergarten. Here's some pink construction paper and here are some scissors.

But, for a woman...I figure it's a lot more like, ummm, let's see...hell. I mean, you're already pushing a person out of you. Let's just make matters worse by letting some sun in where it's not supposed to shine.

Ugh...I'm glad I'm a dude.

Baby Video of the Day

Piper Palin steals the spotlight on her mom's big day by giving baby Trig a spit bath.

Childcare is going to SUCK

If you have a kid in daycare, you know what I'm talking about, here. Daycare is NOT cheap. It's no wonder some women stop working altogether so they can stay home and take care of the kids.

We were looking into a daycare in downtown Seattle, close to where Shaundar works. Even with the Microsoft discount...$1600/month.

That's more than I paid towards my mortgage when we lived in Tacoma.

In the state of Washington, you are supposed to have 1 adult for every 4 infants.

1 Adults for every 4 infants.

Let me remind you what an infant is. An infant is a crying, pooping, constant attention seeking creature that can do nothing on it's own.

So...1 adult is supposed to take care of 4 of those? What if they all poop at the same time? What if they all need bottles at the same time. What if they each grab a pair of tweezers and head towards 4 different electrical outlets?

And, we're supposed to pay $1600 a month for that?

We've got some neighbors who have just had a baby. We've been discussing each of us converting to a work week of 4-10's (10 hour work days 4 days a week instead of 8 hours 5 days a week). This way, each of us could babysit both infants once a week, and we could hire a babysitter or something for the 5th day. Shaundar's work nixed this idea. They're not very progressive. I have yet to bring the idea up at my work. But, I'm optimistic. Anyway, without Shaundar, we're not sure if it can be pulled off, or not. We'll discuss.

But...there is no way in Hades that I am paying $1600 a month for someone to watch my kid along with three others.

Baby picture of the day