Baby Pictures are online
Well I'm back to work full time and of course I have baby pictures. I
have put them in an online web album. If you know the address you can
run through them in slide show and it is controllable with the right
and left arrows, or via mouse clicking on the controls. There are
absolutely no gross pictures (I personally do not like those myself so
I made sure to not take any).
Evelina is doing fine, but is still having some pain from a little
nerve damage. Physical therapy is doing wonders so likely only another
week or two before that is all cleared up. Lewin (our new son) is
doing fabulous and has already grown nearly 4 inches in the 4 weeks.
Not a lot of sleep yet... so I am a little scatter brained until I get
enough coffee down to keep brain functions at acceptable levels!
Back to work
Man 3 weeks can sure fly by! I am totally shocked that so much time has past since Lewin was born.
Doing the new kid thing is definately easier the second time around. Not so scared of all the stuff that is happening and at I at least know what to kind of expect in the way of up coming events.
Still Fatherhood has caught me slightly of guard. I was not expecting so the emotional rush to be as strong as the first time. But I have to say the emotional rush is just as potent the second time as the first time. Maybe more so because I always wanted a larger family but since my first wife was a flat out "no way" had given up on that dream.
Being a new dad is pretty great!
I have to go back to work tomorrow after 4 weeks of paternity leave. So far we are doing pretty good. I change the diapers and play with him till he is tired. Then mother and son doze in and out while feeding.
Honestly new daughters are easier at the beginning. Lewin seems to always hold back just enough so he can get me with the firehose as soon as the diaper is off. But I figured out how to deal with that. Take the diaper off, put a towel over the top and then let him relax and feel nice and dry. Boom he releases the gates, finishes voiding and then gets a new diaper.
Heck I even managed to NOT faint during the circumcision. And Lewin took it pretty good. Didn't have any of the "screaming fits" advertised and he is all healed up.
Well, tomorrow I get to sing the back to work song.
The Meatrix
Ok this is pretty darn funny. Great parady and a good message. It is all about the
truth of the Meatrix.
Little Vacation Memories
Well now that things have settled a bit I can sit and type. I finally got the pictures organized for the trip and put
them online. Still need to get captions on all of them but they are at
least online now... whew!
So what was the trip? Basically Evelina and I finally got a "honey moon." I took 2 weeks off from work and we drove route 101 following the ocean front from Canada to San Francisco. Then we hopped over to Las Vegas through the Mojave Desert, where I discovered my transmission could overheat but not the rest of the engine.... Had to stop every now and then for a break, snacks and so the transmission could cool down (it would lock in low gear).
We camped the whole way down in fabulous rain forests, ocean front view camp sights, and one really dead spot. When we got to Vegas we stayed at the 5 star Hilton Grand on the strip for 4 days. We did a Vegas show every night (Cirque De Solie, Blue Man Group, Everyone Wears Bowlers), toured Vegas and surrounding areas. I showed Evelina where I grew up, the houses I lived in, Lake Mead, Boulder Dam, and all my favorite hang out spots (most of which were still there and going strong). Prices in Vegas were WAY up from the last time I checked. But, as we are camping and cooking our own we could handle that.
Then we drove to San Diego and stayed in the cheapest hotel we could find ($50 per night) for 3 days / 2 nights. We got up in the morning and ate breakfast on the beaches, swam in the ocean, and got completely sun burned. Then I showed Evelina all the interesting places I used to hang out, my old Navy job (TacTraGruPac / or TTGP where they are very touchy about people driving up and trying to take pictures), SAIC, etc. They were all still there. San Diego has changed very little since I was there.
We ate at the outdoor old town Mexican restaurant, to the sound of live bands playing. I shopped at Game Towne and Evelina about broke my head for trying to buy a literal arm load of stuff. I ended up with only 2 things (Munchkins Kung Fu and the expansion set)... SIGH...
Oh and we went to Loma Bonita and they are still doing the Carne Asada Burritos (although the price is now 3.65 each)... Man was that good eating.
Finally we ran out of time and made an end run north on I-5.
We did this since with the new baby boy coming we knew it was either then or in a year as Evelina would have been unable to travel well a month later. Of course now with new baby we are not going far or for long for at least 6 months. So now that baby boy is here it is time to organize web sites, burn DVDs for the family and get all those home projects moved a few more notches towards "done."
My Second Child Is Born
It's a boy!
Named: Lewin
Time: 8:13 AM October 2, 2006
Weight: 8 lbs 15 oz
Size: 19.5 inches
Location: Northwest Hospital, Seattle, WA
My wife Evelina broke her water at 5:30 PM October 1, 2006. A doctor call, a little packing and we made it to Northwest Hospital at 6:15 PM where she was found to be just over4 CM dilated! A good start. We ended up getting the super 5 star suite at the Childbirth center (it is larger then two rooms with wood paneling a couch, and a work table). By 11 PM she was 5 CM dilated and the contractions were enough to make her feel unable to deal with the pain. So an epideral was added to the mix. At 5 AM they started talking C-section (a very good motivator to work harder at the pushing part I am told by the nurses). Next procin was added in to the mix to try and ramp up the contractions. Boy did that do the trick. By 7 AM she was fully dilated at 10 CM and was having serious birth contractions. One hour and 13 minutes of very hard pushing 3 times for 10 seconds timed with the contraction which where coming every 2 minutes and our son was born!
Very cool. Also let me say this... Dads do not be afraid of the cutting the umbilical there is almost no blood and it is a very potent and important emotional experience (for your significant other if not for you, but I'll bet you'll be surprised by how much it means to you).
