Diarrhea of the Mind

It's a Girl!

2011-09-26T15:32:00.000-05:00

Judging from the ultrasound, it looks like Max is going to have a new baby sister soon! The baby's due date is February 11th or 12th, depending on the documents they gave us. We are still undecided on a name and are open to suggestions.

Photos can be found here: http://goo.gl/photos/Dd2GS6wAls

Day at the Zoo

2011-06-18T14:26:00.000-05:00

Max's birthday has come and gone. He is now a full two year old boy. He had fun at his party with lots of attention from everyone. He got a trike from his parents, a toy water fountain from his grandparents, a basketball hoop from Uncle Bah (Brad), and lots more. Now I just need to get around to setting it all up.

We went to the Zoo today with his friend Miles Abed. They both enjoyed running around the paths and banging against the animal enclosures, whatever they may be - glass or fence. They spent some time on the playground. Max has come to really enjoy hanging motionless from the monkey bars. He giggles happily while hanging. I suppose he is amused by the fact that he's up high and could fall at any moment.

All in all a fun Saturday with friends and family!

Baby Max: Year Two

2011-06-09T20:01:00.000-05:00

A couple days until Max's birthday! It's hard to believe it was two years ago that he was born. He's putting together sentences, enjoys wrestling on the bed, loves watching Thomas the Train, Curious George, Super Why, and The Cat in the Hat. We've been able to go to the park lots already this summer. He is quite adept now at going down slides, climbing ladders, and navigating through tunnels. He's even able to climb a slide given the right frictional circumstances.

We've tried to start potty training, but not really much luck yet. He knows the potty chair and requests to sit on it from time to time, but gets up after a few seconds with nothing to show for it. Hopefully after he's a full-fledged two year old, we'll kick the training into high gear. His present is going to be a little tricycle that has a tall handle so he can be pushed along until he's ready to pedal it himself.

He's already had lots of fun playing with friends this summer two. Just yesterday, Max and his friend Ethan were at the Apple Valley Zoo and saw an escaped wolf on the loose. Beth was interviewed by WCCO, but it never aired on the newscast. We're planning a trip back next year with Max's other friend, Miles. Miles Abed is just under two as well, but makes Max look like a midget by comparison. We met his 5 month old brother Lincoln a couple weeks ago and looking forward to seeing them all again soon.

Max and his friend Eli Taintor had fun playing a few weeks back too. He sometimes asks about Eli and Miles when he's rattling through all the names of people he knows. Of course Ethan has been on the list for a long time now. He's choosing to say real words instead of cutesy words too. Instead of Ga-Ga, he's been saying Grammy, or at least Gammy. I think he says Tammy more than Me-Me now too. It will probably be much longer before Bubba gets a new name.

Baby Max: Year One and 3/4

2011-03-16T21:13:00.003-05:00

Almost 2 years have come and gone since little Max entered our lives. It seems like only yesterday we were waiting around wondering when he would decide to pop out. He has certainly developed quite a little personality. Last weekend we were in Arizona for a wedding. He enjoyed meeting all the new people and mixing it up on the dance floor. He seems to have a love/hate relationship with animals. He loves pointing out animals in books but gets a little uneasy when seeing one in person. He's starting to communicate going to the bathroom. We'll have to start getting him on that potty chair pretty soon. With a 50 degree day today, I'm looking forward to all the fun we'll be able to have this summer when the snow thaws.

Baby Max: Year One and a Half

2010-11-26T16:39:00.002-06:00

We just got back from a week in Arizona for Thanksgiving. Max enjoyed going up and down the stairs with Papa. He didn't, however, seem to enjoy Bandit's company. Having never been around a dog that much, Max behaved pretty well, but always kept his distance. Keeping his distance was a little more difficult when visiting Uncle Mike's house. Including Bandit, there were 6 dogs present. Max and Hector got along well. Hector shared all his toys and even fed Max some of his left-over turkey.

Here we are back in Minnesota. We were greeted by sub-freezing weather and a car covered with snow at EZ Air Park. Luckily, the car did start on the first try. Tomorrow we will be hitting the road again and heading to La Crosse for our second Thanksgiving. On Monday, I will be heading to Cambridge, MA for my first trip to Brightcove HQ since starting on April 1st. I can't imagine it will be any colder there than it is here. It's too bad we only have the one computer with a camera so I won't be able to Skype home while out there :(

Baby Max: Month Fifteen

2010-09-21T11:02:00.002-05:00

So Max had his 15 month check-up and is in perfect health. He is 23 pounds and is 32 inches tall. His main words are hi, bye, up (to be picked up), and ma-ma. He can point to his nose, hair, belly, and make earmuffs. Last week, I took him to the park and he climbed up the stairs to the slide all by himself and went down side-by-side with Daddy. At home, he goes up and down stairs constantly. Yesterday, we went to the park and I swung beside him. I guess my now 30 year old equilibrium is a bit touchy because I still feel off balance this morning. Kind of like Lucille 2.

Baby Max: Year One

2010-06-20T13:08:00.004-05:00

One year of fatherhood has gone by. Today is Father's Day and Max turned one year old this past week. In addition to crawling and climbing like crazy, he is started to take a couple steps at a time without any hand-holding. He has also tackled an entire flight of stairs on his own, with yours truly following closely behind. This morning, Beth cooked an excellent breakfast of french toast and bacon. I was also given a couple lovely cards and a new Mario Galaxy 2 game. This afternoon, we'll be heading to church and go out for a quick dinner before doing some Skype with my Father and family shortly thereafter. Overall, an awesome way to spend Father's Day!

Baby Max: Month Eleven (and then some)

2010-05-22T12:33:00.003-05:00

Max is crawling like a champ now! Back and forth, pulling up, sitting down, and getting into all sorts of things. Today we're going to his friend Miles' 1 year birthday party. Only a few short weeks and Max will be diving head-first into a piece of cake and celebrating his own 1 year birthday.

Baby Max: Month Eleven

2010-05-13T17:52:00.002-05:00

Max turns eleven months tomorrow. He is down in Florida with Mom visiting Grammy and Grandpa right now. I had no idea I'd miss the little guy this much. We did a Skype last night and he pretty cleared said Da-Da. One more day and he's back tomorrow. Looks like he had fun in the pool and has been in Grammy's walker rolling around. He has started doing more crawling-like activity. Although, he seems to prefer trying to use his feet instead of his knees. But it gets him around. We will need to do some serious baby-proofing this weekend.

Baby Max: Month Ten

2010-04-09T17:39:00.003-05:00

Max will be ten months old on Wednesday. So you've heard the expression, "you've got to walk before you can run". I don't think Max has. Max tries, at every opportunity, to take off running, even though he is unable to walk, crawl, sit on his own, or roll over onto his belly. He takes every chance he can get to grab someone's fingers and make them drag him along so he can march like a clydesdale. While his enthusiasm is fun, the novelty quickly lost it's luster. You can't even hold him without him grabbing fingers, shimmying down to the floor, and trying to run. One can only imagine what he'll be up to once he can actually do it.

Baby Max: Month Nine

2010-03-19T09:58:00.003-05:00

Max had his 9 month check-up the other day. He's perfectly healthy all around. He didn't need any shots and was all smiley through the entire visit. The doctor said we need to work on crawling though. So we've started putting more toys out of reach and hopefully he'll started heading toward them. Maybe he'll be like Beth and just go straight to walking. We'll see :)

Baby Max: First Christmas

2009-12-27T22:07:00.003-06:00

Today we attended our final Christmas party for the season. The goal now is to clean up all that we've acquired. Max, although exhausted, is still finding the strength to fight the urge to go to bed. He's been crying off and on for about a half hour, but I think it's mostly in his sleep. I went in to check on him while he was crying, kissed him on the head, and he instantly stopped crying and never opened his eyes. Mommy is checking on him now.

Baby Max: Month Six

2009-12-19T17:45:00.003-06:00

We had Max's 6 month check-up with his pediatrician this week. He's perfectly healthy. He's been laughing much more lately - there are a couple videos on YouTube to prove it. Also, he seems to have discovered his tongue over the past couple days and has been sticking it out constantly. His hair is coming in and he is very vocal with his coo-ing and squealing. He rolls over every so often, but no crawling just yet. However, he does waddle pretty well while I hold his arms and twist him back and forth.

Beth and I have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas!

Regular Salt

2009-08-07T09:56:00.004-05:00

Last night, on the verge of 2 months as new parents, the wife and I decided to treat ourselves to a second night out since Max was born. We took in dinner and a movie, which in the words of Frank-the-Tank, was lovely. As I was buying my popcorn, I saw on the counter what appeared to be your average run-of-the-mill salt shaker clearly labeled "Regular Salt". This would lead me to believe the shaker would contain pure sodium chloride (NaCl) and nothing more. Right? Wrong!

As I shake the aforementioned shaker over my popcorn, I notice something odd. It's orange. ORANGE! Not like yellow tinted or anything - I'm talking like bright orange Cheetoes dust. I asked the guy behind the counter, "Are you sure this is 'Regular Salt'?" He replied with a definitive, "Yes". I paused briefly and responded, "So then, why is it orange?". He replied, "It may contain some food coloring". Hmm, you think?

What kind of world do we live in where blatantly tainted product goes out of it's way to label itself as regular. Judging by the vacant eyes of the guy behind the counter, he genuinely believed that it was indeed, regular salt. It's not so much the semantics, as the deception. I pined all day yesterday for what was to be the greatest part of the night out, the popcorn. I even considered bringing my own salt to the event. The wife will vouch for this as she vetoed the idea since it would be too embarrassing.

Ha! That will teach her. Surely last night's exchange between me and the kid behind the counter with several people waiting in line behind, was far more embarrassing for her than if I had brought my own. Maybe she'll think twice next time before denying a connoisseur his accompaniment of choice!

Oh, and there's still some of that popcorn left over. And rest assured I will be seasoning it to perfection before its inevitable consumption later this evening. And from now on, I'll be carrying a vile or flask or baggy or something to ensure such a "Regular Salt" tragedy never taints my night out again!

Baby Max: Week Six

2009-07-28T12:17:00.003-05:00

I don't recall exactly why all the books said the first 6 weeks are the hardest, but I think they were right. Max seems to be sleeping more, eating more regularly, making better eye contact, smiling, and even mimicking us with some cooing and tongue movement. I'll be attending Bible Study for the first time since Max was born, which means Mom is a little more confident in his behavior these days.

Baby Max: Month One

2009-07-22T20:50:00.002-05:00

The first month of parenthood has come and gone. It feels like forever ago little Maxwell Vincent burst into our lives. Today was a particularly exciting day as both Beth and I were able to witness what appeared to be a lengthy period of smiling behavior. I tried frantically to capture the moment on film, but like all good babies, Max saved the good stuff for real life. I can't wait to see what new expressions he has yet to come!

Fourth of July! (observed)

2009-07-03T19:27:00.002-05:00

Got off work today for the 4th tomorrow. Max, Papa, Uncle, and I went on a nice walk to the frolf course and back. Mom, Grandma, and the girls made a spree at Babies R Us. Looking forward to a quiet evening before the festivities begin tomorrow!

Baby Max: Week Two

2009-06-29T23:21:00.003-05:00

Two weeks down and the little guy still seems to not like sleeping at night. Last night at 4 a.m. he shot a load of poo across the changing table and onto the wet wipes nearby. Quite impressive, actually. His belly button cord stump fell out today too. Hopefully he sleeps better tonight. He is going to see the pediatrician tomorrow.

Baby Max: Day Eight

2009-06-23T20:34:00.002-05:00

Well, Max got a whirlwind of excitement this afternoon as Nanny, Bapy, Aunt B, Brit, and Brand came for a visit. We got some good photos of all 4 generations in action. He was well-behaved and sleepy, so he'll probably be up all night again :)

Baby Max: Week One

2009-06-22T20:05:00.002-05:00

One week down and many more to go. Beth finally got her catheter removed today and will be able to stay off of it as long as she has success at going every hour or so. Max is doing great and slept again with only 1 feeding last night. Hopefully this behavior continues :)

Baby Max: Day Four

2009-06-19T19:48:00.002-05:00

Well, the initial adrenaline kick is starting to wear off and the fatigue is starting to set in. The guy does sleep, but it tends to be more during the day than nighttime. Mom is getting a nap right now. Both Max and Beth had a doctor appointment today. Max's went great. The pediatrician said he is in perfect health. Beth, on the other hand, is still stuck with a catheter through the weekend. She has another appointment on Monday. Hopefully, she'll be able to get it off soon. Things are probably still just a little too swollen. Altogether, it's been a great couple of days. Max is snoozing right now, which probably means he's saving up for another busy night :)

Baby Max: Day Three

2009-06-18T12:54:00.002-05:00

We're back home! On the one hand we don't have a highly trained team of infant nurses at our disposal anymore. But on the other hand I get to sleep in a bed when I can. It's a toss up. Grammy is giving Beth and I a quick break after a long night. He sure is dropping loads like a champ already. Like clockwork - three days after delivery. Pretty much every feeding is accompanied by a change.

We've been very careful to cover his pee-shooter during changing, but already he managed to kick off the cloth and spray us both like we were on fire. He's so strong too - I can't imagine having that guy inside me kicking with that level of strength. I'm surprised it didn't knock the wind out of her. And his little hands love holding onto something - it's almost as soothing to him as the pacifier.

Baby Max: Day Two

2009-06-16T17:15:00.003-05:00

So it's looking like we will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. Max had a final X-Ray this morning as a follow-up to his initial breathing problems. It revealed that all the extraneous air in his chest is gone and no further X-Rays will be needed. Because of this, he is off antibiotics and will just need to be around 1 more day for supervision.

He's eating like a champ and is off his IV as well. The only remaining cords hanging off him are just monitoring his heart rate and breathing. Beth is coming along, but it's probably best for her to have one more night in the hospital as well to rest, heal, and get her system back to normal.

The Fairview Southdale staff has been great from nurses to doctors to secretaries to janitors. They have been more than helpful explaining things and being all around friendly and pleasant. While Beth was a little disappointed that her doctor couldn't deliver the baby, Doctor Baker did a wonderful job as did everyone else in the delivery room.

Max got his winky snipped this afternoon as well. Everything went well - so I'm told. Hopefully he heals well and has minimal discomfort. He seemed fine after and was pretty sleepy. He probably handled it better than I would have.

So tomorrow it will be back home (more than likely) for the real challenge of doing it all on our own, for the most part. We're watching all the how-to videos in the hospital room so we're pretty much experts and will have no problems whatsoever :)

Baby Max: Day One

2009-06-15T23:26:00.003-05:00

Well, he's eating like a champ! Four feedings total today with 2 of them being particularly impressive. Beth is up and walking around now - we could be released as soon as tomorrow, but probably no later than Wednesday. All the congratulations have been pouring in and thanks to everyone for their prayers and support.

He's Here!

2009-06-14T23:43:00.003-05:00

What a day! From contractions starting at 1am last night to almost midnight right now, a lot has happened in the past 24 hours. Long story short - the baby is out and doing fine right now. He gave us a bit of a scare with some abnormal breathing at first so he needs to spend the night under watch - but he seems to be doing fine and is breathing normally now. Some more X-Rays in the morning should let us know if everything has gotten to normal. Mom is doing great and gave a stellar performance pushing that big dude out! He is 8 pounds 14 ounces and 20 inches long. Now it's a midnight snack and to bed at last. Too tired to reflect any deeper than this :) More fun tomorrow I'm sure.

Third Trimester

2009-03-21T14:31:00.003-05:00

We've officially entered the home stretch of the journey/adventure of pregnancy. While the baby's room is coming along, there is still much to be done. After the initial groundwork of new carpeting, we're now working on getting all the storage stuff out of the room and into the basement. Beth is getting the little stuff out of the way as I type and I am on deck for the big stuff.

After a lackluster experience in changing table assembly, I was pleased with the ease of putting together a new bookshelf and the playpen. Actually, you can hardly call the playpen setup, as it came mostly assembled and ready to go. It looked so inviting I was tempted to nap in it myself. As this is our last free weekend for the foreseeable future, we may hit a movie tonight and possibly a desert place. The pregnant wonder has had a prenatal craving for cheesecake as of late.

A series of baby showers are scheduled for next weekend and we've already received such great stuff from people, I'm not entirely sure what's all left. But I'm sure there's plenty I'm overlooking. Thanks to everyone for the great gifts so far. We are truly blessed to have such an outpouring of support from friends and family. And yes, this is all shameless kissing up for when it comes time to land a babysitter :)

It's a Boy!

2009-01-15T10:08:00.002-06:00

Just got back from our first abdominal ultrasound. No health issues to report - just a 99.999% certainty that it is a boy. The doctors exact words when Beth asked how sure he was were:

"I'd say 99.999 ... you don't see many girls with testicles"

I would agree that the images were quite conclusive. I'll try and get them up on Picasa or something later today.

Bun in the Oven!

2008-12-09T10:26:00.007-06:00

For those that haven't gotten word yet, Beth and I are expecting a baby in June! It's too early to tell if it is a boy or a girl yet, but looking at the ultrasound, I feel like it is a boy. Then again, I wonder if there is such a thing as a feminine looking fetus at this stage of the game - probably not - well, we'll see!

Max (End of First Trimester)

More Snow

2008-04-27T18:04:00.000-05:00

Well, since the only thing I've blogged about thus far is the weather, I may as well follow suit. The wife and I just got back from a wonderful 4-day vacation in sunny Orlando, FL. I heard it snowed back here in Minnesota while we were gone. Of course, I was glad to have missed it and took a certain amount of joy in knowing that my friends and family back home were suffering while we were in exile.

However, upon returning to the state of Minnesota, a mere three days away from May, more snow fell from the sky. Not a huge amount, but enough to make me wonder why I still live in Minnesota when most of my family lives in warm, sunny locations such as Orlando and Phoenix. I really don't want to move right now, but this weather is getting ridiculous. And I wonder if Al Gore has ever been to Minnesota and given his global warming spiel. I can't imagine it would go over very well right now if he did.

You Call This a Storm?

2008-04-10T21:23:00.000-05:00

So far, I am quite unimpressed with the big "storm" everyone was predicting. It's really more like rain than snow. Unless it really picks up over night, I doubt traffic will even be that bad on the way in to work tomorrow.

The Great April Snow Storm of 2008

2008-04-10T12:13:00.000-05:00

So it is mid-April and a huge snow storm is predicted for this weekend. I can only hope it won't be one of those staples of Minnesota lore such as the great October snow storm of 1991. Hmm, the Twins won a World Series that year. Maybe big, abnormal, Minnesota snow storms only occur when a Minnesota sports team is about to win it all? The Wild are in the playoffs, although they lost last night to the Colorado Avalanche. Maybe a huge snow this weekend will help their chances.