Quiet zone

Since Carson's birth, rare is it that our family has been in a quiet zone. Carson is a wonderful newborn, mind you, and he's about as quiet as any newborn can be. But mix in a sometimes hyper 2-year-old brother and the house can become one issue after another.

It's been a blessing that Caden has taken to his little brother, and it's very cute how he says "Baby brother Carson." And Caden, because his interest level is so high in everything right now, is getting plenty of attention from us, too, especially since daddy is enjoying a two-week break from work.

Having two kids isn't as difficult as I imagined, partly because Carson is such a wonderful little boy and Caden is growing more independent each day. (We still need to get him out of diapers, but that's a different blog post altogether.)

Speaking of diapers, my wife and I gave Carson a bath this evening and, about 15 minutes later, as I sat down with him tucked under my arm to catch up on the Twins at the computer, well, so much for that fresh diaper and clean skin. Ha.

I told my wife tonight that I should design baby clothes. First of all, why all the snaps? I'm all for one big zipper. Seriously, did the people who put 16 snaps on an outfit have kids? Listen, if you have to change five or six diapers a day, that's nearly 100 snaps a day. I thought I solved my problem when I found another outfit, the poncho-type, in his dresser, but my gosh, you try putting baby's arms in a long sleeve.

I'm serious. A diaper/outfit change should not take 15 minutes in modern times.

Perhaps I got spoiled after Caden grew out of infant clothes.

Carson is a night owl, much like the rest of the family. He gets his rest, but right now he fussed while in his bassinet after a feeding. So our Plan B is the Fisher-Price swing. Usually that works, and tonight it did.

Caden is also learning a lot about his brother, especially the kinds of things he's subject to. Like baths in the portable tub, baby oil wipedowns and onesies. I keep telling Caden that he used to be that little and do the same things, but I'm not sure he quite understands that. In fact, I pulled up some photos of "baby" Caden on the computer last night and Caden would point and say "Carson." Then when I say that's him, he says "Oh reaaally?"

Caden's often(overused) phrase is "Oh, reaaally." But it's cute and his eyes just light up when he's that curious. Carson is getting that way, too, with his eyes opening much wider these days and the world looking so much bigger to him as we get him out and about a bit.

By the way, thanks for the nice messages on my previous post. - rob

Posted by: Beers on 7/19/2008 at 1:28 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Carson update

We had a home birth with Carson, something I didn't post immediately because I wanted our immediate family to know first.  Everything went extremely well and the use of a birth tub just before he was born apparently made a huge difference.

Carson is a big baby, at 9 pounds, 10 ounces. Huge hands, like his dad and little brother, Caden. He was born at 8:44 p.m.

My wife is extremely pleased she got to do the birth her way. She really wanted that life experience of laboring at home as much as possible, even if circumstances forced us to go the hospital route later.

Carson is quite a little boy, very calm so far, which is nice these first few days as we try to catch up on sleep.

If you follow the link at right to the photo blog, there are some pics there.

Posted by: Beers on 7/07/2008 at 3:56 PM | Comments (3) | Permalink

Heeeeere's Carson!

Our son Carson was born tonight. Absolutely incredible as everyone says. More in few days. Mom and son are doing wonderfully.

(Ironically, we got a car and a son in same week, but we picked the name out three months ago and never had an alternative. Go figure.)

Posted by: Beers on 7/05/2008 at 11:26 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Wednesday

Bought a "new" car today after my other one was involved in a wreck. (Don't worry, no one in it - but it sure is weird to have the cops wake you up at 4 a.m. telling you your car was smashed just 30 feet or so outside our bedroom window and you DIDN'T hear it).

An aside: One of my best friends is a cop, so speaking from experience - the fellas that had to rap on my door as loud as they possibly can while yelling "POLICE DEPARTMENT" are very nice people. And I really appreciated the concern and care they had with me. I know some people feel differently, especially when the circumstances are different (I as well), but they often don't get enough credit for stuff like that.

No baby news yet, either. We're getting pretty anxious for the arrival, especially since the three of us spent two days driving around town, checking web sites and dealing with the high heat and humidity looking at cars and minivans. Yes, I said minivans. Two kids, you know. But we'll wait until the next car is due before we dive into that water.

So yes, we dealt with all that, knowing all along on test drives that we shouldn't venture too far from the dealer lot if the water breaks or something.

Maybe it'll be a fireworks baby? Or, you know, my own birthday is approaching. I wouldn't mind sharing.

Posted by: Beers on 7/02/2008 at 10:39 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Waiting for baby

The official wait is on.

It could be Sunday, it could be Tuesday, it could be a week from Tuesday. Whatever the day, the "call" or "announcement" will come that my wife is in labor.

It's a somewhat different feeling this time around. This will be our second child, to be the younger brother of our 2-year-old. I'm excited, happy and hopeful. And yes, another couple years of those diapers!

Seriously, this is truly cool. My wife's official due date was Friday, officially kicking off this watch. I really don't know how a father should feel about now, knowing at any given moment (hopefully I will finish this blog post in time), my wife will feel something change and the calls will be made.

We're so excited for our addition. Last night I felt a solid thump while I lay my hand on my wife's stomach. "Hi in there! When are you coming out to meet us?" I asked.

It was a quiet moment while my hand was there. Our son was peacefully asleep as my wife and I caught up on the day's events, but mostly we just sat there and waited for baby to make his move. It's an extremely down-to-earth feeling that comes over you, like nothing else matters.

At 37, quickly going on 38, I guess I'm somewhat older than most dads (I guess because during a recent 20-year high school planning e-mail talking about a tour of our high school, I realized some classmates will actually have kids that will be in that school that day) that I feel like I'm young again, somewhat childish myself, thinking about chasing two kids down in the living room trying to get them both in the tub for their morning wash. I can't wait.

So if you're in there, come out. I'll start the bathwater.

Posted by: Beers on 6/28/2008 at 12:19 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

Garden party

My wife and I spent part of Tuesday planting our garden. This included a trip to the local hardware store to rent a tiller and procede to not only mix up our own mess, but to help out a friend create her garden as well.

I'm not exactly sure how much a 5-horse tiller weighs. I'm guessing about 150 pounds. If it's more, I really don't want to know.

See, the funny thing is this: Typically, my neighbor helps me till my garden. But since we did it on a weekday this year, he wasn't around. I thought someone was missing when I returned home with the tiller and looked around at an empty neighborhood before I stared at the tiller sticking out of my trunk.

I figured since my car isn't in the greatest of shape anyway, I'd get the beast out any old way. (Besides, I AM hauling a tiller in a trunk -- how many Lexus owners can say that?) I felt like a kid being asked to dance with Aunt Edna as I sized the tiller up. I really wasn't sure where to put my hands, but I eventually - and somewhat quickly mind you - the tiller was on true ground.

So away I went. About 10 minutes later, my garden is mixed better than a Tom Collins.

I'm on the clock here to get the tiller over to our friends' house, so I push the tiller back to my car and then had this crazy thought enter my brain. What comes out must go in. I had a bit of help with the tiller being up in the air a bit while I was lifting it out, but now the machine is on the street and I simply have no leverage to lift it in, let alone the fact that it has to fit sideways - and tight, mind you.

I sort of panicked. However, one Herculean effort raised the tiller just enough so I could get it in position and a couple seconds later, it was in the car. I don't think my back cared for that too much.

Anyway, I zipped over to south Fargo to help our friend till - from scratch. Yes, the old lawn was going under. If you recall how a front-tined tiller works, it wants the machine to go forward while you pull backwards. After about 15 minutes of that nonsense, I tied a rope around the tiller's handles and the loop around my waste. Perfect. (I'm assuming this is a detailed step in the owners manual of things you should not do.)

Back at our place, we started to plan plant locations and set them out later in the evening. We've got about a dozen tomato plants in the ground, some lettuce, beans and a few other surprises.

Posted by: Beers on 5/29/2008 at 3:42 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Totally 80s

I bet it's been 23 years since I've spazzed out on the buttons during "Track and Field."

The streak ended today.

A friend (yes, from the 80s) let me in on a Web site that has "every" video game. Everyvideogame.com. Sure, you have to sign up (it's free) but it's a blast (if you can figure out the controls). It's a total rewind to the early Nintendo and arcades of the late 1980s.

"Track and Field" was a pre-movie event for us at the theater house growing up. We developed cheat codes, too, just like every other pimply faced teenager playing the game. Combs straight from the back pocket weaved between your fingers made for a supersonic button battle. The more elaborate created button tappers with popsicle sticks and rubber bands. World records would fall and theater legends were made.

The best thing about this site is scrolling through the list of games forgotten. "Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf" (Who exactly was he fighting? Jack Nicklaus?) "Bo Jackson Baseball" (Below, pictured, I give up a base hit ... Surprising they didn't team it with Bo Jackson Football.) "John Elway Quarterback" (I couldn't get past the select team menu.)

And what about RC Pro-Am? Wow.

And there's "Kiss Goes Golfing with Ace Frehley"

One game, just due to the popularity of the name after it was developed is "Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball." This is not to be confused with Dustin Diamond's All-Star Softball.

Posted by: Beers on 5/15/2008 at 9:31 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Clean-up week

He circled the pile.

Then, without me looking either knowingly or unknowingly, it was gone.

The faucet had been removed.

I set our old sink out for clean-up week and within an hour, everything BUT the bathroom sink was taken. A mess was left to clean-up.

The first guy who stopped by my pile of outings looked through some old windows, failing to leave a neat pile I had originally created. In fact, a frame or two was left in my driveway, ready to be smashed by any car to enter.

The other guy simply wanted the heavy metal.

I'm not sure what a broken down faucet will do for him. I certainly wouldn't use it. I'm sure it's for scrap metal and maybe he can get a buck or two. But I was left with this to pick out of my yard.

C'mon.

Posted by: Beers on 5/08/2008 at 10:40 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink