Storage Revisited

Humiliation Express

I was originally responding to Kevin's comment on the most recent audio file, but realized it might make for a good post on its own.

I will try to keep the humiliating pictures to a minimum. The most potentially humiliating don't make it onto the site and you'll notice that they are the first to be pruned when I need to make room each month for the new ones.

I hope she will see it as an interesting way to see the history of her life she can't remember.
I would be fascinated to see myself as a baby on video or audio. I hope this running commentary, video, audio and photos will also mean a very different kind of relationship with my children than past generations have had with theirs.

I will be "mean OLD dad" but I want her to know that I was still (relatively) young when she came into the world. She helped her mom and I to grow up, but we, too, were once children. I know you have to avoid being the "pal" or "buddy" to your kids at the detriment of boundaries, rules and the "wisdom" of being a parent, but I hope that I can have the same kind of friendship with my children as Lori has with her mom.

Hopefully that this will show her that as she's learning about life, so we still are as well.

Can You Hear Me Now?

If I were buying a baby monitor today... I would buy one with at least two, maybe three monitoring station. Each evening the baby monitor moves from the bedroom to the living room. Sometimes it moves on to the kitchen or den and then eventually back to the bedroom. The cord is messed up, from all the moving and from being chewed up by a cat. So eventually I'll be at Radio Shack getting patronized by some dork to get a new adapter/cord for the monitor and did I want to sign up for a two year contract with Sprint while I'm at it?

Drippy Cups

It seems like there are two basic style of sippy cups... you know, the ones where the juice/milk/water doesn't come out when it's held upside down. Some work on suction. The baby sucks really hard and the water comes out. When they stop, air is quickly sucked back in to equalize the chamber. The second is more interesting. The entire top is a soft, flexible rubbery plastic. This allows the "straw" to be moved, pressing in on the top and causing juice to come out. Rachel has learned that this cup, when banged on the table upside down causes milk to come out. So, she does this all the time to make milk puddles, which she then delights in splashing in with her hands. What fun.

Can't Even Imagine

I knew Patrick growing up. His brother Sean was in my grade and I was in scouts with both of them. I just learned from another friend that he has a daughter a month younger than Rachel with cancer. His blog (link above) is really amazing. Start at the bottom to read things in chronological order. I am really impressed with how he manages to keep it together and stay positive with his reports. I don't think I would be able to stay quite that positive if there were days where the only contact I could have with my little one was to rub her arms, legs, head and torso, or if I had to wear a mask when being in the same room with her, looking at her, strapped down to a bed to keep her from ripping out all the tubes and wires connected to her.

Baptism

A cell phone? Let's play.
Oh, look. A toilet. Splash, splash.
I can't hear you now.

AMBER ALERT

THE CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL HAS ISSUED A

* CHILD ABDUCTION EMERGENCY FOR
SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA...

* A CHILD ABDUCTION OCCURRED ON SEPTEMBER 4 AT 124 PM IN
FONTANA...CALIFORNIA.

* THE CHILDS NAME IS NOAH LEANO...AGE 18 MONTHS...HISPANIC MALE
CHILD...WEARING A ONE PIECE RED JUMPER.

* THE SUSPECT IS A HISPANIC MALE...30 YEARS OLD...WEARING A PLAID
SHIRT.

THE SUSPECT IS DRIVING A STOLEN 2000 WHITE FORD EXPEDITION WITH
CALIFORNIA LICENSE PLATE 5 J Y A 7 8 0. THE VEHICLE HAS 3 CHROME
TIRE RIMS AND A BLACK RIGHT REAR TIRE RIM...AND A STICKER IN THE
REAR WINDOW THAT SAYS...7 FAMILY MEMBER.

TO REPORT SIGHTINGS CALL 9 1 1 OR FONTANA PARK POLICE DEPARTMENT
AT 9 0 9 3 5 6 7 1 6 0.