Blowout!

Who ever would have thought that someone would be so excited to change a huge, stinky, ugly green-yellow-brown poopy diaper?  I certainly never expected to, but when you're just minutes away from calling the pediatrician about your five-day-old infant's constipation, it tends to change your perspective on a few things.  I was happy to change her diaper....I was even happier to see how much better she felt afterward.  With one pantload of disgusting poopy goodness, she was cured of the constipation, a little crankiness, and a stubborn case of hiccups.

Sorry for the blog silence yesterday, but the crazy sleeping pattern was catching up with me....it still is.  The second night at home was 10x better than the first night.  We started to get into a routine and everyone (Kate) was cooperating.  Last night was a little more frustrating, but we're still on a pretty good schedule.  Unfortunately, it feels like every time I close my eyes to go to sleep, I immediately get woken up by feeding time...it's like my head barely hits the pillow.  D's been an incredible trouper.  She obviously has far more responsibility (and less sleep) than I, but she's managed to do it without complaint and make me look like a sissy.

Yesterday was our first non-hospital pediatrician visit.  Kate's in the 90th percentile for height and the 64th percentile for weight.  She's lost a good amount of weight since she was born (14 ounces), so we spent a while talking about getting her eating more.  We're still supplementing with formula and trying to perfect the "other" techniques....but I promise this blog won't turn into a La Leche League tutorial.  We have another visit on Tuesday.  The pediatrician says that if Kate has gained four ounces by then, we get to take her home; if she hasn't gained the weight, the pediatrician will take her home.  As you might assume, we're hoping she gains the weight.

Before we went into the pediatrician's office, we noticed that Kate had a bit of a bruise on her left eye.  It had been a little swollen since birth (you try squeezing out of a person without any side effects!), but it looked like she may have hit herself in the eye and made it worse.  As we were in the office waiting for the doctor, we looked down at Kate and there was disgusting yellow gunk squeezing out of her closed eye.  I felt like a terrible parent....like we were going to get caught neglecting her obvious sickness and have her immediately confiscated. Fortunately, the doctor quickly diagnosed it as a clogged tear duct, very common and not serious in any way.  We got some instructions for cleaning and massaging the area, but nothing more serious is necessary.  However, that's one reason why I didn't end up taking any pictures yesterday.  It looks like she got into a bar brawl with some miniature street toughs.

As the clock quickly counts toward her next feeding (in 20 minutes), I should probably wrap this up.  Today Kate will be making her first public appearance at a local eatery.  We're going someplace we can sit outside and avoid the crowds, and we're going a little after the lunch rush to minimize the number of other people in the restaurant.  Yesterday D and I each got a bit of time away from the house...D and her mom went to Babies 'R' Us for some we-didn't-know-we-would-need-this-until-the-baby-arrived-but-now-we-need-it-immediately items, and I ran my mom to the train station to head home.  It's nice having grandmas around to help out with Kate, food, and just about everything else.

Let me finish by saying that I still have the world's coolest baby (no offense), and that every moment with her is treasured.  She still doesn't cry unless there's actually something wrong, she's cute as a button, and she's incredibly expressive and interesting even when asleep (for a baby).  Lucky us!

Suggestion Box

I'd like to file a complaint with the Powers that Be.  If a feeding session starts at 6:00pm but happens to take a while (until 7:30) due to various circumstances beyond our control, the next three-hours-apart feeding should begin at 10:30, not at 9pm.  Unfortunately, that's not the way it works.  Boo.

Our Happy Family

I only took a few pictures today, and I don't have any major updates. We're doing pretty well on the learning curve...each task is getting a little bit easier each time we do it. We'll see how tonight goes.

We introduced Willow to Kate for the first time today, though it was mostly just a sniff. Willow got a little bit frantic when she realized there was a new human in the house....one that cries and poops unexpectedly. We want to make sure she doesn't feel left out, but we also want to make sure she's appropriately gentle with the baby (not that they get to play together any time soon). In this picture, you can see Willow very pointedly not looking at the baby, because we weren't letting her get too close. Her tail was wagging, though, and she was very excited to be so near to this new bundle of excitement in the house.

Did I Say Mellow?

We came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon, and we're getting settled in. The first order of business was to forget everything we've learned about Kate since Monday and figure out how to deal with New Kate. The second item on the agenda was moving every piece of baby paraphernalia (diapers, changing table, bassinet, mobile, blankets) from it's perfectly thought-out and planned location to the spot where we now realize it actually needs to go. This is the kind of on-the-job training that only having a baby in-house can really provide.

Last night was Opposite Night. When we wanted her to be awake and eating, she was fast asleep. When we wanted her to sleep and give us some rest time, she was fidgeting in her bassinet and crying up a storm. She has definitely found her voice. For the most part, she was happy....but only if we were holding her in our arms. A good swaddling definitely helped, but I am at best a beginner swaddler at the moment....I'll be practicing quite a bit in the next few days. She's still incredibly cute, but I'm also pretty exhausted. We're still supplementing her milk with formula, so every meal time has a bunch of extra gear associated with it. I made more trips up and down the stairs last night than I have since we moved in last year.  Fortunately, two of Kate's grandmas (Yia-Yia and Grandma) are here to help, so we had a lovely dinner and a nice relaxing evening last night.  I even got to take a nap!

I posted more pictures on the photo site....here are a few teasers. I don't have as many as I'd like....she was in the isolette under the lights in the morning, and I was busy dealing with a take-home baby in the afternoon. Her jaundice had cleared up enough by morning to be discharged, and we'll have another checkup tomorrow morning to see how she's progressing (with her weight, jaundice, and other stuff).

Here's Baby Kate's first non-hospital outfit.

She didn't like the outfit or the car seat.

But she was just fine once we got her into the car.

She didn't like her beds much, either (pre-swaddle).

Up and Down

Well, she couldn't be completely perfect. :)

I'll keep this short, because I need to get some sleep and the hospital wireless network is somewhat temperamental. Kate had a great day, with lots of visitors and some solid nap time. On the plus side, she had her first couple of successful feedings, and showed herself to be interested and capable. On the down side, she's currently looking for more milk than can be provided, so we're having to supplement a bit with formula. She also had a test for jaundice that came back less than perfect (8.0 is "too high" and she got an 8.1). To make sure she'll be ready to come home with us tomorrow afternoon, they decided to provide light therapy tonight, which involves an enclosed crib with a bright light. She doesn't seem to mind, and we'll see how she's doing in the morning. This is very common and nothing to worry about.....her pediatrician pronounced her "terribly healthy" this morning.

I've uploaded some more pictures to the photo site, so go there for a pictorial update. I've also got some great videos, but I'll wait until we're home before I post those. Here are a few:

She had some great periods of attentiveness, where she laid there and watched what was going on.

At other times, she got upset, but still only for a few seconds at a time. She's really mellow and quiet for the most part. I tried to get a picture every time she got upset, but I only got two shots....most of the time I couldn't get my camera out in time.

Here's when she was starting to look a little yellow.

And here's Kate's first tanning salon experience.

I have no idea what our schedule will be tomorrow, so be patient in case I can't post until late.

Picture time

Well, it's only been 14 hours since Kate was born, she's barely done anything but sleep, and it already feels like a long day. D and Kate both need some assistance (at least for the first day), and we have to get up every three hours to try to get Kate to eat. Though labor took a while, she came out pretty quickly once D started to push....maybe 10 minutes. That didn't really provide Kate enough time "in the wringer," and she still has a lot of amniotic fluid in her stomach. Until she gets it all out, she's a little hesitant to eat, so last night was filled with every-three-hour spit-up sessions instead of feeding sessions. Once it's all cleared out, she should be much happier and ready to eat.

We had the nursery take her for a few hours last night, so that we could sleep without having to worry about her choking on spit-up....she never appeared to be in distress, but better safe than sorry. This morning we got up and spent a little time with her during her second period of alertness. She's already got a lot of personality, but she's extremely mellow. She doesn't cry very much at all (yet) and she seems pretty amenable to anything we need to do with her (diaper changes, re-swaddling, even her vaccine shot).

All the pictures are on a Picasa album here, but I'll post a few.

Here's a good full-body shot. You can see that she's a lot bigger than she looks when she's all wrapped up.

She definitely has my feet. They're huge, and she kept her toes spread the whole time.

She's mellow, but she likes this frowny face.....she was fast asleep, but her face still has a lot of personality.

She's my little burrito!

First pictures

First shot of Mommy and Kate.

This is supposed to be the "misbehaving" picture, but I don't have anything to complain about. She's been very mellow since she was born, and hasn't cried for more than ten seconds in a row.

Right now she's wrapped up like a burrito on the bassinet, waiting to head to the room we'll stay in tonight. More pics later (probably).

Kate Michelle Ryan

Kate Michelle Ryan was born at 5:09pm on August 17, 2009.  She weighs 9 pounds and is 21 inches long.

She's healthy, happy, and currently snuggling in her mommy's arms.

I'll be posting pictures shortly....but before I do, I thought I would put this offer out there.

Happy baby to us!

Still progressing

No news yet, but everything is going as planned.  Probably no more posting until the birth announcement.

And so it begins

We woke up early this morning and were ready to leave the house by 6:15. We were headed to the hospital to induce delivery, but we were stopped in our tracks by a call from the hospital. They pushed us back a few hours, but we eventually made it in.

We're now at the hospital and the process has started. D was hooked up to an IV (on their fourth try) and got an epidural (after some painful searching with the needle). She's on pitocin (to start the contractions) and her water is broken, but it will still probably be a while before anything happens. D is as comfortable as one would expect, watching HGTV and waiting for this little girl to start heading out.

Updates will follow as time permits.

Not yet

Everything is good....no baby yet. Our Monday appointment went well, but the baby seems to be comfortable in her little jacuzzi and in no hurry to make an appearance. Until then, we're continuing as we have been the last few weeks:

• movies (GI Joe, Julie & Julia)
• last minute shopping (mostly baby stuff)
• packing bags for the hospital
• installing a car seat base
• other stuff

The "other stuff" includes a concert we went to on Monday. I won tickets to a private radio station concert with Ingrid Michaelson, which was held at an outdoor lounge at a Del Mar hotel. She's an up-and-coming singer/songwriter that is probably best known for having one of her songs in an Old Navy commercial. "If you are chilly, here take my sweater....'cause I-I-I looove the way you call me baby, and yooooou take me the way I am."

The venue was awesome, with perfect weather and a very relaxing atmosphere.

We got to sit back on some comfortable couches, eat some free finger foods, and listen to awesome music.

As you may have noticed, I get some pretty cool stuff from radio station contests. In the last week, I've won tickets to Julie & Julia, a free On-Demand movie, a pizza, a T-shirt, the concert discussed above, and tickets to a Flaming Lips concert. Nothing too exciting, but it makes for some fun leisure activities. I'm also happy to report that our circus tickets and clown experience were used and enjoyed.

We're ready and anxious for the baby, and I know you all are too. I probably won't be doing daily updates, but I'll make sure to post all the info after the birth. Woohoo!

Short Shrift

I wanted to get something written before the weekend, because Saturday is always the slowest day for blog traffic. I don't want to disappoint any loyal readers, but I don't have a lot to say about our day-to-day lives. We've been staying close to home and trying to keep D comfortable, counteracting restless sleep with yummy ice cream. I'm still working, but I'm trying not to travel more than an hour from home, so I'll be around in case the baby comes quickly. As it is, we have a pretty long drive to the hospital...as much as an hour in traffic...so I'd rather be nearby.

Some time in the next three weeks (but likely less than two), this blog will be transformed into the Baby Girl Ryan show.....believe it or not, we still don't have a name finalized, and we wouldn't tell you if we did. As soon as she comes, you'll get a name and lots (and lots (and lots)) of pictures. I hope you're ready for videos of a baby sleeping, because I can guarantee there will be some of those as well. And, since most babies look alike anyway (or are funny-looking), you can pretty much just search YouTube for sleeping baby and get your fill now.

Anyway, once she takes over, most other topics will likely be given short shrift. So, I thought I'd give them a shout-out before our world is consumed by diapers and crying.

First, Willow. I know she gets plenty of attention, both from us and on the blog, but she's also the only thing moving in this house besides us and the ceiling fan. She has continued to adapt to her blindness, and is doing pretty well with navigation. She doesn't run into things until she gets excited and stops paying attention to where she's going....unfortunately, that's probably about twice a day. There have been some headlong runs into walls or furniture that have made me cringe in sympathy. She's still a little frantic about food, and she seems to be more concerned when we leave the house than she used to be, but for the most part she's doing well.

It's been a while since Andrew's gotten a shout-out. While looking for an email earlier this evening, I came across one with a link to a blog post I wrote almost two years ago. It was from after we had spoken with the doctors and had a frank discussion about his long-term chances, a few days before we made some difficult decisions. It brought up a lot of emotion, but none of it had to do with how we were feeling at the time. I didn't feel sorry for us at all, because at least we got to be there with him. Instead, I just miss him profoundly.

We met with our potential pediatrician on Tuesday, and we mentioned to her what had happened with our first child. She suggested that while we should certainly remember him and mourn him, we should also make sure to close that chapter and start a new one for the new baby. She doesn't want us drawing comparisons, or feeling like the new baby is a replacement, or worrying overmuch about health issues just because we had bad luck in the past. While that was always our plan, she helped reinforce it for us. It's all part of our story, but that was definitely a different chapter. So, this is a chance to pour one for my little homie and move on.

This last picture signifies a couple of things for me. First, travel. I don't see us going much further than a two hour drive in the next several months. Fortunately, we took great advantage of our long status as DINKs (Dual Income, No Kids) and have done more traveling than many people do in a lifetime. I want our kids to grow up loving travel as much as we do, so I'm sure we'll have many new adventures in the years to come, but that's a little difficult with a newborn. Besides, she won't remember it anyway....isn't childhood amnesia weird?

The second thing this picture represents is tranquility. Our stay in Hawaii in December 2007, just after we lost Andrew, was our most peaceful vacation ever. We still participated in some activities like snorkeling with manta rays and dolphins, but we also appreciated the Zen feel at the resort. We're a little too anxious at the moment to be completely calm, but we know the baby will shatter any remaining serenity that exists in our lives, at least temporarily. We know she'll cry, and keep us up, and vomit, and make messes, and be more work than we ever thought a little baby could be....but I guarantee it will be worth every minute. We welcome the challenge, and can't wait to see her!

Calling All Circus Freaks

Before I get to the baby update, I have a fun offer for someone in San Diego.  We won four tickets to the circus for this Saturday (8/8), and D can't go because of a schedule conflict with a bridal shower.  If it were just random seats at the circus, I wouldn't mind them going to waste, but I also won the grand prize, which consists of a "Guest Clown Experience."  That means we get VIP seats, plus we get to go backstage before the show.  One person in the group gets to become a clown (makeup and costume included) and participate in the first ten minutes of the show.  So, if anyone is in San Diego (or will be here this weekend), I have three extra tickets for a clown and his/her two friends.  Drop a comment or send me an email if you're interested.

There's not much new to report in babyland.  D's now at 37 weeks, so the baby is fully cooked and is now just crisping a little.  She's only measuring a little bit more than two weeks ago....just over eight pounds....so the other estimate may have been a bit high.  Even with her size, she doesn't seem to be interested in coming out.  D has a lot of amniotic fluid, so the baby's comfortable and hasn't dropped yet.  We're hoping she doesn't get too comfy, because D's anything but.  She gets kicked constantly, is having trouble sleeping through the night, and is generally exhausted.  It's gotten to that point a lot faster with this pregnancy, so we're looking forward to the baby's entrance into the world.

Movie Review Roundup

Well, I warned you that blogging more often would lead to somewhat more mundane topics, at least until the baby is here.  At the moment, that means talking about movies.  D hasn't felt up to spending more than a few hours out and about, though we might try to get to Del Mar next week for horse racing.  We have had time to make it to the movie theater and see some recent releases, plus I've been renting $1 movies from our local Redbox.

Though I could probably write an entire post about each, here are some quick thoughts on a few:

• Transformers 2 - This is just as terrible as everybody said it was.  The action is impressive (and constant), but the story is pointless and overlong.  In addition, the depiction of a pair of characters is racist enough to be offensive.  I didn't really like the first Transformers movie, and this one only went downhill.
• The Hangover - If you have a sense of humor and a at least a medium tolerance for lewdness, go see this movie.  It's the only recent film I've seen twice (once alone and once with family), and I still laughed aloud the second time.  Great characters, fun premise, and a plot that manages to be utterly ridiculous yet very realistic at the same time.  Highly recommended, though if you have only a medium tolerance for lewdness, you might want to cover your eyes during the credits.
• Bruno - Unfortunately, I think Sasha Baron Cohen decided that his success with Borat was due to his pushing at the boundaries of decency, rather than the social commentary within his interviews and interactions.  Bruno, aside from feeling like a bunch of disjointed skits haphazardly thrown together, also focuses less on the people he meets along the way.  Its focus on the character of Bruno himself (especially his nether regions) makes it much less interesting.  It also requires an exceptionally high tolerance for male full frontal nudity.  Not recommended, even for Borat fans.
• (500) Days of Summer - This movie was quite a gem.  We saw it almost a month ago at a sneak preview, and I've been talking it up ever since.  It was fun, charming, and very unique.  As the voiceover says, "This is not a love story."  But it is a story about love, and it's very well put-together.  The storytelling is unconventional and quirky, jumping around in time, throwing in a musical number, inserting the characters into an overdramatic French film, and even showing an entire scene using a split-screen view of two possible outcomes.  Check it out.
• The Hurt Locker - Another lesser-known movie, this time about a military bomb squad in Iraq.  They cranked the realism up to 11 on this one, and it makes the long, drawn-out disposal scenes incredibly intense.  Unlike the slow, hesitant red-wire/blue-wire scenes in most big-budget thrillers, the Hurt Locker's main character gets in there, snips out the power source or trigger mechanism, and tosses the components to the ground.  This one is worth seeing for the gritty realism alone.  Plus, there are cool explosions.   :)
• The Proposal - I like Ryan Reynolds and I was hoping this would be a great movie.  It wasn't great, but it was entertaining enough for matinee prices.  The setting was unique....Sitka, Alaska (though it was filmed in Massachusetts)....it made for some original humor and plot points involving the local customs (seaplanes, boats, wildlife, etc).  Betty White's character had good potential, but she was trying a little too hard.  If I were Ryan Reynolds's character, I would have gone with Malin Akerman, who played his high school sweetheart.
• The Ugly Truth - Another one where I was hoping for a lot, but was disappointed.  In the first few scenes, Katherine Heigl's character proved herself to be organized, intelligent, and quick-thinking.  She then spent the rest of the movie falling for stupid cliches like "repeat everything the person whispers to you in your ear, even when it's obvious they're having a conversation with someone else."  It was irritating and hard to believe.  Given a choice between the two, I'd have to go with The Proposal.
• Harry Potter 6 - I could have written out the whole "Half-Blood Prince" part, but this movie felt a bit like filler leading up to the last two.  I enjoyed every scene, and I love where they've gone with both the characters and the tone of the series, but it felt like they didn't cover enough.  They need more scenes that take up less time.  Still, if you've seen the rest, you can't miss it.
• Funny People - I was really looking forward to this movie, until I read an article that said the characters were (purposefully) unlikeable and that there was very little comedy.  So when we saw it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite funny.  It felt like Judd Apatow had a hard time deciding on an ending, but I was satisfied with the way it turned out, and entertained along the way.
• Star Trek - I grew up on Star Trek: The Next Generation and I'm a huge fan of Lost/Alias, so I was interested to see what would happen when the Star Trek universe met J.J. Abrams.  I was not disappointed, I don't mind the liberties that were taken with the space-time continuum, and I love all the "new" characters.  This one is recommended not just for Star Trek fans, but for anyone that can appreciate a character-driven sci-fi movie.
• Year One - This one is pretty much exactly what it looks like in the preview.  It doesn't take itself seriously, so it can mix-and-match historical references and accents, while still focusing on the two main characters.  It's essentially a "buddy comedy," and there are some very funny lines, mostly from Michael Cera.  I can't call it a great movie, but it's worth a rental.
• Land of the Lost - Wow.  It had a lot of potential, but almost all of the funny parts were shown during the preview.  When the best part of the movie is a recurring joke about Matt Lauer, you know you've got problems.  Perhaps I was taking it too seriously, but Land of the Lost didn't do it for me.
• Terminator Salvation - It's been a long time since I saw it, so I'm having trouble even remembering details.  Oh wait....I just remembered a huge, naked, computer-generated version of our governor....now I wish I could forget.  This movie kept my attention at the time, but apparently it wasn't that memorable.
• Wolverine - One of the things I liked about the X-Men comics/movies/shows is that each of the characters needs the others, because they each only have one very specific power.  In Wolverine, they put together a supergroup of characters, but any one of them could do the entire job by themselves.  It felt partly like overkill, and partly like the studio was fishing for which character could be spun off into a new movie.  In the end, this movie also kept my interest and is definitely worth a rental (if you have a big screen).
• My Life in Ruins - D and I were good Greeks and went out to see this movie during opening weekend.  I like Nia Vardalos, but it was very obvious that she didn't write this one.  The photography was also disappointing....though I liked seeing tourist sites in Greece that I've been to, the film didn't do them justice in capturing their majesty.  If you get bored, rent this so Nia can do well enough to make a sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but don't expect too much.
• Away We Go - I love both of the actors in this movie, and the story was poignant and well-written.  Each of the supporting characters managed to convey personality and depth in their few minutes on-screen, and each of the visits - though separated by time and location - were woven together into a great overarching story.  Last year D and I had the same conversation as the main characters - that and D's state of pregnancy made it very easy to relate to their situation.

Winners: The Hangover, Away We Go, (500) Days of Summer
Losers: Land of the Lost, My Life in Ruins, Bruno

Each of my comments links to the Rotten Tomatoes entry to get a synopsis and review roundup.  I just wanted to throw in a personal take.  As I said, we've been seeing a lot of movies, so I hope this isn't overwhelming.  Before this summer, I hadn't been in a theater in a while....I'm making up for lost time.

Still going

Another thumbs up from the doctor today. That puts D at 36 weeks, so the baby will be here in less than a month. Later this afternoon, I was able to see her moving around in D's belly from across the living room. I was ten feet away and had zero trouble seeing minor vibrations, random pokes/kicks, and huge movements of limbs across D's abdomen. She wants out.

Comic-Con Recap

This weekend felt both long and short. I had two long days at Comic-Con, but the remainder of the weekend flew by. Though I did explore the floor of the exhibit hall for a while on Saturday, I spent most of my time in the rooms with the panels. I didn't really care to get autographs and I didn't plan on buying anything....I just wanted to hear some of my favorite actors talk about what they're working on. I've put up pictures from every panel (along with a bit more commentary) in this web album, but here were a few of my favorite discussions.

The entire cast of The Big Bang Theory was there, talking about random stuff like hitting on Inuits, cloning people, and playing Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock. As one of my favorite shows of the last few years, I was excited to see this group, and they didn't disappoint. PS- Jim Parsons (shown here on the right) deserves an Emmy.

TV Guide hosted a panel of stars from various sci-fi shows. Though it was mainly an excuse to show clips of each of their shows, how can you go wrong with Chuck, the guys from Big Bang Theory, Scott Wolf, Rebecca Romijn, and John Cho? Since I wasn't able to attend the Chuck panel the next morning, this was also my only chance to see Zachary Levi in person. He's a true geek that really enjoys his visits to Comic-Con and lets the audience know it.

I got to see some footage of Iron Man 2 (and hear the cast discuss the movie). As someone who thought Iron Man was better than The Dark Knight, is was pretty cool to see scenes from the sequel. Robert Downey Jr. is also incredibly charming and funny, and really makes a great impression. I hope that doesn't mean he's back on drugs.

My last day at Comic-Con ended with over an hour and a half of Kevin Smith taking questions from the audience and responding in his usual hilarious style. He's incredibly dirty, but he can take any question in any direction, including tangential stories that take several minutes to wrap up. He discussed Twilight, his new movie (with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan), and much, much more. If you're interested in laughing for a while, here's some Youtube footage of the Q&A.

Aside from the ones I've mentioned here, I also saw panels for 24, Battlestar Galactica, Zombieland, 2012, Extract, Bones, Dollhouse, Solomon Kane, and a few others. For any Dollhouse fans, I'd recommend going out and picking up the Season 1 DVD, as we got to see the unaired thirteenth episode that's now available only on the DVD.

D spent Friday and Saturday in Orange County, and then we had a relaxing Sunday. D's weekly doctor's appointment is tomorrow, though I doubt we'll learn anything new....at this point, there are only so many ways to say "this is a big baby." Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Geek Week

WARNING: First it was cycling, now it's sci-fi, fantasy, and geek TV.  The next paragraph contains lots of nerdy content.

Last week I won two passes to Comic-Con, the annual nerdfest held at the San Diego Convention Center.  Since D wouldn't be very comfortable walking around all day, I used the two passes myself, for two different days of the Con.....so I'll be there tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday.  I'm a little concerned that I'll be overwhelmed by the sheer number of people that will attend....they're expecting 120,000.  I also worry that I won't be able to get into the panel discussions I'm interested in, and will spend my time wandering about aimlessly like a lost droid.  A few of the panels I'd like to see: The Big Bang Theory, Dollhouse, Chuck, Family Guy, and the Kevin Smith Q&A.  Believe it or not, there are are even geekier ones that I won't mention.  Unfortunately, I missed out on Thursday's events, which included panels for Psych (the show on USA) and Legend of the Seeker, a show based on a favorite series of books.  I also missed the Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog fan screening, though I'm determined to track down Felicia Day at some point.  D might head to Orange County to escape the extreme geekiness that will be wafting from me when I return home.

For the non-geeky, I also won tickets to go see two comedians (Brian Posehn and Doug Benson) on Friday and to see Snoop Dogg in concert on Saturday.  I don't think I'll make it to either one, but let me know if you're in SD and would like to go....I might be able to pick up the tickets.

And, on a completely different note, the baby was tap-dancing on the inside of D's belly tonight.  She was extremely rambunctious for a long period of time, through a couple of hours of TV watching.  It was a little more forceful than usual, and unrelenting.....D was ready to take a shot of whiskey to calm her down (just kidding!).  I got to feel her rolling around like an American Gladiator in an Atlasphere.  Let's just say it's much more exciting when it's not your pelvis that's getting kicked.

Comments

I've been told by a couple of people that comments on the blog aren't working.  I'm investigating now, so you can ignore this message and any comments to it.  I'll update when I know more.

UPDATE: I've changed the comment style to be a pop-up window rather than in-line.  That should leave room to fill out the word verification.  I've checked it in Chrome, Firefox, and IE.  It seems to work if you're using Internet Explorer 7 or above, but I can't seem to see the Comment link in IE 6.  For any of you that were having trouble posting comments before, please try again and let me know if it still doesn't work.  Thanks!

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

Back in time again, to our April trip to the South. After spending a day seeing many of the downtown Atlanta attractions, we spent the next morning exploring the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. I've put up some pictures in this web album, but here are a few.

Even in April, D was looking forward to the baby coming, and took this picture (and many others of the same ladybug) as a potential decoration for the nursery. In the end, the picture wasn't at a high enough resolution to blow it up so large, but you can see from my nursery post that the ladybug motif stuck.

The tulips were in full bloom when we arrived. This was one of several planters with various colors....yellow, blue, orange, and red. The others may have been prettier, but this orange was the most interesting.

Those who know me well will attest to the fact that I take a lot of pictures. Two of my most common subjects (when not traveling) are zoo/aquarium animals and flowers. Of the flowers I shoot, orchids are probably the most common, since we always seem to end up in places with a wide variety. I'm sure I have over a thousand pictures of orchids, though for some reason I've never done the research to identify the various types. This one is pretty common, but never fails to impress.

I see these purple orchids less frequently, but they're still pretty standard. See the web album for more.

Big 'Un

We had another doctor's appointment today, and everything is continuing as expected.  The baby is still huge, already weighing in at over 3.5 kilograms (around 7.75 pounds).  That's just an estimate based on various measurements, but I'm guessing it's pretty close.  Let's hope she doesn't continue to grow at the "standard" half-pound per week, since D still has five weeks go to.  We're hoping that she comes naturally so we don't have to induce, and she'll be "fully baked" in the next couple of weeks.

As our friends C&T showed us this week, you never know what's going to happen.....during a routine checkup at 36.5 weeks, their doctor decided that the baby needed to be induced.  That was last Friday.....by Sunday afternoon, they had a healthy baby boy.  Great ending, but D doesn't really want to spend three days in the hospital before delivering.   : )