In the Crapper
American news has literally gone into the crapper.
I love Jeanne Moos though — Craig’s Bathroom Follies
Archive for August, 2007
WikiGeek
Fresh on the heels of creating my first Wikipedia page, I’ve created a second page — this one is for USS Garcia DE/FF-1040, a ship my father served aboard during his time in the U.S. Navy.
It feels good to ensure notable people, places or things are represented on Wikipedia. My next article to create or contribute to at some point…? One for the second oldest municipal airport in the USA, Stinson Municipal Airport (KSSF) in San Antonio.
P.S. to Justin: I miss flying with you, and I really, really, really miss clouds!
Gigglesaurus
FAIR WARNING: Adjust your volume as desired before clicking the first link below!
It’s time now for another edition of …
Sara’s Podcast: Gigglesaurus*
(Recorded August 15, 2007 — Sara’s 5 month birthday!)
* Currently requires iTunes (PC or Mac)
For earlier editions of Sara’s podcasts, visit the Multimedia Baby entry from late May 2007.
Slow Down, Kiddo!
So, we’re on a bunch of firsts with Sara right now. Nothing major—no, she can’t drive a stick, yet, or open the pop top on our favorite chilled beverages (Dr. Pepper, for now… but I could go for a beer once I stop breastfeeding!)
Naw, instead the firsts are a little more mundane:
First taste of carrots & first time in highchair (w/Dad, yesterday):
First carrots & in highchair (w/Mom, same day)
First time holding the bottle all by herself! (today)
Godspeed, Miles
Miles Levin passed away on Sunday morning. Cancer ended his life, but it did NOT cheapen it.
From Miles’ mother, Nancy Levin, quoted from Miles’ CarePage:
August 19, 2007 at 12:35 PM EDT
August 19, 2007 at 12:35 PM EDT
This is the update you’ve been dreading: Miles’ earthly body has left us….early this morning. This is the day we’ve been dreading since June of ’05, and fearing it would come and now it has. We did everything humanly possible to arrest this disease. Our efforts were not enough. There are no interventions currently available that could have produced a different outcome. Hardly a comfort. We were able to buy time, and good time it was. Miles went from a boy-man to a man-boy. At a cost that would knock your socks off, Miles still managed to pack a wallop. He could not and would not be held back…..from living life to the fullest. He so wanted (that it hurt) to taste the fruits of freedom, of adulthood, of the world, and yet they were denied him. This is the agony that has a grasp, a stranglehold, on our hearts. The irony of his absence, when under ordinary circumstances he’d be gone now anyhow – to college – has not escaped us.Talk about destiny, G-d’s plan, purpose, anything you want, but the fact is that our boy, our beloved son and brother, was snatched from us, and it hurts. We knew it was coming, yet we’re shocked. We knew it was coming, yet we’re unprepared. We knew it was coming, yet it feels unreal. We knew it was coming, but we hate it.[...]
It is suggested that those who wish to further honor the memory of Miles Levin do so by making a contribution to, “UJF Miles Levin Fund”, (address below), a newly established tax exempt fund designed to support existing efforts to combat pediatric cancer as well as providing our family a vehicle to create new directions in patient care. Cards and expressions of thoughts and feelings are always welcome. We ask that if you feel an inclination to send food or flowers that you transfer that impulse to our new fund; it would be more satisfying to us to know that honoring Miles means helping another family.
[...]
Nancy, Jon, and Nina
UJF – Miles Alpern Levin Fund
P.O. Box 2030
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303
Attn: Susie Feldman
Related Links
Banana-rama!
The introduction of first solid foods to Sara continues to go well. We still had plenty of the pureed bananas left over, so that’s the only solid food she had today. Suffice it to say, they were a big hit — between lunch and dinner, she finished them off completely!
And, while it’s far too early to draw a correlation — guess who put herself down for the night and has been in a deep sleep in her Pack & Play (vs. Mom and Dad’s bed) after dinner and her bath? Bingo! I don’t mind co-sleeping with her for another month or so, but at the same time, I’ll be celebrating wildly if we can get her to sleep reliably in the Pack & Play (in our room, for convenience since she still feeds 1-2 times at night) or her crib (down the hall in her nursery). The best we’ve managed thus far is to move her into the Pack & Play or crib after she’s fallen asleep in bed with us, and 9 times out of 10 that lasts about 5 minutes before her internal proximity alarms go off and she realizes she’s not right next to Mom and Dad.
I’m not posting these details seeking advice from other parents, BTW. I know everyone has a way of doing things that worked for them, and so far (any comments I’ve made or will make to the contrary be damned) our situation is working fine for us. I’m just cautiously optimistic since I think we’d all be more comfortable if we could sprawl in our respective beds, Sara included, and it’s awesome if she is starting to transition that way. It probably helped that she nursed well today (as always) in addition to having one 4 oz. bottle of expressed breastmilk and the rest of her “first solids” pureed bananas. She’s still quite petite, so she can stand to pack away extra calories with a little more solid food than most exclusively breastfed babies are eating at 5 months of age, IMHO.
So far, so good. Sara is truly a blessing and a “model baby” — if infants came with owner’s manuals, Sara would be one of the few to actually operate exactly as described.
