Fletcher grabbed his bottle for the first time today. And no, this is not a euphamism. He really did grab hold with both hands.
This reminds me of an interesting conversation with friends at lunch in Houston a couple of weekends ago. We essentially agreed that there is selection bias in parental reporting of their children's accomplishments. That is, no parent will say, "My baby did NOT do something today, and all the books say he should have been doing something 2 weeks ago! I am thinking of taking my 13 week old to a child development specialist." No, instead parents share what their little Pride and Joy is doing well.
This should not be surprising. After all, how many adults do you know that go around bragging about how much money they LOST investing in a particular stock? Baby bragging is just a variation of the same theme. Except I am not bragging, mind you. I am **reporting**.
But I am equally as certain that no other 12.4 week old baby boy can grab his bottle as well as Fletch. OK, now THAT is bragging.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Baby Blue Eyes
Many family members, and some friends, have marvelled at the fact that Fletch has blue eyes. How can this be? I mean, Rick and Jen both have brown eyes. Fear not, my confused friends, I am here to help explain.
Let's let "B" (capital B) represent a gene for brown eyes, and "b" (lower case) for blue eyes. Eye color is the result of 2 genes, 1 from Mom and 1 from Dad. So, a child will have a 2-gene combination, one of the following: BB, Bb, or bb. Have your eyes glazed over yet? (There is no gene for glazing over.)
Brown is a dominant gene. If B is present, the child will always have brown eyes.
My Dad has blue eyes, and my Mom had brown. Since a brown gene, if present, will always present brown eyes, then it stands to reason that my Dad's gene sequence for eye color is "bb" (2 blue genes). My Dad could ONLY pass on a blue gene "b" to me, so we know that I have at least ONE "b" gene (blue). But I have brown eyes, therefore I also have a "B" gene, which I must have received from Mom. So, my personal gene sequence for eye color is "Bb". A similar story exists for Jen, whose mother had green eyes (blue, from a genetic standpoint).
Rick: Bb
Jen: Bb
So, if you got into some boring combinational mapping, you would see that there is exactly a 25% chance that any one of our children will have blue eyes. Fletch has blue eyes ("bb"): I gave him one "b" and Jen gave him the other "b."
Fletcher beat the odds.
Let's let "B" (capital B) represent a gene for brown eyes, and "b" (lower case) for blue eyes. Eye color is the result of 2 genes, 1 from Mom and 1 from Dad. So, a child will have a 2-gene combination, one of the following: BB, Bb, or bb. Have your eyes glazed over yet? (There is no gene for glazing over.)
Brown is a dominant gene. If B is present, the child will always have brown eyes.
My Dad has blue eyes, and my Mom had brown. Since a brown gene, if present, will always present brown eyes, then it stands to reason that my Dad's gene sequence for eye color is "bb" (2 blue genes). My Dad could ONLY pass on a blue gene "b" to me, so we know that I have at least ONE "b" gene (blue). But I have brown eyes, therefore I also have a "B" gene, which I must have received from Mom. So, my personal gene sequence for eye color is "Bb". A similar story exists for Jen, whose mother had green eyes (blue, from a genetic standpoint).
Rick: Bb
Jen: Bb
So, if you got into some boring combinational mapping, you would see that there is exactly a 25% chance that any one of our children will have blue eyes. Fletch has blue eyes ("bb"): I gave him one "b" and Jen gave him the other "b."
Fletcher beat the odds.
Ciao, Friends
During the course of analyzing traffic to this blog, I am happy to see that some friends in Italy have visited. Achille, Walter -- thanks for visiting! I hope you are well, and I hope you enjoy hearing about how I stumble through parenthood. :-)
Monday, June 18, 2007
First Father's Day
My first Father's Day was absolutely spectactular. Fletcher slept in, so Jen made me my favorite breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, and biscuits. I got to enjoy a cup of coffee, and we both snuck upstairs and gently awoke our little guy. As usual, he greeted his day with a huge grin once he recognized his Mom and Dad.
I gotta tell ya -- that is about the most awesome feeling in the world! I could have stopped right there, and said, "Yup, Dad's Day #1 a success." But, I got a daily pass on diaper duty (though I did manage to sneak one in), and we had a visit from my brother and his family while they were in town. This was my sister-in-law's first time to meet Fletch, and of course he was just as friendly as could be.
After everyone had left, Fletch went to sleep, and Daddy got to lay on the couch and watch the US Open (golf). A little rest and relaxation was just the medicine I needed. A great day indeed.
I gotta tell ya -- that is about the most awesome feeling in the world! I could have stopped right there, and said, "Yup, Dad's Day #1 a success." But, I got a daily pass on diaper duty (though I did manage to sneak one in), and we had a visit from my brother and his family while they were in town. This was my sister-in-law's first time to meet Fletch, and of course he was just as friendly as could be.
After everyone had left, Fletch went to sleep, and Daddy got to lay on the couch and watch the US Open (golf). A little rest and relaxation was just the medicine I needed. A great day indeed.
This Hurts Me More Than You
Today was Fletcher's first day at daycare. Check that. At the Child Development Center. There is a difference, although I am just as sure that I cannot explain it. It being his first day and all, I drove The Boy, Mommy in tow, to his big day. His diaper bag chock full of enough supplies to sustain an army (of bouncing little 12 week olds), we happily marched through the front door, signed over a handsome sum of money, and handed over our handsome son.
Granted, these are not perfect strangers, mind you. We had long since scouted them out. Interviewed them. Asked questions. Checked behind their ears. All clean.
I have to say it was far harder on Mommy and Daddy than on Fletcher. He is pretty much a happy little man, eager and outgoing. I took him from his car seat, gave him a big nuzzle --you know the kind where you make growling bear noises and pretend you eat his little check but really you just give a couple kisses -- which eliciting a resounding giggle, and handed him over to the teacher.
I then proceeded to drag Mommy out of there, her nails scraping at the drywall. We then went to Starbuck's for The Daily Dose. Although she would not admit it, it was nice to just be a married couple for a moment.
And, upon arriving home, rather than actually calling the daycare....oops, child development center...she talked about calling the daycare (it's easier to type). And talked. And talked.
We made it through half of the day, and Fletcher made it home in one piece. No worse for the wear.
Granted, these are not perfect strangers, mind you. We had long since scouted them out. Interviewed them. Asked questions. Checked behind their ears. All clean.
I have to say it was far harder on Mommy and Daddy than on Fletcher. He is pretty much a happy little man, eager and outgoing. I took him from his car seat, gave him a big nuzzle --you know the kind where you make growling bear noises and pretend you eat his little check but really you just give a couple kisses -- which eliciting a resounding giggle, and handed him over to the teacher.
I then proceeded to drag Mommy out of there, her nails scraping at the drywall. We then went to Starbuck's for The Daily Dose. Although she would not admit it, it was nice to just be a married couple for a moment.
And, upon arriving home, rather than actually calling the daycare....oops, child development center...she talked about calling the daycare (it's easier to type). And talked. And talked.
We made it through half of the day, and Fletcher made it home in one piece. No worse for the wear.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
99 Bottles of Milk on the Wall
"Babies have the same mannerisms as drunk adults."
Well said, Jen. Let us count the ways.
Jenism, noun (JEN-izm): a statement made by Jen (aka, The Jen, The Wife, Mommy, The Mommy Unit) which is unusually funny.
Well said, Jen. Let us count the ways.
- They bobble their head about.
- They babble jibberish.
- They throw up on themselves.
- They soil themselves, and don't see to care much.
Jenism, noun (JEN-izm): a statement made by Jen (aka, The Jen, The Wife, Mommy, The Mommy Unit) which is unusually funny.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Sound of Daddy Sobbing Softly
This morning, in pre-market trading, Delcath Systems (Nasdaq: DCTH) traded up $21 from $4.50. For a few fleeting minutes, Mommy and Daddy were rich. Visions of lighting the fireplace with crumpled-up $100 bills flashed through my head. Or sending The Boy to Harvard. Or not working AND not worrying about it.
But alas, then the market got his senses back and Delcath came back to earth. And Daddy felt a tear well in the corner of his eye.
As bad as I felt, mourning a loss that was never really mine to lose, imagine that poor person who bought 800 shares of DCTH at $25 and change, only to realize the stock presently trades at around $5. That hurts.
But alas, then the market got his senses back and Delcath came back to earth. And Daddy felt a tear well in the corner of his eye.
As bad as I felt, mourning a loss that was never really mine to lose, imagine that poor person who bought 800 shares of DCTH at $25 and change, only to realize the stock presently trades at around $5. That hurts.
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