Dress-up Day

I hadn't worn a suit and tie in a while, but a few days ago was asked to emcee an event, giving me the chance to dress up a bit. I got this pic of myself with Kailyn taken right before I left the house. I dig it because I don't have very many photos of just Kiki Dee and me, and was stoked to find we both looked smashing. At least, the baby does. I'm a bit mad that my short haircut makes my face look puffy and fat.

As Helen would sarcastically say, 'Yeah, that's the reason why your face looks so fat...'

Songs That Sound Similar

In honor of Adele's new video that premiered today. Both songs so simple, yet so beautiful.

Someone Like You - Adele


Secrets - One Republic

Cable TV Rules!

One of the great things about our move to the 'burbs is that we closed out our old cable TV account, then opened up a new account at our new place (NOTE: this is apparently a smarter move than getting one's service transferred, because our local cable company treats new customers better than the ones they already have.) As a result we know have many more channels than we used to, for 1/2 the price.

For a Boston sports fan it's been great because with the new channels, I've gotten the chance to watch the Bill Belichick documentary on NFL Network, see replays of the Stanley Cup Finals in NHL Network and follow the Red Sox live on MLB Network during this tense and crazy end to the regular season.



The feeling I have with the new channels reminds me of when I was in high school and my dad said he'd get us cable if my sister and I both made the honor roll (back then, cable was a privilege, not a right for teenagers.) Caroline kept up her end of the bargain but I kept coming up short. After a few sub-par report cards and the sinking realization the honor roll wasn't in my immediate future my dad gave up and got us cable anyway.

All I remember from those days was being addicted to ESPN and MTV's 'Remote Control.' Needless to say, I didn't make the honor roll for a while after we got cable, either.



*Fun fact of the day: According to Wikipedia, Remote Control host Ken Ober (above) was from Brookline, MA.

Baby's First Fever

This weekend we had to take Kailyn to the ER in the middle of the night because she had a fever of 102. We figured it wasn't anything too serious, but we wanted to be safe just in case.

Once there, the doctor confirmed that it was indeed just a fever, so that made us feel better, but it still was a bit of a scare to have the baby wake up and cry in the middle of the night, especially since she's usually a pretty sound sleeper.

The good news was that even in the hospital at 3 a.m., Kailyn was still a happy baby, smiling and charming the staff. She didn't cry when we took off her onesie and placed her on the scale, when the nurse took her temperature 'the old fashioned way' or when the doctor put his cold stethoscope on her warm skin.

We have been relatively fortunate that this is her first real illness - we know some babies who seem to consistently be under the weather. Then again, Baby K drank breast milk since she was born which might have helped her immune system, and she isn't in day care so she's not as exposed to germs as some other kids might be.

While Kailyn being cold-free this long has been good news overall, I wonder if it will have any negative repercussions once she does start interacting with other kids more frequently in day care or preschool or wherever.

Of course, we don't wish for Kailyn to turn into a sick kid but if she is, I'm sure Helen wouldn't mind too much if the next attending physician we see at the hospital looks like this (miss you, Tricia!):



Parents, what are your thoughts on whether it's better to have a healthy kid vs. having one who gets sick, but builds up a tolerance to germs?

Nicknames

I rarely call people by their correct names; it's just a thing I do, for no good reason other than I find it amusing. For instance, Jordan is Yordan, Jason is Jack-o and Owen is Orben.

Here are a few of the nicknames I've given Kailyn since she's been born:

Norby - This was really given based on the assumption she'd be a boy, and I'll call him 'Norbit' since that's a funny name and I was pretty sure no one we knew was going to give their son that name.



Kiki Dee - Though this is the name of the singer below, I actually got it from an Adam Sandler movie...



K.K. Holiday - Not sure exactly who this is, or where the nickname came from. I think she's a chanteuse.



Boogie - Short for 'Booger,' as in 'Little Booger' but I didn't think a photo of a snot, or the guy from Revenge of the Nerds was appropriate here.



Kai Lan - Asian cartoon character, whose name is somewhat close to 'Kailyn.'



Missy Elliott - Helen once called Kailyn 'Little Missy,' which then got lengthened to Little Missy Elliot.

Almost Famous

Please allow me to be a proud daddy for a moment and pass along a few brushes with almost-fame for our baby daughter:

1) On a recent flight from LA, one of the flight attendants took Kailyn from my arms and proceeded to carry the baby up and down the aisle with her while she checked to make sure everyone's seat back was upright and their trays stowed and in the locked position. This, while another flight attended said that 'Miss Kailyn' was helping to keep everyone safe. :)

2) Kailyn will soon be featured on the Bastyr University Bookstore website, modeling a baby bib:



3) According to our friend and photographer extraordinaire, Ava Van, Baby K's pix are still the most viewed ones on her site, 7 months after they were posted:



Time to get this kid some representation: Get me Scott Wachs (my former William Morris agent) on the phone, stat!

The Wave

On a recent flight, Kailyn learned how to wave bye-bye. We were de-planing, a woman behind us in the aisle waved to the baby, giving her the old 'open then closed hand' wave and to our surprise, Kailyn did it back!

It's cool to see babies learn new things. For her next trick, I am going to teach Kailyn how to do this 'wave':

Sharing the Joy

When we visited my cousin Lori (and her boyfriend Luke and their dog Berkeley) in LA, she said something that stuck with me that was both interesting and made my heart melt a bit. She thanked us for bringing Kailyn to meet them, and for 'spreading our joy.' It was flattering that she thought of Kailyn as joyful, and made me really happy that we stayed with them, even if K cried in the middle of the night once.

This reminds me a bit of what my dad once said about having grandkids - that it made him want to live longer so he could watch them grow up, and be there for certain milestones in their lives.

I think babies make many people happy, and Lori and Luke even alluded to the different (positive) energy Kailyn brought into their house. My dad always says that babies are 'so cute and so innocent.' It's probably these traits that make some people find them so much fun.

Destructo

I sometimes call Kailyn 'Destructo' since she can go from being a sweet little baby girl into a character out of a sci-fi movie, destroying everything in her path.

Luckily, the only things we put in her path are things like baby toys and paper towels. The glee with which she throws objects or rips those towels apart is what made me give her the nickname. She attacks the towel like it did her wrong, ripping it to shreds. The funniest part though, is she will then take the smaller pieces, hold up her tiny hand, and sprinkle them down onto the ground daintily, reverting back to a 9-month old. That's when I remember she's just a baby.

Kailyn's BFF

Kailyn is starting to get pretty used to hanging out with her little friends and is turning into quite the social butterfly. We're glad she has lots of friends around her age, but ironically, her BFF is a 60-something year old woman!



Every time Grandma comes over to see Kailyn, our little baby goes bonkers like it's Christmas morning:



When Grandma walks into the room Kailyn flaps her arms and legs excitedly and laughs immediately. Grandma also gets very excited and the smile on both their faces lasts the whole day.

It is cute to see them interact and feel the love they have for each other. Admittedly, sometimes it can be detrimental like around bedtime since Kailyn is too excited to sleep and doesn't want to miss time hanging out, and Grandma can't stand to hear the baby cry so she'll go in and pick Kailyn up out of her crib, undoing all the sleep training we've worked on.

But those are minor problems in what is blossoming into quite a friendship.

Time Flies

Yet another few weeks has passed, and I've done no writing. I guess life gets in the way more often than I think :)

Here's a TV ad that condenses life's great moments into :30.

Everyone tells me watching Kailyn grow up will go by fast, but I really hope it's not this fast.