Free Flowing Thoughts

Next to do: Must invent time machine

Today we are celebrating Ainsley's one year birthday.  And I'm not very happy about that. 

 This year has been an amazing journey and I hate that is going so quickly.  It's hard to believe 1 year ago I was sitting in my office downstairs congratulating myself for preparing early for her arrival thoroughly planned...one month away.  In the middle of finishing my list of things to do at work before taking off four weeks later Courtney broke the news things were going off script.

One of the things people keep telling me is how much fun it is going to be as she gets older.  "Her little personality is just going to explode!"  The last thing Ainsley needs is more personality.  She is already very clear on what she likes and does not like, what she wants you to do for her, where she wants to be and does not want to be, she has big laughs, big cries, she is already amazing.

I love being a dad.  Even more than I thought I would. And I can't help but think a big chunk of that time has already passed. 

It has been a great year.

Why I don't like meetings before 9:00am

I will not accept many meeting invites before 9:00am. Now if Michael Dell invited me for an 8:30am (he hasn't yet, but you never know) I would accept that one. But in general I can always find a reasonable alternative time.  It's not that I'm lazy, I just have other plans. 

Most mornings (at least 5-6 days a week including weekends) I wake up at 5:00am and play Outlook at my kitchen table while watching CNBC. Although Outlook always wins, I can't stop playing. These two hours are some of my most productive of the day. I'll finish up a presentation, or catch up on blogs.  There are no drive-by's, no phone calls, and very few replys come back over e-mail.

But around 7:20am my favorite part of the morning begins when Ainsley starts talking over the baby monitor. She babbles for a while, lately she giggles, and every now and then an actual word floats out (usually mamama). After a while she starts getting a bit impatient and a lot louder, like she's calling for us to come get her. Then she starts pulling the strings on her musical toys which is like a paging system for parents. If we try to ignore that cue...things get ugly.

Every morning Courtney and I go in together to get the baby. I usually pick out some clothes (which Courtney changes when I'm not looking) and feed Ainsley in her room.  Then we come downstairs and the three of us have breakfast together.  Courtney and I have coffee and talk about the day while Ainsley feeds the pugs some Cheerios we actually intended for her.

Ever since I adopted this morning schedule I come to work much better prepared and in a much better mood (trust me, it really could be worse).  I enjoy this time so much it takes a lot for me skip.

First Mother's Day

Had a blast with the baby this morning making a surprise piece of art for Courtney's first mother's day.  At least this surprise worked, the restaurant called Courtney to confirm her surprise reservation...

Classical music = less baby squawking

My friend Ron at work recently spent the day at his kids' elementary school and was overwhelmed by the volume in the cafeteria at lunch.  After about 10 minutes, and convinced the noise level was going to lead to permanent hearing loss, a teacher turned on classical music across the cafeteria intercom.  Instantly the noise level dropped. 

This story fascinated me because my baby girl has developed another new skill.  Squawking.  At first the little yells were quite cute, they're usually followed by a smile.  But over time these tiny baby screams have grown in volume and frequency to the point where my wife and I had trouble having conversations over the phone.  The noise is similar to how I would imagine a pterodactyl would sound, but cuter. 

As a random experiment we popped Courtney's iPod into the sound dock and started playing Beethoven.  About 20 minutes later we noticed something amazing...we could hear each other!  The baby was quietly playing with her toys, and the squawks had evolved into miniature peeps, like the cute fluffy ducks in her story books.  Much more pleasant.

We have since downloaded about 100 GB of classical music and have it on permanent repeat around the house.  God bless you Ron!

Baby Dedications

Today we had our baby dedicated at church, it was an emotional moment.  For several years my wife and I watched families bring their new babies to church, and most of that time we thought we would never be able to do that ourselves due to medical complications.  We watched more families just a couple weeks after we had a miscarriage.  So it was a really special day for us.  I was just glad I did not have to speak while we were on stage because it just would have not happened.  The only thing that kept me from crying was glancing over at my good friend Chad standing next to me and realizing he was not much better off!

Learning New Tricks

Remember when you learned something new and were really excited? My six month old has taught herself to roll from her stomach to her back. And she just can't stop. Last night bath time took a little longer than usual.

Take off a shoe, roll over, smile.

Take off other shoe, roll over again, smile.

Take off sock, smile. Roll over, smile.

Take off other sock, roll over.

Pose for picture.

It's the little things that make being a new dad so much fun.