super-structure

So Angela sends me a quick e-mail note regarding a recall of our favorite little kids foam seat, the Bumbo¹. The recall is regarding the fact that several children have been injured (some quite seriously, I understand) toppling out of the seat. Well, little toddlers being squirmy and all, they tend to do that. Especially just when mom or dad stepped away from the table and the little one gets bored.

…and they get bored in about two seconds, so this is easy to imagine and hard for me to place too much blame on the parents. We’re all only human.

For that matter, I don’t blame Bumbo, either. There’s a warning on the back of each one. In red letters! It essentially says that the Bumbo should only be placed at floor level and not on elevated surfaces. Apparently, some lawyers (the nasty kind who see everyone as suable bank accounts and not human beings) got a hold of this and determined that the warning wasn’t clear enough and that the product needed to be recalledSeriously, read the description and remedy at the CSPC’s site. Further, tell me if there is something I’m missing here.

Note: there’s no lead paint, no flammable materials, not even any moving parts (the Bumbo is one solid piece of foam, in case you didn’t already know). And they’re recalling it because the warning on it apparently wasn’t big or simple enough for people.

Frankly, I think this is going just a bit overboard. Follow the warming label if you have any concerns or doubts. However, I don’t see any reason why the Bumbo is going to be a problem to put on a table-top provided there is some more strict supervision. I’d hate it if Ainsley got hurt, but that’s why we go out of our way to make sure she doesn’t go tumbling off of things in general, including Bumbos. But, just to put this in perspective, 28 out of over 1,000,000 Bumbos have resulted in injuries from kids taking a face-plate. That’s 0.0028 percent for the divisionally challenged. Though I don’t have any hard numbers, I’d be willing to bet a higher percentage have fallen out of people’s hands.

Just in case you’re still worried about your Bumbo, here’s a solution I came up with to help keep your child in the seat (though no word if the seat won’t go over with the especially roudy ones):

And just in case it needs saying, you take responsibility if you do this. Not me or Bumbo. Of course, you could just buy the plastic food tray that would probably accomplish the same thing.

Also:

• Greg at DaddyTypes, always on top of the latest child-related recalls, points out that at least this recall has a safety fix (no matter how ridiculous).
• jtnelso’s Bumbo Fun Photo Set could possible be seen as "What Not To Do With Your Bumbo and Child," but I find it no less awesome.

1. Our friends Chris and Sally first introduced us to the Bumbo when their son, Mason, was using one. We’ve had several other friends since that have also expressed their love for the Bumbo and it was one of the early gifts we received (as I recall, from C & S, even!).↵

It’s been a long month that went by really quickly. However, I suspect in a couple of weeks I’ll be longing for the good ‘ole days of July ‘07. I know that I’ve completely dropped the ball on writing on this site this past month. I really regret that as it’s only because way too much has been happening as opposed to just having nothing to talk about.

First of all, and most importantly, Angela is doing fine. She is currently staying the night in the hospital, but there is no cause for alarm. Her blood pressure is a bit high and she has a couple of other signs of a very mild case of pre-eclampsia. Ainsley is almost at full term, as of this Thursday (37-40 weeks is considered full term) and the doctor has indicated that she may be delivered early, although not technically pre-maturely, due to this condition (which goes away essentially immediately after giving birth). While pre-eclampsia can be dangerous to both my girls, this case is not particularly dangerous and we have a very easy fix: Ainsley is simply going to come earlier than late August. Like I said, Angela is doing just fine and no one should be worried at all; just excited that our daughter is coming a bit sooner than expected.

Angela has continued to work, though she’s been instructed by her doctor to not do anything else outside of work, ever since she’s had the elevated blood pressure (for a few weeks, now). This has led us to both make some sacrifices around the house, as I’ve been working a lot lately. That’s not gone over really well with her, but she understands. Both mom and daughter are doing well (I just left the hospital where we could hear Ainsley heart thumping away).

Okay, now that you’re up to speed on that situation, I’ll explain why I’ve not been explaining all this sooner. One of the other two engineers at my office has moved to upstate New York to open a branch office for our company. This is really exciting for him and it’s a great opportunity for him and the company. However, this has increased my work load somewhat. Add to this that the most complicated building structure I’ve worked on to date is currently in it’s final stage of design, and you can understand why I’ve been working a lot lately. Fortunately, I work with some really wonderful people who understand that when I need to go to the hospital for Angela, I’m fully expected to drop everything. My boss is going on a week-long vacation in a couple of weeks and so our other co-worker has agreed to come back down from NY for several days to help out during that time. Like I said, really great people. So far, our clients have all been equally understanding, as well.

It’s currently raining and thundering like mad outside the house right now, which is fine because I’m not really concerning myself with watering the poor, neglected lawn these days. I’m lucky to find time to come home and show the dogs some attention. It’s going to be like this for a while, I’m afraid. I’ll try and make some time to keep everyone posted with what is happening in the future, though. Certainly, you’ll all know when Ainsley arrives.

When you discover you’re having a child, the first thing that everyone asks is “do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” I know we do. Provided you have an answer to that question, other than “we’ve decided to not know the sex of the child,” the next question is always “do you have a named picked out?” (Note, if you aren’t going to determine the sex, our second question to you will be “why the hell not?”)

So it has been ever since we found out we were going to have a little girl. We’ve gone through at least two of those gigantic Baby Names books and Angela has said aloud practically every name in them. We kept coming back to one name that really sounded nice to the both of us. We couldn’t say exactly why; it just was one we both liked. It became the default name we would use as code between us instead of ‘baby.’ It sounded familiar, though not common (neither of us have ever known anyone with this name). It seems, to us, both feminine and strong. We’ve even gotten to the point of shortening it to first syllable, which is an acceptable nickname for us.

I won’t lie to you and say it’s gotten universal acceptance, but I suppose more positive than negative. At least those who didn’t care for it (at first; they’ll get over it once they see how cute she’s gonna be) liked her middle name. None-the-less, we feel like it’s a good name and it’s the one we realized we liked. A lot. So, without anymore stalling, get used to…

Ainsley Claire Coleman

I say ‘get used to’ because she’ll be your president someday. Whether that is before or after she stops global warming and discovers a cure for most forms of cancer is entirely up to her. No pressure, Ainse.

I wish I had a better answer to the third most asked question (”oh, where did that name come from?”) than ‘a character on a television show we both loved,’ but there’s no sense in lying to anyone. Whether or not you liked that character (I know, a likable Republican lawyer. Who knew such people existed?) or Emily Proctor, the actress who played her, does not matter. You will forget them all together as soon as our little Ainsley is born.

Oh, the last name was Angela’s decision, just like it was always going to be as far as I was concerned. While I’m proud enough of my last name, I’m far more concerned with passing on other things to her.

Lastly, I hope you’ll all keep up with her at her new website: AinsleyColeman.com

Okay, so this is turning out to be more of a bi-weekly thing than anything else. I don’t recall ever promising anything — as who would I promise it to?

Five things that have been on my radar ‘o fun over the past couple of weeks:

1. This is a great music video by a formerly-not-known-to-me Brit indie Bats for Lashes. I like the kind of creepy, haunting sound of the song which matches perfectly the Donnie Darko inspired video imagery (via BoingBoing).
   
2. Angela and I have been watching Judd Apatow’s “Undeclared” via Netflix. It’s not nearly as good as "Freaks and Geeks” but still better than your average comedy. Most of this, by Apatow’s description is due to the fact that the really good stuff that goes on at college can’t be shown on network television. True, that. Anyone wanting to go see Knocked Up, please give me a call.
3. Last night, we went to see Son Volt at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Last week was Big Head Todd & the Monsters. Two really good bands. Frankly, I didn’t have too high of hopes for the Son Volt show as the “reunion” of that band feels a lot like Jay Farrar cashing in on the relative success of the band as compared to his solo career (especially last month’s new album, which I found disappointing). However, I really like Farrar’s songs, be they Son Volt, solo career, or Uncle Tupelo – all of which got some play-time last night.
   
   
4. Per everyone-I-know’s recommendations, I read the late Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s "Slaughterhouse Five" recently. Well, after having read the book, of course the next thing to do is see the movie (no, not really – I think it’s a shame that the general notion seems to be that the highest status a novel can have is to be made into a film). So last weekend, I watched the 1972 movie based on the book. I was fairly pleased with how it got portrayed and apparently, Vonnegut was, too.
5. Last, but probably the most important, Angela and I really enjoyed the baby shower our friends Holly and Meg threw for us at also-friend Jessica’s house. It was great and we were simply amazed at how generous our friends are. We clearly have no idea what we’re doing with this whole baby thing (apparently just like everyone else, knowledge that has kept us going). However, in addition to the really great gifts that everyone went out of their way to get us (and mail us, too!), having people to count on is a big deal. Thanks, everyone.

Here’s a list of Five Fun Things I’ve been enjoying lately, in no significant order (other than No. 1):

1. Feeling our baby girl kick for the first time last Sunday morning. That was awesome.
2. Super Paper Mario on the Wii – Not a very hard game, but loads of fun to play and very funny, too.
3. Lost – Last night’s episode was proof they haven’t ‘lost’ it. Picking an end date means they’ll have a definite road map for the rest of the show to keep it great, unlike earlier this year when it seemed to be flopping. (Watch it on ABC’s site) Heroes owes a lot to Lost, and has really been building up to a great season finale. Both have been filling the hole left in my heart when Season 3 of BG ended.
4. Pandora.com – All the recent news about the possibility of losing Internet radio made me realize just how awesome this site is.
5. Freaks & Geeks from Netflix. I wish I had caught this show when it was first aired, but I don’t think my watching would have saved it for another season.

So what about any of you? Leave a comment or post it on your own site (be sure to ping me, trackback or just leave a link if you do!).

One evening last week, I got a chance to meet up with a couple of friends of mine who I used to work with back at URS Corp. (mega-engineering company roughly 1,000 times the size of where I work now). One is a soon-to-be Dad, like me, only a couple of months ahead. The other is the father of two boys, ages 7-1/2 and 4.

We’re all structural engineers and we did discuss the nerdy, engineering stuff for a little while. We also discussed running (all of us run) and some other non-work interests. However, most of the evening’s conversation revolved around dealing with pregnancy and raising children. It was great getting to talk about stuff like that with some good friends my age; one who’s been through it (twice) as well as someone who’s essentially going the exact same things as I am (really that Angela and I are, just through the eyes of the daddy side of life). It’s not so much an advice giving session as just a reassurance that I’m not crazy and that no one else really has a clue with how to deal with this stuff. I think I’ve enjoyed getting to talk about this with a lot of friends and co-workers and this conversation was particularly fun.

After dinner and a couple of beers, we called it an evening and decided we’d better get on home. As father-of-two and I were walking down the sidewalk talking, he happened to mention one thing that has also been on my mind a lot. He commented on how funny it was to talk with his mom and the differences on how he recalled his childhood and how his mom did.

Although it’s not exactly what he was getting at, I think this is something that both terrifies and fascinates me. I can recall a few instances of something that one or the other of my parents said to me which, although they probably didn’t mean to have so much weight behind it, stuck with me and really affected how I thought and acted. No, not some sort of deep mental scarring, just something that would guide how I saw the world from then on.

I was born in the late summer and, as in many places, that meant I could have started school a year later since my birthday was right around the time the school year began. It was around the time that I was closing in on my fifth birthday that my mom asked me if I would like to go to school. Now, I’m sure she even phrased it as “would you like to go to Kindergarten this year or wait until next year?” However, I interpreted as simply “would you like to attend school or not?” My young mind reeled at the possibility of getting to stay home and play forever. However, knowing that I wanted to grow up to be a scientist¹, I determined that the best course was for me to attend school and learn as much as possible. I decided that yes, I would have to go to school.

Now, rest assured, my parents were going to send me to school regardless. They just might have waited a year to put me in if I’d thrown a fit or something. However, had that happened, I would have had an entirely different set of classmates and friends; possibly even different teachers. I think that such changes could have been pretty relevant into how I developed. That’s not really good nor bad, save for the fact that I’m pretty fond of myself as I am now. Just an interesting thought on how one little passing question could have had such a dramatic affect on me.

Sort of a "butterfly effect" of child development.

1. You see, I was convinced that if I became a chemist or biologist, I could eventually discover how to turn ordinary people (e.g. – me) into superheroes. I particularly figured I needed to devise a red fluid which, upon drinking, would turn me into The Flash. I hadn’t yet decided if I would need to change my name to Barry Allen.↵

It’s A Girl! And a healthy, active little girl at that.

So, do you think our little girl looks more like me or Angela? I’m pretty sure she’s not done growing just yet, but we think she has Angela’s nose and my forehead! Either, way, I already think she’s gorgeous. I hold no hope of ever saying "no" to that face, do I?

This morning was our half-way OB visit and ultrasound. The technician was "99% sure" that what we were looking at was a girl. She was even able to identify girl parts¹, if you follow. During the whole thing we could see the baby getting, uh, agitated about being poked and pressed on. She was kicking and swinging like mad like she was at a punk rock concert!

To top it all off, the doctor said the measurements and images indicate we have a very healthy little baby. All of the measurements are those that fall outside of ones which are correlated with birth defects or other health problems. We couldn’t be happier right now, to tell the truth.

We have some potential names in store, but no clear winners yet. If we make up our minds I’ll let everyone know, but as for right now, it’s just "baby girl." Now, as I said before, we’ll have plenty of pink. In order to spare our sanity in the future, please consider other colors of the spectrum… Yes, mom, you can still buy some pink; just not only pink. Is that a fair agreement for the granddaughter? :)

Colors aside, thanks everyone for the well-wishes, guesses, fun old-wives-tale guess, etc.

You’re money may now change hands for the bets, as well.

1. So either it indeed is a girl or the someday most humiliated boy in the world. Of course, there is some error in the ability of to see with an ultrasound but the fact she was able to identify internal organs, both reproductive and otherwise, tells me she knows what she’s doing with that wand.↵