We've had a couple of busy weekends since my last post. Amy's parents and grandmother were out for Easter weekend. Thankfully, they had already planned to stay Friday night near Toledo and come the rest of the way on Saturday morning because the weather, as you might have seen in my previous post, was not really conducive for travel. They gave us the best Easter present ever and watched Nick for a couple of hours that night while Amy and I went out to dinner, just the two of us. They actually trusted us to come back. Perhaps we'll take advantage of that in the future.
This weekend, Ian, Rachel, Lucian, and Joel are visiting and have also been a big moral support. On Saturday, Ian, Joel, and I headed up to Oconomowoc, WI for the Midwest Gaming Classic. I was a little disappointed that AtariAge wasn't there. Neither was another vendor who usually sells reconditioned Atari controllers. I was hoping to pick up a pair of paddle controllers this year, but it looks like Ebay for me. I did get to pick up a copy of Dreamfall, the sequel to The Longest Journey for a fiver as well as Hotel Dusk: Room 215, a game I wanted to get when it out, then didn't thinking it would be available for quite a while given the hype, then couldn't because it was no longer being distributed new and had disappeared from many used shelves after winning a handful of media awards at the end of last year.
Nick continues to do well. He no longer looks as slim as he did after he lost some of his birth weight. He's chubbing right up and looks as round as ever. He's also getting much better at tracking sights and sounds and it's nice to have him try to look in our direction when we say good morning. Amy's starting to pump so I'll get another baby task added to my list, which is not necessarily a bad thing and I'm glad to be able to help her. It's just that I'm not exempt anymore! Finally, I'm working through about an hour of video footage to compile into a DVD of his first few weeks. Lots of funny faces and lying about staring at lights... only recommended for family! ;)
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Happy Spring!
Who knew that the season's arrival would mean six inches of snow?
For those of you who moved to California recently (and you know who you are), consider yourselves lucky that you missed all of this. I've said previously that I like snow and I wasn't lying when I said it. But a man has limits. A man has limits.
For those of you who moved to California recently (and you know who you are), consider yourselves lucky that you missed all of this. I've said previously that I like snow and I wasn't lying when I said it. But a man has limits. A man has limits.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Infantile Pendular Motion
During particularly difficult periods of the day (and night), I am reading to Amy aloud from The Second Nine Months by Vicki Glembocki. The first chapter mirrored our own experience so well that it compelled me to read it aloud instead of to ourselves, which I know wouldn't have happened for Amy until after those nine months are up. The screaming, the screaming, the never ending screaming. Both of us have had moments of pure joy tempered the next by feelings of total inadequacy and frustration and the author does a decent job of capturing and describing that swinging pendulum on both sides of the arc.
One thing the author said that struck me, and this must be a hundred times worse for the women than the men, is that to admit that you're sick of your kid, to admit that sometimes you just can't stand their existence, is (in my words) a cardinal sin of early parenthood. A new mother (or father) is just not supposed to say those things. Do you doubt me? You shouldn't.
To lighten the tone of this post just a little, I would like to thank all of our mother friends who have left advice here and elsewhere. It's important to have people by your side to give you support when you need it and we appreciate all of you and what you have to say. So far, though, nothing seems to work well for Nick's feeding time. It's impossible to keep him awake. But we're no longer worrying too much about it. He gained two pounds in the last two weeks and we don't expect that to diminish. Between that empirical confirmation of the doctor's scale that he is getting the food he needs and knowing that you, my dear readers, have our backs, we have enough support to get the job done and Amy thanks you vicariously through me.
One thing the author said that struck me, and this must be a hundred times worse for the women than the men, is that to admit that you're sick of your kid, to admit that sometimes you just can't stand their existence, is (in my words) a cardinal sin of early parenthood. A new mother (or father) is just not supposed to say those things. Do you doubt me? You shouldn't.
To lighten the tone of this post just a little, I would like to thank all of our mother friends who have left advice here and elsewhere. It's important to have people by your side to give you support when you need it and we appreciate all of you and what you have to say. So far, though, nothing seems to work well for Nick's feeding time. It's impossible to keep him awake. But we're no longer worrying too much about it. He gained two pounds in the last two weeks and we don't expect that to diminish. Between that empirical confirmation of the doctor's scale that he is getting the food he needs and knowing that you, my dear readers, have our backs, we have enough support to get the job done and Amy thanks you vicariously through me.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Ballyhoo
I applied to two more jobs over the weekend. One of those jobs was a sound designer position with Bally Technologies, makers of many electronic casino gaming machines. They caught me off guard on Tuesday by calling me. Yes, they called and it was weird. Anyway, they only wanted to know if I had some demo material available to submit. Of course, I did, so I pointed them to a link. My hopes aren't high, though. I don't expect to hear anything else from them, actually. Those positions are just as competitive as video game jobs and I may have only been graced with a phone call due to submitting early in their search process.
I also applied to a position at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. They need two audio professionals to help manage their audio assets at a library in their department of ornithology. I'm truly excited about this particular opportunity because it's long been a fantasy of mine to be able to live the librarian's life, surrounded by all kinds of knowledge at my fingertips, there for the taking. I'm sure my mother is thrilled with the ornithology part of the equation as someone who spent, in my memory anyway, an inordinate amount of time listening to bird call records in college.
In any case, it's good to feel like I'm making even a little headway in my career by having someone call me about a position when I apply. It sure beats being ignored. Baby steps, right?
I also applied to a position at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. They need two audio professionals to help manage their audio assets at a library in their department of ornithology. I'm truly excited about this particular opportunity because it's long been a fantasy of mine to be able to live the librarian's life, surrounded by all kinds of knowledge at my fingertips, there for the taking. I'm sure my mother is thrilled with the ornithology part of the equation as someone who spent, in my memory anyway, an inordinate amount of time listening to bird call records in college.
In any case, it's good to feel like I'm making even a little headway in my career by having someone call me about a position when I apply. It sure beats being ignored. Baby steps, right?
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Helpless Dad
I wish there was something I could do to help Amy when she's feeding Nick. She's frustrated lately because he'll cry up a storm, rooting and searching until she lets him latch on, and then fall headlong into dreamland, weakly suckling a couple of times every five to ten minutes before stopping completely. When she finally gives up, he wakes up and starts all over again. She's read every bit of literature we have on the subject, frustratingly much of it contradictory, which in the end offers only more questions. I don't blame her for being frustrated at all. I can only hope that she stumbles upon the techniques that work the best.
I also keep having to remind her to sleep. She's always been a very determined, goal-oriented person, someone who pushes through and does any work that needs to be done in spite of her moods or feelings, but when she does that now, everybody is miserable. She's unhappy, Nick is unhappy, and I'm unhappy only because she's so tired that her emotions take over. She'll cry at anything and berate her abilities until there's no consoling her. This is all averted, however, if she takes some time during the day to sleep, but like I said, given her personality, it's a difficult aspect of herself to change. And Amy, if you're reading this, take a nap!
I also keep having to remind her to sleep. She's always been a very determined, goal-oriented person, someone who pushes through and does any work that needs to be done in spite of her moods or feelings, but when she does that now, everybody is miserable. She's unhappy, Nick is unhappy, and I'm unhappy only because she's so tired that her emotions take over. She'll cry at anything and berate her abilities until there's no consoling her. This is all averted, however, if she takes some time during the day to sleep, but like I said, given her personality, it's a difficult aspect of herself to change. And Amy, if you're reading this, take a nap!
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