Volume 3

I started a new photo album called Volume 3. There are a few photos from the weekend in there. As you will see, Rowan is really enjoying himself and stays busy, busy, busy! The password for volume 3 is the same as volume 2. If you've forgotten the password, send me an email and I'll tell you what it is. We're just trying to keep the riff-raff of the world from viewing our photos.

Rowan update

I took Rowan to the pediatrician yesterday for his 2-year check-up and he's doing great. His verbal skills are off the chart, his overall health is great, and his growth continues to follow a normal curve. He had to have his iron checked by fingerprick and he didn't fuss one bit. He was curious about the whole process and was impressed with the band-aid. He also had to get his last two lingering immunizations and took those like a champ - no tears. Again, I think the band-aids helped a lot. That, and the nurse kept talking to him about his moose shirt and praised him for being so handsome and charming. They were best buds by the end of the visit.

• Likes: We've been turning on PBS in the evenings for Rowan to watch/listen to while Jeremy and I try to get dinner ready and finish up other house chores. Rowan is quite taken with Curious George, Sid the Science Kid, and Super Why! Mainly he likes the music, but he will occasionally look up from his Legos to see what's going on. Another favorite past time of Rowan's is talking. From the time he wakes up to the time he's put into bed at night he's chatting. He'll tell you about all kinds of things that happen at school, at G-Ma's house, things 'Monkey George' does... It's really entertaining. He's going to be a great conversationalist.
• Dislikes: We're still working on teaching him to be more patient for us to respond to his requests. Overall, he's been pretty agreeable lately to most things.
• Communication: As I stated earlier, this boy loves to talk!
• New Skills: Rowan can count to 10 by himself and to 14 with some help. He can identify a few numbers. He's still working on balancing on one leg, but he's getting much better. I've been working with him on getting dressed and undressed. He really likes being independent and doing things for himself, which makes it more fun for him and easier on me! You can turn just about anything into a game if you take a minute to think it through.

Rowan is truly a cool kid. I look forward to spending time with him and miss him when we're not together. Much love to my sweet boy!

Call me Serpico

No, not me. Jeremy. He's the Serpico of the statistics world. That's what he told me yesterday.

Just as Frank Serpico clashed with his NYPD peers - from his appearance to his political views - so is the dynamic between Jeremy and his peers. According to our inside man, some of these guys deal with dirty data for their personal gain. I'm not talking big bucks, here. We're talking about something worth way more in certain circles. It's authorship, baby.

On several occasions, Jeremy has declined offers of authorship for his participation in data analysis. His reasons have ranged from not feeling he contributed much to the project, to not wanting to be associated with shady statistical methods. This has caused more than one set of eyebrows to be raised. So far he's been able to stay under the radar. My feeling that it is only a matter of time before a couple of his teammates take him on a ride in a nondescript, dark colored sedan to have a private chat.

Friends, I bet you had no idea of the drama and corruption associated with public health statistics.

I don't want to go into too much detail here, but I did want you to be aware. If strange people from the government contact you with questions about Jeremy - no matter how legit they appear - you've heard nothing and know nothing. Got it?

Birthday Weekend Fun

I posted some photos from Rowan's party at school and our family party. There's also a couple from today. This weekend's weather has been so nice - 50s and 60s. We spent most of the days outside.

Saturday, my mom, Rowan, and I went to the zoo. I thought it was going to be super-mobbed because of the weather but we were able to cruise through without too much trouble. Rowan still prefers the playground, carousel, and train ride to the animals. We got to see the elephant paint a picture with her trunk. Way cool!

Today we went to the park by my parents' house. We had the whole place to ourselves. Nice. Later, we ate our lunch outside. Man, I can't wait for spring!

Rowan is 2 years old today!

Two years ago today I met a tiny creature with big blue eyes and a penchant for taking long naps. I had no idea that two years later, my little fuzzy peach would morph into a lanky toddler with big blue eyes and a penchant for Nutri-Grain bars and Curious George. Logically, I knew he would grow up but it's hard to imagine your newborn as anything but a newborn.

There is no doubt that you love your child when he or she is first born. Heck, bond of love begins to blossom as your sweet num-num grows in your womb. As the months melt by and you develop a deeper relationship with your child, your love only intensifies. You think that you couldn't possibly love someone anymore, and then you blink, a year goes by, and you find yourself thinking "and I thought I loved him sooo much back then!". (Thanks, Brad Paisley, for ripping off my idea and making a million dollars. I'll be on the lookout for my royalty check...)

We're having a little birthday party at school this afternoon. G-Ma and G-Daddy are joining us there. Then we'll head home for a spaghetti dinner (one of Rowan's favorites) and presents. Jeremy's parents are going to try to join us from Wise via Skype, provided there are no technical hitches.

Jeremy's shooting some video at the school party and I've got my camera. We should have a couple of good photos to share. I'll let you know when my slacker self gets them posted.

I'll post Rowan's monthly highlights later - maybe this weekend if I get my act together.

Happy birthday wishes to my sweet boy!

New photos... finally

I just posted some new photos tonight, including a few taken today during our snow storm. Enjoy!

A Fresh Bowl

If you didn't watch Ally McBeal in the 90s (is it syndicated somewhere now?), then you might not get my reference to John "The Biscuit" Cage's preference for a fresh bowl: toilet bowl that is. Now, I don't normally go for potty talk - at least not on the blog - but I've been quietly pondering a rather troublesome workplace problem for quite a while. I've recently discovered that some of my coworkers have been wrestling with the same issue. What is causing all the angst? It's the bathrooms. That's right. Bathrooms.

I work at a world renowned public health agency with lots of highly educated public HEALTH professionals. Notice my subtle emphasis on "health". So how can it be that the bathrooms are so disturbing? The strangest part about this whole situation is that the bathrooms are 'cleaned' (I use this term loosely) twice each day. I just don't get it.

I've worked out a few theories but don't have the ability to test them out. I appeal to you for your thoughts on the matter. Do any of these seem like a good fit? Do you have any alternate hypotheses? Please. Help me understand.

Theory 1: Statistics. When you get a certain number of people together in one place (let's say one floor of an office building) there is a high probability of at least two (one male, one female) Josie Gross-ies to be in the mix. The rest of the population suffers because a small minority are rude.

Theory 2: Building design. During my tenure at this place of business I have seen all levels of bathroom design and technology. The first place I worked didn't have a/c in the restrooms, only super-hot radiators and crank windows painted beige. My current work site has all the latest automatic gadgets to supposedly make your bathroom visit as clean as possible. I've seen frightening things in all of these settings, which leads me back to the human component.

Theory 3: It's me. No, I'm not the Nasty Nancy! I mean it's just me that notices or even cares about these things. I wouldn't put this one at the top of the list. As I stated earlier, other coworkers have mentioned their concerns as well.

What do you think? Am I just being a baby? Am I wrong to expect my workplace restroom to be in much better shape than the public restroom at Daytona Beach?

News You Can('t) Use

It's February already. How in the world did that happen so fast? I see that I've been more negligent in posting than I thought. Sorry about that. Here's a brief rundown of what we've been up to.

Our front room remodeling project continues. Jeremy is almost ready to start painting. Once that's done, he can move on to the flooring. Then all that's left is to move in furniture and decorate. That's what I look forward to the most. Meanwhile, our house is still topsy-turvy

We've been doing pretty well in terms of health. Rowan has a touch of the sniffles - nothing serious, just some serious boogerage. I had my 7-month checkup last week and everything is good with Baby 2 and me. I now start going to appointments every other week. In March I will start going to the doctor weekly. We are definitely in the home stretch now.

We really need to start working a name for Baby 2. As of today we do not have one name on a list of potentials. Yikes! If you have any suggestions, let me know. Jeremy has already vetoed "Bunny" (she's going to be an Eastertime baby), just so you know. :-)