Himself

• I wish I would have thought to queue up this Bill Cosby classic before we spent six hours in childbirth class (wasn't Dr. Huxtable an obstetrician?) . . . I think this is a damn good summary of what we learned: 

Bill Cosby Himself - Child Birth

Fria

MySpace Video

Advice for my son

I wrote a little song without music (aka poem) the other day for my boy:

Advice for my Son

Ready or not, here you come.

This life can be tough. But, you can’t succumb.

Dream big dreams . . . the giant adventure life brings.

Remember to take time and appreciate the little things.

Relationships and memories truly matter, not stuff.

There will be false friends out there. Call their bluff.

Save for the future, but remain in the now.

Search for things that move you and make you say “wow”.

Invest and believe in yourself first.

Hard work and discipline can quench any thirst.

When life’s in your face, you must not balk.

The cynics, the critics, the naysayers will talk.

Make your own luck. It’s not found in a clover.

Meet unusual people and travel the world over.

“I don’t know” is a most powerful phrase.

Time spent in nature is the most likely to amaze.

Always trust what your conscience is telling you.

It will be your guide once you’ve thought things through.

Give full effort and make time to relax.

Believe in karma and do random kind acts.

I know you will be a gentleman that is strong.

The world will treat you right, if you don’t play it wrong.

If this advice is failing you or you’re feeling under attack.

Remember one more piece: “My dad will always have my back.”

No woom in the womb

• Last week, in the second session of our childbirth class, we explored all the devices that they may use to bring the baby into the world.  Some of those instruments are just medieval (unlike our delicate dental instruments).  I learned more about breast pumps (they look like an air horn you'd take to a hockey game) than I ever cared to know.  I can also swaddle a baby in 3.89 seconds now.

• We learned that altitude and foot massages can induce early labor.  So what does Karah do last weekend?  She drives over Loveland Pass (11,990 ft) twice in order to get to and from Hays, KS for a spa weekend (including foot massage) with her friends.  Meanwhile, I flew to Omaha for a bachelor party (if the mother gets a baby shower, shouldn't the dad enjoy a "thunderstorm"?).
• It's week 35 . . . the big news is the testes have completely descended.  He's approximately 18 inches, 5.5 lbs and full of P&V.  It's crowded in there, as the baby takes up most the uterus at this point. 
• We still haven't picked a name, but are leaning toward  Jamiroquai Joseph. 

Fortunate Son

• K and I had lunch at China Garden (awesome food. Best lunch deal in the Valley . . . $7.95 for soup, wonton, egg roll, fried rice, and entree).  Karah ended up with an appropriate fortune:

• We went to the doctor today and she confirmed that the lil guy is positioned head down (rounding third and headed for home) . . . Just one more month in those close confines, buddy.

MTV Cribs

Welcome to my Crib!

Mommy and Daddy at Vail's Closing Day Festivities

Why-clef???

• We took the baby to his "first" concerts last night . . . Robert Earl Keen and Wyclef Jean (Why-clef? . . . because it was part of the free Spring Back to Vail celebration). He seems to respond to tunes of any sort. Last night he was moved by honky tonk twang and the freestyle battle rap beats. If he has any musical talent he'll be miles ahead of me (I have the rhythm of Steve Martin's character in the "Jerk")

• A good article on parenting from one of my favorite authors:
Mastering the Art of Parenting
By Brian Tracy

The most important single role of parenting is to love and nurture your children and to build in them feelings of high self-esteem and self-confidence. If you raise your children feeling terrific about themselves, if you bring them up full of eagerness to go out and take on the world, then you have fulfilled your responsibility in the highest possible sense.

Why Parents Don't Love Enough
There are two major reasons for the failure by parents to love their children enough. First, the parents do not love themselves. Parents with low self-esteem have great difficulty giving more love to their children than they feel for themselves. The second reason that parents don't love their children enough is they often have the mistaken notion that their children exist to fulfill their expectations.

Children are Not Property
The starting point of raising super kids is to realize that your children are not your property. Your children belong to themselves. They are a gift to you from high above, and a temporary gift at that.

Children are a Precious Gift
When you look at your children as precious gifts that you can only enjoy for a short time, you see your role as parents differently. When you celebrate and encourage the special nature and personality of your child, he or she grows like a flower in sunshine. But if you try to get your child to be something he or she is not, your child's spirit will wither, and his or her potential for happiness and joy will shrivel like a leaf on a tree in autumn

Bootality

DJ Daddy-D and the Fetalics

• This is week 34 and there are 34 days to go.  (other famous 34's - Laker Shaq, Nolan Ryan, and "Sweetness" Walter Payton)
• The baby acts completely like a newborn, with his eyes opened when awake and closed when sleeping. He's also learned to blink. 
• His fingernails are at the end of his fingertips.  He may scratch his face even before he's born (design flaw?)
• "No animal is so inexhaustible as an excited infant" - Amy Leslie
• Why does my boy punch/kick at my iphone every time I play tunes for him?  (After all, my first two initials are DJ)   

Givin' them the business - ""Raising Kids to Be Entrepreneurs"

I LOVE business and am incredibly unimpressed with the American education system.  This guy get's it!:

• "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be employees."

Coming out of your Shel

A cool daddy song written by my favorite author as a child . . . Shel Silverstein (incidently, he also wrote "A Boy Named Sue" for Johnny Cash):

Mr. T(houghtful)

I can only hope to pass along this profound wisdom to my child:

Life Lessons With Mr.T - watch more funny videos

Classy

• Doctors visit Version 7.0:
  
  
  
  

 
 
 
 
 
 

•  Just got home from childbirth class. . . very enlightening (and startling).   The good:  the delivery rooms have mountain views (of the ski run Born Free) and jacuzzi baths.    The bad:  learning about the intense part of labor called "transition" where the mom makes this Jekyll to Hyde switch, gets angry, hates life and her husband.  The ugly:  watching videos of women giving birth (why show the placenta???)

• Brux wonders what's in there:

                     

• I can't wait to take him "out to the ballgame".  Is this summer too soon for a father / son trip to Coors Field?  How 'bout some peanuts and Crackerjacks? 

Childish thinking

• I haven't been as diligent about this blog this last week.  I've been working hard (skied Beaver Creek three days this week) on the business.  Nonetheless, the baby's arrival is drawing near.  K's brother-in-law brought us a crib and changing table and we're preparing the "guest bedroom" for this VIP guest (he has B&B reservations here for 18 years). 
• Still haven't picked a name (thanks for asking).  Thinking about David II and calling him Duece. 
• So what's going on in week 32 . . . the baby is 3.75 lbs and about 16.5 inches long.  Not moving as much because he's a little crowded in there.  All 5 senses are working . . . he's testing these out as much as possible (had him dancing to some classical music on my iphone last week).
• I love TED.com and have always been fascinated by the limitless thinking and creativity of children.  Just ran across this amazing video tonight:

T-I-M-E

To a Child Love is Spelled T-I-M-E