Eating Solids for the First Time

Caden had his 4 month appt recently and here is the update. Oh yeah, its his first attempt at solid food. Haha

4 Months Today

Caden baby turns four months today. We are on the eve of my third week of staying home with him. Its been tough. He isn't the easiest baby. Very needy and demanding. We are in the process (as of yesterday) of changing some things from Sarah's time at home. The baby is in the habit of crying and being rescued immediately. He hasn't learned to do much by himself or to deal with frustration very well. So implementing a new strategy there. He also hasn't been on a nighttime routine. Normally he eats right before he starts to get tired and then if he doesn't fall asleep during the bottle, we walk him around until he passes out in our arms. Tonight we are trying something new. Moved the glider upstairs into his room, so feeding him up there, rocking him, reading a book, and putting him into his crib before he falls asleep. This may all sound a little boring, but believe me, its anything but that at our house in the evening. Will keep you updated if it works.

Leslie flew out this weekend to visit. Her friend ran in the Vegas marathon today so she had double the reason to come to town. She is going to work with Sarah tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, I'm taking Caden to his 4 month doctor appointment and he gets shots, weighed, stuffed, and baked. Or something like that.

We put our fake Xmas tree up yesterday. Well, I didn't, I worked while Leslie and Sarah decorated. The house looks festive although we are missing presents under the tree. We normally wrap our presents and put them under our tree until its time to mail or give them out. Not doing that this year. After 2 months of Sarah not getting a paycheck, we won't be able to give presents to anyone except the 6 youngsters in the family. We will be sending out cards with a family pic in the next week, so you can be looking for that in the mail.

I'm working from home and going to campus once a week until February. It was really nice to go to work last Friday and laugh and complain with the other teachers. It was fantastic to see some students. I definitely miss the interaction. This is the first job Ive ever had where I miss being at work when I have a day off, a long weekend, or even the summer. Strange.

For posterity:

• The New England Patriots are 11-0 and going for #12 tomorrow. They are the best regular season football team Ive seen in 27 years of watching football. They should go 16-0, hopefully.
• Evel Knievel passed away at 69. Died in the back of an ambulance on the way to the hospital. He's lucky he lived this long.
• Saw No Country for Old Men which should win best picture. Its about getting old, and hitmen.
• Also saw Into the Wild, that movie REALLY affected me. I hope Emile Hirsh gets nominated for best actor. Sean Penn blew the directing though, probably wont be in the best picture category but close. Makes me want to visit Slab City.
  

Finally Added a New Video

It's nothing exciting, but we shot a little footage of Caden playing in his newest toy, his jumpero/
Click here and go to the bottom of the page to see the newest video.

Hope everybody's Thanksgiving went well. Sarah cooked a fabulous dinner and we had Donna and Maurie at our home. Spent the evening at a party with some of Sarah's family friends, Annette and Gary. All and all it was a good first Thanksgiving for Caden.

Week 16.5

I'm sitting at home right now while the baby is sleeping and Sarah is off getting her classroom ready. She goes back to work tomorrow and I take over with the Mr. Mom gig. Sarah is in the process of trying to sift through the crud that is a 3 month sub. What a nightmare.

It should be a very trying experience staying home with Caden. While Im super excited to do the paternity thing, Ive been so wrapped up in school that I can't help but miss not being there. Plus, I have TONS to do and will try to fit that in to the time that Caden is sleeping, nights, and weekends. So 2 full time jobs for the next 3 months. Nevertheless, very stoked about the whole thing.

Caden's newest thing is that he giggles when you tickle him. Its pretty cute but he hasn't done it for me yet, only for mama. Will have to practice with him this week. He also loves sitting up so we found a Bumbo seat for him at the consignment store, he likes it.

We took family portraits at this meat market used car dealership processing photo plant yesterday. It could of been worse, but I was very up front with the photographer/saleswoman and she had to go against "company protocol" to accommodate me. It was either that or I walked so she saved her sale and worked with us. We made it out of there in an hour with all our Xmas presents in hand (Oh yeah, we are really poor so you all get photos this year). We couldnt get him to smile, he was on sensory overload, but the pics still turned out good.

Big News!!! Caden slept through the night the last 4 evenings. 8 hour spurts, extraordinary.
We found out early this week that he wasnt getting enough food the all natural way so we started mixing with formula (similac child, driving me wild (old rap song, sorry)). As soon as he began getting full in the evenings, he started sleeping better. Imagine that. Just in time for daddy too, what a sport.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.

For posterity:

• Brett Favre and Vinny Testaverde matched up today in the oldest combined age of 2 starting QB's in NFL history. 82 years.
• Barry Bonds was indicted by a grand jury, druggie
• Caden's eyes are still blue, really hoping they stay
  

2 Things

1. We added a few new pics
2. I changed the title/feed of my education blog if you want to read/subscribe to my ed life.



I almost met Mark Cuban this week, check the blog to see how.

The Day I Almost Unofficially Met Mark Cuban.com

Cross posted at The First Day of Kindergarten

I almost got to ask Mark Cuban a question today. If I would have, that means we might have almost unofficially met. He looked right at me...... I got nervous, but I was ready...... I thought for sure he was going to call on me....... but at the last second he passed. Off to the next man with his hand up. I don't feel sad, don't worry. I am a little disappointed though. He seems to know a lot about the internet, and I really wanted a quote from him to share with you, my students. Here is how the story goes.

I was attending the Blog World Expo which is the largest gathering of bloggers on the planet. DONT STOP READING NOW, this isnt all geeky. So anyway, I was sitting with 500 or so other bloggers at the closing Keynote address listening to internet guru Mr. Cuban (also owner of the Dallas Mavericks) about authentic blogging and something struck me. I wonder if he has any visions for education? He knows a lot about business, a lot about basketball, tons and tons about the internet, what about education? A lot of our modern pioneers have visions for changing education to bring American students into the forefront of the information revolution and help them escape from the industrial one (see Bill Gates). I wonder if Mr. Cuban does too? So, I thought, phrased, and garnished the nerve for 10 long minutes to ask him this one question:

Considering that the public education system is light years behind the real world and blogging is almost nonexistent in schools, do you see any role for blogging and Web 2.0 in high schools?

My question is still out there to you Mr. Cuban. My students would love to hear your answer.

14 Weeks Today

I just had to call Sarah and ask how many weeks its been since Caden was born. Geez, Im out of touch...

So whats going on with the baby:
He has had an upset belly or intestinal tract or viral infection or bacterial infection for the last couple weeks. We dont know yet and in order to find out we have to collect samples to take to the testing lab. Unfortunately its hard to get samples of green water. Yuck!

He laughs all the time. Very cute smile and giggle. I will put some more pics up as soon as possible. He is trying to sit up a lot. Whenever he is on his back in a somewhat inverted position he tries to do a crunch. Good news is he will have a strong core. Bad news is that he falls to the side which is dangerous when he is elevated. Its to the point where we have to watch him all the time because he always repositioning himself. Whether its trying to sit up, turning to his side (from his back), rolling over from his stomach, or launching himself up with his fat legs.

Sarah is getting really close to going back to work. She only has another 10 days and then the baton gets passed to me.

I had a fantastic conference in LouAhville, Kentucky this week. My presentation at VSS went smoothly, and I made a lot of connections. In fact, a lady from Norway wants her school to do a project with our school so we are getting ready to set that up. I toured the Louisville Slugger Museum which is an operating factory so I saw bats being carved, dipped, and embossed right before my very eyes.

Im sitting at a cafe table at the Blog World Expo right now. Its the largest bloggers show on the planet. My school is open minded enough to pay for me to come here, thats pretty awesome.

For Posterity:

• Aqua Dots have GHB, the date rape drug in them so have been recalled, thanks China
• The NBA season just started. Ironically, hm hm, it began just 3 days after the World Series ended. I wonder if TV has anything to do with that?

Baby's First Halloween

We had an exciting first Halloween. A couple days ago we carved pumpkins. We ended up with 2 Jack O Lanterns and one Yankee pumpkin to match Caden's costume. Tonight we decided not to go Trick or Treatin, seems like there is something wrong with parents that take their kids trickortreating before they can even eat candy. We went and visited with Niki and all of Caden's cousins instead. They were cute and nicely posed for our picture session. Then we went and hung out with Mackenzie, Caden's lil' girlfriend. To top it off we came home and did another picture session with our carved pumpkins. Caden is a trooper but is tired now. So am I, off to bed. Check out our new pics.

All I Ever Wanted to Know about Dieting I Learned at Work

I have learned so much about Weight Watchers, dress sizes, plus sizes, counting carbs, fat grams, and points this year at work that I wont ever have to watch Oprah again.

Not that I'm opposed to learning, Im just not so sure dieting should be the number one topic on a high school campus. Not even moaning about administration overtakes diettalk for the #1 spot. Now what kind of school is this?

In addition to dieting I was lucky enough to listen to teachers booking travel plans over the phone, getting tickets to hear a political speech, and planning their party/outing tonight. What I didnt hear was one teacher calling students and discussing how they can do help them do better in their courses in the 2nd quarter. hmmm,

Yes, I know, Im whining. This is a HS after all.

The Last 2 Weeks

Well, it has certainly been a busy 11 days since the last time I updated. Sorry about holding out on you but, well, instead of excuses let me just tell you what has been going on.

Last week I was shocked when a fellow teacher I work with, who is also one of my closer friends from work, gave me a scholarship of 500$. The schooling for the Masters is going to cost a couple thousand a semester and mixed with the shortage of money from Sarah's maternity leave, we are going to be really running on empty for the rest of this year, and maybe next year too. Larry and me have talked about this issue and he is well aware of our financial concerns. In the card he gave us he told Sarah and me how much he admired us and that he was making a wise investment. It was one of the most generous and unexpected gifts I have ever received and was left speechless when I opened up the card on my way home from work. Wow, people amaze me sometimes

We went to a wedding for my closest friend Orlando. He married the beautiful Kayla in a wonderful ceremony on the Delta King in Sacramento. Caden was a dream baby for the road trip and the wedding. He looked cute in his tie, white shirt, and Chuck Taylor's. It was Caden's first road trip and on the way we got to see Grandma Donna, Mel, Keegan, Lilly and family in Carson City.












Momma and Caden went to pick out his first pumpkin today. We didnt buy that ginormous one. You know what is really fitting/gross about living in Vegas. You get your pumpkins from a casino too. Yep, the pumpkin patch is in the parking lot of a major casino. haah








Okay, so Caden is being really cool right now. He has been laughing tons, even at daddy's jokes.
He is super strong, he stands up pretty well and even takes little steps with daddy's prodding. He is trying to talk a lot but nothing sounds like anything we understand in our language. He grabs at everything and can even hold things for a few seconds.


Thats it for now. As always, for posterity:
Largest evacuation in California history due to the 14 or so fires burning in So.Cal. San Diego is getting the worst of it, again.
Red Sox are up 1-0 in the World Series and just tore the Rockies apart today. Josh Beckett is unhittable in the post season.
Night!

Week 10 Update

It's been a crazy week. At least it seems that way. I sat down to start this update and couldn't think of one thing that happened, its all such a blur. Such is life with a newborn, fussy wussy. Let me take that back, he hasn't been that fussy this week. He has been pretty congenial as a matter of fact. So, lets recount the week since my last update.

Mandy and Kate came from Massachusetts to visit Sarah. Mandy was Sarah's childhood pen pal but they haven't seen each other in 17 years. They brought gifts from the Pilgrim State which happened to include a Red Sox outfit for Caden. Now, being a Yankee fan, I had to take a moment to accept their generous gift even though my instinct was to light it on fire. j/k

Segue. Caden is going to be a Yankee for Halloween. Yes, I know they lost in the playoffs. No, I'm not a fair-weather fan. He has the jersey, the hat, and some cute white Converse Chuck Miller All Stars that my Aunt Tracy gave us to top off the outfit.

By now you know the umbilical cord is gone, but the implications are tremendous. First off, he got to take his first real bath in 10 weeks. He is finally clean, which is a relief for me because he was really stinking up this house. haha

I got accepted into the Masters of Educational Technology program at Boise State. They are a leading Edtech school and offer an online program so I don't have to move to Boise or pay out of state fees. I'm very excited and will start in January.

We went over to Gary and Annette's to visit Sarah's Uncle Charlie (forgot to bring the camera so waiting on Annette for pics). Caden got to meet his great uncle and soon to be great Aunt Janice.

I found out a recent article I wrote for Techlearning will be published in the spring. They are a big educational technology magazine (e-Zine).

I presented at my school's annual parents symposium in front of a group of 35 parents. It went very well. Caden and Sarah came and watched and we received a lot of positive feedback. For me it was more of a preparation for the Virtual School Symposium that I'm presenting at in early November which could have up to a couple hundred people attending my session.

Caden is talking a lot. Most of his words are incomprehensible, much like his daddy's.

All and all, its been a great week. Click here to see the most recent pics.

For posterity and dating this moment, go Rockies, I hope you kill the Red Sox in the world series. I hope Lindsay Lohan is fully recovered from her addiction as she leaves her 2 month stay at a Utah drug rehab, the world is definitely a better place with her back in it ;)
Another school shooting happened, this time in Cleveland.
The Raiders are in first place and have already matched the amount of wins they had all last year in 4 weeks of playing. Go one-eyes!

Motivating Student Creativity Article

cross posted at http://thisteacherrants.blogspot.com/

I've written an article that will be posted in the Techlearning E-Zine in the spring. It's a short piece with 2 central themes. The first theme is the idea of options. It's important that teachers provide students with options for completing assignments. Of course this isn't practical for all assignments since we are often trying to teach them something with the method of assessment. However, most assignments in secondary education are essays and traditional objective based assessments. Communication and information in the beloved 'real world' isn't based on those methods anymore. Essays certainly play a role but not the central role in communicating ideas in the Web 2.0 world that our kids occupy. Which is my segue to the 2nd theme, using Web 2.0 tools in my courses. In other words, allowing students to use project based tools that are valid to the world they live in will promote creativity, motivation, and 21st century literacy.http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhsgv8zv_15sdkhcm

Umbilical Cord

Bye, Bye Stumpy

Well its official, his umbilical cord stump has fallen off! Finally. The doctors had us a little worried, but its all good now. The docs early on told us to put alcohol on his cord after every diaper change, so we did, religiously. Then two months later when the ugly thing was still on there the pediatrician said stop putting alcohol on because it might be killing the good bacteria that eats the dead cord away (that was 10 days ago). Then our next consult was with the pediatric surgeon who told us that he didn't want to remove the cord but we should be putting alcohol on there once a day. 3 days later and the cord issue is over. Hopefully.

I put a few new pics on Flickr if you want to see some from this week.

If you want to see what he looks like without the cord, scroll down a little. But don't go too far unless you want to be grossed out. Click on the pic for a better look.





















Okay, if you are strong stomached and want to see the close up, scroll down. Click on it if you dare.

Scholarship Opportunity

I have entered a slide into a contest called 'Sum up a Politician.' There is a small scholarship if I win in creativity or if people vote online for me. Well, Im not the most creative person so Im asking that you click on the pic below and vote for me.

I took the same pics plus a few more and created a much better slide show using SlideShare. Check it out if you are bored.

Week 9 Video Update

Week 8 Video

This is an Animoto short using pics from the last 2 weeks.

8 Week Update

Caden turned 2 months old on Thursday. I know, I know, Im behind on the updates. I want to post at least once a week but that is getting a lot harder. Things are crrrrrazy right now. So what happened this week?

• Andy turned 18, happy adulthood. Good luck, really, good luck.
  
• I got accepted to Boise State University now just waiting to see if I get into the MS Ed Tech program. Still have no idea how we are going to pay for it.
• Sarah visited her classroom to see how her sub was doing and it looked like a tornado blew through it. Very tough to see for someone as organized as Sarah Ann.
• Caden smiles a lot when he is happy. That is a new development. He still cries most of the evening time which just so happens to be when I'm home.
• Started tutoring again on Tuesdays like I did most of last school year. Mostly helping 8th grade and under kids do math which is about my limit on math skills anyway so its perfect.
• We found out that our planning for maternity leave was off, we received less disability than what was planned. Ouch, going to come up a couple thousand short at the end of Sarah's 3 months off.
• Caden got to play with his girlfriend, Mackenzie. Its Erica's 5 month old baby girl who Caden met for the 5th or 6th time but realized she was an actual living person for the first time this week. His cognitive skills are progressing.
• Maxie is ultra scruffy, we decided not to cut him all winter. Will keep the pics updated on Flickr.
• We got out of the house and went over to Niki's yesterday. I got to blow off a little steam and play some Wii Golf. Caden got cranky and cried inconsolably, we had to leave early.
• We went out to a lake-park in Boulder City this morning and walked around for an hour. The weather is fabulous. Its one of the 50 good weather days of the year so we had to take advantage.
• Brett Favre is going to break the all time record for TD passes in the NFL tomorrow, its an awesome accomplishment. Putting this in here for posterity.
  
• Sarah is leading our family league in Fantasy Football. Her 'Big Hooters' team is undefeated right now. Lucky.
• We ordered Caden's Halloween costume, he is going to be a New York Yankee. Hehe
  
• Sarah is baking me choclolot cookies right now, gotta go.
  

Voicethread, A Totally Cool Program

If you have a microphone or an opinion, check out this new site. Its a place where you can upload pics and comment about them either through a mic or by typing out your thoughts. You can invite others to comment as well and soon you end up with a asynchronous conversation. I posted a recent mosaic I made on Flickr, go ahead, comment. Let me know what you think.


Just click 'record' if you have a microphone, or 'type' if you dont.

If you like this program and want to sign up, go to www.voicethread.com. Make sure you add me as a friend. crookedmind

Week 7 Update

Check out our video update.

New Skyper

How many of you out there already have Skype? Awesome, add me as a contact and call me on my computer anytime you want, if I don't answer than I'm taking a rare break from staring at this screen. mrplough07

If you don't have Skype yet, but would like a free service that allows you to call other people on their computers for free, then click here to get going. Download the service, get yourself a headset with microphone for 10 bucks, and call whenever you want.

6 Week Update

Made an online video in about 20 minutes.

Animoto.com is a cool program that lets you upload pics, choose music, and produce your own video, but the kicker is, the site does all the work for you.

Okay, 6 weeks into this thing. Caden went to the dr. a couple days ago and he is 11 lbs 6 oz. He is 70something%tile of weight, 55%tile of length, and 40%tile of head circumference. Basically, he is average. I think he is probably in the 90%tile of cuteness though, the doc didnt have a measurement for that.

Sarah is doing well. Leslie came 300 miles outta her way to see Caden while on her way from tx to San Luis Obispo. She is happily moving back to Cali. Caden set a record for two things this week, longest straight sleep (5 hours) and shortest sleep (30 seconds). He can't make up his mind.

My grandma Corinne came out for 3 days and we had a wonderful time. She is Caden's great grandmother and my only grandparent. It was very special for us to have her here.

Work is going fantastic, we had one of the leaders of online education speak at our school today. David Warlick is amazing.

http://animoto.com/play/my_videos

Week 5

This has been a fantastic week on so many levels. My job is reaching a whole new world. I was just accepted onto a select committee to sponsor a new charter school opening in Las Vegas. If the state accepts the charter, there is a decent chance I would go onto the schools Board of Governors. Will keep you updated.

We got kids on campus for the first time this week which makes it my favorite time of the year.

Im part of the Restructuring Committee at my work which is designing solutions and big ideas for progress in our school. I also have administrative rights into the new system we are using at school which makes me one of the go to guys at work. I love the extra work, the responsibility, its the most empowered Ive felt my entire life.

Enough about me, momma had some moments this week. She stepped out of the house today with little Caden. They went to the mall and shopped for some motherhood necessities. Caden slept the whole time and momma enjoyed her brief respite of fresh air (from the car to the front door) mixed with 120 minutes of commercially, consumerally, processed air, both of which are different than our nonexistent house air. Yep, I know consumerally is not a word, I like making up words, its a new generation, shoot, blog got added to the dictionary 2 years ago.

Mom and Caden started using the swing and the baby gym for the first time this week. Its really helpful if the little booger can be entertained without supervision if only for a few minutes. All in all, Sarah ann says it has been a successful week. I say, if he's still breathing, we are doing something right!

My grandma is coming into town on Monday. She is coming from Michigan via Eureka CA to visit Caden. We are very excited since we only see her once a year or less. bye bye bye, bye bye
c

1 Month Old

Well not much has changed since the Week 4 bday update. We spent his 1st monthly over at Niki's house. Emma turned 4 yesterday so Greg's family came up and we celebrated all day. I forgot to take our camera to the party but was able to get some bday photos last night. Click here to see the latest.

Two news stories I will remember the most this bday weekend:

Red Sox rookie throws no-hitter in his second pro start in front of his home crowd. Amazing

13 year old and 10 year old sisters fall down 125 foot abandoned mine shaft while riding 3 wheeler in Arizona desert. tragic.

Week 4 Birthday

Look at that chubby face. haha
Today Caden uncelebrated his 4th week birthday. Is he now one month old or does that come on September 2nd? Weird how months aren't really 4 weeks. Anyway, he uncelebrated by crying a lot. He is doing this uninteresting thing where he gets so tired that he can't fall asleep. It would be great if he was staying awake more and being peaceful during that time, or even fun if that is possible. But no, lil' chubby likes to scream a lot when he can't fall asleep, even if it takes him two hours to do so. That's new to the last few days, hmmm, what else is new?

He is 10 lbs 5 oz now, so he has gained a full two pounds in the last 2 weeks. He is eating plenty and getting plenty of eating. Poor mommy, she hasn't slept much for awhile now. This very moment is the first time in two nights he has been sleeping peacefully during the evening hours.

I hope you can all hear the undercarriage of sarcasm and subtle grinning in my words. If you read them without a smile on your face then it might sound like Im complaining. Im staring at his fat face while Im typing this so its hard not to feel joyful even if Im talking about unjoyful things. Trying to think of something else thats new from Caden in the last week, ummmm.......nope, got nothing.

Work is awesome and intense right now. I have two new blogs that you can bookmark or RSS if you want to see what Im doing over there. The first one talks about cool online programs (for the most part) that Im trying to use for education although that was not their original intent (for the most part). Im encouraging my kids to get away from more traditional work and be more creative. First Day of Kindergarten

The 2nd blog is about my philosophies of education, online education news, things happening at my school. I Need to Rant
If you are bored and have time, check these out or RSS them for regular reading, they will give you a more holistic understanding of who I am and where I am going in my career.

As far as Sarah's career goes, she is a happy/tired/cranky/moody/loving/understanding mom (for the most part) for the next 3 months, then back to work.
c

Week 3 Update

Its been a very interesting week. Caden is going through a phase where he likes to cry for no particular reason. He will be well fed, fully rested, no gas (we think), not bored, clean diaper, warm, and burst into a wail. Its confusing. One of the baby books said that babies spend almost 10% of their day crying in order to strengthen their lungs. I had no idea, I thought they cried when something was wrong, not from physiological change.

I put up a new video and some new pics from this week.

Aunt Jodie and Megan drove up from L.A. to see him. That was very nice of them to make the trip.

Sarah is still losing weight, Im still gaining it. crap

Gotta run, spending all day on the computer for work.

1st Day Back to Work

Going back to work is sort of an unwanted blessing for me. Its hard to say, "yeah, Im sick of my vacation, I really wish I was working today." Thats not quite something I can bring myself to admit outloud, but I tend to get cranky towards the end of the summer when Ive been home a lot and dont have very much to do. This summer wasn't too different despite having the baby here. Caden sleeps most of the day so Ive been a little bored and feeling like I needed to get to work. yuck. So whatdoyouknow, I got back to work today and all day long I wished I was home with the baby. Ironic how that works.

I called around lunchtime to see how he was doing and he had been wide awake all morning and had just fallen asleep, thats backwards from normal. Maybe me leaving caused him to want to be awake more, no idea. Nevertheless, I missed him and spent all day learning a new software program instead. Hmm, sit on couch and play with baby or sit on computer and play with software. Seems like a nobrainer, right. Why did I feel so good all day then? Are human productivity and stimulation mandatory for happiness?

We took Caden to the grocery store for the first time tonight. He was pretty good. It seemed like he didnt appreciate the refrigerated sections. He got a little fussy while Sarah was picking out cheese, gave him his pacifier and he chilled out (pun intended). A few minutes later we were in the meat section and while Sarah was looking for the right dead animal Caden broke out into a little wail. We moved out of the meat really quick, avoided cold sections for the rest of our shopping, and never heard another peep out of him. By time we made it to the 2nd to last isle, the cereal section at our store, he was fast asleep. Our first shopping experience, success!

After we got home for the evening, Caden woke up and wanted someone to play with so we all hung out on the floor and I got some good face-to-face time with the little babyman. c

Good News

Yesterday I posted a video called Week 2 update. I mentioned we were going to the pediatricians to look at a few things: weight, bump on head, jaundice. We got good news on all three fronts. I did not know this before our first peds appt. but apparently babies lose weight right after being born then the docs want them to gain back that lost weight in the first two weeks to be "healthy." Caden has gained back all his birth weight plus an additional 9 ounces. He weighed in at 8.5 yesterday. That also means he gained 10 oz in the last 6 days so he is definitely eating enough and healthy on that front.
As for the jaundice, the doc said it was all but gone. There is a little bit in his eyes but she said that was the last place for it to hide and should be gone soon. So, no brain damage from jaundice in our future.
The bump on his head, which is large and fairly soft, was another concern OF Sarah's. Its nothing, just a broken blood vessel from pressure during the delivery, so that eased Sarah's worries.
I received an email from my Assistant Principal asking me to come in August 20th for some paid training. The extra money is definitely appreciated but that is 2 days earlier than expected so a little bummer on that note. Less time with the baby before summer vacation is over. So sorta good news.
Going into the hospital today for a PKU test, and over to Gary and Annette's for a bbq tonight. It will be Caden's first night out on the town(ish).
c

Into Week 2

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile, Ive been uploading pics and videos instead. Things have been a mix of crazy and peaceful around here. For one, Caden doesn't do much. He sleeps a lot, doesn't play, and only has his eyes open a few minutes every day. He isn't fussy unless he is hungry or cold so he is pretty uneventful. For most of the last 5 nights, he has slept through the night and Sarah has to wake him up every few hours to feed him. There have been exceptions of course, like the other night when he threw up about 10 minutes after feeding. That soaked his entire bassinet and freaked him out so we had some work to do to get him back to sleep. He is still jaundiced so we have to take him to the pediatrician on Monday and get him tested again. The remedy so far is to sunbathe him twice a day for 10 minutes, and make sure he is going #2 a lot. He is. Speaking of that, its funny how changing diapers is not only not utterly disgusting, its something I look forward to. I know, Im a little crooked, and you moms are probably saying, just wait its still early. But prior to him being born, I was NOT looking forward to diapers, and my mind has done a 180 since then.
He has gained all his birth weight back so he is feeding plenty and packing on the ounces.
Donna is staying with us for a couple weeks and has been a big help around here. Sarah is up and moving more each day, but still sore and tired throughout so having her mom here had made both our lives a lot better.
I am not looking forward to August 22nd, when I go back to school. Its going to be hard to leave him, but I should be thankful for the 3 weeks I will have with him before then. Some of you may not know that I am taking paternity leave beginning in late November through February. Sarah will stay home with him until Thanksgiving.
Thanks to everyone who has come over, or made special trips to see the baby. Thanks for the cards, presents, flowers, and especially the phone calls. We feel very lucky right now. c

Baby Videos

I am uploading short video clips of Caden as we speak. They take awhile so there is only one up right now but will be more coming. I know Im over excited and posting lots of pics and vids, but I dont care. Its fun!

Click here to go directly to the first video I posted.

Click here to go the webpage on my website that will have a catalog of videos soon.

Click here to go to the home page of the website.

Click here to go to the Flickr pics (web photo album) of Caden.

You can bookmark any or all of the links above to make it easier to access.

Finally Free!

Those hospitals don't mess around. We got stuck there and wallowed in the mud of incompetence for an extra 16 hours, and one full night longer than we needed. Anyway, no more beeching, we are home with Caden and really, really happy to be here. He has been sleeping, of course, Sarah is finally asleep, and Donna, Leslie, and me are playing on our computers. I've uploading a web picture album of Caden's 2 nights in the hospital and the videos will come next. Thank you all for your support and kind words through this wonderful event in our lives.

Waiting

Its almost 7 and we are sitting here waiting for a pediatrician to show up and give us the 'okay' for discharge. Our nurses dropped the ball this morning and apparently forgot to tell our doctor, who was on rounds at 7 am, that we were her patients. They forgot about us, left behind by the system. For you Mccaw ladies who are coming here soon, avoid Rita, the Nazi Nurse. Caden is doing okay, he has been sleeping all day, and when he has been awake he is feeding good. He hasnt cried at all, and is really good at disposing of waste. He has a baby rash, so he looks like a squashed tomato, maybe a smeared radish. Looks like we are staying another night, the doc just showed and even though nothing is wrong, since him and Sarah have different blood types, he wants to keep him in case anything should go wrong on a Saturday. Gotta run, will upload pics tomorrow, cross my baby's fingers. c

6 Days Early

Happy Birthday Caden. Well, he decided today was the day he wanted to come out. After about 7 hours of labor, and only 40 minutes of pushing, Caden came out, a brand new purple baby. He has dark brown hair, lots of it. He weighs 7lbs 12oz, and is 19.5 inches. The baby came really fast, so fast that all the nurses and docs were really surprised. So fast, that the epidural didnt have time to work before Sarah had to start pushing. So, Sarah had a semi-natural child birth. Go Sarah! Donna, Sarah, ane me are hanging out with a sleepy, well fed, peaceful, little boy. I will add pics tomorrow, hopefully.

Well. Something Is Happening

We are just not sure what? That pain that I referred to in the earlier posting today, you know, the one that mentioned Sarah not being able to walk, well there was a reason. At first we thought it was just cramps due to the dilation test earlier this morning, but we started picking up on some regularity, and thought, wow, could this be labor? Then we started timing them and when they, the possible contractions, got to 2 minutes apart and 45 seconds long, we headed off to the hospital. Right now we are hooked up to a machine waiting to find out if this actual labor. Will keep you posted. From the delicvery room, 2:30pm

39 Long, Hot, Laborious Weeks

Well, we just had our 39th week OB appt and everything is still going, still going, still going well. Sarah is 2 cm dilated, with no other new changes. We have another appt. on Tuesday, one day before our official due date to discuss some options. If Sarah's cervix is in prime shape, then we might induce Wed. or Thursday, possibly, cross my fingers. If her cervix isnt ready, well then, we wait. Update you on that news come Tuesday.

Well if prelabor pain is any sign of whats to come on labor day, we are in for a long one. Caden has been making Sarah hurt all over, and as of this minute, she cant quite walk.

Sarah finished Harry Potter, so if anyone wants to know what happened and doesn't want to read the book, send us an email. cjplough75@gmail.com

As for me, Ive just been working on the computer and watching movies, typical stuff. Im getting ready to add a wiki page to thefamilyspot of a bunch of cool sites Ive been playing with. They are mostly social tools for sharing things with friends, family, students,etc.

Throw us a comment and tell us how you are doing.

Did You Know....

I didnt!

38 Weeks

We had our 38 week ob appt. today and everything is fine. Caden has officially gone through the lightening which basically means he has dropped down into the pelvis and is ready to go but with that comes him pushing on some very uncomfortable and painful places in Sarah's legs and hips. Sarah is 1.5 cm dilated, but according to some books and our doc, first baby boys like to come after their due dates, so we aren't optimistic he will show up until after August 8th.

Like 4 million other people in America, Sarah rushed out and bought the new Harry Potter book. Unlike most of them, she is taking her time reading it, and is less than half way done, so no spoilers from any of you please. There is a rumor that JK Rowling is coming to the lowly K Mart by our house so Sarah is thinking about getting her autograph, and then like any faithful capitalist, selling it on eBay for a profit.


Well, life has come full circle once again. Last year I joined my first fantasy sports league of any kind when a college friend of mine asked me to play in his fantasy football league (thanks Rico). I loved it so much that I was in about 6 different football leagues last year, and have played basically every fantasy sport since then. Basketball, NCAA basketball, Nascar, Golf, Baseball, I even almost joined a movie fantasy game but decided against it. Anyhow, fantasy football season 2 is beginning now. I know its only July, but its time to start. So, if there is anyone out there who is at all interested in joining a fantasy football league post a comment and let me know. We can set something up.

I would really like to hear any comments you have but Im not sure if everyone has figured out how to do it. Blogger isnt very clear about the comments area, so this one is less user friendly than other blogs. Anyway, you will notice at the bottom of every blog entry is a section that says '0 comments' or '1 comment' or however many comments there have been.



Just click on the word 'comments' and up will come another screen.



Type your comment in the right hand box.

'Choose an Identity,' if you dont have a blogger account than just select 'other' and type in your name.

Then hit 'publish your comment' in the bottom box.

Even if you dont have anything to comment about what I wrote in the blog but you want to share something from your life, please feel free. Share anything, well, almost anything! c

Success Stories

My school, which for those of you that dont know, is a charter school. That basically means that we are a public school, funded by the state, under state regulations and following state standards, sponsored by the Clark County School District (the 5th biggest in the U.S. ugh) so we follow their basic rules, but, and there is a big but, we have some freedoms. We can do things that a regular public school cant do. For one, we dont have a lot of overhead costs so the school can buy new programs, invest in teacher training, supply computers to all the teachers and some of the students, and other things. But like a public school, we are struggling. There is close to a 40% dropout rate across the U.S. (this fact has been argued, but there is no denying it is a big number). Most of the stuff kids are being taught aren't compatible with the way business is moving in this age. So, with that understanding, and our charter, we are always changing. Always looking for something to make it work better. For that I'm privileged to be at my school, but its still not working. So, I wanted to ask you guys.

What positive experiences do you remember from HS? Did something that a teacher did help you learn, or help you survive, stop you from dropping out? I'd like to hear some success stories to help me going into my 4th year of teaching. If you work in education, you can share those stories as well. You can either post your replies by clicking the 'comments' button at the bottom of this entry, or if you want to share a more private story, email me at cjplough75@gmail.com.

RSS Feeds

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Please watch the video to get a clear explanation of how they work.




These 4 sites are popular RSS organizers. If you have a google email account, I recommend just using their google reader and IGoogle to keep track of all your favorite sites.

GoogleReader best connected with IGoogle
My Yahoo Feeds
NetVibes
Feedburner



Once you have signed up for one of the accounts above, come back here and look for either of these 2 symbols on the page up near or in the toolbar.


Click on either symbol and follow the instructions for sending it to your location of choice. This makes it easy for you to know when I have added something to the blog, it will show up right on your home page or your favorite feed organizer.

Full Term

That's right, today is one of those important bench mark days in the long journey of pregnancy. We finally got to 37 weeks, which is full term for all the guys out there, and that means the lungs are fully developed and the baby is as ready as he is going to get for facing the bright light at the end of mommy's tunnel.





Our other baby, Maxwell, was getting pretty scruffy so we had to get him cut this week.

Before

After



We finished a 2 1/2 hour breast feeding class yesterday. I am now certified to breastfeed. Wonder what that means?

We have our 37 week obgyn appt tomorrow, we are at the stage where the doctor checks for dilation ('dilitation' according to one nurse) and effacement. We will let you all know if anything happens on that front.

The Finished Product

Shout outs to Leslie and Sarah for finishing the nursery all by themselves. hehe
I was lucky enough to come back from SD and find the nursery completed. Leslie came out to visit Sarah while I was out of town and together, as always, they did some impressive work.



Sarah painted a few paintings and Leslie hung up all sorts of little thingamajigs.



Then the bedding came on Sunday, and Sarah had her final pieces. It was on backorder so we had to wait a month for it to show up and when it came, of course it didn't quite look like the picture. Sarah wasnt so sure if she was sold on the greenish components of the bedding, but when I said I could care less, she said great, and we decided to keep it.



The only thing left to do is stick a baby in there!