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