noise to signal:
Family

Baby math

Or, "Dave plays with his wacom tablet".

Happy St. Valentine's Day

... to my two best girls.

Cousin crawling

Squeaky Z is very interested in her cousin's technique.

The first week with The Kid

My first week as a stay at home dad passed relatively easily for two reasons: First, Miz Becky was only planning to work half days anyway, and second, she was sick Tuesday and Wednesday, so I was only alone with the kid half of Thursday and Friday.

I think overall it's going to be easier for me to be home with the kid than it was for Miz Becky. Partially that's because she (the kid, that is, not Miz Becky) is getting progressively more aware and interactive and less binary, sleeping/screaming. Partially it's also because as the dad I don't have the instinctive mommy responses and I don't take it as personally.

One thing that's definitely more difficult is feeding. Whereas Miz Becky only really needs to know the two-to-five-minute warning signs of hunger, I really need to figure out what the twenty minute warning signs are. That's about how long it takes me to get some milk out of the fridge, put it in a bottle, and warm it to the temperature that Herself has come to expect it.

We have a project we'd like your help with. We have five frames we're planning to fill with photos of strong, smart, inspiring women role models for the kid's room, and we're looking for suggestions to add to the list. NOTE that this is not a vote; the final five will be based on our autocratic and capricious choices. However, if you know of someone who should be on the list for consideration, we'd love to hear about her.

Here's the list so far:

Amelia Earhart
Ann Richards
Aretha Franklin
Aung San Suu Kyi
Bessie Smith
Elizabeth Cotton
Georgia O'Keefe
Grace Hopper
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Harriett Tubman
Julia Child
Katherine Hepburn
Margaret Bourke-White
Marie Curie
Martha Graham
Maya Angelou
Meryl Streep
Mother Theresa
Queen Liliu'okalani
Rachel Carson
Rosa Parks
Sojourner Truth
Tina Turner
Ursula K. LeGuin
Vim Wright
Virginia Woolf
Zora Neale Hurston

The cats are nonplussed

Mostly they seem to be wondering where the loud noises are coming from...

She's already learned to keep an eye on mommy and daddy ...

... because Mommy and Daddy are not to be trusted.

One of the best things about the birth, for me, was that we maintained our sense of humor all the way through. We're very silly people, constantly doing schtick or playing little improv games (most of which are undoubtedly entirely unfunny to other people). You may or may not have noticed.

Through the whole birth process, from our birth plan (which caused our OB/GYN to laugh so hard she had to take a moment to compose herself), to the trip to the hospital (Doula: 'OK, turn right here.' DAE: 'Bear right!' Miz Becky: [paws up to the right, little roar]), to little jokes right up to the real pushing, we kept making each other smile.

At first the nurses and doctor were a little nonplussed by this, but eventually they enjoyed it, I think. At least, they were relaxed and silly during the post-birth cleanup and whatnot.

It probably won't surprise any of you that in my top five list of things I'm looking forward to in parenthood is "having another person to do schtick with." And if my own father says he wasn't thinking the same thing before I was born... he's lyin'.