The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living – Socrates
Posts tagged baby
Drawing Ever Closer
Apr 27th
Paul the Painter was here. I really hope that in her first few months of life our new daughter will appreciate the subtle colour changes of the walls! The place does look really nice as a matter of fact, it’s amazing what a lick of pain can do. I managed to finish drywalling the new wall hole and now its mudding and taping, sanding and painting then finding a finish timber and a surround trim. I still have a little quarter round trim to finish too but time is increasingly short. We have baby classes all this week and next week which means we leave the house at 630am and don’t get back home until after 9 every night. We also have a gymnastics competition in Orangeville this weekend which means little if any time to get the work done. The good news is that I feel much better now. The sickness seems to have gone, and my back is starting to feel like normal again. However, that means it’s time for a wrench to go into the works! I have to start exercising again which will mean the return of the insatiable appetite! Since I was sick I lost about 10lbs which I am thrilled with however I also know that is is probably largely water and some muscle mass. Once I start up again I expect at least 3-4 of those lbs to be back within a day or two. It does mean, however, that I am closer to my goal of being 250lbs by the due date, something which is not only possible, but really a requirement if I am going to be healthy enough to handle the rigors of a newborn. We are currently 7 weeks out, and I have to admit I am not taking the due date as the finish line, I would much rather have everything inside the house done and finished by the time Nicole takes off work which is 5 weeks from now.
The list is pretty daunting however…
Do the taxes
Finish drywalling, taping, sanding and painting the wall hole.
Finish the quarter round in the main floor
Finish the threshold into the kitchen
Mount all the pictures and stuff that came off the wall for the paint
Clean out the basement bedroom and store the boxes of stuff that are on the floor in the gym
Remove the mirrors off the wall in the basement and remount them on flat plywood
Build a dip station and a dumbell organizer for the basement
Build a deck for the basement walkout
Build a BBQ House on the new deck for the BBQ
Better get to work..
Preparing the way
Mar 19th
In recent posts over in our family diary I have covered some of the things we have done to get ready for the arrival of the bundle of joy. It’s amusing to me that something so small could have such a profound effect on every aspect of your life but I guess that is the miracle of life. It’s a miracle that anything survives! I know much of the furniture and decorations in the house haven’t made the cut. I thought when we agreed to do “the baby room” that it would be restricted to one room of the house, that being the room that the baby would sleep in. Apparently I was mistaken. The baby will be enjoying the redecorated bedrooms, bathroom, the new couch and the freshly painted walls if my wife has her way. She will also have a new desk upstairs to open her mail at and a craft room where she can spend time making arts and crafts. However if she gets tired of her own room she can go into the basement and sleep in the new bedroom that we have created down there. If she wants to play with anything that belongs to Daddy however she will have to go find it in the garage.
Nicole’s favourite thing to do nowadays seems to be to get me to feel the baby kicking. It’s pretty weird. However, the thought that Nicole has a little person hiding inside her that is alive but doesn’t breathe is just as bizarre. In fact, the more you actually think about pregnancy and the whole baby thing the less sense it makes and the more odd it seems. Nicole is getting less and less comfortable as time goes on, something that I am all to familiar with as a past fat git. You see, being pregnant, as far as I can tell, is just like being overweight. You can’t bend down to tie your shoes or reach the floor, you can’t reach certain parts of your own body, you can’t fall asleep without cutting off circulation to something and you wheeze like an asthmatic mouse every time you try to do something energetic. I’m not saying I am happy that Nicole is uncomfortable but at least now I am sure she knows what it is like for me when my back acts up and I walk around the house like an octogenerian wearing a backpack.
Needless to say, it’s a little overwhelming and bizarre at the same time. Plus there are the regular life things going on too, much of which is slipping away unnoticed because every 2 seconds someone is asking about the baby. Here’s a tip everyone… ask about the baby once it is born, k? Until then, let us wallow in our innocence and ignorance of the shitstorm (literally) that is about to hit us.
Death by sand burial. It’s part of a game we have been playing at gym with the recreational kids and for some reason the coach running the game couldn’t get my smartass comment out of her head and referred to it as death by sand at one point. The next day she managed to call it “Beach” but still described it as being buried alive for fun… Gym coaching has been fun this year, mostly because I have had a small group of kids that I really like. The only problem is that everyone seems to think that they know more than I do and while that may be the case with technical gymnastics, they can’t hold a candle to me when it comes to fitness and getting these kids in shape. Most recently I have had my conditioning replaced because the fit test results weren’t great. This may sound logical however there are 2 things at play here.
1. Nobody except Nicole, myself and the kids know how hard the conditioning is and how often we do strength vs cardio. This means that the kids are now complaining because the conditioning is too easy.
2. My kids, being teenagers, don’t respond well to a fit test type scenario and on any given day you may get amazing or crappy results. This time around they couldn’t be bothered which is typical. So the upshot is that they now get to do less and try to improve the next time. Since they realize what has happened I fully expect them to tank the next test.
The final, equally as irritating thing is that I was told that the conditioning I was doing at the start of the year was, essentially, worthless. It involved burpees with chinups and was axed the first time the head coach saw it. Funny thing, the burpee and the chinup are the staples that would have kept the kids strong had I been left to what I know. Anyway, it’s now only 9 classes until competition, not a time to be working on improving strength but rather polishing routines. I think next time, if there is a next time, I just won’t listen.
Speaking of which, a subject which will bring me great sadness was discussed last night and that is what we are going to do about coaching next year. Nicole says she is not sure if she wants to coach. I think she will be dying to do something, ANYTHING after being home with baby for a few months and would welcome the chance. Either way, it would be better to start and have to quit than to want to do something and not be able to. The bigger problem is the money. As much as we want to think we are doing OK, we are basically dirt poor. Something Nicole can’t seem to grasp sometimes and any extra money will be a massive benefit. The sad part is that I am coming to the realization that this will probably mean the end of my coaching career and the one thing in my life that I can say I truly love doing will be no more. It has been about 6 or 7 years now that I have been coaching and a large part of why I love it so much is seeing the kids every week. I am sure it is different when you are a parent but my love of the kids we coach is something that I will have a really hard time losing. My job, to be honest, isn’t exciting. I work in a technical field with technical people and am surrounded by technology. Frankly it’s boring as all hell on an emotional and creative level. But when we get to see the kids two nights a week I get to see life at it’s best and most appealing. There is nothing like seeing kids learn new skills, being impressed and proud that they did something cool. Whether it is my 9 year old rec kids who are just learning to do handstands or a competitive kid who learns to do a difficult and dangerous skill for the first time it is all a wonderful emotional experience. Even dealing with petulant teenagers who curse at you when they turn their back is worth it for the times that you can make them smile with pride at having impressed you. If there is no gymnastics in my future for the next few years it is something that I will miss with all my heart. Hopefully, my heart will be filled with the love for my daughter as we lead her through her life and the sadness over time will fade. Time will tell, but I am not comfortable with this aspect of the future.
So there you have it. As an introduction to the new site it’s a bit heavy but then again, life seems to be gaining weight at an alarming rate!
Dawn of a new Era
Mar 18th
I have moved my blog again. I guess I am just tired of having straggling entries and blogs littered around the internet and I am trying to get everything I have under one roof. There is a problem however. Some of my old blog posts are probably not what I would want people reading or associating with the person I have become. I suppose I could just censor the whole thing but that would be a real pain in the butt. The other thing is that I can’t really import very easily from one blog to this one without losing functionality in the background. That really leaves me with only one option… Make a clean break and start over.
Not what I was thinking of doing, but at the very least it will give me the chance to start anew with the impending arrival of our daughter and with it, a new sense of who I am. I may in fact end up importing parts of the old stuff into this blog only because my history is as much responsible for what is about to happen as anything else.
It makes sense. I first created my blog as a single man, chronicling the adventures and exasperation of dating. I moved the whole thing when Nicole and I became more serious and I moved from being s single man to a man with a partner in adventures. Now that I face probably the greatest agent of change that a person can face it may make sense that I divorce myself from my past and enter without the encumbrances of my previous writings.
So here I go. It’s March of 2010, Nicole is due June 11th and I am far from ready. I guess you will partner me on my journey to readiness. So buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
So, this baby thing…
Feb 27th

I mean really... The worlds cutest thing... bleargghhhhhh
We have waded neck deep into a festering gorgefest of greed for our money. Based only on the presumed love and undying adoration that we will have for our bundle of joy I am beseiged daily with websites and products and quotes and commercials some of which admittedly are so cute I want to barf rainbows but still…
I thought it was bad that people wanted to screw me out of loving my girlfriend, then fiance and now my wife a week before my birthday every year by forcing me to participate in the shameless capitalistic orgy that is Valentine’s Day. That was quickly overshadowed by the volcanic eruption of greed that enveloped us during the planning of our wedding. Vendors, shameless whores of low class, low quality dross would bombard us with ridiculous theme weddings, matching outfits, outlandish thousand dollar wedding cakes and inane pointless and unnecessarily expensive “keepsakes”. I just was not prepared, regardless of the fact that I had glimpsed behind the curtain of piggery when we had visited the Toronto Wedding Show, for the sheer pressure that is placed on happy couples to part with their money in the name of “love”.
Frankly, it makes me angry just thinking about it.
This is different. I am sure at the time our wedding was… well, no it wasn’t. I couldn’t stand the stench of rapacity during the countdown to our big day and thank the stars for my wonderful wife without whom I would no doubt have the heads of several Wedding Planners on my wall. But this is different since really when it comes down to it nothing, and I mean NOTHING changes your life like becoming a parent does. So although I feel suffocated by avarice for my hard earned money, I can’t help but understand why. Let’s be honest, aside from Anne Geddes the Demon Goddess of Baby Cruelty there is nothing cuter than certain kinds of baby pictures. Especially when it’s yours.
Oh, and don’t bother commenting about Ms. Geddes. I place her in the same category as people who enter their children in beauty pageants, putting ball gowns and makeup on 4 to 8 year olds. It’s child abuse, you know it, I know it and people like that should be forced to go to work naked for a year to taste the kind of emotional scarring to which they are subjecting their kids. On that happy note… Happy Birthday to me!

So, this baby thing…
Feb 20th
We have waded neck deep into a festering gorgefest of greed for our money. Based only on the presumed love and undying adoration that we will have for our bundle of joy I am beseiged daily with websites and products and quotes and commercials some of which admittedly are so cute I want to barf rainbows but still…

I mean really... The worlds cutest thing... bleargghhhhhh
I thought it was bad that people wanted to screw me out of loving my girlfriend, then fiance and now my wife a week before my birthday every year by forcing me to participate in the shameless capitalistic orgy that is Valentine’s Day. That was quickly overshadowed by the volcanic eruption of greed that enveloped us during the planning of our wedding. Vendors, shameless whores of low class, low quality dross would bombard us with ridiculous theme weddings, matching outfits, outlandish thousand dollar wedding cakes and inane pointless and unnecessarily expensive “keepsakes”. I just was not prepared, regardless of the fact that I had glimpsed behind the curtain of piggery when we had visited the Toronto Wedding Show, for the sheer pressure that is placed on happy couples to part with their money in the name of “love”.
Frankly, it makes me angry just thinking about it.
This is different. I am sure at the time our wedding was… well, no it wasn’t. I couldn’t stand the stench of rapacity during the countdown to our big day and thank the stars for my wonderful wife without whom I would no doubt have the heads of several Wedding Planners on my wall. But this is different since really when it comes down to it nothing, and I mean NOTHING changes your life like becoming a parent does. So although I feel suffocated by avarice for my hard earned money, I can’t help but understand why. Let’s be honest, aside from Anne Geddes the Demon Goddess of Baby Cruelty there is nothing cuter than certain kinds of baby pictures. Especially when it’s yours.
Oh, and don’t bother commenting about Ms. Geddes. I place her in the same category as people who enter their children in beauty pageants, putting ball gowns and makeup on 4 to 8 year olds. It’s child abuse, you know it, I know it and people like that should be forced to go to work naked for a year to taste the kind of emotional scarring they are subjecting their kids to. On that happy note… Happy Birthday to me!
Pray Silence For The Father To Be…
Dec 24th
Time for me to wade into the baby updates…
Yes, I realize that this is the first time since the cryptic entry from last time that I am actually writing about the enormous changed that have come about in our lives. We learned a few weeks ago that Nicole is pregnant and therefore by deduction that I am going to be a father.
*moment of silence for sink-inage*
I am still in shock, or disbelief, or denial, I am not sure which but it certainly doesn’t seem real yet. However, as Nicole expands with each passing day and our attention turns away from us and onto the baby-* (everything in our life now starts with baby). Baby-room, baby-clothes, baby-changing table, baby-crib and it goes on and on. I swear I am not going to realize what is going on until the baby is actually crying and for that reason alone I am petrified.
But I have a plan, at least for the easy things like furniture, rooms, garbage, diapers etc,
What I don’t have a plan for yet and what I will be developing here is how to be a Dad. Unlike most other things in life that really don’t matter, being a parent is something that really deserves planning and attention on an ongoing basis. My feeling is that most men just don’t put enough thought into what happens once the baby comes other than the mechanics. Why not spend the last 3 or 6 months of the pregnancy when you are spending your time being obedient and not angering the earth mother as she gradually metamorphoses from your wife into your child’s mother paying attention to the person you will need to be once the child arrives. For example, being too fat to lift up your child is something that will require attention before the trip to the hospital. Same goes for quitting smoking, stopping biting your nails, procrastinating, time management, assessing your morals and priorities, improving your hygiene etc etc.
So I will try over the next few months before baby Kay arrives to get my shit together which will include, by the way, losing the profanities. Wish me luck!
So what else is new? Well, I seem to have done the same thing I always do when I get too much on my plate and that is fail to do much of anything! I recently went on a CISSP Boot Camp course in Toronto to help prepare me for the CISSP exam in January. I have been running the Biggest Loser at work and of course coaching while trying to keep up with home stuff that needs to happen. This has meant that after my success with P90X that I have not been back to the gym. It seems that G90X didn’t really take off like I had hoped. I now am in a position with an upcoming exam, upcoming trip to Switzerland and a ton of work and a big pile of frustration with my poor eating habits and lack of exercise. So I need to get organized. The problem isn’t my inability to cope, it is my unwillingness to plan appropriately and get my time organized. I need to study every day, exercise every day and figure out a way to stop eating crap all the time. It can’t be that hard, I am a full grown man for Gods sake.
So here I go. Today, Christmas Eve 2009 I will go home and do Plyometrics with my P90X buddy Tony and have a health supper. I will study at least 2 hours and start making notes on the Information Security and Risk Management Domain.
What I need in order to do that I think is a better working area. Although we have a desk downstairs with the computer it is really not appropriate. We have discussed moving the desk up to the reading nook which would be an ideal study spot. That means moving the existing couch into the front baby-room to be. That would require moving the existing couch in that room out and also the bed… You can see how it all snowballs into one big overwhelmfest.
Tonight… you!

Pray Silence For The Father To Be…
Dec 24th
Time for me to wade into the baby updates…
Yes, I realize that this is the first time since the cryptic entry from last time that I am actually writing about the enormous changed that have come about in our lives. We learned a few weeks ago that Nicole is pregnant and therefore by deduction that I am going to be a father.
*moment of silence for sink-inage*
I am still in shock, or disbelief, or denial, I am not sure which but it certainly doesn’t seem real yet. However, as Nicole expands with each passing day and our attention turns away from us and onto the baby-* (everything in our life now starts with baby). Baby-room, baby-clothes, baby-changing table, baby-crib and it goes on and on. I swear I am not going to realize what is going on until the baby is actually crying and for that reason alone I am petrified.
But I have a plan, at least for the easy things like furniture, rooms, garbage, diapers etc,
What I don’t have a plan for yet and what I will be developing here is how to be a Dad. Unlike most other things in life that really don’t matter, being a parent is something that really deserves planning and attention on an ongoing basis. My feeling is that most men just don’t put enough thought into what happens once the baby comes other than the mechanics. Why not spend the last 3 or 6 months of the pregnancy when you are spending your time being obedient and not angering the earth mother as she gradually metamorphoses from your wife into your child’s mother paying attention to the person you will need to be once the child arrives. For example, being too fat to lift up your child is something that will require attention before the trip to the hospital. Same goes for quitting smoking, stopping biting your nails, procrastinating, time management, assessing your morals and priorities, improving your hygiene etc etc.
So I will try over the next few months before baby Kay arrives to get my shit together which will include, by the way, losing the profanities. Wish me luck!
So what else is new? Well, I seem to have done the same thing I always do when I get too much on my plate and that is fail to do much of anything! I recently went on a CISSP Boot Camp course in Toronto to help prepare me for the CISSP exam in January. I have been running the Biggest Loser at work and of course coaching while trying to keep up with home stuff that needs to happen. This has meant that after my success with P90X that I have not been back to the gym. It seems that G90X didn’t really take off like I had hoped. I now am in a position with an upcoming exam, upcoming trip to Switzerland and a ton of work and a big pile of frustration with my poor eating habits and lack of exercise. So I need to get organized. The problem isn’t my inability to cope, it is my unwillingness to plan appropriately and get my time organized. I need to study every day, exercise every day and figure out a way to stop eating crap all the time. It can’t be that hard, I am a full grown man for Gods sake.
So here I go. Today, Christmas Eve 2009 I will go home and do Plyometrics with my P90X buddy Tony and have a health supper. I will study at least 2 hours and start making notes on the Information Security and Risk Management Domain.
What I need in order to do that I think is a better working area. Although we have a desk downstairs with the computer it is really not appropriate. We have discussed moving the desk up to the reading nook which would be an ideal study spot. That means moving the existing couch into the front baby-room to be. That would require moving the existing couch in that room out and also the bed… You can see how it all snowballs into one big overwhelmfest.
Tonight… you!