Everything is fine


I had an OB appointment on Friday and everything is going just swimmingly. Baby is growing exactly as he should and is on track to be about 7lbs at birth, which is pretty normal. I'm a tiny person, so I'm relieved to hear that I'm probably not having a 10 pounder. Phew. So everything's fine except my aching back. Yesterday I had a really tough time with the pain. Every other step or so would generate this sharp lower back pain that would make my knees go weak. I iced it, I heated it, I iced it again. It was better this morning, but still kind of hurts.

We went to register at Babies R Us. It's overwhelming to walk through that giant store and try to wrap your head around all the things you need, think you need or are just not sure of. Wipe warmer? Essential, I guess. Nasal aspirator, essential. 40 different types of blankets, burp cloths, lap pads...all essential. Infant sized turntables and microphones? Doesn't really exist. Tonight we're going to finish the Target registry, too. Note to self: do not take on the task of extreme registering on an empty stomach.

I meant to do so much more this weekend. I never did see Snakes on a Plane and I totally missed the Bananas show (which would have been baby's first Bananas show), because I got too tired on Saturday night. We had Alice & Beardsly over for a mellow dinner in the back yard and a couple of episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm season 5 on DVD. This season is another slow-builder like last season's. We've seen about 5 of the episodes so far and it's starting to pick up speed finally.

Now I'm hungry for second breakfast. Need to go forage for food....

Are you my KNITTA?


How emm-effing cute is this effing hat? I want to make it for my kid, but my knitting skills are barely beginner-level. I have made two scarfs and that's it. I could give always it a try. Looks like I'm on my way to dressing baby Neon in tons of embarrasing clothes. Apologies in advance, son.

Toot, toot!


Leon returned from his trade show bearing many exciting promotional items from various computer companies. Right now, I'm enjoying my pen/pencil/PDA stylus combo and USB phone charger. Now every time I need to make notes at work, or charge my cell phone through my computer, I can do so functionally AND spread the word about HP storage solutions. We get our share of promotional items at our office, too. There seem to be a lot of foam stress releivers around here. Bananas, feet, footballs. There's a really good one in someone's office, a stadium seat cushion that reads "Stamp Out Prostate Cancer!" Personally, I feel that approach to prostate cancer is a little too violent.

Weekend plans: Tonight Snakes on a Plane opens! Leon really wants to see this, so we're going. Tomorrow there's a garage sale I might peruse. Sunday I need to go buy some fruit at the farmer's market before the apricots & nectarines are out of season again.

No bad dogs


Heylove needed a good run and some interaction so I took her to the dog park yesterday after work. She did not do well at all! Most times she's mobbed as soon as she walks in by curious dogs. She'll crouch down and go submissive until they get bored with her and leave. Some dogs don't leave though and either try to roll her or bark at her until she stands up and runs for cover under the nearest set of human legs. This is pretty much what happened yesterday. There was one dog there that is usually really rough with her. This dog, we'll call Dottie. Dottie typically barks at and mouths Heylove's ears until her owner calls her off. She was doing this yesterday when Heylove decided she had enough and barked a high-pitched vocalization back at Dottie and threw her paws up at her. Dottie ran. I think Dottie only really wanted to instigate a game of chase, but Heylove only wanted to do it on her own terms. So Heylove's reaction naturally drew some attention from some of the other dogs. A huge, young black lab came over (we'll call her Sofie) and started pawing Heylove, who curled up into a little black bean and went submissive. The owner came over and asked if Sofie was being too rough. I said she was so the owner grabbed the lab's harness. Then Heylove got up and lunged paws up and barked at Sofie! She really went at it though and I had a lot of trouble grabbing her to stop. Finally I grabbed her by her harness and walked her out of the dog park. We were there less than 5 minutes! I couldn't control Heylove's behavior and really couldn't be sure if it was truly agressive or not, so we just left. I decided to think about it on the drive home and gave her the silent treatment just in case I decided she was being naughty. She got a bath, but no treats.

Sigh. Now that she's getting a little older, I'm seeing her personality change a little. Our little dog that only barked on command, will sometimes alarm-bark when she hears noises or sees strange objects outside. I'm still not sure about the behavior she displayed at the dog park yesterday, but I hope it's not fear aggression.