PrettyGirl had her four-month doctor's appointment on Monday. It coincided with daycare being closed (so Nikki could go to her daughter's school orientation,) so I was off work anyway and got to continue my perfect attendance at PG's doctor visits.
PG was quite the little social flower, checking out everyone that struck up a conversation with her. Her doctor frequently reminded her that she (PG) is so cute.
The good news: PG is progressing perfectly normally. She's right down the middle at the 50th percentile in weight and height (14 lbs, 24 inches.) She's only in the 25th percentile in head circumference (I don't know the figure for that, but I may have it by the time I post this,) but the doctor isn't worried about it, so I'm not.
The bad news: A little scabby thing on PG's head, about which neither M nor I had been worried and had written off as Cradle Cap, turned out to be ringworm. The popular theory is that she picked it up at daycare.
I learned something about ringworm, now that I've had occasion to learn things about it: it's not actually a worm, but a fungus. Sadly, this development renders the above post title somewhat inaccurate, being as fungus isn't exactly a creature, whereas an actual worm would have been, but I can't come up with anything better, so there you go.
PG is on ringworm medication now, so we expect everything to clear up in the next few weeks. She has been completely aloof about her condition throughout.
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We went to the Walters Art Gallery last Saturday to see the Gee's Bend quilt exhibit. Quilts aren't really my thing, so I wasn't really all that interested in the exhibit until we passed a black, red and white quilt, and M commented that PG would like those colors, being a baby and all. Since PG was, in fact, with us at the time, we turned her stroller around so she could see the quilt (by this point, we had moved on to a red, black and blue quilt,) and she flew into a state of rapture at the sight. She was all grinning and kicking and having quite a fine time staring at the colors.
The rest of the museum, including the original copy of the famous painting of George Washington and artifacts dating back as much as 5,000 years, didn't grab her attention as much. Oh well. Historical appreciation will come in time. I hope so, anyway.
********************
I finally went and bought running shoes. I went to Charm City Run, which was somewhat out of my way, but well worth the trip. Since the store specializes in just running shoes and apparel, the salespeople only need to know the ins and outs of shoes as they pertain to running, rather than the 360-degree movement of other sports.
The first thing my salesman had me do was walk the length of the store while he kneeled on the ground and studied my feet as I walked. From that, he determined that my arches, while not high, per se, didn't collapse under my weight as much as would be normal. So he knew that I would need something supportive. The first shoe did not do that, and he could tell just from looking, without me having to tell him how it felt. We worked from there, and I ended up with a pair of shoes that I think will work well for me as I try to get back in shape.
Though I didn't get to use it, they also had a treadmill with a camera attached to it, so they could monitor how your feet land when you run, complete with slow-motion playback. I kinda wish they had done that with me, but I guess once you establish that you have barely collapsible arches, how your feet land when you run can be pretty much figured out.
It should be noted that I bought the shoes three days ago, and I have yet to go for a run. It should also be noted that I haven't had a free night since I bought them.
********************
My other momentous purchase - on the same day, no less - was a new computer. After a week of consideration, I went with the best processor that Dell offered for that particular machine (an Intel Quad Core) and Windows Vista Home Premium, rather than a Duo Core and Windows XP. The Quad is a bit much, since there isn't a whole lot of software that makes use of it, but it cost only $50 more, and I suspect I'll be glad I got it, as more software comes out that takes advantage of the extra two processors.
Vista is a calculated risk. It's probably gonna give me problems for a while (maybe,) and I may have to do all my Photoshoppin' at work or on my old computer (soon to be M's computer.) It's not likely that my Adobe stuff will completely fail to work on Vista, but the possiblity is there, from what I've heard. The thing is that XP, while much more stable at this point, is already pretty old and is going to be obsolete fairly soon. Besides, waiting until Vista has gotten more stable before upgrading will set me back another $150 for the upgrade, whereas it costs me no extra to get Vista now. Saving $150 is worth having some compatibility and stability issues for a while. I hope.
The new computer is scheduled to arrive either Friday or Tuesday. Then the fun begins! I'm hoping to mean that literally, rather than sarcastically. I'm hoping hard on that.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
Twistin' The Night Away
Last night, we put PrettyGirl down on her back, as usual. When I looked in on her before going to bed, she was still on her back.
But this morning, when I went into her room, I was greeted by a baby on her tummy! My big girl rolled over all by herself! With a swaddle around... well, just her right leg... but, still!
This news is probably only interesting to me and M, but I thought I'd share anyway.
But this morning, when I went into her room, I was greeted by a baby on her tummy! My big girl rolled over all by herself! With a swaddle around... well, just her right leg... but, still!
This news is probably only interesting to me and M, but I thought I'd share anyway.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
More Kicking Things Back In Gear... Now With Harry Potter References!
There are a few random thoughts I meant to write down, but forgot...
* For many years, whenever I wanted something that I could reach from where I was sitting, I would try to use the force, ala Luke in the cave on Hoth, to get it. For the past month, I have been saying "Accio [the thing I want]" instead. Is this a passing of the torch from Star Wars to Harry Potter, or is it just a post-Deathly Hallows that will end the next time I see a Star Wars movie, especially if it's ESB? Time will tell.
* By making a Harry Potter reference in this post, I believe that Harry Potter has earned a separate tag, retroactive to all previous posts mentioning the subject.
* This probably comes as no surprise to you all, but I really like watching my daughter sleep. Such a peaceful little girl! Every night, the last thing I do is go "inspect the baby." Ostensibly, it's to make sure that everything is OK with her, but it's really just so I can watch her sleep for a minute or two.
She has recently started sleeping with her hands behind her back (she graduated from the full swaddle a couple of weeks ago.) I'm going to take a picture of her doing that this weekend, when we can afford to take the risk of waking her up, since we don't have to be anywhere in the morning on weekends.
* I'm on the verge of getting a new computer! My plan had been to hold on to my current computer, which I've had since March or April 2003, for as long as possible, until it's of no more good use.
Then I remembered that my current computer is earmarked to be a hand-me-down to M's desk, since her computer computes just about as efficiently as our refrigerator does. So I've decided that it would be better to give her my computer now, while it's still pretty good, and get myself a new one. I suppose it's a justification to get something new and flashy, since my computer is still plenty good and I don't really need a new one, but it's a justification that M shares, so I'm taking this chance and running with it.
I kinda wish Vista was more established, though. Also, I just read that the Adobe CS2 Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) has "minor issues" with Vista that will never be fixed by Adobe because they have released CS3, which is already fully Vista-compatible (so just go buy that, chumps!). I'm not particularly inclined to buy a new Adobe suite less than a year after I bought the previous one, and I'm considering getting my computer installed with XP while I still can. I may regret that decision when I have an XP computer three or four years from now and all the new programs require Vista, though.
* Now I think I've covered everything.
* For many years, whenever I wanted something that I could reach from where I was sitting, I would try to use the force, ala Luke in the cave on Hoth, to get it. For the past month, I have been saying "Accio [the thing I want]" instead. Is this a passing of the torch from Star Wars to Harry Potter, or is it just a post-Deathly Hallows that will end the next time I see a Star Wars movie, especially if it's ESB? Time will tell.
* By making a Harry Potter reference in this post, I believe that Harry Potter has earned a separate tag, retroactive to all previous posts mentioning the subject.
* This probably comes as no surprise to you all, but I really like watching my daughter sleep. Such a peaceful little girl! Every night, the last thing I do is go "inspect the baby." Ostensibly, it's to make sure that everything is OK with her, but it's really just so I can watch her sleep for a minute or two.
She has recently started sleeping with her hands behind her back (she graduated from the full swaddle a couple of weeks ago.) I'm going to take a picture of her doing that this weekend, when we can afford to take the risk of waking her up, since we don't have to be anywhere in the morning on weekends.
* I'm on the verge of getting a new computer! My plan had been to hold on to my current computer, which I've had since March or April 2003, for as long as possible, until it's of no more good use.
Then I remembered that my current computer is earmarked to be a hand-me-down to M's desk, since her computer computes just about as efficiently as our refrigerator does. So I've decided that it would be better to give her my computer now, while it's still pretty good, and get myself a new one. I suppose it's a justification to get something new and flashy, since my computer is still plenty good and I don't really need a new one, but it's a justification that M shares, so I'm taking this chance and running with it.
I kinda wish Vista was more established, though. Also, I just read that the Adobe CS2 Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) has "minor issues" with Vista that will never be fixed by Adobe because they have released CS3, which is already fully Vista-compatible (so just go buy that, chumps!). I'm not particularly inclined to buy a new Adobe suite less than a year after I bought the previous one, and I'm considering getting my computer installed with XP while I still can. I may regret that decision when I have an XP computer three or four years from now and all the new programs require Vista, though.
* Now I think I've covered everything.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Kicking Things Back Into Gear
My story-telling skills have gotten a bit rusty during this long hiatus, so I'm going to limit this to blurbs.
* See the new banner? That's just a placeholder until I can come up with something a bit more elaborate, but you get the idea.
* PrettyGirl was a very good little girl for much of our vacation to Redbrook. It took us about seven and a half hours to get there; PG gave us a total of maybe five minutes grief along the way, when traffic got held up by a truck spillage. M broke out the New Orleans music CD, which cheered PG up a lot, so the 50 minute standstill was mostly fuss-free.
The trip back took a little over eight hours; We got maybe another ten minutes of fussing over the space of that time, most of it during yet another traffic jam. Had we not gotten stuck in traffic, she probably wouldn't have complained at all!
Furthermore, we went to see a movie one afternoon, being as it was pretty hot and AC-free up at Redbrook, and we wanted to get into some conditioned air for a while. Naturally, PrettyGirl went with us. She slept through all of the previews and all but the last 10 minutes of Harry Potter 5, which is not a short movie. I did have to miss those last ten minutes, because she started yelling, but I had already seen Harry Potter 5, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
If PG keeps this up, she's getting a Porsche for her 16th birthday. I've already told her.
* PG found herself a new #1 Fan in her third-cousin Nate up at Redbrook. He even helped us change an especially messy diaper! Voluntarily! He definitely earned his diaper badge that day.
* My cousin is starting college this week or next week. He was born a few days before I started college. This makes me feel a little bit old.
* I almost bought a new pair of running shoes over the weekend. The only thing that held me back is that my uncle and my cousin (not the one going to college - his younger bro) were in town for our fantasy football draft, and I ended up hanging out with them afterwards instead. I can always get running shoes next weekend. Hopefully this perfect running weather holds up! Just as well if it doesn't; I'll be doing five-minute runs the first few times anyway.
* See the new banner? That's just a placeholder until I can come up with something a bit more elaborate, but you get the idea.
* PrettyGirl was a very good little girl for much of our vacation to Redbrook. It took us about seven and a half hours to get there; PG gave us a total of maybe five minutes grief along the way, when traffic got held up by a truck spillage. M broke out the New Orleans music CD, which cheered PG up a lot, so the 50 minute standstill was mostly fuss-free.
The trip back took a little over eight hours; We got maybe another ten minutes of fussing over the space of that time, most of it during yet another traffic jam. Had we not gotten stuck in traffic, she probably wouldn't have complained at all!
Furthermore, we went to see a movie one afternoon, being as it was pretty hot and AC-free up at Redbrook, and we wanted to get into some conditioned air for a while. Naturally, PrettyGirl went with us. She slept through all of the previews and all but the last 10 minutes of Harry Potter 5, which is not a short movie. I did have to miss those last ten minutes, because she started yelling, but I had already seen Harry Potter 5, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
If PG keeps this up, she's getting a Porsche for her 16th birthday. I've already told her.
* PG found herself a new #1 Fan in her third-cousin Nate up at Redbrook. He even helped us change an especially messy diaper! Voluntarily! He definitely earned his diaper badge that day.
* My cousin is starting college this week or next week. He was born a few days before I started college. This makes me feel a little bit old.
* I almost bought a new pair of running shoes over the weekend. The only thing that held me back is that my uncle and my cousin (not the one going to college - his younger bro) were in town for our fantasy football draft, and I ended up hanging out with them afterwards instead. I can always get running shoes next weekend. Hopefully this perfect running weather holds up! Just as well if it doesn't; I'll be doing five-minute runs the first few times anyway.
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