If you have read Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code then you may be familiar with the Cryptex The Cryptex Security Box is modeled after the one in the book and fully functional. The artist/creator is also working on a version that will even contain vials filled with vinegar as in the book. They are really expensive due to the nature in which they are made, but man it would be sweet to own one.
Monthly Archives: January 2006
Hunting pictures
That’s right, I finally got some. They can be found in the Trips album under the Hunting Trips sub album. I hope to add pictures to this after ever successful hunting trip, and I hope that is everyone that I go on.
Fair warning, the sub albums of the Hunting album may contain graphic images (i.e. animals being processed into food) and if you are against such things (you damned hippies) then don’t look! Otherwise, have a look and share in my hunting trip goodness.
Crawling, sitting, standing, walking, and biting.
Wow, so I think there are a few things that I have not had the time to write about for Kylie recently and for that I apologize (Mom that is mainly directed at you :)). So here is what I am going to do, I am going to start with the most recent stuff and work my way back. Here we go…
Today Kylie had a doctor’s visit, which was originally scheduled for the second of the month but we somehow managed to miss it, and as expected everything is fine. She is now 26 inches in length (2 feet 2 inches tall) and weighs 18.04 pounds, and her head is 17 inches in circumference. So all in all she is happy and healthy, well she would have been happier if she didn’t have to keep getting shots when she went to the doctor, but they are necessary. On top of the clean bill of health the doctor said that she could start eating regular Cheerios, so we gave her some of those tonight and she seems to like them. Look for some pictures of her first time eating/playing with Cheerios when the next set of pictures goes up.
Ok, so going back in time now…. Kylie has become, over the last few weeks, very proficient at pulling herself up to a standing position. She can now accomplish this almost instantaneously if there is something for her to use. In addition she has now become rather adept at walking when she has something to hold on to. For instance, she will now pull herself up using her LeapStart® Learning Table and then walk around it to the side facing the love seat, slowly reach out to the love seat (moving further around the Learning Table to reach it better if need be) and grab a hold of it, then walk down the side of the love seat to where the couch is, crawl the short distance to the couch and pull herself back up, and then move along the couch to the coffee table and then walk around the coffee table. It is rather fun to watch her learn and grow like this; she is a rather smart child.
In addition to learning to pull her self up and walk around using the furniture, Kylie has discovered that she can stand up in her crib if she so desires. This is a little bit more difficult for her than other means of pulling herself up, as the crib does not have any ledges for her to use in pulling herself up. She has figured out how to grip the bars to use those however, and she must be comfortable with walking around her crib as well because the other night she was looking over (yes over) the top of her crib looking out her bedroom door. It was actually very cute, and I am not 100% sure, but I think I have pictures of that to put up in the next picture update as well.
Before she learned she could pull herself up to a standing position; Kylie learned how to sit up on her own from a lying position. She does this every now and then when it suits her, but for the most part she likes to stand more than sit. Sometimes when she is playing on the floor she will sit up to play with a different toy or to look and see where I am, but other than that she prefers to crawl to something and pull herself up to her feet.
I know I had mentioned in her six month old post that she was teething, and I am not certain if I have mentioned anything since. Well there is an update on that front as well. Kylie now has two teeth! Her two lower front teeth came through a little while ago and I have finally been able to see them, as she would not let me see them before. Actually she let me see them and used them to bite me all on the same day! She obviously did not bite me in order to hurt me or anything, but she did actually leave two little teeth marks in my finger. In addition to these two Tiffany says she can feel a third one starting to come through in the front as well. As usual I have not been able to feel it yet, but take her word on it.
Phew, that was a lot. I think that brings everything up to date. I really hope that in the future I can find the time to post, and remember to post, these things in a more timely fashion, but we all know how fast the speed of life is.
I really am a genius
Well at least according to the MENSA Intelligence Test anyway. I was able to correctly answer all 33 questions. Personally I didn’t think they were that tough, but then again I am a genius. 🙂 Try it for yourself.
Now we are 7 (months old)
Today Kylie turns 7 months old, well actually in a few hours, and as such I am pleased to say, that I have new pictures up in her gallery. These pictures are of her seventh month and include pictures from Christmas Day. I think this is the first time that I have actually had the images up perfectly on time. So I would like to say congratulations to me. 🙂
100 %? I’m shooting for more!
What Makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life?
Here’s a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:
If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%
and
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%
But,
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
And,
B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%
AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.
A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G
1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%
So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that While Hard work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it’s the Bullshit and Ass kissing that will put you over the top.
Something Interesting
Something interesting happened today, and it made me surprisingly happy. Let me explain. Earlier today Kylie, Tiffany, and I were all home and awake, this in and of itself is actually odd considering my work/sleep schedule, but that’s not the interesting part.
I was sitting on the couch either eating or watching some TV or something, Kylie was on the floor happily playing, and Tiffany was at the computer doing something. So there we all are doing our respective thing when Kylie decided to start crawling over to see me. This of course made me happy as I love when she comes to see me on her own. So she was getting close and I had moved over on the couch so she wouldn’t have to crawl under the coffee table to get to me, and I was getting ready to put my hands down for her to grab onto and pull herself to her feet, which she has now almost mastered using any stationary object. At this moment Tiffany turned from the computer and started to talk to me about something she had just read, as soon as she started speaking Kylie stopped dead in her tracks, looked up at me and smiled and then started crawling towards the direction of Tiffany’s voice. Now I am not to sure how I should have taken that, but it made me feel really good, and it had a lot to do with the smile that my daughter gave me before she turned away from me.
See normally at this time of the day it is just Kylie and I at home, and I think she may have forgotten that Tiffany was here. But when she heard Tiffany’s voice she flashed me this smile that said “Daddy I love you, but I am going to go see Mommy,” and it was that love from her for both of us that made me feel really good and, in a way, proud. So I told Tiffany what was going on, as she could not see Kylie from where she was, and I sat and watched as Kylie crawled around the love seat, looked and saw where Tiffany was (and got another big smile on her face), and then continued to crawl all the way over to her Mommy. Tiffany of course was very happy with this situation, and I was as well. I am very glad that Kylie loves her parents so much, and I hope that never changes.
Sort of walking
Over this past week Kylie has been crawling around a lot more, well not necessarily crawling, more like pulling herself around with her arms and pushing with her feet. She has even gotten very good and pretty quick at it. Well this week she started pulling herself up to a standing position. She has become fairly decent at this in a short period of time, and seems to get frustrated when she can’t get up. At the moment it is easiest for her if she crawls over something that kind of lifts her a little and then she grab on to something else, like the couch, to pull herself up. She doesn’t walk anywhere, she just stands their, but she is clearly pleased with herself. I know I am very proud of her for accomplishing this, as is Tiffany. We have been letting her pull herself up using our hands, and then when she is standing, having her walk around while holding our hands. She is a little unsteady and her legs don’t allows seem to want to cooperate, but she really likes to walk around.
Are we really better off …?
Once again CNN has another great article. This one basically talks about our nation and how much we have actually declined.
By standards of national cohesion, economic and social justice, international respect, and fiscal vitality, the United States has lost much ground since 9-11, and we’re not winning this war.
Now I don’t consider myself to be very political but this article echos the feelings of many people I know, myself included. I personally did not vote for Bush, and this article points out many of the reasons why:
Oh, and one other thing…
The nation’s fiscal health has deteriorated. When Bush took office, the debt ceiling for all federal borrowing was under $6 trillion and had not been raised since 1997. Last year, Bush signed into law another $800 billion increase in the debt ceiling to $8.2 trillion. In the first 224 years of the nation, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a total of $1.01 trillion from all foreign sources. In just over one term in office, George W. Bush has out-borrowed all 42 of his predecessors.
Now seriously ask yourself “Are we better off now than we were in 2001?”
Mouse sets house on fire
This goes to show that animal cruelity is wrong, no matter what the animal is, even a mouse. According to this article over on CNN “Luciano Mares, 81, of Fort Sumner said he caught the mouse inside his house and wanted to get rid of it.” Ok, I can understand that, but then he goes on to say “I had some leaves burning outside, so I threw it in the fire….” That is just wrong! No animal deserves that, there are proper ways to remove mice and other varmits from your house, burning them alive is NOT one of them! The only upside to this is that “the mouse was on fire and ran back at the house…to just beneath a window, and the flames spread up from there and throughout the house.” Luckily no one in the house was injured, but I do think this is a kind of poetic justice. Be kind to animals people, or they will burn your house down.
[Update: 01/11/2006 04:12]
According to this article, this story may have just been rumor. The man in question now states that the mouse was already dead and not responsible for the fire.