My father passed away earlier tonight after a long battle with liver cancer with complications from cirrhosis and diabetes. I was able to be at his side when he passed, along with my Mother, two brothers, my sister, an aunt, Tiffany, Kylie, my two sister-in-laws, and my brother’s daughter. I do not think I am missing anyone, but the point I am trying to make is that Dad was surrounded by people who love him very much. He was quite possibly the finest man I have ever known. We all love you and miss you very much already Dad, we will all see you again one day.
Monthly Archives: April 2006
New Car Seat
With such a long trip coming up Tiffany and I have become increasingly more aware that Kylie was rapidly out growing her old car seat, which was part of a transportation system in which the car seat came out and attached to her stroller. Seeing as she is now big enough to sit in her stroller without need of the car seat, and as I stated, was rapidly approaching the size limit of her current car seat, and we wanted to make sure she was not only safe but comfortable, today we purchased her a new car seat; The Alpha Omega Elite.
This is actually a 3-in-1 car seat that features a rear facing car seat (which she is still in until she reaches 1 year old and 25 pounds), a front facing car seat, and a booster seat, so essentially this should be the last car seat that we need to buy for her. Of course this also means that should she need to ride in my truck we have to plan well enough ahead so that Tiffany can leave the seat with me so I can place it in my truck (I had a base in my truck for the old car seat to attach to, but the new one doesn’t get taken out like the old one).
It was kind of expensive, but that is to be expected. At least this will last us until she is ready to sit in the car without a booster seat. So like I said it should be the last car seat we need to buy for her. Now we just need to put it in and we will be all set. I am looking forward to using it on our upcoming trip and hope that Kylie enjoys it and that she is more comfortable in it.
I would also like to take a moment to thank my brother Chris and his wife Tracey, who offered to front us the money to purchase the new car seat if needed; though we did not need to take them up on the offer, the fact that they did offer, both to help us and to help make sure that their niece was safely taken care of, means a lot to us. Thanks you guys.
Blueberry mess
Tonight Kylie ate her very first blueberries, not jarred baby food blueberries, but actual real fruit blueberries. She seemed to enjoy them very much. Tiffany placed about 10 in a bowl and cut them in half and Kylie tore into them. Not only did she enjoy eating them, but she also had a grand time making a mess with them. She dumped the bowl on her feeding table and got juice all over the place. By the time she was finished she needed a bath. I know I took pictures of this event, so they will be up with the next month’s photos.
Mmm…pancakes
That seemed to be Kylie’s thoughts anyway, as she devoured her first pancakes this morning. Tiffany decided that she would give Kylie her first very own pancake today, and she seemed to really enjoy it. I was not there to watch her eat it myself, but judging from what remained on her plate I would think that Kylie did enjoy it. I am not positive, but I think Tiffany took a picture or two, and if she in fact did, then they will be up with next month’s set.
Iraq War Coalition Fatalities
A while ago I stumbled upon this site, which gives a rather realistic view into the casualty rate for the coalition forces (U.S.A., United Kingdom,…) in Iraq since the start of the war.
Iraq War Coalition Fatalities is a chart of the US and coalition military fatalities that have occurred in the war in Iraq since the onset, mapped across the dimensions of time and space. It is an ongoing project that is updated regularly, and will continue to go on as long as the war does.
The animation runs at ten frames per second “ one frame for each day“ and a single black dot indicates the geographic location that a coalition military fatality occurred. Each dot starts as a white flash and a larger red dot which fades to black over the span of 30 frames/days, and then slowly fades to grey over the span of the entire war.
Accompanying the visual representation is a soft “tic” sound for each fatality, the volume of which increases relative to the number of fatalities that occurred simultaneously that day. More deaths in a smaller area produces visually deeper reds and audibly more pronounced “tic”.
The project is done in Flash and is currently set to run from the start of the war (March 20, 2003) through March 21, 2006. In addition it gives you the option to show which coalition force you wish to view data for, so if you are only interested in seeing U.S. casualties you can. It’s rather sobering to watch.
10 Months Old
Kylie turned 10 months old today, and let me say it has been an exciting month. I know, I say something similar to this every month. But seriously it has been.
Kylie has hit another pretty big landmark in her development. As I had mentioned in a previous post, Kylie had taken her first steps, and now just a few weeks later, I am proud to say that for all intents and purposes she is walking. I state it that way because it is really up to her. She will walk around the living room all day now. She does this with a combination of cruising along the furniture and “free” walking in open spaces. Her free walking is still rather slow, but she is capable of walking a fairly good distance on her own when she chooses. In addition to this she can even walk while holding rather large items if she wishes.
On top of the walking Kylie has had the opportunity to try a lot of new foods. Including celery, peas, corn, mashed potatoes, and some other things as well that I don’t have pictures of. Like some small pieces of meat, string beans, and various breads. As you can see from the pictures, she is very capable of feeding herself as well.
Also Kylie has started to display her own personality, which we are very happy to say she tends to have a very happy disposition. She continues to smile a lot and be very loving towards the people she knows and recognizes. In addition to that she seems to be very outgoing as well. Though this is something we will have to pay attention to as she gets older and teach her about strangers and such, we are still very happy that she is so happy and out going.
Furthermore Kylie has begun to show more developed signs of communication, as she will now wave good-bye (she moves her entire arm to wave, and it is very cute), and has shown blatant signs of understanding some of the sign language that Tiffany and I have been trying to teach her, most noticeably the sign for “eat”.
She also continues to talk up a storm and knows the difference between “Mama” and “Dada” and that they correspond to Tiffany and me respectively. For instance when Tiffany is gone to school or work and she wants to get my attention, she will often say “Dada”, thus showing that she knows the difference in the words. In addition when Tiffany is home she will walk up to her and say “Mama” and give a very big smile.
Over the last month or so we have also been able to get her into a pretty regular sleeping pattern as well. We lay her down for a nap about every three hours, and when doing so tell her that it is time for a nap and as such she no longer fusses to much when I do lay her down. I think she understands the word nap, because when I am with her during the day and I pick her up and tell her it is time for a nap she seems to start to calm down somewhat before I actually get her to her crib. She also understands “night night time” and correlates this term with going to bed for the night.
On a slightly different note, this month also saw Kylie’s first Easter. We were unable to get her picture taken with the Easter Bunny, like we did with Santa Clause, due to the lines being to long on the day we went, and Kylie already being very tired on that day.
We have also started to work on plans for her first birthday party, nothing is set yet we are tossing around ideas and trying to rough out a plan. It is a day that Tiffany and I are very eagerly looking forward too. I also happen to know that her Aunt Sissy and Grandpa are looking forward to it, as then they should be able to give Kylie ice cream.
In addition to all this have managed to get the pictures for this month up already, thus getting me back into posing the pictures on time. I will finish up editing the details of the pictures (the dates, events, and descriptions) later on during the night.
Seeing planets
Well I was not able to make it out early enough from work on any of these three past days to try and catch a glimpse of Uranus, as I had spoke of, however I was able to see Venus each morning rather clearly. Though I have seen Venus many times before, it is still amazing to be able to see a planet with the naked eye. One day I hope to view it and many other celestial bodies through a telescope. it would be nice to possibly share in this endeavor with my daughter as well. Hopefully she will be interested in these things like I am.
Google Calendar part 2
Well Google finally got around to integrating their calendar service into the main Gmail interface as I was hoping for in a previous post. It is pretty sweet too. Gmail can automatically enter items into your calendar when a date is found within the body of an email if you so chose. In addition to this when sending an email that contains a date you have the option of entering it on your calendar which effectively makes the email an invitation, and as such when the recipient accepts that invitation Gmail and GCal can automatically keep track of attendees. This is pretty neat, however I am pretty sure that both people involved need to have Gmail in order for this feature to work, but still it is pretty neat.
Planet Venus meet Planet George
Ancient people were the first to look up at a then very clear night sky and observe the stars and the five naked eye viewable planets; Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Considering back then they did not have TV or any other sort of entertainment, a great deal of time was spent studying the night sky. So with all that studying how did they manage to miss the sixth planet visible with the naked eye, George?
English astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet in 1781 during a telescopic survey of the zodiac. He promptly named it the Georgium Sidus (the Georgian Planet) in honor of his patron, King George III.
Uranus had been seen many times before but mistaken for a star. The earliest recorded sighting was in 1690 when astronomer John Flamsteed cataloged it as 34 Tauri, the 34th star of Taurus the Bull. We can understand the error. Uranus is so far from the sun it looks like a star to the unaided eye. And it moves so slowly; you have to watch for decades to realize that it is a wanderer—or, in ancient Greek, a planētēs.
In modern times, Uranus has become all but impossible to see. The planet is naturally faint, and urban lights wipe it out completely. No one notices when Uranus soars overhead.
This month however, you may have the opportunity to see George, err…Uranus, as it has a close encounter in the pre-dawn sky with Venus.
On April 17th, 18th and 19th, Venus and Uranus are going to have a close encounter in the dawn sky. Simply look east before sunrise. As a guidepost, Venus can’t be beat. It is so bright, people often think it’s a landing airplane. Simply scan Venus with a pair of binoculars (or a small telescope) and you’ll see Uranus right beside it. If the sky is very dark, you may be able to lift your eyes from the optics and see Uranus directly.
On April 17th the pair will be separated by about one degree, the width of your pinky finger held at arm’s length. On the 18th they’ll be even closer together, 0.3 degrees. On the 19th the distance increases again to one degree.
Perhaps I will get to see it early one of those mornings as I am leaving work. That would be nice; I have always enjoyed looking up at the stars and the night sky.
Google calendar launches
Google has finally released Google Calendar! I have been waiting for this ever since I got my Google Mail account. From the calendar front page:
- Seeing the big picture
With Google Calendar, you can see your friends’ and family’s schedules right next to your own; quickly add events mentioned in Gmail conversations or saved in other calendar applications; and add other interesting events that you find online.
- Sharing events and calendars
You decide who can see your calendar and which details they can view. Planning an event? You can create invitations, send reminders and keep track of RSVPs right inside Google Calendar. Organizations can promote events, too.- Staying on schedule
You can set up automatic event reminders, including SMS notifications, and instantly bring up anything on your calendar with the built-in search tool.
Now all they need to do is better integrate it into my Gmail account and we will be all set. Now let’s just see if I actually use it enough to make my waiting worth while. Hrm…I guess I will need to actually start writing things on my calendar then…