10 day countdown - it's another boy!
It took longer to figure out for absolute sure this time, but we found out at the start of September that we "are having a boy, 100%!" Such statements from ultrasound technicians are not generally the norm - they usually state gender predictions in terms of less-than-100 percentage amounts of confidence, as you just can't necessarily see things with perfect clarity. All sorts of things can get in the way - little hands and feet, legs can be quite closed, an umbilical can be floating in front, or even sections of placenta.
Baby Boy Annand #2, for all his differences in this pregnancy from his big brother, has definitely carried on the tradition of being quite uncooperative with showing various features to the technicians in most every regard, except in terms of gender. Once again, we have another little man who is very, very proud to be so!
No triskaidekaphobia here!
It was a happy, happy Friday the 13th for us!
Baby Friendly Fun Time at the Kinjo!
Friday last week was the possession date of my now-sold-money-in-hand townhouse, and when I went with Axel to pick up the cheque, I decided to continue on downtown, pick up Ritchie from work, and we all went out to dinner at Japanese restaurant Kinjo to celebrate. :D
Baby Dos and Don'ts!
Link: http://childtorture.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/babydosdonts.jpeg
Things have been hopping in our household since before our son was born, and in many ways the rush of "to-dos" seemed to snowball time and again with necessary project after desired lifestyle change, etc!
Axel is 7 1/2 months old now, and in that time since he was born we have (in rough order):
A forwarded prayer.
A relative forwarded a prayer to us just this last week, and it tends to raise a red flag, as we are not religious. We are atheists. The forwarded item was:
May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let His presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.

It's a boy!
Early this Monday morning, Ritchie and I were up and off to the Prenatal Genetics Clinic for an 8:30 am appointment for our 18-week ultrasound.
Pretty terrific that Ritchie was able to come this time-- for the ultrasound part of the triple screen I had in late February, he was mired in project work and couldn't make it to see that our spawn was indeed just chugging along in there in terms of growth... One head, two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two arms, two legs-- no sign whatsoever of punctuated evolution giving us the next great jump in human development. ;)

So no X-Men-like incarnations! (No tails, no horns, no flippers or fins.)
SPAWN OF RITCHIE!
BAHAHAHAAA! I get the first post on this blog for 2007, and it's a DOOZY!
I HAVE TWO LINES ON THE PEE STICK!!!
Rest in Peace, sweet People Eater!
911 Math Emergency
My coworker Debbie and I share a student at our online school-- a young man who is travelling internationally right now and recently landed in India after months in Germany. I teach him Chemistry 30, and Debbie teaches him Pure Math 30.
I recently faxed him his last hardcopy test-- successfully!-- to a chosen test proctor/professor at an Indian university.
Debbie tried to fax him a test today, and was not successful...
Dealing with an insecure coworker...
You know, not long ago I would have thought it utterly likely that this would have been a rant. But no.