Who's in Amy's Belly Round 5: Peter Joseph Davis-Ross

BDR = Peter Joseph Davis-Ross

His stats:
Born: 5:53 a.m. on Monday, May 7
Weight: 8 pounds, 10 ounces
Length: 21 inches

Peter's doing great now, but he had a rough start to life. Toward the end of labor, he became a little stressed out, which caused him to have a bowel movement. Unfortunately, he then inhaled some of that bowel movement...which is just as terrible as it sounds. He couldn't recover his breath after being born, so he was whisked away to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This was tough, since I only got to "hold" him for 10 seconds or so, and Kevin not at all.

But, he's doing GREAT now. Both Peter and I were discharged today, and our instructions are to treat him as a well baby.

Peter's already bored with Dad's stories.

You can read a ton more about Peter's first days, if you so desire, here.

And, of course, a gagillion pictures.

Hello, Peter

56 photos

Uncle Dean

In a break from all of this duck posting...

This rather stern picture of Dean Smith has been staring me down from our desktop for about a week.

I think he's saying, "BDR, get your bottom in motion. Uncle Dean wants to run some drills."

Now, back to the ducks:

Earlier in the week, Kevin and I watched in horror as a hawk tried to eat the baby ducks. So, it was cool that for a few minutes the hawk decided his kill-perch would be right outside of our back door, but it was kind of sad to see all of the adult ducks freaking out and flying around.

quacky, redux

The baby ducks are possibly my most favorite thing, ever. They're just 10 feet outside our back door, and I really have to restrain myself from reaching out a picking one up whenver they swim by.


The quacktasticness of Mother Duck:

quacky

For the past few days, KJ and I have been trying to figure out why the ducks on the pond outside have been freaking out. By "freaking out," I mean, "quacking incessantly for 15 to 20 minutes at a time."

Yesterday, we figured out why:

yum

vanilla ice cream + chocolate cake + a lot of frosting = delicious popcicles

thank you, IKEA, for your $2 popcicle molds

required reading?

Not really. Along with craft ADD, I've had reading ADD - I've not really been able to read anything longer than a magazine article for a while.

So, I thought I'd give myself a challenge with some chick-lit, and checked out The Jane Austen Book Club from the library.

It's pretty terrible, but I do enjoy this line:

"Now, often as not, when she thought of whist, sex came also to mind."

Hmm. I always thought the link was between a barouche and sex, since it always seemed that Austen's women went for ill-supervised carriage rides just before receiving a marriage proposal.

Kevin Ross, Mr. Non-Sequitur

I spend a lot of time listening to Kevin's musings on the world. Lately he's been a bit...punchy. Like this extended discussion about Barak Obama's dental health:

"Barak Obama's always chewing gum. Doesn't he always look like he's chewing gum? Or is that just him talking?" Pause. Then: "See? Doesn't he look like he's chewing gum?"

digital cable...dead

Dear Comcast,

I understand that you're a really big company with a lot to do.

But, you see, my cable has been nonfunctioning since Wednesday night.

And while I don't really care so much, I do kind of pay a lot for this service.

Plus, I have to keep my cable box like THIS until you figure out what's wrong.


As you can see, this is kind of lame. Please advise.

Signed,

Little Girl

unfortunately...

Argh! A Series of Unfortunate Events is being released in paperback, but with extras, including an advice column titled "What shall I do, Lemony Snicket?" and something equally delicious sounding in the "Spoily Brats" comic.

Plus, check out the pulpish cover art!


My sense of frugality is battling my sense of Snicket-love, and I think I'm the only one who's losing.

more mail mysteries

I can understand why we get mail like this:But I can't fathom why we get this:
And I should note that both contain exactly the same update from a fundraising committee we're a part of. It kind of makes me wonder about its efficiency.

dvd town 2

loudQUIETloud: A film about the Pixies

It should be called: the somewhat disappointing film about how many ex-Pixies realized (a) they need money and (b) people still want to see them, leading to conclusion (c) let's get back on tour.
(A tour that I totally would have supported, had I not been with my darling husband hiking the Sierra when they trod through NC.)

As far as music documentaries go, this was kind of weak. I think End of the Century was much more interesting. I kind of think even DiG! was more interesting. Perhaps the Pixies' entertainment value was hampered by the emphasis on sobriety. Perhaps it was hampered by the fact that so little of the film featured the music. For whatever reason, it merits a "meh."

Our comments:
(1) Kevin: Kim and Kelley Deal should have their own reality show. They're hilarious.*
(2) Amy: I wish Frank Black would keep his shirt on.**

* They really were.
** Seriously, 75 percent of the non-concert footage of Black Francis a.k.a. Frank Black a.k.a. Charles Thompson showed him stripped to his shorts, usually sprawled out on some hotel bed. Ugh.

Seven-Up! and Seven Plus Seven

These are the first two documentaries in the British "Up" series, and they are both informative and hilarious.

So the premise is that the director selected 14 seven-year-old kids in 1964, and he will follow them to see what the future "bankers and shop stewards" of Britain will be. As we hear often in the documentary, "give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you the man."

The kids are pretty adorable when they are seven - most are unabashedly precocious, while others are painfully shy. There are lots of little prep-school boys - the type who sing "Waltzing Matilda" in Latin - and a few public-school punks as well.

At fourteen, the kids are less adorable. They're actually a bit more painful; a few of the children are so awkward and so shy that they can barely look at the camera. (I think Neil and Suzy should get it on. They might be each other's only chance.) And, a few of the kids are much more punkish this time around, particularly John. As Kevin said, "that kid was the worst." At seven, he disliked the public-school kids because they were "quite dirty;" at fourteen, he was ready to get rid of the democratic right of labor unions to strike. I can only imagine what fascist stands he'll take at 21.

I'll just have to wait until this week's Netflix delivery.

now accepting scripts

Part of having a child, I think, is the freedom to put them in a video in which they curse and drink. Kevin and I have no doubt little BDR will be the next cursing baby phenomenon. Her father's rapidly disintegrating vocabulary will prove an invaluable asset in this exploit, I am sure.

Isn't this why we have a video camera?

dvd town

Thanks to the surprising bounty of the Mountain View Public Library, and to the good folks over in Los Gatos at Netflix, we're overflowing with television-watching goodness.

Which is good, since when BDR crashes the party, the TV will be persona non grata.

Also, I'm semi-retired, and, really, have you ever tried knitting to NPR? Not only does it automatically age you 35 years, but you get really sleepy too.

So, what's in our DVD cache? Borat, for one. And though we've seen it already, it was totally worth renting it again if only to hear Kevin's shriek when opening the Netflix envelope: "what the hell is this shit?" (If you haven't seen it, the DVD is packaged to look like it's been pirated. Kevin's super sense of perception obviously fell for the ruse.)


Actually, the rental was worth it for two scenes: a deleted scene at a supermarket, and the Jay Leno/Borat/Martha Stewart bed making scene from the Tonight Show.

In the first, an uncommonly patient supermarket manager answers Borat's questions about products in the store. Unfortunately, every question Borat asks is "what's this?" and every answer is, "cheese." And the supermarket manager answer this question well over 30 times. Without getting angry.

I suspect he has a toddler at home.

In the second, Martha Stewart valiantly attempts to make a bed, while Borat tries to get into bed (and possibly her pants) and Jay Leno stands off to the side as if to avoid lawsuits.

At one point, Borat asks Martha if all three of them will get into bed; Martha replies, "oh, no. That's kinky." To which Jay questions, "Martha, have you had two men before?" Martha's outrage at Jay's question is a little forced, if you ask me - like perhaps she has something to hide - but she, of course, denies it.

At which point Borat takes off his underwear.

Earlier in the week, we watched Half Nelson. Kevin's two comments about the movie are, first, "I don't think I can ever listen to Broken Social Scene without thinking about Half Nelson," and, second, "Oh, did Half Nelson clean himself up?" after seeing Ryan G0sling in a preview with Anthony Hopkins. I should note that the character is not named Half Nelson, or even Nelson for that matter.

Half Neslon also is notable in that Jerri Blank's mother is Half Nelson's mother. And she's still an alcoholic, but a 60's- style radical one.

Speaking of Strangers with Candy, perhaps the most exciting find at the MVPL was season 3 and season 5 of Curb Your Enthusiasm. (Recall that Stew the Meatman plays Larry's dentist in season 3.) With my own collection, I have about 30 hours of misanthrope to rock.

the leather anniversary

A few memories from three years ago:

wedding

16 photos

thespianism at its finest

Snakes on a Plane might be the best movie I've ever seen.

At first, I was a little disappointed that it took over 20 minutes to introduce either snake, or plane, or Samuel L. Jackson.

But, the action quickly made up for it. Specifically, when the snakes bit the private parts of the couple getting it on. And the wiener of the dude using the bathroom. And the eyeball of the fat woman. And the tongue of the woman who was trying to use the barf bag.

Yeah, it was awesome.

one last peek in the oven

Look, you wouldn't photograph well if you were jammed into a pelvis, either. (For the record, that's BDR's head.)

At this point, taking a peek in the oven seems to run the risk of spoiling the soufflé. In our case, that would be learning if BDR's really Hermione Juliette or Linus Charles. Luckily, we had a great ultrasound tech who told us when to avert our eyes, and BDR remains as neuter as a Fisher Price man.

Yet I buy only blue yarn...

Are we having a baby or a Smurf?

In other news, BDR's a total porker. Healthy, but a porker.

.

dear writers of 24

Pretty please . . .

. . . more Jack Bauer.

(Also, not to be picky, but I'm pretty sure the National Security Advisor isn't a cabinet position. Sorry, Karen Hayes.)

Big Sur

Although it's a few weeks early, KJ and I celebrated our third anniversary by taking a trip to Big Sur. We'd been to the area during our trip to California in 2005, but we were excited to return.

See how excited we are to be in Big Sur!

We were excited. Then we started our trip, which was pockmarked with luck both very very good and very very bad.

Bad Luck #1: Destruction of Jetta on CA-85
Not 15 miles from home, we ran over some road debris on one of my least favorite highways. I wasn't exactly paying attention, but Kevin seems to think it was a "clay pot" or "some glass;" it apparently was about the size of a rugby ball, though, and it crashed underneath the car with a mighty boom.

We were able to pull off the road at the next exit with a sickening grinding sensation under the floorboards. When we pulled into a neighborhood to check out the damage, we saw a random piece of plastic hanging down, dragging along the ground. Groovy!

Bad Luck #2: Attempt to Discern Amount of Destruction to Jetta
We'd actually pulled off the highway at the perfect time; any later and we'd been in a much more rural area. As it was, we were in a fairly industrial area populated by many, many, many mechanics.

Alas, it was Sunday.

And so I don't exaggerate when I say that we drove past over a dozen car repair shops - not to mention service stations - before we'd given up hope of finding something by pure luck. But perhaps luck was on our side, since on the corner where Kevin had decided to turn around stood a Shell station with open garage doors. Hallelujah! And while they weren't open, some suggestive pregnant-belly petting and pathetic looks from yours truly garnered us some time with a mechanic, who informed us:
(1) we have an oil leak (which we knew about);
(2) we were OK to drive.

Snap! Back on the road.

Good Luck #1: Free bassinet
Just moments after we'd received the good news, and as we were looking for the highway on-ramp, we received a call from friends offering us their not-really-ever-used bassinet. Excellent! Perhaps we can free up an extra six inches or so in the bedroom.

I think they might have been a little shocked by our willingness to take it off their hands, though.

Joe: You can take a look at the pictures and see if you like it; it might not be your style.
Kevin: I can't imagine what it would have to look like for us not to want it.

Bad Luck #3: A chilling realization...
We'd assembled our new mansion-tent and had started filling it with the dozens of pillows I'd brought when I realized I had forgotten to pack the sleeping bags.

Kevin's smiling on the outside, but shivering on the inside

Good Luck #2: We have a down blanket in the car
For emergencies. Like early-morning basketball ticket distributions.

Good Luck #3: The restaurant in the park where we're camping sells Blue Bunny ice cream - cotton candy flavored, to boot!

Bad Luck #4: When we go to get ice cream, after waiting so patiently, the store is closed due to "lack of staff."
Amy, defeated: I'm not sure what lesson I'm supposed to learn from this.

From here, though, it was smooth sailing. We saw tons of wildlife: turkeys, harbor seals, sea otters, lots of tidepool creatures, and many birds that we can never identify.

McWay Waterfall at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

Hauled-out seals at Point Lobos State Preserve


Sea bird eating a starfish at Point Lobos State Preserve

Tidepools at Asilomar State Beach

Pacific coastline at Asilomar State Beach

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

Point Lobos State Preserve

Asilomar State Beach

I win...by a technicality

National Champion, 2007: Florida a.k.a. Puppy Goo-Goo

Kevin: You know, if it weren't for the Fetal Tarheelification Program, BDR would have won, since Florida was the overall Number 1 seed.

Yes, yes. I suppose he is correct.

With this attitude, why not just put the baby in a J.J. Reddick commemorative jersey?

(Editor's note: last phrase has been struck at the request of our soon-to-be-hired marriage counselor.)

best bracket ever

I've really been cleaning up this year in the NCAA tournament. I had three of my final four teams (while BDR had two and KJ had - eek! - one), and have the championship game as well.

Now, I need the strung-out looking Joakim Noah to pull through for me.

In Sydney Bristow news, the Final Four consisted of Puppy Goo Goo (Florida) taking down Chapel Hill (UCLA), while BDR (Ohio State) defeated the Pacific Ocean (Georgetown).

Thus, the championship game: Puppy Goo Goo versus BDR. As Kevin said, "If BDR can take on the Pacific Ocean, Puppy Goo Goo should be a piece of cake for her."

We're taking requests for next year's entries: a certain Chicago-based accountant already has nominated himself. I can only hope he doesn't have to be Duke. Or Purdue.