So I know you have all been waiting for the brilliant moments of this geek child... And while I do think that he is truly a very smart baby I refuse to delude myself in a fictious dream that he is smarter than he is.
I mean, has he reached for me while in the middle of a "mamamamamamamama" babble? Yes. Has he smiled when I say "Daddy"? Yes. Does he know where to look when we hide a toy? Yes. Does he somehow always find those eletrical wires? Yes. Does he know what the cereal box and formula container look like, and express his joy that I am preparing him food by shrieking in the highest pitch possible? Yes. Can he hang on to my pants and walk with me across a room? Yes.
But do I say that my child can talk, problem solve or walk? No! He is simply growing up and developing. (Oh, and we won't claim that he "does" said things, until he does them on purpose!)
So no bragging here.
--------------
On a side note... because the camera is still without power... here are the exciting dates you are all wondering.
Crawling - Feb 15th-17th (8 months and a couple days old)
First tooth - Feb 24th
Stand up on own - Feb 25th
Second tooth - March 8th (at about midnight)
Another thing that I think is cool, is if he is kneeling, lets go of whatever he's hanging onto, then he can balance himself for quite a few seconds.
Also when standing, he will let go of whatever sturdy thing he has, if he can grasp onto any part of me.. no matter how flimsy. I love that he loves his mom!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Updates Coming....
I know, I'm way behind!
But we currently cannot find the charger for our camera battery! UGH. So I can't offload the pictures... dumb I know, the computer SHOULD be able to charge the camera through the USB hook-up, right? I don't know why it doesn't. ... Drives me crazy!
But we currently cannot find the charger for our camera battery! UGH. So I can't offload the pictures... dumb I know, the computer SHOULD be able to charge the camera through the USB hook-up, right? I don't know why it doesn't. ... Drives me crazy!
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Not-Blog
I recently re-realized that I'm an opinionated person. My wife can attest to that. We both are. You can imagine the debates we have at home about the proper orientation of dishes in the dishwasher, or in the car about what the correct fan level is appropriate for a given temperature setting. Really, it's not a differential equation, but it might as well be. At least if it were, there would be a logically sound, mathematically proven answer that we could both agree upon.
One of the things I feel strongly about is that both partners in a marriage should agree on some set of foundational principles. It'd be hard to keep a mariage in good standing when you vhemantly disagree and constantly fight about who is right and who is wrong. According to Chaos Theory, it'd be virtually impossible to find someone who agrees with absolutely everything that you do and you never disagree about anything. In fact, Chaos Theory suggests that slight deviations in initial conditions tend to result in divergant solutions which deviate greatly from the expected results.
But we try very hard when it comes down to politics to come to a consensus so that we both agree, at least at large, one way or the other. It just seems absurd to have one of us vote one way, and the other vote the opposite, thus nullifying our voting power. Some people even go as far as just not voting since they'd negate eachother anyway. But when you agree, you get 2 votes whichever way you decide.
As the number of variables in any system increase, the probibility of desired results decrease. Take a binary system (or fair coin), where every situation can be represented as a true or false value, or a set of true or false values. Thus, as a new variable is added, the total number of possible outcomes increases by a factor of 2. The system can be represented as 2^n, where n is the number of things which are to be decided.
2^10 = 1,024
2^15 = 32,768
2^20 = 1,048,576
As shown above, exponential equations explode very quickly into large values, even at small values of n.
With the above data, assume you and your spouse would like to agree on 20 random topics. Where the value of whether you or your spouse view the topic favorably or unfavorably are completely random. There are 1,048,576 ways your spouse might view those 20 topics. Since your views are pre-determined, you want to know the probibility that your spouse belives the same way you do. In a completely random scenario, this would only happen 1 out of 1,048,576 times, or 0.00000095367431640625. Say that's far too low of a chance, so let's reduce the number of things you have to agree on down to 10. Now, your spouse only has 1,024 possible ways to answer thsose 10 topics, but they still have to answer them exactly the way you would. That's 1 / 1024 = 0.0009765625. That's about 0.1% Yikes, didn't think it would be that hard to agree with other people, did you?
Luckily, our decisions aren't completely random, but it's understandable why dating is so difficult. Trying to find someone that has the same core values and principles as you is not an easy thing to do. And, really, who wants to fill out a questionaire on your date, and be statistically matched with people who are "compatible"? So, we're lucky that we find spouses with somewhat-matching interests and beliefs. The family and friends relationship implies that there is some pre-existing mutual interest or belief system. But when you branch out beyond your immediate family and friends the element of randomness starts to increase.
This idea is closely related to Quantum Mechanics. When dealing with particles on the sub-atomic level, you quickly realize that Newtonian physics is really just an aproximation; a consistant and reliable average of the chaos of particles that make up a substance. Newtonian physics is very simplistic. The variables are few, and their values known. In a sense, we can predict future events because we know the variables. We know that a ball will roll down the slope, because we know the values of enough of the variables. However, when looking at the interactions molecules on the Quantum scale, there are thousands, if not millions or billions of variables that affect the result of a given equation. This gives rise to the Uncertanty Principle, and Binary Entropy.
When a fair coin is tossed, it's entropy is exactly 1. You need exactly one bit of data to represent the outcome. However, when using a biased coin, you need less than one bit of data to represent the outcome, because the data is compressible. Truely random data will not be very compressable.
People are very much the same as coins. Your spouse is a heavily biased coin, your family and friends are somewhat biased coins, and random people are probably far from the ideal fair coin as well, just that their bias may tend to be further from your beliefs. And, when viewed on a Quantum level, there are so many people out in the world, that it is highly unlikely that any two people would completely agree on any set of topics.
So it really doesn't make much sense for me to post my opinionated political viewpoints on a blog where random people might read them. I'm much more likely to find positive feedback when I simply tell my spouse, family and friends about my thoughts than other people who might happen upon my blog.
One of the things I feel strongly about is that both partners in a marriage should agree on some set of foundational principles. It'd be hard to keep a mariage in good standing when you vhemantly disagree and constantly fight about who is right and who is wrong. According to Chaos Theory, it'd be virtually impossible to find someone who agrees with absolutely everything that you do and you never disagree about anything. In fact, Chaos Theory suggests that slight deviations in initial conditions tend to result in divergant solutions which deviate greatly from the expected results.
But we try very hard when it comes down to politics to come to a consensus so that we both agree, at least at large, one way or the other. It just seems absurd to have one of us vote one way, and the other vote the opposite, thus nullifying our voting power. Some people even go as far as just not voting since they'd negate eachother anyway. But when you agree, you get 2 votes whichever way you decide.
As the number of variables in any system increase, the probibility of desired results decrease. Take a binary system (or fair coin), where every situation can be represented as a true or false value, or a set of true or false values. Thus, as a new variable is added, the total number of possible outcomes increases by a factor of 2. The system can be represented as 2^n, where n is the number of things which are to be decided.
2^10 = 1,024
2^15 = 32,768
2^20 = 1,048,576
As shown above, exponential equations explode very quickly into large values, even at small values of n.
With the above data, assume you and your spouse would like to agree on 20 random topics. Where the value of whether you or your spouse view the topic favorably or unfavorably are completely random. There are 1,048,576 ways your spouse might view those 20 topics. Since your views are pre-determined, you want to know the probibility that your spouse belives the same way you do. In a completely random scenario, this would only happen 1 out of 1,048,576 times, or 0.00000095367431640625. Say that's far too low of a chance, so let's reduce the number of things you have to agree on down to 10. Now, your spouse only has 1,024 possible ways to answer thsose 10 topics, but they still have to answer them exactly the way you would. That's 1 / 1024 = 0.0009765625. That's about 0.1% Yikes, didn't think it would be that hard to agree with other people, did you?
Luckily, our decisions aren't completely random, but it's understandable why dating is so difficult. Trying to find someone that has the same core values and principles as you is not an easy thing to do. And, really, who wants to fill out a questionaire on your date, and be statistically matched with people who are "compatible"? So, we're lucky that we find spouses with somewhat-matching interests and beliefs. The family and friends relationship implies that there is some pre-existing mutual interest or belief system. But when you branch out beyond your immediate family and friends the element of randomness starts to increase.
This idea is closely related to Quantum Mechanics. When dealing with particles on the sub-atomic level, you quickly realize that Newtonian physics is really just an aproximation; a consistant and reliable average of the chaos of particles that make up a substance. Newtonian physics is very simplistic. The variables are few, and their values known. In a sense, we can predict future events because we know the variables. We know that a ball will roll down the slope, because we know the values of enough of the variables. However, when looking at the interactions molecules on the Quantum scale, there are thousands, if not millions or billions of variables that affect the result of a given equation. This gives rise to the Uncertanty Principle, and Binary Entropy.
When a fair coin is tossed, it's entropy is exactly 1. You need exactly one bit of data to represent the outcome. However, when using a biased coin, you need less than one bit of data to represent the outcome, because the data is compressible. Truely random data will not be very compressable.
People are very much the same as coins. Your spouse is a heavily biased coin, your family and friends are somewhat biased coins, and random people are probably far from the ideal fair coin as well, just that their bias may tend to be further from your beliefs. And, when viewed on a Quantum level, there are so many people out in the world, that it is highly unlikely that any two people would completely agree on any set of topics.
So it really doesn't make much sense for me to post my opinionated political viewpoints on a blog where random people might read them. I'm much more likely to find positive feedback when I simply tell my spouse, family and friends about my thoughts than other people who might happen upon my blog.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Made From Scratch
So, I did manage to be slightly home-maker-ish during this holiday season....
Even though we had a great Thanksgiving with family, we bought a little turkey breast and cooked it the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Two days later I decided I wanted to learn how to make Turkey soup. I've only ever had it once, and it was scrumptious! So I figured I could do it, right?
Matt's family had a Cream Chicken Noodle recipe that is really yummy. So I kinda merged that recipe and the one from allrecipes(dot)com. Pretty much, followed allrecipes(dot)com, but added 2 cans of Cream of Chicken and half a can of evaporated milk. And my friend Lindsey recommended cooking the noodles first so that they don't soak up all the broth. So I did half broth, half water to pre-cook the noodles.
Matt loved it! And he's been asking if I'll make it again! Hopefully, I can make it just as yummy next time!
My efforts:
The broth is done, one bowl is onions and the other is the bones that are cooling.
The final product!
Even though we had a great Thanksgiving with family, we bought a little turkey breast and cooked it the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Two days later I decided I wanted to learn how to make Turkey soup. I've only ever had it once, and it was scrumptious! So I figured I could do it, right?
Matt's family had a Cream Chicken Noodle recipe that is really yummy. So I kinda merged that recipe and the one from allrecipes(dot)com. Pretty much, followed allrecipes(dot)com, but added 2 cans of Cream of Chicken and half a can of evaporated milk. And my friend Lindsey recommended cooking the noodles first so that they don't soak up all the broth. So I did half broth, half water to pre-cook the noodles.
Matt loved it! And he's been asking if I'll make it again! Hopefully, I can make it just as yummy next time!
My efforts:
The broth is done, one bowl is onions and the other is the bones that are cooling.
The final product!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
5 and 6 months
Well, 5 months came and went.
It was all about being propped up. He loved looking around from a different perspective. He also enjoyed his first Halloween and first vacation. On our vacation my friend mentioned we should try to put Reid to bed earlier, and after a couple days of him waking up in the night, it worked! He now happily sleeps 8-10 at night, and then eats for like 10 mins, and sleeps for another 1-3 hours. It is bliss! I actually get some sleep! However, it is hard because now I stay up late getting stuff done! haha.
Reid was getting slightly more mobile in his 5th month... but wasn't doing much about it. He could roll from his back to his stomach, but he had enough control to get 1 leg over but stay sideways on his shoulder, so he could go back to his back.
He started doing the hand to mouth with his toys... I knew I'd be fighting to keep things out of his mouth soon.
I got a view, I got my toy, I'm good!
Oh no, I lost it.
Almost there...
What the ?
Ah, nuts!
6 months...
has been about sitting up on our own, rolling both ways, and getting around. I can't tell you how many times he has escaped the blanket that we put him on. He mostly moves when he spins, but sometimes rolling (both from back to front and front to back) and leg kicking are assistants in the mobility.
He's been a real joy these last 2 months, his belly laugh is terrific and he always has a smile for mom. He has gotten to know Daddy better this month too, and loves him very much! Reid even prefers Dad to feed him cereal.
He is completely a hand to mouth boy. He lunges for whatever he wants to get his hands on. He even bonked his head on my laptop trying to escape my lap and suck on the keyboard.
We've also starting playing the pick-up game. He just loves learning all about gravity!
We've now tried Squash, Carrots, and Sweet Potatoes, he seems to love squash and sweet potatoes... but the carrots are not the favorite. He'll eat them, but puts up a fuss.
And just like his mother... he's going for the Eegee's. (yes, I gave him a tiny bit, it was cherry cider flavor, and he liked it, but isn't sure about the cold factor, yet)
Peek-a-boo is a favorite as well. But sometimes he plays it with us. If there is a blanket of any kind in his crib, he puts it over his face to sleep. I freaked out the first few times, but now I just know to go back and check on him and make sure he can get air.
Where's Reid?
There he is!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
4 months
So this post is 2.5 weeks late.... better late than never, right?
===========================================
Ok, I'm in shock that I have a kid who is 4 months old. It has gone so fast, and yet, it hasn't. He is up to so many things this month.
He officially can roll over from his back to his stomach. However, he hasn't quite figured out how to shimmy his arm out from under him. So he's there on his stomach, with one arm under him, and he just tries to kick or pushes off the ground with his feet. He loves to roll to his side though, because then he can get closer to his toys.
He has become extremely observant. He stares at all sorts of things. If it is colorful he wants to look at it, and lets me know if he doesn't get enough time to look at something.
He, of course, loves to be held, and has become quite the snuggler. Heavenly Father knew I wanted a baby who would snuggle... I just love those moments. When he gets up from his nap he's usually pretty happy, but likes to cuddle into my shoulder until he fully wakes up.... I LOVE IT!
He has really started to become a smiley kid. He smiles at everyone who talks to him. He laughs tons when we play with him. And one time my 4 year old nephew got him to really crack up. I mean he was full blown laughing. It was the funniest thing.
His legs are very strong, and he loves to stand. I kinda think he's getting interested in being able to move... but we still need more tummy time.
He also gets cranky if he doesn't get a good amount of floor time. I think he likes the chance to stretch and play. He also spins during this time. He's been doing that for a while, but I don't think I documented it last time.
He is strong enough to pull the pull string toy that is on his car seat... which is good, cuz we are about to take a road trip.
However, the little stinker went from sleeping 8-9 hours to sleeping 6-7 hours. So we tried a little rice cereal. It went way better than I thought it would. He kinda looked at us like, what the heck? But then after about 10 tries he swallowed some of it! It was all very exciting stuff. I was so proud. We did it twice so far, but he got really constipated, not sure if that was the rice or just what I ate. (I kinda think it was me) But we laid off for a bit, so that he could get it out. We'll probably start back up soon!
When he is super cranky, the one thing that does calm him down is going outside to watch the dogs. They really love to chase each other around, and Reid tracks them, even when they are going pretty speedy. Since he is also learning to reach and grab things. We've been "teaching" him to pet the dogs. Last night was hilarious, he grabbed onto their hair and just hung on. Luckily near of them seemed to mind.
The most common thing I hear about him is, "He is such a happy baby!" I'm so grateful for Reid, I know we are so blessed to have him. And I'm grateful for his smiles, they bring so much joy to my life.
===========================================
Ok, I'm in shock that I have a kid who is 4 months old. It has gone so fast, and yet, it hasn't. He is up to so many things this month.
He officially can roll over from his back to his stomach. However, he hasn't quite figured out how to shimmy his arm out from under him. So he's there on his stomach, with one arm under him, and he just tries to kick or pushes off the ground with his feet. He loves to roll to his side though, because then he can get closer to his toys.
He has become extremely observant. He stares at all sorts of things. If it is colorful he wants to look at it, and lets me know if he doesn't get enough time to look at something.
He, of course, loves to be held, and has become quite the snuggler. Heavenly Father knew I wanted a baby who would snuggle... I just love those moments. When he gets up from his nap he's usually pretty happy, but likes to cuddle into my shoulder until he fully wakes up.... I LOVE IT!
He has really started to become a smiley kid. He smiles at everyone who talks to him. He laughs tons when we play with him. And one time my 4 year old nephew got him to really crack up. I mean he was full blown laughing. It was the funniest thing.
His legs are very strong, and he loves to stand. I kinda think he's getting interested in being able to move... but we still need more tummy time.
He also gets cranky if he doesn't get a good amount of floor time. I think he likes the chance to stretch and play. He also spins during this time. He's been doing that for a while, but I don't think I documented it last time.
He is strong enough to pull the pull string toy that is on his car seat... which is good, cuz we are about to take a road trip.
However, the little stinker went from sleeping 8-9 hours to sleeping 6-7 hours. So we tried a little rice cereal. It went way better than I thought it would. He kinda looked at us like, what the heck? But then after about 10 tries he swallowed some of it! It was all very exciting stuff. I was so proud. We did it twice so far, but he got really constipated, not sure if that was the rice or just what I ate. (I kinda think it was me) But we laid off for a bit, so that he could get it out. We'll probably start back up soon!
"I'm ready!"
"This is different."
"Take it out, take it out!"
When he is super cranky, the one thing that does calm him down is going outside to watch the dogs. They really love to chase each other around, and Reid tracks them, even when they are going pretty speedy. Since he is also learning to reach and grab things. We've been "teaching" him to pet the dogs. Last night was hilarious, he grabbed onto their hair and just hung on. Luckily near of them seemed to mind.
The most common thing I hear about him is, "He is such a happy baby!" I'm so grateful for Reid, I know we are so blessed to have him. And I'm grateful for his smiles, they bring so much joy to my life.
The official 4 month picture
(I was quite impressed with my photography skills)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Just When I Thought It was Safe to Go Back to High School
So this weekend, we went to a high school football game to see my brother-in-law be official and stuff... he's the new assistant vice-principal.
And I was sitting there thinking, "man it is so nice to finally sit here, confident in my geekiness to not even care what everyone around me is thinking..."
Yeah, well, guess what!? I may have self confidence in who I am... but I still CAN'T walk!
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