Thursday, September 23, 2010

35 weeks

Hey everybody. Just checking in with an updated belly photo and status. It would be an understatement to say my entries have been infrequent and focused on the pregnancy lately. This blog has always been indicative of what's been going on in my life, so it's clear to see where my mind has been and how all-consuming the transition to fatherhood is. To put this further into perspective, here's the stack of books we have been reading...

We are in the final stretch now. Sleep is already starting to get away from us -- away from R because she has somebody kicking her from the inside and away from me because of nerves. The remaining items on our to-do list are elusive and have a way of falling victim to a relentless clock. When I do find myself with time available to work on them, I feel frozen, unsure of how to proceed. Perhaps I'm stalling and not quite willing to accept that the big day is almost here. At the same time, I'm so excited to finally meet our daughter that I can hardly contain it. I'm sure it's relatively normal to be nervous and hesitant while on the cusp of a change like this, so don't worry about me.

I feel guilty for whining because I have it easy compared to R. She definitely has more responsibility in growing this child and more discomfort too. Her body is handling the pregnancy quite well, but it's not without difficulty. Things will get even harder before they are done... before this all culminates into what will probably be the biggest physical challenge of R's life (and also, hopefully, one of the most rewarding). Then there's the little detail about caring for a child after all of that; Giving birth is, obviously, just the beginning of the adventure.

This week's belly shot was taken aboard the Condor Express during a cruise around the harbor at sunset. The photo of the derelict boat below was taken during the same occasion. I've been playing around with it in Photoshop, tweaking the colors and exposure to add some interest. I'm sort of loving the beauty behind the murkiness of it right now.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Our little music enthusiast

Here's a list of concerts our baby has attended while in the womb:

  • Beach House, 4/16/2010, SOhO

  • Atoms For Peace (Thom Yorke's side project), 4/17/2010, Santa Barbara Bowl

  • The Avett Brothers, 4/28/2010, Arlington Theater

  • ThreadSpinner (w/ Dawes), 5/12/2010, SOhO

  • Jónsi (front man of Sigur Rós), 6/7/2010, La Bataclan (Paris)

  • ThreadSpinner, 6/25/2010, Velvet Jones

  • ThreadSpinner (w/ Au Revoir Simone), 7/10/2010, Velvet Jones

  • Toad the Wet Sprocket (w/ Jeff Bridges), 7/16/2010, Lobero Theatre

  • Crooked Still, 8/21/2010, Lobero Theatre

Last weekend I attended a quite awesome Smashing Pumpkins show, but you will be relieved to hear that I did not bring the family along. I was (accurately) anticipating some high volume levels and wasn't sure what is acceptable for a developing baby's ears, so I went with a high school friend who drove up from LA instead. (Quick digression: That was an all-around weird, nostalgic 90s weekend topped off by a sighting of Jennie Garth from 90210 in a coffee shop that probably deserves a blog entry unto itself, but I'm not going to do it).

The Pumpkins do actually have some great lullabies in their catalog (see the last four or five songs on Mellon Collie or the Adore acoustic demos or some b-sides like "Medellia of the Gray Skies"). I look forward to introducing our baby to my favorite bands through their softer works. A family friend also got us this collection as a shower gift. There are definitely worse songs for a baby to fall asleep to. I bet I could even sing along to these!

Eventually our baby will grow up and think our tastes are lame, but I'm going to exert some influence over her while I can :-). I know R would like to bring her to the Winnipeg Folk Festival as many years as possible since that was kind of a tradition in her family and we always appreciate the music up there. R has also stopped listening to the news during her commute to work and replaced it with some good music, usually involving strong female singers. Maybe it's all just underwater noise to her at this point, but I like to think our little girl is enjoying the entertainment while riding to work with her mom.