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Baxter, Robah, and I had an epic frisbee session today. No records were broken, but that’s primarily because I didn’t push them too hard. Their individual and combined records are detailed below:
Consecutive catches by Baxter: 11
September 25, 2007
Avon Drive, Raleigh, NC
Consecutive catches by Robah: 6
December 6, 2008
White Oak Road, Raleigh, NC
Consecutive alternating catches by Robah and Baxter: 10
October 10, 2008
White Oak Road, Raleigh, NC
If you’re not impressed with these numbers, keep in mind that a single frisbee route is in the range between 70 and 90 feet. In a single session, Baxter will run around 50 routes, and Robah around 30 routes. That’s the equivalent of Baxter sprinting a mile-and-a-half. Robah runs close to a mile during a session. Our poor grass.
Here’s a diagram that illustrates our playing field:
I did, however, have to pull Robah aside today and talk to him about never taking a play (or throw) off. It’s not that he has a bad attitude or the kind of prima donna approach to the game that seems so common among today’s elite receivers. But, there are times when he doesn’t finish a route and he’s been known to take his disc to his favorite patch of grass and rest for awhile in the middle of a session. His brother Baxter, aka Psycho B, is a frisbee-chasing machine; his motor never stops. I wonder how Roy Williams handles it when Hansbrough is running circles around a teammate in practice.
I haven’t set up the camera to record Bax and Robah snagging frisbees, but Katie did capture Baxter’s weird sleeping position a couple of weeks ago:
This post is exclusively Jackie. As you can see in the videos, she’s really starting to verbalize. She still hasn’t mastered the words, “cool whip.” Practice makes perfect.
Eating time comes after sleeping time, and after sleeping time comes playtime. Playtime occurs on a very cool jungle mat (including lights, toys, and music) that Rich and Mindy gave us. Two distinct activities make up a typical playtime session with Jackie. First, Jackie lies on her back for about 20 minutes and looks up at the colorful toys, squirming back and forth and sometimes reaching for a hanging stuffed animal. Second, Jackie is rolled over on her stomach for tummy time, which is not nearly as fun or relaxing. She still doesn’t really like being face down. The video below captures the first half of playtime, and not the second, less enjoyable half. There’s also a Baxter cameo.
Finally, I’ve posted a few images from last week.
Katie and I don’t claim to be expert parents. Our decisions about our daughter have been a mix of bad and good, and as a result, we’ve ridden the emotional rollercoaster of highs and lows that most parents experience during the first couple of months. If our parenting skills were ever evaluated by an objective observer, I’m confident that our evaluation would read like this:
They are competent as parents. They have really good taste in music. And most importantly, whether a parental decision earns them a black eye or a feather in their cap, their parenting is motivated by love for their daughter.
Now that I’ve shown how humble we are, allow me to brag on my wife. I came home from a long day documenting technology in RTP, and Katie treats me to the meal pictured below.
Grown-up dinner for real
This was the menu:
- Pan-seared salmon with a homemade Greek yogurt sauce
- Haricot verts
- Roasted potatoes with seasonal herbs
- Sparkling white wine
- Double fudge brownies with Mayfield ice cream (not pictured)
So, just in case Katie isn’t an early frontrunner for 2009 mother of the year, consider this a nomination. Three cheers for the cook:
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hop hooray!
We had a great weekend with Nana, and we even introduced Jackie to some of the Watson family at a gathering in Burlington. I’ll post on the weekend events a little later in the week when I have time to go through video and pics. In the meantime, I wanted to give quick propers to Baxter and Robah (so I can look back on this someday soon when they chew up a shoe or dig a big hole).
The baby is really getting settled in, and so are her canine brothers. It’s funny to see how much closer they are now — literally closer, as in their proximity to each other in and around the house, and emotionally closer in terms of their relationship. A couple of months ago, Baxter wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out in the same space as Robah. Now, they often sit side-by-side.
I even caught them sunbathing earlier in the week. They reminded me of high-school BFFs checking out the action at the community pool during summer vacation.
Last Thursday, Alison Saville flew all the way from Denver to visit Jackie and the rest of our household for the weekend (she also attended a wedding in Durham on Saturday). We always enjoy having Aunt Ali around. She didn’t bring Steve, but she did bring kool gifts for the baby and a desire to help out with whatever needed to be done around here.
We really appreciated the meals she cooked, dishes she washed, groceries she bought, and everything else. She even changed some diapers, fed Jackie the bottle, and accompanied Katie and Jackie on their visit to the pediatrician last Friday. On top of that, she coined the phrase “Beanie Katie” to describe Jackie’s resemblance to her mom. We’ll wait until Jackie is a little older to tell her about her Aunt Ali’s behavior in high school (hehehe). Thanks for coming Alison!
This is my last full week at home before I return to work, so the Jones family has several more days of full-time bonding. Jackie is a fantastic sleeper. In fact, she has slept at least six straight hours during each of the last four nights. She even managed to calm down and sleep well last night after watching her Tar Heels shoot an upsetting 35% and lose to the tie-dyes in Winston-Salem.
Jackie has been a little more fussy during the day lately, but it’s too early to label her as colicky. Like most babies, there is nothing more soothing than motion. Family walks, like the one in the video below, are a regular part of our routine. The crows are cawing up a storm in the background; there must have been some prime roadkill on Glenwood Avenue the other day.
Fussy or happy, awake or asleep, we love our baby girl. Mornings have been especially fun:
We’ve been fortunate to be treated to dinner the last three nights from family and friends. Thanks to Rich & Mindy (Italian on Friday night), Sarah & Eric (Lilly’s on Saturday night), and Jack & Nancy (homemade enchiladas last night). We appreciate their support!
Miscellaneous pictures:
Jackie will be two weeks old tomorrow and I’m starting to understand why parents always say that their kids grow up so fast. Our daughter has come a long way since her birthday on the 23rd (which she shares with her Aunt Holly). She seems pretty comfortable with the nursing routine Katie has established. As the waste management technician in our household (my vast experience picking up after two large dogs made me a shoe-in for the position), I can attest that all systems are fully operational.
Every passing day brings more active and awake periods, and those little eyes are opening wider and focusing a little better all the time. Here’s a video of Jackie having some wake-time today with her mama after her 1:00 pm feeding:
Here are some more pictures of Jackie meeting her family and her parents’ friends:
Jackie with Sarah Burns, Katie, and Nana
Jackie with her Grandfather Burns
Uncle Rich and Aunt Mindy hangin' with their niece
Sara with Jackie (not pictured: shy Uncle Stew)
Jackie with Dan Wilkinson
Her favorite position, this time in artsy black & white
We are #1 (oops...were #1). Jackie and her dad are pictured here jinxing the Tar Heels. Cool Carolina threads courtesy of Elizabeth and Noah.
I guess this is blackmail fodder for later in her life? She's obviously embarassed, yet undeniably cute.
It has now been a full week since Jackie’s birth, and our new family configuration is really starting to thrive. After a difficult and fussy first three days, Jackie settled into a peaceful, healthy routine. Katie deserves all the credit for making our daughter happy in her new home. As I told my mother (big Jackie) and mother-in-law (Katie’s mom Janet), I have a new appreciation for mothers after seeing Katie face and successfully meet the initial challenges of childbirth and nursing.
What, me worry?
Janet has been with us for the past nine days, and we’re very grateful for all her help looking after the dogs while we were in the hospital, cleaning up around the house, running errands and shopping for us, and helping prepare meals. When she isn’t helping with things around the house, she can usually be found doting on her granddaughter. Life during Jackie’s first week would have been chaotic and extremely difficult without Janet’s hard work, love, and support.
Joyous Nana and her granddaughter.
Nana also gave Jackie her first bath the other day, and it went much better than I ever dreamed it would. Our old house stays pretty cold in the winter, so a mid-winter’s sponge bath couldn’t have been too comfortable for the baby. Give Janet credit for making it as pleasant as possible…
I’m also appreciative of Jackie’s two older brothers, Baxter and Robah, for their good behavior. We predicted that Baxter would be curious at first, and then disinterested with a tiny human who can’t even hold a tennis ball, much less throw it for him. We predicted Robah would be loving and slobbery. We were right about both. Surprisingly though, both dogs are quite protective of their little sis. The five of us went on our first family outing today — a thirty-minute walk around Five Points.
Baxter and Robah meet/sniff Jackie.
Daytime feedings have become fun-with-music sessions. I guess we like to nourish Jackie’s ears while Katie feeds her stomach. First, I play dance or big band music and dance with Jackie to get her awake and ready to nurse. When Katie takes over, she plays oldies and sings along as Jackie eats. Jackie may or may not like these meal-time theatrics, but I assure you that Katie and I are having a ball.
The rest of the family, including my parents, Katie’s dad Ben, my brother Rich, and Katie’s sister Sarah, haven’t had too much time to visit Jackie yet. Sarah and Rich did hold Jackie at the hospital…
Here are some assorted pictures from the past week. Feel free to come visit whenever…we want Jackie to meet the rest of her family and parents’ friends.
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- What, me worry?
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- Baxter and Robah meet/sniff Jackie.
Katie has been doing great — still working hard and dealing well with ninth-month aches and pains. Jackie is due December 12th, so it’s truly the final countdown. I feel confident that we’re ready (probably because we’re so excited).
Here’s a brief tour of Jackie’s nursery (minus Jackie), recorded with a new camcorder (Canon Vixia HF10) we recently bought. We only have two small lamps in there, but I think the picture quality is fairly decent considering the low-light environment.
It’s official. After weeks of speculation, dream-state prognoses, and matching Katie’s pregnancy up against old wives’ tales, my hunch has been confirmed by her doctors at REX. We’re having a baby girl. She weighs about nine ounces right now. I’ll post more info and ultrasound images as soon as we get all moved in to our new digs on White Oak Road.
Big ups to Rich Jones for his help yesterday. He moved boxes with beastly strength, and packed the trucks like he was a Russian mathematician playing Tetris.
I think I spent the dog food money 