Game Day

We are preparing for the showdown between the Hawkeyes and the Badgers at the house this afternoon. We invited the Iowa family over to watch the 2:30 kick off.  We will of course show off our newest addition as well.  The rules are pretty simple.  If you wear red you get to eat and drink for free.  If you wear Badger gear you won't have to pay a cover, will be relieved of incessant smack talking about how your quarterback spends as much time throwing to the opposite team as own and you can enjoy top shelf adult beverages to imbibe at no cost.  If, and I can't imagine anyone would have the audacity, one wears puke yellow to the house, well then you are on the BYO-X system.  As in Bring Your Own X (whatever) you want to eat and drink. 

The household is looking forward to it.  So much so that the entire house was up all night because they couldn't sleep in anticipation of the big event.  It was just like Christmas.  Gavin spent the entire night up and Carrie hit the wall around 3:30 and tapped out waking me up to take over.  Nothing better in life than the ol' 3:30 AM shift.  You can't imagine what is on TV at that hour.  So I am spending time watching the greatest television ever while rocking baby G back to sleep for about an hour when I hear another noise.  That can't be.  You have to be kidding me.  Seriously? Is that Q crying?  So, as I sit there watching Nitro on MTV2, whatever that is, I contemplate how I pick up a 40 pound crying nearly two year old while holding a finally quiet almost 9 day old at the same time.  I glance over at sleeping beauty and don't want to wake her up because I know she hasn't caught more than two hours of sleep in a row in weeks.  So I put baby Gavin into a chair and go track down Quentin.  That was it. He wanted to come into our bed, which is a war zone these days.  Lights on, lights off.  Baby crying, baby feeding, baby crying, baby diaper change, lights on, lights off, poopy diaper, comment of geez, Josh, It's your turn, baby crying, and now the introduction of Quentin.  I look over at Carrie and confirm we did indeed decide to host a get together tomorrow afternoon.  It's really shocking how much one can accomplish in a day when they start at 4:30 AM.

Hosting did cause us to dig out some pictures of the family and put some boxes away.  It's clear at this point some things are just not going to get unpacked, which is code for you don't need this stuff.  Moving into a bigger house is a misnomer.  You don't really need the space.  You convince yourself you do because really you just want to accumulate more stuff.  Our basement has a perfect little space that would exactly fit a 96 inch LCD TV placed neatly on the wall.  I'm sure that's just some random coincidence. The wife is not going it for it.  But, honey the builder wanted it this way.  Still unconvinced?  Maybe Santa will just put it under the tree. 

I think all of us are still carrying some leftover Florida baggage.  Q was getting in trouble for "wandering" at school this week.  They say he doesn't listen very well.  I'm not good at taking adult criticism.  I have always felt like if you are going to micromanage me than I'm going to make you earn your stripes and act like someone that needs to be micromanaged.  I'm very curious to understand exactly how well a 1 year old is supposed to listen.  They said he wanders around the class during "free play" but does well when they are doing any specific activity.  I'm not saying this out loud, but I'm thinking it's free play.  Doesn't the title imply your kid should be wandering around the room doing whatever they want?  They have a bunny in the middle of the room that he gravitates to.  We don't live on a farm. This is his first experience with a bunny.  He's one.  I'm sorry you're telling me you are shocked he can't stop checking it out?  We may have chosen the wrong daycare.  I don't think he's made friends yet and he still talks about his old friends from Tampa, which I'm surprised to hear.  What a memory?  He's going to be the guy that remembers being in the womb.

Quinny is a lot like me.  He's determined.  He's ultra observant and is constantly multi-tasking.  He'll start one thing, see another and move on.  He'll come back to the first thing but he's curious.  He's a boy. He loves the outdoors.  He needs exercise.  I want him to do well and now I'm sitting here thinking he's spending half his day in time out?  They say time out has no effect on him. He happily, smiling, goes to his chair without a care in the world.  At home he hates it, wailing through the entire two minutes eager to say sorry and move on. I will admit it.  It makes me smile that he's man enough, at one, to stick it to the man. But, you know it sucks and you know it has to have some effect on him.  Now my paranoia sets in and I wonder if they are singling him out or have less patience for him than the others.  I wonder if we made a colossal mistake sending him to this particular daycare.  I'm sure I'm over reacting.  There are probably just too many Hawkeye fans there and we keep dressing him in Wisco gear (you know to stick it to em'!).  We'll be keeping an eye on them and hopefully we work it out.  If not we will be on the daycare hunt.  It's a lot of change for all of us and people think he's too young to notice.  But this is boy genius we're talking about and it simply is not true.  He knows and he's having a tough time.

Here a few recent pics of Gavin.  Q has been absolutely great.  He talks about him on the way home from school, always wants to see him and showers him with hugs and kisses.  Gavin has made the night time routine with Q kissing everyone good night (including Lucky) and giving everyone a hug.  Here is Q administrating one of those and Gavin's big feet!

Hunting - Iowa Style

I've lived in Iowa for about 7 weeks. I grew up in Lake Geneva, a way too small town way too many people think is a great destination. I am sure the town or city that everyone grows up in shapes them in some way or another as they grow older. For me I knew immediately that anonymity was the way to go. Small towns, well you can keep em'. I applied to two schools for college, Marquette and the UDub. Marquette wanted more information, automatically disqualifying them from the application process. Sweet, sweet Madison accepted a fairly good student with an acceptable ACT score. People said you'd be a number. Say no more. Upon graduation I took a job in Atlanta and was a bit frightened at moving to a place I knew no one, but was a double major in English and history and didn't have a lot of places to turn. (The original plan was law school, but I grew tired of the bills and never ending requirements. My strength is not responding to authority). Shortly after accepting the position I was asked to apply for a position at the UW Foundation and a career in fundraising was born. Since then I've lived in New York, Miami, Boston and Tampa. I've turned into a bit of a city snob. I like nice restaurants and I enjoy a decent shopping experience. I don't believe in Wal-Mart (mostly due to their politics and basically it's a Chinese economy. Is it really worth the savings of 34 cents)? Target is better. One can actually navigate an aisle and the parking lot. You know what I'm talking about.

I am home this week to help Carrie out as we make the transition from a family of three to a family of four. One thinks an addition of one wouldn't upset the apple cart all that much, but statistically speaking we are adding a solid 33% to our family. If only our GDP could grow at such a rate in 36 weeks and five days! I've had precious little time to reflect on the move and the differences of Iowa and Florida right up until the moment a mouse ran across my living room floor. It's that sort of moment that puts life's moments in perspective. Sure, they might be sort of cute and cuddly and possibly even sold in local pet stores, but, it was appalling.

I, armed with ineptitude, grabbed a gallon size Tupperware container hoping to contain the beast. My mother in-law laughing at me immediately calling for a camera shot to preserve the city boy moment. "That's not how you kill a mouse!" Outstanding! By all means I am open to suggestions. That was it. I stood there flabbergasted at how people could possibly cohabited with mammals outside of dogs and cats. It wasn't but 3 hours earlier I was at a pet store buying Quinny his first aquarium full of fish; his first hand picked pets. And now, I had a living zoo presumably eating off my hard earned work and living rent free. I am sure all readers know that 1 in 5 Londoners died of the rat infested population of the city to a tune of an estimated 25 million right? I just had a baby! A mouse? In Florida we don't have rodents. At least not in our homes. Sure, we have cockroaches the size of miniature poodles but you can stomp on those suckers. This is furry! Furry, people, furry!

I wasn't quite sure what to do. I googled exterminator. I saw the pictures of the guy spraying chemicals and killing the bad bugs and furry rodents on the spot. It reminded me of Arachnophobia where John Goodman is trying to kill the spider and it won't die. He eventually walks over and squashes it. As I'm perusing the local rodent killers I google "organic." This is of course a service that this city snob used before and left our house insect free for 3 years for $50 and was harmless to us, our baby and our pets. But we are in Iowa (it doesn't exist anywhere in the state - million dollar idea}??? - and therefore I wished for a .22 caliber rifle to solve the problem. At least I would get props from the fellas for shooting my rifle at the local wildlife in the house. If that doesn't earn you free beers at your around the corner bar what does? But to no avail, so I did what any city boy would do. I headed out to the local Menard's and bought one of every rodent killing device they stocked. That's right, I was a officially a hunter.

I walked back into the house feeling like a plaid shirt wrangler wearing chest puffed man. I laid my contraptions on the counter for all to see. I had $.78 old school snap your neck traps with cheese. I had run over this and you are stuck for life traps (glue). I had "child-friendly" snap your neck traps. I had concoctions to "lure" rodents of all sizes to their neck breaking death. (This is really some sort of racket, sort of like child care but significantly cheaper). The ladies might not have been impressed, but Quinny was. Ah, sons. More sons please. Two might not be enough.

So, like a true Iowan I got up on my tree stand (living room) and started peanut buttering up my traps. I laid them behind the aquarium. Seriously, I set that thing up yesterday and a mouse made it its home already? I put one in the closet. Behind the washer, in another closet, behind the aquarium, again, and stealthily laid one out in the store room. Not 60 seconds later my hunter instinct took over. A loud snap! reverberated throughout the house. Gotcha you furry little disease killer that some kids consider pets! But, no it was a false positive. Glad, we don't have daughters. The whole $.37 trap broke. Guess what folks? Yup, made in China. I would take it back, but it was full of peanut butter. So, like a true Iowa hunter, as I understand it, I made myself a cocktail, threw in a movie about British hooligans (aren't they all)? and sat in my tree stand (couch) for the long haul. About 90 minutes and two cocktails later I heard an unmistakable squeaking. I am thinking what is that Lucky dog of mine up to when I realized I was using him as an ottoman. I looked at Carrie, who looked at Gavin, who looked at me, who looked back at Carrie who then looked back at me when we all realized the pooch was looking at us wondering what the squeaking was.

Well, that squeaking was one sorry mouse because it didn't have its SAG card from working on the Green Mile and was stuck in some serious glue behind the washer. Hmm. Okay, so I'm a hunter now with my first kill. I have not one but two Swiss army knives (red and black) to gut this ferocious mammal but this sucker is still alive. Sure, it's a humane way not to kill your child but I have an approximately 6 ounce mouse glued to a six inch piece of paper that is decidedly not a science or an art project for high school. Oh yes, I remember now, I live in Iowa and I have an entire corn field in my back yard. I donned some gloves, picked up squealing mouse and took him for the dead mouse walking! off the plank. Lucky joined me for the funeral procession. At the edge of the corn field, being new to Iowa, I decided a Frisbee throw would be best. And wah-la humans 1, rodents 0. Winner! I know, I know. And yes, when I walked away it was still squealing. But aren't we in pig farming territory? No one will even notice.

So to celebrate my first ever mammal slaughter a picture of baby Gavin. He gained 2 ounces since leaving the hospital. Hooray! Hopefully he survives the black plague!

I'm not sure how people live with the possibility of mice in their homes. I am refortifying the dryer vent, which had to be the way in. I fear finding another a mouse as a clan or family or herd or whatever they call them. I did notice a gun shop on the way to Quentin's daycare the other day. Too soon? Okay, well rest in peace sweet fury mouse. If you some how make it to the big cornfield in the sky tell your friends to stay away from Sandhurst Drive.

Enjoy the unrelated to this story picture of my new son. He sleeps all day and screams all night. That makes him our new son. If he slept through the night we would be worried.

Coming Home to Meet the Family

We received a clean bill of health on Saturday and were able to be discharged in time to watch the Badgers dismantle number one Ohio State on national TV. It was the first time Wisco had beat a number one team since 1981 likely dashing OSU's hopes for a national title. Gavin, Q, Dad and grandpa all were able to enjoy some couch time and watch the first half together before Q had to go to bed. It was a nice generational moment. Maybe Gavin will follow in Quinny's footsteps and be a future player. We'll see. He's smaller than Q was when he was born so maybe a skill player. It would be possible for Q to block for Gavin some day being they are only two years apart. One can dream.

Quentin has been great through this whole ordeal with both sets of grandparents coming down and staying at the house. Through all that transition Quentin has slept well and behaved even better. He's not quite sure how to treat Gavin yet, but does know he's part of the family and has welcomed him in open arms. Quentin pokes him and every time he cries he says, "ungy, ungy" and tries to offer up good food suggestions including sharing is own. We are of course reusing Q's old things like a little vibrating rocking chair and there is some confusion with that. We had Gavin in the chair sleeping and Q comes over and tries to sit in it too. So we have gentle moments of explanation and how he needs to be a good older brother and share. So far so good. I have been giving Quinny the majority of attention while Carrie tends to the baby since Carrie can't pick up Q for the next couple of weeks. It's been working out pretty well so far and we know it will take a while to hammer out a routine.

I think Quentin has really enjoyed the grandparents but he is confused what to call them. He is currently calling everyone Gramma. It's hilarious. My dad came upstairs from the guest room this morning and Quinny was at the top of the stairs and screams, "GRAMMA!" He thinks all the grandparents are called Gramma, except Carrie's dad, who he does call Poppa. I didn't realize he was calling everyone the same name until this morning. My dad was all too aware so for the rest of the weekend I got to call him gramma too. Ahhhh, it's life's little moments that bring true pleasure. Pretty funny.

The Luckster met the newest addition to the family on Saturday with a lot of sniffing and some nuzzling. Who knows what he's thinking. I had a long talk with him before we left to go the hospital explaining that he was about to be number five on the depth chart. He took it pretty well. He's still acting neurotic since moving here. I think he's waiting to head back to Florida still. One can dream. Every time we leave the house he runs out to the car and tries to get in. This is a new behavior for him. He hasn't spent a ton of time in the car so I do think he thinks living in Iowa is temporary. Wait until we move to yet a new house this spring. That should really help!

Everyone did fine yesterday and it was nice to find the comforts of our home. Gavin was circumcised Saturday and I was allowed to watch the procedure. I figure if he has to endure it I should see what he's going through. Solidarity! That was an experience that forced me to go to my happy place. He wailed and wailed through it. They gave him a localized anesthetic but I don't think it took because he never really stopped crying through any of it. And as you can imagine it's pretty brutal. That happened in the morning and then they monitor the bleeding every 15 minutes for the first two hours. Little Gavin only has about as much blood as a coke can so even what we would consider a small amount is a lot for him so it needs to be watched closely.

Gavin has been eating better and a nurse will come out to the house on Monday to weigh him and check him for jaundice. He appears to be eating well so we think he will pass. A lot of younger babies do end up back in the hospital because they start dropping weight once they get home. Q was a good eater so hopefully Gavin is too. When we checked out of the hospital he was down a half pound since being born, which is common. They don't want him to fall below 10% of his birth weight. I'm sure he'll be a 10 pounder in no time.

He hasn't slept at all during the night and Carrie has been taking the brunt of that. You forget how brutal the lack of sleep is. To go through the day on 1-2 hours sleep day after day is nothing short of miraculous. I took Q to daycare this morning and the daycare is 2-3 miles down the street but it's on the same street we live on. Upon exiting the parking lot, I for whatever reason took a left and started driving to who knows where. About a block down the road I asked myself where I was going? I am chalking that up to no sleep. Carrie hit the wall around 2:45 am last night so I was up until about 4:30 with baby G and then got up with Quentin at 6 am. Not sure if it will be a household of napping this afternoon or what but something needs to give. We'll see. I can tell you our goal of 5 children is shrinking daily. I definitely can't keep this up 3, 4, 5 or 6 years from now. I think if you want a big family you need to get started in your early to mid-20's. After that you are either a sadomasochist or an incurable insomniac. We are neither, which means outside of triplets we aren't going to get to 5. We'll see how it pans out. Ask me in 4 years where we're at.

Here are a few pics of Gavin coming home in his car seat, meeting Lucky with Quinny excited to have him home finally and Quinny "petting" his new baby brother.