Lincolnite: Lincoln's Online Community

Another First for Robert

August 15, 2006 at 7:30am By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

Robert had another first yesterday. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a first I was looking forward to. Yesterday marked the first time Robert let loose with an all-out, unexplainable, seemingly never-ending wail. The Missus said he had been cranky most of the afternoon, but things escalated through the dinner hour. He has cried with gusto before, of course, but never so loudly for so long. Even Daisy showed concern.

I think The Missus and I handled the experience rather well. In large part I suspect that’s because we knew it was coming. I mean, Robert is almost three months old and we hadn’t had this episode yet. It was inevitable. To be honest, I’m kind of glad we got the first one out of the way.

Still, it’s frustrating that we never really figured out what his problem was. As parents you want to be able to fix everything for your child. An infant rarely, if ever, cries for no reason, so it’s a bit of a game trying to become good at interpreting the meaning of each cry. In this case we weren’t able to win the game.

The good news is Robbie seems to have slept well, and he woke up bright-eyed this morning. When Daisy and I got back from our walk, The Missus and Robbie were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast. When I said good morning he smiled and babbled right back at me. What a welcome smile it was.

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Wet and Wild

August 13, 2006 at 9:11pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

I spent most of my weekend up in Fremont reffing soccer. I started with three games yesterday, and I made it through four games today. Today’s games were mighty interesting, considering they were mostly played in the rain and mud. When the day began I didn’t think there was any way we were going to make it through the slate of games. The rain was one thing, but the periodic lightning is what really kept us from going. But the lightning stopped around noon, and we managed to get in every single game. The quality of play wasn’t anything too spectacular, generally speaking, though I did center a very competitive U-19 girls match that ended 1-0, and I was AR1 on an exciting U-18 boys match that the underdog won 3-2 by coming from behind in the second half.

Speaking of reffing, I have received my first six assignments for the college soccer season. No centers yet, but I’m crossing my fingers. The current assignments only go through Labor Day, so there are still lots and lots of opportunities for me to get some centers this season.

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Hot Hands

August 10, 2006 at 7:30am By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

I got to play the role of altruist last night, and I received a mild burn on my hand as a result. A family’s minivan had died at the entrance to a parking lot. It just happened to die right before I walked by, and it just happened to die directly on the route I walk from the bus stop to the ol’ homestead. Sometimes fate makes being a good samaritan easy.

Anyway, a 50-something grandmother, a 15-ish kid, and I got behind the van to push it into the parking lot while mom steered and baby sat quietly. Did I mention the van was resting on an incline? We made a little progress, then paused for a break. About that time another fellow stopped to help, and we quickly made it the rest of the way into the lot. The family was thankful and I got to feel good about helping out. I only wish I knew something about cars so I could have helped get them back on the road.

Oh, and that mild burn I mentioned? It was from the back of the van. Daaaaamn that thing was hot. In the little time I pushed the van, I toasted my hand.

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Daddy Day

August 7, 2006 at 8:00am By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

The Missus has to check in at work a few days this week, so today I’m pulling daddy duty. We started with an early morning walk, but we had to cut it a little short due to some pesky sprinkles. We don’t really have a plan for the rest of the day. We’ll probably just wing it.

In other Robbie news, he has been sleeping through the night more often than not. It certainly isn’t an every night thing just yet, but we’re starting to see a pattern. When he makes it through the night he usually hits the sack around 9:00pm and wakes up between 6:00am and 7:00am. Robbie has also recently discovered the joy of spitting. He bubbles and gurgles and sputters his lips, and he loves it when we mock him in return. I think all the lip buzzing means he’s going to play a brass instrument. I’m guessing trombone.

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One for the Film Buffs

August 3, 2006 at 8:47pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

Here’s a weird and random question for you film buffs out there:

It is common in romantic movies for there to be a scene in which the male and female characters dance while they are angry or annoyed with each other. It is so common, in fact, I would call it a cliche. In what movie and with which actors did that cliche originate? Any guesses?

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A Plea to the Passionistas

August 3, 2006 at 12:45pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

A quick plea to the Global Warming passionistas:

Please refrain from from using local, short-term weather patterns as your evidence for global warming. Lincoln’s recent heat wave doesn’t prove global warming; it proves that it is summertime. When you use short-term events as the weapons of your crusade, you set yourself up for really annoying conversations like this:

Global Warming Dude: See how hot it is? That’s cuz of global warming.
Fan of Fossil Fuels: No it isn’t, it’s just summer.
GWD: No, Al Gore says it’s Global Warming, and I believe him because he made a really great movie.
FFF: You trust the dude who invented the internet to predict the weather?
GWD: He didn’t claim to invent the internet!
FFF: Whatever, dude. Besides, it snowed in Johannesburg today. First time in 25 years. If anything, we’re entering an ice age.
GWD: What? That’s baloney. It did not snow in Johannesburg.
FFF: Did too. I saw it on The Weather Channel.
GWD: Well that just proves that global warming is happening.
FFF: What?! How the heck does snow prove global warming? Snow is cold, moron!
GWD: No, see, Global Warming is just a shorthand name. It’s really all about Global Climate Change. Global Climate Change explains everything from the heat wave in Europe, to your snow in South Africa, to droughts and monsoons.
FFF: So basically if the weather isn’t precisely average, then it’s the result of Global Climate Change?
GWD: It explains everything, because it’s happening right before our eyes.
FFF: Are you familiar with the word “tautology”?

And on and on it goes. I realize “global average temperatures have trended upwards since the dawn of the Industrial Age, and the rate of increase is accelerating” doesn’t sound sexy, but c’mon, you’re never going to win an argument by pointing out that it’s hot in the middle of summer.

By the way, my plea can be applied to passionistas in other areas, too. I’m only picking on the Global Warming crowd because they’ve been chirping a lot lately about how hot it is.

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Too Cute

August 2, 2006 at 9:34pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

Have you ever held a baby in your arms and watched him laugh in his sleep? It’s adorable.

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Nine is Just Fine

August 2, 2006 at 7:25am By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

Robbie slept over nine hours last night, and dad slept like a rock for eight. I haven’t had eight uninterrupted hours of sleep in what seems like ages. Ahhhhh…

In other Robbie news he’s working on rolling over. He has a ways to go, but he’ll get there. His neck strength is still really good, and he still jabbers like a used car salesman. As The Missus’ grandmother used to say, “He’s such a person!”

I really need to get some more photos posted, don’t I? I’ll get on that ASAP.

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