A Ray of Harmonic Sunshine to Brighten a Dark Week

[WQ9E]

Bill provided some great "home environment" advice.  I spent nearly an entire weekend making the house baby safe.  I would add to his list any sort of potential snare such as control lines from curtains.  But there are going to be hazards that are unforeseen and often practically unforeseeable (says the risk manager) so there is no replacement for spending plenty of quality time with the little one.  Making the home as safe as possible fills in for those either planned (a little downtime) or unplanned (something on top of the stove catches on fire) periods of no supervision.  The unexpected will always happen and when Anna was still in the toddler stage she wandered into the kitchen one night while I was teaching a grad class and told Maureen there was a pretty snake in the family room.  Maureen thought it was a toy until she heard a lot of cat activity and found the cats circling a harmless but large snake.  It was early winter and apparently the snake was hibernating inside one of the potted plants I had moved inside.  While the excitement was going on supper was burned!

My other parental advice is that you cannot spend too much time reading to her from early on. We started to read to Anna several times a day from infancy on and the love of reading really took hold.  Now in the third grade she is reading at the high school level and this provides the foundation for all of the other knowledge areas.  I also spent a lot of time outside with her watching the wildlife in our rural setting and that helps feed that all important curiosity about the world.  Small children are trying to learn so rapidly because everything is so new to them and all we have to do is help feed that process and keep it fun.  The reading to Anna habit dies hard and I am still reading to her except now the books are from Stephen King and other popular authors that I sanitize slightly to make them suitable for her age range.

The wireless monitor is a great idea and the one we used also provided background sounds (rainfall, bird calls, surf) that Anna really liked to fall asleep listening to. 

For the disposable diaper container get some OdoBan, that stuff is incredibly effective. 

Final advice, get ready to grab a nap whenever the opportunity presents itself.  The first few weeks were rough but largely because Anna was lactose intolerant.  The pediatrician diagnosed colic and said we would have to live with it until it went away and I tried all of the special bottles to no avail.  She would never sleep for more than a half hour at a time after feeding before waking up crying.  Finally the morning after Thanksgiving (Anna was born October 25'th) I drove 25 miles into Wal Mart at 2:00 A.M. after I got the bright idea to try soy milk.  She drank a bottle and fell asleep for 5 hours and we kept going in to make sure she was still breathing.  By Christmas she was going to bed by 4:30 and sleeping until 5:00 the next morning although we would wake her up briefly in the night for a bottle and diaper change.  Moral of the story, doctors aren't always right.

[Steve - K4HX]

You'll need to get rid of all those old radios. They are VERY dangerous. I'll be down to pick them up. Just looking out for your and the baby.

[W3GMS]

Martha has the Jeep Cherokee all full of gas and Martha is already to treat me again this year for XMAS with a KW-1 
Joe, GMS

[Steve - K4HX]

Yep, we need to look out for Todd.

[W3GMS]

A new daughter and a KW-1 just don't mix 
Joe, GMS

[Steve - K4HX]

That's a very very dangerous transmitter. It's big, heavy and it gets hot. And it could even fall over. Todd, baby proof your house and get rid of the KW-1.

[W2PFY]

Hey, great news Todd! I didn't know we had any members young enough on here that still want or could make baby's

[W2NBC]

I guess Todd got spooked..

[KM1H]

Congrats Todd and now the fun begins! 

Glad to hear she is now healthy.

Carl

[KB1IAW]

Congratulations, Todd! That is truly wonderful news.

[W1DAN]

Todd:

Congratulations!

Start teaching CW early! :-)

73,
Dan

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

You'll need to get rid of all those old radios. They are VERY dangerous. I'll be down to pick them up. Just looking out for your and the baby.

Yeah, yeah. I know allllll about it.  Actually, they'd probably see more use at least in the near-term. I'll just have you guys come down and 'operate' (read 'fix and enjoy') the station in my absence. Still a number of issues to repair (including with the KW-1) but hopefully some time available in the next few months. Jen is off until February, so once we get into some kind of sked/rhythm with Caitlin I should be able to snag a few minutes here and there to play radio. Got that SX-62B set up just in time.

All is well so far, mother and daughter came home yesterday and we enjoyed our first night of little sleep at home (the weekend in the hospital was good conditioning). Stayed up until 5:45 so the good wife could get some sleep with minimal interruption. I got about 5 hours this morning. I knew all those late nights on the air would come in handy eventually. Yet more proof that radio is great for family life.

I know it's not actually AM or even radio related, so I won't 'blog' the goings on beyond saying that it is indeed a new beginning to a new chapter of our lives with a very special little being. Jen and I thank all of you for your kind wishes, sage advice, and overall comments both here and privately. It means a lot to us coming from others in the AM community who have traveled this road before us.

And to the point about CW/radio exposure by Chuck, Rodger, and others, the attached photo shows my first attempt at some subliminal influence early on. Something tells me this is the most I'll get away with for a while, at least.

[Carl WA1KPD]

And already the grey hair is starting.
Congrats again my friend

[W4EWH]

... the attached photo shows my first attempt at some subliminal influence early on. Something tells me this is the most I'll get away with for a while, at least.

My wife has a similar photo of me with our son, taken about twenty-two years ago: he and I were sitting in an easy chair, and I was holding a bottle, which was dripping, and we were both asleep!

Don't worry about the time you don't have to turn on the radio: every microsecond you get to spend helping her grow up will be stored away in your memory to talk about later. There will be plenty of time to talk on the radio, later: you will wake up from a nap tomorrow, and you will realize that you're standing at the front of a crowd and she will be walking down the aisle and into her new life.

Trust me: don't blink.

73,

Bill, W1AC

[W3GMS]

You'll need to get rid of all those old radios. They are VERY dangerous. I'll be down to pick them up. Just looking out for your and the baby.

Yeah, yeah. I know allllll about it.  Actually, they'd probably see more use at least in the near-term. I'll just have you guys come down and 'operate' (read 'fix and enjoy') the station in my absence. Still a number of issues to repair (including with the KW-1) but hopefully some time available in the next few months. Jen is off until February, so once we get into some kind of sked/rhythm with Caitlin I should be able to snag a few minutes here and there to play radio. Got that SX-62B set up just in time.

All is well so far, mother and daughter came home yesterday and we enjoyed our first night of little sleep at home (the weekend in the hospital was good conditioning). Stayed up until 5:45 so the good wife could get some sleep with minimal interruption. I got about 5 hours this morning. I knew all those late nights on the air would come in handy eventually. Yet more proof that radio is great for family life.

I know it's not actually AM or even radio related, so I won't 'blog' the goings on beyond saying that it is indeed a new beginning to a new chapter of our lives with a very special little being. Jen and I thank all of you for your kind wishes, sage advice, and overall comments both here and privately. It means a lot to us coming from others in the AM community who have traveled this road before us.

And to the point about CW/radio exposure by Chuck, Rodger, and others, the attached photo shows my first attempt at some subliminal influence early on. Something tells me this is the most I'll get away with for a while, at least.

Fantastic picture Todd!  I can see the happiness in your eyes!  Doesn't get any better than that...

Joe, GMS

[W2JTD]

For the next 18 years, everything in your home will be sticky.

Congrats from Maggie and me!

[KM1H]

Thats the first time Ive seen you with the hat off Todd

Keep showing the rug rat pix as she ages and gets the crawlies.

[W1RC]

Heartiest congratulations to you amd Jem from Cynthia, Yettive and moi.  It seems like yesterday that Yettive arrived into our lives.  Now she's 14 1/2 and K1YTV. 

As Bill suggested: "Don't blink!"

73,

Mister Mike