Update

We're still looking for a new condo. It's been tricking finding candidates for places to move to that have what we want, in a good location, and in our price range. It's been challenging and months-long already, I just hope it winds up worth it in the end. I performed a dramatic reading of "Green Eggs & Ham" for Cara a while back and she loved it. Her personality is coming along nicely, and she's very intelligent and very strong-willed, both things that I consider to be very positive. We took her out to the park the other day to try out her first bit of batting practice. I gave her some instruction on stance and swing, and she was able to touch the bat to the ball a few times. Not bad for still shy of 3.

Cara Today

Cara has a great memory. At 2 and 1/2 years old, she knows songs by heart, including one with all of the months. She can sing the refrain from "City of New Orleans" which we call the "Train Song." I'm also very proud that some of her favorite cartoons include the original 60's Spider-Man cartoon, as well as the 80's "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends." She loves shouting out, "his amazing friends, Iceman and Firestar!" She also would watch when we would pop in our West Wing CD's at dinner time, and she would shout the main character's names (she memorized them all) as they are shown in the opening credits: "C.J., C.J! Toby, Toby! Josh, Josh!" I couldn't be prouder.

2011

It was an interesting 2011. We were able to expose Cara to gaming pretty early... we all went to Gen Con together, where we got her her first 20-sided die (large enough that she couldn't swallow it), and we had her first birthday party at the local Chicagoland Games shop. No telling if she'll be interested in these things when she's older, of course, but we shall see...

The Jankcast also started their "Jank on Demand" events this year, bringing gamers together to try sample new games; it was a great idea and I've been able to get more involved in the local gaming community because of it.

Also this year, we saw the start of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, which is protesting the corruption in the financial system and it's powerful influence on the government, and I support them whole-heartedly. There has also been movement towards amending the constitution to ban corporate influence, including the new Wolf-Pac that I also intend to support in any way I can. Hopefully, we can make some progress in 2012.

We finished off the year at the Rain Forest Cafe on New Year's Eve. Cara loved seeing the fish in their big tank, and couldn't take her eyes off the mechanical animals too, but I think was still a little nervous around them.

One year later

Happy New Blog! I thought I'd check in on 1/1/11 with an update. Debby's been feeling a better; only a few aches and pains and other complications left. I've been getting called in for more overtime at work lately, which is good because I've made more money to help pay for the expenses of raising baby Cara, but is also bad because it leaves me less family time with Debby and daughter.

For Christmas, we went out to Sycamore to Debby's parents' place. Back home, the better decorated of our 2 Christmas trees (long story) looked like this:



A little too small for the Star Trek ornaments, but we put those underneath. We were also sent a baby-sized Santa cap from my aunt Frances, so I feel obliged to show this as well:



And of course, I have to mention the fact that we got to see the Chicago premiere of the Klingon Christmas Carol:



Now, Debby and I are both atheists, so according to Fox News, we're supposed to hate Christmas. As you can see, like everything else you'd hear on Fox News, that's complete bullshit. Speaking of which, there was a study done at the University of Maryland recently that showed once again how misinformed Fox News viewers are. Not only are those viewers most likely to believe crazy stuff (like scientists don't really agree that the climate is changing, or that President Obama was born in Kenya), they also are more likely to be completely wrong about government policy and legislation passed in the last few years. I feel sorry for people who choose to be lied to like this, but I can't respect them.

I'll have see if I can post here more often to set the record straight. Of course, I've got a lot of new things I'm planning on doing this year, but it's going to come down to finding enough time to do them and still keep all the Daddy time I want to have available for baby Cara.

I have to mention before I end this that even though 2010 was a fantastic year for me, it's very different from what I thought it might be when I was growing up. When I was a kid, I was a big fan of the 2001 and 2010 movies, and all year I've been thinking from time to time how different the future wound up from what was envisioned by Arthur C. Clarke. A recent Jankcast I was listening to that dealt with futuristic gaming summed this up nicely when they came up with the phrase "nostalgic for the future". Hopefully this time next year, I might be able to report that we saw some things come to be that we always hoped to see in the future.

Cara's Arrival

As I write this, it is 3 weeks and 3 days after the birth of my daughter, Cara. She was born on August 11, 2010, 8 lbs 9 oz and 22 inches long at 6:45 in the morning.

It wasn't an easy delivery. In addition to all of the usual monitoring devices and the epidural, Debby had to endure an IV of mercury flowing into her, being restricted from drinking water, and at one point even wearing an oxygen mask. I was standing beside her in the hospital room the entire time, helping as best I could. After 3 hours of pushing with the contractions (we had been told the normal max was around 2 hours), Cara had dropped far enough for the doctor to deliver with forceps.

With the final push, the doctor cut the cord and had the nurses whisk the baby away (I had been going to cut the cord, but due to the fact that Cara had already had a bowel movement inside Debby, they needed to clean her off as soon as possible. They still had me cut a piece of the cord later, I guess as a ceremonial gesture) and soon after, as the doctor continued his work to stitch up Debby from her new injuries, they called me over to where they had cleaned and measured the baby and started asking me questions, none of which I remember at this point. I was too busy staring at my new daughter. They had me put on her first diaper in my dumbfounded state, very clumsily and with much assistance. I couldn't resist taking out my blackberry and taking a video of Cara, which I then brought to the new Mommy as soon as I could. I felt it was unfair that it took so long for Debby to see Cara up close, but eventually the doctor finished, and they swaddled up Cara and put her in Debby's arms. Happiness.

I was completely exhausted after, so I can only imagine what Debby felt like. The delivery left her with injuries that she is still recovering from, and will be for some time. She was simply amazing in that delivery room, and fought as hard as I've ever seen anyone fight in my life to deliver the baby and avoid a C-section.

The weeks that followed have been sort of a blur, a period of getting used to feeding the baby every 3 hours (even the middle of the night, of course) and changing diapers (you start to get good at it after the first 30 or 40 or so). Cara has already been to Debby's school, our favorite pancake restaurant (4 or 5 times!), the new Target that opened a few blocks from us, , a Chinese restaurant, and her first gaming store, Chicagoland Games (sure, she slept through most of these trips, but hey...) Cara Jade is healthy, eating and sleeping well, and we couldn't be more happy.

Incidentally, my position on abortion rights has never been stronger at this point; I'm more pro-choice than ever. The idea that anyone would want the government to force a woman that doesn't want to have a baby to go through what Debby went through over the last 9 months, and force her to face having the same injuries or worse is monstrous. The decision to go through that must be the woman's alone, and some would have the government force underage girls, and women with no way to support a child, and women that had been raped...

No. For anyone that wants to live in a country that abuses their women that badly, I hear Saudi Arabia is a lovely spot for it. Not in the United States of America, as long as I have anything to say about it.

Due Date

Today was Cara Jade's due date, but as we head to bed tonight, we still have no Cara. One of my friends joked that she was being like her old man and being "fashionably late". I think she's just showing signs of being a future gamer and is keeping us guessing.

Since I posted here last, my hard drive crashed, along with the motherboard which both had to be replaced, then the information and programs restored. My own personal disaster, which pales in comparison to the actual disaster brought to us by BP and their offshore oil drilling, which began with an exploding rig and led to a flood of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. Supposedly, it's now currently (mostly) plugged.

For Debby, this time has been especially challenging and she's had to endure quite a few painful and/or debilitating physical problems, as well as a few emotional roller coaster rides. We both wait anxiously now for the big day. I know Cara will make her appearance when she is good and ready, but I hope it is soon.

It's (going to be) a...

...baby! We just got back from the OB/GYN where Debby and I went for her ultrasound exam, which is where of course I finally got to find out if I am going to be a mother or a father.

Wait, that's not right. Actually, we found out the sex of our child, and can now proudly report that around August 1st we will be welcoming into the world Miss Cara Jade Prouty Daniels.

I must admit, we were both hoping it would be a girl (here's a clue: Debby's email name has been 'caraprouty' for the last 10 years), which is one of the reasons I was almost certain it would be a boy. Now comes the fun part: Since we know it's going to be a girl, we can head out to the stores that we're going to register at and pick out a lot of little-girl-themed gifts for the list.