aaroncolon.com

I bought Aaron's domain name aaroncolon.com before someone else does. Someone has my domain name omarcolon.com. Looks like a graphic designer. You can now go to blog.aaroncolon.com to view this blog. Hopefully someday he'll start is own blog and change the world :).

Baby Shower

The baby shower was this past Saturday at Nino's. The only men invited were myself and my bro Dan who is the Godfather. I mostly manned the video camera and took a couple of pictures. My sister-in-laws organized the event and did a great job. Thank you Titi Millie, Wendy and Jeanette. We had a lot of family and friends attend. I was overwhelmed by the amount of gifts we received for Aaron. Our family and friends are truly a blessing. Thank you all so much. The restaurant and food were excellent. Everyone I spoke with agreed. 

Furniture Is Here

We have the furniture. It looks great. We purchased the goods at crib outlet on Amboy road. Its a very nice store and highly recommend it. We'll do some rearranging and decorating. Almost there.

Cravings

You might think this post is about Jens cravings but she really hasn't had many. I've been on this waffles and ice cream kick like I'm at some board walk carnival smelling the batter pouring from some vendor booth. My formula is 2 cinnamin Eggos and a 2 scoops of turkey hill vanilla bean. What is wrong with me?

Well i did some research and studies show that men can get all of the same pregnancy symptoms as women (Huh?) minus the baby, placenta and large breasts (see WTEWYE for dads chapter). The research states that men experience similar hormonal changes as women (but in a manly way of course) to soften them up for the delicate baby. 

Less than 6 weeks left

So much has happened over the past 2 months:

• We finished birthing classes at Richmond University Medical Center. The classes were very good and well worth the time and cost. They gave lots of information about labor and delivery, breast feeding, Lamaze breathing techniques,  and hospital logistics. Even if you are reading lots of books the classes still add so much value. The question and answer sessions and tour are great. Talking with other couples was also very good.
• We paid off the furniture today and it will arrive monday. I just finished the touch ups in the room so everything is ready to go.
• Im eating alot.
• I cant wait.

Early learning and development resources

I'm starting to research early development tools. I'm finding alarming differences between some of the tools and method of teaching. Some methods use flash cards others are against it. I actually bought that book and a few others:

Bright from the Start
The Bilingual Edge

Its a daunting and overwhelming task to try and teach your child but we are determined to start right away. Obama's got the right idea: "We gotta turn off the TV and tell our kids to do their homework...". Parents also have to do the same and help them. 

I believe education starts in the home like many other things. Society is commanding our teachers with the impossible task to be fully responsible for the educational development of our children. This is wrong. The time they spend learning in the classroom must be reinforced at home with parents. Parents also need to prepare their children for the learning environment. This includes behavioral discipline, basic reading and math skills. The basic foundational skills are necessary for students to be engaged and begin to understand what they are being taught. The class room can give them the exposure but the home is where understanding can take place. 

I know there are many parents who themselves lack the basic skills and have trouble teaching their children. If so, perhaps learning the material with their child would help. If you cant be with your child perhaps the babysitter or care taker can help them. Simply reading to them is better than watching TV.

Furniture is at the store... Waiting to do floors

The furniture has arrived (crib, bureau, glider). They will hold it for us until we get the floors done which is scheduled for Oct 1st. We are really excited to start decorating and finish the room. Jen wants to do some decorating with Aaron's name. I was initially against it but I like the idea of him seeing his name. Perhaps use blocks, wall hangings, or stickers.

Lamaze and birthing classes

Not sure what to expect with these classes. Supposedly my title is "coach". Do I have to make up the plays? I think its more like boost morale and be the leader to lead my team mate to victory. I'm not sure how fitting the title of coach is. I wouldnt want to get fired like Willie Randolph or booed like Isiah Thomas.

Jungle Boogie Border

My friend Rolf helped me put up the jungle animal border. He brought the tools we needed to smooth out the border and submerge it in water. I originally thought to cut the border at the corners of the wall, but Rolf's idea to make one continuous piece proved much cleaner, better looking and easier. After submerging the border in water we slapped it up on the wall and quickly aligned it with the level marks. There was so much glue on the border it began to ooze profusely. To clean it simple water and rag did the trick. In the end we only had a foot or so left. Whew! Thanks Rolf!

Laser Guided Stripe Pattern and More Kicks Within The Host

I got the striping pattern done in Aaron's room. I used a laser level and lots of masking and painters tape. I was afraid the paint would bleed through but thank God it didn't. Each stripe is one foot since its easy to mark with a ruler and its not too thick or thin. The jungle border will go around the room.

I felt Aaron kicking very hard I could also feel him turning and feel his body moving in the Jen's belly. I think I felt his foot, or maybe his head. Whatever it was it was moving and firm. Wow. And I quote "There's another human in my body!". Yes mama, you are the host of our baby.

Nursery Themes Décor

So we decided to go with a jungle theme and try to match colors based on the animal wall paper with shades of green, yellow, and beige. We decided on 2 shades of green one very light almost yellow and one mint green. I am planning to make stripes on the bottom half of the wall just below the border. Wish me luck.

Growing fast! Growing Pains!

The belly is stretching fast, a little too fast! Her abdomin was hurting for 3 days. She described stretching pains. She also has pain at a specific spot on her back. It's keeping her awake more than usual. I'm glad we bought a better mattress.

Registry

We started our registry at baby depot and babies r us. The baby depot's prices are much more reasonable but selection is limited. The one thing I don't like about babies r us is that most of the product boxes are damaged and in bad shape. It feels like all of their items in stock are returns. It makes you wonder if the packaging is in such bad condition, how will the condition of the product be? We also looked in buy buy baby in Chelsea. There they had very helpful staff and also a large selection of strollers and glyding chairs. The prices there were also high and it's location is not convenient our families. Our concern is that we did not put enough items on the list and there will be slim pickins' as the shower approaches.

6 Months in tha' Oven and Eatin' Right.

So Aaron's been baking in the oven for 6 months now. Mom's belly is 39 inches and she's weighing in at an even 158 lbs. She is really setting a good example of how our family should be eating. "Instead of eating a cupcake I eat some sliced cucumbers". Instead of having a doughnut she'll have a banana, an orange, a peach, some grapes, an apple, a pear or some raspberries. She's doing real well in the veggie department too. She makes really impressive salads and her own olive oil dressing. As far as groceries go the Top Tomato close to us has been a real blessing. The veggies and fruits are really fresh and it only takes us a few minutes to shop.

Level 2 Screen - Detailed Ultra Sounds

Today was the completion of level 2 screening at Richmond University Medical Center. We were very excited today, anxiously awaiting to see more detailed ultra sound images of our little one. The ultra sound technician was very nice and really knew what she was doing. The equipment there is much more sophisticated than what our regular Dr. has. The machine has great zoom capability color mapping of blood flow and tools to accurately measure anatomical structures including head circumference.

The technician took about 60 snapshots of various anatomy. We saw many of the vital body parts and organs such as the head, brain, heart, arms, hands, legs, feet, liver, kidneys, umbilical cord and mama's uterus (oh and his you know what that proves he's a boy). He was moving around a lot so it took some time to get a snapshot of those tiny toes. The only drawback of the day was that I've had a migraine but I wont get into that, its for another blog post.

We are very happy the technician confirmed everything looks very good from these images.

He's On the Move!

We felt him moving around a lot last night. Not sure if they were kicks, punches or back flips but definitely lots of activity. His movement gives us more of a sense of reality that the clock is ticking and we are anxiously awaiting his arrival. 

Comments

I changed the setting so you can now leave comments without creating a google account. Just choose Name/URL option when you leave the comment. Thanks!

Bubblin’ Baby in the Belly

Yesterday while on vacation in San Diego we felt the baby move a bit. Jen described a “bubbling feeling” then she felt her hand move while holding her belly. I quickly ran over and put my hand on her stomach and after a few minutes I also felt him move slightly but noticeable. We were questioning if it was just gas from the wonderful Mexican food we ate at Casa Guadalajara but it would take a whole lot of burritos and beans to move that mountain.

Bathroom Locations When Pregnant and on Vacation

While planning our exciting trip to San Diego one concern is being able to find restrooms during our excursions throughout the area. Since it will be hot, Jen will need to drink extra water to stay hydrated and prevent cramping. I found an interesting site called safe2pee.org that provides a Google maps mash up of restrooms in various cities. The site is user driven so it relies on people entering known locations of restrooms. Of course I wouldn’t totally rely on the info but could use it to have a general idea of restroom availability in a certain neighborhood. That’s one advantage of going on vacation to a popular tourist destination especially a large city in the U.S.

We should be able to find restrooms fairly frequently.

Update:

We were able to find restrooms in all of the locations we visited since most of the parks and beaches are popular tourist attractions. There were even many portable bathrooms some very clean and a few that with one breath, would burn the linings of your mucous membranes.

Whats in a name?

Aaron Christopher Colon

We really like this name. Some say why not call the baby Omar Junior? I feel its important for our child to have their own identity which starts with their own name. Besides, I am already a Jr. so our son would then be Omar III. I think thats a bit out of hand and sounds like royalty or the legacy of a pompous and tyrannical monarch or something.