All About the Benjamin

Watoosa and Ben are now home from the hospital. We're all pretty exhausted, but happy to be home, and happy that Watoosa's parents are here to help. We've got relatives lined up to cover the next three weeks or so.

Ben is very healthy. He weighed in at a hefty 9lbs. 11.4 oz., and he only lost about a pound of that before he started gaining again. He's also very sweet-natured, as long as his every wish is fulfilled without delay. Unfortunately, doing so is made more difficult by the fact that Watoosa is moving a bit slower than usual. When he's being...uh, not sweet-natured, he can pack a wallop. He's already developed a William Shatner-style karate chop, with which he rained blows on my face and chest when he had to wait for Watoosa to get out of the bathroom and feed him (check out the 1:15 mark here to see what I mean). He should call it Kirk Fu.

It's still a little overwhelming to realize that I have a son, but in a good way. When we finally got discharged, we were so excited and relieved that when I went to get the car, I steered toward home out of the parking lot before I realized that I was forgetting to pick up Watoosa and the baby at the entrance. Luckily, I didn't get far.

For more on Ben, check out his blog at The Kid (soon to be renamed). We've been too tired and busy to post anything yet, but that will change soon.

This Is What Justice Looks Like

Sweet, hilarious justice.

Word to the Wise

The wait continues here at the home office. Watoosa is now ten days past due, which is well beyond fashionably late.

Meanwhile, in preparation for my role during the delivery and first few days of childrearin', here is a list of words, phrases, and sentences which I am pretty sure I should avoid using.

"great with child"

"fruit of my loins"

"Walk it off."

"Let me finish this nonogram first."

"What's a contraction?"

"football"

"whiner"

"women's work"

"Are you cooking tonight?"

"Dibs on the bathroom!"

"I'm pretty sure he's crying for his momma."

All Those Years of School Were Totally Worth It Because of This

My doctoral regalia came in this week, so I had to try it all on.



The tam looks even better on Watoosa. I think she's starting to show, now.



Greta liked the tassel.

Surprising Experimental Finding of the Week

Bicycle helmets make you less safe:

"When he wore a helmet, vehicles tended to pass closer than when he did not wear a helmet. Passing drivers may have read th helmet as a sign that there was less risk for the cyclist if they hit him. Or perhaps the helmet dehumanized the rider. Or--and more likely, according to [the researcher]--drivers rea the helmet as a symbol of a more capable and predictable cyclist, one less likely to veer into their path. In either case, the helmet changed the behavior of passing drivers."

That's from Tom Vanderbilt's Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us).

I'm tempted to try this experiment myself, given how scary it is for cars to pass too close by me on high-speed roads. But I suspect an AK-47 strapped across my back might lead them to give me even more leeway. These are the things I fantasize about as I pedal around the area.

In other news...no, labor hasn't started yet.