Sunday

June 29

Howdy y'all. I appreciate the comments from yesterday -- they brightened my day! It's nice to be reassured that folks actually visit this website on purpose. Oh well, enough of my blubbering...

MILESTONE ALERT:
Today, Daphne let out an extended giggle (along the lines of a full blown chuckle). For a while now, she has been smiling and belting out an occasional "heh heh". But, for the first time, we heard our daffodil's complete laugh.

Last week, I attended an impromptu employee sale and out of the blue, I purchased a brand new, digital camcorder for $50. It was "last year's model", but so what, it works beautifully! Capturing Daphne in video is priceless...

Guess what I have been doing the past few days? Yep, I am videotaping Daphne laughing, kicking, crying, etc. After my FireWire cable arrives next week via mail order, I will extract some video to my computer and possibly YouTube some footage (if it looks okay).

We will be celebrating the 4th of July with a bunch of friends in Murfreesboro. We spread the good news of Jennie's pregnancy at the same party a year ago. Time sure does fly!

Here are some new photos to enjoy: (Daphne's hair keeps falling out)





Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Saturday

June 28

In May of 2007, I created this blog to provide a daily diary for my family and friends. Those of you who faithfully visited this website during Jennie's pregnancy might remember my links of the day and jokes. After Daphne's arrival, a paradigm shift occurred and now I struggle to write a paragraph or two and post a few photos every few days.

Google Analytics graphs nearly 20 folks visiting this website daily (consistently). Naturally, I ache for comments (any type of positive or negative feedback) and rarely get any. So, I question if Google's tracking is true. Is anyone reading this?

I will continue to blog several times per week for now. But, I am trying to gauge if anyone truly visits or if Google Analytics is simply capturing me separately as unique hits. Maybe I am the 20 travelers who frequent this website daily? hehehe That would be depressing!

Daphne constantly turns herself perpendicular in her crib these days...


If I hear from anyone at all, I will jump for joy... otherwise, I will consider fading into oblivion. Comments, anyone?

Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Thursday

June 26

A full year has passed since Daphne and her blastocyst sibling were implanted into Jennie's uterus. An early morning IVF procedure on June 25th, 2007 began our parenthood unofficially. A week and a half later on July 6th, we received Jennie's pregnancy test results in a voicemail. At that point, we had no clue if we were having twins or a singleton. Jennie knew from day one she would have a little, baby girl. Maybe it was maternal instinct, female intuition, or simply a good guess? I will never know for sure!

I remember how protective I became of Jennie's well being and the health of our unborn fetus. The first few months of pregnancy seemed to take forever. And, now that Daphne is now four months old, the time continues to fly by in comparison.

I traveled the past few days (out of town) for my employer, but Jennie was in good hands. Her parents helped with Daphne in my absence. It was the first time I had spent the night away from my Daffodil and it was painful. The glimmer in Daphne's eye when I arrived home last night was priceless. She loves when I come home from work and scoop her up into my arms.

More photos coming soon...

Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Monday

June 23

Daphne's doctor appointment went well today. Here are her 4-month old stats:

WEIGHT = 12 lbs, 8 oz (30th percentile)
HEIGHT = 24 inches (43rd percentile)
HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE = 39 cm (9th percentile)

The doctor said Daphne has good muscle tone, appears healthy, has a charming personality, and her growth is trending upwards as it should. She is starting to drool alot and chew on anything she gets her hands on (pre-teething). Overall, her development is progressing beautifully.





Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Sunday

June 22

Daphne and I watched the NHL draft rounds 2 through 7 yesterday while Mommy was sewing at a friend's house. I believe the hockey talk may have bored Daphne a bit (as she slept through most of the selections). Last night, she was mesmerized by Alton Brown's Good Eats and later, Iron Chef - America (Food Network is amazingly vibrant in high definition). No worries; our baby will not be a couch potato. We still play with her and read to her more often than we watch the tube...

Tomorrow is Daphne's doctor visit. I'll be sure to post all of the results.

Lounging in my birthday suit


Hey, I'm swimming!


Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Friday

June 20

Daphne is 4 months old today! Mommy, Grammy, and Grampy are taking her to the Farmer's Market this morning and then, depending on the weather, a nice walk in the park.

Exactly one year ago today, Jennie went under the scalpel at NFC to have her eggs harvested. Out of her 62 potential eggs, 32 were extracted safely and injected with my sperm via micro-scalpel. Daphne and her future siblings were all fertilized on June 20th, 2007. So, technically, Daphne is a year old today!

Daphne's routine doctor visit (and immunizations) occurs Monday morning. I will post the results after we return.

Tonight the NHL Entry Draft begins at 6pm CST and I am VERY excited. I will be glued to the festivities while bouncing Daphne on my knee.

Photos later today...

Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Tuesday

June 17

Daphne's sleeping habits have nearly reverted back to her early days of colic-like, fussiness (you know, the inconsolable crying at the top of her lungs for more than 20 to 30 minutes). It is so hard not to pick her up and love on her as she wails, but she is far beyond the threshold of manipulation. We don't want to begin any bad habits now that she can self-soothe herself to sleep. Slurp, slurp, slurp! She enjoys sucking on her index and middle finger when she's particularly fussy, and it always seems to calm her down. She refuses pacifiers and prefers her fingers instead. In fact, she will use one hand to brace the forearm of the hand she is slurping. hehehe

Those fingers are delicious!


Only a few weeks ago, Jennie and I were on cloud nine. We would place Daphne in her crib for "middle-of-the-day" naps and to sleep at night with no issues whatsoever; she might fuss for 2 or 3 minutes tops and then, whammo! Sleepy time.

Since last weekend's festivities and travel, Daphne has not been the same baby. I'm sure this is only a phase and it, too, will resolve itself soon... she simply needs some consistency and all will be hunky-dory again.

Here's a picture of our little princess enjoying her mobile:


Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Monday

June 16

I hope everyone had a memorable Flag Day and Father's Day weekend!

Yesterday, Daphne entertained her grandparents while I helped solve a minor computer issue (and trained my mother-in-law how to archive her digital photography). Somehow, the thumbnail and filmstrip view in Windows Explorer stopped working on their computer. I re-registered the offending Windows DLLs and all is well again. As I tie a string around my finger, I am reminding myself to bring over more RAM for their computer... no one should have less than 1 or 2 gigabytes of RAM these days!

After our mini-feast of pulled pork barbecue and all the trimmings, we placed a blanket on the floor for Daphne to squirm around on. It's quite funny to watch Daphne arch her back and flop around like a fish out of water. Determined and stubborn, she effortlessly rolls over from her back to her belly and vice versa. Sneaking a peak in her crib at night, we never know what to expect out of our little contortionist.

Evening Update: 7:46pm -- a few photos from the weekend.

Daphne preparing for last Saturday's cookout.


Daphne loves her motorized swing on Father's Day...



Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Saturday

June 14

Happy Father's Day weekend!

Jennie, Daphne, and I spent today in Clarksville visiting (our friends) Bill, Erica, and their three year old daughter, Ella. We had a great time playing games and eating barbecued burgers and bratwurst. I tried to show some restraint since I am still attempting to win my work's Biggest Loser competition... it was tough not pigging out on all of the chips & dips available.

Daphne did well being away from home all day with no significant nap time. It was the farthest she has ever been away from home in her 15 weeks of life.

Tomorrow we will probably spend part of the day celebrating the holiday with Jennie's parents.

Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Wednesday

June 11

Last night Jennie and I decided to take a quick nap after supper. The idea sounded pretty good with nothing on TV these days except summer re-reruns. Three and a half hours later, we woke up for Daphne's late night snack of boob juice. I love the way Daphne prefers to sleep now (on her belly with her little tush high in the air and her knees tucked under her stomach); it is so cute!

After Daphne eats her late evening snack, we usually dress her in long-sleeved, footy pajamas for her bedtime routine. Lately, her pajamas have been little frilly, Victorian outfits. I really need to take a picture for you to visualize our little "artist formerly known as Prince". I just want to bust out and sing some Purple Rain when I see her wiggle.

Jennie and I played around on Facebook last night at midnight (after our big nap, we were no longer sleepy -- imagine that?). I challenge each and every one of you to join Facebook and add me as your friend. I am not much for Social Networking websites (e.g., MySpace, Classmates.com, etc), but Facebook is pretty cool!

Oh well, I have rambled enough for today. I will post some photos of Daphne tonight when I get home from work. Jennie took some great ones yesterday.

Evening Update: I assembled Daphne's new Evenflo ExerSaucer Deluxe after work. Here are the photos I promised...





Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Sunday

June 9

Yesterday, I spent the day playing with Daphne and taking it easy. It was truly a lazy Sunday. Poor old Jennie is probably getting cabin fever being at home so much. Now that Daphne is getting older and much less fussy, we should be able to take her out and about more often and expose her to life in middle Tennessee.

Geek alert: Thanks to a co-worker and good friend, I now have Synergy (a SourceForge project) running on my desktop and laptop at work. I can use one mouse and keyboard to move between a Windows and Linux operating system seamlessly. I decided to install Ubuntu 8.04 Linux on my laptop last week to boost performance and it has not disappointed. Now, if I could only get Synergy on my BlackBerry!

Tomorrow is another "weigh in" for my Biggest Loser competition. I do not believe this week's scale reading will be nearly as dramatic as last week. I will be lucky to have lost a pound or two -- too much diet inconsistency and peer pressure (eating out a few times). All we can do is look to the future and not worry about the past...

Daphne enjoys her mobile after a nice, warm bath...




Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

June 8

We pushed Daphne around the park yesterday in her stroller. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were quite drawn to her bright red, Chicco stroller... Mommy got bit at least 6 times and I managed to escape with nary a bite.

My rear bicycle tire fully deflated half an hour into our journey. So, I ended up pushing my bicycle alongside Jennie, her parents, and Daphne.

Here are a couple of photos of Daphne lounging in her bouncy seat this morning:





Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Friday

June 6

Daphne celebrates her 14th week of life today. That's 3 1/2 months for those who are mathematically challenged!



Week two of my work's "The Biggest Loser" contest is underway and I am currently the reigning loser (having lost 8 pounds in week 1). The winner after 6 weeks (i.e., the person who loses the most cumulative weight) will win a couple hundred dollars. At this point, my motivation is simple: I want a new motherboard and CPU in my home computer. I really need a new one and losing weight at the same time is a bonus.

Big plans this weekend? I have not even a clue as to what adventures Daphne will enjoy this weekend. Now that hockey season has ended, I wander around like a lost puppy... (Detroit won the Stanley Cup the other night -- boo, hiss, boo)

Daphne's next round of immunization shots will be on Monday, June 23rd (her 4-month old routine doctor visit).

Have a great weekend!

Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Tuesday

June 3

Sorry folks, I stand corrected. Please forgive me for addressing my family improperly in my last post. I foolishly referred to everyone as "Grandma" and "Grandpa" and later discovered they prefer to be called other stuff. So, my apologies to Grammy Amy, Grampy Barry, Grandpa Wayne, and Nanny Cyndee. Also, cousin Michael and Great Nanny Betty visited Daphne on Saturday as well (really not fair to leave anyone out).

Whew! Hot days are here again... temperatures outside will pierce 90 degrees all week! This is the glorious time of year when our backyards become brown and crunchy. Not all bad if you hate mowing your lawn, I suppose. But, the July 4th weekend is troublesome when your neighborhood resembles the 2003 Iraq "Shock and Awe" missile onslaught. I am not anxious to see how Daphne will sleep that weekend... hehehe

Speaking of Daphne, she appears to be suffering from our good friend conjunctivitis (also known as "pink eye"). The doctor's office told us not to bring her in unless it gets worse. Still full of smiles, her eye is not slowing her down one bit.

Here are some photos from Sunday:
(as always, feel free to click on the pictures below to see a BIGGER version)




Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Monday

June 2

Where do the weekends go? They are never long enough...

Grandpa Wayne (my Dad) and Grandma Cyndee visited Daphne on Saturday afternoon. We enjoyed a nice meal at Logan's Steakhouse while Daphne slept in her car seat. As we were finishing up, Daphne began to stir (uh oh, here comes the crying). Luckily, the restaurant was loud enough to drown out her fussiness. She calmed down as I bounced her on my lap and loved on her. Daddy's arms seem to pacify her more than a car seat these days. We are slowly getting over our fear of taking Daphne out in public (she cries anywhere and everywhere!).

Yesterday, we celebrated Grandpa Barry's (Jennie's Dad) birthday at Mimi's Cafe. Once again, Daphne slept wonderfully for the first 45 minutes or so (notice a pattern here? hehehe). But, Mommy saved the day by creating a portable milk tent to feed Daphne (I draped a receiving blanket over Jennie's shoulder to hide her "milk factory"). Oddly enough, I think people get really freaked out at the sight of a mother breastfeeding here in the South. No one saw Jennie or made any comments, but I was prepared to verbally assault anyone caught staring in disgust. Our table was situated in the corner and out of casual view -- so, it was a non-issue.

I will post more photos in the coming days.

Until tomorrow,
Dave T.