Let them eat cake

Just a photo for this post. Sonja invited Ying and me to her daughter's first birthday. Sonja's nephew, Logan, took a cue from Sidney and tried to grab a little cake before he was cut his own piece. He was quickly stopped from helping himself and had to wait like the rest of us. I rather like this picture I got of Logan wondering if the next piece of cake will be his.

Welcome to this world

I'm happy to report that Alex and Bobbi welcomed Felix Robert Julian on Tuesday. This one gets special mention because I happened to call Alex on Wednesday and caught him at home during a brief break from the hospital and I got a demonstration of how much the birth of your first child can really take out of you. Here's a snippet of our conversation, to the best of my memory.

Alex: Felix was born last night at 11:37.
Darcy: let me get this all officially entered into my calendar. So, 27 Feb at 11:37.
Alex: No, 28 Feb.
Darcy: today is 28 Feb and you said last night.
Alex: it was last night. Isn't today Wednesday, 29 Feb.
Darcy: it is Wednesday but it's the 28. Plus, this year isn't a leap year so tomorrow is 1 March.
Alex: are you sure?

Alex was never the best at keeping track of dates and times and I can understand that childbirth is a stressful event so his disorientation can be forgiven. It was also kind of amusing for me; especially the 29 Feb part.

26 down, 14 to go

With just 98 days left (± 2 weeks), things are still changing rapidly for Ying and I. We're settling into our new house and making it a home. We still have lots of shopping to do to prepare for the baby. And shopping for others since Alex's due to be a dad tomorrow or so and I've accepted an invite to a first birthday party. Ying regrets not getting her driver's licence as soon as she got to Canada because we're a little further from everything out here. Still, things could be worse.

Things might start getting worse soon if the Brick doesn't get their act together. Despite my hating the Brick, which isn't completely related to Mike Comrie and the Edmonton Oilers, I found myself purchasing a washer and dryer there. In retrospect, I should have gone to Leon's since the Brick only had that deal on in order to match a Leon's price. I almost walked out except we had the least pushy Brick salesman I've ever met; he only tried to sell me the extended warranty three times! They must have sold quite a few washers and dryers since they wouldn't be able to deliver for a while. That while expired yesterday so I'll be calling tomorrow to see where my washer and dryer are. I need them soon 'cause I'm running low on clean clothes. Don't worry, I'm not down to the inside-out/back-to-front thing with my underwear just yet. My closet is brimming a bit more than usual since Mark's has been putting lots of stuff on clearance which Ying has been buying up for me.

The weather has improved enough for me to get in one bike ride to work. In Calgary's continuing infinite wisdom, it was decided that bike routes should wind through neighbourhoods and climb as many hills as possible. Streets with bike routes are also obviously different from other streets since they have the little bike route sign posted intermittently along them. No marked bike lanes, not even a wider shoulder is to be had in my whole 14 km commute downtown. I also live in the void of bike paths as there are few between here and downtown and the ones which do exist around here are short, useless and go nowhere. I'm sure the little bike route signs will prove effective in keeping me from being struck down by some large SUV as I fight traffic. I notice that all motorists are keenly aware of the signs posted beside the road. The car pool lane down Centre St is normally 60% - 70% filled with lonely people, idling their car in traffic while they drive just themselves downtown. Oh well, I should be in shape soon enough that it'll be faster for me to ride my bike than take the bus.

Moved

It's done! Ying and I have successfully moved from our little condo into a much larger home. We're very happy in our new place and we invite all our friends to come visit us sometime. We'll have enough room when the baby arrives to put up a few relatives who'll be in town to help out.

The move into the new house went great. We invited a lot of people to come help and many of them turned out. I rented a big truck and everything was jammed inside in under an hour. The drive took 20 minutes and then everything was out in no time flat. Our movers were paid in beer, chilli and sugar and they all seemed to have had a good enough time.

Today I rode the proletariat chariot into work for the first time. It was actually pretty good. To and from work, I was one of the first people on and off. It was nice to get a seat for the 35 minutes journey. It looks like I'll be riding all week since we're supposed to get some snow for the rest of the week. It's also a little darker than I like while biking. The sun comes up earlier everyday so I don't think it will be long before I'm cycling in. Good thing too. I'm currently sitting in third in the weight loss challenge. I think I'll spend April and May going over Nose Hill so I get 300 m of climbing everyday.

Halftime

Tomorrow marks 140 days to go in Ying's pregnancy. So far it's been smooth sailing through calm waters. Ying did have a few months of nausea but that's all gone now. We've sold our condo and will take possession of our new house in two weeks. We've got a number of brave volunteers set to help us move so things should go well. We'll then have four full months to settle in and get ready for the baby. TBI gave us the wonderful Xmas gift of a stroller/car seat combo, Ying's mom is rapidly buying up baby clothes and my mom's starting with a rocking chair. We're still not ready to be parents but I hear everyone is nervous before their first. But the coolest thing is that we're starting to feel the baby kick! I felt it myself for the first time just four days ago. The ultrasounds were good but to feel the baby thumping away inside Ying's belly is the ultimate.

I should also be a little lighter when the baby arrives. At work, Jon, Dale and Victor decided that they needed to lose a little weight. Greg and I found out and asked to join in. The person who loses the smallest percentage of their original body-weight by 18 May has to chip in $100 for a nice group lunch. The rest chip in $75, $50, $25 and nothing based on their order of finish. At the official weigh-in, Dale was the low man at 84 kg while Victor crushed the scale at just over 124 kg; even after we made him take a pile of change and his cell phone out his pockets. Of course, the weigh-in was after a big lunch, fully clothed and, for me, there was the need to take a bathroom break. I came in second-lightest at just under 90 kg; which I find very embarrassing. I know I've bulked up a little in the past while but that's ridiculous! I hope my soon-to-be new commute which involves nearly two hours of biking a day will help. My goal is to get back to my high school weight of 75 kg. I've got some work ahead of me.

It's probably a...

Just got back from having Ying's 18 week ultrasound done. We're pleased to report that everything's fine. We again saw two arms, two legs and five fingers on each hand. The new 3D technique is not recommended by us at this stage because our baby looks like something off the X-Files. Luckily, there's still lots of development to go 'cause I don't think even the mother would love this face as it appeared on the 3D ultrasound. Our baby currently weighs in at 232 g or half a pound. We didn't see the length but the heart rate was 141 bpm and we could see it pumping away. And now for the news most people are interested in. According to what we didn't see on the ultrasound, we think we're having a girl. We'll have to wait another 155 days (±2 weeks or so) to know for sure.

We're open to name suggestions at this point as well. We'll go into the hospital with a baby name book just incase it's a boy. We've only thought of one girl's name so far: Julie. It comes from next year being the Year of the Pig in China. In Chinese, pig is 猪, spelled "zhu" in pinyin and pronounced like "ju" in English. We're probably going to pick another character with the same pronunciation, 珠, which means "pearl" or "treasure." Then we'll use the character 丽, which means "beautiful" and is pronounced like "li." Of course, it's still early so we might change our mind on the name or what characters to use for her Chinese name.

174 days to go

We started late but here's Ying's belly after 15 weeks. She did start out much thinner but her pants are starting to get a little tight now.

We're getting everything in order for our new family. Our condo has sold and we've almost finalized buying a new home. We're pressuring her parents to get their passports and we'll try and have them come to Canada for a little while when the baby is born. It's our first baby so we're welcoming any parenting help.

Ying's at Mark's Work Wearhouse right now and getting tons of hours since they're understaffed going into the holidays. My work is going great and I'm looking forward to two weeks of celebrating Xmas. So far, there are three company parties lined up which is three more than I attended last year. Oh! There's also a little fiesta for our last Spanish class of the year.

We're unable to head to Edmonton for Xmas because Ying will be working so much over the holidays but we'll relax around here. Mom should be happy next Xmas. Her household population might skyrocket from one to seven which would include her two seven month-old grandchildren. Hmm, I wonder if she'll do double-duty on the free baby-sitting so the rest of us could have a night out...