Merry Christmas Everyone!

Santa Clause.  Ol' St. Nick.  Chris Cringle.  Any way you cut it... he's the guy in the big red suit who dols out all the presents to the good boys and girls of the world.  Well Santa came to Milton and mommy took Devin there. 

Apparently the child before Devin freaked out.  Hey.  Santa can be a scary guy at first glance.  So this other child is screaming.  And Devin.  He sits patiently with mommy awaiting his turn.  So here's the results.  The cutest boy on the planet.   All his pictures were great!  Not a wince, not a cry, not a tear.  Just happy laughy Devin and Santa.  Man we are lucky.

Merry Christmas everyone! 

  

In memory of Thatha - Sri T.V.Anantaramaseshan - Devin's great grandfather

Sadly, we lost a significant member of our family this week.   Ash's grandfather and the man I really only knew as "Thatha", unfortunately passed away.  He is one of the most kindest, spiritual and intelligent men I have ever had the opportunity to meet.  I only wish Devin had had a chance to meet this marvelous man and bask in the greatness he offered so freely.  I don't think my words can express how much Thatha will be missed, as such, I'll leave this to Asha's uncle. 

The following is a beautiful tribute Ramanan (Ash's uncle) wrote in effigy of his father.

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My father, Sri T.V.Anantaramaseshan (87) left on his journey to the higher worlds in the afternoon of Nov 22, 2010. He recovered well from a surgery for removal of malignant tumor in the intestine, completed the writing of his new book, a comentary on Siva Sahasranamam (unique interpretation of the 1000 names of Lord Siva) resumed his routine with gusto, but developed some unrelated complications and breathed his last.

As he was gasping, he raised his left hand, looked at me and looked at the space above and pleadingly uttered, 'Narayana.' That was the last word I heard from him. Even during his semi conscious state, his hand was doing japa.

He was born poor, led a simple life till the end. He never slept on a mattress. His utmost luxury was a wooden plank.

A brilliant student throughout, he did his M.A. in Economics at the Presidency College in Madras. From 1954 to 63, he taught Economics at the Loyola College, Madras. From 1963 to 1986, he served The Hindu as its Assistant Editor, wrote numerous editorials, managed the Books Review section and even after retiring from The Hindu, he helped Sri T.R.Jawahar in his News Today.

Father was a remarkable scholar and a spontaneous poet in Sanskrit and wielded a facile pen even while writing Tamil prose. He has composed about 27 Suprabhatams (hymns awakening the Lord within) in Sanskrit with commentary in Tamil. Trisakthi Publications released his two Tamil books Deviyum Manidhanum (a brilliant interpretation of Dhasa Mahaa Vidya) and Azagu Muruganin Aayiram PeyargaL (commentary on Subrahmanya Sahasranaama)

An authority in temple structure, he has performed Kumbhabhishekam (consecration) of many temples in India and abroad. He was a remarkable astrologer and thanks to his years of mantra japa, did not depend on horoscopes.

He was devoted to Kanyakuymari who is his Guru, Goddess and friend and Lord Vishnu. He had not missed his Gayathri Japa (1,000 each twice a day) for the last 76 years, since his initiation.
He saw some material comfort only very late in his life. He would laugh it off by saying, "Life is not all that bad I say! Only the first 80 years are difficult!!'' He was simple, affable and humorous and treated death as nothing more than a sanitation problem.

My Master used to say, "Death is an event whose proximity is unlimited; and distance very limited." How true! From the moment life enters the womb, death starts stalking. That is why whenever it happens, it seems it has happened all of a sudden. That is why it has remained a mystery. In a way, lack of knowledge of death is the reason for believing and not believing.

My father was fully aware of the nature and the aftermath of death from a very early age. He had unique experiences which he had related to me. His faith in divinity is due to his thorough knowledge of death and thereafter, which made him a humble human being.

You do not often come across a person who can quote miles and miles of Shakespeare and Kalidasa, who can write Editorials in 20 minutes, who can 'remember the future', who can compose hymns in Sanskrit and converse spontaneously, who can regale any audience of any age group with his silken English and impish sense of humor and walk away like an ordinary man unnoticed. Like my wife said, God doesn't make such calibre of people anymore.

This 'jolly good walker' as my Master would call him, has walked away in a huff. When his illness forced him into prolonged hospitalization which prevented him from performing his routine, he felt uncomfortable and thought it was below dignity to live in the body anymore.

Till the end, he was wedded to the Sri Uthara Guruvayoorappan Temple (Nanganallur) which he was instrumental in raising where he remained the Mel Saandhi (head priest) till the end. It was no surprise that his last conscious word was 'Narayana.' As a mark of respect to him, the temple will be closed for half a day on Nov 24, when his body will be consigned to flames at the Besant Nagar crematorium.

Love,
Ramanan

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Thatha will be forever missed.

Officially Crawling!

Thankfully!  Dev's no longer dragging his lower body to get around.  His military-like assaults on people's ankles are done. As cute as they were, you never knew where the heck he was, but you had to assume he was somewhere on the ground waiting to tackle your feet.  But now our little man is officially crawling.  7-months old and crawling like a champ.  Is that some sort of a record?  Probably not eh...  I'm such a proud parent.

Next on the agenda? Walking.  Then a job!  As soon as he's standing... he's working.  Honestly I truly plan to have Devin walking unassisted by 9-months because shortly thereafter, he will be joining a number of children in day-care.  Home day-care as a matter of fact.  Thus he's going to need to defend himself and run like hell should one of the bigger and older kids intimidate him.  I'm not saying bullying or anything like that... kids are kids.  One has a toy the other one wants.... bam... pow... they take it.  Its like Darwin's principle...  survival of the fittest!  Devin is going to win those battles.

Hopefully this video will work.  SWEET - IT DOES!  Enjoy!

I'm handy! And Devin explores the house.

There's something to be said about being a little handy when it comes to building things.  When I say handy, I mean DIY (do-it-yourself), git er' done, Sweet Jesus - Houston I have  a problem and I'm going to come up with a solution to fix this. 

My dilemma?  Stair Safety!  Devin is offically crawling around the house on the main floor.  Ok - so not quite crawling as much as dragginh his bodt around the floor.  But he's found the courage and curiosity to go beyond the kitchen and explore the two remianing rooms he seldomly visits.  The foyer and our entrance.  Only problem being, is that the foyer provides access both upstairs and downstairs.  When you have a 6.5 month year old exploring new areas, their understanding of depth perception and knowledge of consequences is fairly lacking.  Hell.  Lacking is a polite word.  They have as much common sense as a moth to a flame.  Is Devin smart?  Yes.  Is he fearless?  Yes.  Is he going to fall down the stairs because he doesn't realize the rammifications of height and distance.  Yesterday - Yes.  But as of today - NO!  Because I installed a saftey gate!

So I return to my Title.  I'm handy.  Now it's not like I'm Bob Villa or Mike Holmes or even Jeff Haworth.  These are talented men.  Titans of industry and capable of building beautiful and amazing things. When they build things, they build them right.  And then there's me.  Give me a problem or a job that needs to be done and I'll figure out a good way to do it. 

This problem solving capability was not not present in the house's former owner.  "Common sense" clearly lacked in the previous person who owned our house.  He / she mounted the child safety gate directly to the stair post.  If you don't know... that's just stupid.  Like really really dumb.  Bannisters and railing cost significant dollars and its not like you go out each day and think "hey - I'm going to get a whole new railing and posts".  You just don't drill holes into your stair posts.  It's not smart.  People just don't do that!

Enjoy my handy work.  Not a single screw in the post.  None!  Two beautifully cut cedar planks sandwiched on either side of the post.  And that safety gate is as solid and permanent as our brick house.  Six screws and it comes apart.  Everything sanded and smooth as fine as a baby's butt.  No damage to the staircase.  Sometimes I impress myself.  :)

Happy Halloween - 2010

A  little too early to get out there and start begging err... I mean trick or treating for candy, although I know Ash and I would appreciate all the goodies Dev currently can't eat.  Thus this year is a wash. 

Dev's going to help mommy hand out candies till around bedtime and daddy is going to yell at kids over the age of 14 who clearly should not be trick and or treating.  Any kid over the age of 14 is going to get candy thrown at them.  Seriously... I`m going to try and take eyes out.  Get  a job I say.  And yes - I will be pointing that out to them.  Oooooooh I can't wait.

Bunch of Halloween photos added for prospertiy's sake.

Happy Halloween from Devin

Ash & Dev our set up

Dev & our pumpkins

Dev & next door neighbour`s pumpkins

Our set up

Bill's set up

Want to point out a couple things above.  Yes.  My pumpkin is barfing O'Henry's.  Ash and I are in agreement that these chocolate bars suck.  I honestly hope the kids steal them tonight.

Bill (he's my next door neighbour) did all of the carving of his pumpkins by hand.  Its insane what he did.  If you have a couple extra seconds, click on the photo to see his work.  Very, very, very impressive.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Just because

Oh ya.  He's going to have a faux-hawk at some point.

Gotta learn to walk before you can run...

I don't think Dev really wants to crawl.  Little man loves standing.  Loves being walked around and clinging onto things that allow him to be above the ground.  Its pretty cool.  He gets so elated and excited to stand up it`s so cool. 

But I'm starting to think he's going to forego the whole crawling thing.   I know they say ``you got to learn to crawl before you can walk" and of course "you got to learn to walk before you can run", but I think Dev's is forging his own path.  6-months old and standing.  At this rate... he`ll be driving a car by 4.  Oh lord.

So here we have Dev standing in his crib.  Uggghhhh.  Guaranteed I`ve got to drop it down another level.  This kid is going to escape from his crib before we know it.  In case you haven`t noticed... cutest baby ever.  And you can take that to the bank.

October 20th Update - Our Son is Awesome!

Yuppers.  Its definitely been far far too long since I last updated this blog.  Sad thing is, is that I just don't have all that much time these days to sit, think, write, be articulate and try to be witty.  So here's the updates since my last September post.

Things Devin has accomplished to date:
Making strange noises - check
Sitting up-right - check
Crawling - check
6-month birthday - check
Eating solids - check
Standing - check!
Job - negatory  ;)

So this is how awesome my kid is. Oops.  Going to try that one more time.  This is how awesome Our son is. 

What I want you to understand is that Dev is kind of crawling.  His arms and upper torso get him places, but his hind haunches are just kind of dragged behind.  Not a bad thing.  Not a bad thing at all.  He's getting places and that's all that matters.

But what's more shocking is the fact that at 5.5 months Devin was standing.  Oh ya.  On his own.  Albeit aided by an automan - but standing nonetheless (see below).  That's my boy!  And that's me going hands free.  Maybe there's a chance Dev is going to bypass the whole crawling thing and go straight to running. 

The picture may not do him justice, but what you need to understand is that Devin is completely holding himself up.  No assistance there what-so-ever.  Impressive.  Legend - wait for it - dary!

As I also mentioned in the previous post, Dev's started eating solids.  As you can see in the video attached, Devin is probably the cutest and most amazing child in the world.  The other day we started feeding Dev cereal.  Whooo hoooo!  And he took to it like a natural. Not to get all lame and sentimental... but Ash and I are the luckiest parents in the world.  Enjoy the vid if I can ever get it to work.

Dev's first solid meal - updated!

I know they say that its their first solid, but seriously.  It looks pretty darn watery to me.  6-months and three days old.  We have officially started the camapign to solids.  Or as I like to call it... The campaign to getting a job.  We're one step closer Devin!

Update - Dammit!  I can't get the video to load so I guess this pic is going to have to suffice.  This is after 4 table spoons of cereal and cleaning his face about 5 times.  Here are the number of places the cereal manged to make it:  his hair, his pants, his shirt, the kitchen table, the curio located to the left of him, the floor, the window behind him, my jeans, my shirt and yes.... my face.  I can't wait till we get to spaghetti and meatballs.  He's going to be wrapped in a bubble-room by the time he hits 1 year.

Check out the cute vid a friend put together on her iPhone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tChjFqsKhQs

Thanks Kimberly - this is awesome. 

The coolest baby on the block

Or at least that's what I think. 

1.  Thanks goes out to Marissa and Jason for this sweet undershirt pick-up.  I mean, how awesome is this?  RUN DMC.  Do our friends know me or what?!?  "Mary Mary... why ya buggin!"  I am getting so much tread out of this undershirt as long as he fits it... you just can't imagine.

2.  Updates... updates...  People probably want to hear less about me and more about Dev.  C'mon!  Cute right?

Dev's grabbing his feet.   That generally means he's about one pendulum swing from rocking himself into the upright sitting position.  And this also means his next step is a job.  He's got to start earning his keep.  No.  Just a little humor.  He can get a job next month.

Next steps should be crawling.  But I'm starting to think there's a good chance Devin is going to skip this stage. He's got crazy strong legs.  With a little bit more balance... he should be pulling himself up and grabbing onto objects. 

I'm presently writing this at the end of week 3 and think this is as good as time as any to drop a little science on everyone who thought me taking over was a little insane.  Yes.  You are 100% right.  God-bless the mommy's of this world.  I had no idea what it is you go through day-in and day-out.  SOMEONE REALLY APPRECIATES YOU!  Thank you Mom.  And thank you too Mom2 (Lalitha).

It sometimes feels like I'm packing 9 days of full-time work into a 7 day week, that happens to work on a 36 hour time clock.  Make sense?  It does to me.  But I'm sleep deprived. 

Sleeping in cycles.  Loosing weight.  Clearly not on a vacation. 

But he makes every second worth it.  I mean... look at this boy.  Soooooooooooo cute!

A tough day at the office

FYI - This is 7:06 pm.  Transition week has been rough on us all. 

Day 1. Yah! We're still here!

For those who said... "Hey Rob - enjoy your vacation!"  You can now officially bite me.  Seriously.  Bite me.  Here's a breakdown of today's itenerary.

3:00 am:  Dev wakes up for a night time feed.  Mom takes care of the feed.  God bless her!
3:30 am:  Dev decides he doesn't need anymore sleep.  So him and I go downstairs and watch an episode of Top Gear.  I pray he will one day own an Italian super-car.  I'm thinking Bugatti Veyron.
4:10 am:  Finally falls back to sleep.  Luckily - me too.
6:40 am:  Ash gets up for work.  She is clearly not a ninja.  I hear every sound eminating from her washroom.  Ugggghhhhhhh.
7:40 am:  Dev's up.  Yeaaaaaaaahhhh.  Change diaper.  Change clothes.  Feed bottle and thus begins the days entertainment (oh ya - that would be me!)
9:30 to 10:05 am:  Dev naps.  Daddy showers.
11:05 am:  Next feeding.  Continue to entertain little man till his next nap.
12:30 pm:  First poop of the day.  Oh Goody.  Change and then we go for a walk.
1:10 to 1:40 pm:  Passes out somewhere on the hour long walk.
2:00 pm:  Poop2.  Babies should poop more, no?
2:40 pm:  Bottle again.  Put on a puppet show.  As soon as he crawls I'm building a fort in our living room.
3:30 pm:  Nap!  THANK GOD!  Seriously... this was insane.  Guess Dev wasn't used to having me around 24x7, so all day was play time. I was able to sneak in an hour nap there myself.  But was up by 5:00.
5:00 pm:  Start dinner.
5:45 pm:  MOMMY RETURNS!  And Dev wakes up.  Long nap, but the poor little guy needed it.
6:00 pm:  Feeding - mommy.
7:50 to 9:00 pm:  Naps on mommy.  I really should have gotten a pic.  Sooooo cute.  Definitely next time.
9:00 pm:  Bath time.
9:50 pm:  Bottle.
11:20 pm:  Dev is down for the night.  Ok, till 3:00 am-ish anyway. 

So there you have it.  Its about 11:45 pm right now and I felt compelled to get a post up on my first day of my new job.  And that's exactly what this is.  It's a new job.  An amazingly fulfilling job... but it has even greater risks and rewards than my paying one.  Bad decision there means boss is unhappy.  Bad decision here means... let's just say I'm sticking to good decision making.

An individual may only get a chance like this once in their lifetime.  I'm going to make sure I get to expereince every last second of it.

Vacation my ass people.  ;)

Thankfully mommy came home today and did not run away... sadly... no 6 pack of beer.  Fingers are still crossed.

Hugs and kisses,
Rob

Here comes the 2010 Mr. Mom.

In an effort to make this post a bit more interesting... I'm going to put this out there. 

The betting pool is now open.  Huh?  Oh ya!  The pool is open.  How many diapers do you think I'm going to change before I return to work in 2011?  If you didn't know already, I am officially starting my Parental Leave as of 12:00:01am Saturday, August 14th.

Why you might ask?  And thus spawns the title of this post.  Asha goes back to work Monday and Mr. Mom takes over.  Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?  No jokes!  It's all me baby... baby.

Perhaps Michael Keaton did it right?  He was forced into the whole stay at home, take care of the kids, Mr. Mom thing.  Do you know what I'm talking about?  Mr. Mom... Movie... 1983 comedy... When the auto factory he works for in Detroit is taken over by the Japanese... and he gets laid off in that quintessential 80's recession fashion.  Oh booo hooo.  Poor is me.  I'll find a job faster than my wife can.  Blah blah blah.  Then Teri Garr (the mom) goes back to work in the corporate world of advertising... I think.  And good ol' Michael Keaton... well he gets to take care of the kids.  But not by choice!  I have a choice.

This is my short-term future.   Feed, entertain, poop, sleep.  Feed, entertain, poop, sleep.  If that was me - I would simply say 'Sweeeeeet!'  But its not.  So bring on the baby!

More frighteningly is that this is Devin's future for the next 20 weeks or so.  OUCH - right?  Dev and Dad.  Dad and Dev.  He's stuck with me!  The removal of the awesome mommy saftey net is happening and we're going solo. 

Not gonna lie.  I have no idea what I'm doing.  Not even going to pretend I actually have a clue how to raise Devin without Asha's incredible naturing and parenting. 

Asha.  Now she knows what she's doing.  Watching Asha and Devin together is like watching ballet dancers dance an elaborate allegro.  One completely in tune with the other's moves, queues and patterns.

Insert Fumblina and an akward crashing sound as the entire ballet set falls to pieces.  Yes - that would be me.  But Dev and I will persevere.  As parents we have the greatest child on Earth.  He makes it easy.  I'm pretty sure I can do this. 

A number of my co-workers have been saying - "have a great vacation" - like I'm going to sunny Cuba and staying at an all inclusive resport!?!  People!  I'm going to be in Milton.  At home.  With my son.  24 X 7. 

This isn't a vacation!  Ok - maybe its a bit of a vacation.  ;)

Goodbye Government.. see ya in 2011.

CUTEST BABY EVER!

First steps... ok... well kinda baby steps

We had an awesome visit with Uncle Jeff, Aunt Sio and cousins Parker and Paige on Saturday.  Uncle Jeff decided it was time to start walking. 

I think its time for him to get a job.  Baby steps I guess.  Baby steps.

Not bad for three and a half months right?

Now try to imagine him at 2 years.  DAMN!  Look out Usian Bolt!

Is there such a thing as a cool lullabye?

Ok. This may be the coolest thing to happen to children's music since the invention of music itself. Move over Disney! Get outta the way Sounds of Nature! Bite me Mozart! Die Wiggles! Seriously... die.

One of my many fears in bringing a child into this world is my inability to listen to children's music. It's horrible. And I know Ash agrees. Don't get me wrong, I know where the creators and producers of it are going. Its simple, its repetitive, its basic, its "fun". Its designed to stimulate and encourage growth within the child and assist them in cognitive learning and vocal playback development. Hell - just saying that makes me want to listen to the crap. Perhaps there's still a fighting chance for my growth and development too. ;)

That said... to me it's like finger nails being run down a chalk board. Let's face it, it just sounds GOD-AWFUL! Boop, beep, click, rattle, boom, pow, click, zing, ahhhhhhh, errrrrrrrrr, GRRRRRRRR!

So there I was last month perusing the Inter-web for childrens lullabye's. I've read the importance of babies having music / white noise / sounds of nature played for them to lull them to sleep. It works. I've seen it in action with my neice and nephew. Oh how music can soothe the savage beast.

Back to the Inter-web... Needless to say, I found a tonne of stuff. Both good and bad. Really bad.

There were cd's offered by every Tom, Dick and Harry who had access to a flute and thought they could easily make a buck off of a children's CD. FYI - 99% of these people should be shot. Don't quit your day job jerk-face.

There was "The Sounds of The Grand Canyon". I say huh? "Sounds by the Sea". Great. Nothing will soothe your child like the sounds of a squawking seagull or the cling-clanging of a water buoy! Genious!

Would it and could it be possible to raise a happy and healthy baby, while at the same time preserving any last chance at my musical sanity? I feared the answer was no. Devin would have to grow up listening to weird and wretched tunes of yester-years gone by.

"The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round. 'Round and round." Kill me now.

But yes. Yes it would be possible! Because then I found this.

Have you ever heard of Rock-a-bye Baby? No? I'm not talking about the good ole' - Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top... blah blah blah. I'm talking about ROCK-A-BYE BABY - BABY!

If you are a parent, then you have to click this link. ROCK-A-BYE BABY Trust me! YOU HAVE TO CLICK THIS LINK! Just do it! Then click on the pink album.... it's frickin' Journey! Jounrey!

Someone out there totally gets me. And God bless them! Everything from Kayne West to U2 to ACDC to The Rolling Stones! All done as nursery rhymes / lullabyes. C'mon! Too awesome!

Thus far, I've managed to "acquire" 32 albums and still counting. Devin - you can thank Daddy later. Perhaps when we're singing a lullabye to Coldplay's Clocks kiddo or Bob Marley's You Could Be Loved.

So one last plug for the company. www.rockabyebabymusic.com Thank you! Thank you so much!

FYI - had to insert a pic. Our kid rocks. Devin hugging Blue Bear. Awesome pic honey. Man my kid is cute.

Mommy is the world... and Daddy is basically tolerable

I love it. There's nothing quite like the bond between a mommy and her baby. To baby, Mommy is everything. Personal security personnel. The provider of shelter. Entourage and rock star rolled into one. The giver of food. Mommy's there for every beck-and-call and to take care of every requirement needed. Mommy is like GOD!

Mommy is the world and whole world within which baby resides. And if this photo doesn't showcase that, then I don't know what will.



And then there's Daddy. The guy who shows up out of the blue (what can I say, bills need to be paid) and tries to take Mommy time away from the babe. I think Dev know's who I am. Or I should say... I think Dev knows I'm around quite often. But I don't think he really knows "who" I am. He tolerate me, but man oh man... He LOVES MOMMY.

His eyes light up at the slightest sound of mommy's voice and his face becomes this canvass of happy desire.

His biggest let-down? When he hears mommy and I end up picking him up.

Mommy: 1. Daddy: Zero.

Happy Canada Day!

Soooooooooooooooo cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute.

Happy Canada Day everyone!

I AM A SOCCER MOM!?!

I tried to find the coolest image of the vehicle I could. This is the result. :( I still don't feel much better and it doesn't look nearly this cool in our driveway.



A Dodge Journey RT. Like Master P said - Make Em Say "Uhhh!". This makes you say "Uggggghhh!". 7 seater. V6. 235-horsepower engine that achieves 16-mpg in the city and 24-mpg on the highway. Power everything. It Dodge's crossover. Not quite a SUV, not quite a mini-van. 30GB hard drive. Navigation, sounds system and heated leather seats. Did I mention it seats 7? Do you know what else seats 7 passengers? A mini-van. A soccer-mom mini-van.

Do you know what I used to drive? A 2006 Dodge Charger RT HEMI! A Hemi. V8. 345 brake horsepower. 390 lbs of foot torque. That's an angry car people. That's a fast car. Only received 1 speeding ticket the entire time I owned that bad boy. Asha... well let's just say, I may have the lead-foot, but she's appraently got a - what's denser than a lead-foot? Ha! A tungsten-foot! Needless to say, I have 1 ticket. Asha has ????



So goodbye my friend. Goodbye brother. Goodbye purveyor of good times and brakeneck speeds.

Hello parenthood.

Expiration Dates

Is that not the cutest kid you've ever seen? I know I'm biased and all, but seriously, our kid is friggin' cute! Almost ridiculously so. The other day I was at the grocery store and happened upon a good looking couple shopping. Being the curious guy that I am, I felt the need to do a quick compare and contrast of their child to ours. MAN! Bamn! The kid was ugly. Babies are supposed to be cute right? They're babies for the love of God... their all cute. NOPE! This kid was uggggg-o. I mean in comparison to Devin. The kid was kind of cute (in that way that only a mother could love him / her). ;)

On to Expiration Dates: Is that cheese or milk in the frige really THAT bad? C'mon, I mean really?

I continue to learn new things as Ash and I delve further into parent-dom, like respecting expiration dates. In my former bachelor life, an expiration date was like a suggestion. As long as you were close to that date, the stuff was still good. Bah - Expiration Date... A "Suggestion Date" is what I used to call it. Beacuase let's think about this, does milk really go bad on the day it "Expires". Hell no. I've drank the stuff weeks after its "Expired" and I'm still here.

Did you know I used to work in a grocery store? The stuff we put up on the shelf or back on the shelf and sold to customer would send any germophobe into a complete tizzy. I'm talking off-the-charts, calling-the-government-on-yo'-ass, ridiculous. I guess it was at that point I realized Expiration Dates are mere whimsical thoughts. A borometer with which a person can a take a chance and roll the dice on a food item that may or may not kill them.

"What doesn't kill you, just makes you stronger." "No harm - no foul."

And this was a great maxim to live by when being both single and responsible for the crap I put into my body. A quote from a good friend's high-school yearbook - "So many chemicals... so little time." As a parent or self-respecting adult, feel free to shake your head. Funny at that time, not so funny anymore.

Devin. Put a baby in your care and frivilous nature becomes something of the past. I long for the care free days of eating eggs 2 weeks past expiry. Just cook em up. That oughtta kill any harmful stuff. But now. Now, there's Dev.

Here's how much things have changed. Dev is getting a couple ounces a day of formula. I'm trying to allevaite some of the nursing stress that Ash is carrying by feeding him once or twice a day from the bottle. Which by the way, Dev is completely cool with. No nipple confusion. He's a pro.

The formula has a shelf life of approximately 48 hours. And some days are better than others. No need for the bottle what-so-ever. This results in wasted formula. Bachelor Rob would have said "Screw it! Roll the dice baby!" But now an actual baby is involved. Somehow, someway, and at some-point... you have to respect the Expiration Date.

Hugs and kisses,
Rob & Ash

The Money Maker

Happy 3rd Anniversay Honey.

Today marks the 3rd anniversay for Ash and I. Over 8 years together and 3 of those official. That's not bad eh. Wow. 3 years and still married. A miracle. Ha! I kid. We're making leaps and bounds and growning our family. Life is good.

The 3rd anniversary is traditionally celebrated with Leather or Crystal. Not sure we need any more crystal thanks to the amazing gifts we received at our wedding. Plus I'm not really sure what to do with crystal stuff? Its so fancy. When I break it out, I think a butler should be serving me. Ash of course quickly quashes this and makes me go do the dishes. Leather... meh. Maybe a nice shoe? The third anniversary celebrates Ideas and Symbols. And thus today's thought...

I have a Symbol in mind. It's the future of Devin Haworth. Multimillionaire and international playboy. Its ok kid-o. We'll start small and work our way to the top. Can you guess what I'm thinking?

Enjoy the pic.



Dolla, dolla bill y'all.

How the day unfolded

As you may know, Ash was due April 13th. However, Dev was born Wednesday April 14th at 13:57.

Ash felt odd and weird around 10:00 that morning and thought she might be having the good ol' braxton hicks contractions that had been nagging her for about a 2 weeks period or so.

I casually went off to work that morning at 6:40 as I had been doing day-in and day-out, to attend an all day corporate meeting with my bosses, under the assumption wee-man was not in any rush to join us on this side of the world.

Somewhere around 10:30 or so, Ash started texting me and saying these weren't the usual braxton's she had been dealing with and that something was different, that she was "scared".

Luckily my mom had flown in from AZ the night before, under the guise that Devin would eventually be born at some point during her stay. So I told Ash to call my mom, because as a retired nurse, she could assess the situation and get back to me about what the heck was going on. Smart move if you ask me. So Ash calls my mom.

Side bar 1:
Jeff is at work. My mom is at their home in Mississauga with Paige. Sio is with Parker at a doctors office. I'm downtown at a conference. Ravi (Ash's brother) is somewhere over the Pacific or Atlantic. Lalitha (Ash's mom) is also downtown at work. Ash is at home... alone... and more than a little worried.

The Original Plan:
We planned to use midwives. We really like the one-on-one time you get with these professionals. The plan is to take our sweet time (because first time labours takes hours! so people say) and meet our midwives in Oakville at the Oakville Trafalgar Hospital. Get a room. Get drugs. Birth baby.

Time to go by timeframe:
10:40 - My wonderful mother calls my awesome brother and tells him he needs to come home because she needs the car. Jeff drops the hammer on the 401 and is home in about 10 minutes. My brother rocks. My mom leaves.

11:10 - My mother arrives. Assesses the situation and realizes "Sweet Jesus" Ash looks to be in labour.

Option 1: 911. No. Ash will have none of that because they will take her to the Milton Hospital which is not associated with the Halton Region's Midwives Association, with which we have two amazing midwives who have been assisting and coaching Asha throughout her pregnancy.

Option 2: Call the midwives and get their recommendation.

11:30ish - Ash and my Mom go with option 2. The midwives explain that they will be there as soon as possible, but they are somewhere in the range of being about an hour or so away. Ash is now in labour. The pain is excruciating. There's no reprieve from the pain. My mom is left to coach Asha through this ordeal on her own.

Side bar 2:
Let me explain a little something here too. My mom came to town in hope for Devin's arrival and to spend time with her two other grandchildren and at some point when Ash, Devin and I were happily at home, she and Jeff and Sio and Parker and Paige would gingerly drop in for a visit. Not the case. Jeff and I have talked about this a couple times now, but the fact is... my mom became Ash's labour coach.

It's like stepping into the Superbowl and taking the 4th string quarterback and saying "here kid... we know this is not what you prepared for today... but congratulations... you're now our starting Quarterback". She wanted to be an observer. Somewhere on the outskirts looking in. Alas, not that day.

Asha's Quarterback pecking order - Me (1st String), Lalitha (2nd String), Ravi / Jeff / Siobhan (Potentially 3rd String), Everyone else including Ash's mother-in-law (4th String).

Back to the timeframe:
11:45 - I'm now sitting at the back of the conference texting Ash like a mad man, but getting very little response. I think this strange, so I call my mother. She says Ash is in a labour. I'm thinking "cool", guess I should pack up my stuff and head home. No rush right? Talk to a couple people... walk briskly down to the subway... Next train departs to Oakville at 12:30. This is part of the original plan. Take train to Oakville. Get in cab. Go home. Get wife. Drive wife to hospital. Get a room. Get drugs. Birth baby.

12:30 - Train departs Union Station. I read the Baby Whisperer to kill time.

Between 12:30 and 12:45 - The first of the midwives arrive. Ash is in full blown labour. If pain were likened to a volume control between 1 and 10... Ash is at an 11. 911 is still an option, but there's a 50/50 chance Dev gets born by the side of a road. The midwives and my mother spring into action and determine that Ash is going to have a home labour. No ifs ,ands or buts about it. Its baby time and the original plan is thrown completely out the window.

1:00 - Train arrives at Oakville. I get in a cab. I explain to said Cabbie my situation. Cabbie acknowledges and drives casually away. I'm ready to choke him out and take over the cab myself. There's no way the assault stands up in court. I was under severe duress.

1:00 - Ash is in our bed in labour. She's doing amazing. 2 midwives & one mother-in-law are there to help her get through this. Still NO DRUGS. NO HOSPITAL. Did I mention no drugs?

1:15 - My mother calls me and says in a very cool and calm voice (which is obviously the experience of a veteran nurse), "Robin" - that's when I knew something was bad... "Robin, your wife is in labour and your child is going to be born... here... in your house. How far away are you? Asha can't wait that long".

Now I'm not a smart man. I'm not exactly what you would call an attractive man. But I do like to think that I'm a man of action. And it was finally at that moment I realized what was truly transpiring at home. I thought we would have all the time in the world... Truth was... Ash was seconds away from delivering Devin. Totally Crazy! Home delivery was not part of this plan!

It was at this point, I "casually" explained to the driver, that if he did not start breaking land speed records with his mini-van... I would drive. If his wheels did not spin-out each time we had to stop at a red light or stop sign, his God could not save him from the wrath that I would deliver.

1:25 - The third midwife arrives. Ash has all of these people's professional experience and skills necessary to successfully do this delivery. Surrounded by amazing healthcare professionals, Ash focussed and set forth to deliver Dev. Did I mention no drugs?

1:35 - I arrive and provide pathetic attempts at breathing and coaching. Fact is... I'm about a useful as tit's on a bull.

1:57 - Devin arrives. Ash officially becomes the strongest person I have ever met.

Dev's first bath.

This one is for everyone who's far away. For the record, we are getting a heck of a lot better at doing this now. If it makes you feel any better at all... it was as tough for us as it was for him. Trust me.

Before and After

Shots of the nursey. It went from a completely non-functional office to something that is truly useful. DEV'S ROOM! The only question being of course, when will he actually sleep in the darn thing? Because here... are Dev's current happy sleepy spots.

Top 5 list of Dev's happy sleeping spots.

1. Between Mom's boobs.
2. Dad's chest (I would say pecs, but I think they departed many years ago).
3. Mom's arms.
4. Dad's right forearm.
5. Anything flat. Seriously... anything.

Back to the nursery. We went with a green one. I fear Devin is destined to be a tree hugger. Stay strong little man. Stay strong. Balance socialism and environmentalism with a wee bit of good ole capitalistic greed. Man... I might regret this colour...

Asha & I are proud to announce the arrival of Devin Haworth!

It's with great pleasesure that Asha and I get to announce the arrival of the newest member of the Haworth / Mony family. Our son, Devin Jag Haworth (pretty aweosme name!) was born the afternoon of Wednesday, April 14th. Devin came firing into this world like a bat out of hell with a swift 2.5 hours of labour. Asha is doing great and continues to recover at home now having to take care of two kids. ;) And two boys to boot. Yikes! Ash is the strongest woman I know. Love you honey.

Look forward to providing a bit more detail in the next blog... but for now that's it. Wow am I tired. Hope you all like the pic. He is as cute as a button. Look out ladies!

Picking a Name

Hello! I know... its been a while. We've been busy. The nursery is prepped. The house is looking to be in good condition and I think we have all the necessary baby items in order to bring wee-man back home. Now we're onto the toughest part of this venture. A name.

What's in a name? What does a name say about the child you are about to bring into this world. You don't want the name to be too sissy. I LOVE YOU MOM, BUT YOUR PICK COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER. See, in my case, I have the name Robin. I know - you may be shocked. BUT WHY DOES HE GO BY ROB? WHO IS THIS "ROBIN" ROB IS TALKING ABOUT? Robin... A wonderful name by itself.... but a tad bit on the feminine side right? I mean really... do I look like a Robin?

My mother (again I love you Mom), played it safe. As a male - I am Robin. If I were a female - I would also be Robin... But with a "Y". Thus, Robyn.

The two are far too close in proximity to each other to really decipher one from the other. Go ahead, ask Robyn Regehr (defenseman for the Calgary Flames - click here) how happy he is to have a girls name? I'm pretty sure him and I are on the same page. I love you Mom. Dad - where were you when the name was being handed out? And yes - I love you too Dad.

Now on the flip-side, there's going to far with a name. Masculinity. BRICK, AXEL, MAXIMUM, POWER. I AM MAN AND HEAR ME ROAR! That would be compensating just a little too much. Right? We've got to find a common ground. Something in between.

So what are we going to call wee-man? Captain. I still love it, but its just not appropriate. We need something that embraces Ash's wonderful Indian and Hindu background, while simultaneously embracing my (what the hell am I again????) English / Scandinavian / Norwegian / Catholic heritage? Wow - based on that description its amazing I'm not translucent. I really need to talk to my parents about our ancestry.

We have come close to picking one... but kids can be cruel nasty little creatures. Not all kids. But man... put a pack of them together and watch them cripple the greatest of men. The things kids can pick on is crazy. Have different shoes than the rest - BAM - you're a loser. Don't like the same soccer team as them - BAM - you're an outcast. Don't listen to the same music as me - BAM - you're a DJ. Ha! I have to think at some point even Superman must have cried as a kid because he was so different than everyone else. But he also has kick-ass super powers. Ok. I'm now officially crossing my fingers for a healthy child with super powers.

Peer pressure. It's sad it still works even in your 30's. Would have thought I (we) could have gotten past that... but alas... once you give a child a name, she or he is branded for life. You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose. And you can't pick family. For that matter... you can't pick a name either.

I still love you Mom and Dad.

So this weeks conundrum like many weeks before continues to be - what the hell are we going to name our son?

Seemantham / Valaikappu - Thank you, thank you, thank you

Its been a while and I apologize for that. Ash and I have been crazy-busy getting things together for the wee-man's arival: entertaining, painting, building things, visiting, and well... resting. No excuses. I need to keep this bad boy updated. My bad.

The seemantham & valaikuppa was on the 14th of February. Tremendous thanks to our families for all of their help and assistance. It could not have happened without so many people stepping forward. Mom, dad, mom2 (Lalitha), Ravi, Jeff, Sio, Sandhya, Swara - god, there's so many people to thank... so many. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

It was an absolutely wonderful ceremony and I can't believe the number of family and friends who were able to attend. And the generosity - oh my lord - the generosity. There is nothing this child needs that hasn't already been given. That said - I think its time to start his educational fund. ;)

Thanks to Nisha and Pierre, who took the time to snap a number of pics. If you would like to peruse the pictures, just click here.

For those new to this Hindu ceremony, here's a little background for ya:

Seemantham:
According to ancient scriptures, the soul enters the baby in the womb around the 20th week of pregnancy. Seemantham is a prayer for the arrival of a good soul into the womb of the mother, and for her and the child's health. From the day of formation in the mother's womb, a child grows in different steps, each within a stipulated time frame.

According to the Vedic scripts, the birth and death is a pre-planned one by the almighty and as pre-planned, the child grows in a way that is linked to many factors, which include genetically considered factors such as: features, intelligence, height, weight, etc.

Accordingly, though brain formation occurs much earlier, the memory cells are said to begin its activities after the completion of seven months of pregnancy. Then onwards, a child can record the sounds and vibrations from the surroundings and hears every spell around it. So as to format the brain in a fittest condition, they used to perform Vedic recitals of relics and verses named "Udhagasanthi" or "Uthakashanthi" Japam, a soft but powerful mantra recital for about 1 and half hours.

This specific function of Japam is to give a solid state of mind for the child to be born, a positive vibration from the recited Mantras that give enough strength to the child in the womb, and to create an atmosphere conducive to the earthly possessives on his/her birth. This also increases the mental strength of the would-be mother, encouraging her, through the supportive gathering members blessing the child and mother for a normal delivery.

Valaikappu (bangle ceremony):
It is believed that when the mother is kept happy and healthy, she will produce a happy and healthy child. In the fifth month of pregnancy, there is a social ceremony called Valaikappu (literally it means bangle or protection). The pregnant mother-to-be is be-decked in new clothes, her hands dyed with henna (a cooling agent), her hair strung with sweet smelling flowers (aromatherapy) and her arms are decorated with glass bangles.

Relatives and friends sing for her while the bangles are put on her arms. It is believed that the tinkling of glass bangles on the mothers arms is soothing (sound therapy) to the baby. The sounds of a stringed instrument (especially the veena) are considered very auspicious for the baby. Chants and hymns are very nourishing spiritually for the baby.

Pretty cool eh?

Focus

We are officially painting the nursery this weekend. We picked up two shades of green before the Home Tax Credit opportunity expired Jan. 31. Green Energy and what I believe is a Pastel Sage. That sounds soooo lame. Or as I like to call them, light green and lighter green. "A soothing palette of soft and warm inviting colours for the non-gender specific nursery of everyone's dreams". Truth be told, it seems like everyone is painting their kids room green these days. Is this right? I don't know?!?

What happens if we find out decades from now that green nursery's result in tree-hugging environmental socialists who's primary motivation in life is to eat vegan food, save the environment, and smoke their hemp clothes? Is it so wrong to be gender specific in the 2000's? Pink for the girls and blue for the boys. I know... crazy talk. Now its all about hues of yellow and orange and GREEN.

Let's get back on track here. Focus: According to Dictionary.com.

a. the focal point of a lens.
b. the focal length of a lens.
c. the clear and sharply defined condition of an image.
d. the position of a viewed object or the adjustment of an optical device necessary to produce a clear image: in focus; out of focus.

I'm going somewhere with this. Follow me for a moment.

When we attended the Prental Classes, Lorraine (the instructor) talked about the mother needing a focus or focal point or something she could direct her attention to focus on, to assist her in getting thru the labour. Something that would inspire the mother. Something the mother could relate to in those moments of sheer and utter exhaustion that would still encourage her to push thru the pain.

I asked Ash what her "focus" was? I'm thinking the baby's ultrasound... a picture of her and I (see first blog entry - yes we still look that good)... a picture of her family... a unicorn... a $100 bill? Nope. I know I married Ash for a good reason. Just click here

Updated Ultrasound #4 - Jan. 6, 2010

There are these surreal moments I have every once in a while. Today was another one of them. Saw this picture of Cap and thought - whoa - this is becoming more and more real everyday. Someone is going to call Asha "Mommy" and me "Daddy"... at least up and until he's in his teen's and just refers to us as the 'rents or jerks or whatever new-fandagled lingo the kids are going to be using a decade from now. Will he ever think we are cool? Or were cool? Are we cool? Say the word a couple more times "cool". Now it just sounds lame. Are we lame?

I digress. Plan this weekend is to start prepping wee-man's room. The theme you ask? African Safari. Oooooo. I know. ;)

Asha and Cap are doing awesome. Ash is amazing. Her body's aching but she's going about his like a woman on a mission. Objective - healthy and happy baby. I love you honey.

On another note - just wanted to say thank you to everyone for donating their kids things. It is so greatly appreciated. And those who have purchased things from our registry... We Love You. Thank you so so much.

She's Gorgeous

Ta da! Finally. It took a little poking and proding but Ash finally let me get a picture of her and the baby bump (who I'm still referring to as Captain until a more suitable name is determined).

Mommy-to-be and baby are doing great as you can clearly see from the picture.

What's next? Our Seemantham. What's this you ask??? Good question. Here's a bit of a breakdown. Its also called a "bangle" ceremony. Google it. Don't worry, I had to too.

"According to ancient scriptures, the soul enters the baby in the womb around the 20th week of pregnancy or so. Seemantham is a prayer for the arrival of a good soul into the womb of the mother and for her and the child's health.

From the day of formation in the mother's womb, a child grows in different steps, each within a stipulated timeframe. According to the Vedic scripts, the birth and death is a pre-planned one by the almighty. And as pre-planned, the child grows in a way that is linked to many factors, which include genetically considered factors such as features, intelligence, height, weight, etc.

Accordingly, though brain formation occurs much earlier, the memory cells are said to begin activities after the completion of seven months of pregnancy. Then onwards, a child can record the sounds and vibrations from the surroundings and hears every sound around it.

So as to format the brain in a fittest condition, they used to perform Vedic recitals of relics and verses named "Udhagasanthi" or "Uthakashanthi" Japam, a soft but powerful mantra recital for about 1 and a half hours. This specific function of Japam is to give a solid state of mind for the child to be born, a positive vibration from the recited Mantras that give enough strength to the child in the womb, and to create an atmosphere conducive to the earthly possessives on his / her birth.

This also increases the mental strength of the would-be mother, encouraging her, through the supportive gathering members blessing the child and mother for a normal delivery."

And what about the father? Dad gets no shout-outs. Proof again that women are clearly the more important sex.

Guys... we're playing second fiddle to a human being capable of creating life. Kind of makes one really feel inferior.

Prenatal Classes - Ready to be a parent?!?!

Is anyone every really ready?

If you have never done them and you stil managed to successfully birth a child (or five) - you are my hero. The primary thing I learned in attending this two-day crash course on preganacy, labour and raising a child is - I KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT PREGNANCY, LABOUR AND RAISING A CHILD. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD... I WANT TO NAME THE KID CAPTAIN.

Clearly I am not fit to be a parent. Thank the lord this kid is going to have Asha. That my friends is a "fit" parent. I'll end up being the ying to her yang.

So we ended up taking prenatal classes last weekend in Oakville (www.birthingandbabies.com). Yes I'm giving this lady a shout-out. The instructor / nurse was great. Informative, responsive, caring and truly believed in what she was doing. It drives faith that this process of birthing is actually humanly possible.

Couple other noted (mostly disturbing) facts from the course:
A Fundus is the top portion of the uterus. I'm easing you into this.
Episiotomy is a small surgical incision of the perineum made to enlarge the vaginal opening. Yup - that still makes me shudder. In layman's terms - its cutting the vagina. Oh my lord. Men - we should bow to women... for they truly are the better / tougher sex.
Baby's are really ugly when they are born. Those knitted baby-caps they get... that's because their head is frickin' deformed. No - not just because it looks cute.

Lastly: Our Established Labour Panic Routine Should Ash Panic
1. Establish eye-to-eye contact (I apologize for what I have done)
2. Hold your partner firmly (Close enough that she can only "dirty" box with me)
3. Breathe with your partner (Hee hee - whoooooooo - apparently this works)
4. Reassure your partner (That its not entirely my fault - it takes 2 to tango)
5. Ad Lib (Punch Rob and blame him for all of this)

Baby-bump picture coming soon.