Baby Eclectic

Same old shtuff, and also so much more...

2007-04-26T02:29:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not obsessed with poop, her mom is, well we both are- there, you have it. It's still amazing to go a month or more without experiencing an actual poopy diaper, and she's working through the transition to solid foods quite nicely, though it brought some new challenges- and some very interesting vocalizations....

But as you must have suspected, there's certainly much more to the past fall and winter than you've seen here.

Blog posting fell by the wayside during my five months of weekly commuting, and also during our relocation and process of getting settled, but now life has arrived at a new equilibrium, and minor pleasures like posting pictures to the world may resume....

This was Ruthie's first Easter, and Grandma Joan, along with Great-Grandma Tiny, supplied a beautiful dress. The normal Northwestern drizzle held off for just a couple of hours on Easter morning, enough for Ruthie to nab one egg during the great hunt.

Wher've we been? - still poopin along

2006-10-14T00:54:00.000-07:00

Dad, I'm sooo-ooo embarrassed- I'll like never forgive you.
Yes, I've been remiss in posting my paternal progress as of late, and it's not for a lack of goings-on, moreso an abundance thereof.
Where to begin? Well, let's take up where we left off. Infant toilet training, hereafter known as "pooping the baby", has continued unabated, and is now nearing total success with #2 emissions; diaper changes are now primarily due to sogginess and skid marks. That doesn't mean it isn't entertaining, however. Houseguests seem to show geniune amazement when we offer to let them see the baby go poo in the loo. Of course, I'm not sure if they're more amazed by the offer or the feat itself, but it's always a fun time.
And here, you can see what a fun time was had by all, and why she might be embarrassed, what with five spectators and two cameras in on the action.

We made it a month!

2006-08-22T01:20:00.000-07:00

There's a Chinese tradition of holding a Red Egg Party, alternatively known as the Full Moon Party (but not the type you'd find on a Thai beach). It marks the end of mom's confinement, baby's debut to the world, and the announcement of her name. Instead of waiting for a full moon, it's now celebrated more often on the baby's first month birthday.
So, we put on such a bash, hosted by generous grandparents and Chopsticks Chinese Restaurant in Vancouver, WA. We put together some dandy invites for friends and family, but omitted a menu, instead, just telling folks that there would be traditional appetizers and then plenty of food for the main course. Well, things started off slowly, with our round-eyed guests picking cautiously at the cold boiled chicken, marinated jellyfish, pickled seaweed, and thin broth that was initially offered. Several sated themselves on these meager offerings, only to be greatly chagrined when the twelve courses of fish, fowl, beast and more commonly-consumed invertebrates started coming out rapid-fire as the kitchen got up to speed. The duck was to die for, the dungeness was delicious, the braised beef was never more beautiful, and the scallops were simply stupendous. Followed up by several exotic desserts and the old standby of mango pudding in goldfish molds, there wasn't a soul who didn't find a dish to delight in, and leave stuffed better than a thanksgiving turkey. The neighborhood kids all seemed to have a fun time, and Ruthie is developing quite a fan club, with future baby sitters even jockeying for first dibs.

Let the sinning begin..

2006-08-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

Now I'm not an irreverent chap when it comes to truly reverential topics, but I do think I've noticed a small end to innocence after Ruthie's baptism. Instead of an infant's plaintive wails, there's definite anger in some of those cries, and an occasional glare that I recognize as the same one rarely received from her mother.

Nonetheless, the baptism was a great event; expertly handled by Fr. Armando at our church; St. John The Evangelist in Vancouver. Ruthie's paternal grandparents were able to make it across thirteen time zones from the Abu Dhabi to serve as godparents, and the church choir that Ruby and I sing with not only came up with special serenades for the ceremonial dipping, but also joined us for a luncheon afterwards.

Toilet training accomplished, what's next?

2006-08-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

Surely he jests! Well, only in a sense. You may have already heard of the growing practice around diaperless babies, thanks to infant toilet training. Turns out that this is nothing new, just an ancient wisdom that western culture 'convenienced' itself out of. Anybody who's been watered by the Young Faithful geyser that eminates from baby boys when they feel fresh air has wondered whether junior did that on purpose. Again, in a sense, they're right. Babies know when they go, we just train it out of them, especially with modern diapers that don't even feel wet and uncomfortable, just warm and soft... (the gel-filled diapers actually undergo an exothermic reaction as they soak up water, making baby's butt warm and comfy).

So, the official Ancient Chinese Secret to this practice is to immediately after every feeding, perch baby's butt on the edge of the potty, lift her legs, and stroke her belly while saying 'pisssssss'. Now, the Chinese just say 'ssss', but I couldn't resist one small modification.
Grandma Chan had advised we start this once she was several weeks old, but when Ruthie gave several clear cues before polluting her very first bath, we decided to begin the field trials.
During week one, we were about 50% successful at the throne, and now in week 2, it's edging on 75%. I calculated (yes, I actually did) that the activity only saves @ $4.20 per hour in avoided diaper costs, but the avoided changes, diaper rash, and pain to Ruthie is priceless, plus, there is significant entertainment value.

We are leaving her in diapers as insurance, but hope to be actually soiling relatively few of them...

Week One- pin up the growth chart!

2006-07-30T23:13:00.000-07:00

And how fast it flew...
I took one week off work to attend to my ladies, but it felt like a weekend. Ruthie quickly showed that her consumptive and digestive tendencies came from the Chan side of the family, as she has a voracious appetite (in her mother's words, "You are an aggressive little sucker!"). Friday's OB appointment was switched to a Day Six mother-baby visit, and at weigh in, Ruthie had already surpassed her birth weight by two ounces. The nurse declared that babies aren't generally expected to regain their birth weight and start making forward progress for two weeks. Well it's a good thing that Ruthie doesn't have any conventional wisdom, because she's sure to defy it! Yes, like all proud papas, I was prepared for my offspring to be above average, but even I am amazed at her intelligence, good looks, and general modesty.

Yes, I also took a bit of time to work on the Karmann Eclectric, and even took it to one show as a work-in-process. As you can see, Ruthie is a big fan and can't wait to take her first ride.

Ruthie's keeping a fairly regular schedule, with a 2 1/2 hour feeding rotation. It's tough on Ruby, but at least she gets to join in the afternoon naps. I'm just trying to keep my head off the table during staff meetings......

Sunday Visitation

2006-07-25T00:25:00.000-07:00

I freshened up in time for Church on Sunday, and even swooped by Walgreens to print out a few of Ruthie's more photogenic moments. Of course, everyone was heartened by the news, and I invited our fellow choir members to stop by the hospital or house anytime.

But first, it was time for Grandma and Grandpa Chan to get some quality time. (Try to ignore that image of Israel's indiscriminate bombing of Beruit in the background, Ruthie is apolitical thus far....)

We also got a visit from Stella Chan (no relation), the owner of Chopsticks Chinese restaurant here in Vancouver. Stella and her family became fast friends here, and helped Ruby find the best local Cantonese resources.

So, I mentioned that we invited folks from the church? Well, after a long afternoon of visitation, Our Lady of Grunge decided that it was just about time for some ablutions, and preparations commenced for her first postpartum bath. Naturally I was called on to assist, and well, suffice it to say, that in only my caregiving uniform, some pants had to be found fast when the next visitors came a knocking.
"Guitar Dave" Schenck heard the fumbling belt buckle, and cracked- "Gees Man, you're supposed to wait at least until you get 'er home!" Thus is the lighthearted nature found in your average Catholic choral ensemble. If you haven't attended church lately, just think of what you've been missing!

So, we jumped back into social mode, and had a great time with Dave's wife Gloria, our star soprano, Joan and Scott Rustay, our leader and sound man, respectively.

Saturday Night Fever

2006-07-23T00:05:00.000-07:00

Or rather, a lack thereof.
Ruby had spiked a temp and had high blood pressure during delivery, so the nursing staff was concerned about the possibility of infection, and this caused some concern when little Ruthie's temp dropped come Saturday evening. (I hope that the nurse who scolded me for turning the incubator back on during that afternoon takes note!)
So, we made a visit to the neonatal intensive care unit. This newly-renovated facility really was a thing to behold. Instead of a sanitized laboratory with tiny infants spread about in their oversized petri dishes, this special nursery had private rooms for each infant, where the exhausted parents could stay 24 hours, complete with a sleeping couch and a dedicated, fully-stocked NICU parents' lounge with fast internet access. But, as nice as all that sounds, we were relieved when some time in the tanning bed and a couple of clear blood tests was all that was required to get us back into the general population...

A sleepy Saturday afternoon..

2006-07-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

Ruby, Ruthie, and yes, even Yours Truly were all rather exhausted by our overnight exertions, so we snoozed away the Saturday of her birth.

Meet Ruthie Mei Kei Donnaway!

2006-07-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

Ruby soldiered on through a good sixteen hours, and was finally delivered from this trial at 10:07 AM on Saturday, July 22, 2006. Yes, that was the exact due date.
Ruthie was yelling practically before she hit the table, but quieted down immediately upon being placed on mom's belly, and she showed her gratitude by depositing a healthy load.
After a little more cleanup, here is Miss Ruthie, not ten minutes old..

Will it ever happen?

2006-07-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

I've been having a grand time with this pregnancy, but for some reason, Ruby would rather be through with it, and has been hoping for a somewhat early arrival. I've bet on late, snce I was two weeks tardy, but wouldn't mind if Ruthie decided to arrive on my birthday, July 19th, which is only three days before the due date. SO, imagine my excitement at two am on the 19th when Ruby declares that she's feeling contractions. By four, I was ready to crank the car, but the squeezing subsided, and by six I got the all-clear to go to work.. Gee, thanks!

So, another Friday at the obstetrician's, and his impatience with the process was also apparent, as he declared insufficient progress was being made, and scheduled an induction for the following Friday, not even a week past her due date. We planned our protest, but adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

Well we didn't have to wait long. Some cramping began @ 5 pm Friday, and The Last Supper was never completed...

We made it to the hospital @ 8pm, and were oficially admitted at 8:40 pm on Friday, July 21, 2006. Southwest Washington Medical Center is a great facility, with private suites where labor, delivery, and postpartum care all stay in the same room, and baby is NEVER removed from the room unless special care is required. The room also had a whirlpool tub, which was greatly appreciated by mom.

A brief detour..

2006-07-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

So, in every major production, there are bound to be unexpected problems. Ours was not entirely unexpected. You see, I mentioned the car got a clean bill of health. Why did the car need a clean bill of health? Well, Ruby's 1992 Civic is a well-used vehicle. It's racked up somewhere around 250,000 miles and bears several scars, the most notable of which is a deep furrow across the roofline where the car bounced against an overlying beam during it's cross-country trip from Georgia to Washington in a moving van.. The settlement from that one made it all worthwhile, and rather than fixing the car, Ruby decided that the furrow only added character. "Bee Jai (Little Boy) is getting to be an old man now, and don't most old men have wrinkley foreheads?" Well, obviously his wrinkled brow was not the problem, but his tarry insides were of some concern. Bee Jai had suffered low oil several times, and then blew a radiator hose on I-5 last month on our way to a conference of mine, a sign of significant overheating. I had a bottle of emergency water and some repair tape, so we made it to the next exit, where a blast from the past- a sho' nuff Service Station was sitting in the absolute middle of nowhere, complete with a well-stocked wall of radiator hoses. I fussed at Firestone for not replacing the original hoses when they replaced the water pump less than 5000 miles ago, and asked them to check the oil pressure, since I had been getting an intermittent light ever since the overheat. Their word was that the pressure was good, we just had a failing sender, so drive on home. I didn't completely trust that diagnosis, so added an extra quart to provide some splash lubrication until the sender came in. Sure enough, Ruby drove to work the next morning, and on the way home, not ten miles post-Firestone, the engine threw a scrap metal fit, and though it still runs, it sounds about like a Cummins turbodiesel that swallowed a coffee can full of mixed nuts and bolts... Pretty impressive for a 1.5 liter Honda, eh? Well, we went through 24 hours of soul-searching and used car reviews, and decided to just repower the Civic rather than getting into anything else. I found an excellent engine at Foster Auto Parts (200+ psi compression on all four), and a highly-recommended mechanic to put it in. To avoid a pricey tow, I went to Craigslist and found an RV'er who was parting with his Blue Ox towbar that used to drag a Civic "dinghy" around the country. This towbar is the beefiest made, and paid for itself on the first tow. I can also buy attachments to tow the Ghias, which will be a bit nicer and more reliable for the Karmann Eclectric than a standard cheapo VW towbar...

So, Bee Jai is far away getting a heart transplant, and where does that leave us? Without a vehicle that can seat more than two persons, a baby due any day, and the in-laws arriving on Friday. I started shopping rentals, but one of Ruby's fellow veterinarians intervened, and insisted that we use his Buick. It's a '94, but with the tuck-and-roll velour bench seating, square chrome air vents, wide rectangular analog speedometer, and cushy ride (not unlike a soggy diaper), this grandpamobile was just the ticket to pick up my father in law. His reaction was "Wow, such good shape for a twenty year old car...".
So, now we're cruising in style while waiting for the baby eclectic...

two weeks and counting..

2006-07-10T23:54:00.000-07:00

Well, not much news, things have been thankfully uneventful for Ruby and Ruthie lately. More update entries are on the way as we get photos from her baby showers, etc., but now we're mainly in countdown mode. Everything is right on track for a delivery @ July 22, in-laws are en-route, all supplies are in place, even the car has received a bill of health.
-Jay

Just a Closer Walk With Thee...

2006-05-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

Now, I've surely demonstrated the sterner stuff of which my mate is made via this website, but even I was surprised when she announced her desire to join my family in a hike up Beacon Rock. Mom, Dad, and newlywed sister Jessica (who had to dump the injured lump on his mother's couch for the weekend- (Hi Adrian, we missed you! ;-p)) came up to Portlandia for a prenatal visit, and despite their expressed desire for low-key togetherness, we wound up exploring both the coast and the gorge over two days...

So Ruby, champ that she is, decided to join us on a climb up this towering pillar of formerly fiery basalt. Unfortunamente', I didn't take many photos on my trek to the top. When we passed a passel of daytrippers, including two heavily made-up ladies with big hair, dangly earrings, capri pants and flip-flops, THEY looked at Ruby like she was crazy for making the attempt.
Our heroine and Grandma Joan had to sit out the final push to the summit, and when I passed the flippy ladies again on the way down by myself, they said "What did you do with her!?" I couldn't resist this response: "Well, you know, all it takes is one slip, but she bounces pretty well these days. I'm sure she'll be allright when I catch up..."

Our next stop on our tour of the Columbia River Gorge was the Bonneville Locks and Dam, where we watched a few fortunate salmon make it up the fish ladder, after successfully evading the hordes of scavengers (eh, fishermen) and sea lions guarding the ladder entrance.
The powerhouse was closed to tourists for the day, so we crossed the dam and began our tour of Oregon waterfalls.
But of course, the best views come only after a hike, so we set off up another trail to Upper Horsetail Falls. This journey was rewarded with that ever-so-surreal experience of walking behind the falls, under a ceiling of columnar basalt that you just knew was going to come down atop our heads at any moment...

Camping on a full stomach..

2006-04-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

So, upon entering the third trimester, our Hero declares that she's far from beat, she'd like to do a little camping before the weather warms up, and personal maneuvering might become inconvenient.... So, on Friday morning, we head of to that cutest of caulderas, the little volcano that couldn't, the eruption that won't happen next to the fight that never came to be; Battle Ground Lake State Park. It's a dandy little park, with a fine light hike around the extinct volcano's rim, which is covered in mature forest, with many fallen giants stretching out into the lake, attracting both fish and the men who chase them.

Besides battling the usual campsite creepy crawlies for my lady (how does one become a Veterinarian, spend her summer shoulder-deep in mama cows, bring up bowel resections at the dinner table, and yet somehow still be squeamish about ants and arachnids?), we were dealt a cruel blow in the form of the largest campground nemesis known, Redneckis Lungis Intoxicatus.
Yougotit again- drunk and rowdy classless neighbors. The particularly foulmouthed female in question could hold her liquor no better than her tongue, the latter getting sharper and louder with every empty bottle. It was the sort of situation where you resolve to call the ranger if they don't shut up within ten minutes, only to have it start all over again on the eleventh...

But we made a couple of great meals, stayed dry and almost warm, and made it home with aching legs and battered backs just in time to nap away a Saturday afternoon.

Theater in the Round

2006-04-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

Late March brought with it the annual American Animal Hospital Association Conference in Long Beach, CA. Being the supportive spouse that I am, naturally I accompanied my wife on this trying journey. Perhaps it was the air travel (buzzing around in a turboprop always gets me excited); but whatever the reason, Ruthie took this opportunity to make herself known with clearly recognizeable kicking. During that week it got to the point that Ruby was staring at her bouncing belly all through the scientific lectures. She proclaimed that "If Ruthie can kick this hard when she's not even a pound yet, it's gonna hurt when she's seven or eight pounds!".
One feature I probably should have incorporated into this journal would be a weekly or monthly circumference report. Maybe that's yet to come. Anyway, here's the part you've all been waiting for, the monthly belly shot!

It's a Girl!!!

2006-02-24T21:56:00.000-08:00

We knew that Shim's days were numbered, but didn't think we'd be lucky enough to find out so soon. So, without further adieu, let's meet Ruthie!

Of course the first two were of a practical nature, but this next photo is our favorite. She was very active during the scan, rolling from side to side and tromping all over mom's bladder, but the climax came with an episode of thumb-sucking. Little girl needs some practice though, the first attempt intersected with her nose, next one was even further off course, and then she hit the mouth! We were cheering her on all the way! Only 11 ounces, and already at least as well-coordinated as her mother...

Putting on Inches

2006-02-17T21:42:00.000-08:00

Here's some progress towards our next goal, the 19 week ultrasound on Feb 24th..

Week 12-16

First peek..

2006-01-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

How time flies. Ruby's seen the midwife for a first exam, and now we're at the 12 week ultrasound appointment! Getting a first glance at your first child is certainly exciting, even if it's just a blurry black and white image...
Shim was showing good activity, a healthy heartbeat, and a square forehead that resembled Shim's daddy enough to make momma nearly ask for an epidural on the spot!

Developing a Profile...

2005-11-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

Here we are at six weeks, and already a tummy!
(Notice the omission of a true 'before' photo, due to
the webmaster's political acumen.)

Who's the Baby Eclectic?

2005-11-17T14:00:00.000-08:00

eclectic (adjective)
Picking from various possibilities; made up of material from various sources; diverse; heterogeneous.

Well, that certainly describes our little half-breed!
Shim (until we know whether it's a she or him) comes from a fine heritage. This Chinglish, Chimerican, Chinrish, Amerinese, Chirish, or otherwise throughly miscegenated child will be the most interesting Donnaway yet. Mathematically speaking, Shim is approximately 1/2 Chinese, 1/4 Irish, 1/16 Scottish, 1/16 Italian, 1/16 English, 1/32 German, 7/256 French, and 1/256 Choctaw.