It's nice when your wife is tolerant of your antics.

Been visiting other people's baby blogs, and am envious at their abundance of photos. Of course, it's rather difficult to have any pictures of Alex, being in utero and all, but I'm putting up old links to photos that have been up before to keep up with the graphics.

We're still waiting, and my wife and I have developed some sort of cough/cold combo, so we've been coughing at each other for the past few days. Hopefully it should be better soon for the both of us, so we can be present when the baby is born. Yes, even though my wife has to be present anyway, you never know. They might stick her head in the next room or something, or out the window.

Hee hee.

Um. That's all, really. Tough to share baby related stuff when he's not here yet. He is kicking a lot, sometimes at my wife's cramps. That sounds fun.

Burned Alex's First CD, for his Mom to listen to while she's in labor. Here's the Playlist.

1 Return To Pooh Corner (Kenny Loggins)
2 It Had to be You Instrumental (Harry Connick Jr.)
3 Yellow Submarine (Beatles)
4 Linus And Lucy (Vince Guaraldi Trio)
5 Beautiful Boy (John Lennon)
6 What A Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
7 Birthday (Beatles)
8 Feels So Good (Chuck Mangione)
9 I Will (Beatles)
10 ABC (Jackson Five)
11 All Together Now (Beatles)
12 Furry Happy Monsters (REM)
13 Island in the Sun (Weezer)
14 Octopus's Garden (Beatles)
15 Kokomo (Beach Boys)
16 Mother Good (Cantonese Song)
17 The Joker (Steve Miller Band)
18 Don't Worry, Be Happy (Bobby McFerrin)
19 Here Comes The Sun (Beatles)
20 Beautiful Night (Paul McCartney)
21 Good Night (Beatles)

Hee hee. He's going to be a happy little boy!

The anticipation for having Alex has simmered once again, because my wife's not having any contractions lately. I guess he is pretty much waiting for his surprise entrance. I'm still excited, but I think I'm just waiting impatiently for him. Been thinking a lot about what it is to be a father, and that it's very much like a relationship - you have to constantly work at it to keep it healthy. Hoping I can keep up with it.

Other than that, just waiitng. And waiting.

The doctor's appointment yielded no exciting news. Wife's cervis is still open, ready for deployment, but she's not dilated yet, so he's still hanging out in there, making us wait. A procrastinator, like me.

Other than that, nothing really to report. Think she saw a shimmering star that was supposed to be Mars. Hmm.

Ten Things I Will Teach Alex to Appreciate:

1. The Beatles - Greatest Band Ever, Period. Everything from Yellow Submarine to Abbey Road, though I wouldn't be so inclined to do Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Concept or not, it does feel relatively dated), The Fab Four will be the band that other bands will have to measure against.

2. Movies - From indies to studio popcorn fare, from writer/directors like Woody Allen and Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson to Pixar movies that have 15 writers, from comic book adaptations to literary adaptations, from Hong Kong
movies to Indian movies - all movies generally have something to say, and even if you hate the movie, there's always something cool that you will see in it.

3. Photography - Though I haven't done much in it, I'm just thinking more about composition, lighting, mood - stuff that would bring out all sorts of emotions.

4. Storytelling - I've thought a little about this one, maybe taking some digital photos and then asking Alex to come up with a story to go along with it. Or we could just tap his imagination and make little home movies out of it.

5. Work Ethics - Because sometimes, a little work ethic will bring you a long way.

6. Humor - I don't know if you could really teach someone this, but I'm sure going to try.

7. Writing - Goes with imagination, writing is really the best way to let yourself go - read yourself a few months from today and it's almost like you didn't put that on paper. Which may or may not be a good thing. Also, I think the best part about writing, I think, is seeing that black ink sail along the white parchment, and making something out of nothing. For me nowadays, it's the tapping of the keyboard and seeing a really good font appear on a white screen. Different, but the same.

8. Women - Like it or not, they are the better sex. They may be more emotional than men, but they also have more compassion and value for human life, in my opinion.

9. Video Games - Ultimately, not useful in life or in relationships, but damn, it's cool to blow up things and drive recklessly.

10. Life. Whine all he wants, but it pretty much is what you make of it.

Still no baby! Despite the full moon and the baby-shaking antics during the concert, Alex remains happily content hanging out inside my wife's tummy for a little longer. Guess he's not ready, and he's learned the art of anticipation! Ordered a classical CD for babies yesterday, and am playing lullabies for babies now.

Wife has gotten my cold that's been flooring me all week, and her breathing is less than spectacular. She had to go for some medicine that she hasn't needed in a while. Meanwhile, it's my day off, and I really got cracking on the stupid weddings. Boy, I'm getting really tired of weddings, lemme tell ya. And I'm sure everyone's sick of hearing about it as well.