Happy Birthday, Orlando!

Orlando's Big Day

Orlando's first birthday is coming up! His party theme is the Disney movie Cars. We ordered a bunch of stuff from Birthday Express and got a Lightning McQueen cake pan from Wilton's. Cute!

Orlando: Good-bye, Cousin!

Today mommy took me to the airport. My cousin Marlene had to go back to Panama. She came in December to stay with us during her school vacation.

I am very sad. We played games every day and she tried to teach mommy to sing nursery rhymes in Spanish. I hope she comes back this Christmas.

No time to blog!

I can’t get two seconds (okay, it takes longer than that) to myself to blog, it seems. I didn’t get to blog about:

• James Brown’s death (I should’ve gone to the viewing at the Apollo. I’ve never been there).


• President Ford’s death (It’s amazing how once someone has passed away, everyone has nice things to say. He could’ve used some of that while he was in office. He was always portrayed as a buffoon).


• The first baby born in NYC was born to an illegal immigrant (Toys R Us at first tried to back out of giving the baby the promised $25,000. Talk about bad publicity).


• It’s really, really freaking warm for January (I prefer that to the single digits we got a few years ago, but we know this is bad, right?)


• Orlando is nine months old! (I have tons of pictures to post on his site. Sigh).


• My cousin is visiting from Panama (and I think she’s really bored, but we’re trying).


• My dog took a flying leap off the top of the stairs (What the hell was he thinking?? He didn’t get hurt, but that was very scary).


• Nancy Pelosi (I don’t care what anyone says, she looks like a nice lady. Why does she scare people? I’d vote for her).


• My mom almost burned down the apartment (She left food on the stove, then went to the supermarket. Thank God nothing actually caught fire, but the place still smells of smoke).


• Randy Johnson is finally gone. (Yay!)

Belated Happy New Year, all.

iPod Baby Onesie

That isn't my baby, that's someone else's baby, but how cool is that? An iPod onesie from iPodMyBaby.com!

I have to have it!







Also cute is iPodMyPhoto, but you ought to be able to do this yourself in Photoshop if you have patience. Or if you have a friend who has patience. ;) You submit your photo to them and they transform it into the look of an iPod ad for $19.95.

Family Day

As late as 7:20 a.m. on Friday I was having my doubts, but as Orlando drank his milk I looked at him and said, "Let's do this." Friday was "Family Day" at work and seeing as how they laid off 500 people a few weeks ago, they may never do this again. Or I may not be around if they do.

Within 40 minutes his diaper bag was packed and Orlando, me and my mom were in a cab and on our way. The cabbie was lousy and stubborn. He stopped for gas and refused to put on a seatbelt. Nevertheless, I was at my job by 8:45.

Orlando was great. He was very animated and social. He giggled when people were talking to him while I was taking him around and showing him off. He drank all his milk and he even had a long nap. The only bump in the road came when a former co-worker brought her baby to meet him. The other baby is three weeks younger, but taller, heavier and he can sit up on his own. The other baby also had a serious shoe fetish. He kept darting forward and touching Orlando's sneakers.

Orlando didn't know what to do. He looked at me, looked at the other baby, then he smiled tentatively. But the other baby kept doing it and Orlando looked like he was going to cry. I told him, "You live in New York, that's not the last time someone's going to try to take your clothes."

He looked at me blankly. ;)

Teeth!

Orlando's teeth are coming in!

Total Recall

Here's a nice picture of Orlando playing with a toy that could kill him.

Once again I've purchased a toy that could kill a child. I received an email today from the Consumer Product Safety Commission about one of Orlando's favorite toys:

RC2 Recalls Toy Keys Due to Choking Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Toy Keys

Units: About 275,000

Importer/Distributor: RC2 Brands Inc., of Oak Brook, Ill. The recalled products are marketed under RC2’s Learning Curve and The First Years brands.

Hazard: The colored top portion of the keys can crack, resulting in the release of small parts, which poses a choking hazard to young children.

Incidents/Injuries: RC2 has received four reports of cracking. No injuries have been reported.

Description: “Shake ‘n Jingle Keys,” “Shake & Jingle Keys,” “My Jingle Keys” all by The First Years and the John Deere “Real Keys” are toy keys, with three colored keys attached to a blue, red or green remote control with electronic features. Various colored buttons on the remote activate sounds. Only toy keys with the letter “F” in the date code stamp on the packaging and product are involved in the recall. The date code can be found on the back of the remote control. Toy keys with “TE” in the date code or yellow sides on the remote are not included in this recall.

Sold at: Department stores and independent toy stores nationwide from August 2005 through October 2006 for about $6.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the recalled toy keys immediately and contact RC2 for a free replacement toy.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact RC2 at (800) 704-8697 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit the Learning Curve’s Web site at www.learningcurve.com

Earlier this year another toy (a toy cell phone) I'd purchased for one of my cousins also got recalled. Oh, and the batteries in my PowerBook G4 and Sony Vaio laptops were recalled too.

I think anything more complex than a large rubber ball is probably lethal and flawed.

Technorati tags: recall | baby | toys

My First Halloween!

My Tigger costume is nice, but it's too hot! Grrr!

El Duque Injured

Can it get any worse for the Mets?

From ESPN.com:

Already missing Pedro Martinez, the NL East champions suddenly might have to replace scheduled starter Orlando Hernandez in Game 1 of the playoffs because of a calf injury, too.

El Duque felt discomfort in his right leg while he was jogging in the outfield Tuesday as the Mets tuned up for their first-round series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 40-year-old right-hander was pulled off the field and went for an MRI exam.

Read more...

Vital Stats

Orlando’s visit to the pediatrician on Wednesday went well. He’s growing nicely. His latest stats:

Height: 25.5"
Weight: 13 lbs. 13.5 oz.
Head Circumference: 43 cm

I used the Baby Growth Percentile Calculator on babycenter.com and got the following results:

Length = between 75th and 90th percentile
Weight = 50th percentile
Head Circumference = between 75th and 90th percentile

Not bad!

He received four more shots. He howled in pain, but he was fine again in a few minutes. He didn’t get a fever later, thank God. He rolled over three times for the doctor and he giggled while she was examining him, so he’s becoming more and more social. At his next appointment (6th month checkup) he should be sitting up on his own!

Orlando: Comin' at Cha!

I'll be 4 months old this week!

Technorati tags: baby | Orlando Pessoa

BabyPlus Update

Back on January 26 I blogged about the BabyPlus prenatal system that I was using to stimulate Orlando’s brain in utero. Today someone visiting my blog left the following comment.

Anonymous asked:
Did BabyPlus work for you? Curious as to what feedback you may have on the product. I'm 23 weeks and am thinking of purchasing... Thanks!
My answer:

Baby Orlando has a pretty mild personality and I've noticed that he doesn't get freaked out by unusual sounds. He grins when I play the BabyPlus for him now that he’s born, so it's possible that he remembers the sound, but there’s no way of knowing for sure. He went through a period where he had a lot of gas, but he’s never cried for an hour (or more) straight the way a baby with colic does. Thankfully the gas problem didn’t last that long. BabyPlus couldn’t get him to latch on the way some of the testimonials claimed, but the breastfeeding debacle is the subject for another thread.

In short, I think he finds the sounds from the BabyPlus very comforting, but it remains to be seen whether he reaches his developmental benchmarks early because of the device. It can’t hurt. If it’s in your budget or you can get someone to buy one for you, go for it.

Orlando: Xavier Institute for Higher Learning

My powers were tested for the first time today at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning! I'm too young to enter the school yet, but one day I will wear a costume and fight crime!

Grandfather's Day

A picture of my father and baby Orlando. ;)

Orlando: Owww!

I had my 2 month wellness visit today and I got four shots!

WAAAAA!

The doctor also kept pulling me around, as you can see in my picture. :(

I’m very sleepy, but at least I haven’t gotten a fever. Mommy is cuddling me, so I feel better.

I weigh 12 lbs, 1 oz. and I'm 22-1/2" long now.

Vaccination Dilemma

I’m nervous about the vaccinations Orlando is supposed to receive at his two month wellness visit. On Tuesday he’s supposed to get a bunch of shots -- DTaP, Hib, Polio (IPV) and Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. I was disturbed that the brochures handed out to me by the pediatrician had a phone number and website for the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, just in case Orlando is one of the unlucky ones that gets permanently hosed by the shots. It’s great to have that info upfront, but it makes it seem like the incidence of mishaps may be increasing.

I was vaccinated for just about everything. I was vaccinated as a child, vaccinated again for college despite showing evidence that I’d gotten all my shots, then vaccinated yet AGAIN when I entered the Army, ‘cause they don’t care what you say.

Despite the amount of drugs injected in me (smallpox and Anthrax shots too, by the way), I’m obviously not dead. And, naturally, I don’t want to be the asshole whose child gets sick from a totally preventable disease like Mumps. Still, I’m very concerned about the growing anecdotal evidence that the rising rate of children diagnosed with autism (it’s now 1 in 166) may be linked to the vaccines that are being given to American children. This link is refuted on the CDC’s site, of course.

I must say that after reading what the CDC had to say on the subject my hesitancy about vaccinating is mostly gone...

Anyway, if there’s anyone out there reading my blog that vaccinated their child on a different schedule than the one recommended by the CDC, or had their pediatrician “un bundle” the vaccines, please leave a comment on my blog and tell me about the experience.

Orlando's Baptism

Orlando was baptised on Sunday. It was his first time in church and he did very well. He didn't cry, even when the priest dumped about a gallon of water on his head and roughly rubbed his hair like he wanted to cause brain damage.

He was very calm. He was mostly interested in the stained glass windows. After the mass we had a little party for him at my aunt's house. He was not interested in taking a nap there, so he slept pretty well last night.

I was going to upload an image of him, but Blogger is messing up a lot today.

EDIT: Finally got the picture posted!

Orlando on KFC

Hi!

I don’t have teeth yet, but when I do, I will want to eat meals like the Famous Bowls at KFC. This dish is something that someone mature -- like a two-year-old -- must’ve created. They take a bowl and put everything on the menu in it in layers! Popcorn chicken on top of corn on top of mashed potatoes topped by gravy and cheese!!

Look at all the pretty colors!

Some people may say, “Eeeuw!” but I say, “Yum!”

Or, I will say “yum” when I have teeth.

Bye now!

Portraits at Sears

Yesterday I took Orlando to Sears to get some pictures taken. He pretty much wanted to sleep through the whole thing, so the photographer had to go to great lengths to get him to open his eyes.

They gave me the above collage for "free," but the total cost of the package I bought was just shy of $300.

Ouch!

He looked so cute, though. :)

The rest of the pictures will be ready on the 26th.