Hi there

In retrospect the month of December, in which I posted only twice, turned out to be Annie’s most action packed month yet. I won't be surprised if in that one four week span she will have reached more milestones and sprouted more than any other month yet to come. I will get to all of those milestones, but I first need to address my absence.

First, the good news…we are pregnant again. Just saying we though, makes me feel guilty about the bad news. As with my wife’s first pregnancy, she has been extremely sick. Many women get morning sickness, but what she gets is 24 hour sickness. I will never comprehend the full nature of how she feels, but witnessing someone you love not eat more than a cracker at lunch for four straight days is less than fun. In the span of three weeks she lost 20 pounds…that’s 15 percent of her bodyweight. Without sounding too dramatic, I began to fear for at least her life. Consequently, she spent the better part of two weeks in the hospital receiving intravenous fluids. After that, she spent another five days with an IV at home.

She is still not completely healthy, and if this pregnancy is anything like the last one, she will be nauseous for another six weeks. However, every day she eats a little more and regains her strength. Fortunately none of this has affected the new baby and our first ultrasound looked great…like a puffy Thanksgiving Day parade balloon shaped like a pig.

So, over the next few weeks I will try and process what it means to your old Unfinished Dad to be facing two babies instead of one. I have this Annie thing down pat, but the Annie and ______ thing, hmmmmmmm.

Okay, so the reason that we are here is my little Annabelle. Next year this space will take on a frenetic pace as I will be posting while chasing a toddler and simultaneously wiping a newborn’s butt. However, for now we will yield the floor to her.

While we were home in New Jersey Annie reached a few major milestones. The first came by accident while playing on the floor at Grandma Liz’s. She has been flirting with sitting up for a couple of weeks now, but usually either lays flat on her stomach (just the idea of being that limber kills me), or topples to her right. She was doing just that on Christmas Eve and then I walked into the room on Christmas Day and she was sitting straight up, like a woman with perfect posture. Two days later she was sitting for 30 minutes straight. I guess it just clicked for her.

The second leap forward that she took was in the nap department. For this I will thank both Grandma Liz and Grandma Kathy. Before they got their strict veteran mitts on her, Annie’s naps rarely lasted more than 45 minutes. Now, after three weeks she is taking two regular naps a day: One at around 10 a.m. and the other around 2 p.m. Both of these naps last for almost two hours. Who knows what I will do with all the extra time.

The last accomplishment is slightly less grand, but still fun to watch. Annie now holds her own bottle…um, when she feels like it. This usually last for about 30 seconds at a time, but during that half minute you should see how much I accomplish.

Now that we are back down south I will be writing regularly again and looking forward to hearing from my loyal 11. Thanks for your patience.

Oh wait, for whoever read my post on my friend Jimmy, please accept my apologies for being so insensitive. I truly do love him and only want the best for his future, but at the same time, my entertainment shouldn’t have to be compromised. On a related note, The Wire’s final season begins on Sunday night. I will be posting my thoughts about each episode every Monday morning (read afternoon),(read night),(read sometimes Tuesday). So I will title each post with a spoiler alert for those who have Tivoed or OnDemanded.