teamAHearn.com

One year checkup

Scott — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:08:30 +0000

Lily went for her one year pediatrician visit yesterday and is doing well! She’s still barely 18 pounds, so is sitting comfortably in the 3^rd percentile for weight – and is about 27 inches tall which places her in the 5^th percentile for height. So she’s tiny, but is otherwise very healthy. And despite a recent head cold she’s eating very well and sleeping great – no complaints from mommy and daddy!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for a fun 1^st birthday party for Lily! We all had a great time and were glad that she did so well throughout the day. I added a photo recently with a cute shot her of her eating her birthday “cake” (an egg/wheat/dairy-free brownie topped with a blueberry glaze). Credit to Stephanie for the creative, allergy-free eats!

Finally, we got the following two videos the day of Lily’s birthday – as you can see, she can’t walk completely on her own yet, but it’s certainly not stopping her from tearing around the house screeching with glee.

One year!

Scott — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:24:55 +0000

Unbelievably, Lily turns one year old today. It’s still ridiculous when I think about it, because it seems like just yesterday that I was holding her in my arms after welcoming her into the world only minutes earlier. But it also seems like it all happened ten years ago. What an incredible blur it’s all been.

Things have settled significantly over the past few weeks. After illnesses and the stress of confirming her many allergies, Lily has become accustomed to her limited diet. In fact, she spent the past two weeks having some kind of growth spurt – we couldn’t shovel food in there fast enough! While that’s tapered as of late, seeing her eat that much was still a very welcome sight for mommy and daddy.

Her personality is developing more than ever! She’s developed quite a little attitude about some things, and has already learned how to get into serious mischief. However, she thankfully spends way more of the day smiling and goofballing than being sassy.

Pictures and videos to come – especially following her celebration with family and friends this coming Saturday.

We love you more than anything, Lily – happy first birthday! Here’s to 365 days of pure magic. We can’t wait for many, many more.

Enough with the snow!

Scott — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:58:41 +0000

As you’ve probably seen (or been a part of), the mid-Atlantic region was hit with monstrous amounts of snow over the past week. One of our official weather stations nearby at Mount Vernon measured 23 inches, and that doesn’t count “round two,” a little aftershock of a storm that brought a bit more (including some wind as well, which contributed to drifts up to a foot).

Well the sun has finally emerged, we’ve dug ourselves out, and are more than ready to get rid of some raging cabin fever. Photos here for posterity. And don’t think we didn’t get some more good shots of Lily in the snow – her album has some updates, too!

Eleven months (and a day)

Scott — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:03:20 +0000

Things are finally getting back to normal here in Happy Town. Lily hit eleven months yesterday, but we’re all ready to put January behind us. It took a little while, but she started acting like herself two days ago and has been eating well. She did, however, spend two days with head-to-toe hives – the source of which several different pediatricians couldn’t pinpoint. The result: a four-day antihistamine regimen, no more formula at all (how could someone be allergic to hypoallergenic formula?!), and Stephanie being asked to restart nursing. That last point has posed some significant problems, as Lily was fully weaned as of two weeks ago.

Later this coming week, we have a follow-up appointment with an allergist and a nutritionist – we’re very worried that Lily just isn’t getting the nourishment she needs. Because of her allergies, finding a variety of good, filling foods is an enormous challenge. Oddly, though, nobody else seems that concerned since she’s technically gaining weight and filling diapers – but she’s practically off the charts (on the low end) for her age/size.

In happier news, she’s as fun and crazy as ever. She’s walking around (with her baby push-cart) all over the place, is always grinning like a fool, constantly babbles to anyone who will listen, and has some kind of hyper-awareness of surrounding sights and sounds. “Yes, Lily, that’s the lamp. Yes, that’s the cat. For the hundredth time.” But she’s certainly keeping us on our toes, and we’re loving every minute of it.

Plans are also in the works for her big first birthday extravaganza! We are utterly astonished it’s almost been a year already – what a crazy ride it’s been with our sweet little monkey!

Tinkering with the Kindle

Scott — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:23:14 +0000

I was lucky enough to get an Amazon Kindle e-book reader for Christmas, and have been enjoying it tremendously. Being a geek, though, I’ve been reading up on ways to get the most out of the experience.

First, where can I find stuff to read? Obviously, Amazon’s Kindle Store is the number one stop. There are books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs available, some costing little to nothing. However another great resource is archive.org’s Text Archive, home to countless works available for free.

Second, what if I have an existing PDF or MS Word document that I’d like on the Kindle? One option is to email the document to Amazon – they will then convert it to a Kindle-readable format and send it directly to your device. This service does cost money, though (more info on the support page). Another option (also described on the support page) is to use Amazon’s free conversion service. In this scenario, the document will be sent to you via email, and it’s up to you to get it to your device (via USB connection to your computer).

One drawback to these two options, however, is lack of control over document “meta” information, such as title, author, cover image, table of contents, etc. This isn’t a big deal when you buy directly from Amazon (who typically clean up their publications very well), or only have a few docs on your device. But if you have a lot of third-party, poorly converted documents, it soon becomes a problem when you’d like to sort by author, for example, for better organization. To solve this, Mobipocket has developed Mobipocket Creator. This software lets you convert PDF, Word, and other files, and gives you full control over meta data. Tip, the author field should almost always be [last name, first name] in order for the Kindle to sort it properly. Once converted, you transfer the file(s) to your device via USB as previously mentioned.

Finally, what if I have a Kindle-ready electronic document, but the meta information is incorrect? You’ll often run into this when downloading from third-party sites (like archive.org mentioned above). Mobipocket Creator won’t help here – for this, check out Calibre, e-book management software. This will do much of the same with regards to polishing up meta data, and will leave you a file suitable to transfer back to your device.

If you have any other good Kindle links, resources, or hints, please leave a comment below!

When it rains, it pours

Scott — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:25:28 +0000

Let’s be clear – it’s been a tough week for Team A’Hearn.

Fresh off the heels of Lily’s allergy tests, Stephanie was stricken with a nasty stomach bug that’s been making the rounds around town. Hoping to steer clear of the nasty, Lily and I put mommy on quarantine and shared some quality daddy/daughter bonding time. Thankfully, Steph recovered alarmingly quickly and we kept our fingers crossed about getting sick ourselves. It also proved to be an opportune time to fully wean Lily. Steph had been slowly tackling this anyway, and the time was right. So many heartfelt accolades to mommy for going through so much for our little Peanut.

Anyway, you know the next part. Exactly 48 hours after Steph’s first symptoms, I, too, got sick. (Why does it always strike at night?) Apparently with the same bug, as well. So now I was in quarantine (read: laying in the basement watching Police Academy) while Lily and mommy got to play. I’ve taken a bit longer to recover, but am feeling better now. And of course…

Lily got hit with the bug yesterday. She’s done well, but has been understandably very grumpy/affectionate/giggly/wailing for the past day or two. Oh, she’s also popping about three more teeth right now – all at once. My poor sweet baby. So she went to the doctor today and I guess this bug is ravaging the young and old all over creation – we just need to pump her full of Pedialyte, and give her an occasional squirt of Mortrin to keep her [minor] fever down.

On the bright side, we won’t ever forget the beginning of 2010!

Allergies

Scott — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:20:35 +0000

Lily had an appointment with a pediatric allergist today and many of our pediatrician’s findings were confirmed: she reacts to just about everything. Eggs, wheat, dairy, oats, rice, corn, dust, cats, dogs – all came up strongly positive (enough to warrant the doctor prescribing an EpiPen). There were some others, too, but that’s the gist. So now we’ll continue working with the pediatrician and allergist throughout the coming months. It’s really tough for us to feel like she’s getting nourished when she can only eat about five things, and her non-dairy formula makes my Visa ache. But everyone tells us the same thing: the vast majority of cases like Lily’s outgrow the allergies within a few years. We all hope so. As long as she doesn’t have to suffer through all those pokes again any time soon!

DC area culture

Scott — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:39:07 +0000

Last week Stephanie’s parents were in town from Richmond, and she and Lily took them to the Newseum. Unfortunately, I had to work and wasn’t able to go along, but they all came back raving about it. We’ll need to plan a return trip! It did get me thinking about all the sights and attractions around here, though, many of which we still haven’t seen despite living in the area. Of course we’ve made the rounds through the usual Smithsonian museums: art, natural history, American history, air and space, and even the Udvar-Hazy Center out near Dulles. But we still haven’t made it to the Holocaust Museum, the International Spy Museum, and several others that aren’t coming to mind right now.

Any suggestions that you’ve enjoyed and would recommend? Hit the “comment” link below and let us know!

Holiday photos

Scott — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:43:54 +0000

I have updated Lily’s photo album with the latest batch from the holidays, and it was quite an effort. We typically like to publish three or four shots a month so as not to inundate people with Lily’s cuteness – but this month I had a whopping 194 photos to pare down. I settled on twelve of the best. Enjoy!

And many thanks to everyone for such a nice Christmas weekend! Stay safe tonight!

Ten months, family holidays

Scott — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:41:33 +0000

Lily is a crazed handful of a baby. It’s amazing how much development can occur in such a short time, but she now spends most of her days pointing, babbling (loudly), crawling around, and getting into everything within her reach. We knew we weren’t fully baby-proofed – “Hey, we’ll always be right next to her. How quick can she be?” – but jeez, what a monkey! We’re having a blast, though, and with each passing week we’re anxious to see what new antics she’ll surprise us with.

Incidentally, I probably won’t do these monthly update posts once Lily turns one. I figure we’ll simply update when the need arises, whether that is more or less frequently. And probably similar changes with her photo album – that will be renamed to something like “Year One”, and we’ll make a new album to continue on. More on that, in February, though.

And happy holidays to all! We’re looking forward to seeing my parents here in northern Virginia for Christmas Eve, then down to Richmond for our annual Christmas Day spectacular with Steph’s folks. If we don’t see you, be safe and enjoy the weekend!