PAX

Yesterday, we went to the Penny Arcade Expo downtown. It's a game festival organised by some local cartoonist. I got passes through work for Heather and I. Owain sneaked in without paying and headed straight for The Guild booth to have his piccy taken with Felicia Day.

This is Vegas wasn't actually on display at the show but there was a Midway booth showing games like Wheelman, a high-octane driving game that is most notable for enlisting the help of A-list mega-star Joe Borthwick Vin Diesel.

In general, I found the show every bit as impressive as the European Computer Trade Show that used to take place in London. But now, I'm just an ageing, jaded programmer whose life (and blog) has been stolen by a bald, tubby mute with no social skills or bowel control (yet somehow twice as much charm as me). He, on the other hand, had his eyes popping out of his head: everywhere bright lights and strange sounds and slightly funky-smelling people passing by in a continuous procession. Pity he won't remember any of it in a few days. I suppose we'll have to go back next year.

Wild, wild weekend!

Heather has just finished watching the Oscars 'round Kristi's house in Alabama. I've been left in charge of the family estate here in Washington and have really let my hair down.

On Friday night I watched two episodes of Dr Who back to back over a glass of whisky... and not modern Dr Who neither - good old Tom Baker on PBS. Nobody tutted at the dated special effects and I didn't hear a single bitchy comment about the Doctor's glamorous assistant Leela. Her outfit is made of shammy leathers and she has some great lines.

On Saturday I went to work for a few hours and played Team Fortress 2. Then I tried to go see a film at the IMAX and failed. Normally, I wouldn't even try so that's adventurous right there. Instead I went home, ate pizza and watched Dog Day Afternoon. It's a very funny movie.

Today, I just went into total off-the-leash overdrive. I watched all sorts of lads TV including an episode of Star Trek from 1967. I vacuumed and washed up. I took out the recycling and the rubbish and wired up the DVD player. Then I went grocery shopping and bought the ingredients for my first ever curry. Unfortunately, I got bored while it was cooking and started eating red chilli peppers to remind myself which bits have the hot stuff. I'll leave out the gory details. Lets just say I needed a bath to fully recover.

And still I managed to post some baby photos. This is from our wanderings around Ballard last weekend and just happen to have some obnoxiously adorable pictures.

Three Months Today!

Owain has reached his 1/4-year birthday which is the drool anniversary. Here are some more baby pictures.


On Sunday, he flies to Arizona to be held and cooed at by lots of women. His P.A., Heather, will be accompanying him for the week. I will be spending the time working a little later than usual, playing Team Fortress 2 on company equipment and then coming home to beers, cheese on toast and more of the sort of computer-based gratification that can only truly be satisfied while the wife's away.

Speaking of which, I got a bit of a surprise this evening. Back in the 90's while I was a student of Artificial Intelligence, I did some work for a company called Intelligent Research Ltd. which was run by a long-time computer chess boffin by the name of David Levy. The work was mostly related to NLP and lasted until I finished my studies and got a job in video games. (Yes, this is going somewhere.)

Eventually, the company disappeared off the radar and I didn't hear anything more from David... until I saw this:


!

Jumping and Flying

Owain still likes to wear his first item of clothing, a standard-issue maternity ward beanie. Wherever we go, parents assume he was born at the local hospital because their kids got the same hat.

It still fits but the elastic is struggling and pops off when he's in his car seat. This presents numerous opportunities to take "lets make fun of the drunk" photos. If he keeps dozing off in public like this, we'll have to start drawing a moustache on his face with a permanent marker.

He now has more furniture than us. We bought him a new bouncy chair today as he likes to stand up but can't manage it on his own, leading to aching arms for us. It's a Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo which sounds very southern hemisphere. So far, he just finds it overwhelming but we have our fingers crossed.

In the past week Heather has been organising three long-distance trips: In a few weeks, she and the sprog return to Arizona for a visit. Friends and family are labouring under the belief that she is there to show off baby and catch up. I'm actually sending her back to retrieve the whiskey that the movers left behind. Next month, she flies to Alabama to watch the Oscars with Kristi. (I did them sums and it's cheaper than buying a new plasma TV.)

And finally, we've going to be in Wales for our wedding anniversary in May! We were thinking of having a party in Mexico but then we moved from Arizona to Washington and it didn't make so much sense any more. Now we'll be celebrating in our ancestral Shirenewton home which has been in the family now for almost a generation.

Owain's 2 Month Checkup

I decided to post about Owain's checkup today since John is out at Radioshack, yet again. Owain is really 10 weeks old as of yesterday but it took me a while to get settled enough to find a pediatrician. His new stats are-weight 14lbs 6oz, height 24 1/2inches, and head circumference is 16 1/4 inches. He is above average in all areas especially weight where he falls into the 90th percentile. He had to get his first immunization shots today and he cried quite a bit. I have a feeling it may have been the nurse's cold hands that kicked off the screamfest. He is napping now after having a dose of Tylenol. He was not a happy bunny after those shots. I must admit that I have been an anxious wreck since last night anticipating this Dr's visit today. Thank goodness it's over! At least for 2 more months anyways.

Happy Yuletide!

I got around to storing all the photos we've taken in the past couple of months.

• Firstly, there are some pictures from Phoenix with our friends, Aly and Jamie.
• Then there's some pictures of us flat hunting and right after the move.
• Then some more of us in our new home.
• And finally...

Baby Likes Beer!

I just dipped the dummy in my pint of Murphy's before giving it to him and he finally stopped grumping. You can tut all you like. My good intentions have mostly gone out of the window over the past seven weeks. As far as I'm concerned, a good parent is one who can keep a baby quiet. Period.

His electric swinging chair arrived last Thursday although sometimes even that fails to sooth him. He isn't supposed to watch any telly until he's three. But tonight, just so we could eat, we sat him right up by the screen. The affects are already there for anyone to see. He's clearly obese and getting fatter every day. And he doesn't care what he watches either. He just stares blankly at the screen. He rarely plays outside with the other infants and his only other interests in the world are Christmas trees and lamps. Oh, and beer.

Anyway, here is the news:

• Job continues to go well. On Friday afternoon, I played Whirlyball with all the other programmers. God invented this sport to prove to geeks that he exists;
• We now have all the mod cons we need to survive: cable, broadband, a kettle and a fondue set;
• My already rusty bike is chained to the railing outside and is about to learn a whole new world of pain over the next few months;
• Our neighbours all seem to be very nice people and the recycling facilities here are the best I've ever seen outside the Netherlands;
• Fred Meyer is the local equivalent of Robert Dyas and stocks all the crap that a couple of clueless newly-weds might be fooled into purchasing. They sell adaptors for people who live in houses that have 2-pin sockets. Huzzah!

So Far in Seattle

We've been here a day now. The flight ended up being a couple of hours delayed so we didn't get to the hotel until gone 2am. Then Heather remembered we'd left the cot on the baggage carousel. So half the morning was spent returning to the airport to collect it, then getting fleeced by the Advantage Rent A Car agent who saw us coming a mile away.

By the time we'd eaten and made it back to the hotel, Heather was too tired to go anywhere. A sympathetic receptionist upgraded us to a room big enough to fit the cot in. Unfortunately, it was on a floor where the Internet was down. By the time that was fixed, it was too late to phone any landlords. It's thanksgiving on Thursday and that spills over into Friday. So basically, we've got one business day to find a place to live before I'm due to start work. It's going to be an early start but that's ok, we've got the world's best alarm clock!

When the baby isn't on the move or in a restaurant, he gets very tetchy so I decided to calm him down with a walk. We're in the Executive Pacific Plaza which is only a few streets from the waterfront so with a tight grip on the buggy I walked down the steep hill to Alaskan Way. In the 2000 feet journey, I passed 3 Starbucks. I even left the hotel via a coffee shop.


The waterfront is just the right amount of run down. I'd say it's roughly on a par with the Palace Pier in Brighton. There are touristy seafood restaurants, an aquarium and an arcade with an F-Zero cabinet!!

I used to wander into the arcades in Brighton just searching for one of these. I'd given up all hope of ever finding it. Not being superstitious, I don't see this as a very good omen.

Going... going...

It's all going on here today.

The car was picked up around midday so we had to get a cab to the Paediatrician's for Owain's one-month check-up. For your information, he is 10 lbs 8 oz after a good poop.

Most recently, someone came round to look at the stuff that needs shipping. Remember the nursery...


...now it looks like this!


We're still in Tempe for a few hours longer. The flight to Washington is in the late evening. It's already delayed by 45 minutes. If it gets any later, we won't be able to pick up our rental car.

Did I miss anything? Oh yes, I've thrown all my flip-flops in the trash and lent my spare pair of gloves to Heather. She still claims she won't mind having weather again but reserves the right to complain at any point in the future.

Our hotel in Seattle has free wi-fi but I can't promise when I'll report in next, or where. It'll be from some happenin' coffee house full of shrinks and so-called gunge rockers, no doubt.

Assorted Pics

Things are going well here with Grandma. Unfortunately, with her high-tech digicam in use, it doesn't seem worth taking photos with mine. As a result, she has all the pictures of her visit. I will steal them from her at some point before she goes back.

In the meantime, I've uploaded all the older photos I've taken so far. There's a gallery of Owain's first few days at home and more recent pictures including Owain's first social engagements.

Tomorrow, we visit Prescott so who knows when I'll be able to update again.

Grandma McFarlane

My Mum arrived this evening after a 10½ flight from London Heathrow. She met (and identified) Owain and dropped by our home to see Mac and the dogs. Then we went to Aunt Chilada's so Mum could sample some Mexican food.

I'm not sure what's happening tomorrow. We'll probably practice the famous American past-time of 'hanging out'.

Here is a movie from last month. It's rather boring but if you want to know how Owain hiccups, it's pretty informative.

Eat at Joe's

Just a quick line to mention that I have finally accepted a job offer! The company is a game developer in Washington. (That's Washington State, not Washington D.C.) More details in a few days.

Here is the McFarlane family's low-key celebration at Joe's Crab Shack:


Owain has been a proper little fiend all day and won't settle down without a huge amount of attention. We're already late going to visit Jamie and Gwyn's this evening. I looked after baby while Heather got dolled up and then she took him back. Now he's having a screaming fit. Maybe he doesn't recognise her and thinks he's being abducted!

Seriously, if there are any baby abductors in the local area, our address is...

Permanent Residence Inerview

I was approved for a green card today!

We all had to get to the Department of Homeland Security in central Phoenix for 7.15am so I assumed we'd be there all day being grilled over every last detail of our relationship. Instead, the whole thing can't have taken more than an hour. Heather was sure that the sleeping baby in a travel seat melted the heart of the gangling civil servant as we sat in an office small enough to be one of his shoe boxes. I think the two inch-thick wad of paperwork played its part.

Owain is feeding quite well now and spends most of his time sleeping. His biggest problem is that he gets all his outfits wet despite having a nappy on. I won't provide an explanation here. It shocks me too much. I say 'his biggest problem' but really it's ours. His biggest problem is keeping his dummy in his mouth.

Tomorrow is ram-packed full of job interviews and doctor's appointments. Heather's best friend Kristi is in town for the rest of the week so the hard stuff is nearly behind us now. Fingers crossed.

Have you had your fix of baby photos yet? Yes? Well tough luck. Here's Owain sleeping in his crib on the blanket that Auntie Dee Dee made for him. Aahhh!


And who's this hansome, young man asleep in his swing-chair-type thing? Could it be Owain Rockford? Why yes!

Green is clearly the new black (except in his diaper where it's the other way around).

Baby Photos

Heather and Owain are fed and fast asleep after a busy day of diaper changes and nursing mishaps so I've taken the opportunity to publish all of the photos from yesterday.

So far, I haven't got around to describing the birth - been a bit busy, you see. Well, compared to the rest of the week's trials and tribulations, the actual birth went fairly smoothly. At around four or five, the decision was made to start the big push. There was a break when the nurse found that the head was caught on a bit of the cervix. After sitting upright for half and hour, this righted itself and Heather made steady progress until some time after six.

The epidural was starting to wear off by the time the head was visible on its own. (The head, by the way, was the colour of reddish-brown meat with lots of white patches and reminded me of corned beef!) Heather had long since given up all hope of seeing a baby and just wanted an end to her misery. So in a sense, it was the fact that she didn't want to try any more that kept her pushing relentlessly. By the time the doctor was paged, she was ready to finish the job and was incredibly frustrated that she had to stop and wait.

Then the room was a buzz with people dressed in green; the stirrups came up and half the bed fell away to reveal a huge trough for catching all manner of fluids and other matter. (Still reading?) At this point Heather was screaming louder than she had all week.

The head turned out to be about twice as long as it was wide, so it just seemed to keep coming. As it got free the doctor quickly removed the umbilical chord from around the neck whilst twisting the head around 90 degrees which was when I could make out the features. In no time, the whole body was there in his hands which was when it finally sank in that Heather wasn't kidding; she really had been pregnant all year.

The chord was cut and the baby was whisked away to the other side of the room to be poked and prodded this way and that. That's when he let out his first cry and we just fell to pieces. I don't remember many details as things were still happening so quickly and nothing felt real. I remember he was given a minute or two of oxygen as a precaution because of his deathly pale complexion.

He was handed back to Heather to hold briefly and but not for long enough to feed before he was taken away again for more tests and treatment including an injection of vitamin K which made him cry so loud that Heather was inconsolable until she had him back in her arms.

The room slowly started to empty of staff and activity and we realised that we both had the sensation that we were in a completely different place. Around about that time I started taking lots of pictures.

Owain Rockford McFarlane

Yes, the baby has a name!

We couldn't put it off any longer and decided to go with our long-term favourite suggestions. I think he looks like an Owain, don't you?

Owain is a Welsh name which means 'young warrior' or 'well born'. It is pronounced the same as Owen (which is the Anglicised version).


(Left: Jim. Right: Mac and Mary Ellen.)

Rockford is an American name meaning 'early adopter of the answer phone'. I was against Rockford for a long time - mostly on the basis that it's not a name (unless you're a town or a TV show). Then I discovered that Rockford is actually a given name. That and my Dad's incessant pleading cause me to cave in and give him Rockford as the middle name.

Actually, I argued with Heather so much over it that she took the rather underhanded approach of making me choose the first name all on my own. This is probably the reason why he's not called Rockford Owain McFarlane.

Introducing...

Our baby boy!
Heather and baby are doing just fine. He's 8lbs 6oz and was born today at 7:21pm PST (GMT+8) and he's crying like a baby.And next time I post, we'll have a name picked out and everything. I thought I'd get this out just as fast as I could.

Is it Thursday Already?

Another exciting evening of not having a baby is behind us. Heather made it for (I think about) seven hours of induced labour without any pain killers before giving in and requesting a mild epidural. It's a strange thing to see how someone can go from one emotional extreme to the other in such a short stretch of time.

And now for the technical specs: Heather's baby pressure is 112/62. She's at 89 bloods per minute and he's at 144. Her eyes are now dilated to 5cm which is very good (see figure). And even though we're in a bigger room now, the contraptions are closer together.

Piece of cake this medicining.

Hospital

At our ultrasound appointment yesterday, it transpired that the baby's amniotic fluid is low enough to be a cause for concern. We were checked straight into the hospital at around five and at about 8:30pm, Heather was administered Cervidil, a mild labour-inducing treatment that is applied directly to the cervix and aims to ripen it.

At 8.30 this morning, it was removed after causing only mild contractions and Heather was moved on to Oxytocin, a drip-based drug that promotes contractions. All afternoon, Heather had increasingly intense contractions and dilated to roughly 4cm.

At around five, the pain got too much and she opted for an epidural which was immediately followed by a great feeling of relief as well as uncontrollable shakes which the nurses and anesthetist assured us was a sign of intensifying labour. She was then given a sedative to calm her down which just plain tripped her out.

Sorry for the overly medical account of our adventures in childbirth which probably involves plenty of factual errors. I've probably had four hours sleep since Monday morning and Heather's had less than that. It's been a very emotional time with a lot worry and stress and more than a little disillusionment on Heather's part. She's been through a huge amount of confusion and pain but is currently comfortable and calm ... and mostly numb from the waist down!

We're getting a crash course in hospital politics which is very interesting. A big problem is that we've out-lasted roughly six waves of nurses and doctors, each with a varying opinion on how to deliver babies. This means that we find ourselves changing course regularly. (It's a bit like party politics in that respect.)

Currently we're just waiting to see if the labour progresses of its own accord before deciding what to do next. Heather can't feel her legs and needs her feet rubbed constantly to stop her freaking out. She's not been able to explain exactly why this is but is very adamant about it.

It's quite hard to keep sight of the end goal at the moment as our time is filled with monitors, medicines, pillows and uncomfortable lying positions. We've had visits from Jamie and Gwyn as well as Mac and Mary Ellen who kindly lent me the laptop I'm using right now to get on the web. Jim and Daniel are currently keeping us company. Daniel is alternating between smoking and snoring and Jim is on foot rubbing duty while I write these words.

More news as it happens...

Sports

I managed to get in a match or two of the World Cup last weekend in Prescott, thanks to Jim and Setanta Sports.

Setanta is an international network I'd never heard of before with channels in Great Britain and Ireland as well as America and Oz. The US operation is presented by a team of mostly Irishmen. I wouldn't say they had a bias or anything but they knew more about the Namibian side than they did about the Welsh. (Ireland beat Namibia by an unimpressive margin on Sunday BTW.)

Elsewhere in France, the not-much-hyped game between the US and England went well, i.e. America only lost by ten points to twenty eight. The locals here seem disappointed when I tell them the score despite only just learning that they have a team at all (or, for that matter, that England are the World Champions). When asked for his comments on the result, President Bush said, "we're kicking ass".

The Tri Nations teams all beat their opponents by a factor of between five and thirty as widely predicted. Wales won by a fair gap to Canada after a poor start in the first half and a steady stream of replacements in the second. Even Scotland had an easy go of things against Portugal.

The surprise match of weekend turned out to be the first, in which the hosts fell to Argentina. The upsets always seem to make the best viewing. I expect that's because no matter how far below par the favourites are, the underdogs always have to put on a hell of a show to come out on top. That's why Wales vs Australia is going to be such a joy to watch at 5:30am on Saturday. We're going to kick their asses all right.

While I was in Prescott, I also acquired Jim's old bike. It's been in storage for about twenty years now but I am assured that it was a fine vehicle in it's day. See for yourself.

I've replaced all the rubber parts which were perished and have given it a can or two of lube. It still needs a lot of work but for now it gets me to the post box and back. Nifty eh?

Heather's Baby Shower

We've been in Prescott since Wednesday when I got a nasty case of drink poisoning which knocked me out for a day or two. Fortunately I recovered by Saturday for the Baby Shower!


As you can see, it was a non-traditional, men-and-children-invited baby shower. Fortunately there was lots of beer so the kids weren't too much trouble.

I've no idea if baby showers are just an American thing or not. I certainly didn't hear of them until I got here. Basically everybody gives a first-time mother baby stuff. We got tonnes of stuff - much of which is genuinely useful. The rest is stuff that makes Heather and the other mothers go 'Aaaaaahh' a lot.

We're heading back to the valley early tomorrow with most of our new toys. Jim and Daniel are coming to visit in a week or so with whatever we couldn't fit in the car. A batch of new movies came out last Friday and with any luck, they'll push Harry Potter out of the listings so we can go see it with them in IMAX.

In other news, the job hunting is really picking up pace now, with on-site interviews and everything. That's a big deal 'cos everywhere is so far away here.

And finally, here's proof that mum will do anything for a bottle of bubbly (in case you needed it):