Happy Birthday Sabrina!

Hello world, I'm Sabrina and I'm one week old today.

Baby girl Golding at a Nats game

A week??? How the hell did that happen. Let's back up a little since the last post. When we were last together, it was min dae till the due date but our little one seemed super comfy in her mommy's belly. As a result we spent the last week still very much out and about. We went off to Wolftrap to picnic and watch the "Sound of Music" and the next night went off to watch the Nationals play. Baby Girl Golding already has something of a flair for the dramatic though, and decided that she would put the labor into Labor Day, with Erin's water breaking at 5am last Monday morning. And then she became the only baby we know to arrive on her due date of September 3rd.

The hospital had plenty of adventures but its a lot like Vegas in that you don't share the messy details after the fact. The hospital stay can be shortly summarized as follows: 28 hours after getting admitted to the hospital, our world changed and Sabrina Anne Golding was born. She joins this world in the same year as a prince and a baby panda. When I last checked, her birth announcement already had nearly 500 "likes" on Facebook. She is clearly receiving just as much social media buzz as those other two babies. Interestingly. Will and Kate were married in the same year as us and have given birth in the same year too. Does this mean that our little one will one day be a princess? Too late, she's already my princess!

Not surprisingly I was born a Nats fan

A week has gone by and I'm embarrassed to admit that we have become "those" people. We are now part of that club that gets excited about every detail of our baby's life. How often she poops, the sound she makes when she hiccups (somehow its cuter than when adults do it), whether she wiggled her arms around, the cute positions she sleeps in. I have seen my friends do this but now finally understand why. Who knew that staring at a baby all day could be such an amazing way to spend your time.

The start of parenting has also meant that we have got to use some of the baby gear that we accumulated in preparation for the great arrival. I am one of the world's greatest online shoppers and used my jedi skills to research on pretty much every piece of baby junk that child needs (or doesn't need but their parents really want to own). However, one item that had escaped my radar was a wipe warmer. It may sound ridiculous, but let me tell you at at 3AM, when you're busy changing a dirty diaper, your newborn baby greatly appreciates a warm wipe touching her cute little bum. Many thanks to our good mates, Kurt and Vee, for getting us this amazing contraption which has already greatly reduced the amount of night time crying. 

This is the same cradle Erin had as a baby

On the topic of night times, I am amazed at how functional you can be with only 3-4 hours of sleep. Granted Erin is having to do most of the heavy lifting (the price of having boobs). That said, I do have an embarrassing story of what happens when one tries to do something without being aware of your fatigue level. On the day we returned home from the hospital I decided to do laundry. Half an hour later I went down to move the laundry to the dryer but realized that while the laundry was wet, the stains hadn't been removed. This is what happens when you run the laundry without using any detergent. Undeterred I reran the laundry, came back later and successfully put it all in the dryer. When I returned to pick it all up though, the laundry was still wet - I had forgotten to press the "Start" button on the dryer. It is a good thing that I'm not being asked to operate heavy machinery.

And poof, Sabrina is a week old. I wont lie I'm a little sad about this. I realized yesterday that we will never again speak about her age just in the number of days. I wonder if this is part of what people mean when they say that your kids grow up way too quickly in front of your eyes. If that's the case, I need to stop blogging and go play with my daughter. 

Till next time,
aL

One happy grandma

Watching sport with her dad

Team Golding

Did you see her cheeks? She looks like me!

New baby? New bed for me!

The Ladies Golding

Min dae!

Gorgeous as ever!

38 weeks...YIKES ! 

Most boys don't know how the whole "weeks" thing works (we just know its 9 months) but even I know that 38 weeks is pretty deep into the game. We are now 2 weeks from our due date and the excitement and fear continues to grow...as does Erin's belly. She is now at that stage where strangers smile and congratulate her and folks on the bus regularly offer her their seat (not the case on the Metro though where people are more than happy to watch an 8 month pregnant woman stand).

Not surprising is that she still looks incredible (does help if you looked incredible before the pregnancy began). And as we draw near to the end of the first part of this journey I consider myself rather fortunate: Not too many crazy cravings, not too much nausea and a wife who at 8 and half months is still coming to happy hours - despite not being able to drink!

VT girls showing off the baby

The last month and a half has also seen us attend three baby showers. How is it that this little girl is already spoiled so much and one set of grandparents haven't even been to visit yet? As the saying goes, "It takes a village"...Well we have one; it's just not your traditional village. The members of our village here in DC are pretty cosmopolitan and include folks from countries like Serbia, Germany, Lebanon, India, Botswana, Iran and New Jersey (its a whole different country over there!). And when you add in the support networks in Vermont and South Africa, you realize that this is one seriously well loved little girl. We have been simply blown away by the generosity of everyone. A massive thank you to all for the gifts and to the three hosts Barb, Barb and Sarah a special thanks from me for not making me play any crazy baby shower games.

Tonic asleep in the stroller

Having received all of this baby stuff, the next step has been to first assemble all of it and then figure out where to put everything. According to Babycenter.com, the worry that you do not have enough space is apparently something shared by all fathers (although a number of my friends say it doesn't stop once the kids stop being babies either). These are the times that I miss my big old house in SA. That said, not everyone is struggling with the new arrivals. The cats love the new baby stuff as they believe everything in this apartment belongs to them. So whether its the cradle, the gliding chair or the pram (Americans read "stroller"), the cats have been testing them all out as new places to sleep.

Thanks Terry - I need the guidance

During the great assembly phase I unearthed one of the great truths of fatherhood: all baby stuff require the use of D-sized batteries. I haven't used a D-sized battery for anything in years. I was shocked even to find that we had a few in our closet. Not surprisingly they weren't sufficient. I ended up having to make two trips to the local hardware store for D batteries within in one hour last weekend. Why cant they just use the normal AA batteries like EVERYTHING else in the world. I bet Fisher-Price and Duracell are in cahoots.

One other part of the deboxing/assembly phase involved us washing a ton of the baby gear that we had been given. Firstly let me say that there are a lot of insanely adorable baby clothes for girls. Good job baby clothes people, even me as a dad thinks this stuff is too cute for words. However, the laundry process left me feeling completely helpless now that the tags have been removed. I'm not sure I can tell the difference between a receiving blanket and a burping cloth. If Erin wasn't around, I'm convinced my child might end up wearing her onsesies back to front for most of her babyhood. 

Hurry up baby, the Nats need you!

Despite this type of nervousness of STILL feeling like I know nothing, I think we are ready for her to come say hi. It's a bit sobering knowing that our little bundle of happiness could arrive any day now...but then I'm reminded that it's almost football season and I was going to be on my couch chilling out anyway...now I'll just do it with a baby. Like everything about her, even her timing is perfect. 

Finally,since the last blog post we have come to learn that 6 other couples we know are having babies. Moreover, three of those couples were in Vegas with us for our joint bachelor/ette party and those folks are all having kids within a week of each other. Which raises the question: WHAT type of deals are girls making with each other at these bachelorette parties??? We are of course overjoyed that our little one will have a bunch of "cousins" here and in SA to go jolling with in her future. Let's just hope these kids of ours aren't as wild as their parents.

Hope this finds you well,
Much love,
aL

PS You can still make your pick as to when the little one is due to arrive...just click this link and make your pick http://babybookie.com/pools/1672-baby-girl-golding/bets/new

Is this blog post over yet?

Baby university

It is harder to become a parent than it is to get a pet.

Unhappy pet.
Baby has taken away her favorite place to lay down

You need to fill in a form for a pet. The Humane Society will come to your house and check that your place of residence is up to scratch. 

Want a baby? Well, you don't need to fill in any forms to get pregnant. That said, having a baby is kind of a big deal, and unfortunately when it comes to babies - simply put, first time parents are idiots. As a result we read...a lot! And there are lots of things to read. Books on what to expect when you're expecting, books on how to soothe a crying baby (and yes, the book makes it seem rather easy) and books aimed just at fathers (I'm currently reading one called "Someone might get hurt").

For some reason all baby books aimed at dads are ones filled with humor.  I'm not exactly complaining, since it has been a bit more entertaining. But being a father is not a laughing matter, and it seems odd that the only way to get dads to engage with this stuff is to make a joke about it. Trying joking about your pregnant partner's cravings or how ridiculous it is to have an argument with her - see who ends up laughing at the end of that! More concerning is that this writing style is kind of an adult extension of the boys get blue stuff and the girls get pink stuff marketing propaganda. This has left me worrying: What if my daughter likes blue? Do I want her to like blue? Or is it a pain to find stuff that's blue for girls. Even worse - what if she hates pink.

I swear there's a baby hidden in there

The books are great in that they humble you into realizing how little you know about babies. And I'm not just talking about when, how and why you would swaddle a baby (or what swaddling actually is). That said the books, can only tell you so much; and humorous books hardly seem like adequate preparation for being a father. To properly prepare for parenthood you need to go next level: you need to go back to school! 

This past week we have attended two birthing classes which provided me with knowledge and insight into what few people tell you is the somewhat gross miracle of birth. Note to the uninformed: having a baby is nothing like the Discovery channel. These classes were invaluable in that I learnt about important stuff like how to know when the consistency of a babies poop is a problem; or how to massage your partner when she's going through the early stages of labor. Heck I didn't even realize that there were stages to labor. I also learnt how to change a diaper on a doll. I am an expert on changing diapers on dolls. Any parents who are reading this: is it the same when you are changing your own adorable wailing wriggling little munchkin?

It has not been all baby prep for us though. Our munchkin and her beautiful mother have been doing a fair amount of jolling in the past few weeks as we've got to attend two  weddings of former classmates of mine. Once you're done with the  OneMBA, your energy can be directed to more meaningful endeavors like making a baby (3 of the 5 members of my first global group are bringing girls into this world) or getting married. Despite being 6 months pregnant, Mrs G was spotted on a dance floor, shaking her tail-feather. The little Miss G apparently has also been a whole bunch more active in the past few weeks and has been kicking up a storm. She particular enjoys us playing music to her and my deep voice when I read to her (either that or she is kicking to tell me to keep quiet).

When OneMBA hooligans get invited to weddings

Summer is finally here and has arrived with somewhat of a vengeance. We are both loving the sun although playing hockey in this heat is a bit brutal. I'm blaming the heat for the fact that I got sent off for the first time since high school during a hockey festival that I played in this past weekend. It must have been the heat that made the short tempered enough to want to send off an innocent soul like myself. 

I hope you are all well. Please leave comments or send me a note to let me know what your news is.

Living the dream...while unpacking a diaper genie
aL

PS #babygirlgolding is now about the size of a cabbage 

One of the perks of pregnancy:
Frozen yogurt for dinner

The IKEA diaries

So it appears that this poor blog is suffering from the same fate of my previous blogging efforts - I keep getting distracted. My friend Amanda calls its my "Ooo shiny" complex that prevents me from concentrating on any one thing for an extended period of time. While this little behavior trait of mine can be a lot of fun (never a dull moment) it also makes it difficult to maintain a regular blog (and can drive a pregnant wife insane at times). My apologies if you've been waiting patiently for an update. We've been rather busy and in the middle of all the running around and lazing on the beach I sometimes forget to tell you all about it. I promise to do better.

got bump?

The plus about being busy is that I have lots of material to share. Not that I need much extra material when you consider the reason for this blog is that we have a little princess joining us in just under 4 months time...EEK! That seems rather close all of a sudden. The little possum weighs about a pound now and is the size of an ear of corn. I got to feel her kick for the first time after we played her some classical music using these nifty belly speakers. She either likes classical music or hates it - either way it's supposedly improving her brain function and driving her to kick out. While it was just one small kick for a little baby, it was one giant skip of a heartbeat for her father. Every now and then we get reminded just how mind blowing this whole process is.

Not all of the "the process" is fun and cuddly, however; some of it involves IKEA. My time in the States could very well be told as a series of episodes of going to IKEA and then coming home and to assembling furniture (I separate these stages out because the purchasing and the assembly are two very distinct tasks with their own unique challenges). When I first got here, IKEA was how I started off my apartment. A simple desk, a book case, a wok, some cutlery, a coffee table. Then when Erin moved in my needs changed (they also became our needs) and we went and got some storage for clothes, a dining room table, a cabinet for the giant TV, picture frames for the walls (the walls are the last thing single guys decorate), another desk, bedside pedestals, lamps to go on those pedestals...Then we rested. Fast forward a few years and we needed a place to put all of our wedding gifts so we got a couple of new cabinets (at this stage we considered ourselves as IKEA pros so we got high end IKEA with glass shelves and fancy down-lights) and a replacement wok. A year and a half later we are back at IKEA, this time for a crib, a changing table and a kid friendly dresser. We own so much IKEA that one of the major reasons we got our baby furniture there was because it goes with everything else in our apartment. The other reason was that we needed to get ourselves a new wok!

Even Tonic is helping with the IKEA assembly

Caliente!

This past few weeks have not been all work and no play. We are pregnant after all, not dead! We recently had the great opportunity to attend a wedding in the Dominican Republic of our wonderful friends Lillian and Cristobal. Lillian had been a bridesmaid at our wedding, and this April Erin got to return the favor. Little did Lillian know that she when she asked Erin that she would also be getting an extra half a bridesmaid to help out. The trip turned into a bit of a "babymoon" as we took some time to chill at the beach at all inclusive resort near Punta Cana. And as evidenced by the picture on the right, Erin is bringing sexy back to the maternity look.

As always post comments and let us know what's your news. 

Living the dream...while assembling furniture with a power drill
aL (need to have something here in pink - its a girl after all)

Sugar and spice and all things nice...

...That's what little girls are made of!

It's a girl!

There’s no other way to start this update other than with the biggest news of the past week.

Our cute little alien

I never realized I'd be this excited about there being a new lady in my life! I had the chance to go to my first ultrasound appointment last Tuesday where we got to find out the flavor baby we are having. Before the appointment, we had run an online poll to see what our friends thought the gender would be. Here in Washington DC, elections are a big deal, so it’s no surprise that our little one adhered to the voice of the people and turned out to be girl. Ever the showoff, she even managed to give us a little wave during the ultrasound session.

Baking while beautiful, barefoot & pregnant

The baby has reached 20 weeks – the half way mark - and is now the length of a banana. Her mother has just gone past that “Has Erin picked up weight?” phase and is now in the “I think Erin might be pregnant, but I’m too embarrassed to ask in case she’s not” stage. That said the bump, is still kinda little and she has only just purchased her first maternity clothes. One plus has seen the return of energy levels. This was particularly helpful given that my birthday party went on till 2:30 in the morning. Pregnant she may be, she remains an amazing hostess (she even baked three cakes for my birthday!).

As mentioned above the other big event last week was me turning a year older. The baby has of course meant that events like my birthday have declined in significance and even though she is still a few months away from introducing herself to the world, she is already the star attraction in the Golding household. She even has her own gifts already (thank you to Linden and Nishi). While I may have turned a year older, it appears that I may not be doing too well in the "getting wiser" department. The day following my whiskey tasting birthday party, I was once again reminded that I am well past the age where I can play hockey with a hangover. As they say in South Africa: Jy wil mos!

Whiskey: putting the "Happy" into Happy Birthday for centuries

In other news the universe has conspired to reconnect us with one of my mother's former work colleague from her days at  BP. The last time I saw Tebe Seretse I was 7 years old when she used to call me "Big Al". But in truth it is her that is the real "big" person after all these years, as she has gone from "Aunty Tebe" to Her Excellency, Ambassador Seretse. My mother's old friend is now Botswana's Ambassador to the USA. We had a chance to have lunch with her and once again got reminded how lucky we are to have friends who are like family. It turns out that she may be even more excited than anyone else about the arrival of "her granddaughter" and has told my mother not worry because she will be at the hospital when that baby arrives!

We are taking something of an early babymoon this week as we head down to the Dominican Republic for our good friends, Lillilan and Cristobal's wedding. This is a much needed trip because spring weather has once again deserted the Nation's Capital. Even the cats are cold - they are putting aside their sibling differences to share their cat bed at night in an effort to keep warm.

Finally, a thank you to all who reached out to check in on us in the aftermath of the events in Boston last week. People from all over sent us notes, especially concerned about Leslie, my sister-in-law who lives in Beantown. She, along with all of other friends, are all doing fine as the city continues to move forward.

Hope you are well,
aL

Skip the mockingbird and give me the diamond ring

Sunrise picnic at the Tidal Basin to see the Cherry Blossoms

As mentioned before I have very little expertise when it comes to babies. I pretty much know where the food goes in (and where it goes out) and that they don't really bounce. As I was doing my research on all things babies, I came to realize I don't really know the words to too many lullabies. I think this may be an important piece of knowledge given that I anticipate that helping the little one fall asleep will be one of my chief tasks (that and cleaning up where the food comes out).

Rather than making up my own words or just humming, last week I memorized all the words to Hush little baby. Everyone knows that the baby shouldn't say a word cos Papa's gonna by you a mockingbird; but few people know that if that cart and bull tip over, Papa's gonna by you a dog named Rover.

Don't tell Tonic that March madness is over

This past week made me realize that there is a good chance that this child of ours is going to be born a joller. Despite being pregnant Mrs G and I went to two concerts - David Guetta on Saturday and then Maroon 5 on a school night. Pregnancy or not, Erin Golding still showed off that she has the moves like Jagger. So much so, that she (as always) got hit on by some sketchy boys while at David Guetta. We have an ultrasound coming up this week and I wouldn't be surprised if the little one is tapping its foot.

If all goes to plan, next week's ultrasound will also be the time that we get to find out what flavor baby we are having. I encourage you to vote here http://apps.facebook.com/my-polls/mkxtb on whether you think its a boy or a girl. Click on the link, if for no reason, you'll get to see pics and judge who was cuter as a kid between Erin and myself. 

If you look closely, you'll see
the beginning of the bump.

This past week saw the passing of Margaret Thatcher. The press reports have contained both praise and vitriol; even an article in the New Yorker debunking that she invented soft serve ice cream. However, one story that hasn't gotten any press is how she once had the good fortune to meet me. Even more remarkable was that I was wearing a Santa Claus outfit when it all happened. I bet you think she's even cooler now than before!

Finally, so much for fruit salad? Babycenter says the little one is now the size of turnip. I had a hard enough time predicting fruit, predicting veggies is simply impossible.

Be sure to leave comments below and I have now added a subscription gadget on the blog. Just drop your email in their and follow the instructions and you will get an email notification each time there's an update on the blog.

Cheers
aL

Mobile Blogging...

So this me blogging FROM MY PHONE!

I'm too cool for school. If I'd known it was this easy to get my thoughts on to the internets I woulda did this ages ago.

The sun is in Aries and so many good things are afoot and my birthday is around the corner. One place the sun is not is Washington DC. We have been keeping up with some spring cleaning except while we've been doing the cleaning no-one brought the spring. It snowed on Sunday and Monday. Proper snow. Not DC snow day snow.

Weird thing about mobile blogging is that it's hard to tell how much you've written.

In other news, our beloved car Snowball Fierce has been traded in and we are now proud owners of a Nissan Rogue. Two door cars don't work so well with car seats so it prompted a change. This is a big deal because I married the only American girl who loves driving a manual car. I'm super excited about driving an automatic again and given how bad I am at parking, having a car with a rear view camera is a massive bonus.  The car is yet to be named but I have bought some Carolina licence plate holders to give it some additional swag.

Easter has now come and gone. The Easter bunny was good to Erin and I and dropped off a couple of Lindt chocolate bunnies. Little did I know that one of them was for the cat.

The baby is now the size of an avocado. I'll be honest I didn't guess that fruit.

More news to come
aL

PS Be sure to leave comment below

Erin and the new chariot

Look what the Easter furball left for me

Fruit Salad

We are officially now in week 15. That's according to the app on my phone from Babycenter.com. According to them the baby is now the size of an apple. When I first signed up on the site they said the baby was the size of a raspberry, last week it was the size of a lemon. I'm almost tempted to cheat and re-register the due date so I can find out what fruit the little one is going to be next week.

Erin, Tonic and Charlie (The cat's toy stuffed lion)

Really what you are most interested in knowing is how Erin is doing (that's what everyone asks me). The little mama-elect has made it through the first trimester and thankfully did not have too many bouts of nausea. She has been feeling super tired though. Luckily she is a champion napper and has been training for many years to be able to properly enjoy this time when she needs to sleep for hours on a weekend afternoon. She also has a great support crew - Tanqueray and Tonic are more than happy to curl up next to her and keep her company during her afternoon snoozing.

We have been having a blast of late because we have finally been able to tell people. Thank you to all the people who told me that they think I'm going to be an amazing dad. An even more special thank you to my friend Emma for giving me a book called "Dude, you're going to be a dad"  - its useful in case everyone else is wrong. Just to cover my bases I gave Erin a pregnancy book of her own. She is a much better student than I am so the baby should be in good hands.

Of course as soon as we tell people, one of the first things they ask about is how the grandparents-elect are doing. In their defense they have been rather well behaved and only once did one of them tell the news before they were supposed to (David) and only once has one of them broken the rule about not yet posting anything on Facebook (David). We have just confirmed that my parents are going to be coming over in November and will be here for Thanksgiving. My in-laws and the Draft Pick's aunt-in-training, Leslie, are also planning on coming down to DC. A full house for Thanksgiving - the kid hasn't even been born yet and s/he's already drawing a crowd.

I wont lie though, it hasn't been all plain sailing. Soon after the excitement hits you about being pregnant then comes the sobering reality that you now have to slay the mighty dragon that is DC daycare. Instead of teaching us the story of Apple or Walmart in my MBA, they really should have taught us about the business model of daycare. With crazy high fees and a 12 to 18 month waiting list, the daycare adventure can feel a bit like a racket.  That said we recently went to visit a daycare facility and I was totally blown away at the care and exposure infants, toddlers and little kids get. The place we saw is completely bilingual and by the time your child is 4 they are already fluent in English and Spanish. And to think I can barely remember how to speak Afrikaans.

Life isn't only about pregnancy for the two of us. A couple of weeks ago I got to tick off one of my bucket list items as we went down to Chapel Hill and attended a UNC-Duke game. It was an amazing experience...Up until the opening tip-off - after that UNC got killed. We did use the opportunity to buy the baby its first piece of clothing - a little Carolina blue UNC t-shirt.

Look...its a picture of Erin and I at (another) sports event

More news to come...I promise...

aL

The big news

Hi there,

I am returning to blogging.

I've been pretty useless at this and each year I make it my New Year's resolution to start blogging again. This year we got a little added incentive a couple of days into the new year when Team Golding found out that we will be expanding by one. Yes, it took my wife becoming pregnant to finally get me to return to blogging. Sometimes New Year's resolutions are easier to fulfill.

The Draft Pick is due to arrive in September.

Who knew that this was training?

One of the things that happens when you're pregnant is that loads of people will give you advice. Most of it is pretty good advice. Actually I have no idea if its good advice - the people giving the tend to have more experience at being parents or expectant parents than I do so right now I'm taking pretty much all the advice I can get. Anyway, our good friend Sanna, keeps this incredible blog that allows us to keep up to date with Team Gable, that's her posse of cute little men, and I'm taking her advice that having a blog is a great way to share with people whats going on with your family.

This is a work in progress and if you have followed my writing career in the past few years you will know that I am rather ill disciplined at keeping people up to date. I will try my best and let you all know how things are going as we go along this adventure together.

The adventure began unlike the way you see it in the movies. I got home to my wife who said she thought she was pregnant but wasn't sure. The reason for the uncertainty was that the test she was using shows you a "+" sign if you're positive and a "-" if you're not. We had neither; instead we had a "I" line. After dinner we decided to go to CVS and get a new test. Once again the overwhelming choices that consumers have in America came to the fore. Did we want a normal pregnancy test, or an "early" pregnancy test (both of which were more than 99% accurate). We chose the early one with a digital display. No confusing signs that needed a a hero from a Dan Browne novel to decipher - this thing just gave us the amazing news " Pregnant". Life has been incredible ever since.

Cheers
aLan