chirp chirp
first things first. Welcome to the world, Ivy Joanne.

I'm very happy you're here and that your arrival was much easier on your mom then when your big brother was born.

all baby and no desire to keep a baby blog means not many updates I guess. One fun thing about being a dad is that I've slowly been learning how to do many things with only one hand. Unscrew caps, get food from the fridge, wash out dishes, open beer, play computer games etc. All advanced-beginner level stuff really. However last night saw a new level of monodextrousness: I put on one of Andrew's socks with one hand only. Clothing can be tough in general and socks in particular can be difficult due to small socks and small baby feet which are usually spazzing all over the place. But last night I spread the sock open across my fingers and then swooped in to smoothly slide the little bugger onto the babe's fleshy foot. It was amazing. I felt like Daniel Larusso when he caught a fly between his chopsticks. Even more special was that Maureen was on hand to share in the joy and wonder of the moment.

Two weeks ago I got to visit Vicksburg, Mississippi for some software training. It is a pretty dreary place, but still has many more options for lunch than we have here at home. One highlight of the trip was visiting a casino with two guys from the UK. There was an awful cover band playing and we just sat at the bar and had a few beers. The Brits enjoyed their American honkytonk experience very much which was only made better when we got hit on by some women in town for a real estate conference. The one girl took the unique tack of trying to list all the odd things that people had found washed up on the beaches after Katrina. Her description of a half-octopus, half-lobster type critter was the most interesting by far. She didn't seem to have been drinking too much so maybe she was just crazy.