southpaw?

ramona might be left handed.

you may scoff, believing it to be too early to tell. maybe you're right. but she does demonstrate some left hand dominant tendencies. for example, her left hand is the one she prefers to suck on, and it is the first hand to find its way out of a tight swaddle. even in utero, her left hand stayed closest to her face during her ultrasound. a reputable source (wikipedia, on the internets) notes that the dominant hand is established during the fetal period, and can be observed by determining which hand is held closest to the face.

fetal handedness: left.

baby handedness: left. check out this left hand action!

being left handed is special, rare, and awesome. check out this list for notable lefties, which includes:

president obama (and an unusually high number of other presidents)

sir isaac newton

joan of arc

benjamin franklin

err, this benjamin franklin

sir paul mccartney

aunt libby

aunt julia
so that's pretty cool.

lost

this might be kind of nerdy, or irrelevant, or both (isn't that what a blog is all about?), but we're pretty excited for the final season of lost. yep. we love lost, and the last season has us reflecting on the joys and frustrations of the previous 5 seasons. ramona is getting excited about lost, too, and is feeling ready to view the first episode of the season after catching up on the previous seasons with this informative video:




our good friend ryan, in a moment of pure genius, has taken the time to find a phish song to describe the major characters on lost. for a fan of both the show lost and the band phish, this article is the perfect blending of pop culture fantasy. for people who hate lost, or phish, this link is not for you.

thanks ryan.

and now, a gratuitous baby photo.

bad news for backyard chickens

we've never seen this guy in the backyard before. we are still a couple months away from getting our chicks, but i'm a little worried about how well this guy will get along with them.

anybody know what kind of bird it is? i'm looking at you krueger.

maybe ramona arrived this way, instead of by stork.

soft things

2 cats + 1 baby = 3 very soft things.

ramona lisbeth staple

born january 24, 2010. she weighs in at 8 pounds, 0 ounces, and is 20 inches long.



happy. healthy. beautiful.

across the universe

a co-worker alerted me to this website that provides an astronomy picture of the day. it's pretty cool. today's picture is of a solar elipse that occured over india on january 15.


the website has an archive that lets you look at astronomy pictures of the day going back to 1995. a few days ago the site featured a video of the known universe. it's well worth a watch. the video starts in the himalayas and then zooms out to the edge of the known universe.



it's reminiscent of charles and ray eames' powers of ten, a film of which i have fond childhood memories.



thanks for the tip julia.

senator burt reynolds?

newly minted senator scott brown isn't afraid to show off his "family values," if you know what i mean. i wonder how many female senators have done nude photo spreads. my guess is not too many.

the waiting

or

lakeshore

a walk down the howard temin lakeshore path is a good way to pass the time as you wait for the arrival of a new family member. the path runs from the memorial union out past the university hospital to eagle heights. for thoe who don't know, howard temin was a geneticist who was awarded a 1975 nobel prize for his discovery of reverse transcriptase, an enzyme crucial to the replication of hiv and other retroviruses.

the terrace looks very lonely in the winter.

luckily, this giant paper mache duck is just off shore to keep the terrace company.

the hoofers' fleet during the winter respite.

waiting

waiting for a baby to arrive can be a little tedious. we're passing the time by constructing houses of cards. it's pretty easy because there are slots in the cards. no need to challenge ourselves; waiting for a baby is hard enough.

thai pavilion

in 2001, bhumibol adulyadej, the king of thailand, gifted the city of madison a traditional thai pavilion. the pavilion, which resides in olbrich garden, is ornately constructed of teak and gold leaf, and held together without a single screw or nail. it is the only thai pavilion in the continental united states, and the only one outside of thailand surrounded by a traditional-style thai garden.

while we have ridden past the pavilion countless times, we have never made a dedicated visit. that is, until yesterday.

the pavilion is surrounded by thai sculptures and gardens

on the banks of the mighty starkweather creek


marta

olbrich is a really fantastic garden, in the summer or the winter, and the thai pavilion is definitely worth a visit. we'll return and provide an update when the garden is a little more in bloom.

homework

ben puts the finishing touches on his term paper.

question

have you had that baby yet?

move your money

this seems like something that both progressives and tea-baggers could probably agree on. it's a grassroots movement of sorts to get people to switch from major financial institutions to community banks. i don't really think this will bring the big banks to their knees, but it might help small banks and credit unions who support their local communities. plus, who wants to do any more to support these massive financial institutions than we already have to.

anyway, here's the video:


support a community bank, or better yet a credit union, instead of an international financial institution. while your at it, support other local businesses too. it's just an idea.

chicken diapers

research into backyard chicken rearing has yielded interesting information, including this:
chicken diapers.

yep. chicken diapers make keeping your chicken indoors a reality, and a sanitary reality at that. they can be ordered at my new favorite website, mypetchicken.com.
don't worry. our chickens will be living outside. without diapers.

pond hockey

david played pond hockey with reed, theran and dave in tenney park today. tenney park is one block from our house, and is a winter-time wonderland. the ponds are well maintained for skating, and the shelter rents skates and sells hot cocoa. plus, it's very pretty in the park in winter.
david laces up the rentals.
watch that stick, staple!
intense two-on-two hockey action.
i think he looks pretty good for his first time on skates in 15 years.


crossing the bridge on the walk home.

holiday wrap up

christmas and new year's were relatively quiet in the staple home, as we are trying to stay close to home. fortunately, lots of family and friends are around and came to see us. the scott family came for christmas dinner, belly rubs and baby discussion. david's parents came for christmas dinner leftovers and a lovely evening together.
news year's eve was celebrated with friends, a dance party, and an always-confused late countdown to the new year.
unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures of most of the holiday festivities. we do, however, have lots of pictures of my sisters and i, all "in the family way."
david and i also took a sunset stroll through the arboretum to celebrate the first day of 2010. we really love it there.
happy new year!