Boys Names Ending in "N"

On the week my oldest son's fifth birthday, this animated chart is of particular interest. Unknowingly we went with a popular one the first time around. We picked Kaden because we wanted something that worked in English and Arabic. Kinda sorta, well it didn't exactly shake out that way, but we're cool. More recently we picked a name that peeked in 1890 and we're cool with that too.

Sauce: The meteoric rise of boys' names ending in 'n'

Kaden Turns Four

He technically turns four this week, but we had his party and did a bunch of other stuff in honor of the birthday boy. Outside the standard weekend review of media, we packed our Saturday and Sunday to the ceiling with activities.

Run
Saturday started with an 8 am run for me, the final advanced team tempo run before this coming weekends race. It was 8 miles in full, all on the race course, 6 miles of tempo in the middle and 1 mile on the front and back to warm up and cool down. I think I am ready to put in a personal record, how much of a PR I won't know until I hit the 3.1 mile turn around and have to pour it on.

Soccer
Post run I rushed home, showered, re-clothed and took Kaden to his second soccer game of the season. He played last Fall for the first time in a 3 yr old division. It was a building process. The first game was mix of kids whining and crying their way through a thirty minutes of parenting hell. Over the course of the season Kaden slowly got it. Don't take the ball from your teammates, be aggressive on defense and score dem goals. This year there has been no transition. He is still in the 3 yr old division and there are still plenty of kids clinging to their Dad's leg the whole game, but he is out for blood having tons of fun.

Pool Party
Following the game we jumped in the car and zipped out to the Goochland YMCA for Kaden's 4th birthday party. We passed three YMCA's and drove 30 minutes out to "the country" for his party because they have an awesome pool set up. It is an outdoor pool covered and heated in the Winter by a huge bubble. Inside there is a massive (30'x30' maybe?) area that gradual goes from 1' to 3' deep. It is the perfect setup to allow kids to play, while lightly attended (they provide a life guard) and the adults chat pool side (I got in with Ward). An hour in the pool and an hour in a large party room with pizza and presents. All for a cheap-ish price tag. All the kids and the adults had a great time.

Sunday
Saturday was busy and Sunday was no day to catch up on rest. We made a big family trip to Panera for lunch and then to Toys R Us for the birthday boy. We got him a new bike and helmet (he out grew the old ones), booster seats for both of our cars (die in a fire toddler car seats!) and a new Lego set. We spent the afternoon at home assembling seats, the bike and Lego. By the end of the weekend my back was shot, so I went out for Habanero (dat beef tongue!) and spent the rest of the night Advil-ed up and stretching.

Weekend Review: Jan 26th & 27th

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

Pot Roast
Saturday was my second go round with the dutch oven I got for Christmas and my second on the recipe linked above. It was easy prep, 20 minutes at the most and then 4 hours of unattended cooking. Ding and you get beef that is falling apart delicious. Twice now I have made the mistake of dropping the carrots and onions in at the start of the cook time. What you get are over cooked carrots, an almost mashed potato consistency.  Dropping veggies in at the midway point is the answer.

UFC on Fox 6
The fights Saturday night were good for the most part. The main card lead up to the headliner was great. I still think flyweight fights are too quick and lack the power to be truly interesting. I'd love to see the stats, but it feels like the majority of them end in decision. Also, I know it is great that there are more and more free fights on every year. The Fox deal will mean 4 free events in the first quarter of this year alone. When those fights air on the big network though they take ages to get started. I counted 4 commercial breaks before the first fight kicked off. Nearly 30 minutes into the two hour broadcast.

Sledding
At 3 years old Kaden is right in the sweet spot to learn to and enjoy sledding. Friday my office closed early because of the precipitation and I got to come home to prime sledding hours. The neighbors next door are 7 and 8 year old girls who love to come over and see if Kaden can play. He joined them for an hour plus, walking up the hill and sliding back down again. He had a blast. Crystal went out Sunday and picked him up a sled of his own. We are waiting with crossed fingers and toes for the next Richmond style blizzard (read: 1-2 inches).

Weekend Review: Oct 27th & 28th

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

Ninjago
Somewhere in the last two months my three year old's preschool class turned into ninjas. They make swords and throwing stars in the art center. They are all going as ninjas for Halloween and they are all obsessed with Ninjago. Lego's line of ninjas. The associated cartoon is not Adventure Time (nothing is), but it is not bad either. They toys are pretty great though. We have picked up three sets in the past two months. He puts together the minifigs and then takes off to play with them. While I build the ninja motorcycle or ancient cave of evil. I found out I still love building Lego. I have been tossing around the idea of dropping a ton of dough (relatively) on a big set just for me. That is silly right? Right? RIGHT?

Good Kid: M.A.A.D City
Kendrick Lamar's Section.80 has been getting a heavy rotation in my car all summer/fall. Dude is a wicked talented rapper and gets up on some fantastic tracks. His latest Good Kid: M.A.A.D City dropped this week and has usurped his previous outing in my heart of hearts. GKMC is pretty damn good work. Backseat Freestyle is the track I keep coming back to, but this is an album you can just play straight through. Rare in these days. Most of the time I hand pick a few tracks and eighty six the rest. Highly recommend this to folks who have not listened to a rap album in a long time and to the heads that never left.

Hotline Miami
2012 feels like the year of the small indie game or maybe just a continuation of that trend from 2011. I'm certainly playing more of them. Hotline Miami was made by two dudes and cost $10. I picked it up based on this and a small storm of game news hype that formed over the past three months. I was all geeked to play it and then the game was broken. Over the weekend I dealt with a frame rate that would start out slow and within 10 minutes seize to a crawl. The game is supposed to be really fast and twitchy, I never got any of that. At some point my install got corrupted. I played with deleting and re-installing it about six different times. When it finally came back, it was slow again. What I did play was great, albeit two to three times slower than it was supposed to be. The soundtrack is fantastic, I think I will pick up in the near future. As to my return to Miami, that won't be for a long time. After it is good and patched. It was a bummer, but I can't recommend getting this game.

Weekend Review: Sept 29th & 30th

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

Ward Adam Tabib
This weekend was pretty wild. Friday night date night out at black sheep. Saturday morning soccer game. Saturday night Ward came! He was born at 8:05p and was 7.2 lbs and 19.5 inches. He did not want to wait around either. Crystal spent three hours with minor contractions at home and we decided to head to the hospital just in case at 7p. When we got there things progressed rapidly and he was born an hour later. Everyone is now home, safe and sound. Kaden loves his little brother and wants to hold him all the time. It is pretty amazing!

Get Jiro!
Before babies were popping off and stealing my birthday thunder. Ethan was nice enough to give me a birthday comic. Anthony Bourdain's Get Jiro! An alternate future LA where chefs control everything. They play of mob bosses that battle for the city. Jiro is a new sushi chef in town that is highly skilled and both major factions in the city want him on their side. It is a bit silly, but I think it is meant to be. Bourdain's take on future tech made me roll my eyes a few times, but over all it is a fun story.

New Girl
Unlike last time I got to come home from the hospital Sunday night to take care of Kaden and sleep in a for real bed. I spent the night half awake watching shows on OnDemand. Two episodes of Parks & Rec and two of New Girl. I write off most sitcoms these days. To be honest I'd rather be playing video games,  but New Girl is pretty great. Zooey Deschanel is hot, adorable and funny. The rest of the cast and the writing bring it too. I slept on this for too long. Now I might add it to the slim list of shows we make sure to watch every week.

The Chair

A beach week post is forth coming, but today I thought I'd share this little snip it. Kaden in 2009 and 2011 on the same chair in Corolla, NC. He is getting big! In 2009 we had to hold him up right, in 2011 we had to ask him to stop dancing and sit down for the picture.

Family Bike Ride

On the same week that we bought Kaden his first bike I took him across the river to pick up a bike trailer from a friend. It is not the greatest picture in the world, but you can see him in tow above. Post first bike ride he was not immediately sold on riding in the trail. When we showed him were he could put snacks and a drink though he was all in.

When he got up from is nap that same day we pulled our bikes out to the street and hooked up the trail. It was awkward at first. Backing up my bike was a pain. Getting started on a hill was too. Both of which I tried to do from the start. For the first four miles I was super nervous. Feeling out how wide the trail was. Trying to avoid pot holes for two of us and keeping my cadence smooth.

Eventually I got it, but not without a few lingering complaints. My heel sticks back far enough to rub the connector where the trailer attaches to my frame. If I don't want to scuff it on every pass (hint: I don't), then I have to turn my left heel out slightly to avoid it. Which lead to a little bit of knee joint pain post ride. If I can get over the shoe rubbing I will still have to deal with the biggest flaw of the trailer though.

It is like pulling a giant Lego block. Scratch that a square parachute. It is an aerodynamic mess. What feels like the effort of a 16 mph pace ride, but we are really going 12 mph. I have to work my butt off to keep it going. Hills are the worst, clicking down to my middle ring for stuff I could power up at 18-20 normally. I don't think we will ever take it on a 30-40 mile trip, but it was still really fun.

We spun our way over to my parents house first. He got out and visited with them for a while and we were back on the road. Our next stop was Moe's for a light dinner. Kaden was tickled pink that we rode our bikes there and got to sit next to them outside while we ate. Following dinner we stopped a playground and let him get out and burn some energy. Our first ride ended up being a 13 mile out a back test run, that really was a ton of fun. I could use the exercise.

Kaden's New Bike

What started two weeks ago as a helmet purchase for his push motorcycle, turned into a full on bike purchase last week. We talk about bikes a lot in our house. Two to four bicycles have been present in his playroom since he was born. He knows not to touch to chains. He likes to see me ride out in the street and he has been talking about getting his own for a month. So on a whim Crystal picked up his first bike on Wednesday last week.

It was late by the time it got to the house and also unassembled. So we sent him off to bed and I attempted to put it together. At minute ten I realized that the fork was bent so badly that no man power was going to set it straight. So I boxed it back up and went to bed. Crystal returned the next day with an assembled bike and a story about the manufacturer packing their bikes poorly.

That evening we went on a bike ride in the neighborhood. I on my bike, Kaden on his and Crystal keeping him straight and offering the occasional push. He pedals surprisingly well. He lacks the leg strength to push through if he stops at an odd angle, but he can string together 5-6 good strokes with regularity. After his first 1/4 mile lap we stopped at the house to raise his seat. That involved pliers and a wrench. He watched vigilantly as I adjust the post to his little height and we were on our way for another quarter.

The next morning Crystal came down stairs to find him in our sun room (his playroom) with his Fisher Price tool set splayed out on the floor. Pliers and wrench in hand, mock adjusting his seat post height.

Return to the Zoo

The rest of the zoo pics

Last year when we hit the Richmond Zoo it was wicked hot and Kaden was too young to walk around on his own. For our return trip in 2011 he is a walking, talking, ball of unending energy. He wanted to see every animal, shout a hello to them, attempt to replicate their call, bark or squawk and run to the next pen. The weather was great and the animals were out in force.

He enjoyed the giraffe feeding the most (as seen above), kept wanting to go back the crocodiles "Chomp!" and danced for and with the penguins. The low or high point of the day, depending on what kind of human being you are, was when a camel stole his cup. He instantly broke in to uncontrollable sobs. Out of fear or anger I don't know, but I found myself laughing. I know, I am horrible person. A trip to the crocodiles and loop on the train got him back in a happy mood though.

Pizza and subs, post zoo was in order. Our party of 7 filled up on meats and marinara and then broke up to drive home and nap. It was another successful and enjoyable expedition to our local zoo. Until he does not require a mid day nap we will be skipping the national zoo and I'm just fine with that.

Easter 2011

On the heels of the Easter egg hunt the week before the actual holiday, we celebrated the actual holiday. Kaden was old enough this year to get pumped to find eggs and to leave carrots for the Easter Bunny. We started off the festivities at a breakfast, magic show and egg hunt combo meal that the Shriners put on. You know, the old white guys in the little cars at parades who are some how attached to middle eastern culture. Those guys. Crystal's grandfather is one of them and they know how to put on a fun family event.

From there it was lunch, nap time and a quick ride over to my parents for more candy and Easter basket treats. We played in the yard all the way up to dinner time and then sat down for a tasty meal. The rest is in the pictures...

Egg Hunt 2011

Kaden and Crystal attended an Easter egg hunt last weekend in south side. I was on that side of town too, but on my bike instead. They had an awesome time and brought the camera along for the trip. The rest is in the pictures.

Two Years Old

Kaden turned the big number two earlier this month and we celebrated with a party at the park. We invited friends and family once again, but not the hundred plus from his first birthday party. Lots more kids his age at this one and it was sports themed because it is all he wants to talk about. We laughed, played and munched on cupcakes. It was a great time.

He has grown from an unmoving  lump on the ground to a walking, talking and creative little boy in the blink of an eye. Everyday is better than the last as he learns and becomes more curious about the world around him. If the internet will never truly go away as privacy worriers and tin foil hat aficionados claim, then let this be a record. At two years old he:

• can count to 10,
• knows all of the colors in the rainbow,
• can identify a handful of letters,
• can sing his ABCs,
• can sing roughly 7-8 other songs in their entirety,
• can identify a handful of shapes,
• is in the 96% for height,
• runs, jumps and climbs without fear,
• repeats most everything you say (good and bad)
• can perform basic functions on our iPhones

The rest is in the pictures.

Thanksgiving Rundown

The four days we get off for Thanksgiving every year are always busy, sleepless and full of stress. They are also a ton of fun. This year was no different...


Wednesday

Not a day off, but Crystal had a half day and took Kaden out to Rockville to see his great grandparents. Kaden played and eventually took a nap. Crystal helped prepare food for the following days festivities.

Thursday
We were up at 7:30 am something I regretted all day. It was with good reason though. We wanted Kaden to get as much time with his cousins as possible. So arriving Rockville at 9 am did just that. The boys played for three hours before lunch, napped and played for two more hours after. The spread was very traditional, turkey and and the fixings. Ladies and kids in the dining room and men and football in the den.

At 5pm we left Rockville and made our way to my parent's place for meal number two. Another traditional spread. Between the two meals I could put together an all star Thanksgiving meal to rival any in the nation I'm sure. Post turkey coma numero deux we played with Kaden till it was time for bed. He stayed over with my parents so Crystal and I could go Black Friday shopping.

Friday
Crystal went to bed Thursday night, but Friday started for me at midnight. I never go to sleep in anticipation of standing in line with strangers at 4am to save 10% off goods I could get online for almost as cheap Black Friday. At this point it is a tradition that has been going on for 6-7 years. My brother and I head to Best Buy together, regardless of the hot hot deals they have. Find something we each want and stand in line from 4am till they open to get it. It is a fun way to hang out and we get to grab breakfast afterward.

In years past I went home to sleep the rest of the day and Crystal has shopped for up to ten hours. This year she cut the shopping short at four hours and took Kaden to play with his cousins one more time. It was great that all three boys got along so well. It makes us wish everyone lived closer together.

Saturday
Up early again to head to Crewe, VA to see even more family Saturday. Everyone napped on the way out and back. I napped a grand total of four times before lunch. Old age and not sleeping are catching up with me it seems. Lunch was at Country Cookin, not my favorite place, but a good excuse to eat Chicken Fried Chicken. I love saying and typing that, eating isn't so bad either.

Sunday
The only slow day among the three. We put up the Christmas tree and watched football while we played in the house all day. We had our normal diner at my parent's place and got ready to go back to work. The rest is in the pictures...

Trick or Treat

Traditionally Halloween is a one day affair. Put on a costume, ring a few door bells and eat some candy. This year we decided to bump it out to a full three day weekend. Friday night, while I was off rolling dice, Crystal and her Mom took Kaden to a Halloween festival at a local church. There were all kinds of activities, candy and games for him. I got home after it was all done, but from the sounds of it he had a blast.

Saturday morning Kaden had a play date with Jake at Gayton Crossing's Halloween Festival. They both dressed up, as Tigger and a shark respectively. They got to see unicycles, clowns, helicopters and fire engines. While having lunch at Stuffy's they were fascinated by an member of the Henrico County Police that was eating there too. So much so that the office returned and brought them each a police car.

Saturday afternoon we took him up to Innsbrook for another Halloween event. It end up being a bust though, no actives and a smattering of kids and parents just sitting around. We left as fast as we arrived and went to Short Pump to play and walk around instead. Nothing much going on there either, but he rode the train for the first time.

Sunday morning we lounged around the house and carved his pumpkin. We watched football in the afternoon and in the evening all of the family came over. Pizza was ordered and we ate while planning the trick or treating route. Following diner we suited Tigger and the Penguin up and went cruising for candy. The original plan was to hit four houses and come home, but he end up having so much fun we went to twenty-ish instead.

Fun moments included, Kaden refusing to give up his candy bucket no matter how heavy it got. Him saying "Happy Halloween", "Trick or Treat", "Thank you" and "Goodbye" at every house we went to. Getting adult candy at one house (full movie sized box of Reese's Pieces). I knew we were going to enjoy Halloween this year, but I never imagined we would have as much fun as we did.

Apples Were Picked

On the sliding scale of things affluent Caucasian people enjoy, apple picking is pretty high up there. Though it hasn't made the list yet, the crowd at Carter Mountain Sunday told the tale. We fit right into the pigeonhole am I afraid. The last time we picked apples was three years ago, before Kaden and it was a lot of fun.  Holding true to the Kaden theory though, it was made even better with a child in tow.

We got on the road at 7:30 am in an attempt to beat the crowd. Two weekends ago and this past weekend was the apple festival at Carter. What that means is more activities and two times the people in attendance. Getting there when it opened was worth it though.  No traffic in or out and the trees weren't picked over yet. What would normally require a 10 foot length of polyvinyl chloride, could be accomplished by a 6 foot Dad on his tip toes.

We ended up picking 21 lbs of Fuji and Granny Smith before 10 am. A sweet haul that will end up as pies, crumbles and other treats. Following picking we played in the pumpkins and ate a half dozen apple donuts with cider.  Over all a great way to spend a Sunday morning. The rest is in the pictures, this one is my favorite.

Kaden Goes to the Fair

Attending the State Fair as a thinking, breathing adult of modest education is assault on the mind. Smells of fried treats blend with the aromas of fresh animal droppings. Folks who look like they belong on the freak show stage instead of standing in it's crowd. Paying exorbitant prices for items that are clearly pennies on the dollar as a value proposition. Rides that can be set up in thirty minutes or less, by carnies who are probably smart enough to not ride the rides themselves. Sounds fantastic right?

It is not an activity I have every really enjoyed beyond the age of ten. Adding a child to the equation changes a lot of things though. A lesson I am learning over and over again. This past Saturday we took Kaden out to the fair for the first time and we had a blast.  He loves animals, so the first thing we hit was a huge barn full of sheep, chickens and cows oh my.  Particularly cute was the piglets he got to pet.  Particularly gross was a 32" LCD constantly looping a video of a cow birth.  There was bleacher seating in front of said birthing and people were watching it. Gross!

We followed the animals with farm equipment. He loves tractors ever since his great grandparents got him a set.  So he had to sit on almost every one we saw.  When we finally tore him away we made our way over to a magic show and then to the rides. He absolutely loved the slide and would not stop shouting about the bird/chicken thing. After rides we hit a quick corn dog and elephant ear lunch, then hurried home for a nap. The rest is in the pictures.

Pumpkins Were Picked

Sunday morning we rolled out of the house bright and early at 10am toward the Chesterfield Berry Farm. Our  goal was to get Kaden a pumpkin and partake in their Harvest Festival.  Once there our first order of business was a hayride over to the pumpkin patch to pick out the large gourd we will be carving later this month.  Kaden seemed more occupied with his wristband until the pumpkins actually came into view.  Then, as you can see from the picture above, they were all he could talk about.

Pumpkin in hand we went back to the farm proper where Kaden and I faced off against Crystal in a duck race.  She won, but it was close.  Then it was on to bunnies, chickens, goats and cows. Kaden loves animals so it was a treat to see so many. We followed the animals with paintball target shooting and a ride on a tractor train.  At that point we were getting very close to lunch, but decided to brave the corn maze before filling our bellies.

We got lost more than a few times and some of the 35 questions seemed a little unfair, but it was a bunch of fun being in maze that just wasn't hay bails stacked up.  Lunch was hot dogs for Kaden and I  and BBQ, slaw and beans for Crystal.  All for the ridiculously low price of $7 total for the three of us.  With a $3 pumpkin and free admission with coupons we spent a grand total of $10 for a whole morning of fun.  An event we will definitely be going back to in the future. The rest is in the pictures.

Meatspace D&D - August Ed.

The rest of the August D&D pics

This past Friday our gaming group got together for our third night of D&D. It had been nearly two months plus since we last played. Everyone still seemed jazzed to drink beer and roll dice though. So I obliged them and prepared my dungeon master (DM) butt off.

As you may note there is a DM in training behind the screen with me in the picture above. Our babysitter plans fell through at the last minute. So Kaden stayed up till 8:30 with the group to participate in the pre-game chatter and dice eating. He even rolled threw a few dice too. A bed time story later and we were kicking off our game. I had two minor encounters, one major and a ton of role playing (RP) in town planned for the evening.

I decided to start the night with some combat. To one, get everyone familiar with their characters again and two because that is where the story left off. Trust me that it was all planned. Post fight the story lead to the aforementioned RP. I always worry that the game might get bogged down in the tedium of spending too much time in town. Thankfully it seemed to go better than my self doubting thought it would. My players were engaged and every event felt like it had purpose. At least that is how I saw it.

Following the RP they marched out of town and into another minor encounter, that was quickly followed by the big fight of the night. Long story short, they went to see a shaman about a horse unnatural blizzard. Nothing is ever that simple though. The shaman was ambushed and the players jumped in to help him. As shaman are want to do, he raised the earth that they all stood on and periodically dropped portions of it into boiling lava. A reckless act for sure, but also a fun game mechanic.

For the pillars of earth, I cut out four pieces of 1" grid paper and arranged them like a jigsaw puzzle of sorts. I then glued them to cardboard and cut them out with a box cutter. The cardboard was to make them more rigged (lead minis are heavy). I then stood them each up on three legs with hot glue and called it a night. They served their purpose for the evening, even with a little bit of balancing here and there.

Overall it was a really fun night and I felt like the work I did to prepare really paid off. Hopefully our next game night happens with in 4 to 5 weeks. Waiting two months was too long. The rest is in the pictures...

Kaden: Footloose

I recently sat down with Crystal to give her an hour lesson in using Sony Vegas, my video editing tool of choice. After that I set her loose on the videos we have taken for the past year and she dove in feet first. The video above is her first effort, a compilation of Kaden learning to walk between nine and ten months old. I think she did a great job with just an hour of instruction. She has since followed up this one with others, but those are for another day. Enjoy!

Watermelon Festival 2010

Sunday we got up with the Haskells at the Watermelon Festival in Carytown. It was tad hot out, but the watermelon was cheap, cold and available where every you looked. We hauled the boys from the far west end of Cary St. to the far east for some Double T's Barbeque. On the way we stopped by Penzeys new store and picked up some free samples. Danced by a few of the bands and watched a juggling unicycle act. The rest is in the pictures.