Brenden’s First Haircut

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After 15 months and lots of shagginess, it was time for Brenden to get his first haircut. We took him to Cool Cuts 4 Kids in Southlake. Since kids are their business, they provide a great waiting area with trains and Duplo blocks for the younger kids and video games for the older ones. Little guys like Brenden get to sit in a car-shaped chair with a waist strap to hold them in place while they watch an assortment of videos. Naturally Brenden wanted Elmo. The hairdresser was quick, skilled, and great with him, although I’m not sure how much was her doing and how much was Elmo. He emerged looking like a little boy rather than an overgrown infant with baby curls.

Here is the full photo album on Facebook.

during - top hair

BASE Jump from the World’s Tallest Building

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Workers in Dubai are currently constructing the world’s tallest building, the Burj Dubai Skyscraper. Upon completion, it will tower an astounding 2700 feet above the earth. For comparison, the top of the lightning rod on the Empire State Building is 1454 feet, over 1200 feet shorter. The total cost is approximately $800m.

There’s a sport known as BASE jumping, which is essentially skydiving from a fixed object such as a building or bridge. Naturally, someone would eventually BASE jump from such a massive and unique building. Two thrillseekers snuck into the building one night and jumped from about the 160th floor. Here is their story. It’s about 7 1/2 minutes long but well-done.


via videosift.com

For the record, Mom, I do consider BASE jumping a form of skydiving. =)

Flashes of Light

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I sat outside in a camping chair, alone, staring up at a dark gray sky dotted with stars. The temperature had dropped to 45 degrees so far. I wore my choir letter jacket. It was the first jacket I saw in the closet, and I figured I would be the only crazy fool outside staring up at the sky at 1:00 in the morning. A few planes and cars passed in the distance to break the silence. I waited.

When you stare up at the night sky long enough, you start seeing things, but you’re not always sure whether you really see them. They could be tiny meteors, literally the size of specks of dust, or they could be your eyes playing tricks on you. Or maybe your brain playing tricks on you. After all, you are sitting outside staring up at the sky.

It makes you think – about how big the universe really is, so big that your mind can’t possible comprehend its vastness, as if terms like “millions of light-years” were tangible units of measure. About how the constellations would look totally different if you viewed them from another galaxy. About how big must be the God who created it all. About how unimaginably small we are in comparison, and how much smaller our individual problems, hopes, fears, and goals are. About how great must be the God who created a universe that big but also knows and cares about the tiny details of each life on this little planet.

Finally, I saw one, a gorgeous streak of light that passed overhead in the blink of an eye, so fast that I couldn’t focus on it directly before it vanished. It was a wink from God, the only one around who was still awake. I smiled.

For you science fans out there, the earth is currently passing through a huge cloud of space dust left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. As some of these tiny specks of space dust entered our atmosphere, they heat up until glowing and then disintegrate as part of the annual Leonid Meteor Shower.

The first time Jenny and I ever really hung out was on a Leonid watching party I organized back in November 2001. She rode out with me and a couple other guys. And here we are.

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You Catch More Humans with Honey than with Vinegar

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Jenny and I have a confession to make: we are both sugar addicts.

We know it’s wrong, and we’ve talked about trying to cut back, but we don’t want to stop, and no one around us is quitting either. But now that gestational diabetes has forced Jenny’s hand, we are both revisiting the whole issue of sugar.

I don’t know about you, but I eat sugar throughout the day. For breakfast I drink coffee with flavored, sweetened creamer, orange juice, and fiber cereal coated in sugar. For dinner I might enjoy a meal that seems not to contain much sugar, but I’ll want some cookies or a bowl of ice cream for dessert. If we’re eating out, I love to enjoy a Coke, and not just a 12oz can, either. At work overnight, I drink more coffee with flavored, sweetened creamer, a bagel (not too bad), a banana (fructose, a simple sugar), and yogurt (sounds healthy, but makes the healthy stuff more appealing by adding sugar). If I’m “lucky”, someone will drop off a cake or something in the breakroom for us. When I go too long without sugar, I start craving it and searching for it – maybe a few M&Ms, or a little candy bar, or some chocolate trail mix, or a swig of eggnog.

Jenny is going through sugar withdrawal. She’s handling it well, but it’s surprisingly difficult. Her body is accustomed to running largely on sugar, which provides quick energy. Now she’s making her body run more on other sources, such as protein and complex carbohydrates that take longer to break down. It’s a weird feeling, she says. The only reason I’m not going through withdrawal with her is because I’m trying to eat up most of the sugar in the house myself. To get rid of it, you see. I hate to waste food. Actually, the truth is that I know I’ll have just as much trouble if/when I cut back on the sugar. Sounds like an addiction to me.

If you Google “effects of sugar”, you’ll find tons of information about how harmful sugar can be. I don’t know how much of it is true, but much of it makes sense. Our bodies don’t seem to run as well on sugar as they do on other fuels. Some research suggests that sugar suppresses your immune system, accelerates aging, and contributes to cancer and heart disease, among many others.

I am curious about how I would/will feel if I quit or cut back significantly. I’ve finished off the Dr Pepper. Once I finish the ice cream, maybe I will find out. I suspect that after the initial few days of unpleasantness, I would be in for a pleasant surprise.

Speedbump

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Between weeks 24 and 28, nearly all pregnant women in America are tested for gestational diabetes (GD), a form of diabetes caused by hormonal changes during pregnancy. It often has no obvious symptoms, so the glucose test is the only way to find it. Yesterday we got positive results for Jenny’s glucose test, indicating that she has the condition.

Obviously, this isn’t what we wanted or expected, but as far as pregnancy problems go, it’s certainly not the worst outcome, either. GD elevates both the mother’s and baby’s blood sugar and insulin levels. The mother needs to change her diet to reduce carbs and smooth out her food intake throughout the day to keep her blood sugar levels both lower and more stable. Some mothers require insulin shots. For the baby, GD causes him to store the extra blood sugar as fat, which can lead to higher birth weights, earlier births, jaundice, and other problems. Long-term, baby is more likely to be overweight, and both mother and baby are more likely to develop Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes later in life. GD in mothers usually disappears on its own around 6 weeks after birth.

Jenny is handling the diagnosis well. The hardest part for both of us will be modifying our very carb-heavy diets, but we are up for the challenge. We have an appointment with a nutritionist Thursday afternoon and a diabetes specialist on Monday afternoon to discuss diet, blood testing, the need for insulin, and other issues. Please pray for us as we get some answers and work out a new eating plan. Also pray that Jonathan remains healthy and doesn’t get too big. I’m doing my part by scarfing down the half-gallon of Blue Bell that Jenny bought the day before she got the news.

For more information on GD, check WebMD.com.