Today I have two lovely women to celebrate!
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I would like to wish a very happy fourth anniversary to my wife, Rebecca. You’re the greatest wife a husband could hope for, and the best mom a dad could want!
I would also like to wish a very happy five month birthday to my daughter, Catherine. I love watching you grow and learn new things. I am looking forward to many more happy years of getting to know you!
All my love to the two most important women in my life!
Over the past week or so, Catherine has had her diaper changed in the following locations:
* The back seat of Becky’s grandpa’s car.
* The front seat of said car.
* The hood…
* The trunk lid…
* My old bed at home in [Mount Vernon, OH](http://www.mountvernonohio.org/).
* In the nursery at [Mansfield First Alliance Church](http://www.firstalliancemansfield.org/).
* At [Mark](http://www.firstalliancemansfield.org/mark_carter.htm) and Kirsten’s apartment in [Mansfield, OH](http://www.ci.mansfield.oh.us/).
* At Megan, Matt, and Henry’s house in [Columbus, OH](http://www.cityofcolumbus.org/).
* At Becky, Todd, and Luke’s house in [Wooster, OH](http://www.woosteroh.com/).
* At a changing station in the restroom at [The Barn](http://www.thebarnrest.com/).
* On the desk in [my dad](http://www.mvnu.edu/facstaff/professors/FineArts/swood.html)’s office at [Mount Vernon Nazarene University](http://www.mvnu.edu/).
* At a changing station in the restroom at the [Madison, OH Public Library](http://www.madison.lib.oh.us/).
* In the living room at the Lyttle house in [Williamsville, NY](http://village.williamsville.ny.us/).
* In our hotel room at the [Days Hotel and Conference Center, Toronto](http://www.dayshoteltoronto.ca/).
* In the washroom at [St. Lawrence Market](http://www.stlawrencemarket.com/).
* On a park bench outside of [Casa Loma](http://www.casaloma.org/).
* In the washroom at [Spadina Garden](http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=toronto@157&cur_section=din&property_id=183144).
* In a public washroom outside of [Toronto City Hall](http://www.toronto.ca/city_hall/).
* On the floor in the washroom at Quizno’s on Yonge St. in Toronto.
* On a bench near an elevator in the [Royal Ontario Museum](http://www.rom.on.ca/).
* On the floor in the washroom at [Indochine](http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=toronto@157&cur_section=din&property_id=13178).
* In the washroom on the Observation Level of the [CN Tower](http://www.cntower.ca/portal/SmartDefault.aspx?ac=417).
* At various rest stops along Interstate 90.
Wow. We’ll give you more details on the stuff other than diaper changes soon. 🙂
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My Daughter
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I just wanted to write a little bit about why I love life with my daughter, Catherine.
When I first walk into Catherine’s room in the morning, and she opens her eyes and looks at me and smiles, it melts my heart. Just about anything that I was worrying about for the upcoming day goes away. Catherine looks so incredibly happy to be awake… she smiles, giggles, and then dances around on the bed like waking up is the most fun thing in the world. I only wish that I had that kind of energy and enthusiasm every morning when I woke up. 🙂
Catherine loves playing little games. We’ve recently invented a new one: The Fort. It goes like [this](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/baby/home_catherine/P1130059.JPG.html) and then like [this](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/baby/home_catherine/P1130060.JPG.html). Underneath, it looks like [this](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/baby/home_catherine/P1130062.JPG.html). She loves it, and so do I. She also enjoys playing with [the simplest things](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/baby/home_catherine/IMG_0615.JPG.html). 🙂
Since Becky is breastfeeding Catherine, I don’t get to feed Catherine all that often. But on the rare occasion that [I do get to give her some pumped milk](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/baby/home_catherine/IMG_0612.JPG.html) (for example last week, after Becky’s surgery), I love it. I can completely understand why Becky enjoys it so much. Catherine looks at me like I’m the best thing in the world.
All of this is why, even after the occasional night where she wants to stay up until 2 a.m., I can do nothing but love her.
P.S. I have finally added some banners featuring Catherine. There are three of them. Please feel free to keep refreshing the page until you see one. 🙂
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A.J. Gordon Memorial Chapel
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This past weekend was Homecoming at [Gordon College](http://www.gordon.edu/). Not only that, but it was our class’s 5th year reunion. So we were awash in a sea of events and people!
On Friday night, we met some other Gordon CompSci majors and professors for dinner at [Acapulcos](http://www.acapulcos.net/). It was nice to have a chance to sit down and catch up with some folks I hadn’t seen in a while. I took a few photos there, which you can see in the [photo gallery](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/october_compsci/).
Several of our friends made special trips up for Homecoming: [Joanna](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/gordon_college_homecoming/P1130023.JPG.html) and Shawn came up from Florida, and [Leah](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/gordon_college_homecoming/P1130052.JPG.html) , [Bob and Baby Lucas](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/gordon_college_homecoming/P1130053.JPG.html) came up from New Jersey. [Jenn](http://www.misspresident.net/) and Matt came up from New Jersey, too, and stayed at our place for the weekend! (They also “rang” [the bell](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/gordon_college_homecoming/P1130050.JPG.html)… ) We made room for them in our apartment… we had to move Catherine back into our room temporarily, but everything went smoothly. 🙂
On Saturday, we headed over to Gordon for various homecoming activities: a reunion luncheon, class photo, and meetups with our respective department faculty. We got to reunite with quite a few people who we hadn’t seen much, if at all, in the past few years. After all of the activity, Becky and I hosted an open house at our apartment. It gave us some more time to visit with the folks we had seen briefly at homecoming. We had a very nice spread of food, a number of babies to admire, and plenty of [DDR](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Dance_Revolution) for anyone who wanted it. Good times were had by all! All of the photos from the day can be found [here](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/gordon_college_homecoming/).
Most of the festivities had died down by Sunday, but we did have breakfast with Jenn and Matt, and lunch with Bob and Leah.
It was great to see everyone over the weekend, and we wish that we had more opportunities to see all of our old friends from Gordon! Hopefully we’ll get to see you all again soon!
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The RCMP
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Last weekend, Becky, Catherine and I went to see the [Topsfield Fair](http://www.topsfieldfair.org/) Parade. Our friend Beth lives in downtown Topsfield, right on the parade route, so we hung out with her on her front porch and watched the parade go by. There was a [troop](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/topsfield_fair_parade/P1120895.JPG.html) from the [RCMP](http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/), lots of [Fire Trucks](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/topsfield_fair_parade/P1120901.JPG.html), [campaigning politicians](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/topsfield_fair_parade/P1120947.JPG.html), and even a [special celebrity guest](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/topsfield_fair_parade/P1120950.JPG.html)! And yes, there was a [walking Boston baked bean](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/topsfield_fair_parade/P1120968.JPG.html). You can see all the pics [here](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/topsfield_fair_parade/).
‘Tis that time of year again…Peter’s Birthday.
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Here’s to many, many more!
If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the Salem News in Beverly you may want to stay away from this paperbox:
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Don’t say that they didn’t give you fair warning!
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But if you are in the market for a new snake, the price seems pretty reasonable!
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Update: I should add that although these pictures are new, I spotted this on the newspaper box several years ago, before anyone had ever heard of Snakes on a Plane!
Today I had three ovarian cysts removed. Here are the highlights:
*I woke up from the anesthesia with “Lovely Rita, Meter Maid” running through my head. I couldn’t tell you the last time I’ve heard that song played! I wonder if my Doctor was listening to the Beatles during surgery. Click Galumbeck Plastic Surgery to find out more.
*The nurses kept telling me that I “did a great job” and that I “should be the poster child for laproscopic surgery”. I just insisted that it was the doctor that should be praised; all I did was lay there asleep!
*a note to Corey: the hospital tech that walked me down to our car was, by far, a much better wheelchair driver than you. No offense. 🙂
*My dad sent flowers addressed to “my three best girls” to me, Mom and Catherine. Awwww!
I’m home now and feeling just fine. The wonders of modern medicine!!
Due to some server issues, we’ve had a bit of a photo backlog here at World Wide Wood. I appologize to those of you who anxiously await new pics of Lady Catherine. Hopefully these will make up for the wait!
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Happy Girl
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Catherine received a Baby Einstein Exersaucer as a gift at my baby shower (thanks Gabi and Tom!). She’s still a bit small for it, but we thought it might be time to dig it out just in case. My parents and brother were up visiting last weekend and they gave us a hand setting it up. Catherine seems to like it just fine, but I’m sure she will LOVE it once her feet actually reach the floor 🙂 More pics here
The weather has been pretty nice around here lately; not too warm, not too cold. Just perfect for walking around town. Catherine and I have been spending some time each day outside. We’ve always been fans of Lynch Park, but we have to drive to get there. We have started frequenting another park a little closer to home, but just as nice. We walk there, hang out a while and walk home. It is the perfect package; a little exercise and a little relaxation!
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Swing Time
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Last Friday, in anticipation of her four month birthday, Catherine tried out the big kid swings. Well, the big kid’s baby swings, anyway. Her first attempt was exciting. She and I decided that we’d save the underducks for when she’s a bit older. Feel free to check out her Grover Monster impression here: Near…Far…Near. Her impression is so good that she feels the need to go incognition. I just love those rhinestone sun glasses! (thanks Jenn!)
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Self Portrait
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I have discovered a problem that I imagine most parents have. I see Catherine doing something incredibly cute, or looking incredibly sweet, and I try to capture that exact moment with the camera. It never works! I can never seem to get a picture that looks quite like I hope it will. That does’t stop me from trying, though. So, we end up with a ton of cute, but not cute pics of the baby. Here are a few I took at the park yesterday.
Needless to say, we’ve been having fun. We’d like to have fun with you too. Drop me a line and maybe we can play together! Catherine would love to see you 🙂
We had dinner at [Acapulcos](http://www.acapulcos.net/) tonight. That’s not such a big deal, but we did get some good photos of us with Catherine. 🙂
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See more [here](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/baby/acapulcos/).
