sixth month slideshow

annabel has been a part of this world for half of a year! we can not believe how quickly the past 6 months have gone by and how big she has gotten. she is changing every day, learning new tricks constantly and is certainly developing her own personality...



or click here to view the video on youtube

learning the basics

i remember back when i was gearing up to take the graduate record examination, or the gre, and ordered the "gre for dummies" book online. as i was going through it i realized that i have learned a lot of stuff in my life that i successfully managed to purge from all but the deepest crevasses of my mind. the pythagorean theorum sounded familiar but for all i knew it could have been a recipe for hummus. prefixes, suffixes and roots seemed like hazy word bubbles flitting here and here as if in a dream. and don't even try to remind me how to calculate the total volume of a heptahedron. my point is that i have learned many things in my life that haven't really stuck with me through thick and thin. compare this with my six-month-old who is learning lessons hand over foot (and sometimes foot in mouth) every waking moment. and almost every one of these concepts are permanently forming her into a real live person. sure, i know that annabel is a person. she has been since her mother and i split a bottle of wine and...nevermind. i know that she's a person. but there is a far cry from an infant with the mental capacity to choose between screaming or smiling and a rhodes scholar calculating how many organic compounds and cellular organelles are involved in protein synthesis. one of the key differences is that most rhode scholars don't need a boppy pillow to help them sit up. but as i watch our daughter learn and develop every day i am constantly amazed by a very simple concept, what she just learned she will never unlearn. think about it. currently she's working really hard to sit up by herself. once she masters that she will ALWAYS be able to sit up. she learned how to roll over a few months ago. she now rolls all the time. she finally figured out how to get the food from the spoon into her mouth (okay sure, she still manages to get half of it on her pants) and i am fairly confident that that's a lesson that will stick. now, i know that there are many things that she won't remember learning yet and quite frankly that's not always a bad thing. she still constantly reaches too far for a toy when she's sitting on the floor and inevitably face plants. and then she does it again. but its all part of the process. one day it will click in her head and years from now when she's reaching for the grape that rolled behind the couch, she will be fully aware that if she crosses a point in the lean-over she will instantly be reminded of what floor tastes like. i am amazed when i think about all of this. the amount of learning that she is experiencing every minute is so much more than her mother and i are undergoing, and it is very fun to watch.

http://aggiesinohio.blogspot.com

to swaddle or not to swaddle...

our little angel is getting so big! she is almost 6 months old - where has the time gone? we decided last week that it was time to stop swaddling her when we put her to bed at night so she could have a little more freedom. we were nervous that she may not sleep through the night without her "straight jacket" but she did fine. what we severely underestimated was her ability and desire to move about the crib. we put her in her crib on her back with her lower half tucked under the quilt...

(you may need to turn up your volume - we had to whisper)


click here to watch on youtube

ps - i realize the last 3 post have been about annabel sleeping... what can i say... the girl loves her sleep :)

mommy and daddy are here...

imagine the sound of a infant screaming. a sweet, innocent little child crying out as loud as her tiny lungs will allow. imagine this scream coming from the room down the hall. piercing the air and igniting your heart. imagine its the middle of the night. and imagine that she's your baby. yeah. its the worst. the first time that we heard that sound it was about a month ago and we had just settled in for the night. annabel had been sleeping for about two hours, cheryl and i had brushed our teeth, finished our prayers and just turned off the light. and then it happened. it started with what sounded like a little gasp or cough. then a quiet little cry. then another. and then all of a sudden a blood-curdling, mind-blowing, gut-wrenching wail of a scream to wake the dead. in the blink of an eye cheryl was out of bed, over the dogs, down the hall and holding our precious little baby in her arms. "its okay sweetie. you're okay. mommy's here. you're okay baby." and as quickly as it started, the screaming was gone. and all we had left was a tiny, peaceful angel of a baby with tears down her cheeks in the arms of her scared and sweaty mama. we had just experienced annabel's first nightmare. can you imagine?

according to many sources, babies begin dreaming when they are just a few weeks old. "REM sleep waves have been found at as early as 28 weeks of gestation, and REM sleep waves accompanied by the eye movements of dreams by 30 weeks of gestation." (Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine in the Child, WB Saunders, 1995) that's kind of crazy. the thought of a baby dreaming while still in the womb is a little mind-boggling. what do they dream about? what thought processes, images or ideas have they even formed enough to dream about? weird.

so maybe babies can dream. surely they are happy dreams, right? "We know from older children that nightmares commonly follow surgery, tooth extraction, and motor vehicle accidents. Why wouldn't they follow childbirth? We don't want to believe that our little ones experience anything unpleasant. Knowing how much young babies dream and cry (and wake up crying), it seems absurd to me to believe that all of their dreams are happy ones. Birth is a wonderful and terrible experience. There is much to be happy about and much to learn about in the weeks that follow. Babies' dreams must incorporate and address those things that bring them pleasure and those that make them cry. In all likelihood, the peak age of crying, the first six weeks, is also the peak age of nightmares. These nightmares are not unsuccessful dreams. Far from it! They help babies learn and grow; nightmares may even be an important reason that crying diminishes after six weeks." (The Truth About Dreams, Nightmares, and Night Terrors, Alan Greene MD, FAAP, 2001)

whatever the reason, some of our scariest and most painful moments have come when we have heard annabel screaming. it hurts us both so deeply to know that she has something going on inside her head that is terrorizing her enough to cry out. being a parent has taught us fairly quickly that no matter how diligently we guard and protect our child, we can't keep her safe from everything. but i'll be damned if we won't be there each and every time to pick her up, hold her tight and tell her that everything is okay...mommy and daddy are here.

the sweetest thing

since she was born, i have typically been the one to put annabel down to sleep for the night. especially after i went back to work and cheryl got to be with her, taking care of her all day, i had to seize the opportunities whenever they were there. we've used lots of things when its bedtime to calm her down and get her to fall asleep. ever since the beginning though, we have always sung to her. at first i think that i sang songs like hush little baby and rock-a-bye-baby. being that all things were pretty fuzzy early on though, that really is just a guess. not too long after she was born though, cheryl taught me a song that both her dad and grampy would sing to her, the irish lullaby. you know the one, "toorah loorah loorah. toorah loorah lye..." well, after she taught me the words i would sing that to annabel every night (i'll never sing it as well as cheryl does though). sometimes for 30 straight minutes. and i only know one verse and the chorus so you can do the math about how many "toorah loorahs" i would repeat in that time. well, i decided that i needed to add another song to my repertoire so i learned the verses for amazing grace. three of the verses. there are about 20 actual verses i think so i had to cut it off somewhere. while learning the lyrics i stumbled across an a capella version sung by leann rimes on youtube. certainly the most beautiful version that i have ever heard. and not only did i love hearing it, so did annabel. some days when nothing else seemed to be calming her down, i would find it on youtube, hit play and watch my little angel drift off to the sweet sound of leann. it was pretty amazing :) all of this is going somewhere, i promise. about a month ago i heard the song hallelujah on tv i think. the jeff buckley version made popular on the first shrek movie and then jason castro on american idol. i love that song. so i thought it seemed totally appropriate to learn the words and start singing that to annabel. i can still remember the first time that i sang it to her. i had found the video sung by rufus wainwright (who sang it on shrek) on youtube with the lyrics so i decided to go with that. i was standing in our office, lights off, baby cuddled up in my arm reading the lyrics and singing along with rufus. as i write this i can still see her staring up at me with the most beautiful eyes and the sweetest smile (clear as if it was 10 minutes ago). it was one of those moments that i know will remain etched in my memory until the day i die. people talk about having spiritual experiences from a mountaintop, when they see a waterfall or after a near-death experience. well, i can tell you that i have had all those experiences but none of them can hold a candle to that night standing in our upstairs office with rufus wainwright playing on our computer. this baby has changed both mine and cheryl's lives in so many ways in just a few short months. i knew that she would do that. and i knew that she would change how i see the world and live my life. i just had not ever considered though that she would so clearly show me what the face of god truly looked like...

http://aggiesinohio.blogspot.com

flying around with the greatest of ease

here's a video of annabel flying through the house. she seems to enjoy soaring around with her dad. enjoy...



or click here to view the video on youtube

aggiesinohio.blogspot.com

sitting up like a big girl or "hey, who took my bumbo!"

she's still a little ways away from sitting up on her own long enough to enjoy it, but she's getting there. and we figured that the softest spot in our house for her to learn is our bed. so not only is she learning to sit up, but she's learning how to fall down...both important skills to master (take it from the guy who's fallen down a time or two in his life). enjoy...



or click here to view the video on youtube

aggiesinohio.blogspot.com

awakening the buckeyes

i know that i'm a little behind on posting but i've got a few posts that i'm currently working on. getting them finished and posted is another matter. to prove that i've been busy with all sorts of other things, here is the transcript from a presentation that i gave last weekend about our work at the newman center here at ohio state university. keep in mind that the audience was a catholic men's group but i think it gives you a little glimpse into what we're doing here in ohio. enjoy...

"Howdy. My name is Andrew Robison and as John mentioned, I am the director of development at the St. Thomas More Newman Center. Usually when I say that I’m a fundraiser, I see people’s hands instantly go to guard their wallets…but don’t worry, I am just here to talk with you about some things going on in campus ministry and why you should be excited about the future of our Church. Well, first let me tell you just a little bit about myself. I grew up in Houston, Texas as the third of four children (but the only boy). My dad was a deacon at our church so I basically grew up in the sacristy of the church. Altar serving, donuts after Mass, name it and I was there. When I was in the sixth grade, my parents pulled me out of public school and enrolled me in the nearby Christian school (the Catholic schools were great but really expensive and on the other side of Houston). I received a great education but was one of about three Catholics in my high school. Let’s just say that many of my particular Catholic beliefs were not always supported or encouraged. After graduating, I spent two years at a junior college, a year and a half in the mountains of Colorado “finding myself” and then transferred to Texas A&M in January 2003. During my time in Colorado I “took some time off of church.” But when I started at A&M I knew that I needed to get back in the pews. The friends that I made however were all very involved with Campus Crusade for Christ. I genuinely think that they got extra credit for inviting Catholics to their programs so I got to do all sorts of fun things with them. But I still made it to St. Mary’s (the Catholic campus ministry at A&M) every now and then. My older sisters are both graduates of A&M and both went on this retreat called Aggie Awakening. So when they announced signups one Sunday at Mass, I thought that I better sign up. Well, I did, I made it on the list and attended AA #67. It was one of the most amazing experiences and certainly changed the course of my life in many significant ways. Fast forward a few years and here I am living in Columbus, Ohio, working for the church and helping my wife raise our beautiful new baby girl. I very much learned that when you open your life up to God, sometimes he gives you a whole new one to work with.

So what are college students doing these days? First of all, where are they? There are approximately 4,300 public colleges and universities in the US and 1,600 private ones (of which only 200 are Catholic). This means that at least 90% of Catholics attending college do so at a non-Catholic school. What are they doing? Hopefully, they are studying. Take Ohio State University for example. Ohio State offers over 12,000 courses and 160 different undergraduate degrees. Students come from all over the world to earn a degree from OSU and it takes dedication and hard work to succeed. What else? They are connecting. Football games, student government, clubs (OSU has over 900 different student groups to join). In fact one student was just telling me about the Tri Bacon club where the members gather regularly to cook and eat bacon. Wow. But they are not just doing this connecting in person. Social media is huge. Take Facebook for example. About 90% of all college students have a Facebook profile and 75% check it at least once a day. Virtually every student has a cell phone and if any of you have a teenager, you know what they primarily do with those phones – text. This week my barber was telling me that his teenage granddaughter sent or received 3,500 texts last month! This younger generation is becoming increasingly more comfortable communicating digitally and increasingly less willing to communicate in person. But however they are doing it, they all hunger to be part of something. They all crave community. I was walking my dogs last week and looked up to see a single goose flying above me. I instantly thought about how bizarre that seemed. Geese belong with their flock – especially when its 20 degrees and snowing outside. They need the rest of their flock for warmth in the cold, security from predators, direction on their journey and overall companionship. Not unlike humans. And not only do geese need a flock, but they need to be with other geese. How much would it have helped that goose to be cruising around with a bunch of pigeons? Our job at the Newman Center is to be there to address all of these issues. To offer catechesis (or teaching) of the Catholic faith. To offer groups and organizations where students can learn valuable leadership skills, proficiency in interpersonal communication (or talking and interacting with each other), what it means to serve God and their fellow man, and in between how to have a good time in safe and responsible ways. And ultimately, to build a community of Catholic college students that will educate, support and nurture the gifts and blessings that God grants to each one of us (and each one of them).

so how are we doing this at the Newman Center? Well, many ways. We just sent 18 students to New York over winter break for a week of service. Over Spring Break we’ll be taking another 30 to Memphis where they will have a chance to learn about the civil rights struggles of 50 years ago from people who marched with Dr. King. And last October we launched our very first Buckeye Awakening. You remember that I mentioned how Aggie Awakening changed my life? Well, we took a group of students all the way down to Texas last summer (during the hottest week of the year of course) so that they could experience Aggie Awakening for themselves. And they did and it was amazing. I have a story of one of their experiences that I think sums up the trip. “After the first night we gathered all the students together to discuss where they were (mentally, emotionally, spiritually, etc). They all were beaming and excited to see what the next two days would hold for them – all except for one. This student pulled me aside after we broke up that night to tell me he was still a bit unsure where this was all going. He was trying to hear God but was confused about why his experience was not quite at the level of the others in the group yet. His problem reminded me of the story of Elijah who was alone in the wilderness trying to get away from God. When God decided that Elijah was ready, he spoke to him. But Elijah didn’t hear God's voice in the storm, the earthquake or the fire. It wasn’t until it got quiet and he heard a still, small voice that he realized what God's was trying to tell him. By the end of our weekend (and our two day drive back to Ohio…), this student had heard God and couldn’t be more thrilled about the manner in which he heard it. This story shows that listening for God can be tedious and frustrating sometimes, but he knows exactly when to talk to us and call us forward." Oh yeah, our drive back to ohio was pretty awesome too. you would think that driving through texas, oklahoma, missouri, illinois, indiana and ohio would be lame, but it was not. We got to see the world’s largest peanut, the world’s largest fork and a giant fire-breathing dragon. Very cool stuff.

Buckeye Awakening #1 was the beginning of a very exciting new chapter in ministry at Ohio State. It has been incredible watching the student leaders throw themselves into this project with such enthusiasm simply because they want to offer the same transformational experience to their friends and classmates. It is encouraging to see these young men and women show up on Friday not knowing anybody and leave on Sunday with lifelong friends and supporters. And even though we’ve only done one Buckeye Awakening, it is so exciting to see that light come on in so many college students who know there’s a God who loves them but truly sees and understands it (in some cases for the first time ever) in the faces of those praying for them, crying with them and stumbling through this thing called life right alongside them.

another way that we are hoping to serve OSU is through a potential major redevelopment of our property. Nothing is set in stone yet and we’re still actively working out what exactly this project will look like, but our hope is that in the next 2-3 years, the Newman Center will be able to offer students attending OSU a faith-based residential experience. A catholic dorm. Well, sort of but much more. As a parent, how great would it be to know that your son or daughter was going to have the option to pursue a degree from a world-class university like OSU but be able to live in a community that was actively supporting their faith development? Our hope is to partner with the University Baptist Church next door to the Newman Center and build a faith-based residence hall which would be free of many of the shenanigans that happen in so many off-campus residences and full of opportunities for students to study, grow and live their faith. And working with the Baptists gives us a tremendous opportunity to show an ecumenical partnership in action. We are still working out many of the major details that must be in place to go forward but already we have the support of OSU President Gordon Gee, his administration and Bishop Campbell. I don’t want to go into too much more detail at this time because I know that I’m running out of time and many of our plans are preliminary. I’ll be around after if you would like to ask more questions but right now I want to leave you with a thought. John Henry Cardinal Newman, the patron of Catholic campus ministry, believed in a university setting in which a student’s intellect was formed and his soul was nurtured. I believe in my heart that campus ministry is where the future of the Catholic Church is. For many young men and women, it is when they leave home and venture to college that they are first presented with the need to make some pretty major decisions. They may not even realize that they have to make these decisions but they are at a fork. At the Newman Center we are busy putting up those road signs that will hopefully be recognized and used as these college students journey down the road of their life."

she's five months old...and has a new slideshow!

annabel just celebrated the five-month anniversary of her birth which means that we've got a new slideshow. its pretty obvious when you watch the video that she is teething...either that or her fingers perpetually taste like candy canes. enjoy the new photos...



or click here to view the video on youtube

warm and sunny...not in the forecast

one thing that ohio is not known for is its warm, sunny februaries. 2010 is no different. this weekend we got the biggest snowstorm of the winter so far. nothing compared to the 30+ inches of snow that fell in places like pennsylvania, new jersey and d.c. our measly little 8 inches seems like a heavy morning dew compared to that but its what we got and we're enjoying it. well, the parts that don't involve shovels and slippery roads. its so much fun to take the dogs out and let them run amok on the fresh powder of the golf course. and it was so much fun to take annabel out and see what she thought of the giant, frozen flakes softly caressing her cheeks and lashes. i think that she was too far out of her element to be able to process everything. but i am sure that as she becomes more aware of her surroundings and gets more opportunities to see the white stuff falling from the sky, the more she will develop feelings and attitudes about whether she likes it. personally i love the snow. i love waking up in the morning to see a fresh coat on the yard and i love crunching my way through the deep stuff after a big snowfall. cheryl could probably go the rest of her life and be happy to only see snow on tv. i think that she likes to see it when its really fresh but once the brain switches to thinking about the cold that it takes to make snow, the novelty is short lived. so who knows what annabel will think. she would have to be crazy to not appreciate how much fun the puppies think that it is but whether she'll want to join in the revelry with them, only time will tell.