Life, the Universe, and Everyone

To start. . . FOOLED YOU! Those of you who have read Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy might, might, have mis-read my title as "Life, the Universe, and Everything." Har har

Ok, enough non-sense.

I KNOW that many of you have been wondering about our child.

I took two weeks off and went back to Penang to, hopefully, be there for the time that Siew gives birth to our child.

My timing was lucky. Within a few days of being there, Siew began to have contractions at 12:30am May 22nd. After a long, painful wait she delivered our boy at 7:47am May 22nd, 2010.

Felix Songze Travers weighed 3.23 kilograms, 7.106 pounds, and was 51 centimeters long, 20.07 inches.

Siew and Felix had to remain in the hospital for 3 days and 2 nights before we could return to her parents' house.

While in the hospital we began to have minor conflicts with her mother.

Siew's mother and Siew's youngest sister came to visit. Siew's room was a shared room. So, I was shocked when her mom walks into the room and starts talking very loud. One, it is a hospital! Two, we are in a shared room and there are people, with a baby of their own, in said room. I asked them to speak more quietly. They gave me bad looks for having the nerve to ask them to talk softly. . . in a hospital!

Later there was more conflict over use of a child-safety seat. There is a lot of established history of death or severe injury to children who are not properly restrained in a vehicle. However, here in Malaysia, it is commonly believed that a baby should be held in a vehicle. . . I won't tell how much I HATE that this is the way things are done here. Anyway, there was a short disagreement with Siew's father and I about using a car-seat, but he finally accepted that I would be using a safety seat.

Once we got Siew and Felix back to her parents' house we found out that Siew's mother had allll kinds of ideas about what should and should not be done, but she was unwilling to TELL them. Instead she just acted on her own ideas, without informing anyone about what she would be doing. She, additionally, set up a double standard of things that are ok for her to do, but not for anyone else to do.

I'm not going into details here. Let's just say that it was stressful for Siew and I both and ended up having a big family debate over a bunch of bullshit that all stemmed from Siew's mother.

After my 2 weeks off, I had to return to KL, alone. Siew and Felix remained in Penang and I had to come back to life alone here. Leaving them behind was very very difficult. I cannot wait until I can go and get them and bring them HOME.

Felix is a healthy boy who is being breastfed well by his mother. Siew is doing a terrific job in taking care of him. When I was with them I tried to help as much as I can, but there are just some things that I cannot do. . . like breastfeeding.

When we're all together again, I will continue to help as much as possible. We are also using cloth diapers instead of disposables. That is good for the environment. .. but the REAL reason we're doing that is that it is better for Felix's skin and future potty training efforts.

Well, I guess I will throw up a few pictures, not many though, I don't want too much lost privacy in this regard.

What Dungeons and Dragons Character are you?

I Am A: Neutral Good Human Druid (5th Level)


Ability Scores:

Strength-15

Dexterity-16

Constitution-15

Intelligence-16

Wisdom-17

Charisma-13


Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.


Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.


Class:
Druids gain power not by ruling nature but by being at one with it. They hate the unnatural, including aberrations or undead, and destroy them where possible. Druids receive divine spells from nature, not the gods, and can gain an array of powers as they gain experience, including the ability to take the shapes of animals. The weapons and armor of a druid are restricted by their traditional oaths, not simply training. A druid's Wisdom score should be high, as this determines the maximum spell level that they can cast.


Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)



You can take the quiz yourself, here:

http://www.easydamus.com/character.html

Be warned, it is a long one.

Names

Siew and I have remained old-fashioned about the sex of the baby. Since ultra-sound scans can be dangerous to a baby's ears, I requested that only the scans necessary to check on the baby be done. Nothing extra, including looking for the sex of the baby.

People have, for thousands and thousands of years, not known the sex of the baby. It is only a few months wait to find out. I think that it is better to not know and have a healthier child than to know to settle my own curiosity.

Siew and I have decided that we will name the child this way:

I pick the first name, she picks the middle name and the baby will have my surname.

The first name will be a western name and the middle name will be a Chinese name.

I looked around for awhile, and asked my parents for names of family members and suggestions that they like.

Debra and my father sent me a wonderful list of family member names. My mother and Marty sent me a list of bullshit names.

Debra wrote this e-mail that also includes some information she found online. She took it seriously, keep this in mind:


How fun....here you go I gathered a few generation of names off of my genealogy...if you need more I can give you sibling names...Have fun you two!!!! xoxoxo mom

Girl Family Names...
Popular girl names currently in the US: Ashlyn, Allison, Anamarie, Alondra, Amanda, Bella, Cassie, Haylee, Isabelle, Jessica, Kara, Laura, Michelle, Melissa, Mary, Sarah, Tessa, Vanessa, Cami
Debra Lee Travers, your stepmom
Crystal Maxine Travers, your grandma
Etta Elizabeth Travers, your great grandmother
Allie Christmas Kells, your great grandmother
Allie Jane Scott, your great grandmother
Millicent Mellissa Fuller, your great grandmother
Henrietta Jane Weathers, your great great grandmother
Amanda Ann Black, your great great grandmother
Della Ruth Brubaker, your great great grandmother
Elizabeth "Libby" Dean Crowl, your great great great grandmother

Boy Family Names...
Popular boy names currently in the US: Aaron, Brett, Brad, Caine, Colten, Darrin, Jackson, Kevin, Michael, Austin, Parker, Preston, Wesley, Zachary
Glen Eldon Travers, your dad
Harvey Harold Travers, your grandfather
William Wilber Travers, your great grandfather
Don R. Carroll, your great grandfather
James Gillman Carroll, your great grandfather
Samuel William Carroll, your great great grandfather
Robert Fulton Kells, your great grandfather
Joseph Scott Jr., your great great grandfather
John William Brubaker, your great great grandfather
Robert Crowl, your great great grandfather


My mother sent this e-mail, she did not show a serious attitude, in fact she didn't do as I requested at all and showed a VERY immature and insulting attitude:


Boys:
Worth
Caleb
Bam Bam (Marty's idea-lol)
David (Marty's)
Alistair
Avery
Burke
Dalton
Colorado (Marty's)
Derrick (Marty's)
Sage
Gabe
Sage
Whitney
Hunter
Jace-means healer
Jesse
Mikhail
Nelson
Marty fell asleep.....lol he just got back from lunch with Mema!

Girls:
Paige
Aubrey
Unice or Eunice
Tayla
Sadie
Saffron
Phoebe
April
May
June

Maggie Ann Fager
Josephine
Delbert Ray Klassy

There are some. I'm sure you will find the right name.

Love,

Mom


The nature of these e-mails shows, to me, how each person took this. Debra took this as something fun, interesting and serious. My mother took it as a joke and made it into an insult to me.

I was very angry when I read mom's list. I was very happy when I read Debra's list.

In the end I decided on 2 names, that Siew approves of. If the baby is a girl, her name will be Delfina. If the baby is a boy, his name will be Felix.

There are several reasons for these names. The first is that they are neutral names. They are not biblical names, they are Latin. Living in a country like Malaysia, this may be helpful to our child. As I am not Christian, there is no reason to specifically give a Christian name. The next reason is that these names sound nice, and are not too difficult for people in the West and East to say. I also like the meanings of these names, in Latin. Delfina means dolphin, which is a beautiful and intelligent creature. Felix means luck or lucky, I need not elaborate on that one.

Siew has picked out some Chinese names that she likes:


For Boy:

1. yu-peng 宇鹏 *yu - universe/world *peng - Roc/Large fabulous bird
2. yuan-tao 元涛 *yuan - primary/basic/first *tao - great waves/billow
3. song-ze 颂泽 *song - glorify/praise/celebrate *ze - benefit/lake/water/blessing
4. li-peng 礼鹏 *li - Ceremony/Gift/Ritual/Courtesy/Propriety/Rite/Proprieties/Manners *peng - Roc/Large fabulous bird
5. song-peng 颂鹏 *song - glorify/praise/celebrate *peng - Roc/Large fabulous bird


For Girl:

1. ying-shuang 樱双 *ying - cherry/sakura *shuang - double/pair/couple
2. qiao-shuang 乔双 *qiao - tall/to disguise *shuang - double/pair/couple
3. meng-shuang 梦双 *meng - dream *shuang - double/pair/couple
4. you-meng 优梦 *you - excellent/outstanding/brilliant/untouchable *meng - dream
5. yue-meng 悦梦 *yue - happy/pleased/delighted *meng - dream
6. yi-meng 艺梦 *yi - art/skill *meng - dream


I have not heard how these sound to give a ye or nay to these names yet though. :-)

Siew's mother suggested a name that I really had to veto. She suggested Jian Bang for a boy's name. She knows I like swords and suggested Jian because that is the Chinese word for sword. However, naming the boy something like that just doesn't "feel" right to me, so I said no to that part. Bang is horrible. It may be ok in Chinese, but we have to consider that our child is the product of many cultures. Bang, in English, is a sound to show an explosion or a loud noise. This is not something that I would want our child to have to carry around.

Our baby is due May 26th. I am excited, nervous, anxious and a whole host of other things about that.

Siew and I are about to really begin the journey of becoming a family.

N.E.S. (Nintendo Entertainment Soda)

I found something interesting today.

N.E.S. the drink.

For those of you who do not know please read this to learn about the wonderful Nintendo Entertainment System.

I drank a drink today that had this on the tab:



As you can see, NES is a drink as well as an old-school video gaming system!

Who would have thought that Nintendo the game company would want to also get into the soda market?!










Writer's note:

This is a joke. This is a tab from a can of Nescafé coffee. But it is entertaining to people who know what the NES was, to see this sort of label on a can drink.

Adjusting

I still have not gotten the hang of settling things on my own here.

I am still trying to adjust to being alone. Siew has always been such a fixture in my life, I tried not to take her for granted, but I still managed to do so. Now that she is in Penang I am having a hard time of things, but I am getting adjusted, slowly.

For example:

Sleeping alone is really strange. I tend to roll all over the bed. I have not rolled around so much since I was in Kentucky, where, even with Siew, I would wake up in some very strange positions. Usually ending up on the floor with a small part of my body on the bed.

Lunch. Siew always prepares my lunch for me to take to work. Recenly I have been eating quite poorly because I do not have time to settle lunch before going to work.

Dinner. Again, Siew usually prepares dinner. This makes it easier for me to come home, eat, relax and spend time with her. Now that I have to prepare everything for my own dinner I have been leaning towards laziness.

Depressed. I feel a bit depressed sometimes. That is normal for me. But, I feel like I am much more easily depressed when she is not here.

Hopefully the baby comes out on the expected due date! I am taking some time off during that duration so that I can TRY to be there when she has to deliver the baby. I would really hate it if I can not be there when that happens.