1 Hello World!

It gives Lina and I great pleasure to introduce you to our daughter Lauren Aiva Colon! Lauren's middle name is a fusion of both her grandmother's names (Aida & Eva). It has been extremely difficult to find the time & energy to update the blog since her arrival. We feel like zombies from the lack of sleep, but we are floating on air none the less. Lina is a superwomen! I literally have tons of family and friends that I need to call or text back. Everyone has been understanding. For now I leave you guys with the first of a gazillion baby pics. I promise as soon as things ease up we will be updating on a regular basis.

1 The Scouting Report

In sports, teams read "scouting reports" and watch video tape of the opposing team in preparation for the upcoming contest. So as the due date rapidly approaches I've been watching all the baby-related shows on TLC. My personal favorite show is 'Bringing Home Baby'. It is really inspiring to witness what the first 36 hours with baby is like. There are a lot of little nuggets of information that will aid in preparing for bringing home baby. It's no replacement for the real deal, but it keeps me mentally in the right place. I know that I may be sacrificing my manhood by putting this information out there, but I don't care what others may think of me. I owe it to my daughter to be as prepared as possible.

1 The Final Month

In the above picture we have Lina, our cat Lincoln and Secret baking away. I don't have anything witty to say. I just felt this was a nice snapshot that I can share with everyone.

The opportunity to snap up belly shots is fading fast. We have really slacked in that department. So far Lina is having a great pregnancy when compared to all the scary things people have told us. No abnormal swelling or stretch marks either. The overnight hospital bag is packed and we are in stand-by mode. Soon Secret's name will be revealed.

For me, October is an exciting month. Football season is live and kicking. Yankees are in the playoffs. The cool fall weather has arrived. I have a birthday. My daughter arrives soon after. Truly some exciting times.

4 The Big 3-0

That’s right! We’re well into the third tri-mester with about 10 weeks till go time. For you sports fans, I guess you would consider this the 7th inning stretch or the 4th quarter. Lina has been officially pregnant for seven months and the home stretch is in sight. Lina looks unmistakably pregnant. Her belly is about the size of a big juicy watermelon. Tying her shoes has been a challenge and she has adopted the pregnant "waddle." I have officially surrendered the recliner over to her, as she seems most comfortable in that chair. Her cravings have been very realistic even up till this point. Lina whispered into my ear in the middle of the night that she wants crunchy chicken tacos and cheesecake for dinner. I wonder what she is dreaming about. So we’ll have to see what Chef Boyar’David can conjure up.

The baby's length is about 16 inches—about as long as a laptop computer—and she measures almost 11 inches from crown to rump. She weighs approximately 2 1/2 to 3 pounds. We now can see movement from outside Lina’s belly. It seems as if she is moving around furniture in her little living space. I will post videos of the movement in a few weeks.

I’ve been busy with side projects that have prevented me from progressing on the nursery, but now we’re back on track. Eviction Notice (Chapter 2) coming real soon! 

0 When You Wish Upon A Star...

We spotted this knitted hat/sweater combo while on one of our many strolls through FAO Schwarz. Love it! Like most parents we know, we heart all things Disney. From the movies to the theme parks; and yes folks, even the Disney-owned ESPN. We only purchase animated movies and a majority of them are produced by Disney. We just can't wait to take the baby to Disneyworld when she is old enough to feel the magic. It's paramount that we get a flick of our little Mouseketeer at Disneyworld while wearing the prerequisite Minnie Mouse ears with the classic polka dot bow. It's right up there with taking a flick with Santa Clause.

Lina and I celebrated our 3-year wedding anniversary at Disneyworld back in 2009. Upon check-in to the hotel resort, we each were issued a red pin which read "Happy Anniversary!". I assume it's Disney policy for all employees to verbally wish you a Happy Anniversary if you are spotted wearing that pin. It's genius! It kept us focused on the fact that we were celebrating our wedding anniversary throughout the whole trip. It never got old.

God I miss the Disney Dining Plan!

1 The Legend of Secret

Anonymous: "Do you guys have a name for the baby?"
Lina: "yes"
Anonymous: "well, what is it?"
Lina: "we're not saying until the baby is born"
Anonymous: "ARRRGGHHH!!!!"

The above conversation (in one form or another) happens about once a week. It's understandable. I would ask the same thing if the role was reversed. Lina and I have chosen to keep the baby's name under wraps until she is born. What's the big deal in keeping the baby's name secret you ask? Is it a special and unique name? Not really, but for us it is.

Thanks to our god daughter Amaya Garcia (daughter of Wendy Garcia) we have officially given the baby the temporary code name: Secret. Wendy had explained to her daughters that the baby's name would remain a secret till birth. So one day while out shopping with her girls, her youngest daughter, Amaya asked if they can purchase an item for Secret. To Wendy's awe, Amaya had referred to the baby as Secret like if that was her actual name. Wendy informed us of what happened and from that point on the name sort of stuck.

If you ask me, Secret sounds like a name you would give a cherished Stallion. I could of sworn there was some horse movie out by that name. You got Hidalgo, Flicka, Seabiscuit, Spirit and so on.

So feel free to call our daughter Secret for the time being because we're not telling.

2 Sunday Morning in Manhattan

We had an opportunity to get a tour of the hospital where it's all gonna go down. It's a public tour where expecting parents can see the facilities and ask the tour guide general questions about their services. We arrived a half hour early and waited in the main lobby for the tour to start. While we were waiting a crackhead run down lady walked into the lobby and went to use the bathroom. 20 minutes had passed and she still was in there. The cleaning lady informed the security guard and he was forced to enter the bathroom to ask her to leave. That's where things got interesting.  The women started yelling that she wasn't going to leave and that he should call the cops. She kept yelling "Call the cops B****" over and over again. She even said something more, but this is a family blog. At this point there were about 20 freaked out couples in the lobby witnessing the calamity. It really set the tone for the impending tour. I overheard a women tell her husband "and you wanted to live in New York". After the tour we felt good about the hospital, but we do not want to have anything to do with the bathrooms in the main lobby.

Later on we walked around the city and window shopped while soaking up the sun. We walked over 2 miles, unsuspectedly. The city is misleading like that (but in a good way). There is a lot to take in that keeps your mind busy. We grabbed lunch at Five Guys and ended our Manhattan trek with frozen custard from Shake Shack before hopping the train back to the Bronx.

6 The 1-Hour Glucose Challenge

Earlier this week Lina had to take the 1 hour glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. You drink an orange flavored sugar solution and then an hour later the doctor will draw a blood sample from your arm to check your blood sugar level. The idea is to see how efficiently your body processes sugar. Lina had heard that the drink tasted awful and that she should consume it cold to soften the blow. She was very fearful that she wouldn't be able to down the sugar solution. She kept it in the back of the refrigerator to insure it would be the coldest it could be before consumption. Fast forward, she absolutely ENJOYED the drink. She told me that she tapped the bottle to get the last drops. I think she is hoping to fail the test so that she has another shot at the orange sizzurp!

There is more drama to this story, but I'll leave that for you girls to chat it up with L.

3 Burger Queen

It's funny how people are quick to spread their fear tactics about how the "Cravings" will make my life miserable. "Wait till the cravings start" they say. I've heard several horror stories ranging from how tired men had to hopelessly search for thai food in the middle of the night to how the smell of certain foods made the expecting mother so nauseous that the food had to be banned from the house. Well not all things in Cravingsville are bad.

I'm a huge connoisseur of the hamburger. Lina, not so much. Actually, not at all. She would always find any alternative to the hamburger whenever we go out to eat. Her thing is pizza, white pizza at that. That's not even pizza! It's a glorified cheesy bread, but I digress. Well my friends, thanks to pregnancy, the Cheese-Burglar has nothing on my wife. Suddenly she wants to pick my brain on all the NYC burger hot spots. I can't tell you how ecstatic I am. Finally I can feed my epicureanistic burger fascination without the guilt of forcing it on Lina. TAKE THAT FEAR INFLICTERS!

If anyone has a favorite burger spot, please let us know in the comments. Lina's cravings are counting on you.

Epicurean |ˌepikyəˈrēən; ˌepiˈkyoŏrēən| - a person devoted to sensual enjoyment, esp. that derived from fine food and drink.

BTW, "Epicureanistic" is not a word, but it should be. All 7 syllables of it!

2 Thank You...

I want to thank my wonderful loving husband for creating this AWESOME blog for our baby girl.

3 World Cup of Pregnancy

Just as the 2010 World Cup of Soccer premieres this month so has the kicking from our daughter. Sure the sonogram we saw earlier in the month was proof that we are parents, but there's nothing like feeling a kick to absolutely remove all doubt. It's very tangible now. Lina's new thing is to abruptly announce when the baby kicks mid-sentence similar to how "Dug" the talking dog from the movie "UP" abruptly announces when he spots a squirrel. It has become the nightly ritual for me to lay my hand on Lina's belly awaiting for our little goalie to kick. So far the kicks are very subtle, but you can feel them none the less.

1 Tezja

"Tezja" is Albanian for Aunt (mother's sister). Anyone who knows us understands that we are Puerto Rican. I can barely speak spanish myself. So why am I giving you guys a lesson in Albanian language? In dedication. We are dedicating this first entry in our "Baby Blog" to Bia Ukperaj-Dellamorte. She is Lina's ex-coworker, current friend and future "Tezja" to our baby girl. Without her suggestion we would have missed out on documenting and sharing with you all the joys & quirky things on our journey as first-time parents.