Well, because of the child, I have been putting off all nonessential activities: hobbies and distractions, eating, sleeping, fighting off biological pathogens and, of course, blogging. So, I apologize, but I just got two Swiss Cake Rolls in me, so let’s sort out this blogging thing, shall we?

Seems like all the time I have these days is for working, a little caring for the child and then some non-contiguous sleep only to come back and repeat the whole process again the next day. I guess there’s no question as to the cause of why I’ve been sick two times in as many months, not to mention that the stress of work (and launching two sites).

But, still, that shouldn’t be an excuse for not blogging. But even my wife isn’t saying much of anything funny anymore. Mostly when I get home, she just giggles in that sort of manic Daffy Duck laughter that usually precedes him being placed on a stretcher by two burly men, dumped in an ambulance and taken to the Funny Farm™. So, not much material there. Let’s just pretend that she confused Ron Paul with Chris Paul or Les Paul or something. That would be funny, right?

Sophie is fine. We’ve been having some…issues. I guess all new parents go through this kind of stuff: the uncertainty of it all. You end up with entries like "Is it normal for my baby not to have pooped in nine days?" in your Google search history because, seriously, who do you go to for this sort of thing? You wonder why she fusses. Is she hungry? Does her stomach hurt? Is she tired? Is she colicky? Is she gassy? Why won’t she eat? Why does she eat so much? How on earth can she have the hiccups AGAIN?!?

You start wondering if all new parents go through this, freaking out at every little thing that your child does. (Of course, the answer is yes.) You lament the lack of an instruction manual, but given the track record of instruction manuals for baby-related products, you wonder if that would really be beneficial.

In any event, we’re tired and generally lack focus to do anything more brain-intensive than string together monosyllabic-word sentences and watching reruns of Law & Order and trying to guess what clever witticism this week’s random cocksure defense attorney will say. ("I think we’re done here. If you have any other questions, counselor, you can raise them in court." or "This is ridiculous, Jack. You’re lucky I don’t file a motion to hold you in contempt right now.")

As a testament to this, my wonderful wife, for example, locked her keys in the trunk today, spent ten fruitless minutes trying to find them before calling me for help in a panic. I reminded her of the fact that the trunk is opened from the outside while the car is unlocked. "Oh yeah," she said. (Additionally, I nearly forgot about that anecdote until she asked if I was posting about it. “You’re not blogging about me locking the keys in the trunk, are you?” she asked. Word to the wise: if he doesn’t bring it up, it’s because he forgot about it.)

Anyways, where was I going with all this? Clearly I shouldn’t post while sleep deprived, but that’s how I got into this situation in the first place. Maybe this post could be considered a warning: before having kids, make sure you have enough money for a maid and an au pair first?

Oh yeah, did I mention that my parents are flying into town tomorrow? (Hopefully…) It will be the first time they get to see their first grandchild in the flesh. Our house is a wreck and we both feel like wrecks. This should be fun.

Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!

[Setup: Sitting and watching Super Bowl pregame coverage. That Peyton and Eli Manning Oreo commercial comes on.]

KC: [sarcastically] You know, their parents always look so proud when they do these stupid commercials.

RB: [Half paying attention, mostly playing Wordsplay] Mm-hmm.

KC: You know, like that commercial with Matt Lauer?

RB: [Now paying attention] Matt Lauer? Oh! You mean Matt Leinart!

KC: Yeah, Matt Leinart! Who did I say?

So, as a point of reference:

Matt Lauer Co-host of The Today Show Used to be an ESPN sideline reporter in the 1980s, and that’s about it for the sports connections. Weird buzzcut Kind of a goober

Matt Leinart Led the USC Trojans to two National Championships and three straight appearances. 2004 Heisman Trophy winner First-round draft pick by the Arizona Cardinals A goober, but in that frat boy goober kind of way.

And now you know.

Just wanted to take a moment and get away from husband- and baby-blogging for a bit. I’ve always been a bit of a space travel geek, still periodically checking out what’s happening beyond our world. (You do know that things are still happening out there? Even when a shuttle isn’t up there?)

Anyway, this week is the annual anniversary of the three big American space disasters. As most people forget, space travel and exploration becomes routine or irrelevant to them. But at the same time, we could potentially be on the cusp of some major developments, both from NASA and private enterprise (and more than just what Richard Branson is doing, if that’s all you’re thinking of).

So, we take the time to remember the men and women who died attempting something that most of us only get to dream about.

Apollo 1 AS-204 January 27, 1967 Gus Grissom Ed White Roger Chaffee

Space Shuttle Challenger STS-51 January 28, 1986 Dick Scobee Michael Smith Judith Resnik Ellison Onizuka Ronald McNair Gregory Jarvis Christa McAuliffe

Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 February 1, 2003 Rick Husband William McCool Michael Anderson Ilan Ramon Kalpana Chawla David Brown Laurel Clark