Did you hear that?

One of the toughest adjustments I've had to make so far as a new dad is tempering my overactive worry gene. My dad lives by the credo, "I'll worry when there is something to worry about." On the other hand, my worry meter, via my mom's side of the family, says "There's something wrong, I just don't know what it is yet."

The area where my anxiety is toughest on me is in the baby sounds department. You need to be an NSA cryptographer to decode the meanings of all the sounds the baby makes. Some are cute and some will make you bolt upright in bed in the middle of the night (assuming you've been able to fall asleep in the first place). Gurgle. Sigh. Snore. Sneeze. Hiccup. Gasp. Squeak. Amanda and I have conversations that would sound ridiculous to outsiders. (Though, I suspect most new parents have had the same conversations.)

"She's making a weird snoring sound. Do you think that's normal?"

"Hey, she stopped making that weird snoring sound. Think that's normal? Check to make sure she's still breathing."

"Is that a different gurgle than the one she was making yesterday?"

"Is that more sneezing? I hope that cold hasn't settled in her kidney."

Logically I know that most of the sounds are normal and, unless they are accompanied by signs of distress and/or crying, that they are harmless indicators that my daughter is growing. I just wish she wasn't a Navajo Codetalker leaving me to decipher the code of what's normal and what is not.

What A Difference A Year Makes.

Change has come to to Washington (and I don't mean Barack Obama). Last Thanksgiving I was texting back and forth with Killer as news broke that Caps' coach Glen Hanlon was being fired. After losing to the Thrashers 5-1 on Thanksgiving Eve, the Caps had stumbled to a 6-14-1 start. Though I respect Hanlon very much, I figured a shakeup was necessary. The Caps installed minor league lifer Bruce Boudreau as coach , they won the day after Thanksgiving and the team soared from there. Winning at a torrid pace allowed the Caps to narrowly earn a division title and play a nail-biting playoff series against Philly. Alex Ovechkin thrived in Boudreau's up-tempo, puck possession system, scoring 65 goals and 112 points. More importantly, the Caps were exciting and relevant again. This Thanksgiving, the Caps stand atop the division with a 12-7-3 record after smacking the Thrashers 5-3 last night. Let's hope this year they also win their first post-Turkey Day game because I'll be there Friday night to see it live. Happy Thanksgiving.

Adventures In Babysitting

Amanda went to the Redskins-Cowboys game last night so I got my first crack at caring for Grace alone for a long period of time. Until last night I don't think Amanda had been out without Grace for longer than an hour or two. She deserved the break, but I was a little nervous to fly solo for that long. Fortunately, there was no real adventure; Grace and I enjoyed a rather uneventful, fun evening together. In fact, Mommy may have been at the game, but, as the picture shows, Grace and I got to play dress-up for the game. I think I got the better end of the bargain.

Grab Bag

Busy days and sleep deprivation have kept me from piecing together enough coherent thoughts to write a lengthy post, but I do have a few unrelated, passing thoughts:

*Z and I have revived a game I hadn't played since I was a kid-PunchBuggy. We play virtually every time we are in the car. It has surprised me just how many of the newer Beetles there are on the road.

*I saw a funny license plate on a giant SUV yesterday. I wonder how many kids the "MOMVOY" was toting.

*I love to eat. I love to eat breakfast. I love to eat Chick-Fil-A breakfast. The other day I had a Chicken, Egg and Cheese Bagel sandwich. Which begs the question-When preparing this sandwich which do they place on the bagel first, the chicken or the egg?

*Cliche Alert! In a move akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic or putting lipstick on a pig (please don't lecture me Sen. McCain), the Orioles unveiled new uniforms yesterday. Actually, they just made some minor adjustments, but I like them all. For the first time since 1972 the road gray jersey will say Baltimore instead of Orioles across the front. They also fixed the bird logo so it now looks more like an Oriole and less like a duck. Of course, unless the new unis are some sort of sci-fi exoskeletons that make the players more talented we are still looking at a well-dressed last place team.

*Due to a wacky cable situation I don't get Comcast SportsNet so I've only been able to watch three Caps' games this year. They have won all three so maybe I better fix my cable situation.

*Finally, I've decided that my infant daughter is like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. "Oh daddy, this onesie you have put on me is very nice. Yes, nice enough...for me to poop on."

School of Grace

More observations and lessons learned as I continue serving my first term as Mayor of New Daddy Town:

-The cuter the compliment silkscreened on a onesie (sweet princess, cute little bunny, mommy's buttered biscuit), the likelier it is that the girl wearing it will spit up, poo, or pee all over it.

-Like Amanda's Uncle Bob advised me, ounce for ounce there is no substance on Earth more valuable, no resource more precious than breast milk.

-When my daughter stretches and stirs signaling feeding time she has the exact same herky-jerky dance moves as Elaine Benes on Seinfeld.

-When a crying jag appears to have ended never, ever jinx yourself by saying, "Hey I think she stopped-aw dammit..."

Report:Pigs Flying Through Frozen Hell

I have fundamental differences with Barack Obama's platform yet at 11pm Tuesday night I had goosebumps as they announced he was projected as the 44th President of the United States. There has been much hyperbolic gushing about the significance of the event and maybe I'm just adding to it.

As a white man, I can only surmise what African-Americans are feeling. I shed no tears like those girls at Spellman College, but I do feel like we are turning the page on the last eight years. I thought of my black friends and acquaintances Tuesday night; were they weeping with joy, calling their friends to rejoice together or just taking a moment to let it soak in? Maybe all of the above. Electing a man of color to our highest office becomes a symbol of how far America has come and also of how far it can go. It continues to heal a divide hundreds of years in the making.

Obama has been derided for running mainly on ideas - hope and change. Yet, isn't that what presidents really are, symbols reflecting where the country is or what we want it to become? Personally, I was relieved that the politics of fear and smear did not derail this historic ride.

It will be interesting to watch Barack Obama from here. As rhetoric fades toward reality expectations can become burdens. I was glad to hear, even as the crowd in Grant Park chanted 'Yes we did.', that Obama continued with his familiar refrain of 'Yes we can.' He has already accomplished much, but the challenge has just begun. When you have offered to carry the hope of an entire nation you'd better have strong shoulders. I hope he, and by extension America, is up for the task.

Welcome Back, John McCain.

Like my last couple posts about the election I am not arguing policy here. I was happy to see the funny, likable John McCain show up on SNL last night. He was able to poke fun at himself and his running mate. Had he acted like this instead of a surly, cantankerous liar throughout the general election campaign he might be a lot closer in the polls. (Not that those are locks; it will not shock me if McCain pulls the upset Tuesday.)

As entertaining as I found McCain's opening bit (which, of course, owed more to the writers and Tina Fey than to McCain) I think there was more than a kernel of truth in his Weekend Update bit. He was talking about radical strategy shifts in the face of flagging polls. The startegies had funny names like "The Reverse Maverick" and "The Double Maverick". The one that is probably more true than even McCain would like to admit was called "The Sad Grandpa": "C'mon, Obama's got plenty of chances to be president. When is it gonna be my turn?" Kinda sums it up doesn't it?

One other election note: My favorite statistic of the election season- When the Redskins win their last home game before the election, the incumbent party wins. When the Redskins lose that last home game, the incumbents lose. Bottom line, if you put Country First (gag!) root for the Skins. Ready for Change(yeah right!)? Root for the Steelers. Put's my wife in a bit of a pickle.