November

Wow. It's been a bit over two months since my son arrived and around a month since he came home. The amount of work required to keep things together for a small one like that (never mind the NICU stuff beforehand - he was two months premature) is stunning. I am so grateful for my parents coming down to help out with baby and house care until we got our footing again. Now he's 7 lbs, 2 ounces and terribly cute. One thing that really caught me off guard was the amount of noise he makes - he spends a lot of time during the night just clucking away. While it's hard to sleep through apparently it's completely normal. Also, he's got an umbilical hernia - the muscles around the umbilical cord area haven't sealed off yet. Apparently they don't do anything about that either for the first 4 years (until school age) partly because most seal up in the first year and the alternative is surgery. Our pediatrician related a story where she saw one that was 6 cm long and the surgeons still didn't want to touch it since the child was so young.

Anyways, I'm just grateful that everything seems to be going well. Thanks to whoever is responsible for that!

Update

The little fella's doing well, much better than could be expected of a 31 week preemie (now 35 I think). He's out of the incubator and into a cot, and splitting his feeds between the NG tube and breastfeeding. The parents on the other hand are really starting to show the wear. Mom's holding up fairly well given that she has to pump every 3 hours (except the night where she has a slightly longer interval), and has to spend 9-12 hour shifts at the hospital NICU now to get the little guy used to breast feeding. She's broken down once or twice recently about wanting to get out of the NICU. Don't let anyone tell you this NICU stuff is easy (it's not)! The line between functioning and not functioning is very thin, and I hate to say that we're both pretty close to it.

I finally crashed yesterday. Got home from the hospital yesterday with the worst headache in recent memory and slept over 12 hours. For the most part it's gone but I can still feel it in the background, it won't take much to bring it back I fear.

Can't wait to bring him home, but only when he's ready.

Premature

Wow. Just wow. My son chose to arrive much sooner than expected (delivered at 31 weeks). The event was a much larger and more dangerous affair than I expected it to be and I'm still recovering from it. When I get some more time I will write more but for the time being, that's what's on my mind. Wow. What an emotional overhaul that is!

Penpals

Visually a stylish platformer, done for a ludum dare (time constrained) contest. The art's the winning element of everything that's laid out here as the game itself isn't very complex. The story goes like this: a bear has to gather acorns for his hedgehog buddy who's not doing well in a toxic world ruined by humans. Bear runs around in a fishbowl filled with oxygen, that gets refilled at the start of each level and at oxygen pumps. Kept me busy for a bit. About the only real criticism I have is that it's not very deep and some of the jumps are much tighter than they need to be for a game like this (not very forgiving). Not my choice, but then it's probably a conscious design choice by the designers. Regardless, it's worth your time to check it out. Go for the download version over the web one, the music's worth it (the web version doesn't have music). Designed with GameMaker Studio.

http://indiegames.com/2013/09/penpals.html

Slow Cooker Kalaua Pork

This is what I have cooking for dinner tonight, it's been going since last night and smells awesome.

Easiest pulled pork recipe I've ever tried, if it works out (and it smells like it will), it's going to be a staple!

http://allrecipes.com/video/1316/kalua-pig-in-a-slow-cooker/detail.aspx?e11=kalua&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&event8=1&prop24=SR_Showcase&e7=Home%20Page

Update: Came out pretty good indeed! Not as smokey as I had hoped for, but it is pulled pork of a sort and still tasty

Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing

I found this one an amusing take on learn to type programs - it keeps you going with a narrative, so there's a story of sorts there. Also, there's some funny bits and strange lines of text to type. It's off just enough to be interesting but not so much that you'll have trouble recommending it. Playable in both browser and download forms, and fairly easy to play through too - give it a go!

 

http://www.holywowstudios.com/

Beatrix: Battle Dentist

Kind of a cute concept but didn't keep me interested for very long. You run along the teeth to clean them and use your mouse/LMB to shoot a fluoride gun at yellow blocks and nasties running around. The name of the game (Battle Dentist) is pretty awesome - it's worth a try just for that.

Found on the Oddities blog (http://odditie-s.tumblr.com/post/58548453365/beatrix-battle-dentist)
Link to game:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/49699282/beatrix/index.html