It’s been confirmed: What we felt last night was a magnitude-5.2 earthquake. I thought I’d let you know in case you live in a cave that’s somehow equipped with Internet access and, like most of my loyal readers, you check out my blog before reading the daily news.
We also had an aftershock a little over an hour ago. I heard the magnitude was in the 4s. It was a little freaky.
So what exactly went down at the Lopinot household in the wee hours this morning. Well, as I’ve been telling a few people around the office today: A woman’s chest was exposed and the bed was a-rocking, but it was nothing like my college years. Yes, Sarah was feeding Oliver and our bed was shaking like crazy. In my tired stupor, I thought maybe his vibrating bouncer was on and touching the bed (like that little thing could have shaken our king-size mattress with that much authority).
After realizing it wasn’t the bouncer or wind, I was like, “I think it’s an earthquake. What do we do?” I just couldn’t remember. It had been nearly 20 years since the late Iben Browning, a business consultant and climatologist, predicted a 50-50 chance that an earthquake would take place along the New Madrid Fault between Dec. 1 and 5, 1990 (I had the year wrong in my earlier post; I found the information here). The media was all over that prediction and, naturally, the public freaked out and overreacted. At our school, we learned to stand in a doorway, get under a desk or head outside. Of course, at 4:37 a.m. and extra tired due to our baby, I couldn’t remember those things. Instead, we headed downstairs, got on the Internet and turned on the TV.
Nearly 20 minutes went by before KSDK broke into the national morning show and informed us that we had experienced an earthquake. I can’t believe it took 20 minutes. In this instant-or-bust society, 20 minutes is a LONG time. They could have at least put a scroll at the bottom of the screen telling viewers that they’d have information forthcoming. The anticipation nearly drained me.
I was back to sleep around 5:15 a.m., turned off my alarm at 6:20 a.m., and overslept until 8 a.m. Then we had that fun aftershock here. What a day.
Did the New Madrid Fault give us our first earthquake???
We just woke up to our bed shaking and the walls squeaking. Did the New Madrid Fault just give our area its first earthquake? Did that crazy guy’s 1986 prediction come true? Or is our house possessed? This happened, literally, four minutes ago. Nothing on the news about it. I may call the TV stations. I’ll post more later, if I find out anything. We’re pretty freaked out?
Nothing new on the Tiny Love mobile front, plus our new ride
There’s nothing new to report on the Tiny Love mobile front. It’s pretty ridiculous, but I’m just too tired to deal with it right now (tonight, for example, I had an hour-long conference call from home this evening, and I still need to check e-mail for the college courses that I’m teaching). I’m still angry about the mobile, but I’m just tired.
I need better Web diagnostics on this site, but there was a spike in readership on the post about the Symphony in Motion mobile and the near tragic snapping strap. Whether somebody from the company read the post, I’m not sure, but at least people are becoming more aware of this faulty product.
Most of you know that I work in the public relations industry. I advise companies about how to deal with situations like the one that happened to us. The so-called “blogosphere” is large — and permanent. Soon, my blog entry will be listed among Google searches for this product. Companies like Tiny Love should take bloggers like me seriously. Despite my skewed Technorati ranking (it’s based on http://blog.blogfullofletters.com and not http://www.blogfullofletters.com, with is the URL people link to), I have a pretty strong readership. If a company like Tiny Love would read a blog post like mine and then step in to make the situation right, especially before I take the time to contact them myself, that could have a positive impact on their business. It would show that they truly care. Or they can just keep quiet and I’ll continue spreading the word about the situation, as I’ve already started doing on several Web sites. But I digress …
Well, another reason that I’m tired is that we were out pretty late (for us) last night buying a new vehicle for Sarah. We purchased a 2008 Mazda Tribute. It’s pretty nice, and the gas mileage is decent for an SUV so I don’t feel too bad about our carbon footprint. The best thing is that it will be great for hauling Oliver and Molly around in. I can’t wait for our next road trip down to Springfield, Mo., to see the parents. We’ll have so much more room!
Below is a picture of the new ride. Enjoy:
Symphony in Motion almost maims our “Tiny Love”
I received a panicky voice mail from my wife today. I had just gotten out of a meeting and was ready to head to lunch when I checked my phone. Sarah’s voice was trembling and all she said was, “Justin. It’s Sarah. Please call me. Bye.” Needless to say, I was nervous.
Turns out my instinct was correct. You see, Sarah was trying to calm Oliver this morning in his crib. She had his mobile going. It’s the Symphony in Motion model by the company Tiny Love. This model wasn’t our first choice, but we didn’t have many options due to the sleigh-style crib we purchased (with the help of our mothers, I might add). The attachments on most of the popular mobile models wouldn’t fit over the wood slats on our crib. So we checked around, read reviews and settled on the Symphony in Motion model.
So back to today … Sarah had Oliver in the crib and was going about her business. She heard a cry coming from the baby room, so she went to check on Oliver. He was fine and the mobile was still going strong. Then, she heard a loud “CRACK,” and the mobile came crashing down right on top of Oliver. It smashed into his face, and he let out a shriek like she had never heard before. She also said that Oliver’s face turned a bright red.
Yes, the strap on our well-reviewed Symphony in Motion mobile snapped and the darn thing came crashing down. Unbelievable. Luckily, the part that hit his face was fairly soft and not one of the hard plastic parts. It could have seriously damaged his developing brain or wounded his poor, defenseless face. Needless to say DO NOT buy this product. It is not safe.
What should I do about it? I feel like we deserve some sort of justice for this near-tragic incident. It sickens me that something like this could happen to a baby, especially ours. Let me know what you think. And for evidence, below are a few pictures that I took when I got home from work.
Here’s the mobile in the position I found it in:
Here’s a close-up picture of the broken strap:
And here’s a picture taken after I took the thing down; it’s of the broken strap and the parts that were supposed to be holding this together:
Oliver rocks out (cold) to 87.5 FM
For those of you who know me well or have been reading this blog regularly, you are quite aware that Oliver has been pretty fussy of late. We’ve tried everything (you name it, we’ve tried it). About a week ago, we watched a video called “The Happiest Baby on the Block.” While not all of the techniques work all of the time, one of the best is using white noise to calm him down.
I’ve now found that the best way to keep Oliver quiet is to lay him on the ground in front of our TV. I then place a speaker next to him and tune the radio in to 87.5 FM. For those of you not in the St. Louis area, that station does not exist. It’s all static — and Oliver LOVES it!
He doesn’t always sleep when the radio is tuned to his new favorite station, but he stays pretty quiet, just looking around and cooing every once in a while. We’re having a good time now. I’m watching the Cardinals game without sounds (Pujols just hit a three-run HR … hold on … OK, I’m back) and he’s being a good little boy.
Below is a picture of Oliver rocking out (cold) to 87.5 FM. Notice the “rock fist” he’s making? Maybe I’ll have a little buddy to go to some concerts with me in a few years. That’d be cool. Enjoy:
My favorite photos of Oliver
Between our car troubles, being tired from going back to work (me) or being home alone with Oliver all day (Sarah), I thought it was time to share my favorite photos of Oliver. When I see these moments, frozen in time, it makes me smile.
When I see Oliver squirming around and fighting sleep all day (he’s been up, save for 90 minutes, since 5 a.m. today!), I don’t feel so warm and fuzzy. Right now, he’s a cranky and beefy (yes, he weighed 10 pounds, 15-1/2 ounces at his four-week checkup on Monday) little boy.
The pictures were taken by Sarah using her mom’s Canon EOS 20D. In the pictures, Oliver is about two weeks old and his head is in my hand. Enjoy:
Back to reality (work, that is)
It was back to reality today, which marked my first day at the office after four weeks of paternity leave. Part of me was excited to get back to work and have some structure to my daily routine. I thoroughly enjoy what I do for a living, and the people at Standing Partnership are amazingly talented.
However, part of me was a little sad. It was hard to leave my little Oliver and my helpless overwhelmed beautiful wife. It also was hard to get up at 6-something. It also was difficult going back to work after accomplishing so little over the four weeks I spent away from work.
Before having Oliver, Sarah and I had a huge list of items we’d like to accomplish. You know, during those huge pockets of free time that we didn’t realize would never come to fruition. So we still have shelving units, packed in their boxes, stacked in the basement next to pile after pile of items that need to be organized. We still haven’t purchased a new vehicle for Sarah. And we never got through the dozens of movies we had planned to watch (I think we only watched one movie together during the entire month).
Personally, I was able to accomplish a few items. They included:
- Setting up online banking and bill paying
- Repairing the broken window in our garage
- Getting a new windshield for Sarah’s car
- Completing our tax returns (ouch!)
- Almost growing a beard (I only shaved three or four times, though I consistently looked about 15 years old)
Oliver’s first trip to the store? Uneventful
The other day, my buddy Jen wrote about taking her son Drew to the store for the first time. Her trip was quite eventful. Oliver’s first trip to the store? Smooth sailing.
We took him into Target yesterday on the way to his grandmother’s house. With a full belly, and after a 30-minute car ride, he was sleeping like, well, a baby. He slept the entire time we were in the store, as long as the shopping cart kept moving. Sarah has a way of turning picking out shampoo into a 5-minute affair. She gets mad at me, but I always (ALWAYS!) get frustrated and say something like, “You’re 33 years old. Just pick out some G-D shampoo!” I can’t stop myself from saying it, despite the fact that I inherently will be scolded for being impatient. (What can I say? I’m impatient. So sue me.) Oliver must have inherited that trait for me, because he got just a touch fussy anytime we stopped to wait on Sarah to pick something out.
Hopefully Oliver sleeps through all his store visits over the next several months. Sarah’s going to be making most of them alone since I will be back at the office starting tomorrow. Enjoy the picture of the other two-thirds of the Lopinot family on the way into Target:
Oliver’s diaper rash had him stewing but we’re making progress
Oliver’s diaper rash was getting out of control, but it’s been retreating the past couple of days thanks to our new treatment option: Soaking his rear in water for 15 minutes and then letting him spread out on a towel and air dry afterward. We do this a few times a day.
We have been using his baby bath, filling it full of water to cover his butt. But the first time, we thought it would be best to use an old stew pot (it wasn’t; but the pictures are hilarious). And when he’s air-drying on the floor, Molly cannot help but lay next to Oliver and watch over him. She slinks around, acting curious but not touching him. She just likes to stare.
Here’s Oliver in the stew pot, along with a picture of Molly on guard:
‘Wii’ play as a family (Get it? Wii? I’m so clever)
It’s been a blast having Oliver’s Aunt Jennie and Uncle Ryan at our house these past few days. We’ve also been blessed to have Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Neal in town. We’ve always been a family that’s big on games. It’s mostly cards, but also board games over the years. Well, since buying the Nintendo Wii in December 2006, family gatherings have had an added video game element.
My parents usually will bowl on Wii Sports or just watch us youngsters play the games. However, I got them playing today before they made the trek home to Springfield, Mo. There’s nothing like the Wii for making my dad (one of the smartest, though also goofiest, people I know) and my mom (who’s heart is as big as they come but who’s not the most gifted of athletes) look like goofballs.
The videos I’ve been posting are nothing short of awful in quality, but for those of you know my mom and dad, you may get a kick out of them jamming with the band on Raymond Raving Rabbids 2. Check it out:
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