This Week in the News

This week saw many events on the East Coast, with the travel of many of the world's leaders to the United Nations. First, we saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Iran's president) speak to the MSM and address the United Nations at large. Common questions to the leader included his opinions on Zionism, the holocaust, and if he is really trying to create a nuclear bomb. Of course, these are all ridiculous questions. He would have to be really crazy to do an interview in English denying the holocaust and stating he wants the bomb. American policies for years have taught rouge nations that if they want dialouge with America, rather than being attacked, they need a nuclear bomb. Look at Iraq versus North Korea. Look at Pakistan versus Afghanistan. Regardless of what the President or a former state department official says, we are not going to bomb a nation with a nuclear bomb. Ahmadinejad knows this.

Next, we saw Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, call our President the devil to a smattering of laughs and clapping in the halls of the United Nations. This is simply further proof of two things: first, we must, as a nation signficantly reduce our dependence on oil. I won't even qualify that. We simply don't have enough oil to support our nation domestically, so we must move away from the energy source in general. Doing so would be like taking Viagra away from an ED patient. The same goes for Ahmadinejad as both are empowered by the current economies of oil. Second, there are very few nations in the UN which would allow a foreigner to enter the nation and call its leader the devil. As the largest supporter of this organization, we must determine if our international efforts are worth it at all. Further, when I look at the Constitution, I don't see anything authorizing Congress to allocate billions of dollars to international organizations. If I recall correctly, a former President did mention to "beware of foreign entanglements." The UN is certainly one hell of an entanglement. So I would suggest we either amend the Constituiton to permit our funding of this, or we stop funding it as an unconstitutional usurption of rights reserved to individuals and states.

Finally, an intelligence report came out yesterday which indicated that the war in Iraq has only further enflamed international terrorism. I unfortunately must agree. It doesn't mean that we should pull our troops from Iraq, but we must fight this insurgency without any misinformation about what is really going on over there. We musn't be ostriches with our heads in the sand.

3 Month Birthday

Thursday was Parker's 3 month birthday, but judging by the phots above, he probably partied too hard.

Getting Better All the Time

Kari needed to get a couple of outfits for the little guy so that he could look like a little adult in public. We are going to her sister's wedding in October and an anniversary dinner for her grandparents the next night. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't he look like Spanky from "Lil' Rascals" in a couple of pictures?

New Parker Pictures

My sister has informed me it has been a full week since I last updated pictures of Parker on the website. Well here are some.

Parker's Progress

My little guy, Parker, turned 11 weeks old on Wednesday. One of the most dramatic shifts we are thus experiencing has been the improvement of his sleep habits. On the same weekend I began my methotrexate regiment, Kari and I decided we needed to do something about how we handle his fussiness about being put down to take a nap.

The event that I believe has single-handedly turned his sleep patterns around happened rather benignly. It had been a rough weekend. Parker had been up for several hours at a stretch and more or less stayed awake until 3:00 in the morning. Finally, on Sunday the 20th, Kari laid him in his crib to take a bath. Despite having been sleeping before going down, he almost immediately woke up and started bawling. I decided that while Kari was taking a bath, I would attempt to let him cry himself to sleep. This is a strategy suggested in a book I am reading about healthy sleeping habits for babies. I decided that rather than the book's suggestion of letting him cry for one hour before going to pick him up and soothe him, I would give him 30 minutes. As most parents are aware, letting your baby cry is one of the hardest experiences known to man. However, I knew he was not hungry and had a dry diaper, so I tried to stick it out.

Well, he certainly attempted to test my theory, because the little guy cried and screamed louder than I had ever heard for exactly 24 minutes. And then...nothing. He slept for 15 whole minutes, woke up and screamed again. And then...nothing. He then proceeded to sleep for more than 3 hours! I was so happy, but cautious.

However, that seems to have been the turning point. He went from going to bed at midnight every night, to falling asleep around 8:30, and most nights, sleeping until 6:00 or 7:00 a.m.

He went from waking up twice every night to feed and be changed, to sometimes waking up, but mostly sleeping through the entire night.

One thing I know for sure is that as soon as you think you have something figured out as it applies to an infant, it changes, but I am very happy that he has had 3 weeks of sleeping extremely well. He also takes 2-3 naps a day, some lasting as long as 3 hours.

For any parent frustrated by their baby's poor sleeping patterns, I suggest you try this. The first time or two will be very difficult, but it will certainly be worth it.

Update on My Psoriatic Arthritis

Today I am taking my fourth weekly dosage of methotrexate, the drug I have been prescribed to help treat my arthritis. Thus far, I haven't noticed much in the way of side effects, except maybe some fatigue and the feeling of waking up hung over. In the grand scheme of things, these are very mild side effects, and I am comfortable with these. It is possible these feelings are completely unrelated, but I suspect not.

The medicine is supposed to begin being effective within 1-3 months. I do perceive that it is helping. There have been several days where certain of my joints (in particular my right shoulder and my legs) have felt noticably better, particularly in the afternoon. This could also be unrelated to taking the medicine, and it doesn't happen everyday, but it is welcome.

Over this time period, a couple of my joints have become noticably worse, specifically my right ankle and the first joint on my right index finger, which is beginning to resemble the textbook example of psoriatic arthritis. I am attempting to manage this by periodically wearing wraps or braces, which help to keep the joint pretty immobilzed.

This week will also be my first blood test to examine my liver and kidney function, but with the folic acid I am taking and the amount of water I consume on a daily basis, I am not concerned.

All in all, I am happy to be doing something to alleviate my inflamation. I am also happy that I am thus far not experiencing any of the bad side effects of the drug and am noticing some relief. Hopefully this will continue.

While I have not started my diet as of yet (I haven't received my book from Amazon.com yet), I am not consuming any alcohol and have only had 2-3 carbonated beverages since I have started this regime. I belive this has contributed to me losing a couple of pounds, but I should know more when I visit the doctor this week.

Mom Visits for my Birthday

My mother visited town to help me celebrate my 30th birthday. Attached are some pictures of her with her grandson.