Ruby's going green

First things first: here are a few pix of the kids, because that's what you're really here for.

Second: Happy T-Day! This is my favorite holiday. I'm such a comfort seeker that I find the good grub and warm fuzzies that this holiday evokes completely irresistable. We are going to start out the day at the SF Auto Show (a long-standing Hayes tradition) and then eat ourselves silly with Jeff's sibs in Oakland in the evening. I'm actually excited to go to the Auto Show. How strange. I'm eager to see what the automakers will be selling in the way of hybrids and the like.

Of all people, I have Ruby to thank for my push to be more green. More specifically, I have to thank her terribly active GI tract. She poos almost more than she eats so she goes through a lot of diapers each day. It also doesn't help that we haven't managed to potty train Levi yet. In any given week, we generate such a large amount of garbage that I can't help but feel embarrassed about it. This embarrassment increased tenfold when I read about the UN's latest report on global warming. So now we've set a few things in motion in an effort to decrease our carbon footprint. Ruby is leading the way by wearing gDiapers. Things are a little messy right now because she's between sizes and I'm still trying to get the hang of it, but this will mean such a dramatic decrease in the amount of garbage we're sending off to the landfill. These diapers are biodegradeable, and you can either flush 'em or compost 'em. Sooooo cooooool! Speaking of composting, that's the next thing we're going to try. Any day now, the County of San Mateo is supposed to deliver our compost bin for yard waste (and wet gDiapers!) and worm bin for food scraps.

Stay tuned because you can definitely expect a blog post regarding the worm bin and Levi's new creepy crawly pets.

New sofa, stem cells, and check-ups

Today I managed to get out of the house, but only because I had to. Such is life with two young children and a severe deficit of sleep. We started the morning by packing up the family and driving down to the good ol' REI clinic. No, we weren't looking for sporting gear. (Unfortunately, I don't see myself sporting anytime soon.) Rather, we were taking care of unfinished business at Stanford's Reproductive Endocrinology Infertility Clinic. As most of you know, Levi is our little test tube wonder. After going through IVF to get pregnant with him, we had just one embryo remaining that they froze for us at the nifty price of $1 per day. Highway robbery if you ask me, but couples struggling with infertility will pay a premium for the possiblity of babies. We've paid Stanford $1 a day since Summer 2004 to freeze our little blastocyst, and it made sense until Ruby was born of a more conventional (and cheaper!) method. So with a couple signatures in front of a witnessing REI staff member, we donated our little blastocyst to the good of medical science and stem cell research. I hope it survives the thaw and that those very smart people at Stanford can put it to good use. No thanks to Bush of course, but who needs federal funding when you've got Larry Page and Sergey Brin for alumni?

Anyway, back to my abnormally productive day. After Stanford, I took the kids to the doctor for Ruby's 2-month check-up. She's a trooper and took her 4 vaccinations as well as any baby could. The doc says she looks great (she's up to 11 lbs and is at the 75th percentile in weight and height). He especially liked her haircut. Just kidding. He didn't say anything about her shorn dome. Then we came home to anxiously await the arrival of our Eugene Sofa from Room & Board. It's taken 6 weeks for this baby to arrive. It always mystifies me why it takes so long to build and deliver "custom" furniture like this, but it's finally in our living room and apparently has Levi's approval.

Ruby gets a shave

After she begged us in tears, we shaved Ruby's hair off (she said she wanted to be like Britney Spears). Now she doesn't look like a little old man anymore!

Its fun to see how the rube looks compared to Levi at about the same age

yet more stuff

Levi likes to think he's still a baby sometimes.

One of the benefits of bottle feeding. Dad can get in on the action too!

Mommy and the rubinator.

This is Levi's old bink. Still works like a charm.

Curious George is a powerful sedative.

Ruby loses her hair

It only took a couple of baths before Rubes lost nearly all the hair on top of her head.

We tried to make her feel loved despite her hideous hairdo, but it was difficult.

more exciting pictures of life at home

More pictures of life at home with Ruby & Levi...

Ruby's probably passing gas here.

Zzzzzzz

Poke, poke, poke. It's fun to poke the baby!

Like father, like daughter. Ruby's a chip off the old block.

daily life

Levi loves to play in his laundry hamper. In fact, he gets upset when we put any laundry in it. Anyway, he calls it his "egg".

Just a few days old, here's Ruby Dooby sucking down a bottle.

my first blog!

Now i'm like everybody else. People won't tease me anymore, because I have a blog!

Here's Ruby, our new baby girl. Note that she is much more beautiful than her parents. Its a miracle of nature. Here are her stats:

• Name: Ruby Nora Hayes


• Birthdate: September 12, 2007 at 1:43 pm


• Weight: 6# 5 oz


• Length: 17 1/2"

Intently studying mom's face minutes after being born.