Todd's Tatler

On Friday, January 8, 2010 Caleb took his first steps unassisted! I was several feet away when I held my arms out to him. Instead of letting go of the table and crawling to me, like he usually does, Caleb let go and took five steps right into my arms! Now, just over two weeks later, he can do this:

I found a recipe for non-toxic "finger paint" on Saturday (cook water, cornstarch, salt, and sugar on stove top. Then add food coloring). It turned out more like finger paste than paint, but Caleb and I still managed to have fun while Todd was on campus trying to finish a lab.

Think of your hard drive like a book shelf. When you first put the books on they are neatly arranged, maybe by size or by type. After a while as the books are taken down used and put back up, they are misplaced, forced into a smaller spot or just plain old relocated. This makes finding books difficult and it takes time.

Many times when your computer is slowing down and the hard drive is cranking away the files are fragmented. This means that your Word document that you have been working on isn't saved all together. Depending on the file-system the computer breaks all files into several chunks called blocks. Then when saving the file it looks for the next available space big enough for all or some of the blocks. If not all of the blocks fit then it looks for space somewhere else to place the remaining pieces. When your hard drive gets cluttered like this it takes time to find all the pieces of a file.

So what is one to do? How do you reorganize your hard drive so that all the pieces are put together nicely? Defragmentation.

Defragmentation is the reorganization of your hard drive. There are many programs that do it but not all are created equal. Microsoft Windows has a built in defragmentation program. The latest version in Windows 7 is getting better but some free and open source programs are better. The best one that I have used is called MyDefrag, formerly JKDefrag. I dont really know what it does that is so much better but it is. I've used a lot of different programs and this is the best, and its FREE! Free is always good.

So when your computer is starting to slow down think defrag before you throw it out the window. A monthly defrag session will keep your hard drive nice and organized. That way you will know if something else is wrong.

Caleb sprouted these at the same time. He was being a super-grump all Friday. Then when we were at Adam and Caprise's house to watch the BYU vs. Wyoming game (I think) he got upset and bit my finger!

Ever since then, Caleb has taken to chewing on everything. Our poor coffee table (or cocoa table as my mom likes to joke) has nice little teeth marks along the bottom of the edges. And the varnish has been entirely eaten off one of the corners. I hope Caleb doesn't take offense to this when he grows up, but having a baby is a lot like having a puppy!

I put up our Christmas tree during the BYU vs Utah game so that we could enjoy it before heading out for the holidays. I strategically place it in a cubby created by our couches so that a certain little one didn't pull it down on himself. The cubby left just one side exposed. After Caleb discovered the weakness, we had to put his arch-nemesis (the singing cow) on guard duty...

I never thought I would use a cow as a Christmas decoration, but I'm not complaining since Christ was born in a stable. It actually seems quit fitting! Plus, our tree has remained in tact for several weeks now. Caleb still likes to peak at the tree from the other side...when he thinks no one is looking.

I saw this and thought that it was pretty funny as well as accurate.

My new exercise program is called "retrieve Caleb." This week, Caleb surprised us by crawling forward AND pulling himself to a standing position on anything he can grab. Unless he is in arms, or confined to his bouncy toys, he gets into everything! As a consequence, I'm always on the move too. I filmed this little clip yesterday while his dad took a much needed nap: