The Trixie Update

My intention to scientifically determine Trixie’s preferences for the face patterns has largely come to nothing. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not running a real lab here, and on most days there’s barely enough time to get a shower, let alone conduct an experiment with rigorous methodology. Still it’s not a total waste - Trixie is highly entertained by the images. And even without hard empirical data, I’ve made a few observations:

1) She still prefers images containing a strong ratio of black to white. I should test this against some non-representational, geometric forms but there’s only so many hours in the day.

2) She likes the representations of us. Does this mean she recognizes us in the illustrations? We don’t have a good answer to that question. My guess is no. How strong is the resemblance anyway? You can see in this image the process that was used to convert photographs of us to the illustrations.

3) She likes looking at all of them. Variety is the real key. So what have we learned here? Pretty much nothing. So what’s the next step? More of the same. The main goal is to keep Trixie happy and stimulated. She can definitely see much farther now - at least 10 feet. So I might try to put some larger graphics on the ceiling above her playpen. Maybe we’ll introduce color soon too.

[Read more →]

We’ll try to be a better host and respond to comments with a post. Because it’s nice to get feedback on the site AND because it’s nice to get feedback on feedback, the new TTU policy is to respond to reader comments by posting a response comment. At The Trixie Update, our guests are our number one priority.

[Read more →]

There’s really not much more to say. Well, actually, let me clarify (in order to head-off the confused and incredulous emails in my inbox), Trixie did not use 600 diapers yesterday, but rather exceeded that number cumulatively.

[Read more →]

“Hey, why is it getting dark in here?
There better be a movie or an eye examination starting soon, cause I KNOW I’m not going to sleep right now.
Are you crazy? WHY are you getting in bed? Don’t tell me you’re going to try to sleep. Hey - does that guy know what you’re doing in here?
What? He’s in on it?!

Fine, lady, we’ll do it your way. Just let me take a deep breath so I can cry louder.”

[Read more →]

Trixie has hit a couple of milestones that I haven’t had a chance to mention. She smiles now. This has been in development for about two weeks.

Of course, babies can smile almost from day one, but that’s an involuntary reflex. Usually they are asleep and they are doing something in their pants. I’m talking about a social smile. That is, she will look at one of us and in response to us looking back, she gives a huge smile. (I’ll try to get a picture up soon.)

This is fun because it’s nice to get feedback. And she’s a very happy baby when she’s not screaming. Additionally, it’s a milestone of social behavior, and if she wasn’t doing it yet we would have to take her back and get another one.

[Read more →]

Once again, sorry for the lack of posts. It’s been hard to find the time to pull together some entries. Part of this is due to structural and design changes on the site. The biggest addition is a new archive section in the Trixie Picture of the Day. This should help keep track of old pictures: September Archive

The archive link is available at the bottom of the TPOD. Shutterfly photos will also be added soon. These will be added at the end of each month in one batch as opposed to a day-by-day basis. If you sign up for an account at Shutterfly.com you can order your favorite high-quality TPOD photograph right from your browser. I think they will run about 40¢ each depending on the size and quantity.

[Read more →]

OK, you know, sometimes the number DOES matter. Trixie has gone through 14 diapers so far and there’s still 32 minutes left in the day. I’m worn out. At one point this morning it was every 55 minutes. I felt like I was back in high school. But instead of moving to the next class when the bell rings, you wet your pants and start screaming. But to be fair to my system of diaper management, there have been only two “hassle” diapers today.

[Read more →]

What were you doing 10 a.m. September 13th, 2003? We were changing Trixie’s 500th diaper. 500 diapers. Five Hundred. Trixie hit this milestone on her 44th day in this world. I shouldn’t be surprised, because I knew she was averaging more than 11 a day leading up to that point. Still, it’s shocking to see such a large number. And that number will, of course, grow into the thousands by the end of the first year. Even if she stabilizes at 6 diapers a day starting today, we are looking at 2,448 by 7/31/04. At 8 a day it will be 3,072. If the average climbs to 10 a day, it will be a mind-blowing 3,686 diapers before she even turns one year old.

You get better at changing diapers, but it’s an evolutionary struggle. She’s constantly growing and requires more milk which leads to an increase in the scale of waste. And just as a balance is struck in managing these changes, she’s grown into a new diaper size and you’re temporarily back to square one.

However, all things considered, life has gotten easier as the number of diapers that cause major laundry or clean-up problems have proportionally decreased. These “Hassle Diapers,” which can be either poopy OR wet diapers that have spilled out, can be seen leveling off when compared to the cumulative diaper totals [see above].

On a monthly scale the diaper hassle picture is constantly improving. But the “Cumulative Diaper Totals” chart is misleading because on a day-to-day basis the development hasn’t been nearly as smooth or predictable. The true on-the-ground picture of the diaper struggle is messy, erratic and random [see below]. This daily time-series reveals improvement, but details the setbacks and relapses along the way.

The trend that becomes evident in “The Diminishing Diaper Hassle” chart is that it’s not the number of diapers that matters; it’s the amount of inconvenience involved. You can change 15 diapers in one day, but if nothing leaks or spills out, it’s not that big a deal. Conversely, you could have only 5 daily diapers, but if each one explodes all over the couch, you get a little worn down. Eventually, the blue area should whittle away to nothing, marking the point that diaper duty becomes an invisible, non-issue. This almost occurred for a single day on both September 5th and 12th, when there was only 1 diaper rated “Hassle” on each day.

[Read more →]

But Hurricane Trixie left a path of destruction in her wake. We have our power back on after three+ days, and the Trixie Update and the Trixie Picture of the Day will resume Monday, September 22nd.

[Read more →]

Electricity has flickered off three times already and the full impact of the storm isn’t expected until 3:00-6:00 this afternoon. What does Trixie think about all this? Not much — yet. Unfortunately, her opinion will probably change for the worse once she realizes there’s no hot water, clean laundry, sterilized bottles or warm milk. I just hope that Trixie doesn’t have a hurricane in her diapers while the power is out — I don’t think she can handle a cold bath.

[Read more →]