Raising Boys

First starlight November 8, 2005

Billions of years after they’ve died, we may be seeing their light for the very first time.

Scientists say they may have detected light from the very first stars, back when the universe first came alive after millions of years of pervasive darkness that followed the theorized Bing Bang, using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

The stars were thought to be a hundred times more massive than our sun, extremely hot, bright, and short-lived. They disappeared billions of years ago but their light is still traveling across the universe. The image below shows what might be the glow of the first stars of the universe after all the existing stars, galaxies and other objects were masked out.

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/A. Kashlinsky (GSFC)
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Gab’s first birthday party November 7, 2005

My sons had a great time at Gabriela’s first birthday party held Saturday in Banawa, Cebu City. Dylan and Lennon had their fill of hotdogs, burgers, fries, cotton candy, and ice cream. There was a clown, too, and balloons—shaped into swords, flowers, bunnies, lions, dogs—for the asking. Dylan joined in the games and won prizes and Lennon, as usual, busied himself by getting in the way of everyone. The pictures below tell it all.

Dylan tries table tennis November 3, 2005

My husband and I do not get time off work even during holidays so there was no trick or treating for my kids during Halloween. As a compromise, though, we brought Dylan and Lennon with us to the office on November 1 and Dylan got to play table tennis for the first time with his uncle.

It was more of a hit-and-pick kind of thing for Dylan but his Uncle Michael was very patient and taught him some of the basics of the game. Dylan was so taken in by the game that he asked me to buy him a pingpong table. Below is a picture of Dylan taken by his dad during the game.

A mother’s warning November 2, 2005

This is funny and worth a repost as a warning to mothers of boys. The following reportedly came from an anonymous mother in Austin, Texas. Found here.

Things I’ve learned from my boys (honest and not kidding)

1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4″ deep.

2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3.) A 3-year-old boy’s voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42-pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20×20 ft. room.

5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
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A mouse’s song November 1, 2005

A team of scientists has discovered that mice can sing, BBC News said in a report. Male mice, in fact, “serenade potential mates with ultrasonic love songs”. The US scientists discovered the male mice’s ability while determining how they respond “to sex pheromones released in the urine of female mice.”

Instead of making the ultrasonic chirps randomly, the mice used several different types of syllables arranged in regular, repeated time signatures resembling birdsong.

Mice now belong to an “exclusive club of mammals that can sing”, which count among its members human beings, bats, and cetaceans.

Exercise against cancer

One good reason to take up exercise again.