Andrew Q Gordon

Mark, Several short questions - I've tied to go back and find the answers but wasn't able to find them without re-reading everything Who is Llewellyn's father? What happened to Brookstone? He was one of the Lt's on the old ship right? You mentioned that there was a space for Winkler in the new cabin - was that a slip up on your part? Last we heard he hadn't decided if he was going to stay on land and enjoy his new wealth with his rather well hung 'friend' or return to sea. That's all for now I suppose - more as I think things up. Andy

Sorbam: That was our issue, she's doing great why are you upsetting the routine? That's over - one way or another. It is down to our way or the highway. And I'm feeling good that she'll do it our way, but continue to try to get us to change things. J.C.: You can't steal her and give her back when she does a doodle - you take the good with the bad or get nonya. Sharon: She my answer to Cia, we're already ahead of you there

Cia - the water thingy, we've already been giving her water, and we told her if you think she's thirsty give her water NOT more formula. That got us a sour look, but she is doing it. We're trying the cups already, but she's meh on them so it's a struggle. But what we're doing now is we got the arms for her bottle and we're teaching her to hold the arms while we feed her. Lately she's been grabbing them and holding them more and more, so hopefully soon she'll be doing it with the cup. We've got the sippy kind, and the kind with a straw like thingy so we're experiment with which one she'll take to first.

Thanks all. We'll be fine, I'm as stubborn as they come where 'lil Q is concerned. No one messes with the baby bear when the Momma Bear is around. Besides, I'm the boss, this is a great gig for the Nanny - 6 hours, close to home, an easy baby, Mike works from the house so if there's a problem, like the need for a dr. or something, he's here. She doesn't want to quit or get fired. My sense is she didn't want to do the standard 10-12 hour nanny gig anymore but wanted more than a couple-three hours a day, so we're the perfect match for her. She'll tow the line or we'll get someone else. Not really a debate to be had. lol

For those who've talk to me in chat, you know we had a bit of a glitch with the Nanny. We thought we were getting Mary Poppins but what we got was a Nanny 911 reject. We hired the Nanny - let's call her Mary - because she was an older woman - and by older I mean not in her twenties. She has grown kids, been a nanny for a long time, and had good references. She knew/knows a LOT about babies and their developmental stages, she also didn't ask to be paid under the table. That last one was something of a biggie for us. Given my occupation, I can't be paying people illegally. So with much anticipation, she arrived two weeks ago. Within an hour she decided we weren't doing anything right. For nearly two weeks now we've had food issues with her - and by food issues, I mean how, when and how much 'lil Q gets fed. When she arrived she announced that we were doing it all wrong. That the most important element was making sure she got enough formula. She was rather adamant that babies need to get 24-32 ounces of formula a day and that the solid food we were giving her - at the doctor's direction - was to be secondary to the formula. She was told to do it our way, food first then formula, because honestly 'lil Q doesn't get that much solid food yet. After she changed the order, she started cramming formula at a prodigious rate into the baby. The feeding order was 6oz, - cereal/fruit + 4oz; fruit and meat/veggies +6oz; 6 oz: cereal fruit + 4oz. So five times a day she eats. I feed her first thing in the am, then the nanny does the next two and we do the last two. The first feeding she gave her 6 instead of 4 then her cereal then 2 more. after the walk she gave her another 2 for no other reason than she might be thirsty. Her seconding time feeding, she again upped the formula. So I - not being home, wrote her a note saying no no no. Do it our way and I laid out the order again. I explained, nicely I thought, that if she doesn't finish her formula, she can have it later, but she needed to get in the habit of eating not just drinking. I got a note back saying - again - 'lil Q needed between 24-32 oz a day. If you go back and do the math, you will see that our numbers came out to 26oz a day. My next note - what part of 26 does NOT fall between 24-32 was tossed out by Mike before she could read it. But not to worry, I was home on Nanny's 5th day - and when she reiterated the amounts, I asked her when the numerical system changed. She gave me that huh look So I asked, when did 26 stopped being after 24 but before 32. She stopped with that. That day she also told me - at the end of the day - that 'lil Q didn't eat any of her solid foods - I nearly blew a blood vessel in my head because that is when it dawned on my I saw her feeding 'lil Q the bottle before the food. I - perhaps not too nicely this time - reminded her that she was supposed to give her food THEN formula and that it was not open for discussion. Amazingly, since we insisted, 'lil Q has always eaten her food and drank her formula. Go figure. So we figured all was well. Nope, not at all. Mike noticed she was putting an entire scoop of formula and a formula scoop of cereal in 'lil'Q's bowl. First that's too much cereal, but the worse part was this was her way of getting around our feeding regiment - we didn't say don't put 2 oz of formula in her cereal. So we nipped that in the bud and realized how much food she had given 'lil Q in just a week. It was incredible. Now 'Mary' is not svelte. In fact she tells us the reason she can't hold 'lil Q to fed her is because she too fat and her belly gets in the way - her words not mine. So maybe she see's nothing wrong with the baby getting fat, but we do. I know folks are going to say there is no such thing as a fat baby, but when we went to the Doc, 'lil Q was 90th percentile length wise and 75% weight. Clearly she wasn't under fed. We got another discussion about how she needed more food because she was going to have a growth spurt etc. 'lil Q is one of the happiest babies I know. Ask anyone who's met her. She is also very good at telling us she is hungry. IF she needed more food, she'd let us know and we give it to her, that was how we knew to increase her formula from 4oz to 6. Another sit down with 'Mary' Again it was explained, there isn't any issue to resolve. She gets what we tell her and that's it. The Doc was very happy with her development, saying she was doing great. In my mind we were/are doing things right because the baby is doing well. Why are we tinkering with something that isn't broke? Yeah I know there is the idea of it could always be better, but if she's eating, gaining weight, and thriving, why are we trying to change things? We aren't is the bottom line. SO fast forward to Wednesday this week. It is good I work outside of the house, because I'd probably be taking off work for a few weeks while we find a new nanny. "Mary' told Mike that on Thurs & Fri of last week and Mon and Tues of this week, she'd been experimenting with 'lil Q's feeding, giving her 3 oz before her nap and 3 oz after so 'lil Q would sleep at least 90 minutes. So first - who the (@% said she could test her theories on the baby without our okay? If I'd been home I'd have fired her. Mike took a more measured approach, he called me and vented. But the other problem I had was this length of nap shit. 'lil Q sleeps from 10-10 with a 15-20 wake up around 630-7:00 to eat. Most people do it 7-7 but with Mike working at home, we don't get the Nanny til 10 am so this worked for us. The Nanny knows she sleeps til 10 am, because often she is the one to wake her. So by 1-1:30 she's been up about 3 -3.5 hours max. She doesn't need an hour and a half nap that soon. Moreover, we've been letting her sleep as long or as little as she wanted. "Mary' gave her food before the nap to 'help' her sleep longer. Her opinion was 'lil Q woke up because she was hungry but if we fed her before the nap, she could sleep longer. Well yeah, if you stuff me full of food, I could take a nice little nap too. The point is she doesn't need that much of a nap at that time. Coincidentally, a 90 minute nap is about 25% of the time the Nanny is here. Hmm, shorter nap, more work, longer nap, less work. Nope, no correlation there at all. Then came the smoke up my ass. She tried to tell me that 'lil Q needed the nap to recharge and to grow. Of course, how stupid of me. Those 12 hours she slept at night did nothing to help her grow, in fact she didn't grow a lick any time other than that 90 minute nap during the 6 hours the Nanny was here. Right. So we sat her down yesterday - I had to take a couple hours off work to be here. We explained, that there weren't going to be anymore feeding or sleeping issues. We set the schedule in accordance with our Pediatrician. We'd read other books and asked other people before we came up with her routine. 'lil Q was/is thriving, growing, gaining weight, developing at or above expectations. There was NO need at all to change things. We welcomed suggestions, but we didn't ever want to see/hear she changed something, tested a theory, or whatever without asking us first. I realize we don't know everything, far from it, but what I do know, is 'lil Q is in a good routine that has let her develop on track or faster and has left her very happy. Unless there is a reason to change - i.e. she's being harmed or it's inhibiting her development, there is no reason to change. In fact, mucking with her routine is likely to cause more harm than good. I think she got the message. In fact today, she did it exactly as we wanted. But she did say to me that 'lil Q didn't sleep very much and that she was tired but wouldn't go to sleep. I was like, yeah, well my mom told me I rarely slept more than 30-45 minutes, my nieces and nephews didn't do more than that, my co-workers twins don't do more, in fact few babies do so it's probably just fine. Now let's see what next week brings.

Dave: THat's what grandkids are for, you get to enjoy the good times, but avoid the never ending grind Arl: Thanks Y_B: You joke, but grandpa already set up a college fund, a stock fund and a small trust for her. Plus with the cash people gave her for her christening, she has more money than I do now. As for college, she probably will be discouraged from going to either of our Alma Maters. i went to a catholic school and he went to a state school in the commonwealth of hate - err Virginia. So we're looking for more enlightened venue's for the girl.

How wonderfully marvelous you have returned to us not only George, but helped him tie up his world - only to show how it might come tumbling down. Tis a rare gift that you possess so well. Thanks for the new beginning Mark!

Wait! June 22-24??? I thought it was 15-17. Oh boy, did I screw up?

Cassie, W.L et al The answer really depends on where you want to be. In DC proper? In the burbs, close to metro? In the burbs, but you'll have a car so where ever is cheapest and you'll drive to metro. I can offer suggestions but tell me where you want to stay. I can say you'll probably get better rates in the suburbs, but don't go too far out or else. That said as an example - the Marriott in Greenbelt, MD was not very expensive when Anyta stayed there last month, so it might still be cheap in June. It is close to metro - not walking close however, but it is also at the end of the Greenline which means you need to factor in Metro costs - not exactly cheap but far cheaper than paying for Parking at a Hotel in DC. All things to consider. Let me know if anyone needs help. Probably best to email me directly - Belsport09@gmail.com

Jasper you realize you're quickly becoming one of Nephy's favorite people, she does love her some twisted messed up people and Elijah sort of fits the bill. I'm rethinking what I think about Elijah - he's starting to strike me as the type that would bit the heads off of puppies if he thought he could get away with it - okay so not really, but he is not a very nice person, even where Tom is concerned and whether he knows it or not, he has Tom wrapped around his finger - not in a lover sense but as a best friend. And he although he supposedly 'doesn't usually' do thing like confront someone about how he knows they're gay, he didn't seem to have any issues with it so I'm not sure if his perception of himself fits the reality of who and what he is. Definitely not sure I still like him

Okay a bit of a grumble - hey I'm allowed now that they promoted - right? Okay so maybe I'm not entitled to, but I still think I'm allowed. The flash - bleck Not a fan of the flash back, but that wasn't really tied into the story in any meaningful way - it's like you dropped it in to explain something you alluded to but couldn't find a better way to do it. I mean, Elijah wasn't even reminiscing about it, it was just sorta there. Tsk tsk tsk. Bad Jasper. Okay so - onto the meat and potatoes of this review. That was a neat turn about. Elijah of the first three chapters didn't make 'mistakes' but yet here, he does just that with Chris. Now supposedly he hates Chris, but really can't say why or give a good reason- and by good reason I mean one grounded on facts - like how 'clever and smart' Anna is. Clearly he hasn't figured out what he wants from Chris and more over, I don't think he's figured out Chris either. But I suspect you'll tease this out for a bit and torture Elijah and by extension us for a few more chapters. Like I said, bad Jasper.

Well that was interesting now wasn't it? Anna is a good foil for Elijah - she might even have his number if she were as disaffected by things as he is. And what the heck is going on with Chris. Me think's he got hisself a bit of an Elijah infatuation. No really, he does. Don't deny it, I'll give you even money he does. - erm wait, never bet against the house when the house knows what card is next. Nevermind.

As usual you raise more questions, give few answers and leave us wondering what next. Okay so that's really good, but ughhh! How long are you going to make us wait for the next chapter?

Yeah man, waiting for the next chapter from you

Sadly I know all about those unexpected little expenses that upset the best laid plans. It does get better, just believe.

Your comment to Rndmrunner, shows you understand what I was going to say - there doesn't seem to be a hook - yet - but I have to say, writers who can weave a complex identity into a character like you're doing with Elijah make bow in admiration Elijah's character is interesting enough to keep me reading, so I guess we can over look the slow plot development for the time being

Wow such strong opinions about your MC - good and bad. I kinda felt he was . . . himself. He wasn't evil or bad, just a kid - good ending by the way - bucking for Cia's Queen of Cliffhanger title for 2012 are you?

Maria - I look for a current cute one, but I'm going to post one today, you might like to use that one, it's my new favorite. Mark - Not sure proud is the right word - totally and completely in love is probably better Tomas - no but she was close to making me fly over the cuckoos nest

I'm planning on it being still on, I've requested off the friday and monday around that weekend and it was granted. I suppose we need to get a first head count so we can start planning things, it is only 2 months away now

RIck, This was meant to be a chapter in a full length series of novels I was going to title Dlgen of the First Order through Fifth Order and then the end book. If I had the time, I'd get to it, and i have so many others I want to work on at the same time. I might have to start working on something soon or my head is going to bust LOL. Thanks for the review. I like hearing from people - good and bad. Andy

Wow, time flies. 'lil Q is now 6 and a half months old - gasp Mike finished his paternity leave and we have a nanny. I think the nanny tried out for Nanny 911 and was rejected as too over the top. First hour in the house she decided we weren't feed 'lil Q right. We had the order wrong - cereal then formula for breakfast and we didn't give her enough, etc. So basically we were idiots. Since I'm at work and Mike is home, I left it to him to deal with her. It took him almost a week before he set her straight. She's very nice, a bit quirky, but knowledgeable, maybe too knowledgeable. She thinks she has the only answer for how to raise the baby, but as those of you who've seen the her pictures can see, she is not under nourished or unhappy. Why change what's not broke? What finally spurred my baby daddy into action was when the nanny informed us 'lil Q wouldn't eat any solid food. Well, no shit. Had she followed my instructions - I wrote out what I wanted and left her a note when Mike didn't address things - and given her the solid food first THEN the milk she'd have eaten both. Much to her chagrin Mike took control and 'showed' her how we wanted her to feed 'lil Q that seemed to annoy her but she got the message. She is OUR daughter and we decide what to do, not the nanny. Besides, the Doctor said she's doing great so again why change what's not broke? On a better note, I love being a dad, it just makes my day, week, month, life when I come home and she smiles at me and holds out her arms for me to pick her up. She is such a good baby, rarely cries, always happy, etc, that I wonder what I did to deserve this. For those who said it would happen, you were right, she has me totally wrapped around her chubby little fingers and I couldn't be happier. So am back to work, it sucks, but we got a new boss so that was better. I try to get home now in time to feed and bathe 'lil Q but some days I don't make it. THAT really sucks, but I'm working on it. It's been hard to find time to write, as anyone who followed Purpose found out. But in addition, Anyta and I had a story picked up by a publisher so we had to do a bit of work on that. We're also working on another we hope they'll buy and I've been working with an editor on something else I finished - or so I thought before the editor got a hold of it. That would be the real reason I've been so silent. My free time has been taken up by other things. I won't say I'm back for good the way I used to be, but I'll give it a whirl. I've got a few more things to work on but no idea when I'll post anything other than an anthology. After the angst of not having Purpose finished before I started posting, I refuse to do that again. So it may be a while. I'll try to post a few more pictures soon, I had to take down the others because they exceeded the size limit and i was trying to obey the limitations to keep GA working smoothly. I'll reformat things going forward to fit the limit. And I'll try to be a bit better about not waiting 3 months before I update.

feel free to drop back in an add comments to chapter at any time, not that I'm soliciting reviews mind you. This one was very different for me, but I felt writing it from Martin's perspective was the best way to not only convey the trial, but some of the angst all trial lawyers feel whenever they step in the well of the court. Even good cases can't be taken for granted. Thanks again for the comments and check the Comings and Goings topic in my forum for what's going on with me. Andy

You're welcome, but thank you for letting me know you liked it. What happens beyond the trial is all in my head, but I've not fleshed it out totally. The idea that they are or are not together has already been decided, so I'll give much away at this point. This time I'll want it done before I start posting, I don't like the uneasy feeling when I have some thing left unfinished but half posted. Then I feel pressure and I don't do my best work like that. So it will be a bit before I get that out. To be honest, I had a notion to go back and clean this up some, it was the first story I ever wrote and there are rough patches I'd like to fix before I call it completed, but that too is for another day. Thanks again. Andy

Thanks for the nice comments - I've not read your journal yet, but I will once I respond. A couple thoughts come to mind, I know when I was writing this, I felt like I was there too. It's a strange sensation to get wrapped up in something that you know isn't real, but feel like it is. The other thought is that Second Shot wouldn't be possible in the print/ePub world because of it's length, but the length is what - in my mind - gave the story a 'real' feeling. In the online format there is the ability to add chapters that may or may not move the central conflict forward, but they give depth to the characters and make the reader feel a bit more a part of the character's lives. In a way that was how I started writing this, as a story about their lives with a bit of conflict and tension tossed in. Anyway, enough rambling. Thanks again for reading and the kind words. Andy

Welcome Lurker no more. Hope you're still enjoying yourself now that you're 'official.' Andy