Home

Normally, the stay in the hospital is 48 hours, or two nights, after the baby is born.  We felt (and by we, I mean mostly Sarah) like we'd already put in our time.  After a parade of professionals poked and prodded and listened and lectured and etc., we were cleared to leave a day early.  Despite all my fears and paranoia, Emmett is complete and happy, and doesn't have the worst personality, so far.  He knows all the fundamentals of babydom, including feeding, sleeping, crying, and pooping.

Before we could go, the Dude got a little bath... It was not his favorite thing ever.  He looked at Sarah like, what the heck was that all about.  Love this shot.

He forgave us pretty quickly.  He's also really into being swaddled, which is cool.  He slept on the couch with me for awhile on night one, and then swaddled and in a bassinet for the rest of the morning.

Thanks to Grammy and Pop H, Chopper had a dapper little outfit to go home in.  He tried to help out, but isn't that handy with knots yet.  Also, I'm not sure he knows that the hands belong to him.  It's kind of like watching a small, less fascist Doctor Strangelove.



All set!  Let's go home!

A beautiful and thoughtful homecoming prepared by Gangie!

It was a bright and beautiful Fingerlakes summer day.  The neighbors came over to congratulate us and wish us all well.  They've been keeping an eye on our comings and goings for the last few weeks and admit that every time we're gone for more than a couple hours they wonder if this is it.  Well, it finally was.

We got home in time to watch the Germans send the Italians home.  Emmett slept through the game.  That's alright, I'm counting on him being a swimmer.

It was a long night.  Emmett wants to eat, or at least pacify, pretty much all the time, and announces this desire with abandon.  He also did not like the bassinet we had for him.  The upshot is that he slept between us for most of the night.  After a couple feedings, Sarah got up to take a bath and finished out the morning on the couch.  I slept for 5 minutes at a time, constantly waking up to make sure I hadn't rolled over on him and that he hadn't rolled onto his stomach.  It was oddly magical, and I got up more rested and energized than seems possible.  It's sappy, but I'll say it anyway; I spent most of the night looking at him and falling in love.

Good morning Dad.  Now what about Mama and my breakfast?

Meet Emmett Charles Harrington

Born at 4:54 AM on July 1, 2016

 Photo by Veneta

Smitten.  Photo by Sarah

ECH Stats: 9 lbs, 21 inches long, dark blue eyes. Photo by Veneta

Photo by Veneta

To the greatest of mentors.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

37 years and still learning from you every day. 

Still cookin'!

It's been a fun and eventful early summer here at 54 Ridgeway. We've had many guests, lots of project support, and plenty of sunshine.  As you may know, May is turkey season here, in central New York.  As usual, I said I wasn't going to go this year.  Too early.  Don't want ticks.  Not a huge fan of killing anything, even though I love to grill it.  Then, May first came around, I bought my hunting license, and dug out the camo.

Also, as usual, I did not shoot a turkey.  On a particularly annoying morning Tony and I sat under the tree the turkeys were roosted in.  Getting close to the turkeys is good.  Getting that close to the turkeys is bad.  Anyway, we had fun, got to see many sunrises, saw some cool activity and animals that the majority of people never experience, and I didn't have to deal with my guilt.

Our friends Sam and Heather are expecting a child and hosted a baby shower, so we went back to the sewing machine.  I managed to stitch a few scraps together into shapes that resembled burp clothes without too much blood loss.  Sarah made a beautiful blanket.

Dude got a new grill!  On Memorial Day weekend, we took advantage of a sale and picked up a new, old school Weber charcoal grill.  Although it takes a little longer, I am really enjoying the ritual of grilling over charcoal.

And there's nothing like making some charcoal of your own.

We don't eat burgers too often, but we couldn't help christening the grill with the traditional meal.  I made some macaroni salad to go with it and drank a little Mexican style beer.

We set up the slack line for the first time this year.  Zach and Kristin and the girls had a great time on it.  Zach had so much fun that he went out and bought one for himself.

I got a new hat for the summer.  Keep searching for that perfect piece of head gear.  What I'm really looking for is a great lifeguard style straw hat made in the US, but this will have to do for now.

We have a nice tradition of hanging out at Zhora's house every couple of weekends.  Bob does a great job on the grill, and I'm taking notes.  Watching Zhora and her friends run around and scream in the hose reminded me of the great summers of childhood.

Mom and Dad H came out last weekend and worked like champs.  Between them and Veneta we feel like we are in pretty good shape.  It was lovely to get to visit with everyone and we enjoyed pretty low key fun... hiking, chatting, grilling, painting, and walking the dogs.

Everyone relaxed after a long day of working and hiking and chatting.

Grandma Cressman sent a dock box, which was expected and exciting as well as the collapsible picnic table from Fox Haven, which was unexpected and very handy.  We look forward to getting lots of use out of it.  Thanks Grandma!

We got a new camera and I've been playing around with it a bit.  Sarah watered the garden this morning.  We've been lucky with the garden so far this season and have put in some extra work to protect it from chipmunks and moths and the like.

This afternoon, we went over to Erik's and hung out at the river.  It was wonderful!  We watched the kids play and chatted and waded in the river.

This is Zach and Kristin's daughter, Nora.

The moon tonight, and the swamp.  It's been a nice weekend so far.  Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Just some filler

Not too much news. Just been keepin on keepin on, lately. Cleaning, gardening, biking and hunting. 

Sebastian's new ride! Note the home brewers bumper sticker... Priceless. 

My eternal supervisor. 

My rides. 

Our dandelion farm.

The kid is going to sleep in this room?!

Climbing trees somewhat safely. 

Then this fell off. 

Chaperoning the junior prom. 

Drove past this guy riding his bike in long underwear and black socks, then past a park full of "adults" hitting each other with Nerf swords. Gotta love Ithaca. 

In a similar vein, we attended an event the other day in a small space with a loud band and a bunch of extroverts who wanted to talk. As we were walking up, I heard the singer ask, "so, who likes kale?!... Awesome! We're going to sing our kale song!"  Then he turned to his band and said, "Don't be afraid to jam out for a bit here at the beginning. This group will totally dig it!"  Everything after that is a blur.