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?

To Ohio and Back...

We had a lovely trip to Ohio this past weekend.  In addition to a lovely baby shower filled with friends, family, and sewing machines, we had lots of unscheduled time to just hang out with our folks.

There were lots of laughs.  This was one of them.  Eva fussed and pushed and tossed the pillows and blankets on this chair for a good two minutes, only to settle for this uncomfortable  looking position.  I'm convinced she just tried to make it look comfortable to save face.

The moms and aunts did an fantastic job putting together an meaningful and entertaining celebration for Chopper and us.  We had five or six sewing machines set up and a bunch of fabric and patterns and instructions set out.  It looked a little like a sweat shop, but everyone seemed to have good time.  (I think Walmart makes that same argument) It was exactly what we hoped; people chatted and helped one another and made fun little things that we will use and remember them by in the near future.  We'll tell Chopper about what great family he has!

One of our most animated helpers!

Andy made a really cool neckerchief with plaid on one side and cowboys on the other; he is quite the seamster (I assume that's the masculine version of that word).  Gail made a cute one with whales on it.

In the end, we received 8 handmade bib/kerchiefs, 6 burp cloths, and 1 pair of diaper covers.  A friend of Veneta made us the little hat you see in the picture!  My favorite part of the whole day was watching people help one another and work together.  Seeing first time sewers create something functional from raw fabric was very gratifying, while some of the experienced sewers created works of art with their accuracy and precision.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone involved!

Special thanks for set up, sewing machines, expertise, fabrics, etc., etc., go to Mom B and Mom H, Becky, Maribeth, and Denise!  Thank you all so much!  We had a great time!  Thanks to Alyssa and Jared for dish washing, on-site support, and transportation.

As reported in previous posts, I have been manic about mountain biking lately.  Fortunately, by design, Ian's bike is in Medina, so I had something to ride.  And in the last 15 years, a place TO ride has been developed in Huffman and Reagan Parks.  The bypasses and bridges were really fun.

In addition to the jumps and bridges and switchbacks, it was quite a wilderness ride.  A herd of deer showed up repeatedly on my ride, several red squirrels crossed the trail, a pair of banded king fishers chattered from a branch, and a pileated woodpecker raced me through the trees.  Not bad for an urban park.

We had such warm, beautiful spring weather up until the last day... then the front rolled in.  Mom and Dad H, Mom B, Zhora, and Sarah and I met at On Tap for dinner.  The food and beer were good.  The company and conversation were great.  The wind was a little much.  That night, we snuggled in and listened to the wind blow and the lightening and thunder crash.

By the time we got home on Tuesday, we needed a fire in the stove.  Ridiculous.

This morning, I got up and headed to the arboretum.  I am mentoring Jasper as he completes his independent study for his senior English class.  His project is to climb trees.  You can check out his blog here if you want.  We met with the head arborist at Cornell University for a lesson on single and double rope climbing, knots, and limb walking.

It was a pretty cool morning.