Special Deliveries

Not only did Franklin receive this adorable Baby Bunch yesterday, but the package was even addressed to him. Too cute!

The most touching part, for me, was my sister including one of my very favorite quotations on the card:

From the eminently quotable God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.

Thanks Grandma Christine, Aunt Merrica, and Aunt Dorothy!

Speaking of deliveries, I know some of you are curious about the Group Health Family Beginnings Birth Center. Here are a couple of shots of our awesome suite:




My only real regret concerning EJ's birthday is that I had to miss the event I'd organized for my colleague William H. Smith in celebration of the publication of his book. I heard it went very well, and he put up a nice blog post about the event.

All right, reader, it's time for me to make breakfast for our recovering Mommy. In the meantime, here are some recent shots of our beautiful baby boy:


Jen was one of his first visitors:

Thanks also to Laura and Kascha for visiting and bringing more supplies!

Franklin's Home

So proud of my wife and my son! Both are doing great, and we all walked home from the birth center together today. Amazing!

Showing Franklin around his new home:

Franklin Alexander Dominick

What an amazing couple of days!

The labor went long, and EJ's umbilical cord seemed to be wrapped in an uncomfortable way; eventually Emily ended up needing a C-Section. I'm not going to say that the whole experience was easy or pleasant, but the end result is just awesome.

And I am thrilled to report that everyone is happy and healthy and looking great!


A few more photos of our precious little man:






UPDATE: born at 2:58pm. 6 pounds 6.3 ounces. 19 inches.

And We'll Be Jolly FriendsForever More

The Sisters of Providence, Providence Archives, and the staff of the St. Joseph Residence had a very nice shower for us the other day.

Good looking cake:

(Thanks, Peter, for the photos!)

Quite a turnout—great to see that Emily works with such great people.


They even sang a song!


I had the chance to meet Sister Rita, the original archivist for the Sisters:


Speaking of archivists, Loretta staked a claim with this great bib that she made:


Getting close now!

38 weeks and looking great!

Bubbling with Excitement

Three hours of work and a trail of recycling in our wake, and we've nearly got the room ready for our little guy. Hope you like his new dresser, reader (hope he likes it too!).

Also swung by Tricoter for some yarns and some ideas. If things go according to plan, this will soon be a hat:



And, on a more or less completely unrelated note, I heard about this on CHS the other day, and I think you need to see it.

A guy riding around our neighborhood on a bike delivering antique seltzer bottles full of sparkling water may sound a bit like a Portlandia sketch, but I sure hope we can sign up soon!

A Warmer Shower

After nearly a week of wild and sometimes (if you'll forgive my language) icky weather, it was nice to be treated to a great baby shower by some of the great people we've met here in Seattle.

Our friends Wendy and Roman are awesome. Here's a photo:

Wendy organized and hosted the party, and Roman, who is from the Czech Republic, made some awesome finger food sandwiches, called Chlebíčky, I believe. Whatever they're called, they were mighty tasty!

Hard to have fun and take a lot of pictures, but here's a nice crowd shot:

Emily, Kim, Bria, and Mark
(Not pictured: Michael, Jen, Pete, Laura, John, Kascha, Alder, Will, Jamelia, and Jamie...)

I also didn't take very good notes during the baby trivia (the guests brought questions; Emily and I tried to answer... hope 50% is a passing grade!), but I do remember that fetuses have fingerprints by the end of the first trimester.

And the oldest woman to get pregnant was like 66 (!).

And Jermaine Jackson named his son Jermajesty :)

I did get a couple of shots after the fact, like this one of Wendy's cute centerpiece:

Notice the flowers in the giant baby bottle—I love it!

Neighborhood Gladness

Wonderful weekend up on Capitol Hill. Nothing like snow for making things peaceful and calm.

Started our weekend with a tour of the Group Health Cooperative Family Beginnings Birthing Center. (UPDATE: a few more photos here.)

Nice to know what to expect. Also nice to see that the rooms balance comfort (pullout bed for me; fridge; DVD player) with modern medicine. Cool to know that our son will be born in a room like this:


And every room has a tub:

(Sorry about the red; definitely makes it dramatic, though, no?)

I'm also happy that Group Health emphasizes "family-centered" care. I like their focus on supporting our birth plan, and I really like that their policy is to do everything possible to make sure that our baby will spend his first hours cuddling and bonding with Emily and me. Can't wait to cuddle with the little guy!

Finally, I love the location! Here's a view from the postpartum floor:

Can you see our living room window? Click the image to see a version with our window labeled...

Sunday brought some beautiful weather. This fisheye photo shows how nice our block looks on a snowy afternoon.

Oh, and it also shows the GHC Birth Center (red brick building in the center of the frame), so that's cool :)

Great day for wandering around the neighborhood. And a great chance for photos, like the one up top.

Some streets were closed and taken over by sledders; many snowmen (and other snow creatures) were made. You can read all about it over on CHS.


Finally, Happy MLK Day! Great opportunity to reflect on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life and work. Looks like our local radio station is doing a show on his involvement in the struggle for the rights of the poor.

Hope you're staying warm, reader!

Advent Is Upon Us

I just love this time of year!

Sure, there are people out there who really get the wrong idea about what this holiday means...

And sure, I'm firmly on Jon Stewart's side...

But trees, lights, songs? What's not to love?

Speaking of songs, here's a favorite:


And speaking of advent, how about one more beautiful photo?

Moving Pictures

Saw a great movie last week. I'd definitely recommend it:

WE WERE HERE (trailer) from David Weissman on Vimeo.

Stephen Holden of the New York Times really liked it too.

And I really can't get enough of this picture of Emily:


Anyway, I'd better run. Hopefully I'll have time for more blog posts once EJ actually gets here ;)

25 Weeks!

Looking good!

Heard his heartbeat at the doctor's again yesterday—good strong 140 beats per minute. Amazing stuff.

Hey, it's October!

What a month!

Did a nice fall hike to Tolmie Peak at Mt. Rainier recently.

See the lookout tower? Maybe it's easier in the large version?

Supposed to have great views of the top of Rainier, but as you can see it was a little cloudy that day...

Still some nice views, though:

That's Eunice Lake behind me. Beautiful wildflowers, even in October!

But could you imagine spending a summer there?

Yow.

Back in the warmth of our new home, we made a delicious and colorful chili this past weekend.

Just love this time of year!

We also render some pig fat and made our own lard, but maybe that's a post for another day...

In the meantime (and I know you've probably seen this before), how about one of our recent pictures of the amazing and photogenic EJ!

Wonderful News!

Woo!

Or, to put it another way: did you notice that I changed the quote on the top of the blog?

Here it is:
Plato, Symposium (206c5-8):
ἡ γὰρ ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς συνουσία τόκος ἐστίν.
ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο θεῖον τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ τοῦτο ἐν θνητῷ
ὄντι τῷ ζῴῳ ἀθάνατον ἔνεστιν, ἡ κύησις καὶ ἡ γέννησις

when a man and a woman come together in order to give birth,
this is a godly affair. Pregnancy, reproduction—this is
an immortal thing for a mortal animal to do*

Seriously amazing stuff.

Really growing too—here she or he is on July 12th:


And here's 11 August:

Love that leg! And in the one on top of this post (also from August 11th)—that little hand!

Can't wait to see her or him on (or around) February 19th!

All right, reader. Guess that about covers it.

In the meantime, we're off to monitor some marmots!
See you soon.

*Translated by Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff (Hackett, 1989).