He Must Have Picked It Up From His Grandmother

Our boy thinks duck is pretty tasty. 

Yuppie scum

I guess you just have to embrace it. 

Sunday morning, back from the farmer's market with a mocha and a kid in the Bjorn. It's a good, if easily mockable, life. 

Gabriel and Mom on the Beach

An indescribably wonderful shot, although Gabriel doesn't seem to be in the spirit of things.

Max Bends the Rules (Again)

If his table tennis behavior is unconventional, his billiards technique is downright revolutionary. While at the beach, Max had ample time to test his theories about the just distribution of balls between the eight holes on the pool table. Oddly, the correct answer always seemed to be that they all belonged in the same hole. His unorthodox position on top of the pool table proved very effective in "winning" every match. 

Max Bends the Rules

Turns out ping pong would be more fun if we all just used a bigger racket. Max taught me a few lessons about the finer points of table tennis at the beach. He's a wonderful kid, albeit with little regard for the rules governing equipment modifications.

Gabriel Gets His Feet Wet

In the first of what will hopefully be many encounters with the Atlantic Ocean, Gabriel and the surf get along just fine. He wasn't especially interested in going for a swim, but didn't cry bloody murder either. 

A rare visit to the Outer Banks in high season (second week of August), and the water's wonderfully warm- 73-74 degrees. 

All Smiles... well, almost

At about 7 weeks, Gabriel learned how to turn on the charm - smiling at people as well as inanimate objects (he loves the ceiling fan and his bear mobile).  Here he is with his dad in Deep Creek MD.  

And there he goes again... this time with his Grandma Gardner.

A visit from Auntie Erin and Cousin Megan

Gabriel got to meet his future partner in crime in late June, and already has another visit scheduled for late July.  Better hide the car keys...

A head start

Because we expect Gabriel to embrace our general world view (brief and non-violent rebellions permitted), we are exposing him at a young age to the liberal media.  Dowd and Krugman are early favorites, but wait til we introduce The New Yorker!

Swingin' kid

Thanks to Erin and Greg, Gabriel has this cool baby papasan swing.  He usually enjoys it for at least 15 minutes, which is long enough for mom and dad to accomplish a "hands free" task.  Sometimes he even falls asleep!  The seat rocks in 2 directions, plays music (of sorts), and has a mobile with freakishly happy looking birds and butterflies.  When it gets on our nerves, we turn off the sound and listen to Sesame Street Platinum (a "greatest hits" compilation) instead.  I'm a big fan of "Fuzzy and Blue" despite the fact that it's a 90s hit.  For old school, there's always "I love trash."

Sacramento Grandma

In the first 6 weeks of his life, Gabriel got to spend some quality time with his west coast Grandma Rein. When not being entertained by finger puppets or odd musical medleys, Gabriel enjoyed some quality time in her lap just gazing around and looking cute...and often falling fast asleep. He's looking forward to sharing his lovely smile with her when she returns to DC later this fall.

Sing along

He may not know all the words (for that matter, either does Grandma Jan), but Gabriel seems to really enjoy the serenade.  

One Month Check Up

On June 19th we took Gabriel for his one-month check up with the pediatrician.  In addition to receiving a clean bill of health, Gabriel was much admired for his early efforts to hold his head upright.  Matthew and I were informed that we likely would need to child-proof the house earlier than anticipated, as Gabriel is already able to prop himself up while on his belly (see below).

We also learned that - since birth - he has gained over 3 pounds and grown nearly 3 inches!  That puts him in the 95th percentile for height and weight.  Who knows how much more he's grown since last week...

Gabriel was doing this solo (honest!), but I wasn't quick enough with the photo so got the shot right as he was being transitioned to a seated position by Dr. Bradley.

The Calm Before the Storm

When Gabriel is sleeping (which is most of the time), he's a very peaceful guy. Both mom and dad are usually lucky enough to get at least one nap a day in which the Goose falls asleep, tummy down, on our chest. It's about the best feeling one can ever imagine having. 

Professional Help

Amy and Antti Makinen, friends from our grad school days in Rochester, are just about the more experienced folks we know in kid-related matters; their eldest, Lucas, is now about 10 years old, and their twins are (I think) 6 years old. All three of them are wonderful and beautiful kids, and their parents have always seemed remarkably well-adjusted to us. So I think we'll be relying heavily on Amy and Antti for tips on how to do things right. 

At left are some of the contents of a care package that appeared in the mail from them last week: a pound of french roast and 500 ibuprofen. 

Best. Care package. Ever. 

A Visit from Uncle Joe

Here is Joe Braverman, paralyzed with fear. 

Joe is an old friend from Alison's consulting days at Covance. We're counting on Uncle Joe to be Gabriel's tutor on all things volleyball and NASCAR when he's ready.

We are not (yet) counting on him as a babysitter, since he froze in the exact position at left for half an hour after being given Gabriel during his visit.

On Grandpop's Lap

Gabriel likes to be held, but has a special affinity for lap time with his "grandpop" Rein; perhaps it's the Tin Tin T-shirt...

Uncle Ken

Uncle Ken stopped by to visit the other day, and was nice enough to feed (and burp) Gabriel. Goose was happy as a clam. We are stoked that Ken will be moving into our neighborhood later this summer-- more friends for Gabriel and more beer for dad. 

Wendy and Gabriel

One of the greatest privileges of parenthood is dozing off with a child on your lap. But it's also a nice thing when family and friends take over this "task" for a bit. As in so many other ways, Wendy was invaluable on this score during her week here.

Nurture or Nurture?

One thing we've both struggled with over the past couple of weeks is fitting in meals. When your child is making like a sack of potatoes on your lap, the last thing you want to do is to disturb his peaceful rest so you can have a snack. But it's pretty vital of course, especially for Alison. So you figure out ways. For me tonight, this meant my entire dinner was consumed flat on my back. With a kid on my chest. Using one delicately perched plate and a fork.

Alison's task was more hazardous: don't spill ice cream on Gabriel. As shown here, she succeeded.

Someday Gabriel will forgive us.

A "curious" Wilbur

Both dogs are somewhat put out by the shift in our attentions, but seem reconciled to their fate.  Wilbur especially may require a bit more time to fully adjust.  In the interim, we anticipate many more sniffs of the newest member of our pack.  Thankfully - as seen here - Gabriel has many grandparents and other admirers who have got his back.

A Portable Kid

Gabriel has a pretty chill disposition (lucky for his parents), but is never more content than when taking a ride in the car or stroller.  Good thing too, as we have plans for ice cream walks almost every night...

Uncle Fred

Cuddling Alison's laptop. I was too late to capture a picture of a very happy Gabriel napping in Freddy's lap, so this was the best we could do to commemorate the occasion. 

Benefits of Maternity Leave

Benefit #1 of maternity/paternity leave: it's always nap time. After two and a half weeks, Alison and I both find that we're reasonably caught up with sleep, and are both delighting in our ability to just nod off on the couch with a kid in our lap on a warm June afternoon.

Gabriel Visits Grandma

And turns on the charm...
After two weeks of life on the planet, this is about as close to smiling as he gets. His two apparent emotions are impassivity and agony. Pictured at left is impassivity.
But even his stonefaced impassive look is very, very cute.

Happy Two Weeks, Gabriel!

To celebrate Sprout's two-week birthday, I took him out to visit Grandma Gardner tonight while Alison was tutoring at Project Northstar (for those keeping track, her pregnancy hiatus from tutoring was a grand total of two weeks!). He wore his crab suit.

A Sad Day

After taking care of us for a full week, sister Wendy flew back to San Francisco this morning. As shown at left, she cooked for us pretty much the entire time she was here, and gave Alison and I time off from baby duty. If we ate and slept well in our first week back from the hospital, we have her to thank-- and her cheerful disposition helped keep us on an even keel. I forecast sandwiches and leftovers for dinner tonight.

It's a sad day. But our loss is Rawdance's gain. Thank you Wendy!!!

Feet

He's got 'em. They're incredibly smooth on the bottom. Like his dad's, they seem fairly wide-- what Grandma Gardner has always referred to as duck feet.

Burping Basics

Burping a baby isn't rocket science, but it isn't obvious just how hard you're supposed to pat him on the back. I started soft and was chastised for my feather touch. Later on, as I pounded vigorously, a concerned grandmother (who shall remain nameless) worried aloud that I would knock the kid out. Here, a one-week-old Gabriel endures my experimental love taps.

Alison is Magnificent

Gabriel's first doctor's appointment was today-- 8 days after his birth, and 4 days after coming home from the hospital. There was a bit of delay because he came home the Friday before Memorial Day, and pediatricians (like everyone else) take Memorial Day off.

This shot of a lovely Alison was taken while waiting for our doc to see us.

Gabriel Hitches a Ride With Grandma Evelyn

Only a week old, Gabriel is already trying to hold his head up. Here Grandma Evelyn gives him a bird's-eye view of things.

Nap Time

A sleepy Monday afternoon, after a long weekend of fielding visitors. Amazingly, we all feel like we've caught up on our nap time a bit, not least because we can take short siestas all day long. It is truly wonderful to be away from the 9-to-5 work cycle and reconfiguring our lives around Gabriel's 3-hour feed cycle. Life feels much fuller.

The Rein Ladies

Barry and Evelyn took the train down from NYC to see the week-2 version of Gabriel. On Monday the Rein clan took Gabriel on his first (short) walk over to 14th Street and back. Gabriel's down there somewhere, I think.

Auntie Melanie

Auntie Melanie, our neighbor (for the moment) stopped by today to say hi to the new arrival. Since Melanie is being barraged with job offers in other places, we may not get to see her much longer. But we were all thrilled to see her today-- hopefully not the last time! 

Gabriel's First Booze

Uncle Jim and Aunt Mari drove down from Baltimore to visit Sprout today. Jim brought a fine bottle of port to get Gabriel's wine cellar started. We convinced him eventually that Sprout probably wasn't ready to down a glass just yet. His parents were under no such constraints, which may explains the blurriness of the photos.

Our Hospital Room

Snug and cozy. We spent four nights here-- Monday thru Thursday. Two of these nights were spent without Sprout, who was being watched over in a separate room to monitor his temperature. 

Alison didn't like her bed so much. Sprout seemed OK with his. Dad slept like a log on a fully reclining chair.

Elliot and Laura

On Day 1 back from the hospital, special visitors from Florida: Elliot and Laura, in the area for their annual Memorial Day Baltimore crab fiesta, stopped by Friday afternoon. Perfect timing, and we hadn't seen them in since summer '07 in at the Jersey shore. Gabriel was pleased and promptly fell asleep.

In Grandma's Arms

Sprout is still wearing his heat-preserving cap in this picture with Grandma Gardner. It's functional and stylish.

Does He Look Like His Dad?

You be the judge...

(Thanks, a bunch, to Kurt for the shot of Dad.)

Ennui Sets In

Less than 24 hours after being born, our son grows weary of it all. Grandma Gardner (our first visitor in the hospital room!) is holding him in this picture. 

Sprout, Day 2

Oh, the anguish. He's got some very imaginative ways of looking unhappy. And is a very handsome kid. Sprout is less than 12 hours old in this picture: Grandma Gardner came by first thing Tuesday morning to visit.

A Proud And Beautiful Mom

This is Alison, less than two hours after giving birth. She was beautiful to watch during the entire process, and looks fantastic here, just having settled into our recovery room (private, which is a good thing because it's tiny).

Sprout is wearing a hat because, they say, newborns when left unprotected will initially lose a fair amount of body heat, almost all of it through their head. He's wearing this particular hat because we believe it makes him resemble rapper Eminem.

Sprout Comes Out

Well, that was easy.

After checking into the room at about 4 PM, five hours of in-hospital labor (almost all of which time Alison was going the natural childbirth route, medication-free), we've got a 9 pound 1 oz, 21.5 inch baby boy, born at 9:33 PM on May 19. Name yet to be determined, attitude grumpy.

My blue hospital garb was completely unearned. All I had to do was stand around and look pretty. Very comfy stuff though-- breathes well. Mental note: must smuggle home.

Doctors and nurses were amazing. Very supportive the whole time. The nurse in charge of talking Alison through the labor brought a yoga mindset to the process- her descriptions of what Alison was supposed to be doing physically included both her external parts and her internal parts. What to do with your breath, etc., and the usual advice about how to move body parts I think may not really exist (IE, the "sacrum"). She was great, and made the process easier for all three of us. Her name: Tiffany. Thank you, Tiffany!

As Alison was led off to another room for a last-minute epidural, another nurse very professionally kept me from following her. She bribed me with apple juice and crackers, which I was too nervous to even look at. [Note to readers: I can be taken advantage of in this way at any time-- give me juice and crackers and I'll do anything.] Ten long minutes later, I was in the operating room with Alison waiting for the epidural to take effect. And ten minutes after that, a successful C-section was in process. Ten minutes after that, our big baby boy was in my arms-- as you see.

Sprout's Birthing Room

So this is Sibley Hospital, in the birthing room we've been assigned. Nice digs-- we'll only be in here for the labor, and will be shipped to a smaller room to recover. But for now, this is all very plush.

Jan is here to provide moral support, for which we are thankful.

Last Look, Part 2

Prenatal Gabriel, unclothed. Alison still looks fantasic.

Last Prenatal Look At "Sprout" Gardner

Monday morning, May 19: About to leave for the hospital-- Alison started contractions this morning. Sprout's prenatal career is almost over-- here's a last shot of Alison as pregnant as she can be. As always, Alison looks fantastic.