Big weekend ...

(this part was written Saturday night)

Henry, who is fussing in his crib (not crying, just fussing) has had quite a weekend. Some more friends have come to see him from out of town, which shouldn't be surprising by this point. Everyone digs on the Henry, and they come from miles around to see the babe.

In addition to this, though, Henry has attended his first wedding (congratulations Molly and Ben!) and his first party (thanks to the host, MattE). He was a perfect gentleman at both auspicious occasions, and wowed the crowd.

(then Henry woke up, and Daddy didn't get to finish the blog until Sunday night)

At the wedding, the bride specifically asked to see Henry. Pretty important little dude! The bridesmaids ooh'ed and aah'ed over the little guy until it was finally time for us to take our seats. The wedding ceremony was beautiful, and the music was incredible, but I just stared at Henry the whole time. Big Daddy Dershaw sat with us ... hey Brian, could you email us the picture you snapped of us in the pew? I'll add it to this post. After the wedding, I went solo to the reception, abandoning my family. I didn't stay very long.

Anyway, the important part was that HENRY WAS AWESOME THE WHOLE WEDDING. Perfect angel.

He was just as perfect at the party the next evening. Henry crashed MattE's party and totally stole the show again. We were hooked up in the Baby Bjorn (I'll include pictures of that soon) and he was chill the entire time. Momma got some mediterranean appetizers, and Dad got a brat and a burger. Mmmmm good.

More on the exploits of Henry tomorrow. And I'll have another picture, all you grandmas and grandpas out there.

Henry's first trip to the doctor

Another first is now behind us. Henry has been given a clean bill of health by our selected healthcare provider. Actually, our pediatrician is out on injured reserve, so they had to call up a replacement from the minors. Just kidding, doc. Dr. Forsythe was filling in for Dr. Williams (no relation to Hot Rod, Hot Plate, or Hot Sauce Williams) for this visit.

I was very excited for this visit until I started to think about shots. What parent wants to see their child being poked and prodded with a bunch of needles? Would he cry? Would he wail? Would he take a swing at the doctor? Would I wail?

It turns out I won't find out for a while, because there were no vaccinations today. The doc checked some things, asked us if we had any questions, and sent us on our way. All in all, it was a pretty uneventful trip, which is what I was hoping for in the first place! Stay tuned for accounts of his 2 month checkup, where there will be vaccinations. Oh, the humanity!

Oh My God He ... oh, I guess he's fine!

Thankfully, parent freak out number one is now behind us. About 30 seconds after this picture was snapped, Henry let out three gigantic burbs that sounded more like him hacking up a hairball. At least I thought they were burps. Sarah, who had a birds-eye view of the whole thing, saw Henry's panicked face and the fact that he stopped breathing for a couple moments.
I didn't see Henry's panicked face, but I sure saw Sarah's.

Right after these "burps", Henry shut his eyes and wouldn't open them for what seemed like an eternity. We moved his arms, his legs, talked to him ... nothing. I snapped him up really quick (editor's note: Daddy Michael made sure to support Henry's head) and his eyes fluttered open. He wasn't dead! He wasn't dead!

It's amazing how two rational, intelligent (dashing, charismatic, etc., etc.) human beings can go to pieces in the blink of an eye, at the smallest chance that something is wrong. In our defense, Sarah's and my "panic mode" is to focus and solve the problem, then go to pieces afterward. That being said, I shudder to think what we'll go through when he spills on his bike, or falls on the steps, or starts swimming ... maybe we'll be a little calmer by then.

Whew! All is safe and sound with momma, baby, and daddy.

Say bye-bye, Henry!

The throngs of family and friends have come and gone, and we're down to a small trickle of close friends who have yet to see Henry. Sorry today's blog took so long, but our accountant just got back the numbers for us. 30 people have been shuttled in and out of our house, so Henry has had a lot of practice at his goodbye wave. He still hasn't mastered it.

Monday was the first day without all the baby fanfare, so Sarah and I are settling in to the feedings, changings, and resultant crying. Sleep is going pretty ok, which is to say that we are sleeping. It has been nice to get into our rhythm with just the three of us. It's not always smooth, but we're getting solid as a family.

That being said, we have had an enormous outpouring of family support for Henry's (and our) first week, which Sarah and I are very thankful for. Our parents have been great, our friends incredibly supportive, and even our neighbors, which we really didn't know two weeks ago, have started to come out of their shells because of this little boy. At the top of the support list is my brother Bryan and his wife Sarah. I won't embarrass them with a bunch of public praise, but they know what they did, and we really appreciate all of it.

There are a ton of others to thank, and we'll get around to it ... after our nap.

Henry' s momma

Ah ... she sleeps!

Give me but a moment to take a step back and talk not about my precious son, but about my incredible wife Sarah. She has been so strong through all of this. I absolutely adore her. We have had a ton of family come through, and she's still healing, and this schedule is horrendous for two folks that weren't accustomed to it ... and she has been simply radiant through all of it. Ok, not all of it, but all of it that you bystanders get to see. And her sense of humor is coming back. At least she says it is ...

This picture was taken on our second night with Henry. Sarah was still in quite a bit of pain, and this nap was exactly what the doctors ordered.

Now that the pain has worn off a bit, Sarah is rarin' to go. I have had to play stairs cop so that she doesn't truck up and down them all day (bad for her stitches). I'll be sitting with Henry, and I'll hear the washer or dryer start up ... which is downstairs. I'll call down to her, and get a very defiant "I feel fine ... they said I should cool it for a week." She is now planning our evening walks, which will happen every evening, thank you very much. Yoga and cardio machines are a couple weeks away ... and oh by the way, she is only 8 pounds over her pre-pregnancy weight. She's a machine, I tell you.