And True to Form

Three generations, one recliner.
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True to form, the youngest has his mouth open, for anyone who will listen.

Sign of the Coming Enlightenment?

The state of Massachusetts has seen the light.

Music in my head: Whiskey River, Willie Nelson.

Note: If you are a "country music radio station" and Willie Nelson is not a regularly scheduled artist in your playlist, you are not a true country music radio station. You are a pop music radio station featuring artists in weird hats and funny shoes.

Smile

Goodness, it's been awhile since I posted. Being a Daddy is a full-time job!

Slowly we are getting him in a routine that has him sleeping through the night, and more awake through the day.

Over the weekend we had our first family outing, a trip to downtown Burlington so Karen could get some nursing clothes. Last week Ethan started what a lactation specialist described as a growth spurt. He wants to feed about every hour, usually for shorter periods of time than before. But there are the occasional downings of the groceries, so to speak, followed by a nice long nap.

In the first week or so after being born, an infant will lose weight, but will regain it in a few weeks. At his last weighing, Ethan was at eight pounds, just one ounce shy of his birth weight.

My parents come tomorrow, if the weather doesn't scare the planes away. Ethan is their first grandchild, so they are pretty excited about coming for a visit.

Sorry about the short post - I've been using spare time getting the house in order. I've got longer stories to tell and hope to get them written sometime soon.

What It's Like

For those of you who have never been blessed with having a baby, I submit the following explanation, which I hope will clarify things. Those of you who have had children can verify.

Imagine spending thousands of dollars on things for the home and medical bills in order to get an alarm clock with a grating scream that goes off at random times. To turn it off, you have to know the secret code, which also changes randomly.

You'd have to be pretty dumb to want such a thing, but you do and you love every minute of it.

(Thanks so much to everyone for the e-mails and comments. I'm saving them up so that when Karen and I are both awake and the baby is asleep [see second paragraph above] I can share them with her. Y'all are very kind.)

Music in my head: My Baby Thinks He's A Train, Asleep at the Wheel. By the way, Ethan seems to like songs about trains, or maybe Pappa just like singing them to him, or both. Ironically perhaps, our favorite is City of New Orleans.

When He Sleeps...

So Peaceful When Sleeping
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...we do too.

Good night. May all beings be free of suffering.

Picture as Promised

Karen and Ethan
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Looking at the pictures we took of just Ethan, his eyes are coated with that anti-biotic they put in newborns' eyes. So I picked this picture, which shows the TWO most beautiful people in the world.

Fathers Hide Your Daughters

Ethan Micheal Shearer came into the world at 3:46 AM this morning. His mom is doing well, even though she went through almost the entire labor process only thinking she had meds for the pain.

Story and pictures to follow, after Pappa gets some sleep. It was a long night, and I've already tried to use the camera as a can opener three times since I got home.

But I warn you, he's a cutie!

(Does anyone know where the can opener is? I can't seem to get this tube of toothpaste open. It's some new-fangled paste Karen must have bought made by someone named Ben Gay.)

And for those of you who are curious, Ethan was the name of the most famous of the Allen brothers, heros of Vermont, and Micheal is this guy.)