We’re sending out an email with some more photos, and obviously we’ll be sure to get more photos up here as soon as possible, but I didn’t want to let another day slip by without at least posting a quick announcement regarding our new addition. Holden Benjamin was born on February 22nd at 5:29am. The delay is primarily due to a dicey post-operative recovery for Jess, who lost a lot of blood during the c-section she had after 15 or so hours of labor (no easy deliveries for this family). Everyone is doing fine now, but it has been a bit hectic. In any case, here’s a shot of the little guy:
Two days ago, Colin was up late - trying to get us to come up to his room, but we didn’t. So when I checked on him a little bit later I couldn’t see him anywhere in his room until I looked at his toy box at the end of his bed. He managed to get himself in there with a pillow - looks comfy huh? Chuck moved him to his bed and the next day I asked him why he slept in the box and he said “It was dark”
I haven’t been very good about blogging, but I have an excuse at least - being 39 weeks pregnant - the baby is welcome anytime, as lugging this stomach around has become a bit of a chore 
Anyway - here are a few tidbits I had written down to blog about:
- Last night as Colin fell asleep he started talking about this funny part of Sesame Street he had seen that day and got himself into a laughing fit - all by himself upstairs. It was hilarious - for about 10 minutes he couldn’t stop laughing - very funny to hear because it was really the first time he has laughed at a memory.
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After his nap a few days ago he told me he wanted a snack. While he is telling me what he wants he is using his hands to emphasize the items, with one hand out and the other hitting the hand with each item, if you can picture it - he says “I want apple juice, popcorn, pretzels, a muffin and some other things from the frig.”
- While trying to find a parking spot the other day cars kept driving right down the middle and kept having to stop. I would say “share the road” or something like that and after it happened a couple times Colin says “Mommy, calm down.” I had to laugh and agree that I should calm down.
- At Sesame Street Live a person brought out a huge group of Elmo balloons for people to buy and one floated away. Colin said “Look one came off that Elmo tree” - funny how kids see things, because it really did look like a tree of balloons.
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One other thing - Colin has been doing this for awhile, but we just wanted to remember it. When he takes a bath, and pulls the plug he always says “the water is going home - to eat dinner”
Alright, that is all for now. Just had to get some things down. I just hope that the next blog has something to do with me in labor and a baby
We’ve really been bad about writing this month, must be the run up to the new baby (at least that’s the excuse I’m using for today). Crunch time is approaching though, so much so that Jess is actually thinking of packing some stuff for the hospital.
In any case, as Colin’s world is about to be shaken upside down, we wanted to do something nice for him before the new baby arrives, so we took him down to Detroit’s Fox Theatre to see Sesame Street Live, Super Grover Ready For Action (no, really, that’s the name of it). As with most of these events, he goes through three distinct phases:
- Initial excitement when we get there - this was amplified for this show, because the lobby was full of stands selling toys, cotton candy, popcorn (his eventual choice) and the like.
Pre-show meltdown - invariably he says he wants to leave or simply starts bawling right before things are set to begin; in this case, Big Bird’s voice came up on the PA saying they were going to start in 3 minutes, Jess asked Colin if he was excited, and in true terrible-2 fashion he blew up and started crying and said he wanted to leave.- Settle in and enjoy - he sits with me or Jess quietly for a couple of minutes, and as soon as the show starts he’s entranced. This show was no exception.
There were a number of highlights, I know Jess documented some stuff she wanted to post about, so I’ll let her do that - but one of the funnier ones was when Grover was doing a solo (kind of a sad song), Colin didn’t want anything to do with it. Love Grover he may, but he wanted the full cast back out there doing their thing…the solo couldn’t end quickly enough.
Here’s a couple of recent pictures - he likes fruit smoothies, and if you didn’t know, it’s BITTERLY cold in Michigan (hence the scarf and hat). Go figure.
And since we haven’t had one of these in some time, here’s 8 months pregnant Jess:
The time draws nigh…due date is a mere 21 days away and counting. I’ve put my money down on February 26th, all bets are welcome, I’m sure Jess would love it if we had a little pool going.
I would say that it’s finally starting to really sink in for me that there will be a second child in the house soon. One of the things we’ve remarked on many times is how much more relaxed we are going into this one, which isn’t exactly surprising, but it has made for a much different experience. Jess says she’s had the chance to be excited about ‘meeting’ this baby, whereas with Colin we were overwhelmed by anticipation of becoming parents. Subtle differences to be sure, but it still makes for a new twist on the whole thing.
It is nice to feel like you’re semi-prepared for it, although every time I try to tell that to anyone I get the old “there’s no comparison between having one and having two” thrown back at me — we’ll see (Jess is probably wanting to kick me right now for jinxing us).
Anyway, trip to Austin went well, just a work trip so not too much time to soak it in. I don’t think I’m cut from the Texas mold (that’s an understatement), but if I was going to live there I’m sure I’d opt for Austin.