EBK: Everything but Kid.

All of the baby room furniture arrived yesterday and Grandpa Dom and Bianca had assembled the crib by the time I got home. The crib came in many pieces, but the other furniture did not so Dom and I had to lug it up the stairs. It worked out well though as everything was prepped for when I got home (imagine that--everything prepped with Bianca and Domenic working together...).

Here are a few shots of the baby room, though a video tour is coming soon (I had planned on doing it last week, but alas the furniture did not arrive).

Here is the crib all decked out:



Here is the chest all ready to go for changing Stinky Pete:



Finally, here is the Mama Bear all tuckered out after working on her boy's room all day, in her beautiful rocker:



Bianca's coworkers threw us an awesome baby shower on Saturday at Ron's House. Her friend and British export Sarah Petty (NOTE the chili pepper) organized the event and it was really nice. Jude and Wendy brought Jacqueline, a great 9 week old baby, who was wide awake and super cute. They all chipped in and got us a car seat, which is really nice. Finally, at the end, Ron presented me with a long box and told me "An Old Man dropped this off", inside was an auto-deploying lightsaber. I will get some pictures so Peanut will remember how silly his Dad was.

Finally, one last story. My Mom went to spend the night at a hospital in Columbus with one her students who is very sick and having surgery. As she was going into the hospital one of the nurses asked her: "Are you a grandma?" thinking that she was the grandmother for the little girl. In a gusher of excitement she told the nurse "NO, NOT YET! BUT VERY SOON!" The nurse, puzzled by the answer, told her that most women are insulted by that question. Oh well, she's ready to be a grandma, it seems.

Thanks to everyone that has been so incredibly generous. Thanks to those that helped with the baby furniture. Thanks to those that threw us the shower(s). One more picture, Peanut's room in the light of a breaking dawn on a beautiful spring day (this morning):



Its waitin' for ya buddy.

5 weeks and counting, exactly.

There are a few people that Bianca and I knew and wish that Peanut could meet. Nunni, obviously, was one of those people. Another would be Bianca's Aunt Theresa.

How to explain Aunt Theresa...geez it is very hard. Here is one way: Have you ever been to a restaurant or another excursion with a celebrity? You know, where you are part of their entourage and everyone is having a good time, the waitstaff is tripping over themselves to help you, and there is almost gravitational pull towards having fun? That was what it was like to do anything with Theresa. She was a celebrity. She had natural charisma that seemed to pull everyone towards her and her giving and kind spirit was their reward for allowing themselves to be caught in her charming undertow.

I first met her when Bianca and I were touring schools in Boston for graduate school. Bianca had applied to MIT and we were walking around the campus. We were looking for a building and a professor walked by. He was definitely trying to keep to himself, but Theresa grabbed him. At first he was shocked but slowly her laugh and smile melted his hesitation. In a few minutes he was making grand gestures as he pointed to famous buildings, all the while laboring under the delusion that I was the student seeking admission. When he told that to Theresa she quickly and definitively let him know that that is not the case. In fact, he learned all of Bianca's great attributes in a few scant seconds.

Theresa made absolutely everything fun. Boring things were fun. Fun things were ecstatic. When her brother Mike came in to town one time we all went to Legal Seafood. It was, honest to God, like a commercial. People were laughing, enjoying their food (and their neighbors), and Theresa made sure everyone had fun. People at other tables would, at first, be put out by the noise, but then they would come over, perhaps, to say something, and then stay to join in the bacchanalia. The waitstaff loved her. She treated them with such respect, no one, ever was beneath her. No one, ever, was treated poorly. And only mean people ever saw her wrath, and only after every other person on earth would have stuffed them in a garbage can and rolled it down a bumpy hill.

I imagine what she would say to Bianca and I if we told her about Peanut. She would shout "OH MY GOD", then her hands would go up in the air, then she would swoop down and hug both of us. Then she would stand back and get a tear in her eye and tell us what great parents we would be. Then she would put her hand on Bianca's tummy and talk to Peanut. There may be an impromptu trip to Babies R Us, like right then and there (why wait? life's too short). She would sneak a private moment and tell me that I am going to be a great Dad and remind me that she remembers when Bianca was a baby.

And this is the thing about Aunt Theresa, something that I wish Peanut could have experienced, she made the most of everything. She gave literally everything to anyone who needed it. Even at the very end, when we visited her in the hospital, she was trying to make others comfortable. Theresa understood with certainty many things that others spend years trying to discover. She knew, and I wish Peanut could have learned it from her, that, paradoxically, giving is the best way to receive happiness. She knew that life, even a second, even a trip to the grocery, is too precious to waste. She knew that family and friends were the most important thing. And she knew that your worth as a person is not in what you have or what you can do, but how you treat people--everyone.

It is sad that Peanut will never meet her, but hopefully those of us that knew her, including many who knew her better than me, can help us teach Peanut the lessons of her life.

Bianca's mom threw her a SURPRISE baby shower in Scituate on Sunday and the whole family, sans the dudes, showed up. It was, from what I hear, awesome (I don't know because of the no dudes rule). Even Susan Lysaght from Xavier made an appearance. There was much frivolity and fun to be had, as Erica was in charge of the game planning. Nancy, Wilma, Helen and Janet all helped prep and made DELICIOUS sandwiches, of which I had three, despite only being in attendance for about 5 minutes. But hey, they are sandwiches, one of man's five greatest inventions (language, fire, the wheel, sandwiches and something else that I can't remember).

Despite all of the baby stuff, I still managed to snag a gift. Big Dom got me tiny, knife/bottle opener from Buck the Metro. It is really cool, and reminds me of the fifth thing on the list of great inventions--the bottle opener. Bottles wouldn't be the same without it.

Thanks everyone for the nice gifts. I have a room tour video planned this weekend to show off all of the cool stuff.

I spent Sunday afternoon with the boys, Myles, Colbeans, and Domenic. We did lots of boy things, such as impromptu wrestling between Myles and Colby, whiffle ball with Myles, eating peanuts (which is really fun with a kid whose brain outpaces his motor skills ten times over), and riding bikes. Here is a video of Myles and his unusual stopping technique, called, appropriately enough given the financial climate, the Bail Out:



On Monday we went to the baby CPR class and got horribly depressed. Not only did they tell us about how to give babies CPR but they told us of all the horrors of living in a house. Three separate causes of death were listed as the second most likely cause of death: suffocation, falling, and drowning. I am no math major, but something tells me they have some problems with their numbers. One thing I was surprised to hear: no children were killed or injured by rusty bear traps. I am installing one in the living room this weekend.

I will note that Bianca was a huge nerd at the class. I was telling jokes and being funny with the couple to our right before class while Bianca was studying the booklet they gave us. And when we had to practice, the nurse noted that Bianca, who was wearing a very serious face, had "perfect technique." She told me: "well, you just killed your baby." Just kidding, but I did not get a "perfect technique." Bianca wanted me to tell you that.

Finally, though they did not arrive in time for the shower, Aunt Monica got us some celebratory bubbly, and if you know me, its not champange, but soda. It is from Jones Soda, a premium soda company. It has a custom Peanut-related label. Here it is:



They will be passed out at the hospital upon his arrival.

Exactly 6 weeks and counting.