If Kos can do it, so can I, dammit! I will foist baby pics on you, and you will enjoy it!
DISCLAIMER: Yes, I know that my kid is not special or extra-cute to you. But there are a lot of Lyndon Johnsonesque infants out there, and mine is a little easier on the eyes than most.
FUN FACT: The time signatures may not show this, but I'm typing this at 2:45 in the morning. I take my sleep when I can get it these days.
Now... to the pictures!
So, the little guy (our first) was born in the afternoon -- a planned C-section. They made the incision as I held my wife's hand. Doctors' hands flew crazily like the hands of an experienced sushi chef. A head -- an arm! And the doctor says, "There's the family jewels."
She'd forgotten (again) that we were waiting until this moment to know the gender of our baby.
OK, so she doesn't have the gift of great timing. Neither do I. But what came next was amazing.
This is little Alexander (Yes, that's right, O my brothers -- Droogie's kid is named Little Alex) on the clean-up table. For those who don't know, it's a bit like what they put your fries under at the fast food place. It's warm under there, and the little guy was digging it, despite the worried look.
So -- they whisked him away to the baby cleaning room, where he was jabbed, dabbed, sprayed and splayed. The first track of recorded music my son ever heard was "Dream Weaver" playing on the classic rock station from the radio the nurses had on. Life is not fair.
They shot him in the eyes with antibiotic goo, and shortly afterward...
... the eyes were opened, and peering at the dad-shaped blur hovering overhead like a watchful thing that watches a lot.
We went back to the room, fended off nurse after nurse, and Mrs. Droogie gave Xander his first meal, after which he crashed.
This is a little trick he likes to do. Because he was carried in the Frank breech position with his toes at the crown of his head, folded up like a 99-cent party taco, his legs were a little funny for a while. Like a frog, only not amphibious. And when he laid in the bassinet thing, you'd see a leg kick up randomly.
So we chilled out until it was time to go home. The first episode of "The Simpsons" (but not the last) the kid saw was "Bart Carny." That's the one where a pair of carnival folk steal the Simpson family's home.
"The Simpsons is boring, dad. Time to go home."
So, we got dressed and loaded up and went home.
Xander and Mrs. Droogie are snoozing away at the moment. It's been a little rough as the guy is usually screeching away when he's not eating or sleeping. The other hard thing is having to take care of that circumcision wound (apologies to Reality Bias, but I didn't want the girls calling my son "the guy who wasn't circumcised" someday).
Thanks for being a community of people worth sharing these lifetime milestones with. I wish good vibes to all of you, and your families.