And Devin Waves Hello

For the last few days (perhaps weeks), it seemed that Devin has been waving to us, but it seemed slightly circumstantial and it was hard to discern whether it was intended or not.

Well, today I was sitting on the front porch; I was in a rocking chair and Devin was over by the porch railing. I called to him and waved ... and he waved back! Renee came outside and I told her about it. I tried to get Devin to repeat the action, but my expectations were low. Even if he did it intentionally, he probably isn't too interested in waving hello again so soon. But he did it again. And he did again for Renee, too.

So, it is official: Devin can wave hello.

Happy Birthday, Aidan!

We all got to celebrate a long happy birthday with Aidan. His birthday party was on Saturday, April 1, at The Little Gym on Saturday with all of his little friends. Then, that night, Papa and Grandma Deb arrived from New Jersey — just in time for Aidan to open his presents.

On Sunday, we all headed up to Arlington, Texas for a special event that we would attend on Monday, April 3 (Aidan's real birthday). While at our hotel, Aidan used one of his new birthday presents (Spider-man swim fins that fit over his hands) and becomes obsessed with swimming all night long.

This morning, we headed back out to the pool for one last swim before we headed out to opening day at Ameriquest Stadium to see the Texas Rangers take on the Boston Red Sox!

One of Aidan's favorite Red Sox players, Johnny Damon, recently signed with their archrivals, the New York Yankees. When I told Aidan about this, Aidan said, "Well, how do we get him out of there?"

While we were at the game (which the Red Sox won, and looked good doing it), Aidan told me he saw Johnny — he was right there in the stands with us (someone was wearing a Damon jersey), "so he wasn't on the 'Ankees," Aidan added with a smile.

Later in the game, Aidan got to see his name in lights, which he was moderately excited about (he seemed mostly perplexed about it). After the game, Papa, Aidan and myself got to run the bases.

Aidan was, again, somewhat intersted in the idea (he was also getting through this day withough a nap) — but once he realized that he could run, and he was supposed to run fast — he was extremely excited. With his Red Sox cap on, he was good-naturedly called "out" as he touched home plate by a Texas Ranger's usher.

Keep Rollin'

It may be too early to speak with any authority, but it looks like everyone except Devin is healthy. Devin is still suffering from the croup. However, he's full of energy and strength!

This morning, as Renee and I were making breakfast, I placed Devin — on his back — in his cradle, which is near the kitchen. As we sat down to eat, we noticed that Devin had flipped over on to his tummy!

And he's also done the tummy-to-back roll over a few more times since I first reported it; apparently turning over in either direction is no longer a challenge to this three-month old.

A Wild Weekend

On Thursday of last week, I had to take some time off of work because I was... um... sick. Violently. Renee and I weren't sure if it was because of food poisoning or a stomach bug, but I was most definitely sick. The hope was, of course, that if it was a bug, no one else in the house would catch it.

By Saturday, I was feeling mostly better, but not entirely. We went to a birthday party for one of Aidan's friends and did some running around in the morning. By Saturday evening, we were all pretty tired and Aidan went to bed relatively early. By 9:30 p.m., we heard him coughing. Turns out, he wasn't just coughing....

Aidan was pretty good on Sunday, although obviously tired. His friend Silas came over and the two of them played very well together for the bulk of the day, Aidan showing no ill effects of the night before (besides being a little tired).

Devin, however, was pulling at his ear and had a nasty little cough. Renee took him in to see the doctor this morning and it turns out that Devin has croup, which is a nasty sounding name for a nasty sounding cough. It's a little more than that, but the prognosis for Devin is good. [Oh, and as an aside, Devin's stats as of today's doctor's visit are: 18 pounds, 4 ounces; 27.5 inches]

In fact, we consider ourselves lucky that this is his first real illness thus far (Aidan was on this second or third ear infection within his first three months of life). Devin has had a small case of congestion recently, but nothing really seemed to phase him. So, other than this, Devin's first three months have been very healthy.

That said, this weekend was a little out of control. Saturday night was a little hectic, as I my stomach was still too weak (and the memory too fresh) to help Renee with Aidan's episode. Renee is home with Devin today, and perhaps for another day or so, as croup is contagious. Maybe we'll all be healthier by next weekend. If not, we'll be fighting a bout of croup.

Roll Over

Devin is cooing up a storm and doing so many amazing things right now. He's also drooling a lot. The drooling is also amazing, if only because of the volume. But this isn't exactly the amazing part I was wanting to write about...

Renee had set Devin on the floor for some tummy time. Of course, because of the drooling, Renee had also set a towel in front of Devin, so the floor wouldn't become soaked.

Devin was generally not enjoying his tummy time (not too unusual for a baby his age). Renee had, at this point, continued on to some other activity; I was now in charge of the babe.

After a few moments, I had realized that the towel was no longer under Devin's head; he had rotated about 30 degrees to the left! Wow! He's starting to become mobile.

"Renee, Renee!" I called. "Come see this, Devin's moving!" Renee didn't answer right away, so I got up and looked for her down the hall. I found her in the laundry room.

"Renee, check this out," I said, as I encouraged her back to the living room floor. "Devin's ..." I stopped short. He wasn't rotating. Or, rather, that wasn't the big news anymore. By the time Renee and I had returned to the scene, Devin had turned over on his back — all by himself!

TexRenFest

We headed out early last Sunday morning to the Texas Renaissance Festival, which is near Houston and about a 2.5 hour drive. For that reason, we wanted to leave as early as possible in hopes that Devin would be able to sleep through as much of the ride as possible.

Despite leaving the house later than expected, we were able to drive about 90% of the way there with Devin asleep. It was that last 10% that took us a while to cover, as we pulled over every couple miles to soothe the crying babe.

We arrived a little after 11 a.m., which was right after one of the events we wanted to see. Nevertheless, Aidan was unaware of what he was missing and instead jumped right into the festivities.

Our first stop was a ride on the elephants, then on to the Dizzy Dragon, which I can atest is not some little kiddie ride. The Dizzy Dragon is a bigger version of twisting ropes around a pole. When we first started to spin, Aidan looked a little green, but I reminded him that we were supposed to pretend that we were riding on a dragon, which pepped him up immeadiately.

We then saw the knights joust. Our seats were in the black and blue section, which happended to be the representative colors of the "German" knight, Sir Otto. It was our duty to cheer him on. Thus, we bought a black and blue pennant for Aidan to wave around whenever Otto did something worth cheering for. After the joust, we took the flag over to the side of the arena, where Sir Otto himself was waiting and happily signed the flag for Aidan.

Aidan then rode several other rides, including his very first pony ride. Devin, on the other hand slept though much of the day....

I'm sure you can come close to guessing how the ride home was. When we arrived back at the car, we got everyone situated and ate some sandwiches we brought with us. Aidan, who was running around all day, ate half of his sandwich. As he took a bite of the second half, he feel asleep. I tried to put the sandwich away for him, but as I moved the sandwich bag out from under his hand, he woke up, took another bite, then nodded off again, with the food in his mouth. Renee and I did everything we could to laugh quietly.

Devin, on the other hand, was well rested after sleeping most of the day in the sling. All he wanted to do was to be held and play with us.

So, our first 20% of the ride home was much like the last 10% of our arrival: at approximately 2 mile intervals, we'd pull over and try to soothe Devin.

All-in-all, it was a wonderfully fun weekend, especially watching Aidan have so much fun and getting so excited about the festival in general (and the rides specifically). Here's to next year!

Renee's Back At Work

Renee started back to work on Monday and updating the Web site had been, well, a difficult thing to get accomplished. Our days usually start around 6 a.m. and we don't generally get a chance to do any "extra" stuff until after we get Aidan down, which is usually sometime after 9 p.m. At that point, we too drained to do much of anything else. If we do have any energy, it's usually spent on preparing things to help make the morning go a little easier.

However, Aidan (much as we predicted) has been very excited at the prospect of Devin going to school with him in the morning. We no longer have to struggle with getting him out the door. In fact, it's almost quite the opposite.

Devin has been making the transition to school very well also; his teachers have said that he's a very good baby — he only cries when he's hungry or tired, which has been pretty much the same experience we have at home.

Renee visits Devin everyday for lunch, which obviously allows her to continue nursing, but also has the added benefit of helping Renee with the transition back to work. We are proud to say that she, too, has been having a decent time with her transition.

ACL Fest - Day 3

The last day of the Austin City Limits Festival was — how should I say this? Well, hot should suffice. It was officially 107 degrees at the downtown weather station. Thus, we stayed home.

Devin entertained us with some smiles and laughs and showing us he can grab a hold of his toys and stuff them into his mouth (sort of). Otherwise, it was an incredibly hot, lazy weekend, kicked off with a little music on Friday and a lot less hurricane than we expected. Not so bad....

ACL Fest - Day 2

Day 2 of the ACL festival was a wild-card day; either Hurricane Rita was going to impact our area enough that attending the festival would have been impractical (or unsafe), or we would get to spend most (or all) day listening to music.

It turns out, we didn't go, but it wasn't because of Rita.

There was a little bit of wind. No rain. And plenty of heat. With temperatures up around 100 and our energy supply low (we were completely drained from the day before), we decided to pass on going to the festival.

Instead, we made Halloween decorations and decorated the house, took long naps, and generally just hung out at the house. It was a very nice relaxing day, hopefully recharging enough that we can take advantage of the last day of the festival...

ACL Fest - Day 1

We spent the morning sort of preparing the house for high winds (in case Rita decided to come a little closer to home). Then, we all took naps, and headed out to the festival around 3:00 p.m.

The wind started to kick up around this time — it was strong enough to start spreading some trash around our neighborhood. There's a lot of construction going on around our neighborhood as well, and all the exposed ground had dust and dirt flying through the air, which was perhaps the most dangerous thing I saw.

After having some difficultly finding some parking, then making our way to the shuttle buses, then taking the 15 minute ride to the festival, then walking for 10 minutes to get to the entrance, we finally arrived (around 5:00ish). Thus, unfortunately, we missed Lucinda Williams.

But we were able to catch Mr. Jose (one of Aidan's old gymnastics teachers) and his band, Grupo Fantasmo, who play kind of a fusion-latin sound, mixing salsa, cumbia, and other latin sounds.

We were quite impressed with this band, as they packed about 12 musicians onto perhaps the smallest stage at the festival. The horn section was excellent and Mr. Jose (congas) and the drummer were very exciting. There were a couple of conga solos, which had the place jumping. Very fun.

We then moved on to see John Prine, which is something that Renee wanted to see. In the end analysis, though, she decided that she liked him better on the radio than live. Perhaps this is true, but the experience may have also been tempered by the blowing wind, which was kicking up dust, and the heat, making us all feel a little grimy at this point.

John Prine finished his set just as the sun was going down, adding a new dynamic to the experience — lower temperatures and light shows!

Renee and I were pretty much ready to go at this point, but the next stage over just started. The band was Keane, which Renee and I didn't care for all that much. However, Aidan loved them, and insisted that we stayed until their show was over. Kids and their music....

After Keane was Lyle Lovett and his Large Band, a band Renee and I were hoping to see. Yet, with the prospect of a long walk back to the shuttle buses and finding our car, we headed out. By the time we got home and ready for bed, it was close to 11:30.

We'll keep an eye on the weather for rain and increased winds, but odds are, the show will go on tomorrow! If you're interested in reading another take on the festival, check out the Friday daily report, from the ACL Fest Web site.

Rita is Coming to Austin City Limits

Renee and I have been planning on attending this year's Austin City Limits Festival after missing all of the previous versions. A friend of mine finally talked us into it (they had to talk us into it?), by mentioning that it is as Austin a festival as there is — much like the venerable South By Southwest festival — and we really should experience it for ourselves.

So we bought our tickets for this year's festival as soon as they were available, which was back in March or April. We finally received our tickets in the mail around the end of August.

The next step in the process is to exchange the tickets for wrist bands.... assuming we can find the tickets. Which we can't.

We turned the house upside down. No tickets. Renee and I woke up the next morning telling about how we each dreamed of finding the tickets in crazy and remote places. This was obviously causing us a lot of stress and anxiety.

Under the premise of "if you don't ask, you can't receive," I called the ticket agency — and they issued us new tickets! Yeah! We're back in business.

But not so fast. A slowly developing under-story was coming to light: Hurricane Rita. As of Thursday night, the Austin city limits were directly in the path of the storm, in fact it appeared the eye would pass right overhead. It was also projected to still be at hurricane strength as it passed through. That would make standing in Zilker park a little less desireable.

At this point, we played with the idea of leaving Austin, evacuating out west a little. But the people on the Gulf coast are evacuating here, which is a problem in itself (since all the hotels and such are already booked for the ACL festival). Roads are clogged. There really isn't anywhere to go, even if we could go.

So, last night, I headed out to the grocery story to get some basics, although a lot of the basics were already gone. However, I headed out to Central Market, which had plenty of basics (I guess no one thinks of Central Market for this sort of crisis?).

But now, the latest reports have the eye of Rita going significantly East of Austin; however, the storm is big enough where we will likely get at least the western edge of the storm. Thus, we are preparing to hunker down for the weekend. We'll learn more if the ACL festival is cancelled or postponed later today (supposedly around 6 p.m. CDT). Yet, as of right now, are plans are to go to the festival on Friday, hide out on Saturday, and then see what Sunday brings....

Two Months Old!

Devin is two months old as of yesterday and had his scheduled doctor's visit today. This isn't the most fun of visits, as this the appointment where Devin received 4 shots! His thighs are incredibly sore and we have to give him Tylenol at regular 4-hour intervals (we missed one follow-up dose by a half-hour — we won't be doing that again).

Overall, Devin checks in at a very healthy 14 pounds, 13 ounces, 22.25 inches long, and a head circumference of 41.5 cm, which is fairly similar to Aidan at this point.

Tiny Bubbles

Devin has recently begun blowing little bubbles, and cooing, and holding his head up, and ... so many other things that I can't ever document them quickly enough to remember them all!

Basically, Devin is being an incredibly good baby; he sleeps a lot and doesn't cry much, and when he does he's easily consoled. I think one of the reasons for this is that every time he moves, or someone touches him, or a slight breeze touches his face, he passes gas. Seriously. There is no gas shortage in our house.

And it is because of this that I think Devin is doing so well right now; he doesn't really have much in the way of gas pains. Aidan, on the other hand, was never like this (i.e., supplying so much gas) and I think that may explain why he was so ... shall we say, "expressive" in his first few weeks of life.

Anyway, Devin is doing great, Aidan is still fairly well adjusted (although bringing him to school is sometimes very difficult since he has to leave Mom and Devin at home), and — thus far — all is well in Austin, Texas.

Aidan at School

Some observations from Aidan's teacher:

• Aidan was using some stacking circles to stack them "high and tall." He had to stand up to reach the top; his patience and balance was very impressive.


• During center-time, Aidan was sharing a book with a friend. They were taking turns reading to each other. When I told Aidan that I really enjoyed hearing him tell the story , his face lit up and he had a big smile.

Innerspace

The four of us made our first real trip together all by ourselves. We headed out to one of the local caverns, Innerspace Caverns in Georgetown.

Renee thought that Aidan would be intrigued, and he was... sort of. That is, he was when we first brought up the idea — yesterday — and it slowly ratcheted downward as time progressed.

By the time we actually arrived at the ticket window, Aidan was still somewhat excited. However, with the 15 minute wait for the tour to start and some trepidation about the cave in general (which revolved mostly around its contents, including dinosaur fossils, so Aidan continually asked things like, "are all the dinosaurs dead?"), Aidan wanted to head for home before we even entered the cave.

Once inside, Aidan didn't want any part of it. I carried him for the entire .75 mile walk, up and down the slippery walkway. It was actually pretty fun, and I think Aidan grudingly enjoyed himself. Renee and I both agreed that perhaps the best part was that there were little bats flying around in the cave, buzzing past our heads; Aidan seemed quite unfazed by them. Still, when it was all over, he went quite willingly to the car.

Aidan at School

Some observations from Aidan's teacher at school:

• While we were working with the tools to repair our bike, Aidan gave a little lesson about how we use screwdrivers. He explained to everyone how to hold it, be careful, and watch what you are doing — it was too cute how everyone stopped to hear and listen.
• During lunchtime, I watched as Aidan helped a friend pour his milk and when he was done helping his friend hold th milk pitcher, Aidan told him, "now say thank you."
• Aidan did a very nice job at lining up and finding his name in our classroom. He has learned to recognize his name.

Devin's Baptism

Papa, Grandma Deb, and Aunty Sandra came down for a long weekend to help celebrate Devin's baptism. The weekend went by very quickly, but we had a good time.

We were able to schedule a nice, private ceremony after a regular mass. Jeffrey and Sandra stood in as the godparents (they may look familiar; they are also the godparents for Aidan).

48 days

After 48 days of waiting (since the car accident), I finally received my car back yesterday. It looks like the body shop did a very nice job; there's only one very small detail (at least right now it feels like a small detail) that may or may not be an issue. I'll see if I can get another opinion on this detail, and then take action on it, if necessary.

But now, comes the fun part: trying to collect from the other insurance company.

The big issue is the money for the car rental. The reason that the repair took 48 days is due to miscommunication (at best) or non-communication from the other guy's insurance company. Knowing that I wouldn't be "guaranteed" that Geico would be able to recover money from the other insurance company, and with my personal confidence that the accident was completely the other guy's fault, I figured it was going to be in my best interest to make my claim with the other guy's insurance.

So, at all relevant moments, I declared to anyone who would listen that I did indeed have a rental car and that I was filing my claim through the other guy's insurance. It wasn't until day 23 that the other guy's insurance agent told me that, despite the fact that my car was not drivable, they would only cover my car rental while my car was being repaired. Which, at this point, it wasn't, because this insurance agency wasn't done with their investigation. Wonderful.

As of that day, July 19, I switched my claim over to Geico and, for the most part, it moved along well. By my count, it took about 16 days for my car to be repaired, so I could expect to possibly get reimbursed for as little as 16 of the 48 days of the car rental, which would stick me, by my estimate, about $800.

Why is it that, because of someone else's carelessness, that I'm possibly going to be stuck with having to pay for someone else's mistake? That I have to go through all the inconvenience, frustration, anxiety, and possibly loss of money, when all I did wrong was be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

How ridiculous.

Glitter Vader

Aidan's been playing with my Darth Vader mask a lot lately. It's pretty old (I think I bought the mask back in 1999 or 2000) and it has a flimsy velcro connection to keep the mask together. It was not made to be taken on and off repeatedly, which is what Aidan usually does.

Thus, the velcro strips are separating from the mask. Renee tried to glue it back together, but the plastic just isn't holding the glue on.

So, today when I got home, Aidan wanted to play with the Vader mask. I told him about the state of the mask, the glue, why it wasn't holding together, etc. Aidan pointed to a strip of excess dried glue and asked, "is that glue?" I told him it was, but that it wasn't doing its job.

Aidan wasn't too upset, which I found slightly odd. But I was happy that he took the news so well. So, I went off to take care of something else.

Then, I notice Aidan walking over to get his play vacuum cleaner out of the closet and wheel it over where his arts-and-crafts supplies are kep. He starts vacuuming the floor.

Why was he vacuuming the floor? It turns out that he spilled a bunch of glitter on the floor and he wanted to clean it up. All on his own volition, with the only tool he knows: his play vacuum cleaner. Very sweet.

But why did he get the glitter out? Because the Darth Vader mask had glue on it. And what do we do with glue? We decorate it with glitter!

It's a Thin Line Between Love & Being Scared

Aidan and I went to a minor-league baseball game last night and had a great time. I think Aidan really would have prefered to see Johnny Damon (he was asking for him several times), and even asked me if I wanted to see Aven Martik (after several attempts, I realized he was trying to say Jason Veritek). I had to admit that, yes, a Red Sox game would have been very exiting to watch...

But we still had a lot of fun. We met several friends at the game and there are plenty of activities for the kids; inflatable castles to jump in, playscapes, and even little ponies to ride, and the mascot, Spike.

Aidan was looking for Spike the second we arrived and the few times that we saw Spike, Aidan would try to wave to him.

While on a trek around the stadium to find the ponies, we came across Spike up close and personal. Actually, it was a bit of a surprise for the both of us, as there were lots of people milling about, and it was hard to see very far. Aidan was holding my hand and walking on his own, so his visibility was significantly less than mine.

However, the people parted and right there in front of us, bigger than life, was a huge, person-sized bulldog wearing a railroad conductor hat and overalls.

"Hey, Aidan, look! It's Spike," I said, thinking this was a good thing. Aidan looked up, saw Spike and screamed. He dropped my hand, turned around and ran in the opposite direction as fast as he could.

This kind of put a damper on the rest of the evening, but still, it was a fun outting. On the trip back to the car, Aidan said that he'd rather go to Red Sox game again to see (at this point, Aidan drops my hand and strikes a pose) Johnny Damon.

That's my boy!

Devin Drake's Birth Story

Earlier this year, Grandma Jackie offered to fly down to Austin, Texas in order to lend us a hand with the new baby, whenever that might be. After thinking about when would be a good time for her to plan on arriving, we suggested that she should come into town on Saturday, July 9; the plan being that the baby wouldn't be much later than July 8 (i.e., a week late), since that's pretty much where doctor's feel comfortable and that's how late Aidan was. That was the plan, anyway. But sometimes plans fall apart. And sometimes the result is better than anything one could have planned....

The baby didn't come on July 8. Or July 9. Or July 10. I was thinking that the baby would definitely be here by Monday, July 11 at the latest. But Monday came and went and Renee wasn't showing any signs that labor was imminent. At this point, I was beginning to feel a little worried that Jackie might have come down to help us with the baby, but we'd have to send her home (she was scheduled to go back to Connecticut on July 18) without her even having met the baby.

However, Grandma Jackie was able to spend some quality time with Aidan, which in retrospect, was incredibly helpful.

On Tuesday, July 12, Renee had an accupuncture appointment. She called me at work, just as I was about to leave, and told me to meet her, Aidan, and Grandma Jackie at Aidan's gym class ... but be prepared, because she was starting to feel some "real contractions." I was terribly excited and rushed to the gym class. However, the contraction, while real, weren't all that frequent or intense; we were still a ways off from rushing to the hospital.

The contractions continued through the night, strong enough and frequent enough — we were measuring them to be about 20 minutes apart — to keep Renee from getting any restful sleep.

The next morning, Wednesday, July 13, we had a regularly schedule doctor's appointment with the doctor's nurse (our regular doctor, Dr. Love, was on vacation with his family for the week). Again, we were lucky enough to have Grandma Jackie around, as she took care of Aidan for us as we tried to bring on labor...

The nurse checked Renee and everything looked good, but she didn't recommend that we check into the hostpital yet. Renee's contraction were still about 20 minutes apart and, while they grabbed her attention, she was still able to walk through them.

But things were heading in the right direction. So, to encourage things to progress, Renee and I headed out to one of the enclosed shopping malls in the area. It was still only 9:30 in the morning, but it was hot enough to want to walk indoors.

As we walked, we saw lots and lots of teeny-bopper-type store fronts (it's been a long time since I've been inside a mall ... were they always like this?). It was at this point, with pictures of pre-teen girls all dolled up with glitter and "mature" clothing and such that Renee and I decided that we were not at all ready for a girl...

The walk around the mall helped some, but it wasn't as though it was the key to bringing on active labor. We headed home and I massaged some of the accupuncture points on Renee's shoulders, ankles, feet, and hands. This seemed to help, too, as each time I hit a point well, the baby would obviously move about in the womb. It was pretty freaky. The contractions were getting closer, maybe 15 to 12 minutes apart.

Later in the afternoon, after Grandma Jackie and Aidan came back from their activities (upon his return, his first quesiton was "is the baby here?"), Renee and Grandma Jackie headed out to the grocery store. Upon their return, which was around 6 p.m., Renee's contractions were about 7 to 5 minutes apart! Things were progressing and I started to get a little adreneline flowing.

We ate the dinner I made while they were at the store (a curried cauliflower and tofu dish) and after dinner, went for a walk around the neighborhood. During the walk, I tried my best to keep tabs on the contrations and they seemed to be about 5 to 4 minutes apart. Yet, after we returned home, the contractions spaced themselves out again, closer to 10 to 7 minutes.

Still, Jackie and I felt things were progressing to an obvious end, while Renee was a little less receptive, saying that they weren't all that intense and that she could still walk (and mostly talk) through the contractions...

Things kept progressing, even as we were trying to put Aidan to sleep. Aidan was tired and yet very excited about the baby; putting him to sleep was very difficult, as he wanted Mommy at times, other times Daddy, other times he just wanted to jump on the bed. All of this while Renee was having contractions (back in the 7 to 5 minute range). Eventually, Aidan did fall asleep, but in our bed — we had hoped that he'd sleep in his bed this night if only so Renee could comfortably labor in her own bed without disturbing Aidan. So, Renee moved to Aidan's bed, while I sat on the floor timing contractions (5 to 3 minutes apart, but sometimes spacing out again to about 7 or 8 minutes apart).

I called our doula, Monika to let her know how things were progressing and to ask for some advice. Basically, we were wondering if there was anything that we could do to help encourage active labor, so we could get this over with (Renee hadn't slept much in the last 24 hours), or if there was some thing we could to slow it down to allow Renee to rest.

Monika recommended taking a bath. She said that it would either slow things down or encourage labor, depending on how Renee was physically. We took her advice, filled the tub (after moving Aidan to his bedroom) and prety much immeadiately, the contractions spaced out to 11 minutes, then 15 minutes. Okay, I thought. The bath will slow things down so we can have some sleep. No baby tonight, I guess we'll meet the baby tomorrow... maybe even the next day.

Yet, almost immediately after the bath, the contractions started to get pretty intense and closer together. Renee was now moaning through the contractions, but still handling them beautifully; they were now about 5 to 3 minutes apart. But then they would space out again. So, around midnight, we both curled up in bed. I tried to continue to massage Renee's back and time the contractions, but I was too tired. Between the contractions, I would sleep. But every five minutes or so, I would wake up, look at my watch to see how long it's been, and drive my knuckles into the small of her back to help ease Renee's pain.

Around 1 a.m. on Thursday, July 14, the contractions were pretty regularly in the 4 to 3 minute range. I was getting a little antsy. Renee was spending more and more time in the bathroom and the contractions were pretty intense. I called Monika to see what she thought and she recommended that we hang on for as long as we could at home; as soon as Renee suggested the hospital, that's when we should call her back and reassess.

It wasn't too long after that when Renee mentioned that it might be time to head out. I called Monika and the doctor who was backing up our doctor, Dr. Pollon. At about 1:30 a.m., we were out the door on the way to the hospital. And, once again, feeling lucky that Grandma Jackie was there for Aidan, so when he woke up in the morning, he would be in comfortable surroundings with someone he was getting used to spending time with.

We arrived at the hostpital around 2 a.m. We were checked into our room and assigned to Nurse Paula. As one might expect at 2 a.m., there wasn't much going on in the labor and delivery area; things seemed pretty calm, hopefully an omen of things to come...

Nurse Paula found that Renee's blood pressure was regular (a concern since Renee's blood pressure was high with Aidan's labor; some thing that the labor inducing drug Pitocin may have contributed). Renee was dilated to about 5/6 centimeters (out of a complete 10 cm) and the baby's heart tones were strong. All of this was great news, as we were hoping to have some freedom to allow Renee to walk around and labor as she felt the most comfortable, something that would have been difficult to do if she had to be constantly hooked up to monitors and IVs.

Over the next few hours, Renee walked and moaned through her contractions, drinking Gatorade and water as she pleased. Monika and I would each press an accupuncture point during a contraction to help ease Renee's pain and to also encourage active labor.

However, by 5:45 a.m., almost 4 hours after we arrived in the hospital, and after missing two nights' worth of sleep, Renee was becoming exhausted. But Renee was able to find some deeper strength and kept going. Monika recommended a shower, so we helped Renee in to the shower in her room while she labored. From my perspective, the showers were wonderful and seemed to help Renee a lot with the contractions.

But after checking to see how far things had progressed, Renee was starting to think that and epidural would be a good idea. She was just so tired and Renee was very concerned that, without sleep and with the exertion that she was putting forth, she wouldn't have the strength to push the baby out when it came time. By getting the epidural, Renee felt that she would get some relief and be able to sleep for a couple of hours.

Both Monika and I were dubious, as with the epidural would also come the Pitocin. Renee had been laboring so incredibly well that I felt that introducing the Pitocin at this time was not a good idea; I just remember how tremedously strong her contractions were with Aidan that I didn't want to have to put her through that again, if we could at all avoid it. And, with the introduction of the epidural, Pitocin would be right around the corner.

Another downside (in my eyes) for introducing the epidural and Pitocin was that Renee would then have to be hooked up to monitors and IVs and such, thus limiting her ability to labor as she felt most comfortable. That is, she never felt most comfortable on her back in the hospital bed. But that's exactly where she would need to be if we followed through with her request...

But Renee felt it was best, so for the moment, Monika and I acquiesced. At approximately 7:30 a.m., Nurse Becky (Nurse Paula left around 7 a.m. with the end of her shift), started some IV fluids for Renee, a requirement before introducing the epidural. At this point, Renee was telling us that she was proud that she was able to achieve her goal of starting labor without any assitance and had experienced early labor and active labor at home. With Aidan, this was a different experience.

Since we left in the middle of the night, and we were at a relatively calm cross-road, I called Grandma Jackie to give her an update and to check on how Aidan was doing with all of this. Apparently, Aidan was doing wonderful. Around 3 a.m., Aidan had woke up and went to our room to look for us. Not finding us there, he started to cry. Grandma Jackie went upstairs to comfort him, which apparanetly she did very well, as he went back to sleep and didn't get back up until nearly 8 a.m. He was, in fact, coming down the stairs just as I was getting off the phone with Grandma Jackie, fully dressed (he dressed himself, which is a rare happening these days) and as he came down the stairs, was asking Grandma Jackie if it was time to go to the hospital to see the baby...

Back in the labor and delivery room, Renee, Monika, and I all agreed that it would be a good idea to check to see to how things progressed before administering the epidural; with Aidan, Renee received an epidural very close to the end, and had difficulty pushing because of this. At approximately 8 a.m. Nurse Linda found that Renee had made quite a bit of progress; she was dialated to 7/8 cm and was 90% effaced. We were so close!

Renee was laboring so well and we were so close, Monika and I started to make our case against the epidural, but the anesthesiologist was already called and would be in the room any minute. Renee was now unsure what to do. She had already set her mind on getting the epidural, but I think she could see how far she had come. With the anesthesiologist, Dr. Rauula, in the room, we continued debating the merits of each path. Finally, Dr. Pollon, making his first appearance since we first checked into the hosptial checked in and encouraged Renee to go without the epidiral. So, Dr. Rauula, who had his table of items all prepared and ready to go, put his things away and wished us well. Monika was blown away; she had never seen an anesthesiologist so flexible nor someone like Renee, seconds away from an epidural, refuse one. It was quite impressive all the way around.

By 10:30, Renee was 100% effaced, but was still dialated to about 8 cm. Nurse Linda was also indicating that it appeared that the bag of waters had broken (perhaps while Renee was in the shower?). We continued our regular routine, spending some more time in the shower, walking, sitting in a recliner, rocking chair, and hunched over a large yoga ball.

By 11:10, she was at about 9 cm. We did some more of the same while adding some side-lying positions in the bed. By 12:40, Nurse Linda announced that there had been no further progress. Ugh.

Renee was utterly exhausted. At this point, Monika and I agreed with Renee that the epidural was probably the way to go. At the very least, she may get enough relief from the contractions that she might very well be able to doze off occassionally. Dr. Rauula returned around 1:30 p.m., assisted by Nurse Kelly, and administered the epidural.

During Nurse Kelly's appraisal of our situation, we discovered that the bag of waters had not completely ruptured. In an effort to help encourage the contractions to keep coming and help melt away that last centimeter of cervix, Nurse Kelly ruptured the membranes. The first thing that we noticed was that the water was clear, a wonderful sign, as the baby was 13 days passed the due date, and the longer a baby stays in the womb the chances increase that meconium could be present in the womb, causing problems for the baby.

But the fluid was clear, a great relief. But soon after, the heart tones dipped from their steady 140 beats-per-minute to about 78. Whoa. Nurse Kelly noticed this too. She got to work to find out why this was happening and figure out what she could do to get them back to where they belonged (in the 140s).

Nurse Kelly, the only other person in the room besides Renee, Monika, and myself, called for help ... a nurse, Dr. Pollon, anyone. Just any extra hands that could assist. Then she got to work.

First, to help relieve some stress from the baby, i.e., to stop the contractions from squeezing the baby and causing a certain amount of trauma to the baby, Nurse Kelly gave Renee a shot of terbuterol, a muscle relaxant. Then, Nurse Kelly tried to attach an internal fetal monitor to the baby's head. It didn't take. So she tried again. Success. Now, we have a better idea exactly what the baby is going through. But we don't know everything.

Nurse Kelly thought that one reason the fetal heart tones could have taken a nose dive is that the baby could have landed on the cord in the decent after the bag of waters was broken. But after checking as best she could, she didn't think this was the case. However, she was able to feel the baby's nose, which told her that the baby was facing the wrong way, i.e., was in a "posterior" or sunny-side up position.

While Nurse Kelly was checking on the cord, Renee's eyes started to glaze over. Nurse Kelly gave Renee and oxygen mask. Renee didn't look very good. Her hand started to grab at her chest. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn't think it was very good. The only thing that I was thinking was: Is she having a heart attack? Is this delivery getting slightly out of hand? I don't have a clue what's going on...

Renee sort of said something, weakly and through the oxygen mask so that I didn't really catch it. Nurse Kelly, in addition to trying to assess the baby's situation, calmly stated that the medicine that Renee recieved was a muscle relaxant; since the heart is a muscle, she'll likely feel some odd heart beats for a little while. Oh. I guess that sort of explains that ... She'll be okay, though, right? ...

Finally, the heart tone came back to the 140s. Renee was still jittery, but seemed much better than just moments before. No one was really all that sure why the baby's heart tones fell, but everything seemed back to normal at this point. Just then, Dr. Pollon comes in the room. "What's up, what's going on?" he asks.

Oh, nothing ... everything seems under control now, thanks, Doc.

For the next little while, everyone rested. Nurse Kelly was changing shifts and she handed us off to one of her friends, Nurse Jonna.

At around 3:00 p.m., Renee was completely dialated and was ready to push. But we had to go through the shift change, and page Dr. Pollon again and bring everyone back into the room. So we waited a bit. Around 3:15, Renee couldn't wait any longer. Therefore, Nurse Jonna encourange Renee to try pushing a little, assuming that we'd be at this for a little while and that everyone would have time to reassemble in the delivery room.

Renee slowly pushed the baby down, little by little. Soon, we could see the head. Renee did one more magnificent push and ... the baby's head was crowning. But where was everyone? Once again, it was only our nurse in the room. Nurse Jonna paged for a Dr. Stork (any doctor available). No one came. Dr. Pollon was still not there. No other nurses came.

Nurse Jonna placed her hand on the crowning head, trying to hold the baby back. Renee did all that she could to hold the baby back, but really, that's about the most impossible task to ask of someone. Still, Renee was able to achieve the impossible.

Nurse Jonna again paged for anyone a nurse, anyone, to come and lend a hand. No one came. Finally, Renee couldn't hold on, and had to push the baby's head out. We then found out that the cord was indeed wrapped around the baby's neck. Nurse Jonna tried to lift it over the baby's head, but it was too tight. Nurse Jonna put a clamp on the cord and was looking for another one — she was going to have to cut the cord; the baby's shoulders were still not out. Thank goodness that Monika was once a labor and delivery nurse. At least she had a clue what to do when Nurse Jonna asked for another clamp.

Nurse Jonna cut the cord, and Renee pushed the shoulders through. Jonna caught the baby as another nurse came through the door. They both brought the baby over to the baby station and Renee heard one of the nurses say "he's alright." The baby was a boy. I was choking back tears of exhaustion and joy and bewilderment as I was trying to tell Renee "It's Devin! It's Devin!" But I don't think any of that ever made it out of my mouth.

3: 41 p.m. Devin Drake was born. He weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces and was 22 inches long. And just at that moment, a Texas-sized thunder storm started to boom outside, annoucing the arrival of baby Devin. And, just at that moment, Dr. Pollon finally came into the room. Timing is everything ....

In retrospect, Renee's contractions near the end of labor were following a pattern: 2 minutes apart, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 8 minutes. Looking at this now, Monika feels as though this was indicative of the cord being wrapped around Devin's neck, as the uterus was trying not to squeeze the baby out in a bad way. It (the uterus and body) were waiting for things to correct themselves before pushing the baby through. Moving to the epidural and pitocin earlier (at the 6 a.m. time frame) may have been somewhat detrimental, as the pitocin would have been extra harsh on the baby's environment, not allowing for things to "pull back" when the body wasn't comfortable. Doing things as we did, we actually never really recieved any pitocin (technically, we did, per doctor's orders, but by the time Renee was ready to push, the pitocin wasn't even in Renee's system).

As things were winding down and I was able to catch my breath, I called Grandma Jackie to give her the good news and ask her bring Aidan over, the new big brother, so he could be Devin's very first visitor. While talking with Grandma Jackie, I found out that Aidan had been patiently asking all day about when it would be time to visit the baby, and that they had baked a birthday cake for the baby.

Once Aidan learned the baby was a boy, Aidan was very excited to come and visit his new baby brother, Devin the Dragon (Aidan wanted to name the baby Dragon, but we told him we couldn't do that; however, we were able to accomodate this by naming the baby Devin Drake — Drake meaning Dragon in Old Norse and Old English — so Aidan will tell you that the baby's name is really Devin the Dragon).

Devin's Two Weeks Old

Devin is two weeks old, which means we have a doctor's appointment scheduled to check on how things are going. According to the doctor, he is looking great. All signs of jaundice are gone (or virtually gone).

Devin has put on a pound since his birth (he now weighs in at a hefty 9 lbs 10 oz), which is fairly impressive, as most babies are hoping to get back to their original birth weight at this point.

Where's the Car?

Today is one month since the car accident and I still don't have my car. I was originally going to put the claim through the other guy's insurance (the guy who rear-ended me), but they've been dragging their feet and may end up costing me about a month's worth of car rental (only recently did they tell me that they would only cover car rental expenses while my car is actually being worked on — despite the fact that my car is undriveable; this is being disputed, but nothing is resolved at this point).

Anyway, the short story is that I am now putting my claim through Geico (who again, seems to be doing whatever they can to make my life easier). Estimates are that I should be able to get my car by the beginning of next week, possibly sooner.

The odd thing is that I've been without my car for so long, I'm actually experiencing a certain amount of anxiety about getting my car back. A coworker of mine had a similar experience, and was in a rental car for almost three months. She, too, was slightly anxious about getting her car back. We've sort of likened it to meeting up with a boyfriend (or girlfriend) that you hadn't seen in a long time. Would you two still have things in common? Would you still get along like you did before you had some "time off?"

Regardless, I'm all too ready to get rid of the rental and I miss my Element far too much to not wish for its speedy return. But I do have these odd feelings that things are different and that maybe things won't be like they used to be...

Time for a Breath and an Update

It's been a little busy around here, but everything is generally going extremely well. Aidan seems to be quite smitten with Devin; Devin is getting over his mild case of jaundice. Renee is having some issues with getting enough sleep and having much too much milk available for Devin (which, from what I hear, is the better problem to have — better than not having enough milk).

Devin has been the picture-perfect infant: sleeping, eating, and pooping. The only time that he cries is when his diaper is being changed. Other than that, he seems to be one very content little boy.

Aidan has been doting over Devin since he was first introduced to him. The very moment that Devin cries, Aidan wants to help, find out what the matter is, or point out what's amiss. For example, this evening Devin fell asleep in his car seat, so we left him in there. After a while, he started to stir, twisting his face in a grimace and looking generally uncomfortable. Aidan noticed and proudly announced, "my baby doesn't like it there anymore." When I got up to move Devin to a more comfortable location, Aidan jumped up with me and said, "Let my do it!"

Special Picture Update

There's sooooo much that needs to be shared, but I don't have the energy or time to do it properly at the moment. Please, let this suffice for the moment and be assured that more information will be forthcoming! :)

So, enjoy the early July pictures; there's many of our new family member, Devin, who is Aidan's little brother. The pictures fairly well document his first 48 hours of life...

Happy Birthday

Welcome to the world, Devin Drake! He was born at 3:41 p.m. He was 8 lbs 10 oz and 22 inches long. Aidan was Devin's first visitor and it looked like Aidan couldn't have been a happier big brother. Grandma Jackie and Aidan baked a cake for Devin, and we all got to eat some real birthday cake!

Observations from School

Aidan's teacher made the following observations of Aidan at school:

• While outside at the picnic table, Aidan was pretending pieces of a puzzle were chocolate-banana cookies. He said, "Who wants cookies?" I said, "I do!"

  Aidan said, "Okay, one at a time!"

• While discussing with the children what they though I was having for a baby [Aidan's teach is also pregnant], I asked Aidan what he though about his baby, and he said, "A boy, a big boy!"

Running to Stand Still

Renee has wanted to go swimming for days. It's been hot, she's near the end of the pregnancy, and she loves the water. Renee's been overdue for a swim. Except that the circumstances never worked in her favor.

Friday night, Renee wanted to go. I had to work late that night, thinking it was going to be my last full week at work, and I needed to ensure that certain things got handed off. So Renee asked Aidan if he'd go swimming with her, but he refused. Adamantly.

Last Saturday, we finally got things worked out to meet Kathryn and Silas at their pool and a cook-out on the grill. We headed out the door around 5:15 p.m.

Around 5:20 we arrived at the corner of Slaughter Lane and Brodie Lane. We were in the right-hand lane, a lane that has access to a gas station. This gas station isn't very well situated; it can be difficult to get in and out, especially when the tanker is filling up the tanks.

The light turns red and I stop, second in line behind a pick-up truck. Once the light turns green, I follow the truck through the intersection, but the truck stops. I'm not sure why, but I soon realize it's because vehicles are trying to get in and out of the gas station. And, of course, the tanker is there, blocking the way.

I am prone to checking the rear-view mirror a lot lately, as I was in an accident on April 20, where someone rear-ended me; I was alone in the car and other than some relatively minor physical damage to the car, there wasn't anything outrageous about that accident.

As I notice the pick-up truck stop, I slow and then come to a stop; and check my rear-view mirror. There's a car coming and it's not slowing down fast enough. I brace for impact.

The car hits me, then pushes me forward into the truck in front of me. Aidan starts to get a little upset and is whimpering/crying. The truck in front of me, a Ford F-150, is obviously looking for a place to pull over, and starts to pull into the gas station. However, the driver realizes that would be difficult considering the circumstances (too much traffic and the tanker blocking the way), so I follow the truck down to the next driveway for a business that looks closed for the weekend. The car behind me follows.

I turn the engine off and walk to the back of my Element. Not bad. About what I would have expected, especially after my recent experience; the back bumper takes the damage pretty well and doesn't really show much superficial damage. The impact was pretty slow; no one's airbags went off. Maybe this isn't going to be so bad.

I stroll to the front and see radiator fluid leaking and a large diviot in my front end. The F-150 had a trailer hitch and it planted itself neatly into the front of my Element. Really, other than that, the front bumper did pretty well, too. But my radiator is obviously cracked and the front end, while not completely messed-up, is displaced. I start swearing. I'm not going to be able to drive out of this.

If I wasn't rear-ended so recently, I probably would have been okay. But the other accident is still so fresh in my memory and ... well. I lost my temper a little.

Aidan is still a little upset, and Renee seems disturbed, but okay.

Renee walks over to me and helps me (and Aidan) calm down. Once I get my head together, I call my car insurance company (Geico). They get my information, then ask to speak to the driver of the vehicle who hit me. They get his information and then the information for the F-150.

Both other vehicles look fine; there is virtually no damage to the back of the F-150 and the owner says as much — at the scene of the accident, he had no intentions of filing any claim.

The other car, a Lexus RS 300 looks like it was in pretty good shape as well. The front bumper might need replacing, but in a pinch, I don't think anyone would have known that it was the point of impact for the accident. The driver gives me his business card and I learn that he's a capitan for Continential Airlines and from the information on the card, I guess he flies their 757/767 jets.

The driver of the F-150 and I talk for a little while and he tells me that when he stopped, he looked in his rear-view mirror and noticed that I stopped. He was thusly very surprised to feel an impact. He and his passengers (two women and a dog) all seemed to be doing well.

At this point, the heat is getting to all of us. The people from the F-150 provide some juice and water for Renee and Aidan and the driver of the Lexus offers to drive Renee and Aidan home so they don't have to sit in the heat while we wait for a tow. I obviously wasn't thinking very clearly, and I accept. Renee doesn't object, either. (Sending them home with a stranger? What the hell was I thinking?)

I stay and wait for a tow. However, Geico wasn't going to be able tow my car because I didn't have Roadside Assitance with them, and I also wasn't planning on putting the claim through them (I planned on putting my claim through the airline pilot's insurance — it seemed clear-cut that all the damage was the fault of the driver who hit me). That's fine, I said. That's why I pay my dues to AAA.

So Renee, Aidan and the airline pilot head off. The F-150 leaves. I am alone in the heat of Texas and make my call to AAA. After a few moments, they tell me they can send a wrecker out to my location in about 30-40 minutes. So I open all the doors to my car and I sit inside, out of the sun, waiting to get towed.

And then it dawns on me. Renee needs to call Dr. Love's office to make sure that the baby's alright. Renee had shown no ill-effects from the accident, but we never really did properly check the baby. I think everything is probably alright, but still, better safe than sorry. So I call home after what I felt was an appropriate length of time for them to get to the house. No answer.

I panic. I call Kathryn to tell her that, first, we're obviously not coming to go swimming and, second, that I'm an idiot and that my pregnant wife and son were in the car with someone who obviously isn't the best driver on his best day and who knows what other crazy things were part of his résumé. She offers to head directly over to the house and check on them while I wait for the tow. Thank God for friends like Kathryn.

I call the house again; no answer. Great. Now, I'm really panicked. I'm imagining the worst. I call again. Renee answers. Finally, a moment of relief. Everything will be okay. I tell her to call Dr. Love's office and inform her that Kathryn is headed over to be with them at the house.

After a few minutes, either I call Renee again or she calls me (I can't remember which) and her voice is not steady. She's been instructed to go directly to the hospital; she'll need to be there for a minimum of four hours for observation.

My moment of relief is gone. I have a full-blown ulcer at this point. I see Kathryn's truck drive by and I know that at least Renee will have Kathryn to drive her to the hospital and be with her, even if Kathryn doesn't know that yet. But I have to wait for the stupid tow truck; I'll take Renee's car to the hospital once I get home.

I call Monika, our doula, to let her know the situation, except that I get her voicemail. I leave a message, and try the number again, as the voicemail system had told me that there was also a paging option. However, when I call the second time, Monika picks up.

She tells me she was in a movie (sorry, movie folks; please forgive the intrusion) and I tell her about our situation and ask her to call Renee at the house to see if there's anything that needs to be done.

Around the 40-minute mark, a wrecker from All-Star towing shows up. I am eternally grateful and I want to make friends with the driver; he is going to be the beginning of things getting better and forgotten. I greet the driver and notice his name is Gus. I immediately like Gus.

Gus asks me for the police report. What police report, I ask. The police didn't come. We didn't need them. Gus looks a little out of sorts. He tells me that he can't tow my Element without a police report. He says that he could get in trouble for towing a car without a police report.

This all sounds ridiculous to me, but I'm in no place to argue. I just need to get home so I can get to the hospital. I tell Gus the situation; about my wife being nine-months pregnant and about the accident. If you can't tow my car, then please, just give me a lift back to my house, which is only 3 miles away. Gus tells me that he can't do that. He has other calls to make.

I am livid. Gus is not being the person that I need him to be; that I expected him to be. I plead my case one more time. He refuses. I start to run home.

On my way home, sometimes walking, sometimes running, I make some phone calls. I call my friend and Aidan's godfather Jeffrey. I let him know what's up, and that he may be needed to watch Aidan at some point, as I wasn't sure what the situation was with Renee and the baby. I call Monika for an update, but get her voicemail again. I call Kathryn and find out that Renee has since calmed down and is in pretty good spirits. Once Renee find out what I'm doing (running three miles home in 100-degree weather), she tells me to take a shower first before coming ot the hospital.

I call AAA and give them an earful. I tell them the situation. They give me excuses. I tell them that all I need at this point is for someone to tow my car. They make more excuses. I hang up. I call Gieco. Oddly enough, I end up with the same person that I had when I first called the accident in. She's very friendly and tells me not to worry, that they will take care of the car. They tow 24/7. She just wants me to focus on getting to the hospital with my wife. She was much nicer than Gus.

Eventually, I do get home. The heat never really did bother me, nor did the running. At least, not while I was running. Now, I am a little tired, a lot thirsty ... of course, we are all out of cold water so, like an idiot, I don't drink anything. I think about taking a shower, but I"m too wound up. I turn on the computer and e-mail Renee's cousin Matthew, who is a lawyer. I hate AAA and I tell him about it.

My cell phone rings several times; it's Monika telling me that she spoke with Renee and things appear okay for the moment — other than observation reasons, there's nothing to really worry about; Kathryn calls me to remind me to bring the infant car seat — just in case. I think AAA called me and tries to tell me their reasons for not towing. I don't have time for this, I reply. Either tow my car or get off the phone. They continue with excuses. I didn't want to go through any red-tape; I just wanted my car towed and get to the hospital. At this point, they were getting in the way of both things.

Their solutions were paltry and not very useful and required me to do more than I needed or wanted to do (go to the police station, file a report, etc. and then they could come tow). I tell them that I don't have time for this, I need solutions, not excuses or additional forms to fill out or hoops to jump through. Fix the problem or get out of the way. I hang up.

By the way, basically, they were telling me it was a law that tow trucks couldn't pick up cars from an accident without a police report. This perplexes me. Why would this be necessary as it would be next to impossible to tell the difference between a disabled vehicle being towed and an accident vehicle being towed. What would be the probable cause to pull over the driver of the tow truck?

Also, as it turns out, if involved in an auto accident in the state of Texas, you are legally obliged to do the following: move the vehicles out of the right of way, if possible, share insurance information with all parties involved, file an accident report with your insurance within 10 days. Note the lack of police report ...

I eventually get to the hospital, some time around 8 o'clock. Renee got there around 7 o'clock won't be released until 11 o'clock. Kathryn and Doug (her boyfriend) take Silas and Aidan out for dinner (I completely forgot about food). Renee and I catch up while Renee eats a turkey sandwich that the nurse was able to scrounge up for her. I drink all of Renee's Gatorade that she's been saving for labor. So far, it appears, nothing unusual. No contractions, the baby's heartbeat is perfect. Everything appears fine. Finally. Some good news.

I call up the airline pilot's insurance to start the process there. After an eternity, I call AAA again to try and get my car towed. Again, I meet the resistance of a well-entrenched bureaucracy. I give up.

I call Geico and I ask if I add their Roadside Assistance package to my policy right now, can I get my car towed? They told me that I didn't need to do that. They asked me where my car was and where did I need it to be. And that was that. Wow. That sure was easy.

Geico wanted to make arraingements with me to get my car right then, but of course, I was in the hospital. We figured that I should give them a call after I get back to the house, so I can meet the wrecker with the keys, etc. It's a plan.

So ... we finally get home around 11:30ish (maybe 11:45). Everyone is exhausted, but okay. I call Geico on the special hotline I was given to get in straight to the people that knew my story. I was given a reference number that had all my case details in it, so I wouldn't have to tell everyone the whole story again. I feel like I'm finally going to get some closure. I get some hold music. For about 40 minutes I get hold music. Ugh. I didn't know that it was this hard to get a tow.

I get off the tow-my-car hotline, and called the regular number. I am connected to a live person in about 3 minutes. He patched me through to a Roadside Assistance person in about 15 minutes. Mandy, my Roadside Assistance representative, started to call around for available wreckers. By this time, dear reader, you can probably guess what happened: no wreckers available.

So much for 24/7 towing. Mandy is as confused by this as anyone. So she calls around some more. Finally, she has to call towing companies that are non-contract; meaning, I'll have to pay for the tow. Fine. Just get my car moved. Please. Mandy finally, after going through a few of the non-contract towers, gets me one. It'll be about 30-40 minutes before the wrecker can get there, Mandy tells me. That's fine. $130. Fine.

2:00 a.m. Flat-bed wrecker appears and takes my broken car home. Finally, things are going in the right direction. Now I just need to hope that the airline pilot admits to everything and that getting my car fixed goes smoothly.

Renee still hasn't gotten the chance to go swimming, perhaps the Fates don't want her to for some reason. But at least we're all safe and in bed. A little past our bedtimes, but we are all safe.

Observations from School

Some observations from Aidan's teacher at school:

• I watched as Aidan and friends played color dominoes all by themselves. Aidan was helping his friends when they had trouble with their colors.
• Aidan and his friends had cars in line behind each other two-by-two. They were racing their cars like a real race.
• A friend brought in a bagpipe CD for us to enjoy while we were playing. I watched Aidan twist to the left and to the right. Then, he took a friend's hand and started dancing with him.

Peach Hunting

Last year, we drove about an hour or so outside of Austin to get some freshly picked, wonderful Fredricksberg peaches. We got a basket of them and we ate them quickly; the basket only lasted us a few days.

This year, we found out about a peach orchard that's about 7 miles from our house. Obviously a much shorter ride. And last years peaches were picked for us, which is fine, but what's the fun in that? The orchard around the corner from our house allows you to pick your own, which Aidan loved. He called it "peach hunting."

We gathered up about two baskets worth of peaches, although Aidan had to induldge himself with a peach after we picked the first couple off the trees. He followed us, munching on his very crisp (yet incredibly sweet) peach as Renee and I picked peaches.

The orchard manager eventually came by (his name is Rom) and offered to give Aidan a peach, unaware that Aidan had already helped himself. However, Aidan was too receptive, so Renee and I each got to eat one straight off the tree. Renee's peach was soft, juicy and sweet. Mine was harder, crisp (like Aidan's) and incredibly sweet. I found it odd that the crisp peach (and what I assume to be the less ripe peach) was so much more sweeter than the soft peach Renee was eating. No worries, though. Both peaches were delicious, and we had two baskets full!

The orchard is also right next to a beautiful Hindu temple. After picking our peaches, we strolled the grounds and saw a dozen or so peacocks with baby chicks. It was quite a wonderful day, and all accomplished before the heat of the day knocked us out of commission.

Picture Update

Our Memorial Day weekend was actually fairly relaxing and productive at the same time (I feel both rejuvinated and that I've accomplished things). Part of that may come from a wonderfully relaxing evening we spent last night with Jeffrey, his aunt and his grandmother. It was the perfect way to end a long weekend.

Jeffrey made us a wonderful spaghetti dinner that even his Italian grandmother approved of (well, besides the strawberries in the salad — but Jeffrey's aunt made the salad, so we can't hold that against Jeff).

Anyway, this month's pictures have a bunch from Renee's surprise baby shower and include a few from our Memorial Day weekend, including some of Aidan's godfather, Jeffrey, with Jeffrey's grandmother.

Fun in the Sun

Our Memorial Day weekend has at least been psychologically washed out by weather reports. It was largely predicted that this weekend would see lots of rain, and that's been more or less true. However, most of the rain has come at night, leaving the days mostly clear and enjoyable (although hot and sticky).

In order to cool off, Aidan and Renee put on their bathing suits and ran through the sprinkler in the backyard. Aidan was very much in the running part of the equation, but he had some trouble with the through-the-sprinkler part. He prefered just to put his hands or feet in the water, which was fine until he stepped on the sprinkler and "readjusted" it so that it only sprayed into the ground.

Oh, and for anyone who may have been partly involved in our search for a grill, the search ended yesterday at Lowe's. We purchased a BBQ Grillware grill, which came with free assembly and a free filled tank of propane. It's a very large grill, but I was able to fit it in the back of the Element (after unassembling parts of the already-assembled grill). I also had to make two trips, one with Aidan and Renee, then one without, as I had to rearrange the seating to accomodate the very, very big grill.

Part of the excuse to get the grill was because of the new baby. We figured it would be nice to not have to heat the house by cooking indoors so often as well as keeping things sort of simple (no large pans and such to clean). Plus, I just wanted to get a grill. I guess it's time to search out some vegetarian grill recepies.

Aidan, the Dancing Dog Who Asks Why

Aidan is officially at the stage where he incessantly asks "why." I do my best to answer him, even if I have to use "big words" to come to some conclusion, but sometimes we've boiled the "why" down to what I consider the base-constituant parts, and I can't go any further. Such as, "why is a deer a deer." I don't know. At that point, I just turn it around on him and ask Aidan why he is a person. This sufficiently confuses him (or satisfies him; I'm not sure which), and he'll stop asking "why."

I'm still looking for a good, creative way of encouraging his curiosity but still being able to withstand the barrage of questions.

On a related note, Aidan is learning how to read and can already pick out several words on a somewhat regular basis (font and context seem to throw him off sometimes). We were practicing words with him, which he loved, but it's sort of fallen out of favor these past few weeks, mostly due to people rushing around and busy schedules and all ...

We still haven't found out too much about a new school for Aidan. This search may be put off for a while, since there is just so much going on at the moment (new baby arriving, etc.). He's doing well, although his teacher at school had no idea that Aidan knew how to draw some of his letters — he can pretty much write his first name — and sign virtually the entire alphabet. Here are some observations from Aidan's teachers:

1. Aidan was in home center pretending to be the children's pet puppy. He never said a word. He only barked. He said "ruff, ruff," as he was pretending to drink from the doggy bowl.

2. I noticed Aidan and a friend dancing to some music. THey were spinning around and around in circles when they were done each time, they said "whooooooah" and laughed.

3. At circle, the children played a game of "transportation charades." Aidan pretended to ride a bike. The children immeadiately knew what he was doing!

Educating Aidan

Aidan has been soaking up so much lately. He is very interested in words and spelling and is doing well recognizing numbers. His current day care facility is base on the philosophy of learning through unstructured play. However, as one person observed, Aidan may have learned all that he can from this environment; it may be time to move him to a more structured school where he can further develop his interests and talents.

His current school, because of their philosophy, don't have the alphabet on the walls and do not help them write their names (something that Aidan is beginning to do) or associate colors with items #151; such as red :: apple).

The trick here is that we don't want to push Aidan, obviously, and stress him out before he's ready to handle the extra material. However, just this morning we decided to pick up a reading program that we originally started way back when Aidan was probably about a year old, but it soon fell out of our routine. But because of his apparent appitite for learning, we are bringing it back for him.

A friend of ours, who's son is now 8 years old, was doing this with her son and when he was about 4 years old (upon entering preschool), he was reading at a second-grade level. We'll see how this works for us....

The lesson plan is to show Aidan five words per day. After a week, we start to introduce new words. That's it. Only five. The point is to not tire him out and get bored. But after I showed him his five new words, he wanted more. And more. We probably went through about 30 words, maybe more!

The point being, is that by all appearances, Aidan is hardly being challenged, so the search is on to find a good preschool for Aidan (one mom from Aidan's school, upon hearing we were thinking of enrolling him in a preschool, said she applauded our efforts as it was widely known that Aidan was the smartest kid in the current school; whether that was said purely as a compliment and words of encouragement or as truth, it sure was wonderful to hear!).

This is in incredibly complicated thing to do, as some preschools focus specifically on physcial attributes (sports, ballet, swimming, etc.) and others on mental. Some have long waiting lists, others don't. Some are terribly expensive, others aren't (and the "good" ones are not necessarily the expensive schools). Some are convieniently located near work or home; others aren't.

Add to this equation the fact that the new baby will be arriving shortly and will potentially going to a different school (probably the one that Aidan's at currently), so we may have a lot of running around to do on drop-off and pick-up. The arrival of the new baby will also be a disruptance in Aidan's routine, so he might feel more comfortable at his old school with is old friends, as opposed to introducing new, more challenging situations.

So, our search is just beginning, updates to follow as we learn more!

Observations for Aidan

Here are some more observations from Aidan's teacher at school:

1. Aidan and friends were working in woodworking. I watched as he gathered wood and hammered away! When I asked him to tell me about it, he said, "It's a cage for a bug."

2. The children wanted to know how big my baby was [Aidan's teacher is pregnant]. So I drew them a little diagram. I had to go to the bathroom and when I got back, they all drew their own version. Aidan participated as well!

3. While outside, I noticed "the blue guy" push Aidan. Aidan yelled and said "I don't like that! Stop pushing me. Leave me alone!" I was proud of him! He didn't even ask for my help.

Baseball Trip

We headed out to Arlington yesterday with Silas and Kathryn to see a Red Sox/Rangers game. Aidan is still pretty obsessed with Johnny Damon (with a certain amount of encouragement from me, no doubt), and Aidan was really looking forward to seeing Johnny play some ball.

The first thing out of Aidan's mouth after we were through the turnstiles was, "Where's Johnny?" Then Aidan started to notice all of the Bs on everyone's hat ... "Hey! He has a B on his hat! Hey, he has a B on his hat, too! Hey ... wait a minute ... he has a T on his hat!"

As luck had it, Johnny had a pretty good game, helping the Sox win by hitting a home run (turned out to be his first of the year), an RBI double, and a bases-loaded single in what was an exciting game (at least from our perspective).

We had very good seats (section 19, row 26 ... for those not familiar with the Texas Rangers's home stadium, that's 26 rows behind the visiting team's dug out). There were a ton of foul balls hit in our direction, and if we weren't just a couple of rows under the deck above us, they would have landed directly on us. Since our section was behind the visitor's dugout, there were plenty of other Red Sox fans to share the joy. There were plenty of "Let's Go Red Sox" chants to the point that a Rangers fan in the area said to his friend, "We're at a home game, right?"

Aidan got lots of compliments, and was eventually picking up on the "Let's Go Red Sox" — he designated hims