More pix of Benjamin!
Aaron is taking lots of pictures, of course, and puts them up on his web site:
Go see them for lots more shots of the Portland Kunzes. (Pickle, like Smidgen, was a pre-birth name for Benjamin. He doesn't look like a pickle anymore, but he's still sort of a smidgen.)
Also, in response to numerous requests, Tualatin is pronounced:
Too - all - ah - tin. Accent on the "all." It's an Indian tribe's name, and also the name of the river behind our apartments.
Love, Mike
News from Tualatin
News from Tualatin
Benjamin, Morgan, and Aaron are home from the hospital. Benjamin is doing great ... he looks even smaller "in context." We had pot roast with the Kunzes last night, while Benjamin slept peacefully nearby on the hassock - he is a pretty quiet baby (so far,) except when he gets his pants changed ... he doesn't like the cold air! During dinner, Morgan had him wrapped up like a burrito, but he managed to extract his right hand, and seemed to enjoy waving it around.
Morgan finally hit the wall last night ... she pepped up at dinner, but then I could see she was really ready for some sleep. Benjamin is nursing, of course, so there won't be long, uninterrupted strectches of sleep for either of them for a long while, but since he's so tranquil (so far,) she should be able to catch up in the next couple of days.
Aaron is a blast ... he seems to enjoy changing diapers, and talks to his son all the time. I understand the Kunze grandparents are making a tape of themselves to play for Benjamin so that their voices are familiar when they come visit ... what a great idea! They're planning on coming the second week of October. It will be fun to see them again, and all get together to admire and dote on the baby.
It's been rainy, cool and drizzly here for the last couple of days, just as it should be in Portland. With all the discussion about emergency preparedness, talk here has been about potential earthquakes. Portland is one of the very few cities in the world to be built not near a volcano, but on top of one! There are several small hills around town which are old eruption cones. Analysts say the worst place in the Portland area to be if a big earthquake happens is Tualatin. Great.
I expect all the Kunzes' friends are visiting them today ... we will go up to see them if they call, but otherwise we'll give them a little space. They're all warm, safe, with lots of diapers, food, and new baby stuff. We'll probably get together for dinner again tomorrow.
More later -
Love all you guys!
Mike and Karen
News from Tualatin
News from Tualatin
Our first priority today, of course, was to visit Benjamin and his folks! He's terrific! Thanks for all the lovely responses to my quick e-mail announcement yesterday! We can't wait until we have a chance to introduce him to all of you!
(A few extra exclamation points for your use, if I miss a sentence: !!!!!!!!!)
While we were there at the hospital this morning, Aaron carried him down the hall to be circumscised. Yikes! Aaron said he (Benjamin) slept through the whole operation (they used a local anaesthetic, of course!) When they came back, Aaron gave the sleeping baby back to Morgan (their first separation!) Benjamin woke up, and we got to hear him in full voice for the first time! He's been so quiet and peaceful up til now, but it's clear he can be a good, strong, full-tilt yelper when the circumstances warrant it (which they certainly did in this case!)
Then, the most amazing thing happened! Aaron put his face down on the baby's tummy, and crooned to him quietly while Morgan rocked him, and right away, Benjamin quieted down, and was soon peacefully asleep again! Aaron's got the kid nip! He's gonna be (already is!) a wonderful dad.
Morgan's also completely in mom mode ... how did this happen? She's completely in a team with Benjamin, in rapport. I think it's great how the hospital's set up to give the family maximum bonding time in the first few hours of life. It works.
We left the Kunze three-family to themselves to get some more sleep, if possible, this afternoon, and went home to take a nap ourselves ... this grand-parenting thing is just exhausting!
More later!
Love you guys -
Mike and Karen
News from Tualatin
News from Tualatin
Special Edition
Please Welcome to the World:
Benjamin Michael Lawrence Kunze
born 09/14/05 at 7:26 p.m.
wt.: 6lb. 11oz.
ht: 20"
Photos to follow by separate e-mail!
Yay!
Benjamin & Mom are doing well. I think Dad will make it! Gramma and Grandad are just swooning. I guess they have kept improving babies because Benjamin is without a doubt the cutest baby ever. Most other newborns I've seen were all skwinched-up and pruney, but he isn't at all - he looks like a perfect prototype example of a cute baby. In my humble and completely objective opinion.
I'm sending pictures separately so those of you who are on dial-up can get this news quickly, then let the pix take their time downloading.
Love you all,
Mike and Karen
News from Tualatin
News from Tualatin
It was great idea to drive the truck here.
Like many great ideas, it hasn't quite lived up to billing. As I mentioned previously, we picked up an intermittent clatter on the way here, perhaps when I substantially over-revved the engine leaving Denver (one is always eager to leave Denver.)
We had it checked out at a dealer nearby, who, as I also mentioned, did $1000 worth of work that didn't actually involve what we took in for. In addition to which, replacement car rental.
Then this Saturday, the "Check Engine" light appeared. I love this light. It's the automotive equivalent of when you go to the doctor's office, and while he examines you, he goes "Hmmm." That's generally not good, but it could be as bad as an infected pimple (a clogged PCV valve) or as bad as an errant heart beat (a cracked block.) In the case of the truck, I'm thinking cracked block kinda money.
The point being, we are without our vehicle yet again, so we went back to the local Hertz shop and are now driving a brand-spanking new Ford 500 sedan, rental white.
So, (hint here), since Morgan and Aaron are at the hospital (!), when the changing table they ordered at Babies-R-Us (imagine the "R" is backwards) came in, we thought we'd make ourselves useful and go get it for them.
I'm thinking it will be like furniture we've picked up before ... kinda shipped in pieces, some assembly required. Wrong again. They wheel out a box the size of the smallest side-by-side refrigerator (no ice maker), and I look at it with one eye, while looking sceptically at the Ford's trunk with the other eye, and winking at Karen with the other eye. No way. If only I owned a pickup truck! That wasn't in the shop, that is.
But, you know what? The B-R-Us store is only a block away from the place we turned in our U-Haul trailer when we gor here! So, quick like bunnies, we drove over to the U-Haul place, left our rental sedan, rented a pickup truck, went back to B-R-Us, had the stockroom guy load the changing table into the rented pickup for us, and drove it over to the Kunze's.
We are armed with a key and the secret code ring for their security system, so Karen and I made what must have been an amusing spectacle of ourselves getting this gigantic and very heavy box into their house without (a) ruining it, (b) summoning the police, or (c) causing bodily damage to one or both of us.
Partial success ... it now sits in their dining room. Right side up and undamaged, though!
You're probably wondering about that "Morgan and Aaron at the hospital" thing right? Well, my lips are sealed, but for those of you pressing for late September birthdays to match your own ... forget it. The hospital they're at (St. Vincent's) has really nice birthing rooms, where the dad can stay with the mom for as long as necessary, but grandparents and third cousins twice removed are removed ... twice, if necessary. So, we went to see them off into the ward this morning, and wait now by the phone, well ... expectantly.
Right now, I have very little interest in when or whether my truck gets fixed.
More later.
Love you guys!
Karen and Mike
