Halloween!

Here are are boys in their Haloween costumes. They had a big day today with a party at Mark and Val's house. Waylon actually liked wearing his costume this year. Waylon has had a big week - the first at his new school. Miss Susan says he is the youngest kid in the class but that he is "very advanced." She was impressed that he could spell his name and that he knows all of his colors. You can imagine her surprise when I told her he knew most of the fifty states cna could put them in the proper place in his State Puzzle!

Calvin is doing great, too. This kid has a motor that doe snot stop. We never even had to childproof the house with Waylon. Calvin is quite another story. He is only nine months, but we think he will be walking very soon. He has always been abnormally strong and extra motivated.

Suni and I truly feel lucky to have such wonderful kids.

More from Iowa

When we were back in the Hawkeye State, we went to Bloomsbury Farm near
Atkins, Iowa. The kids had a blast! Here are some pictures of Waylon jumping
on the jumping pillow.

Another one bites the dust...

Suni and I are both old souls. We like tradition. We are throwbacks. That is why this is a travesty. Gourmet was the only magazine to which Team Stinson subscribed. Goodbye, old friend. The question I have... if the magazine had survived a couple more years, would the NYT still have been around to report its demise?

Back in Iowa

We arrived in Kansas City on time on Thursday, October 15. Suni’s mom and her boyfriend, Dan, picked us up at the airport. We went to stay at Dan’s house on Thunderhead Lake in Unionville, Missouri, just across the Iowa line. (It’s always been said that if you took the southern-most tier of Iowa counties and gave it to Missouri, it would double the IQ of both states). We had a great time! Dan took us on a tour of his hunting property in a Polaris Ranger. Waylon got to “drive,” and the glee is evident on his face.

Calvin, as always, has just been rollin' with the flow, trying to make sure he demolishes something every ten minutes or so.

Yesterday Suni and I left the boys in Missouri with Grandma and headed northeast. Last night we ate at Jake’s Steaks in Walker, Iowa. Jake’s is a typical slice of Iowa nirvana – a place where you can pick your steak from the cooler (where it just arrived from the meat locker across the street) and throw it on the grill yourself. The place was packed, so we sat around making each other laugh until there was enough

space around the grill to squeeze in.

As usual, my wife was aghast that I ordered the 24-ounce porterhouse. Actually, I think her amazement was feigned, as she has seen me unfailingly order the biggest steak available for at least eight years now. I’m being honest when I say I could have eaten at least 24 more ounces of that scrumptious dead bovine.

Tim and Jaime, Tad and Jeni, Brandon and Monica, and Suni and I went to Winn’s, across the street and heard the former mayor of Walker play some guitar. We also saw the current mayor nearly come to fisticuffs with some other bar patron! Now, that’s excitement in Linn County, baby!

Last night, Tim and I were discussing the merits of Camel Snus.

Talk soon turned to tobacco of all sorts, and I told them about Papaw chewing his Red Ox twist. When the fellas informed me that twist tobacco wasn’t available in Iowa, I promised to send some Red Ox. I researched it this morning and learned the reason for unavailability. The crap is made by R.C. Owen Co., some obscure manufacturer in Gallatin, Tennessee. That crap probably isn’t available anywhere outside of Tennessee. I definitely owe it to the wives to make sure the guys get their hands on some of that stuff.

The Talker

Tonight I had the pleasure of "interviewing" Waylon. I was dictating some letters tonight when he wanted to climb up in my lap and talk into my "microphone." I think he may have a future in radio. Some of the audio got cut off when Waylon was manning the controls, but I still love to hear him answer my very tough questions. Notice that he completely dodges the last one.

I have traveled an unprecedented amount this week, already having logged 1,020 miles with another 900 to go before the week ends. I couldn't wait to see the boys! I have a picture on my phone of Waylon holding Cal that I look at at least ten times a day. I'm so keenly aware lately of how precious these years are. I know that these are days for which we will long much too soon.

I can see Waylon maturing before my very eyes. He has developed a conversational tone to his speech that can be outright shocking. The thoughts that occupy his little mind is hilarious. Suni reported the following bedtime conversation tonight.

Suni lay with him in a bit in his bed and recounted his day, as is their routine. A bit out of the blue, Waylon asked "You have a vacumm cleaner?" Before Suni could even fathom the impetus for this question, Waylon answered it himself. "Oh yeah, it's in your bedroom."

They talked a while longer. Sensing Suni's imminent departure, he squeezed her neck to try to restrain her. (He is already experienced enough to know that he can do so under the guise of showing affection). Suni explained that it was time for her to go to bed, as well. Just as she was walking out Waylon's bedroom door, Waylon bolted upright in bed and cried out "Mama!?"

Suni's heart sank, as she expected at that moment to have to deal with a mini-tantrum. "Yes, buddy," Suni said, hoping for a reasonable request like a cup of water.

"Mama, I don't like wolves."

"Me either," Suni said, "That's why I'm glad there aren't any around here, buddy." Satisfied, Waylon lay back down and went to sleep.

Ah, that's our boy!

Happy Birthday, Cole!!

Today is my darling husband's birthday and I thought I'd steal a great idea from my friend Jenni and make a list of 31 things I love about Cole. I also wanted to post some priceless pictures as well. I particularly love the one with him in his knit Gingerbread man outfit and brown turtleneck. Ha!!! Here goes....

1. He's a true friend (my very best) and very loyal to those he holds close to his heart.

2. He's passionate.

3. He loves the Hawkeye state. Anyone who's ever met Cole knows he's mildly obsessed with Iowa. Seriously, the man should work for the Iowa Board of Tourism.

4. He loves my family and friends. He feels just at home with them as he does with his own.

5. His family!

6. He loves his career choice and is amazing at what he does.

7. He doesn't act like a typical lawyer-type. If I had a dollar for every time someone in Iowa asked me if Cole was really an attorney I wouldn't have to work.

8. He doesn't take himself too seriously.

9. He's obsessive, and not just about Iowa. This can be annoying, but it really is endearing.

10. He's an incredible cook.

11. His sense of humor.

12. He's a dreamer.

13. Whether he's talking about a beer he's just been handed or the dinner someone has prepared, Cole will often say "I think this is the best I've ever had." The great thing is, he means it whole-heartedly every time he says it.

14. His desire to learn.

15. He whistles. This was actually the first thing that attracted me to him. Who whistles these days?

16. His favorite show is the Golden Girls. Probably the second thing that attracted me to him. When we met I thought I was the only person under the age of 60 that watched it.

17. He thinks I'm neat.

18. He's forgiving.

19. He's not afraid to admit when he's been a dumbass. Good thing, because this happens a lot.

20. He cries watching television. If something on tv is sure to make a teenage girl cry you can bet your bottom dollar that Cole's at home sobbing too. Ha! It's great!

21. He has traveled all over the US and Europe and his favorite place in the world is still Iowa.

22. He was a band geek. Okay, so some others of us were too for a short while, but Cole was what you might call a Master of the Brass. Just ask him, he's proud!!

23. He's a wonderful daddy!

24. He was country when country wasn't cool.

25. He loves to travel and is always up for a new adventure.

26. His intelligence.

27. The fact that after reading this post Cole will inevitably call me and politely tell me any spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes I've made. He just can't help himself.

28. His self confidence.

29. He fits in with most any crowd.

30. He's a bit of a Renaissance man.

31. And finally, to quote The Minosaur, one of Waylon's favorite books, "He's mine. Mine, Mine, Mine!!"

I love you, Cole. Happy Birthday!!

Jonnie and "Johnny"

To say Waylon enjoyed having his Grandma in Tennessee for the week is an understatement.  Suni is going to post more later about Jonnie's visit, but I just had to put up a few pictures.  Suni is meeting with a mommy's group tonight, so I have a minute to post while Cal is sleepingon my shoulder.  (Waylon is at Nonna's house). 

Grandma took Waylon to the Aquarium of the Smokies, and W did not like the sharks.  I don't think it is an inaccurate to say they actually scared the piss out of him.  I missed a momentous event while I was stuck in Purgatory (Memphis).  The same day they went to the Aquarium, Waylon peed in his potty!  I was absent for this urination event, but I am extremely proud.  It will just be a matter of time before Waylon is peeing in Gatorade bottles on road trips with Dad. 

Below is a picture of Waylon beside his golden treasure.  Counter-clockwise is Waylon and Grandma this morning before she left; Waylon, Grandma, and Briggs at bath time; and Waylon walking Briggs, or, as Grandma correctly characterized it, Briggs walking Waylon. 

  

Grandma may be gone back to Iowa, but her presence lives on.  She left a bottled water that Waylon insists on drinking from.  He just dumped it all over himself. 

Snowy Day at Home

Only in Tennessee do law offices close for weather - in this case, about half an inch of snow.  I'm not complaining, as I was privileged enough to work from home today, which allowed me to spend some time with the family.  Here is a picture of Calvin getting ready to go to the doctor.  Notice he is donning the headwear of his future team.  Here is one of Waylon sporting his own weird hat. 

Here are a couple of shots of our boys in the baby basket. 

It's supposed to snow more tonight.  Guess we'll see...

A Good Big Brother

Suni and I were more than a little concerned about how Waylon would receive Calvin.  Our fear was that his emotional response would either be callous indifference or outright hostility.  Waylon is generally well-behaved, but, like all children, he can be quite jealous.  Thus, our concern.  Well, for the first time in his twenty-two months of life, Waylon’s parents sold him short. 

Waylon has been so sweet to Calvin.  He actually shows Cal genuine love, to the point where it has been moving a time or two.  Granted, there is plenty of time for jealousy to develop.  But, for now, we couldn’t be prouder of our little man.  In  the future, I hope Suni and I make a conscious effort to trust Waylon’s good nature.  I think there is some truth in the adage that “children behave like you expect them to.” 

The only interesting post-Calvin development is demonstrated in this picture.  Waylon has never put things in his mouth that don’t belong.  I know you don’t believe it, but even when he was an infant, he just didn’t explore with his mouth the way most babies do.  Well, today, he has put everything he can find in his mouth, including his colored Sesame Street Fizzy Bath Colors.  This picture shows the result of that experiment.  From  the look on Waylon’s face, the red one must not have tasted very good!  We both laughed, and he rinsed his mouth out.  I hope those things aren’t toxic.

Come to think of it, I think I will tell people this is Waylon’s Ozzy Osbourne impression.  It looks like he just bit the head off a bat.  The “blood splatter” on the bathtub wall adds some authenticity.  (Did anyone know Ozzy actually pulled that stunt in Des Moines?)   

A few more photos

Here are a few more of the kids today. 

We’re home!

We got home from the hospital today around 11:00.  Cal and Suni are both doing great.  Cal has a big appetite.  He’s doing well with feeding and we are supplementing with a syringe.

Several people have asked about Suni’s hernia.  It was a non-factor during the birth, and Dr. Metalka, Suni’s obstetrician said that surgical repair may not even be necessary. 

Here are some pictures taken while we were still at the hospital.

Here are some pictures I took after we got home today while my sister was holding Cal. 

I can’t stop taking pictures, so there will be more. 

New Arrival

Calvin is here, and I was off by a mile on the ETA. I had barely posted my last blog entry when Dr. Metelka came in and talked to us for about thirty minutes, all the while monitoring Suni’s contractions. The nurse came in at 12:12, and Dr. Metelka announced, “She’s full and at plus two station. Let’s deliver this baby. If I had quit talking to them, he would have been born on his due date.” The nurse thought he was joking. So did we. He wasn’t.

The room came alive with activity and people materialized out of nowhere. Dr. Metelka left the room to scrub in, I presume, and the nurses told Suni to push. After two pushes, Dr. Metelka came back in and told Suni to stop pushing. It was 12:16. Two minutes later, Dr. Metelka told Suni to start pushing again. At 12:20, Calvin was delivered. I cut the cord at 12:21. All in all, the speed with which this baby was delivered was stunning!

It has really been a great experience. The nurse with us all night, Renee, a Cleveland transplant, has been wonderful. Suni is doing wonderfully. Despite having to have a total of six stitches, Suni is reporting pain that is “not bad enough to take a Tylenol or anything.”

At birth, Calvin weighed 7 lbs. 9.5 oz. He is 19 inches long. He has a pretty full head of dark hair. Here is a picture I just took with my phone. 

Calvin is almost here!

Well, this is too rich.  Blount Memorial Hospital has a strong wireless signal here in the Family Birthing Center (FBC), so I am blogging from Suni’s birth suite. 

At about 6:00, as Suni, Waylon, and I were sitting down for dinner, Suni said, “I think I’m starting to have labor pains.” 

“Okay,” I said, “I’m going to call my mom.”  That is a man’s reaction to anything even slightly traumatic… or at least this man’s.  So I did just that, at which point the wife said, “Let’s go to Target and get Waylon some toys.”

Now, I found that to be an odd response to labor pains, but who I am to argue with a woman in labor?  So, my mom picked up Waylon, and off we went to Target.  There we saw my Aunt Judy and Uncle Ronnie, bought Waylon some toys, and went home to watch House.  The House intro has not yet begun when Suni emerged from the bathroom and said “We need to go to the hospital.”

Ten minutes later we walked into the FBC.  We were in triage less than forty-five minutes, then they moved Suni in a room.  I ran home to get the camera, and returned to discover that there were some developments.  It is now 11:20, and the epidural is starting to kick in.  Much to Suni’s chagrin, she got no Stadol this go ‘round. 

My ETA for Calvin Ford Stinson is 06:15.  I’ll keep you posted.  I wanted to photoblog this, but Suni said I could either do that or stay married.  I guess there will be no pictures. 

Is today the day?

We go in to Women’s Care Group here in Maryville this morning at 9:00 for Suni’s regular 40-week checkup.  Today is the due date.  We’ll see what they say, but I am thinking they will want to induce tomorrow or Wednesday.

My pal Nick has been kind enough to take my Memphis trip for me on Wednesday, clearing the way for me to stay home this week.

We just sent Waylon off to daycare, but we have to pick him up and take him to the ENT for his tubes follow-up.  We’ll keep you posted on the developments (or lack thereof) of the day.  

Waylon at 22 Months

Here are a few recent pictures of our little man.  Here he is coloring with his markers, helping me take ashes out of the fireplace, posing having completed that task, and running under the parachute at “’nastics.”    

 

Waylon’s at a fun age.  He seems to be a pretty bright little guy.  He can count to ten and knows many of his letters and all his colors.  He has long known all the Backyardigan and Sesame Street characters by name and color.  He knows almost all shapes, and I did satisfy myself last night that he can differentiate between a pentagon and an octagon.  (He is still having some trouble with the hexagon).  My mom is amazed at his ability to work puzzles.  Of course, this probably has no correlation to anything much, but it sure is entertaining!

W is doing pretty well with his manners, as well.  “Please” is pretty reliable, and “thanks” is coming along.  He has started routinely saying “excuse me” and surprised me a little when he genuinely apologized to me last night when he accidentally hit me in the head with a block.  Suni and Grover must be doing a heck of a job with that subject.  It’s sure nice to have a polite young’un around the house.       

Waylon assigned Calvin a chair at the dinner table last night, indicating to us that he does “get it” on some level.  Counter-evidence of that, however, is the fact that he continues to insist that, while Mama has Calvin in her belly, Waylon has “Carl” in his belly. 

Come on out!  Despite all the helpful advice from Tim Whitehead (Thanks, buddy!), still no baby.

Where’s the dough?  As my cousin Adam pointed out yesterday, there is still no cash dropping from the sky here in East Tennessee following yesterday’s inauguration of Mr. Obama, or “BHO,” as I believe Adam dubbed our 44th president.  

In like a lion, and other things...

Well, our baby could come at any time, but I sure hope it isn’t tonight. I have to stay in Nashville tonight. I’ll have to keep my fingers crossed. In between appointments I thought I’d write a quick post of some things that were on my mind.

• We've decided on a name. The poll results notwithstanding, our baby will be called Calvin Ford Stinson. We will probably call him "Cal." He will be named after my dad's dad. Ford is Suni's mom's maiden name and the Ford family boasts some of the best people I've ever met. We're delighted with the name.

• I am really impressed with Florida State football player Myron Rolle’s decision to put the NFL on hold for the Rhodes Scholarship. Smart move. This guy graduated with a pre-med degree in 2 ½ years?! Are you kidding me?

• Everyone’s bitching about the cold here. Please. Iowa is like Antarctica right now. Wind chills of -51 degrees. This morning, Cedar Rapids was literally colder than the North and South Poles. I understand global warming isn’t as simple as its name suggests and as some people try to make it… but, seriously, this doesn’t exactly jibe with the Al Gore scenarios. Of course, Al Gore probably invented weather, so he knows.

• I’ve been listening to the audiobook The Shack, the Christian allegory that has seemingly been everywhere. I’m intrigued by the clamor in certain Christian circles about this book. I have definitely taken something away from it. It is pretty well written, and there is significant spiritual value in reading (or listening to) it. Maybe it’s my own aversion to spiritual philosophy, but it seems to overly simplify some pretty heady topics. That is my only real criticism. Through hefty dialogue with the anthropomorphic trinity, the main character will arrive at some conclusion – the “Oh, I’ve got it moment,” followed by his restatement of whatever mind-blowing lesson the trinity was trying to teach him. And I’m like “Wait a minute! How the hell did you get that out of the conversation you just had?” (I don’t mean to be irreverent, but this is just how I think and talk). So I replay the CD track, but I’m just as mystified as the first time I hear d it. I’m earnest when I say that my own denseness is probably to blame here. Anyway, if anyone has read that book, I’d love to chat about it when I’m finished. As for the hullabaloo over it, those nutjobs are what turn so many of us away from organized religion. Look up the definition of ‘allegory,’ people. This author was not trying to supplant the Bible with this work of fiction. Chuck Colson, I’ve admired you, but lighten up.

• After ignorantly thinking Facebook was a ridiculous waste of time and something only teenagers do, I have been proven half wrong. There are old people on there, too. I have reconnected with some good friends I haven’t seen in a while. And it’s free.

Yet another reason to like the Indianapolis Colts.  Like Peyton Manning, Bob Sanders, and Dallas Clark aren’t enough. 

This is what I was afraid of

If Charles Krauthammer is right, last  November’s election result is exactly what I feared.

He simply wants quiet on his eastern and western fronts so that he can proceed with what he really cares about -- his domestic agenda.

Don't be fooled by Bob Gates staying on. Obama didn't get elected to manage Afghanistan. He intends to transform America. And he has the money, the mandate and the moxie to go for it.

If this is how he’s thinking, he better wake up.  Like I said, I voted on foreign affairs.  It won’t matter that the economy sucks if we’re all having to learn to speak Russian, or Chinese, or… you get the idea.

Ready for takeoff

Waylon and Charley on the airplane.
Taken tonight, January 11, 2009

Suni took this picture of Waylon and me back in the fall. The three of us took a drive on back roads up to the Foothills Parkway. We had gotten out to stretch our legs and look over Maryville from an overlook on the Parkway.