Coming Of Age In The Milky Way

This post is more for myself than anyone else.  From the start, I've wanted to use this blog in part to leave a digital paper trail of Henry's young life.  Nearly every parent I've spoken to cautioned me about how quickly time goes by and how thoroughly memory fades.  During these first few weeks I've begun to catalogue some memories I'd like to preserve.  A few...

1) Earlier tonight, KG took over baby-watch while I got in a little nap.  Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard her singing to Henry in the next room: 

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine 

You make me happy when skies are grey 

You'll never know, dear, how much I love you  

Please don't take my sunshine away

She sang it over and over again.  It was nothing, really.  KG can't carry a tune.  All the same, her wobbly voice was so relaxed and certain.  It was the best thing.

2) Pedestrian Road Rage:  This is something that took place the day Henry was born, beforehand while driving to the hospital.  KG was in labor.  We knew we were close.  After driving along a bumpy side road, I stopped at a red light to make a right onto the main street where the hospital is located.  At that point, a man approached my car from the passenger side.  He had a round face, closely cropped hair and a four-day shadow or so.  He began yelling, I wasn't sure about what; maybe he'd planned to cross the crosswalk where I was making my turn.  Regardless, KG was sitting to my right clearly in pain, her shirt pulled up over her belly, and this guy was yelling and yelling.  I obviously needed to put a stop to it so I turned to him and said simply, "My wife's in labor," nodding towards her and hoping that'd do the trick.

The guy pulled up short, taking a quick glance at KG's naked belly.  For a moment he stood there looking dumbfounded.  Even in the midst of all this chaos it was pretty captivating.  You could see him turning over his decision: drop the tirade or continue yelling at a couple on their way to deliver their baby.  Then the guy did the most amazing thing:  He decided to keep yelling.  You could see it pass over him, the actual decision to keep going.  It was incredible.  KG and I, despite everything, just burst out laughing.  The whole situation was so absurd.  I made my right and headed off to the hospital.

3) HG's Suspicious Look:  Talking about this is SO new-parenty, but sometimes Henry busts out this sort of sideways, "you've got to be kidding me" look that just slays me.  It's so goofy in a baby.  Infants already sort of look like old people as is, then one of them goes and lowers his eyebrows at you.  I haven't been able to capture it on film yet.  If I do, I'll post a pic. 

4) White Noise:  This is perhaps the most ever-present thing in our lives right now.  Apparently, babies love it.  HG sure does.  Puts him right to sleep.  We've always got a fan running or something like that.  And loudly.  It's kind of maddening, actually, but worth it if it soothes the little guy.

5) Coming Of Age In The Milky Way: When KG breast-feeds the baby, I usually read to her from a book called Coming Of Age In The Milky Way, by Timothy Ferris.  Ferris is a popular-science writer, justifiably famous for his ability to render complex theories easy to comprehend.  The two of us are loving it.  It's funny to say this about a science book, but Coming Of Age is terrifically romantic.  Written as a history of mankind's relationship to "Time, Space, and Creation," it reads more like an adventure novel than a work of non-fiction.  It's also filled with great character portraits of some pretty dashing oddballs who've shaped scientific inquiry throughout the years.  With my life currently dominated by the most mulchy of things, it's been fun to spend time prowling around the heavens with a bunch of weirdos.