As the dust settles

Today was my lazy day. I hardly did anything at all, much less leave my apartment all day, but it balances out with the rest of the crazy weekend I had going on. How better to cap it all off than tell the story?

I've got a brand new baby nephew now, Laurence Ryan Sexton. It's an amazing reminder of how small they start since it's been 2 years and change since I held a baby that size. And he's a totally clean slate right now, a whole story ahead to write.

I spent lots of my time wrangling Leah and trying to keep her entertained/distracted so other things would go smoothly. But she did get to spend some time with her little brother and is already very protective of him. I think it's gonna be especially interesting seeing a similar little-brother-big-sister pairing from the outside.

I also forgot how little we make home-cooked meals when a baby comes. Nearly 100% of eatings were bought elsewhere. Let's see if I can remember them all: 5 Guys, Chevy's, Panda Express, Wendy's, Uno's, Dunkin Donuts, Blimpie, Chipotle... I forget what else, but I'm surely 10# heavier.

I guess bad timing and seniority came into play a few times because I wasn't getting much arm-time with the kid. Some people only had one day there, then feedings and check-ups and other stuff was postponing me. But things settled enough that I got the time I was waiting for. Not sure if I'm the first to sing to him, but I'm surely the first to sing him a Skynyrd song. Actually, I played him the Shinedown cover of "Simple Man," but it's still very moving.

Homecoming was yesterday and all were very happy to be there, including Chris' spine on account of the craptastic chair-bed. I stuck around to make sure things were settled, then left the family to themselves for some peace and quiet. Of course further peace and quiet will come on the whim of their two children now. God help them. I am very happy to be back at my own home and working on my own schedule.

Blogger is being retarded about posting these pictures, but here's one for warm-up, and there will be hundreds more to follow. Ciao.