James Is Here!

With much anticipation, James Paxman B. arrived 1:33am Sunday, 9/19/10. He was 7 lbs 4 oz at birth. Behold:

Here he is a few minutes into life.

20 inches of awesomeness.

Extreme closeup! Who does he look like most? Let's get a larger sample size to assess:

With eyes open! I'm predicting brown eyes like his mom.

Sarah Jane's mother Cathy also was born on the 19th of September. Happy birthday Grandma! It should be noted that 4 hours after being requested, Cathy arrived to the hospital from Utah. Impressive. Most impressive. And most helpful.

Some of you may be wondering how the delivery went. It's really not for me to say, but we both agree that things went smoother than last time. But it's really not for me to say.

Enough said.

...And on the other side. Thanks for bringing this baby into the world! Bless the bearers of children.

Relief and exhaustion. And Lansinoh. But doesn't SJ look great?

Father and son.

Not a lot of drama with this kid so far. He didn't really cry upon arrival, and so far he doesn't fuss much. I'm crossing my fingers as I'm typing that he will continue to maintain a mild temperament. At least for a while as we adjust to life with two children. Speaking of which, here's Norah on the big day.

So far she's been great around him. Not great when not around him, but she has been a good big sister.

And he's a good little brother.

These days James can most often be found in bundle/burrito mode zonked out. But who knows; when we're asleep he might stop his "I'm just sleeping" act and sneak out for a night on the town.

Anyway, welcome to our family, James! We love you and are so glad you're here.

Pre Delivery Post

We just recently had a baby, people. But before we give you the details, it's worth posting the events prior to the arrivals. Well, some events. Tasteful editing is always desirable in these situations...

For the record, the cleaning itch did come the night when labor started. Would she have kept the baby in longer if she hadn't vacuumed? We'll never know.

A couple of things: first, with experience comes wisdom. The In N Out move was a good one, despite the contractions that came before and after this video that may have freaked out folks in the car behind us. We didn't really eat for another 12-14 hours.

Second, we're so glad this happened on a weekend (though secretly I kind of wish I got a call in the middle of teaching class where I'd have to dash out of the room saying "Class, we have to end right now cause WE'RE HAVIN A BABY").

Third, I do have to say, this post is very reminiscent of our prior pre-delivery post, except California style.