Diaper Snake

Two words: Diaper Snake.

Health Update and General Comment

Raising a kid can certainly be an up and down experience. Some days, you're sitting around all day. Other days, it's a celebration when you can squeeze in a shower at 9pm.

Health update: Today Hiroko had a new kidney infection, so we spent the daylight hours in an emergency room. Since she's not pregnant, she got away with a cereal bowl full of meds, instead of a free overnight stay. Our friend Mayumi graciously watched Ren for a few hours to make it possible. Other than the exhaustion factor, it's all going to be OK.

My mom has been asking for more kid pictures, which is a very reasonable request, but
A. It's not like she looks any different than before
B. She's cutest when I'm doing something with her (such as a feeding) which requires both hands.
So tough luck. I did manage a shot of her today while I was in the emergency waiting room. It snowed last night.

Also, a shot of Mr. Lion in diaper bag prison. He makes all our hospital trips.

Medical Bill

The hospital bill arrived for the birth of Ren. Total fee: $13000. Whew...glad I have health care.

Ren has been very fussy lately, and we're going crazy trying to find out why she suffers so much.

Here's a first: today when I was trying to calm her down, I fired up the mobile. Usually she doesn't notice much, but as it spun, she stared at it, transfixed. It was neat to watch her rapt attention. Here's what she sees:

Ren and Mr. Lion

Ren has figured out how to hold onto things. As a demonstration, check out this picture of Ren holding her guardian and older brother, Mr. Lion. Adorable, no?

Gifts

I haven't thought to mention it, but we've recieved a lot more gifts and cards by mail from various people. I thank each and every last one of you. It's cool to get all this correspondence. Feel free to always call, as well.

It's kinda funny now, people calling the house, because it's like spinning a roulette wheel. Sometimes we'll be in a lull and bored and eager to talk to you. Other times, we're juggling another phone, and a baby, and we want you to go away just then. But we sure want to talk to you, so keep calling!

In case you're wondering about this picture, I guess the name "Ren" is ambiguous to a lot of people, because some folks have decided she's a boy. The balloon in this picture is 10 days old and still up, amazingly.

Goodbye Yasuko

Hiroko's mom, Yasuko, went home Saturday, after spending exactly a month with us. She was a wonderful guest who looked forward to every opportunity to take are of Ren , and cooked great meals as well. We will miss her. The visit was a reminder of how important family is. I hope we will get to return the favor, and bring Ren to Japan, as soon as we can.

Exchange Meeting

A tradition in the Soka Gakkai, our Buddhist organization, is that when an experienced member travels overseas, a special meeting is held so they can meet local members. This is called the "exchange meeting". We held this last Saturday, when Yasuko got to meet a lot of prominent local Buddhists.

It was also the first time we'd had more than one or two people over to see Ren. Everyone has been eagerly awaiting a chance to meet her and see how we all are doing. Plus my parents were there! This made it a big and very special meeting for everyone! I was very busy managing the meeting and got only a couple good pictures.

The biggest part of the meeting was Yasuko giving her experience in faith. She talked a lot about how important Hiroko was to her family, and what a miracle it is that she could give birth and carry on the legacy given her childhood problems. I got the impression my marriage to Hiroko was even more important to her family than it was to me. I was glad everyone got to hear the story.

Then we brought out Ren so everyone could see her. Lots of people have had colds so her visit was brief, but I guess this counted as her introduction to our faith community.

Marcus Dunleavy also played spanish guitar after the meeting. He's one of a number of local Buddhist artists I'm lucky enough to know. By coincidence, he played a version of "Over the Rainbow", the same song I used to play for Ren when she was in her mom's belly. Marcus is second to the left in the above picture.

I wrote a little more about my parents visit here at my blog for myself.

A couple more pictures:

Whither Ren?

Okay, I know, I haven't posted in ten days. Y'all are probably breaking your mice clicking "refresh" soyou can see more Ren pics. I can't even claim that I haven't posted because we've been busy with the baby. Ren has been a great and easy baby, sleeping a lot (even at night) and often quite quiet even when she isn't sleeping.

Plus she's super-cute. Even more now that she's developed a couple weeks into a full human instead of a just-outta-the-womb baby.

The only real news I have to report is that she had some big gas problems. They kept her up a lot at night, and she'd scream and scream from the pain. We changed our brand of formula and it's made a big difference.

I think a lot about looking forward to doing things with Ren this summer.

Ren's First Moments with Hiroko

When I posted an hour after the birth, I mentioned a video, which I'm finally posting. It's my first use of youtube. This video is the first minute between mom and daughter, seconds after Ren was first handed to Hiroko. Check it out below:



But that won't work for some of you. You can head over to the direct video URL by clicking this link.

Ren/Mr. Lion pics

Okay, you decide. Is this a picture of:

• A baby moth-human hybrid, in pupae stage
• Baby Hannibal Lecter
• Baburrito
• My daughter, swaddled and ready to sleep

I went back and cleaned up all the photos I've posted earlier. Lots got deleted because they were blurry and/or duplicates. Also,
Here are a few more pictures.

You might have seen a few of these if you saw Mr. Lion's recent post on my personal blog. These pictures include a few more pictures of the hospital, some pictures of Ren playing with Mr. Lion, and Ren's arrival home. She went right to the nursery, and to the crib given to us by my mom and dad.

I don't have a lot to report. Ren has been a very easy baby. She is as well, as I have noted earlier, the cutest baby in the history of man. So she's got that going for her.

Yesterday we composed a letter to the president of the Soka Gakkai, our Buddhist organization, telling him all about the baby. It also thanked him for the middle name. This saturday we'll have a meeting at our house where a bunch of our Buddhist friends will get a chance to meet Ren and usher her into the community. My parents will also drive into town (for the 3 day weekend) and meet her for the first time as well!!

Some More Pics

I didn't try to filter these at all, just dumped everything on the camera. These pics are not nearly as good as yesterday's. But if you're dying for more shots, Here they are.

I'm a Daddy

I see trees of green
Red roses too I see 'em bloom
For me and for you And I think to myself
What a wonderful world.

This is the first song that came on the radio, how about that?

Ren Akiko Goodfriend, born 1pm today, 7lb3oz. Everything smooth and easy. More later.

You can call tonight but I might not answer...I'll try to answer tomorrow. You can _ask_ about visiting tomorrow afternoon.

Here Are The Pictures!!
Movie to follow at a later date.

Baby Julianna Visits

Yesterday, our friend Jennifer came by with her new baby daughter, Julianna. Julianna was born 10 weeks ago and this is the first time we have seen her. Jennifer's sister Lisa, also a friend of our family, was there. The visit was great and it was cool for me to see a baby trying out our nursery.

Hiroko and Yasuko have continued to have fun working to perfect the nursery. On Saturday the three of us went to Babies 'R Us to do some shopping, and Ren's room looks great.

I created this photo set which includes pictures of Julianna's visit, and some shots of the nursery. Hiroko really wanted these up so everyone could see. She's done a great job decorating our house. My favorite picture is this one of Yasuko admiring the mobile. Hiroko also took this photo showing a baby's eye view of the mobile.

With Ren not yet here, Yasuko hasn't had a lot to do around the house. She did break out some colored pencils I bought a while back and drew a picture of the flowers on our kitchen table, which I purchased below. She's since been to an art store to purchase some oil pastels and paper, so there may be more to come. Here's a picture of the original flowers, for comparison.