Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Ice Ice Baby

Cash & Dad’s First Three Months

You’d think the alien battleship in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was going to arrive at 5360 MacArthur not a newborn. Terribly edgy times pervaded the Weller household in the final weeks leading to your birth. We were convinced you were going to arrive early. You didn’t. The due date passed with apprehension compounding each passing day.

We worried about your health, labor, colic, Luke’s reaction, our lifestyle, the complexities of two kids, and, most of all, the pregnancy’s impact on Rachel’s figure! (US Magazine didn’t help by setting unrealistic expectations showing stars shedding baby fat in weeks.) If you got too big, how were we going to get you out! The final stretch of Rachel’s pregnancy was being stuck outside on a searing hot, humid day. We were tired, uncomfortable, irritable, and, well, like you, stuck.

Then, like a blast of cool air, you arrived! Truthfully, we got impatient and you were induced into this world on Tuesday, June 24th 2008. You plopped out at 5:09 pm at Sibley Hospital in Washington, DC. You weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces and arrived with a full head of black curly hair. All our worries blew away!


From that moment, Cash, you have been an incredibly chill baby, mellow almost, quite the opposite of your brother at this age! Your overall presence is that of a thoughtful observer. You are no push over. When you want something, you are insistent, loud, but not frantic. You’ve got a deep voice as infants go and you chatter to yourself after a big meal. Yes, thank god, you are an easy baby, laid back and sharp.

As far as looks go, well, most babies are lollipops; you are milk chocolate. Dark hair, blue eyes and square head, you warm the eyes. You are simply handsome and you are going to be trouble with the ladies. As far as height, you measure in at the 70th percentile, and weight, the 50th percentile though I suspect you are growing quickly past the average.

Your most powerful feature is your smile. You first smiled to me on September 12th, 2008. The smile opened up wide, mouth open, like you were gulping the positive vibes around you. You made a noise, a sort of exclamation, of happiness as you held me in your eyes. The moment captured me totally pushing all thoughts aside – you shared a moment of pure, uncontaminated joy, and it gripped me. I was so thankful, so “I’m sooo there with you man!”

Your arrival has revealed facets of Weller family personalities that until now haven’t been exposed. Your big brother Luke has surprised us most. Prior to your arrival, Rachel and I heard horror stories about sibling jealousy. Hell, I was a devil when Vanessa arrived so I feared Luke would react similarly. We couldn’t have been more wrong.

Luke is your biggest fan. He simply loves you and that caring was clear immediately. Every morning we wake up to these exclamations: “Cash is my friend!” “What a good brother!” “Want to see Cash!” He loves hugging you, petting you, delivering Eskimo kisses nose to nose.

These activities are delivered with a giant’s touch; the huggings are muggings, the pettings clubbings, and the Eskimo kisses are face plants. But, the enthusiasm is rampant … possibly too rampant. Luke, “the department of helping too much,” smothers you in his effort to hold you and he often attempts carrying you to his next play spot! Yikes! We have to keep an eye on him needless to say.

Cash, you’ve rewarded Luke’s attention with your very first smiles. You watch him constantly; your eyes follow him everywhere. You don’t cry when he manhandles, pets/clubs, or faceplants you. You seem rather delighted. Rachel and I feel terribly lucky (so far).

Every quarter I'm going to interview you for two minutes. Here is our first in depth interchange!



Love,

Dad

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