Honoring the "Grace" Commitment

Dad here. Allow me to barge in on the mommy blog process to honor my commitment to my 1st child. I promised Grace equal time (it won't be exactly equal but she can't count) so you will see an occasional post reflecting that she is still in fact a part of our daily lives.

I promised her that her spot at my feet and in our bed would remain. So far, I have made good on that promise. Slowly, I see her settling more at the feet of Chase and I hope that over time the pictures blend together as they become good friends.

She has shown some signs of sadness and confusion at this new arrival, but none of them have outweighed her newfound protective spirit and her new growl when the doorbell rings. I tried to explain to her that Chase's arrival meant Mom would be home more and she would get more walks with Dad - don't tell Mom but Grace always has to go out when Chase needs a diaper change - must be Pavlovian ;) - this has not stopped her from practicing her sad look on us.

As you can see, she took out a lot of anger on my parents pup - how ferocious

You can also see that she doesn't quite know what to make of the smelly thing in the see through cage - although I think she is glad she isn't the one in it.

1st Big Boy Bath

You might think from the picture that Chase did not enjoy his 1st big boy bath. You would be correct. The books, magazines, websites and blogs all say he will grow to love the soothing nature of a warm sponge bath. Mom reports that he is slowly screaming less...

Christmas 2009

Everyone came to visit the special delivery this Christmas!

Luckily, Auntie Katie came to town with her fancy camera and the skills she learned in photography class and some lovely pictures were taken. Here are a few of them that reflect all of the wardrobe changes of the day.

One would think that Mom didn't push hard enough or well enough to warrant a new camera as a 'push present'. But Dad, the practical accountant, said we had to wait until the new year. Until then, be prepared for blurry pictures, slightly out of frame. That is, unless we can get Katie back in town.

December 2009

Charles Edward Walsh IV, or 'Chase', was born on Monday, December 7, 2009 at 4:25am at Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, FL.

He was 6 lbs, 10 oz and was 19 inches in length.

After 9 months in the womb and 12 hours of labor (including 5 hours of pushing), we were very excited to finally know the sex of our first child. He immediately took his first breath and screamed to indicate his arrival....something we sooned learned was a sign of things to come.

He was visited soon thereafter by his Grandparents; Charlie, Susan and Sue, and his Aunt Katie and Uncle Eric.