
<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8694953375_6acbe797ea_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Nora and Ian">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8694953375_5b4b75178d_t.jpg" alt="Nora and Ian"/>
</a>

As expected, we had some pretty enormous change in the state of the offspring this month. They've doubled in number!! Our son, Ian, was born as healthy and robust as I've ever seen a newborn. He doesn't seem too pleased, however, to be outside, and very much prefers to be pressed up against his mother as he is accustomed. The little bugger has an absolutely _voracious_ appetite, often draining both his mother's breasts and still wanting more, which we supplement with formula.  <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8696103770_30418a78cd_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Sleeping Ian">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8696103770_cb737a898a_n.jpg" alt="Sleeping Ian"/>
</a>

It seems hard to believe, but Ian's eyes are considerably lighter than Nora's were at this age; hers were so dark you couldn't make out the border between the pupil and the iris, but Ian's are quite light. His hair, though dark against his white scalp, definitely looks blond. We're all looking forward to seeing him turn from a baby into a little boy.

I remarked a few years ago on some social network that we were entering the infamous "terrible twos", and a friend of mine – I think it was my coworker, Alan – told me, "If you think two is bad, just wait until four!" Now that we're here in Fourville, I have to agree. Nora is considerably more disobedient and generally contrary at age four. Her current obsession is playing with trash, a paper she finds on the street, or a candy wrapper from four days ago. When we tell her to throw it (or anything, at this point) away, she insists, "No, I'm going to play with it!"

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8696065688_ac11723168_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ian Snoozing">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8696065688_3913493973_n.jpg" alt="Ian Snoozing"/>
</a>

I think the reason she's getting under my skin a bit more is that she _seems_ so independent and reasonable so often, practically an adult, but emotionally she's still a little child. She _can_ get dressed all by herself, but she doesn't _want_ to because she wants the loving attention that being dressed by someone gives. Similarly for eating by herself; she can, but she often won't. I think my wife has correctly predicted that as attentions move to her baby brother, she will show a marked regression in her independence. I don't feel too bad about it, though, because when I take her to and from school, I observe her peers also being little disobedient jerks with their parents.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8687709851_c1ee477cb0_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Little Baby">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8687709851_89901391df_n.jpg" alt="Little Baby"/>
</a>

It seems kind of hard to believe, particularly to my American mind, but next month, Nora is going to go spend three days and two nights at a camp, called [Albergue Paradiso](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX7TjSXyBuw), with the rest of her class. Somehow, her teachers – just the teachers, no parents! – are going to control 25 three and four year olds for over 50 hours, many of whom still wear diapers at night (like Nora) and have never been away from their parents for more than seven hours. They do it every year, and apparently every year the kids come back telling their parents that they had the best time ever. Every year the school year has a theme that stretches from Carnival to this field trip. This year it's The Circus, so Nora is constantly talking about clowns, trapeze artists and tightrope walkers. We'll see how it goes!

It seems to be a fairly common practice for parents to buy presents for their kids "from the baby" upon a new family arrival. We tried to do so, but Nora saw right through it, saying, "If I'm too little to go buy things at the store, I don\\'t think Ian could." That's my girl!

This month, on the day Ian was born, actually, Nora lost one of her lifetime classmates, Denise, [of kicking infamy](/2010/11/16/denise-¡patadas-no/), who had gone to daycare with Nora since well before either of them could walk or talk. Denise and her family have moved to Panama. My wife and I are more than a bit jealous of their financially safe move to warmer climes. Recently Nora has been putting quantities on innumerable ideas, such as "I'm eleven hungry!" or "I love you eighteen!" Just in the past week, she's graduated to using distances, e.g. "I love you to the ceiling", "… to the sky!", "… to the moon!", "… to where grandma and grandpa live!" Last night, she told me, "Daddy, I love you… to Panama!" Too cute.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8694951897_eb76845c55_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora and Ian">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8694951897_8d41274003.jpg" alt="Nora and Ian"/>
</a>

So far Nora has been doing very well with her sisterhood. She's very careful and loving around her baby brother, and seems pretty understanding when her mother's attention is diverted, probably because she, too, gets the negative reinforcement of her brother shutting up. As babies go, so far Ian has been an absolute delight, diligently turning milk into diaper fodder, and generally being adorable.

The state of the offspring has never been stronger. I'm very much looking forward to our future.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8694953375_6acbe797ea_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora and Ian">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-april-2013/8694953375_5b4b75178d.jpg" alt="Nora and Ian"/>
</a>


State of the Offspring Address - April 2013


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-28-welcome-ian/8688827086_1bd715438a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Fat Baby">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-28-welcome-ian/8688827086_6f40349d42_t.jpg" alt="Fat Baby"/>
</a>

Somewhere around her second trimester, my wife calculated that if she could hold out until her due date of April 25th, then her maternity leave would butt right up against a five day weekend in August, created by a national holiday and a local holiday and a puente. We had a minor scare a fortnight early, but she made it...right up to midnight on April 25th, when her labor began. She let me sleep an hour from 12:30 to 1:30 before waking me and telling me to go downstairs and clean up some dishes and crumbs from dinner the night before to make the house tidy for our guest who we were about to call.  We both showered, and I shaved, and we called Nela, the woman who was Nora's favorite day care worker until she left to open a children's clothing store in town a year ago. They've lost a bit of intimacy when they meet in the street, but Nora knows and still loves Nela, so she was our pick among the various offers we had for the midnight hospital run post. Nela showed up more or less immediately and by then I was having to give Marga kidney massages during her contractions, which were about four minutes apart. We laid out some clothes and told Nela what Nora usually has for breakfast, and we were off.

At the ER, the only door to the hospital that was unlocked, they took Marga's socialized medicine number and plopped her down in a wheelchair. The maternity ward was summoned and they sent someone down to wheel her up to the second floor. The last time we were there, there were a half dozen other women pushing babies out of their vaginas, and we got largely ignored for many hours and told, "you're still green" (in the fruit ripening sense). This time, not only were we about to fall off the vine, but the ward was empty, and we had the midwife's attention all to ourselves.

After a series of technical glitches that had the nurses shuffling between three or four different monitoring machines, each easy to place on the Progress line from analog to digital, they finally had the data they needed to give the go ahead for the epidural. To prepare, she had to take off all her jewelry, and they brought out a big industrial bottle of acetate to remove the nail polish she'd spent an hour carefully applying that morning. Then Marga's favorite hospital employee showed up, the anesthesiologist, who Marga calls The Candyman. He went though three different syringe-depressing machines before he found one that worked, and the sweet bliss of anesthesia descended upon the room.

The midwife impressed me very much. She actually spoke some English after adopting a hobby of going on weeklong dawn-to-dusk intensive English camps where Spaniards pay to stay with a bunch of Americans who have their room and board (but not travel to Spain) paid for and they spend all day talking. The midwife did a pretty good job of explaining everything. The parts that most stuck with me were how Marga had to have her legs out of balance, one extended and one bent, to keep her pelvis twisted, and therefore more open, and how the baby comes out face down and then twists out "like a screw". I managed to block the quip, "Screwing is how we got here!" on its way from my adolescent wordplay neurons to my mouth.

Over the course of an hour the contractions slowly crescendoed. Marga reported a strong desire to push, and the midwife said, "Then push! If he comes out, we'll catch him." Around 5:10 we were moved to the _paritorio_, the birthing room, this one had a huge photo of the moon on one wall, apt for our full moon birth. Somehow she got moved, between contractions, to another bed with stirrups. Then the real pain began.

Marga switches to Basque when she's really hurting. Once I had to be reminded that I was the hand squeezee, not the squeezer. The midwife invited me to lean over to the other end and said that the head was barely showing. I nodded, but it wasn't clear. But then it started to come out! First the head came all the way out, and then, with a quarter turn, the shoulders appears, and with another push he slid all the way out. He took his first breath and let out a little cry before he was all the way out. It was incredible watching one human coming out of another. He was immediately placed on his very relieved mother's chest, and we got to meet our son for the first time. He looked so healthy and perfect, I broke down in tears.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-28-welcome-ian/8687705625_e891d04477_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mother and Babe">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-28-welcome-ian/8687705625_06c5d9be04.jpg" alt="Mother and Babe"/>
</a>

He was born at 5:35 AM on April 25, 2013, measuring 3.3 kg and 51 cm. I got to cut the umbilical cord, and was proud of myself for not being too grossed out by seeing the placenta come out and be held up for us to examine. Unlike his sister, he was immediately interested in suckling and latched on on the first try, a sensation unknown to his mother.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-28-welcome-ian/8687706571_f18ec8f4d0_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Pious Angel">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-28-welcome-ian/8687706571_3bbf4562ac.jpg" alt="Pious Angel"/>
</a>

We called the Spanish family, and when they showed up a few hours later, I went home to take a 4.5 hour nap, while Nora's Spanish grandparents and aunt got her from school, fed her lunch, and took her back to school. When Nora got out of school we took her to meet her baby brother for the first time. She was absolutely delighted. I caught their first encounter on camera for them to enjoy for the rest of their lives.

<iframe width="505" height="284" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V51-9CtYvUY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Our newest family member spent his first day mostly sleeping, and his first night fairly awake. He drained both breasts and still wanted more. We called the night shift lactation nurse, who is a long haired young man, and he suggested that, "You really need the stimulus he's giving you for your uterus to reposition itself and for the milk to start flowing. Still guilty from making Nora go hungry the first night, we told him that several hours of sucking was enough stimulus and he wasn't getting any milk and to please give us some milk. He complied and we fed our babe a full syringe of milk until he was satiated.

In Spain, the mother and baby have to stay at the hospital for a minimum of 48 hours, which we did, and when no further complications presented themselves, we were released. Upon arriving home, we found a message that Nora had dictated, word for word, to her aunt for her baby brother. It was pretty adorable.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-28-welcome-ian/8688826434_a6e400003c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ian's Face">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-28-welcome-ian/8688826434_04deec6030.jpg" alt="Ian's Face"/>
</a>

Welcome to the world, Ian Rasmussen Matamoros. Our family is now complete.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-28-welcome-ian/8688830242_4da433f9ab_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Family of Four">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-28-welcome-ian/8688830242_7b70af3b03.jpg" alt="Family of Four"/>
</a>


Welcome, Ian


<img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-knights/8668329294_bebe6be874_t.jpg" alt="Knight Mosaic" class="post-thumb"/>This past weekend, I found myself thinking about two very different kinds of knights, one that seems very old from thirty years ago, and some others from several centuries ago. Both coincided with [a visit](/2013/04/21/visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/) from my cousin Jeanie and her husband Kit. It's rare that two anecdotes I have to share align with a common word, but in this case, I've got two stories of knights to tell you, and both have to do with quirks of Spanish history. 

### Knight Rider

During my cousin's recent visit, my Spanish family had to ask a couple times to be reminded of Jeanie's name, but not of her husband's. As soon as I told them his name was Kit, every one of them said, "Oh! Like _El Coche Fantástico_!" That is the name of the 1980's television series, [Knight Rider](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Rider_(1982_TV_series)), as it was marketed in Spain. ![KITT](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-knights/tumblr_inline_mgnt96Tab11qae7ll.gif) When I told Kit, he had the reaction most Americans would, saying, "Yeah, I _think_ I sort of remember a show like that…but what does it have to do with my name?" (The sentient car's name was KITT.) You see, _Knight Rider_ is **_hugely_** popular in Spain, even to the point of there being syndicated episodes shown even today. I never really understood their fascination with this very mediocre horribly-lame-in-hindsight television program, but I've now developed a hypothesis.

I think that the early 1980's, still in the fledgling democracy after Franco's rule, was the first time that an American television company – NBC, in this case – licensed an American television program for overdubbing and rebroadcasting in Spain, which had only two or three channels at that time. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if _Knight Rider_ was the very first American show broadcast in Spain. The production quality and writing from the experienced Hollywood producers would've blown Spain away. That's my hypothesis, anyway.

Don't ask me to explain how Hasselhoff can be a pop star in Germany.

### Knights of Yuste

During our walk in Laredo with Jeanie and Kit and my in-laws, we came across a very curious sight. Outside of a major community center building, it looked at first glance to be a wedding: a bunch of people standing outside a building dressed very elegantly clearly waiting to either enter the building or for someone important to come out. But as we approached, things got curiouser and curiouser. Some of the men were wearing full white robes from their collars to their feet, which draped about them like capes. Some of the other men wore intricate sashes with an important-looking embroidered coat of arms. Some of the women were dressed in all black with high lace collars towering over the back of their heads. Kit and I were bouncing hypotheses off each other and our initial instinct was that this some some Masonic society. The ornamentation was very special, meant to clearly distinguish members from non-members. This was clearly a brotherhood of some kind.

[![Knights of Yuste - Laredo](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-knights/8667227105_e48e7347a3.jpg)](http://www.eldiariomontanes.es/20130420/local/castro-oriental/santa-maria-acoge-laredo-201304202226.html)

Photo by Rafa Sánchez

Finally, my curiosity overcame my shyness and I walked up to one of the guys standing there on the street and I gestured to the crowd and inquired, "What is this?" He seemed quite happy to explain it to me. They were the _Caballeros de Yuste_, defenders of the Catholic Faith, a monastic order of knights, over four hundred years old, with over two thousand members worldwide. What I was witnessing was the end of an induction ceremony, bringing new monks into the order. Pretty crazy. The local newspaper [covered the event](http://www.eldiariomontanes.es/20130420/local/castro-oriental/santa-maria-acoge-laredo-201304202226.html) and they have more photos.

I had never seen a knight before. They all seemed to be septuagenarians that I could probably defeat in a sword fight, but I suspect most of what they do now to "defend the Catholic faith" is throw expensive fundraisers and lobby legislators.

![Knight Mosaic](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-knights/8668329294_bebe6be874_z.jpg)


Knights


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8668806126_9c89b75789_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Jeanie and Nora">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8668806126_f13b39afbc_t.jpg" alt="Jeanie and Nora"/>
</a>

We had a lovely visit this weekend from my second cousin, once removed, and her husband. My parents and I visited their house, in Cupertino, California, once twenty years ago, and the last time I saw them was about twelve years ago at a family reunion at my grandparents' house in Ann Arbor, Michigan. But for all intents and purposes, they were strangers to me. So much so that when [we visited San Francisco](/2010/12/07/san-francisco-2010-day-1-of-4/) 2.5 years ago, they never occurred to me when thinking of people I knew in the Bay Area to visit. Although we share some genes (and a Jean, as her namesake and Aunt Jean was my maternal grandmother), what they really were to me were internet friends. I got to know Jeanie after she friended me on Facebook shortly after we dissed her on our San Francisco trip, and we've grown to quite like each other over the past couple of years. Their visit was going to be another data point my "meeting people you only know over the internet" experiment…  Jeanie and Kit have been doing a whirlwind Spanish vacation, visiting Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Toledo, Granada, San Sebastian, and Bilbao in just three weeks. Their itinerary had them passing through humble little Colindres on April 20, my mother-in-law's birthday and not-unlikely birthday of my in-utero son. At first it seemed like bad timing that we wouldn't get to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday with her, but then, at sort of the last minute, we decided my wife's family should come too, that it would be even more awesome for Jeanie and Kit, weary from hotels and tourist attractions, to attend a real Spanish family party; it would make their visit even more authentic.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8667691087_d3c04b0a7a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Jeanie and Kit in Colindres">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8667691087_b95ca92447.jpg" alt="Jeanie and Kit in Colindres"/>
</a>

The Colindres "maritime walk" is always pleasurable, but especially with good weather.

Neither I, nor my wife's family has ever seen Nora warm up to anyone as fast as she did to Jeanie. After the obligatory walk around town and stop for wines, we came home to cook the rice for the paella my mother-in-law prepared. As I was setting the table, I heard voices from somewhere in the living room, but <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8667699673_3d59cdbbd4_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora's Clubhouse">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8667699673_5a91569d1a_m.jpg" alt="Nora's Clubhouse"/>
</a>

I couldn't see anyone. Soon I discovered that Jeanie and Nora were inside Nora's playhouse talking. Jeanie mentioned something about, "No boys allowed", and she was immediately inducted into Nora's circle of confidants. After that, as my mother knows all too well, the two were inseparable. Throughout the meal, Nora's Spanish grandmother kept making comments like, "And she lets her touch her hair!" in mostly-but-not-entirely feigned jealousy. The rest of us were equally agape at the power of the bond.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8667701693_ed9bf8a0b4_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Paella">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8667701693_44ccc2ff7f_m.jpg" alt="Paella"/>
</a>

After our lovely paella, we went to the nearby must-see attraction of Laredo, to show off our spectacular beach. Then we walked through a tunnel that's worth the time to see, and up into the old time to stop for a beverage before heading back home. My parents-in-law and sister-in-law said their adióses and drove back to their town, and we headed home to make dinner. Several times during the gathering, my wife's family commented privately to me about what nice people Jeanie and Kit seemed to be (asking for seconds is how I got them to fall in love with me) and I could only agree with them.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8667709089_855cd92f4b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Jeanie and Kit Visit">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8667709089_0d7619256c.jpg" alt="Jeanie and Kit Visit"/>
</a>

Good food, good wine, good tripod, and good friends.

One curious thing about our visit was that every time we would tell them something about Nora, they would say, "Our daughter, Katie, was just like that at Nora's age," and every time they would tell us something about their daughter when she was young, we would think, "Whoa! That sounds just like Nora." She doesn't like loud noises; she doesn't like riding in the car; she likes performing in front of an audience of trusted people; she likes telling adults what to do; she sleeps well at night, but doesn't nap; she takes a while to warm to new people…the list went on and on. It was quite eerie.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8668821136_8df15fb7c5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Jeanie and Nora">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8668821136_437b7c3088.jpg" alt="Jeanie and Nora"/>
</a>

"Doctor, my baby has a cough."

This morning Jeanie and Kit left for one of Cantabria's premier tourist destinations that we've never seen, the village of _Santillana del Mar_, which they joke is neither "santi" (holy), "llana" (flat), or near the "mar" (sea), before heading back to California later this week.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8668806126_9c89b75789_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Jeanie and Nora">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8668806126_f13b39afbc.jpg" alt="Jeanie and Nora"/>
</a>

Jeanie and Nora having too much fun together.

So once again, we've got another data point in the Very Positive column for meeting internet friends. It turns out that a year or two of Facebook friendship really is enough to know if you're going to enjoy spending time with someone. And again, I'm disappointed by the fact that they live so far away and that getting together for another visit is going to require a lot of effort, but I'm so very pleased that they stopped by and got to know me and my family a little better.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8667685703_5596c62753_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Jeanie and Kit in Colindres">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-21-visit-from-jeanie-and-kit/8667685703_abb0cb393e.jpg" alt="Jeanie and Kit in Colindres"/>
</a>

Come back any time, Jeannie and Kit!


Visit from Jeanie and Kit


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-11-on-the-cusp/8640177522_c68f55a477_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Crib Ready">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-11-on-the-cusp/8640177522_ea2a426d4f_t.jpg" alt="Crib Ready"/>
</a>

As I write this, I am a week or two away from the birth of my second child. Until about a week ago, I wasn't really nervous or excited, but then we started sorting through the baby clothes and preparing the newborn stroller attachments, and I started to get pretty excited. Yesterday I pulled the crib down from the attic and somehow managed to remember where all the screws and joints go to put it back together. It's really starting to sink in now. 

### Wheee!

The roller coaster analogy is a bit clichéd, but it really does feel like being ratcheted up to the highest point in a roller coaster, with the potential energy at a maximum. The first time on this ride, it was really terrifying, not knowing what to expect, what it would be like to have a baby in the house, etc. I was honestly terrified we wouldn't be able to keep it alive for more than a week. And yes, my daughter was an _It_ at first, a little crying, pooping creature we had to care for.

But this time, I know the rush and thrill of the ride. I know the bumps and parts where you really have to hang on tight, and the parts where you can let your arms dangle free. I know what an amazing thing it is to love one's own child, watching her grow from a naked, helpless little creature into a walking, talking, reasoning, smart and funny little girl on her way to becoming an amazing woman.

### A New Chapter

There are moments in life that feel like thresholds between chapters in a book. For me, the big ones have been moving away from my parents' house to a boarding school, graduating from high school, graduating from college, moving abroad, and our first child. They're clear ends of epochs to which you can never go back. Knowing that my life is going to change irreversibly very soon makes me tingle all over with excitement.

The anticipation is electric. I don't think I've ever been this nervous and excited about something: what my son looks like, if he's healthy, how his big sister will react to him, and just starting down the journey of parenthood again.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-11-on-the-cusp/8640177522_c68f55a477_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Crib Ready">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-11-on-the-cusp/8640177522_ea2a426d4f.jpg" alt="Crib Ready"/>
</a>

There's an awful lot of love waiting for you out here, son. See you soon!


On The Cusp

Visiting Spain - March 2013


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614378860_8bc098a382_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Kayak Tiltshift">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614378860_4d12286bb3_t.jpg" alt="Kayak Tiltshift"/>
</a>

Two and a half years ago, we drove the seven minutes to the town of Limpias and very much enjoyed [a walk along the river](/2010/09/20/the-ason-river-valley/). I remember thinking at the time, "I should bring my parents here." And last weekend, I did. The sky was clear and the sun was warming the cool spring air, and we decided to walk along the water in Limpias.

Limpias is positioned by where the Asón River begins to open up before spilling into the sea in Colindres, and Limpias still has a lot of artillery guarding the river entrance, presumably from the Spanish Civil War. <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8613003853_402a9c5b6b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Morning in Limpias">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8613003853_11de172d1d.jpg" alt="Morning in Limpias"/>
</a>

Climbing up to pose on this gun is _not_ optional.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614113098_d8526a991d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Morning in Limpias">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614113098_020317ae25.jpg" alt="Morning in Limpias"/>
</a>

The sun and blue sky made for some gorgeous photographs.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614122636_7abf49f062_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Morning in Limpias">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614122636_867e8b6e88.jpg" alt="Morning in Limpias"/>
</a>

The other side of the river.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8613013183_347720ed5a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Heavy Anchor">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8613013183_29719e49d1.jpg" alt="Heavy Anchor"/>
</a>

"Hey, Dad, go pretend to lift that anchor!"

"Just pretend to lift it or actually lift it?"

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614378860_8bc098a382_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Kayak Tiltshift">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614378860_4d12286bb3.jpg" alt="Kayak Tiltshift"/>
</a>

It was a lovely day for some kayaking.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8613084003_f71146a29b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Gun and Kayaker">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8613084003_e0d1179ef7.jpg" alt="Gun and Kayaker"/>
</a>

I bet that gun could take out a kayaker...

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614184236_1f70255141_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Morning in Limpias">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614184236_193d252a09.jpg" alt="Morning in Limpias"/>
</a>

Nora used her command over her grandmother to ride part of the way.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614214736_3df450e150_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Morning in Limpias">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614214736_384ff370e9.jpg" alt="Morning in Limpias"/>
</a>

Limpias has some striking architectural juxtapositions. The ancient stone town is still there, but a lot of it is crumbing and abandoned, since it's so much cheaper to just build new residences, and the old structures are probably protected by the government.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614221570_3bbf76b566_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Gigantic Pineapple">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2013-04-02-morning-in-limpias/8614221570_65ed0be5cb_z.jpg" alt="Gigantic Pineapple"/>
</a>

My parents were particularly impressed with the size of pineapples we have around here.

It was a lovely morning out, and since it was so close, it really took no more time than a walk around our familiar town of Colindres.


7 posts from April, 2013