HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL

We were officially discharged from the hospital on Sunday the 8th, so we've been home for some time. But our departure was a day late due to a mild case of jaundice he exhibited shortly after birth. The carotin color extended from the top of his head to his belly button. On all of his early pictures, including the one in the left index of this page, he has a tan color with a slightly orange hugh - note how his hands have a normal color and his face is tan in his first-bath-at-home photo. With exposure to indirect sunlight, much eating and, well, getting rid of what he ate, the billirubin is gone and his color is now normal.

Gabriel had his first visit to the pediatrician - Dr. Kelvin Snyder - on Tuesday the 10th, where he checked out quite healthy and beginning to gain wait due to his growing appetite. His jaundice was confirmed to be on the mend.

Saturday the 14th, we visited the postpartum care center at St. Vincent's hospital. Gabriel has been a bit fussy when it comes to beginning a meal and every now and then he expels the majority of what he did consume. But after checking him out and seeing his eating technique, Gabriel is actually a voracious eater who is prone to overfilling himself and triggering reflux. His initial fussiness was deemed normal and, it does seem, it has gotten better over time. Our own theory now is that he's not too keen on the foremilk (the skim milk that he gets at first) but strongly prefers the whole milk that follows. I wonder how he got to be so finicky...

All in all, he's a healthy little guy with a mild and sweet disposition. His mentioned fussiness is gradually waning, he's gaining weight, beginning to fill out and as all the nurses at St. Vincent's said, true to his name Gabriel. We couldn't agree more.


GABRIEL'S VISITORS

It almost goes without saying that Gabriel has had frequent visits from both of his grandmothers lately. But in addition, he's also gotten to meet other family and friends.

Since Thursday night, his great-grandmother MeMa, great aunt Sue, Toni and Terran have been in town to have some fun and visit. Below is a photo of Granny Reid (is that the name you want to go with?), Sue, Toni, Terran and Gabriel.



MeMa has enjoyed the gliding rocker, particularly when she gets to hold Gabriel. He seems to enjoy it very much as well.



Earlier in the week, Gabriel got to meet Davon, his first friend and playdate buddy. Davon and his mother Diana are in the photo with Jill and Gabriel below. Interestingly, Diana is a fellow alum of Robert Service High School in Anchorage, but graduated four years after me. She, her husband and Davon just returned from visiting their family in Anchorage and brought us back some frozen red salmon.. very thoughtful of them.


Note the beautiful basket of flowers in the table from my colleagues at Johnson Gardner. Thank you!

LARRYMOBILE RECOVERED

As part of the birth story last week, I noted that the Larrymobile, our backup car ('89 Toyota Camry) was stolen the night Jill's water broke. Well, last week, the Portland and Hillsboro police departments sent John and Judy a letter informing them that the car was recovered and towed to storage in the Gateway area of Portland - as if that was a safe place for it.

No one called us, so the storage fees racked up over the weekend.. turns out they knew of its whereabouts since Saturday the 7th. How on earth is a towing company going to make money if everyone is informed on time? Of course we have no recourse in the matter. Anyway, we went to inspect and drive the car home, John, mom and me. And for the first time, I got to see what car-stealing cretins leave behind in stolen cars once the fuel tank is emptied.. mind you this has been in the middle of a 90 to 100 degree heat wave:

1. Empty beer bottles and bottle caps;
2. Cigarette butts and a lovely cigarette aroma;
3. Empty chip bags;
4. Dog hair in the back seat; and the clincher,
5. A bag full of raw chicken meat and half-eaten polish sausage.

Remember, the car was stolen and abandoned in the mentioned heat wave apparently with the windows up. So, count your blessings that the internet cannot yet transmit neither aromas nor odors. The flies were in heaven, though, I can assure you. I nearly emptied a can of Lysol in the car before rolling down all the windows for the drive home. In my travels, I have slept in some very interesting places.. In Guatemala alone I've slept in flea-infested shanty towns that miraculously hug the walls of ravines and rat-infested government housing "colonies." But never there did I feel even remotely as filthy and disgusting as I did for the 40 minutes driving that car home. I took a shower immediately upon return.

The car continues to air out in the driveway a week later.

HURRICANE CHARLIE AND THE HARDISONS

Les and Dolores Hardison, Judy Korynasz's uncle and aunt, have a winter home on the Gulf side of Florida. Well, it turns out that Hurricane Charlie did indeed cause some damage to their home, but apparently not as devastating as Les had initially feared. I won't go into it in full detail but I invite readers to check out his accounting of the story at his website: Hardison.info. (Click either Current Newsletter or Work In Progress on the main page).

We all wish you both a quick return to normalcy - and more importantly, a competent, efficient contractor.