Author: The Nack Daddy

…And so the late-night blogging returns. 🙂
Here we are at H+110–a hundred and ten hours into the life of our new little guy (not that I’m counting!). I just had the honor of holding Henry on my lap for the past four hours as he slept, and now he’s enjoying a midnight snack courtesy of Mom-O. We’ve decided to try having me sleep downstairs, the better to get some rest & thus preserve energy for Finn-management.
We’re having a wonderful time so far with the H-man (or G-man, as we & especially Finn alternate with the “Goonie” nomenclature). I have to say, Margot is being a total rock star, holding up marvelously with the return to sleep deprivation. I feel somewhat guilty, not being able to do as much directly with the new guy. For my part I try to provide her with worry-free Squirrel-wrangling, and he and I plan to check out lots of little kid gatherings while I’m on leave.
Finny, meanwhile, regards Henry with passing interest, getting keyed up only when I spend time with the little guy. He’s perfectly content to regard mother & brother as one entity (“Mom-O-Goonie”).
I find I’m (predictably) running out of steam at the moment, so without further ado here are a few photos (HTML) of the family at home–including our first family dinner where Henry doubles as both guest & table setting. 😉 Lots more is in the queue, including images showing a visit from our pals Tom, Sarah, Bryan, Alex, and their tots.

Our boys are wasting no time in exploring their fashionable side. First Henry donned some big earphones for a hearing test (passed with flying colors!), after which the Finnster tried on our neighbor Suzanne’s big sunglasses. Here’s a larger version of the photos.

He’s here, he’s here!! 😀
We could have no sweeter fourth-anniversary news to share: announcing the arrival of the wonderful Mr. Henry Seamus Nack, born yesterday afternoon at 2:47pm! Dad-o is typing quickly as he’s on Finn-patrol, but we wanted to share a little gallery (HTML) showing our great little fella. What a marvel, what a blessing! 😀
More to come (like you doubted that ;-))…

Well, we’ve had no real news from our little amigo-to-be, but Margot went in for acupuncture today, hoping to get the show on the road. Apparently this approach worked for our friend Alex, and Margot reports getting a few good kicks during the goings on. Largely, though, the wait continues.
Meanwhile, Finny and I found some “baby fruit” during a walk through the neighbors’ yard. We took home one “little guy” plus one “little bitty guy,” both of which you can see us holding (HTML). We look forward to introducing our little guy to our little bitty guy soon enough!

Well, our nation’s birthday came and went without becoming El Segundo’s birthday, so we can’t report any fireworks on that front. We did have a lovely day with the Finnster, however, including:

• Banging away on our neighbor’s truck, dropping a severed antenna repeatedly into a hole (“BOOM!”)
• Learning the letter “W” (gleefully pronounced “DoubleYOOOuu!”) in the course of inspecting/washing mom’s VW
• Discovering hot dogs (“Meat!”) and kazoos during a neighborhood toy store’s little concert (featuring cascading bubbles)
• Dining with pals at our friend Julieanne’s house, where “Hoot” (Hughes) remained a person of great fascination. 🙂

Here’s our little gallery (HTML) from the day.

Man, those swim lessons may have deeply affected young Finny, turning him into a true water lover. This morning he started crowing about “Hose, hose!,” so I obligingly turned on the tap–with predictable results. I didn’t anticipate the sheer volume of water he ingested, but at play group a couple of hours later, it all came back to me, so to speak. 😉
In any case, here’s the aqua-man in action (HTML), including a few weekend sprinkler photos. As you can see, Dad-o wasn’t shy about getting in on the action, and Mom-o was a quick pro with the camera.

Lately the Squirrelmaster has gotten quite mobile in the tub (kind of a nervewracking development). His latest trick is to flop onto his belly & then to face-plant into the suds (“Bubbo!”). He pops up gasping and grinning like a madman. 🙂 Here are some shots I captured (HTML) of the proceedings.

Lately the Finn-man has gotten waaay into playing hide and seek with us. Well, it’s a very simple form of the game: he takes one of us firmly by the hand, leads us to a spot, and then deposits us there, sometimes commanding “Down!” From there he’s off to the races, disappearing around a corner or the end of the car, only to come back moment later and shout “Boo!”
I find his commitment to the craft hilarious. He’s very clear about walking me to the end of the car in particular, then dropping me off–and getting a little miffed if I stray from my post! I mean, does Dad think this is child’s play or what??
Naturally photos are hard to come by during the goings-on, but I managed to snap a handful with my phone during a weekend garage session. Here they are (HTML).

“Ga-TO!” 🙂

Our neighbors’ cat d’Artagnan (aka Tuxstein, Tuxy, or just “you fat dumpling”) has been a good sport lately as Finny becomes more comfortable petting creatures, ascending the neighbors’ steps, and generally exploring the world. More pix to follow.

We’ve fallen a bit behind in sharing some photos of the fam in action, so I’ve rounded up a gallery (HTML) of miscellaneous Finndustry. The gallery includes:

• A visit from our friends Tom, Sarah, and baby Harper
• A little lunchtime excursion with Hughes
• Some random fruit-tossing
• Flexing with Dad
• Watering with Mom
• …and screaming “Bacon!” 🙂

The squirrel-man and his buddy Leo are a pretty inseparable pair. Lately we’ve had a little fun tossing Leo onto Finn’s (and everyone else’s) head as a hat. Here’s a little gallery (HTML) from the goings-on. 🙂

Who needs a fancy new Elmo Phone when you’ve got a sippy cup? “Hehwo?” 🙂 (Click the image for a larger view.)

I’ll tell ya, I’m a lucky guy to get to come home & romp around with Finny. Here are a couple of shots I snagged with my phone as he celebrated the resurrection of our neighbor’s bee-attracting fountain (“BEE!”). (Click the image for a larger view.)