My grandmother died earlier last week. Ottalyn Marsden Hansen Dinkelman was 77 I believe when it happened. She was still living by herself which is good in the sense that she never had to do the nursing home thing but kind of sad because she was alone when it happened. She's not alone anymore though as she's now with my grandfather who passed away several years ago due to a degenerative brain stem disorder. I've always had grandparents on both sides of my family so I don't really know what to think about not having any on a side. I never did develop strong ties to any grandparents so I guess I feel more sorry for my dad than anything. I did love Grandma Dinkelman as she was a smart lady who was very practical and always let us know we were in her thoughts. My only regret is not reciprocating that as often as I should have... Anyway, I'll miss you Grandma.
In the same weekend of the funeral, Leslie's water broke. It was kind of funny because it was Sunday night and she was just doing her blog reading while I did my Sunday night raid in World of Warcraft (WoW). I guess she sneezed and then came the water works. She called down letting me know what happened. I told my buddies on my game that I had to jet and got everything ready.
Leslie's parents came and picked up Gavin and we were on our way to the hospital. We arrived at like 11pm and the nurses started getting ready. When we got there she was already at a 5 which surprised us since when Gavin was born, I think we waited like 10 hours to get that far. What really surprised us was when she hit a 10 only like 2 hours later. Once the doctor arrived, she was ready to go and after only 2 pushes at 2:30am January 26th, Parker James Dinkelman was born.
We were both amazed at how fast things progressed as Gavin's labor was about 28 hours and Parker's was all of 3. Amazed, but not disappointed. Anyway, when he was born he weighed 9.5 lbs and was 21 inches long. I guess he's a big kid but he still looks teeny to me. Anyway, here's a series of gratuitous baby pics of the whole ordeal, enjoy!
Seconds after Parker is born, he looks pretty good with all that hair! I was hoping for curly hair but after getting cleaned up I don't think he'll get my curly locks.
The proud papa with a new boy. Myself and Leslie look so much better than after Gavin being born. Kind of helps when you're not exhausted physically and emotionally.
Flex those guns little dude! This is Parker getting his first bath in the hospital. He just sort of squealed when he was first born (much like Gavin) but wasn't afraid to exercise his lungs when they poked an prodded him during the exam.
Mom is REALLY outnumbered now. Gavin's initial reactions to Parker were interesting to say the least. He was almost afraid of him since I don't think he's seen a baby this small up close before. He's starting to come around but I'm still curious how he'll fill his big brother role.
Our little family is growing bigger. With Gavin it just seemed like me and Les with our little mascot but I feel like we're becoming more of a family unit. Just another step forcing me to grow up...
Leslie doesn't even look like she had a baby. She doesn't feel like it either so I guess that's good. The hospital stay was a little short but so far the recovery has been shorter this time around. We had to take the little guy home January 27 (yeah, the next day... go SelectMed, ya cheap buggers).
Well, this is Parker saying good bye. I look forward to keeping my parents up all night and non-stop eat-poop-sleep-repeat action!
