Hi Mike, Hi Corinne - Where's The Baby?

We've had quite a few visitors lately, and if you have children you know what the title refers to. Baby, baby, baby. Everyone wants to see and hold the baby. Well, what about us??

Of course, I'm kidding. We have had lots of visitors, and of course Anders Rocket is the main reason. But we in no way feel neglected or overlooked. In fact, we're happy for all of the extra help!

The first wave of visitors held Uncle Leif and Linda. Leif had only recently returned from a spontaneous trip to Maui; in fact, he was on the plane heading out when we called him to let him know that Rocket was arriving early. Linda was only able to stay for a day or so before she had to head back to work in Portland. While she was here she did volunteer her babysitting services in Portland, and a little more than a week later we took her up on the offer while Corinne and I went to a work-related dinner in Portland. Thankfully, he was good to her and slept most of the time.



The next arrival was Uncle Loren, arriving precisely on Rocket's due date and staying for over two weeks. He bought his plane tickets from Tulsa well in advance, scheduling it so that he would be here when Anders arrived - or so he thought. He spent most of his time at our place, and by the end of it had really grown attached to the newest family member.

But the real onslaught of visitors came the weekend before Halloween. Grandma Donna, Grandpa Reidar, and Grandma Eivor all arrived on Saturday, joining Uncle Loren, two sleep deprived parents, and the man who instigated it all - Anders Rocket. (Uncle Leif, unfortunately, came down with something that kept him away from much of the action.) Everyone got a chance to hold, cuddle, and rock him. We also offered other opportunities, such as changing or nursing, but for some reason no one took us up on those.



And no one was free from the "baby tax." I'm not talking about a financial tax levied by the government, of course. What I am referring to involves cooking, cleaning, and doing general chores around the house and property that the overworked parents just haven't gotten around to over the last few months, such as:

• Transporting and installing a new upright freezer (which in the end turned out to be defective)
  
• Composting the remains of the garden and disassembling its drip irrigation
  
• Sawing a stump, and chopping the remains into firewood
  
• Helping repair some engine problems in a car and riding mower

We packed more productivity into just a few days than we had in the previous month! We also made time to just sit outside and enjoy the crisp fall weather in the evenings, with some wine courtesy of a grateful client of Leif & Loren.

Thanks everyone for coming! In a few weeks the Daly-side grandparents will get to enjoy some quality time with Rocket during their visit from the East.

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket