Quick Notes Quill

Just a few quick notes jotted down as to not forget them and write about them when I have a few more minutes of time.

First and for most, the birth of our daughter Lily Crawford Welsh on Saturday August 1 at 2:28pm at Frederick Memorial Hospital. She was eight pounds, six ounces and twenty inches long. Labor and delivery were extraordinarily smooth and almost -- dare I say -- easy. Recovery has been going well. She's a wonderful baby, sleeps and eats well. I'm getting more sleep at this point than I ever got with Jack. Lily is no mystery -- eat, sleep, poop. No phantom crying or fussiness. She's fit into our family so easily its like she has always been here.

Second, my seven week old nephew Paul has been diagnosed with meningitis after a round of tests that included a spinal tap. We're waiting to hear if he has viral or bacterial meningitis; bacterial being the more severe and dangerous type. We've been around Paul twice in the past week; once on Monday when we came home from the hospital and again on Wednesday at Julie's house for Emma's birthday party. I held and kissed Paul for a few minutes on Monday. Until we hear the results of what type of meningitis Paul has we are on lock down, quarantine -- no body in or out. This may be an extreme and unnecessary precaution but, better safe than sorry.

My sister and nieces arrived in Arizona and have resumed their west coast life at full speed. My Dad was there for a few days and has said how much and how quickly Jen has done to get back to normal life.

My Dad was here for a few days and it was very helpful to have a third pair of hands to hold Lily while Jeff and I did other things. Dad fell completely head over heals in love with Lily but, how could you not.

It looks like Jack will attend the pre school lab at Hood in a few weeks. Yeah! I had worried about Jack not being totally toilet trained and therefore not being able to enroll him. Turns out, he doesn't need to be completely trained and we've made huge strides in the past few days. We get one out of diapers immediately after getting one into diapers. What's the ecological damage of five years of diaper use? I shudder to think.

More later ...