Oh Boy!

Patrick Lawrence is truly the man of the hour. In particular, the 5 A.M. to 6 A.M hour a few days ago, when he went from there in his mother’s womb to here in our arms. What a wonder to see him under wraps then, and now so tidily swaddled – like a present  wrapped in soft flannel.

Those of us waiting his arrival tried to guess the day he would be born. I sensed he would be a July baby – even though his due date was August 4! He just carried so large in his second and third trimester. Weighed in at 8.2 pounds at birth. A friend who is an ultrasound technician tells me he would have tipped the scales at over 9 pounds if he went full term! I share Patrick’s Mom’s relief that he did not!

I wondered who he would look like – what combination of Mom and Dad would he sport from head to toe. Minutes after birth, I could see the resemblance to his father in the scrunched up features of his tiny face. And then, from a slightly different angle, his mother’s hairline and the thick fuzzy “do” she wore so well in her very first portrait, wilder than bed hair, yet so naturally beautiful.  He has long, long fingers, too, like his mom’s baby hands, already reaching out to touch air, hair . . . whatever’s out there waiting to be touched.