This is right before we came home from the hospital!

Ruby and Evelyn Meet!

Maybe it’s because we look so young, or maybe it’s because we truly are immature, but I can recall many many times when we’ve been out in public with Evelyn and some random do-gooder has felt the need to “correct” our parenting.

One time Sarah had to try a dress on for some important occasion and set a sleeping Evelyn down in her pumpkin seat on the floor of the changing room. “Finally I can set her down for once!”, she thought. Of course, Evelyn woke up before Sarah could finish changing and when Evelyn realized that she was in fact, not being held in Sarah’s arms, she started wailing with wild abandon. Some lady in the next booth yelled with altruistic frustration over the partition,

“Mam, are you taking care of your baby!”

We’ve gotten, “She’s going to choke!” when allowing our normally fussy daughter to be pacified by Mardis Gras beads riding on an ambling street car heading away from the French Quarter. I wasn’t fazed until the lady reached out towards my daughter and attempted to take the beads away from her.

Once, Sarah was at the mall trying to calm Evelyn and talk to me on her cell phone at the same time, and a very short black haired woman came up and said with a Russian accent, “She’s toow cowld” and then attempted to adjust Evelyn’s blanket.

There are other anecdotes, but I should get to my main point. The other day, I finally got the first unsolicited piece of parenting advice that I consider worthwhile and even so much so as to post about it. My friend John told me the proper way to introduce Evelyn and Ruby. See the thing is, you want to allay any possible confusion or jealousy that might spring up during the first meeting between the older alpha sibling and the newborn. This needs to be done especially delicately when the big sister is in Evelyn’s social developmental stage; clingy and possessive.

When Evelyn came to the door, after being away from us and not knowing a thing about the baby, we put Ruby in the bassinet and over to the side. We attempted to greet Evelyn as if she were the focus. However, as soon as Evelyn entered the hospital room, she knew something was up; we weren’t going to fool her that easily. Why was everyone crowded around mom? Why are we here? She ran over to Sarah and jumped up in her lap, saying “Hi Mommy” in a shy bewildered tone.

When I saw her get into mom’s lap, I could tell she was trying to work things out in her head. Kids have the ability to sense when things aren’t the same as normal, even when they don’t understand what’s going on around them. Its an instinct I think we grown ups tend to loose when we over analyze interpersonal situations intellectually. I decided to try to get into the mix and talk to her about the “I’m the Big Sister!” button she was wearing. You know, small reassuring statements. World’s best dad material.

After we talked for a while and we asked her about her day with Grandma and Grandma, we asked her if she wanted to meet Ruby. She agreed and I carried her to the basonet.

She seemed more interested in the pumpkin hat that Sarah had knitted for Ruby. “Baby’s snow hat!” She said. I tried to talk to her about Ruby, but again, she wasn’t that interested in her. In fact, it wasn’t until we were able to take Ruby out and Evelyn could see her arms and legs and feets and hands and nose that she started become interested.

I’m glad we did it that way with the planning and the controlling of the environment. My initial reaction was not to follow John’s advice. But I can tell you for a fact that when we did it there wasn’t even a hint of jealousy. There was only curiosity, and even love. So I guess, all parental advice, offered in good faith, whether asked for or out of nowhere, should be considered seriously and respectfully.

Thanks for the advice, John. You’re going to make a great godfather.

It had to have been one of the easiest (and Sarah agrees with this) deliveries ever known to man. We entered the hospital a little past 9pm and Ruby was out and blinking at 10:43.

7 pounds 7 ounces

I’m going to be shamelessly taking pictures on my cellphone and uploading them to the site. If you’re at all interested in watching the action as it unfolds, check out this page:

New Baby Franklin ’05

and look out the pics on the right hand side of the page!

Pray for us!

My good friend Kelly just had her first child. Quinn somethingsomething O’Brien. Quinn’s a great name, although I’m not too sure about the middle name.

Note: This is not my child!