Welcome, Little Stranger

 "One morning, when a windy golden sunrise was billowing over the gulf in waves of light, a certain weary stork flew over the bar of Four Winds Harbor on his way from the Land of Evening Stars. Under his wing was tucked a sleepy, starry-eyed, little creature. The stork was tired, and he looked wistfully about him. He knew he was somewhere near his destination, but he could not yet see it. The big, white light-house on the red sandstone cliff had its good points; but no stork possessed of any gumption would leave a new, velvet baby there. An old gray house, surrounded by willows, in a blossomy brook valley, looked more promising, but did not seem quite the thing either. The staring green abode further on was manifestly out of the question. Then the stork brightened up. He had caught sight of the very place--a little white house nestled against a big, whispering firwood, with a spiral of blue smoke winding up from its kitchen chimney--a house which just looked as if it were meant for babies. The stork gave a sigh of satisfaction, and softly alighted on the ridge-pole." ~Anne's House of Dreams 

Baby J arrived safe and sound in the early days of October after a lengthy delivery and much anticipation! He weighed 8 pounds and was 21 inches long. He is healthy, happy, and always hungry.

(Note: upon re-reading the above-quoted chapter from Anne's House of Dreams regarding Jem's delivery, I was awed to discover that baby Jem weighed 10 pounds. Anne Shirley Blythe was a courageous woman... and yes, her author had already had three children of her own when this novel was published, so she did not write in ignorance.) 

We're planning to keep his social media presence very minimal, for the sake of his privacy now and as he gets older, so photos will be few and far between, but I wanted to let the kind readers of my blog know that he's finally made an appearance! We are currently struggling through what they call the "fourth trimester" - punctuated with sweet, wriggly snuggles, kisses on velvety cheeks, and wide-open blue eyes taking in everything around him. Well, everything within 8-12 inches of his yet-bleary visual capacity, at least. 

Sleep, I am told, will come later. Eventually. We hope. 

(Just kidding. He did several 3-hour stretches last night and there was rejoicing in the land. Let us hope and pray it happens again.) 

"Marilla, Anne has sent me to tell you that a certain young gentleman has arrived here. He hasn't brought much luggage with him, but he evidently means to stay."