Lessons Learned

Everett’s mommy and daddy made sure to purchase a pumpkin before the Halloween season ended. They were not carving a jack-o-lantern this year, but observing another important Paulson family ritual which involved cutting away the top of the vegetable and stuffing their new infant inside to be photographed. Though Everett’s parents had selected the largest pumpkin available due to their rapidly growing boy, when the appointed day finally arrived, it still was doubtful whether the hollowed out gourd would accommodate him. In the end, most of him could be stuffed inside and the pictures came out very well. Happily, Everett’s parents had learned a thing or two from their previous photo shoot two years ago. His big sister had narrowly escaped a rollover in her pumpkin, so as a perk of being the second-born; Everett’s pumpkin was securely propped with logs from the start. If Everett is fortunate, maybe this incident will prove to be symbolic of the smooth path ahead owing to all the bumps his parents had learned to hurtle successfully during the previous two years. Everett can only hope.

Waking Up To The World

"He really is interacting so much today,” Everett’s mommy commented to Everett’s daddy on Saturday, November the eighteenth. Everett sat on her lap smiling and chortling contented and entirely engaged in the conversation.

Plegm Shlegm

Poor Everett caught his first cold in the middle of his sixth week of life. It wasn’t a bad cold and he fought it off quickly, but his gravley breathing and coughs still broke his mommy’s heart. To make matters even worse, he remained constantly cheerful and completely uncomplaining through the entire ordeal, much unlike his mommy who had passed the germ to him in the first place.

More Of Him To Love

Somewhere during Everett’s sixth week of life, he surpassed half his big sister’s weight. At twelve point five pounds, he weighed in approximately four pounds heavier than the eight pounds and ten ounces, which had tipped the scales at his birth.

Moments For Posterity

One of Everett’s very adorable burbles during the first weeks was a very convincing approximation of “Hi!” Of course, he uttered this syllable so rarely and randomly that recording it for posterity was near to impossible. Despite the odds cruelly stacked against her, Everett’s mommy continued to try however. “Oh, he just said it!” she announced and sent Everett’s daddy for the mini disk recorder. “One more time,” she encouraged as the disk whirred into action. There was a long, hopeful silence and then Everett belched loudly. "At least we got that on tape,” Everett’s mommy sighed.

A Surprising Turn Of Events

On Sunday, October the twenty-ninth, Everett lay on his mommy and daddy’s bed while they conversed about which relatives he most closely resembled. Without warning, the baby boy rolled from his tummy to his back completely on his own. While not at all pleased at being placed again in a prone position and asked to repeat the challenge for his skeptical mommy, he grudgingly obliged.

First Come First Serve

Everett slept quite contentedly through most of the first few weeks of his life. Whether it was in his gently swaying swing, cushioned bassinette, or vibrating bouncer, he soon learned he could always anticipate a warm and soft place to snuggle down, that is unless his sister had gotten there first. Clara Grace, who was extremely fascinated by the new rituals associated with Everett’s daily care and upkeep, could often be found feeding, blanketing or changing her numerous babies. During his second week home, Everett’s mommy tiptoed into the darkened bedroom to let him nap. Only this time, poor Everett found himself nestled atop a hard, plastic doll who had beaten him to the bassinette.

The Diaper Fairy

Everett’s mommy and daddy were enjoying a rare moment of relaxation with their new son. The three were sprawled contentedly across the family’s comfortable bed when all at once; the luxurious silence was ruptured with a familiar explosion in the region of Everett’s diaper.

“Maybe the diaper fairy will come and change this one,” Everett’s daddy mused wistfully.

“I’m sure she will,” Everett’s mommy scoffed. “Let me go call her.”

“Don’t worry,” Everett’s Daddy replied, “I think he’s already summoned her with his trumpetous blast.”

Smilestones

Everett’s mommy and daddy witnessed their son’s first smile on Sunday, October the fifteenth, just before he turned two weeks old.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Clearly, Everett is learning more and more about his new world with each passing hour. Some lessons are harder than others, and the fact that Everett has chosen to grapple with the age-old mystery of accepting the wonderfully good experiences along with their inevitable unpleasant partners, can only go to demonstrate his philosophical fortitude. After all, everyone at one time learns to accept the rain as well as the sunshine, their hours of sickness as well as their times of health, their productivity during toil as well as their pleasure during rest. In Everett’s case, he is currently learning to balance the joys of eating, his absolute favorite activity, against the evils of diaper changes, his most abhorred moments of the day.

It's a Big Ol' World

On Sunday, the first of October, Everett emerged from his tiny home inside mommy’s tummy into a large hospital room with warm blankets to swaddle his wiggling arms and legs, beeping instruments to monitor his well being, and nurses to diligently check up on his care every other hour. On Tuesday, however, his world became even larger as he was carried down a long corridor and into the bright sunshine. One last nurse checked to see if his parents had safely buckled him into his car seat, and then he was off, barreling down the road away from all the security he had found in his short three days of life. Before Everett could reach his snug and safe home however, he was about to receive his first hair-raising adventure in the wide-open world.

Very near to Everett’s house, a working train track occasionally delivered loads of bricks to the local brickyard. As Everett’s daddy pulled up to the tracks, the striped gate swung down and a loud warning bell started to clang. Everett’s daddy pulled to a stop and waited, but no train appeared. The next moment, the gate swung open, and the bell was silent. “I guess we’re not going to be stuck after all,” Everett’s mommy said cheerfully. Cautiously Everett’s daddy pulled forward and continued to scan the tracks. Just as the tires were inches from the metal rails, the bell resumed it’s clanging and a loud clunk on the rooftop informed them that the gate had once again decided to fall. Within seconds, the little red car baring Everett on his very first foray into the wide world was hemmed tightly in between a puffing locomotive and a long line of cars. And so, Everett received his very first lesson on the dangers of the wild outdoors on his very first foray into their vast expanse, although truth be told, he probably profited very little from this experience due to his rear facing car seat.

A Safe Bet

Shortly before Everett was scheduled to make his appearance, his mommy dined with his daddy, grandma, granddad, Aunts Amy and Ginger, Uncle Jimmy, and Cousin Donnie at a Chinese restaurant. When the meal concluded, a waitress emerged from the kitchen baring a tray of fortune cookies for the family. She placed one on the napkin of Everett’s mommy, went to move on, but then turned back, patted Everett from the outside and offered another cookie to his mommy. “For the baby,” she explained in broken English. Everett’s mommy cracked open the cookie and listened as Everett’s daddy read the fortune aloud, “Sometimes change is not only a part of life, but is even necessary for life.” Everett’s mommy had read enough hokey messages inside her cookies to avoid putting any stock in their mass produced wisdom, however, she couldn’t help marveling at the appropriateness of Everett’s very first fortune.