What's in a Name?

Aubrey Bernadette Taylor.

What's in a name?

Well, Bernadette was my mother's middle name and is also my niece's middle name.

As for Aubrey, it's a name we selected on our own. One that means "ruler of elves."

So there's that.

A Welcome Visitor

We heard a faint knocking on the hospital room door, the kind of tapping that takes a moment to process before producing any kind of reaction. Soon we realized that this was the effort of a little hand.

The steady stream of pediatricians, residents, anesthesiologists, nurses, assistant nurses, lactation consultants, housekeepers, and dining services staff during the preceding 12 hours was being interrupted by the most welcome visitor. Graham had arrived to meet his little sister.

One of my favorite images following Aubrey's birth is committed to memory, not film. It's of Graham, discovered on the other side of that door, wearing a wide smile and holding a bouquet of pink roses as he exclaimed, "We found you!"

Graham had traversed the fifth-floor hallways of UNC Women's Hospital with Mimi and Pop-Pop in search of the number eight. We were in Room 5W08, a combination I unintentionally committed to memory as a byproduct of calling in food orders. Graham delivered his roses to Mommy, and we became a family of four in practice. 

Our final photo as a family of three, taken immediately
before departing for the hospital on Monday.
It was a difficult good-bye.

Graham shows Aubrey one of his gifts for her.

Big brother helps carry his sister to her bassinet.

One of our first photos as a family of four.

Headed home with a full back seat.

Meet the Newest Taylor

As I watched my bride walk down the aisle on our wedding day, I swore I'd never experience another moment when a woman looked so beautiful to me. Then I met my daughter.

Aubrey Bernadette Taylor joined our family on 11/12/13 at 12:28 a.m. Aubrey weighs 7 pounds, 14 ounces and already holds the distinction of being the first family member to arrive anywhere earlier than expected.

Erica is doing well and looks every bit as beautiful as she did that day seven years ago.

Bonus Room Campout

I woke up in a tent Saturday morning. I wasn't camping out. Rather, I was camping in.

Camping out in style and inside.

Graham and I enjoyed a bonus room campout this weekend with our full-sized tent claiming the majority of open floor space. It was Erica and my attempt to lift G's spirits. Based on his inability to remain still as we set the tent up, it's fair to say our efforts worked.

Graham stayed with friends during Erica's midwife appointment Friday afternoon. He left in a saddened state. His buddy would be camping out with his dad that night at a nearby park, and Graham wanted to go. We decided to do the next-best thing. If you prefer to avoid near-freezing temperatures as I do, you might say we did the even-better thing.

Having run, jumped, and danced through the upstairs of the house as bedtime neared, Graham calmed down enough to change into his pajamas and brush his teeth. Having done the same myself already (well, minus the running, jumping, and dancing), I waited for Graham aside the tent with the stage all set for our overnight adventure. He emerged from his bedroom and trudged slowly down the hallway with a pillow under one arm and dragging Curious George in his free hand. I took a mental picture of a an image that warmed my heart.

The tent served as our sleeping quarters Friday night and as fuel for Graham's imagination in the morning. It functioned as a baseball field one moment, a rocket ship the next ("The stars are beautiful!"), and an airplane in another instance.

My first father-son camping memory involved a pup tent, lots of rain, and a leaky roof. That introduction to the great outdoors as an elementary school kid then may explain my preference for the great indoors now. The toasty temperatures and pumpkin pancake breakfast that awaited us in the morning (Thanks babe!) further made the case for bonus room camping as the way to go. Or to stay.

The Simple Things

Saturdays often begin with Erica and me searching for possibilities of how to entertain Graham for the day. It can be stressful when we lack for good ideas. Today served as a reminder that I make things too complicated.

Following a late breakfast at one of our favorite local spots, Graham and I went for a walk. We played "I Spy" along the way.

"I spy a yellow car" ... "I spy a fire hydrant" ... "I spy the number eight."

Then Graham said, "I'm going to chase you."

I jogged ahead until he caught up. He tagged me and laughed.

"Now you chase me," he said.

He ran ahead until I caught up. I tagged him. He laughed again.

On it went as we circled the block.

So much for needing a plan.

********

Graham became excited when a little boy entered the play area this evening.

"Daddy, it's another boy," he called out.

Graham said "Hi" and waved several times as the boy climbed up the stairs toward him. Eventually, the boy mumbled "Hi" in return.

Graham turned back toward me.

"He said 'Hi!'"

Would that everyone were so kind.

A week ago he told three different kids at a birthday party, "You will be my best friend."

********

Graham and I did bedtime by ourselves tonight since Erica is feeling sick. We read books, said a prayer, and told a story. Our normal routine.

As I got to the point in my story where we order donuts, Graham became concerned about Mommy not being included. He "ordered" a donut for her, slid down the slide on his bed, and went to the bonus room to deliver the imaginary treat himself.

"Mommy will be so happy with her donut," he said as he left.

He was correct.

Summertime Memories - Wrightsville Beach

 

Summertime is winding down. I had intended to chronicle events from throughout the past few months as they occurred. Didn't happen. I've decided instead to post various photos from the summer and tell the stories behind them.

This might be my favorite picture from our summer together. It was taken during a brief trip to Wrightsville Beach, N.C. in mid-July, one last hurrah as a family prior to my first day of employment at Ravenscroft. 

After arriving late in the afternoon and dropping our bags in the room, we headed to the beach to take a family walk in the surf. Get our feet wet, if you will. Graham's delight was obvious as the water rushed over his legs. Before long he was soaked head-to-toe.

Erica and I experienced a tangible sense of relief that afternoon. Release even. It was the most relaxed we had been for quite some time. I wouldn't go so far as to say that we didn't have a care in the world; keeping Graham from drowning did provide some stress. However, our minds were free of the concerns that had occupied so much of our mental space the previous few months.

My first experience as a Durham Academy employee was an administrative team retreat to the same beach. Same hotel even. They were there again in the days prior to our arrival. They wrapped up their retreat the very morning that our brief trip began. 

Our paths did not cross. Fittingly, they left prior to our arrival. It felt like we were finally starting to put that experience behind us.

Graham's Sunday Best

A Sunday morning photo of my handsome little man. It's not his Sunday best, at least not in the traditional sense, so let's instead call it his Sunday better-than-usual.

Richmond Road Trip

Richmond typically operates as a landmark for us, a loose halfway point during our drives to Catonsville. It served as the destination last week.

We road tripped to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens on Thursday to see Iron & Wine perform at Groovin' in the Garden. A heavy downpour greeted us in Richmond but soon gave way to a comfortable, clear evening - ideal conditions for an outdoor concert.

The venue presented Graham with plenty of room to roam. The concert setting wasn't lost on him, however. He picked up the hotel room phone Friday morning and explained to his imagined conversation partner: "We went to the concert ... he played guitar, he sang songs ... people said 'yay.'"

Iron and Wine performs at the botanical gardens

After a Friday morning visit to Aunt Sarah's Pancake House for Graham's favorite breakfast food (hint: it's in the name of the restaurant), we took a short drive to Kings Dominion, home of "a bigger, better Planet Snoopy."

Graham road planes, trains and automobiles with the latter being a clear favorite. This was the conversation following a spirited theatrical performance of Charlie Brown's All-Stars.

Erica: "What do you want to do next?"

Graham: "My favorite thing in the world: the cars."

You can see Graham in action in the video below. His smile alone while riding these cars (over and over and over again) was worth the price of admission.

[My favorite ride was The Great Pumpkin Coaster. The operator's enthusiastic singing enhanced the experience: "Go, go, pumpkin coaster. Great, great pumpkin coaster. Go! Go!"]

The bumper cars proved to be a bit more confusing to our young driver, who stuck to a strategy of spinning in circles. Said strategy inevitably led to collisions that left all drivers stuck.

Ready to take flight

Milkshake break with Mommy

Taking a much-needed nap

We finished the day playing games. Graham (with a little help) defeated mommy and a young rival in the water gun game and secured a stuffed giraffe for his efforts.

We then raced over to ride the carousel before the park closed. The attendant informed us that we just missed the last ride of the day. My attempted guilt trip using Graham as my accomplice failed to persuade the young, dutiful employee.

We walked toward the front gate, passing the Shockwave stand-up coaster on our way. A partially full car whizzed by with its excited passengers presumably taking - ahem - the last ride of the day. I checked the time: 5:59.

Shortly thereafter, the park's speakers crackled with word that the Kings Dominion was now closed.