Baby Shower

Well, you know how it's meant to be with the second baby - people naturally don't make as big a fuss as they did for the first.  That, and the fact that we're a long way from anyone who we've known for more than three months (except Alisa's mom!), meant that the idea of a baby shower for Alisa and Little Baby Brother hadn't even crossed my mind.

But a box arrived from Kodiak today.  And when Alisa opened it, she found a portable baby shower inside: a collection of very sweet gifts for her and the Newest Addition, from some of our very good friends back in the home port.

You know how much effort it takes to get together this nice a selection of gifts and get it to the other side of the world in time for the big event, for friends you haven't even been in regular contact with for almost three years?  A lot.  There are no people like our friends in Alaska. 

Meanwhile, yesterday was the day before the due date.  Alisa stopped by Pelagic to replace a broken gear in the main halyard winch and to check the fit of the new sail cover.  And right now it's 2300 on the due date, and she's knocking out a few more seams on the sail cover project.

Cruising dudes of the world, continue to eat your hearts out!

~~

I've overheard Alisa telling people "I'm as ready as I'm gonna be."  I guess I am too, but I also have a father's feeling of contingency about what's about to happen.  This new little dude-to-be is still so hypothetical.  I look at Elias, who is such a particular person, and such a force in my life, and realize that my imagination would never have been equal to the task of predicting him, of describing his individual self, before he was born.  Little Baby Brother is still in that stage of pure mystery, but very soon he will be a pure fact, and then none of us will quite remember what things were like before he was around.

For Elias, with his much more circumscribed life experience, our future as a family of four is even more hypothetical.

  If I run, he says, will he want to run too?
  Yes, I say.
  If I play, will he want to play too?
  Yes.
  If I pretend to hunt, will he pretend to hunt too?
  Yes.
  Ummm, if we ride in the car will he want to ride too?
  Yes.
  Will we let him?
  Yes.
  If we run errands will he come too?
  Yes.
  Why? He asks. Whywhy?