Benjamin's Birthday

birth-video.jpgI’d love for you all to see Benjamin’s Birthday video, but I’m not gonna post it inline on the website. See I don’t want anything to distract you from it.
Every single frame of this video is carefully thought-out, in an attempt to capture the moment. So many emotions hit you on a day like that, and it’s hard to convey them with pictures and sound. Hopefully this does an adequate job, but you have to give it your complete attention. If you’re willing to do that, watch the video here…

What's a Wyndham?

From my dad:

The name Wyndham is Anglo-Saxon, and derives from Benjamin’s great-great grandfather Wyndham Kent Wise, a businessman, contractor and world traveler born in the late nineteenth century. In the 1920s Wyndham was in Shanghai as a contractor, working on the building of the Bank of England, locally famous for its unique gold foil roof. His son, Wyndham Townend Wise, and Wyndham Townend’s mother, Louisa Townend, visited great-great grandfather Wyndham in Shanghai before returning to England with his mother on the newly completed Trans-Siberian railroad from Vladivostok to Moscow.

Wyndham Townend Wise, Benjamin Wyndham’s great-grandfather, was a mechanic on the ERA racing team of the then famous Raymond Mays, who domninated the Voiturette Circuit (Equivalent to today’s Formula 2 racing) in Europ before the Second World War, a fact that has undoubtedly contributed to his family’s weakness for speed, and the resulting high insurance costs of keeping the family on the road. Wyndham Townend signed on for WW2, and served in Kenya for two and a half years until the Italian and German campaigns there were completed, and later in what is now Bangladesh, stationed at Cheriga, just south of Chittagong, in a forward base that supplied munitions and logistical support to the campaign against the Japanese in Burma. Following the war he settled in Colchester, just outside London, England, and had two sons, Wyndham and Stephen, and a daughter, Rosemary.

In 1985, Benjamin’s father, then 5, spent a year in Bangladesh, where Stephen, Benjamin’s grandfather, taught at a missionary school, mere miles from where his father had served. Stephen is now a teacher in St. Thomas, Ontario. Benjamin’s great uncle Wyndham Paul Wise is the former editor of Take One magazine, for 13 years the foremost magazine of English language film in Canada.

From me:
I chose Wyndham as the middle name because I knew it was in the family, and I really like the sound of it. Our nurse said he could be an author with that name. I don’t know if that’s what he’ll be, but that’s funny because, as Laura Bolt pointed out, John Wyndham happens to be an outstanding author, and I don’t mind at all that our son shares his name.
For those unsure of the pronunciation, it’s Win-dum. And Benjamin Wyndham is resting happily in his grandma’s arms right now.

He Has a Name

Well it’s not Dylan, Buddy or Achmeed, but I think we’ve decided. Ladies and gentlmen of the Internets, I’m proud to announce the birth of a brand new U.S. Citizen: Benjamin Wyndham.
And the other great news? We’re going home today – provided all goes well with his last check-up. Please feel free to drop by this afternoon if you’re in the area…

No Name Yet

The question on everyone’s lips is what’s his name. And the answer is… We don’t know yet! But relax, we do have an idea or two – despite the 50,000 useless names in our book of 55,000 (Achmed, Achmeed, Achmar, Achmaree, etc…). I promise I will update when we have a name. I also have no way of getting pictures posted from here (except for grainy, blurry cameraphone shots, which wouldn’t do justice to the cuteness of our child) but I’ll probably sleep at home tonite, cause I’m sick of this amazing pull-out chair that manages to be uncomfortable in both bed and chair modes, so I’ll get some pictures online then.
Baby is doing exceptionally well. He’s a star at feeding, pooping and sleeping, which is all we could really ask of him on his first day of life. Mom is also well, although a little sore down below, and exudes peace and confidence in a way I’ve never seen before. I think our little family is gonna be just fine…

The day after

I’m beginning to understand that sleep is a luxory. They moved us down the hall to the room we’ll be in for the next 2 days at about 2:30 am this morning, after Nic successfully fed the baby on their first try (yay!) but it didn’t quiet down after that. There’s a pull out chair in the room, so I pulled some blankets over my head while the constant parade of nurses did their thing. At about 5 they woke us both up so Nic could take her first post-baby pee. By 8:30 we were both up for the day. A post pregnancy bathroom is not really one for sharing with other people, so I found a public one and doused my head in the sink to start my day. Nic’s been fed and she saved me some leftovers, so I guess I’ll eat until they bring our baby back. As far as I know baby and mom are healthy and happy. Nic, in particular, looks great, considering what she’s just been through. She’s sore, obviously, considering the size of the baby she just pushed out, but she’s braving it out, and doing a great job for her first day as a mom. Thank you to the nurses and doctors who’re reading this! You guys were great. We’re now in room E-609 if anyone wants to visit…