A Month of Firsts

Bree and I have not really been the kind of parents that go out of our way to shelter our kids. We have usually tried to get them out in the world and expose them to new things right off the bat. This may partially attributed to the fact she and I are both anxious to get out of the house ourselves sometimes.

In Clayton's first month he has:
1. Attended his first Celtic/Irish Festival. This was a small festival over in the town of Edgewater in which there wasn't too much of the debauchery other Celtic fests sometimes are known for. The excitement didn't really start until the skies opened up and it began to pour. To

Rachel's dismay this interrupted our viewing of the little girls doing Irish Step dancing. Nobody wanted the rain to damage their ridiculous curly wigs. Fortunately we were able to take shelter under a tent next to some squash and pumpkins. Daddy was able to drink some beer with a small group of hardcore Celtic Fest afficienados and share stories of Ireland and other festivals. These folks had a different festival scheduled for themselves every weekend of the summer.

2. Clayton attended his first Music Festival. The Sunnyside Music Festival in Chaffee Park is held every September in Northwest Denver. It isn't exactly Woodstock, but it's a cool neighborhood festival featuring a bunch of local merchants and some half way decent entertainment. Rachel built a birthday cake out of dirt on the baseball diamond using sticks as

candles. She got filthy, but seemed to have a great time. I took in some of the acts such as Bonnie and the Beard.

3. Clayton's first Restaurant experience was at the Edgewater Inn, where we went for pizza after the Celtic Festival. Last Friday he also made his first visit to Carmine's On Penn. This was more of a date night for Bree and I as Rachel had been dropped off at Monique the babysitter's house. Carmines is always great although Clay was not old enough to be able to enjoy the Chicken Parmigiana.

4. Last weekend, we took Clayton and Rachel up to Red Rocks Amphitheater. It was time to start his musical as well as geological education. After spending some time admiring the dramatic rock formations I pointed out to him where the Beatles played in 1964. I went on to edjucate him on some of the other greats that have played Red Rocks throughout the years, including Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, U2, Jimi Hendrix, John Denver and Jackson Brown, to name just a few. Clayton was clearly overwhelmed and promptly fell asleep.

Other developmental items that should be noted here include the following:
1. Clay is now sleeping between 3 and 4 hours at at a stretch at night. This is not all the time, but he has shown a good capacity for prolonged slumber.
2. Clay has good head control for someone of his age. He is able to lift his head up and look from side to side. He commonly does this when he hears his mom's voice and senses the potential for a meal.
3. He is already out of newborn diapers.
4. Clayton apparently can smile. I have not personally witnessed this phenomenon, but Bree swears that he his all grins whenever I'm not around.

All things considered, it has been a good first month for the little guy. He's a pretty laid back is getting cuter by the day. Rachel is a great sister and is doing her three year old best to be a help to us taking care of him. I'm looking forward to my parents and other family members having the chance to meet him soon

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Welcoming Baby Clay

August 31st, 2011 my wife Bree gave birth to a son. After several days of deliberation following the birth, we finally settled on the name Clayton Daniel. The name Clayton closely beat out Calvin and Corbin in the final competition.

Bree put in another gutsy performance and with the help of our Doula Pam and Nurse Cindy Clayton was born after a very long and mostly uneventful night in the hospital. After about 10 in the morning things began to progress quickly until Clayton was finally born at 12:41. He was 8lbs 10oz and 20.25 inches.
Rachel, who turned 3 in July, has been a terrific big sister. after a few weeks the novelty of having a baby around the house is wearing off a bit, but she has displayed great affection for her baby brother and has often gone out of her way to be helpful.