50 for 50: 2006

YEAR: 2006

AGE: Turned 36 on Nov. 6

LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue

CUBS' RECORD: 66-96

SONGS I LIKED: "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley; "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse; "Steady as She Goes" by the Raconteurs; "Dani California" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

MOVIES I SAW: "Cars"; "Curious George"

TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Big Love"; "CSI: New York"

CONCERT I SAW: The Wiggles

VIDEO GAME I PLAYED: Advance Wars 2

On May 18, 2006, I was in the slot -- a newspaper term for the person in charge of producing the section for the night -- on the sports desk getting the last pages sent to be typeset. Two minutes after deadline -- Lori truly was the wife of a journalist -- I got a call saying to come home. The baby was on its way.

Ben was early by at least a week. True to his nature, he was impatient and bouncy even in utero. Lori's was set to visit the next week to support us during the happy time, but Ben was having none of it. 

There's an urban legend of a certain pizza place here in Salt Lake City and the garlic chicken pizza that supposedly sent women into labor. Lori's coworkers took here there for lunch, but she refused to get the miracle pizza. Apparently, just the whiff of the pizza was enough to set the labor wheels in motion.

Lori warned me not to speed home and get a ticket -- there was still time before she needed to get to the hospital. She had called a friend to stay at the house with Michael overnight. Lori and I stopped at an ATM on the way, then made it to LDS Hospital and checked in.

The night wasn't exactly long as it was late. Lori was given and epidural, and the waiting game was on. I went to the cafeteria, that was open until 2 a..m., and ordered a double cheeseburger. I fell asleep for maybe 15 minutes around 4 a.m. At about 5:30, I became paranoid about where I parked the car and ran out in the morning sunlight to move it. Lori's OB/GYN arrived about 6 a.m., and by 6:30, we were ready to get the show on the road.

For Michael, Lori needed to be induced, and labor lasted about 22 hours, including more than two hours of pushing. So, I was surprised that after about five minutes of pushing, Ben was born. Again, the kid just couldn't wait to enter the world. 

Our family was now four. After a few hours at the hospital, I went home and tried to sleep while our friend still had Michael with her. I managed a little nap, then collected Michael and took him to the hospital to meet his little brother. 

The next day or so was just Michael and I. We went to the park, where I was showing off my new baby's picture on my phone to other parents. The following morning, I slept relatively late, only to be awakened by Michael, who had taken the gallon of chocolate milk from the refrigerator and placed it my nightstand. Someone was up early and was thirsty ....

I also took Michael for a snow cone that second day, and eventually, we brought Lori dinner at the hospital spent time as a family. They came home the next day, and we settled in for ... a little bit of chaos. After Lori's mom arrived, we all got sick except for Ben. We didn't have colds, but something gastric and gross. (I had taken Michael to a McDonald's playland, and we think he might have picked something up there and gave it all to us). 

Moreover, we had a leak in our tub drain that was dripping water into our basement. That was a wonderful environment to invite a plumber into: a newborn and a house full of people throwing up ...

Ben's presence has never been boring, and that definitely included the first week of his life. The rest of the year was just as active. We traveled to Chicago twice and Minneapolis. We bought a twin jogging stroller way on sale before Ben was born, and by September, I was taking both on long walks through the neighborhood and to the park. 

My only regret during this time is that I don't remember many of the little things in caring for Ben the baby as I did for Michael. The first time around, every diaper change, feeding, and rocking the baby to sleep was an event. With the second child, it was so routine during a frantic schedule (compounded by work, which was especially draining for me this time) that the memories didn't quite imprint. That would change after Ben turned 1 -- when I started remembering every little thing with him -- but at the beginning, there was a little bit of the second child syndrome we had heard about.

Ben also never took to a pacifier like Michael did because ... Michael kept taking dee-dees out of Ben's mouth and putting them in his own. They started acting like brothers to each other from the start.


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