Liliana Week 8

Hello there, how are ya? I’d like to take a minute to talk with you about my visit, with my travel companions, Gabe & Joanna. I could start by telling you about all the things we did here. Like visiting the Locks, or staying up playing Scattergories & what “elusive bus” means. I could tell ya jokes that you wouldn’t get, cause ya weren’t here, like “elusive bus”. Or about great pizza in Seattle (that’s right… I said it, in Seattle!) Maybe we could talk about pork chops & its importance. Or I could share with you how wonderful our family dinners were over pasta, sausage, salad bread & laughter. I could write about our visit to Pikes Place, & our walks around town. And sure I could thank Ian, Marita, Mike, Rachael & Logan for puttin us up in their great new home, feeding us & showin us around.

Or perhaps you’d like to know a about the newest member here, Liliana. Well, look, we could get into how incredibly beautiful she is, which is true. Or how sweet she gets, true too. Or maybe ya were hoping to read about how awesome it is to hear her gurgle, & coo & giggle & wriggle around in our arms. Or how bout those strange, adorable, funny faces she makes when she’s sleeping & awake; all true. Maybe you’re hoping to hear about how that she’s so small that she fits right in between your hand and bi-cep, or how she can look at you so seriously & it still melts your heart.
Well sure, I could talk about that all day, but me, I’d like to talk about something else, I’d like to talk about…me. Ok, so I ain’t one of them fancy pediatricians, but I know a thing or two about babies. I mean I saw “3 men & a baby”. So I expect a few things; cute, sure, small, ok, bald, perhaps. But what I never expected was this…

This child cried… that’s right, I mean really, really cried, like a good ol’ fashion, I’m a baby & I got somethin’ to cry about cry… ONCE! If ya count those 15 minutes on the last night right before she was about to be fed & then to bed. That’s right, ONCE! 1 time in all our 5 days here. Who’s ever heard of such a thing? Oh & when she wasn’t crying, which was always, she was doin’ all that other jazz I wrote about above. Unbelievable! I mean here I come, all the way across the country to make sure that my best friends were having a helluva time with their new baby girl & what do I find? Sweetness, the most, bestest, sweetest baby I’d ever seen! Didn’t seem real to me I tell ya! And to make matters worse, Liliana’s cousin, young Logan is… The happiest 10 month old in the universe. Nothing could make this kid unhappy. Bonk his head on the floor “Yeah”, really hungry for food “Whoopee!”, time to go to sleep “Hurrah!”, play with mommy & daddy “Weee” (ok, well that one makes some sense). All I saw was Logan walkin about, arms stretched proudly to the sky, grin from ear to ear, making the happiest sounds. Everything was always fun with him. Especially his adoration of his baby cousin. You remember her, Liliana, the completely content one.

I mean what’s going on in this world where people as caring & loving as Ian & Marita have such support & love from people like Mike & Rachael & Logan… and not 1 day of tears. Not even a half hour of them. I thought babies cry! What’s the point of calling someone a “crybaby” any more if Liliana’s around to contradict it!

Anyway, as you can probably tell by now, I’m thoroughly distraught. A perfectly good trip, ruined by happy babies who only know to laugh, sleep, play & never cry. I believe it’s time we started taking a closer look at these parents who are caring for these kids to see what exactly what it is they are doing here.

I’ll tell ya, it was a “helluva’ trip we were havin’, huh!” and it was fantastic.

Thanks & love ya lots, Jakes, Gabe & Joanna.