10 for 10

Just like ESPN has made 30 movies for the 30 years that they have been on the air, I have made a list of 10 things that I love about my son for the 10 days that he has been alive. They are, in no particular order:

1) When he stretches out his arms and his legs to see how long he really is

2) When he lays/sits on me with his legs bent up like a little frog and his arms partially wrapped around me

3) When he is awake and his eyes are wide open looking at his surroundings

4) Waking up early in the morning with him when he is very active

5) When he cries while being changed, I can pick him up and my bare hands on his bare body are enough for him to stop crying

6) How when I hold him it is calming enough to put him to sleep almost on command

7) Knowing that he is still innocent enough and young enough that he doesn't have anything that causes him prolonged or serious stress

8) I'm not artistic, I'm not creative, and I'm not inventive. But he is something that I - along with my lovely wife - created

9) When he just stares at me with his big, bright eyes when he hears my voice

10) How he kicks off his socks, breaks through his swaddle, and other similar things to show his displeasure for being restrained.

An Early Eye towards the Class of 2028

You all should have, by now, received a birth announcement from Ryne. Many other people received those birth announcements along with University of Iowa head basketball coach Fran McCaffery. Included with Fran's announcement was a note from Ryne; it read:

Dear Coach McCaffery:

My name is Ryne Ewald. For such a little guy, I am already a huge Iowa Hawkeyes fan and especially an Iowa Hawkeyes basketball fan. I may only be less than a month old, but already people are taking note of my big feet and hands and my long arms; traits that you can’t teach a basketball player. I am writing this to you for two reasons: one, keep an eye out for me on your recruiting radar in about 17 years. I promise that my first choice of where to play college basketball will be at the University of Iowa. Two, good luck this season; I’ll be cheering for you, and I am hopeful that I will make my first ever game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena late in the season.

Go Hawks,

-Ryne Ewald

Just yesterday, when I checked the mail Ryne had a letter addressed to him; Coach Caff wrote Ryne a return note! It read:

Dear Ryne,

Thanks for your letter and you definitely will be on my radar screen if people are already noticing your big feet, hands, and long arms.

Go Hawks!

Fran McCaffery (sorry, but I can't type his autograph!)

Head Basketball Coach

We will be pulling for Coach Caff and the Hawks this winter, even if it is a long one...in fact, Amy and me will be taking Ryne to his first (of many) Iowa basketball game at Carver Hawkeye Arena this year. We have plans to go see their home finale when they face Purdue the first weekend of March.

Go Hawks!

Routines

I am someone that relies on routines. I thrive on routines. Saying that I become flustered when one of my routines is altered might be an understatement.

One of my routines is waking up before anyone else, working out, and then having a large cup of coffee while reading the newspaper cover to cover. Usually, if I am asked to do anything else prior to these things getting done I am not going to be thrilled.

Anyways, my morning routines haven't quite been the same the past couple of days. I get up, still early in the morning, but I am no longer alone when I wake up. Going to the gym to workout gets done at various times later in the day depending on the day. I still drink my coffee in the morning, but it is cold by the time that I finish it. The newspaper gets read, but not nearly as quick; I read a sentence here and a sentence there, maybe a paragraph or even a short story at a time if I am lucky.

You see, I've been waking up with Ryne most mornings so far (prior to going back to work. In fact, now that I am back to work and Ryne is sleeping in a little bit later with his mom - I miss having him around in the mornings!) His presence has slowed my morning routine. But it doesn't ruin my day; far from it, actually. Having Ryne around has me smiling all day long.

Routines are great. They help children become acustomed to new situations. However, flexibility is also important and especially so for adults dealing with children. I'm very good at following routines, I'm okay (and getting better) at flexibility.

Some random thoughts

Some of you may remember that when I first noticed Amy in one of my elementary education classes, I was captivated by her looks and I knew right then and there while sitting from afar that she was “the one.” However, now that she has given birth to our lovely son, I don’t think she’s ever looked so beautiful through my eyes.

Going back to work is going to be hard for me to do. Just leaving the house for an hour to go to the gym, has me hurrying to get through my workout at a pace that I’ve never been able to keep before just so I can return home to Ryne as quickly as possible.

How did I get to be so lucky when it comes to life?

Just this month alone, I started a new job that would be considered a promotion. I, with my lovely wife, brought home a perfect son. The Iowa Hawkeyes beat the sixth (Penn State) and then the first (Michigan Wolverines) college football teams with the most wins all-time, in consecutive weeks! Furthermore, Iowa has a legitimate shot at upsetting the fifth ranked, and undefeated, Michigan State Spartans at Kinnick Stadium this weekend. It has been maybe the best month ever!

My life is really great! I often wonder why I deserve all of this.

Iowa lost last Saturday, to Wisconsin, in a game that they should have won. To make matters worse, the Chicago Bears did the same thing the following day on Sunday. Normally, these two things would have ruined my weekend and had me pouting into the middle of the new week. However, while I obviously would have preferred my teams to win, neither thing put a damper on the high that I was experiencing after bringing Ryne home.

Having a child really does put other things in your life into perspective.

I was always worried about how I would interact with Ryne once he was born as I didn’t have any real experience when it came to dealing with newborns. I thought to myself how I just couldn’t wait until he was older and we could do so many fun things together. Now that he is born and he is a newborn, I don’t ever want him to grow up! As Maurice Sendak wrote in Where the Wild Things Are, "Oh please don’t go- We’ll eat you up-we love you so!” That is how I feel about Ryne.

He is just so beautiful and precious right now. I love the fact that he depends on his mom and dad for everything. I guess he will continue to depend on us for everything for a long while, and as I reflect on my own situation it seems as though he will probably depend on us for some things for ever. I at least hope so.

Away We Go

This may be one of the shortest blog entries that I’ve written. At the same time, I don’t know that there has been an entry that has taken me more time to write. There is truly a lack of words for what it is that I am trying to say.

I was excited for Ryne to enter this world from the moment that I heard that he was coming, and I knew that I would love Ryne once he entered this world. However, I had no idea what to expect that excitement and love to feel like. That excitement, and that love are both unbelievable feelings. And that excitement and love have continued to grow each of the first four days that he has been alive.

Yesterday we brought him home, and that was a little bit scary. It was a little bit scary for Ryne; as I gave him the tour of our condominium and showed him his new dwelling

his eyes were wide with wonder. I can’t speak for Amy, but I know that it was a little bit scary for me as Ryne is really the only newborn that I’ve ever been around for an extended period of time. All of a sudden, this tiny little person was solely our responsibility. That is a heavy burden to carry for someone that you love so much. And while it is scary, I must say I think we’ll do great (furthermore, it is very comforting to know that I have a pediatric nurse, who I believe my son resembles, on speed dial that I am able to call at any hour – day or night…) when it comes to raising Ryne successfully!

Now we embark upon our unpredictable journey, and away we go…

Right on Time

I was right on time...the title of Buck O'Neil's autobiography; Buck O'Neil was a baseball player during the era of the Negro Leagues and early intergration into Major League Baseball. Buck O'Neil suffered many hardships during his baseball career as it was a less than ideal time for an African-American. If Buck O'Neil can say that he was right on time, I think that Amy, Ryne, and myself can make the argument that Ryne joining us in this wonderful world is also right on time - even if he was a little over a week late. Everything happens for a reason, the good and the bad. Everything happens when it is supposed to happen, even if it seems as though it is at a less than ideal time. It is my theory that if you are early, on-time, or late - those are the times that were destined for you. On Thursday, October 21st, 2010 at 12:42pm, Ryne Bailey Ewald was right on time. (Even if it does mean that I am selling my tickets to tomorrow's Iowa/Wisconsin game because that is the day we are coming home from the hospital. That was a tough decision, and hard to do. However, I am excited to watch the game with my new favorite Hawkeye fan!) Now the real fun begins! (Pictures and videos to come soon...)

The Final Countdown

"The Final Countdown": the song that Amy did some cheer routine to as a senior in high school (ha!), the song that Brothers plays (at least they used to, when I was in college) right before Iowa football games are about to begin, what Amy and I are going through as we patiently wait for Ryne to be born.

This will probably be my last blog before I begin fatherhood...let that settle in for a moment.

It does not seem like very long ago that Amy told me that she was pregnant. That was exciting, but pregnancy has a different feel for fathers and mothers. Mothers feel the changes and the growth; the fathers are able to see some of them, but it is not as personal as it is for mothers. I've been excited about being a dad since Amy told me that I was going to be one, but now it is getting real. I could, theoretically, become a dad within hours from now!

I must say, and I hope that this is an indication of things to come, my son seems to be extremely well behaved. My friend, Kip, said it best that, "Ryne knows not to mess with his dad on Iowa football Saturdays." I was a little bit worried (no, I'll be honest; worried a lot!) that Amy was going to go into labor soon before or during the Iowa vs. Penn State football game that was just played last night. She didn't. We were able to enjoy the game (I'll expand on this momentarily)/the Iowa victory! And now, Iowa has 13 days before their next game. Amy has 13 days to deliver our soon to be adored son. I must say, we planned this pregnancy very well! If you are going to do anything during the fall, which I would highly advise against, at least do it during the bye week...(I wish that I could say that I am joking within this paragraph, but that would only be partially true - sorry).

I said that "we were able to enjoy the game/the Iowa victory!" in my previous paragraph so let me tell you a little bit about what that means to me. And I'm not going to tell you what the victory means to me, but I want to tell you what Amy going to the game with me means to me. On the day of the game, Amy was 11 days out from her due date. That alone, from what I've heard regarding other women's pregnancies, would be reason enough for her to not want to go. We had to drive one hour to Iowa City; we walked around the stadium prior to the game, tailgating for a little while; we sat and stood in our seats for the entire game (plus about 45 minutes prior to kickoff) in what was definitely the most crowded that Kinnick has been this year; did I mention that it was a Saturday night game and that it was very cold so we had to dress in multiple layers; and then we had to drive an hour back home, not returning home until after midnight. She wanted to go; and even if she didn't want to go, she told me that she wanted to go. She didn't say that she wanted to stay home, and she didn't make me stay at home! I can not tell you how much that I thank her for this. This is one of the things that I love the most about Amy. You should see the way that the other people who have season tickets around us (and therefore have been sitting with us for the past month now) look at us. I'm pretty sure that they think that Amy is about the toughest woman alive; I'm pretty sure that they think that Amy is about the biggest Hawkeyes fan alive; and I'm pretty sure that they think that I'm about the luckiest guy alive to have a wife who obviously a trooper.

I hear of many women who at times may be demanding during pregnancy and very vocal about their uncomfortableness during pregnancy, but this has not been Amy. I know that she is very uncomfortable during pregnancy, but she does a pretty good job of concealing that fact from most people. I am very fortunate. This pregnancy has been very easy on me. Thank you Amy.

So now I'm all in. My attention is fully focused on Ryne entering the world. Let's have this baby; the sooner the better! (but for sure within the next 13 days! ;-))