Thanksgiving

I have written and then re-written this blog numerous times, as I am finding it quite difficult to construct. I want to write a blog that speaks of all that I am thankful for with this being Ryne’s first Thanksgiving, but this is complicated because I have so much to be thankful for…where do I begin?!

I started to think of all of the things that I am thankful for, and the list looks something like this: my wife, my son, my family, my in-laws, my friends, my good health, the good health of those that I care about, my education, my intelligence, my employment situation, the shelter over my family’s heads, the clothes on my family’s backs, the food in my family’s mouths, the opportunities that I’ve had to travel throughout the United States and even some abroad travels, and even though they don’t matter – all of the material things that I own and enjoy. The list is pretty long, and I’m sure that it could be longer if I continued to think about it. I’m not going to ramble on telling you about how/why I’m thankful for all of these things, but I do want to go into detail on a few of them. As the holidays approach, and the year begins to come to a close, this (2010) really has been one of the most accomplished, enjoyable, monumental, successful, insert other adjective here years of my life!

My wife – I am thankful for everything about her. I am thankful that we shared a class together during the second semester in 2004 at the University of Iowa. I am thankful that she was raised to be such a wonderful person by such wonderful parents. I am thankful that she is beautiful on the inside and out. I am thankful that she is such a nice person to everyone even when she doesn’t want to be. I am thankful that she is an educator/teacher because I believe that is such a meaningful vocation. I am thankful that she, sometimes, thinks my, strange, sense of humor is funny. I am thankful that she has taken an interest in my number one interest – sports. I am thankful that she is such a wonderful mother to our son.

My son – I am thankful for Ryne. I am thankful that he is healthy. I am thankful that he eats plenty and eats well. I am thankful that he is pretty good sleeper. I am thankful that he appears to be content with life at this point in time. I am thankful that he never gets uncontrollably upset. I am thankful that he is so handsome. I am thankful that he is made-up from half of my wife and half of me. I am thankful that I get to come home from work to him (and my wife) each day. I am thankful that he was born into a situation where he has many people that love him, and will probably never have to go without anything that he really needs.

My family – I am thankful that I never had to question whether or not I was loved. I am thankful that I never had to go without anything that I really needed (or wanted, actually). I am thankful that I was raised to become who I am (because I like me a whole lot!).

My education – I am thankful for being born into a family that placed a value on education. I am thankful that (for the most part) I got something out of my educational opportunities (minus maybe the four years from my senior year of high school through the first three years of my undergraduate degree). I am thankful that I undertook the work necessary to complete my master’s degree when I did; even though it was not easy, and I could have easily found more enjoyable things to do with my money and time.

My employment situation – I am thankful for having a job. I am thankful for having a job that allows me to make a difference. I am thankful for enjoying my job. I am thankful for having a boss that I admire and enjoy working for. I am thankful for enjoying the school’s vacation schedule.

My new job has really made me more thankful than ever before for everything that I have in my life. A lot of the students in the building that I work in don’t have (on the surface) nearly the amount of things to be thankful for that I have. These students wear the same dirty, old, oversized or undersized clothes day-in and day-out. These students don’t get regular dental, health, or vision care. These students lack positive role models in their lives. These students rely on the unappetizing free breakfasts and free lunches that the school provides them with. These students don’t have their own space to go home to. Most of these students don’t have the traditional family structure in their lives. Many of these students have never traveled outside of the Quad Cities. These students come from homes where education is not valued, which will make school very difficult for them, which will make accomplishing things later in life nearly impossible for them. Going to work everyday and seeing these students everyday can be quite depressing. But that is one of the main reasons why it is so rewarding to work in education, and specifically to work in school like the one that I work in because you are able to help those in need.

And that is why I am so thankful this Thanksgiving. I can truly appreciate ALL that I have and be THANKFUL for ALL of it.

Baby's First Word and More!

Sorry this has taken me so long to write as it happened Sunday night…it is amazing how busy life has become with my new job, my family, and the heart of football season!

Sunday night, while laying in bed with my wife and my son, something miraculous happened! Ryne said his first word! (Okay, he probably didn’t actually say anything, but it was crystal clear to both Amy and myself as to what Ryne said). Without ever telling Amy what I heard, she told me what she heard, and what she told me was the exact same thing that I had heard. The word that we heard (sounding like Dr. Seuss) was…

…wait for it…wait for it…

…”Eric”

Yes, Ryne’s first (unofficial) spoken word on Sunday , November 14th at about 10:00pm was Eric (the name of his father). It made my night!

Speaking of making my night, do you want to know what one of my new favorite sounds is? It is when Ryne is put down on his little jungle mat for a moment by himself and you can hear him playing with/pushing/rolling his little ball that his a rattle inside of it. I love that he is taking the early initiative to play with the ball.

One final thing, for now, I love how much weight Ryne is gaining. As he approaches his one-month anniversary for entering the world, he has gained a pound and a half to total ten. He is a growing young boy (and that is going to cost his mom and dad), but you can’t coach/teach size! (I’m kidding about that, mostly kidding…) J

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…