All is well in West Texas. Little John is sleeping a good seven or eight hours a night on alternate evenings, with the other nights going about five hours a pop. But we're all good, as the kids say nowadays. He loves to take baths now, loves to stare at lights and fans, loves to lay on his back on the boppy and play with toys, and just in general loves life. Dad, who was dreading the whole newborn and infant phase beforehand, is actually quite smitten with the little man. He is quite pleasant and amiable (nothing like his Dad, really), so long as he is eating when he wants (which is quite a lot like Dad). We have our two-month pediatrician appointment on Monday, which will include immunization shots, so Dad has quite stealthily squirmed his way out of attending. But Mom and Aunt Bethany will be there.

Dad is currently taking a doctoral class in Dallas, for which he commutes once a week and spends most of his free time reading (save for college football Saturdays). Mom will probably return to work in November, but she has cut a deal that will allow her to work only two twelve-hour shifts a month, but for twice her normal hourly rate. That means more time at home, and that alone makes Little John and Dad very happy.

Drop us a line if you get around to it.

Here are the vital statistics:

Born Tuesday, July 16, 2008, at 2:47; 7 lbs, 5 oz., 20.5 inches long. He went home the following day, but without a name. We had decided, in a long held tradition of the church, to bring the child unnamed to the font upon returning home from the hospital, where he would be baptized immediately and his name would be announced publicly during the liturgy of Holy Baptism.

Baptized Richard John Serina, Friday, July 18, 2008, at 11:00 AM at Trinity Lutheran Church in Albany, Texas. Dad himself served as the officiant at baptism, with sponsors being Clyde and Ellen Kieschnick of Abilene, Texas, where Clyde is pastor of Zion Lutheran Church. The name is a combination of paternal grandfathers (Richard Serina, Sr., and John Cavanaugh), but properly speaking Richard is his family name and John is his Christian name.

We should give a little background on labor and delivery. We went to our weekly doctor visit on Tuesday and she noticed that the amniotic fluid was low, which in turn could put the baby in jeopardy if Christina did not give birth. So, she sent us straight over to the hospital, hooked us up to a fetal heart monitor, and prepared to induce the following morning at 6:00 AM. Unfortunately, Christina's cervix was not dilated and there was concern that she would require a cesarean. She probably wished that had happened, but after a tough labor and a very tough delivery, Chrisitna gave birth without complication.

A couple of sanitized notes from the delivery. First, we played classical music subtly in the background all day long, a combination of Handel's Messiah and Beethoven's Ninth. We hoped our little boy would be born during the Hallelujah chorus, but instead he came during the final movement of the Ninth, more commonly known now as Hymn to Joy or Ode to Joy (with text, the popular "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee"). Second, after delivery, the doctor began to cut the umbilical cord when little Richard John grabbed the scissors from her and held them, suspended five feet in the air with his first surgical instrument. Dad is hoping that will prove a happy portent of a career to come (paging Dr. Serina; paging Dr. Serina; your father needs a couple of dollars for books...).