Esme at Woodruff's Open Mic!

October 11, 2011

     We had our first family trip to Woodruff's this week!  We visited what we believe was the first open mic at Woodruff's in Ypsilanti back in January.  We were at first excited to find such a great place for me to play and for us to hang out and listen to great music every week, but then we found out that Tina was pregnant, and, as just about any pregnant woman can probably tell you, hanging out in a bar while you're pregnant isn't as fun.  So I've been going alone most weeks since then.  After about a month or so, I started writing the Woodruff's Acoustic Open Mic Song (which you will soon hear, if you read on), which was and continues to be well received by the audience, staff, and other musicians.

Is 19 too young for the bar?  (19 days, I mean.)

     This week, we decided to see if it would work out.  "We can always leave if Esme's fussy," we said to ourselves, so we gave it a shot.  And what a great time we had.  Esme was a hit from the time we arrived.  Literally -- Nina, the bartender, saw us coming and opened the side door to let us in.  By the time she had stepped away, there were two other regulars greeting us and asking about Esme.  I can't tell you how joyous it was to be so warmly greeted as a family at a place that Tina had only been to twice before.  I've been playing almost every week as a part of the current incarnation of Bowling Green.  This evening's setlist included the typical open mic fare of three songs.

  We started off with "39 Weeks," the song I hastily wrote and performed three weeks ago, though I still couldn't remember all the words.  Oh well.

  

     From there we launched into a re-pronouned version of "When You Dream" by the Barenaked Ladies.  Amazingly enough, the concept of this song feels like it came out of a conversation Tina and I had in the past ten days.  (Truly, we can see Esme's rapid eye movement and body responses, so we are almost certain she's dreaming, but aren't dreams supposedly the mind's way of processing the days emotions and events?  So what IS she dreaming about?)

     And we ended, as we almost always do, with "The Woodruff's Song."  (In it's current version.  Verses for Jo, Eric, and Erik are in the works...)

     The night was fabulous all around with Esme getting loving from many of our friends, though it was pretty clear that those who held her received at least as much as they gave.  Just look at Sid's face....

Sid sayz, "I believe that Esme is... the child destined to bring balance to the Force!"

     Thanks, Woodruff's, for creating a family-friendly evening of music, love, good spirits, and joy.  If you're ever around Ypsi on a Tuesday night, you gotta stop by and check it out.

When I Grow Up...

Esme has already been contemplating various career choices, or perhaps she's simply planning ahead to be a Renaissance Woman.

I think I want to study Kung fu...

...or maybe some kind of dancing...

...like ballet.

I could pose for my Vanity Fair shoot with Annie Leibovitz...

...and cheer with Dad during the World Cup.

How about piano -- I could play with Dad's band!

And with these hands, I can make my dreams come true!

But all this make believe is making me...

...sleepy.

Whatever she chooses, I'm looking forward to helping her follow her joy!

Eating, Sleeping, and Pooping (That's what it's all about!)

October 6, 2011

       A banner day in the life of Esme, if ever there was one.  We started the day with a massive poo-splosion.  (Not to worry, Morgan, you’re still tops in my book!)  Normally, this would be conversation fodder only within the household, but we had been getting ever so slightly worried as there hadn’t been a poo for about 3-5 feedings and Esme had been letting us know that she wasn’t entirely comfortable.  Nothing too gut-wrenching (if you’ll pardon the expression in this case), but enough to tell us she wasn’t thrilled.  So that was a good start to the day.

       Follow that up with Esme’s first real nap in her bassinet.  Keep in mind that we purchased this bassinet knowing that she would be sharing our room for a while.  It’s been sitting in there unused for what seems like months at this point.  Upon returning home from the hospital, we came to realize that she really likes to be near a beating heart and working lungs.  And, c’mon, who doesn’t?  So the bassinet hasn’t gotten the workout we originally thought it would, but we’d like to move in that direction.  So we brought it out to the living room so she’ll get used to sleeping in it during the day and will be more likely to do so at night.  (A parent can always hope, right?)  She happily took several naps in it throughout the day, so we can each look forward to sleeping next to our spouse instead of the mass of pillows and blankets used to create a safe space for her in the bed.  (Ed.:  Yes, we were carefully warned about the dangers of having her in the bed, and after much research into the documented possibilities and reasons behind those dangers, we have mitigated them and do not need you writing in to advise us against it.  Additionally, if it wasn’t clearly apparent from the topic of this paragraph, we are also invested in changing the situation, so further encouragement in that direction would be redundant.)

       And, getting back to the historic day already under discussion, she took her first bottle!  For those of us who have never operated a breast pump, it is not as simple and effective as we might assume, so there was already some cause for celebration that 5 ounces of milk were available.  But to hold my daughter in my arms and offer her a bottle of warm milk (as I have done for several other baby girls in my life) and have her latch on and start drinking filled me with an awe that, to be completely honest, had not been present for any of the others.  There was also, for Tina and I, a sense of relief as well.  (What were we going to do if Esme refused a bottle?  There wasn’t really a back-up plan for that contingency.)  So the pump works, the bottles are sterilized, and the girl will drink out of them.  Woo-hoo!!

      

P.S.  For those of you keeping track of such things, she’s been to the library 4 times already.  How’s that for a 15 day old?!  (Cue letters from readers concerned about taking her out of the house too soon.)

Esme in action

So for those of you wanting to know what our beautiful daughter looks like in person, here's the best you'll do over the internets:

Congratulations, you even get a yawn there at the end!

She's just beginning to develop her lungs in coordination with her vocal chords, but I'm sure we'll work on that more later...

This is the part where Daddy Plays Bass

     Throughout this pregnancy, Tina has been aware that Esme could hear many of the songs that form the soundtrack to our lives.  Of particular note was the evening in the last week when I played bass right in front of Tina's belly.  We definitely got a few kicks, and Tina even claimed some of them were in time with the 12 bar blues I was playing.  I followed that up, just for fun, with my didjeridu (thanks Odette!) and that got quite a response also.
     We also knew that we wanted to be able to set a mood for the delivery, so we were prepared with the music on my iPod.  Early on, we were listening to the Guitar Trio of Paco de Lucia, Al di Meola, and John McLaughlin.  Later in the day, we had the 1920's gypsy violin sounds of Stéphane Grappelli.  Tina and the doctor actually got into quite a discussion that resolved with them agreeing it reminded them of the soundtrack to a Woody Allen movie.
     For some reason, I had begun wondering about the first song our child would hear.  I wonder what the first song she remembers listening to will be.  I wonder what kind of music she'll love, and what kinds she'll enjoy.  Music feels like such a large part of my life, and I would like to pass that heritage on to my daughter.  I can at least let her know for certain the first song she ever heard with her own ears without a womb to muffle the sound.  It was soon after her birth, before they left her alone with us for a bit.  
     The following paragraph has been added to Esme's Arrival, but instead of making you go back and read that whole narrative to find it, I'll just give it to you here:


     As folks began to clear out of the room, I heard strains of music and singing in my head, almost as if I were wearing headphones:  "Four in the morning, Crapped out, yawning, Longing my life away."  As it was (around) four in the morning, I was crapped out and yawning, I suddenly knew the first song Esme would hear outside of the womb.  Once again, my iPod came out and I flipped through to find it.  And again, my brain wasn't quite working to full capacity and I could not think of the title of the song.  As I flipped through song titles, I could almost hear snippets of each song as if someone were tuning an old radio.  The correct notes finally came through and I pressed play on "Still Crazy After All These Years."  I followed it with "Father and Daughter" from Surprise somewhere along the way.