In what was likely a plus, Jonah sleeps through most of a party in his honor. From BBQ to “Baby Cranium” to basketball in the park, good times roll.

We have nothing but props and kudos to Joe and Carol and Jim and Teri for planning, organizing, and executing yesterday’s baby shower for Jonah, aka the best party this house has seen since we’ve owned it. In addition to Erin and me and the aforementioned two couples, attendees included Bret, Dave, Susan, Jared & Robyn, Dave & Eileen, Bernard & Liz, Don & Carlotta, and, of course, Jonah.

Joe ran the BBQ and cooked up kabobs while folks mingled. Lots of people brought delicious food, and I can guarantee that nobody went hungry. We’re talking good eats, and that’s not to mention the desserts which were also otherworldly. Someday Jonah will look back at this entry and wish he could’ve been munching on solids by now. Tough break, kid. We were all happy to chow down in your honor.

Since Bernard had helped me finish up the nursery (which is looking F-I-N-E), we were able to show it off to interested parties. Thankfully, that included pretty much everybody. While I’m glad the work is over, let me say for the record that (1) I’m thrilled with the way the nursery turned out, (2) I’m extraordinarily grateful for the help of Bernard, Dave, and especially Joe all of whom went well beyond the call of duty in getting the room put together, and (3) I learned an enormous amount about residential construction during the remodeling process and I’m heartened I’ll never again be quite so inept at it as I was this time around. Anyway, everybody seemed to love the nursery, and I don’t blame them: With the help of family and friends, Jonah’s got himself a nifty little room.

We played a variant of Cranium, wherein people picked a slip of paper with a baby-related term on it and had to sculpt or draw the word and have it guessed by teammates within two minutes. Carol, the moderator of this event, seemed particularly pleased when I got stuck with “breast feeding.” My salvation, such as it was, lay in having chosen to draw rather than sculpt for this particular turn. Had I been forced to become a latter-day Rodin, I’m sure we all would’ve been the worse off for it. Even now I think having to create boobs out of clay would’ve been pretty embarrassing.

We really can’t thank everyone enough for the gifts we were given. We are blessed to have the support of so many people. Jonah doesn’t even know how lucky he is. All he can do in the way of reciprocity is be cute, but at least he does that pretty well. Erin and I are happy to be grateful on his behalf.

A group of the guys went down to the park and played some hoops. I was neither expecting nor dressed to play, but I’m hardly one to turn down a game. It was fun and, head cold or no, good exercise.

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate Jonah’s existence, with a special thanks again to Joe, Carol, Jim and Teri for all the behind-the-scenes heavy lifting. Ya’ll are awesome!