June 05, 2007

May 2007

Dear Kids,
This past month may have been the greatest month of my adult life. Your mom and I finally got a real honeymoon as we traveled to France for a week. This trip came at a great time in so many ways as Ruby was old enough to be separated from us for a little while and your mom is smack-dab in the middle of her #2 pregnancy. It is my hope that we can get away every couple of years and explore a new foreign land. I’d love to have this happen but it may be too much to ask someone to take care of our little creatures while we’re away.

We got home to find our yard in the midst of spring overgrowth which led me to bust out my tools and get to work. Our yard suffers from years and years of old growth and bad choices to which I have had to remedy by chipping away one project at a time.

The task this time was to clear away some of the old grass so I could have more space for our garden. Sometime during the second day of my clearing I felt my back tightening up and so I took a break for lunch. Unfortunately it was then that my back completely locked up and I couldn’t move without experiencing the sharpest and most crippling pain I’ve ever felt in my life. Your mom, the medical professional of the family, instructed me to lay down on the ground. Now, I love your mom and all but this may have been the worst medical advice ever given to me as I literally couldn’t get up. I winced and groaned in total agony while fighting the urge to yell at your mom because all she could do was laugh at me. Somehow I managed to get to my feet where I slammed about a million gazillion milligrams of ibuprofen and called the doctor for an appointment. Sadly, I spent the next few days doing nothing but laying on my back with a strategically placed heating pad all numbed up on a cocktail of heavy duty muscle relaxers. Thankfully I’m back to my old self and I can do some yard work again.

It was while on my back that I appreciated how much I don’t get sick. Maybe it’s just plain old good luck or maybe it’s generations of clean living I’ve inherited but for some reason that destroying angel seems to pass me by. I am so grateful for my good health and pray that it continues to be that way.

Your mom continues to show me how strong she is as she continues to endure her pregnancy with more grace than I could ever imagine. To be honest, I love it when your mom is pregnant. She looks so beautiful and radiates all things motherly and maternal. I’m not sure how many kids we’re going to have, but if I had it my way we’d have lots and lots and lots just so I could continue to dwell with her in this state. We’re so very blessed to have her in our lives.

I’ve been working this month after what seems like a three month vacation. I recorded an album that my good friend Scott Wiley produced for an songwriter named Mindy Gledhill. That lasted for a week and following that I began a freelance design job. It’s sad to be away from my family, but nice to be back in the swing of my providin’ ways. Maybe I’m a little odd, but I really enjoy work as it takes me into worlds I probably wouldn’t venture. I am so blessed to have the talent to do such a wide variety of so many things.

RUBY-

It came as no big surprise to us that we’d miss you while we were away. At this age you can’t communicate on the phone which made us miss you even more with your little strut and the way you flail your hands when you hear music and your little cry and even your big cry and the way you point to things and repeat an unintelligible word (at least it’s unintelligible to your most people) and the smell of your morning breath and the way you put up a fight when it’s lotion time, bath time or any other major clean up time. Every time we saw a little girl our hearts would melt and then we’d confess to each other of how much we did in fact miss you. This happened a lot.

Yes Ruby, it’s painfully clear that you are the center of our universe which makes us both wonder how you are going to react when baby #2 comes along. We’ve had several discussions with friends and family about this and we’ve been told either 1) you’re too young to care or 2) you’re gonna resent this kid big-time. My prediction lies somewhere in between. You’ll probably have some loving times and I’m sure there will be times when we’ll do our best to keep the peace.

While we were away you had a splendid time with Grandma Julie. It seems as though she taught you some new words like “towel” and “juice” among many others. In fact, it’s quite obvious that you have a real knack for learning words as you have been amassing them at what seems like an accelerated pace. It seems like every day when I come home from work you have a new one to show off. It’s really quite impressive especially now that you are trying to string words together.

For most of your short life you've been pretty mellow, but as time goes by you show more and more of a temper. At this point we're not really sure if it's the girl, toddler or your personality manifesting in these little episodes. The other night I was putting you to sleep and you fought me every step of the way. You flailed and screamed like you never have before. Finally I gave up and handed you off to your mom who seemed to know just exactly what to do as you calmed down almost immediately. Hopefully you were just really really tired and this doesn't become a nightly ritual.

Lately you love dirt. While landscaping the garden I left a space for you that might be filled with a sandbox at some point here in the future. You have this little bucket that you just love to fill with dirt and rocks. After you fill some of it you like to walk around the yard saying “bucket...bucket...bucket”. Of course it’s cute and I hope that you continue to join me out workin’ in the yard. I’d love to have someone to share my passion with (and I know that your mother isn’t that person).

#2-
Not much to report except that you continue to grow and develop despite not moving much. I have only felt you kick a couple of times and your mother reports that you aren’t nearly as active as Ruby was. Possibly you are conserving your energy and will most likely compensate after your birth. I’m sure that we’ll be chasing you around or trying to get you to shut the yapper at those awkward times of day (or night). In a couple of days I will begin my proactive music therapy where I will place headphones to your mothers belly and play James Brown every evening for thirty minutes. If you are a true Campbell, this’ll get you moving.

Though we’re committed to not knowing your gender until G0-Day, we aren’t that committed to what your name will be just yet. I’ve heard it said that songwriters have a whole lifetime to write their first album but only two years to write their second. I’m beginning to feel that way about your name. We came together with “Ruby” very fast, but your name has taken lots of consideration. Every time we think we have something close it just doesn’t work for one reason or another. Suffice it to say that we care and want to do it right.

This month promises to be full of even more excitement as summer is in full swing. Ruby and mom are headed out to South Dakota/Iowa for a week to spend time with Aunt Robin and cousin kids while I am headed out to San Francisco for a few days to work on some stuff with my good friend Kenny.

love,
Daddy

Posted by patatomic at June 5, 2007 11:03 PM

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