I’m back home, trying to catch up with the rest of my life. Meanwhile let me brag a little with this:

Go here to see a photo of Alexander that b!X already has posted. And, yes, he does resemble Winston Churchill.

The beginning of everything he’s ever going to be is here now — in that tiny perfect being, my grandson, Alexander. He is humanity in a Ralph Loren onesie. I watch his miniature features spontaneously rehearse all of the expressions his face will ever form — he frowns, grins, rolls his eyes, purses his rosebud lips, wrinkles his tiny nose. He cries only when his diaper becomes too unbearable. Mostly he eats and then he sleeps, tucked against his mother’s (my daughter’s) heart.
I watch my grown-up child nurse her own child with intense caring, diligence, intent. She says “I understand, now, what they mean when they say that you learn to love your children.” She is learning to love as a mother loves.
Alexander’s father is at her side most of the time. He can’t do the nursing (although I can tell that he wishes he could), but he is right there, making sure that she has everything she needs when she needs it. They are an seamless team. A true family.
I am here mostly for moral support, cheerleading, and affirmation. And to cook dinner. And take photos, which I will download when I get back home. And to sit next to my daughter and listen and listen and listen as she talks through her concerns and fears and hopes and limitless joy.
Alexander. Our universe.

Well, it turns out that GranElaine is needed out in the Boston area after all. It’s been tougher on my daughter than she wanted to believe it would be. So, I’m frantically setting up my mom with food, instructions, phone numbers so that she can, hopefully, survive without me here for at least a week. She’s going to take care of my cat, and I’m going to take care of my daughter. Am I ever feeling the “sandwich generation” press! I’m leaving early Tuesday morning.
I can blog from her house, and I will make an effort. But no guarantee. Wish me luck. I haven’t held a baby in more than 30 years.

Found an interesting idea over at bluvox. She says, Independence Day. At Harbin there was a sign reminding me that there’s no such thing, and that it should rather be, Interdependence Day.
Maybe we should institute a blog-wide annual Interdependence Day.

My grandson has arrived — born at 4:26 est, 8 lbs 12 oz, 20 inches, brown hair and he looks like Winston Churchill. Mom is doing great. Dad is beyond ecstatic. Of course, he was there for the whole thing. And now he’s taking two weeks paternity leave to to take care of his family.
So, while the Gary Turners’ baby actually will be the first born to this extended blogger family, Alexander is the first grandbaby. Ain’t that just grand!!!

Over the past several weeks, there have been about a dozen new great women bloggers signed up for Blog Sisters. And as I surf their blogs and old favorites, I keep finding more guys blogging out there. So, I’ll just mention the latest several here: Tom Bolton, George Partington, George Sessum, and Fertile Jim. All unique voices. All worth checking out.

So says fertile_jim in an excellent post on the subject. (You have to scroll down to the article on Jim Throws Gasoline on the Fire because his permalink takes you somewhere else.) I found him from a comment he left on Blog Sisters to a strong piece by Helen Razer, who has finally resurfaced.
On that subject, my grandson is on his way. According to my son-in-law (the best one in the world), my daughter went into labor at 3:30 this morning (which is when I woke up the first time). Her water broke around 6:30 (which is when I woke up the second time). Just a little synchronicity here, a little magical motherthing connection. So send good vibes out Boston way, everyone. I’m about to become a granny.

Blog Sisters’ reputation is spreading. We are one of four group weblogs cited in an article by Steve Outing at Poynter.org. My thanks to b!X for emailing me about it.
According to the main page of the weblog article, Poynter’s Steve Outing also is a columnist for Editor & Publisher Online. Recently, he wrote a column suggesting that newspapers give weblogs to all editorial staff (read the column here), which generated considerable discussion and controversy.

Gary Turner’s at it again. And b!X and I join the ranks of Turner spoofs.