London Calling ...

If you don't know the reference from the title you're probably too old - or these days maybe too young. Ask your more hip friends (or these days you can just Google it).

Anyway, I'm off to Old Blighty tomorrow so the Clash was on my mind. I thought I'd do a quick update to the blog before I left. I just spoke to Monsieur Lapter in London today who told me that his daughter Maya turns into a popsicle every time she goes out. Seems they are getting a cold snap from Russia again this year as the winds are blowing West. Meanwhile I went running in Palo Alto last night with Stefan at 9:30 PM in shorts and a long sleeve shirt and no gloves, ear covers or any of the stuff I used to wear training for the London Marathon. And I never wear a jacket to work. I have really enjoyed the temperate weather out here - just puts you in a better mood.

Kay (Tania's mom) is finally out of the hospital and it is wonderful to have her "home". It really adds to the atmosphere around the Waverley house. She seems in very good spirits for having been in the hospital for a week with no food. She'll be home for 2 more weeks with us and then she has to go back to the hospital for surgery. I'm sure it won't be easy for her - we hope we can make Chez Suster as comfy as possible and that she'll want to stay until she's fully recovered.


As you can see Jacob is recovering well from his break. He now has on his "walking" cast, which isn't getting much traction. He has reverted into nappies (diapers) and being carried everywhere. Lots of fun for Daddy going up and down the stairs but that's the least you can do when you break your kid's leg - right? Turns out his leg was only broken in one place (not two) but it is called a "spiral" fracture because the break goes around the bone like a candy cane. First doctor read the xray incorrectly. Very reassuring. The intern who set his cast didn't even remember which bone the tibia was, which even I remembered from 7th grade zoology. One of Jacob's fellow classmates, Mathias, broke his leg the same way going down the slide with his mom. It is so common that her doctor guessed how Mathias broke his leg without the mom even needing to tell him. Anyway, Jacob is being very sweet and it has been a good bonding experience to hang out with him so much. Another thing I notice from his picture is how bad his haircut is! Our wonderful nanny Bella in London took him for his final London coif before coming to California and they botched it. Not quite as bad as the haircut my mom gave me as a kid (the LAST time she ever cut my hair) but he will nonetheless cringe when he sees some of these photos.

We have been really impressed by the generousity of people in suburbia. They are far from the anonymous urban neighbours that live next door to you for 2 years and you don't even know their names. You can all too easily fall into the urban trap. Since we have been pretty stretched with our family situation BOTH of Jacob's preschools got together a list of parents to bring by dinners for us for the next few weeks. People we don't even know have dropped by with full dinners with enough for leftovers. I was even tempted to call one of the ladies and ask for her recipes - look out Tania! I understand that they actually do this for all new mothers - we will definitely play this one forward.

And finally there is Baby Andy (said in Jacob's very cute, high-pitched, elongated way). He is no longer in that newborn state of having his arms and legs curled into balls and his eyes closed 23 hours a day. He is putting on weight very nicely and turned 4 weeks old on Wednesday. It is too early to call the light at the end of the tunnel but I do see him growing stronger and more baby like every day. He is very different than we remember Jake to be. He seems to have wavy hair where Jake's was as straight as it gets. He poops 10x day (no joke) where Jake was 1x every three days. And he could easily star in the remake for Blazzing Saddles without the need for sound effects. But we love him and are enjoying watching him grow and the pleasure it gives Jacob to be a big brother.

Thank you to those that dropped off comments on your last visits. Always nice to hear from you. Back in 10 days or so.

Whew! All Done

I guess the image says it all. The bris was a wonderful opportunity to get our friends and family together to celebrate the miracle of birth.

I wrote the words above nearly 2 weeks ago and had intended many entries since then. The "new baby G-ds" have been conspiring against me. What has happened since I first typed the above words and uploaded the picture?

1. Many nights of very little sleep with Baby Andy up crying much of the night.

2. A few mishaps at work, which led to conference calls at midnight with most of my staff and board members still in Europe.

3. Tania's mom, Kay, had to go to the hospital (at Stanford) and has been there ever since (6 days now). She has an intestinal ailment that will require surgery. All our thoughts are with her. She is a very strong lady and is being brave. But it can't be fun to be in the hospital 3,000 miles from home. One bit of ironic hospital humour that only Kay could come up with. She hasn't eaten in a week and is, unfortunately, having to share a room with somebody else. The family of her roommate brought in Kentucky Fried Chicken, which left a smell in the room for an entire night. Exactly what you want when your only diet is drip feed liquid!

4. As a result of Kay being in the hospital I helped out with Jacob one fateful Friday morning to give Mommy some extra sleep. On Jacob's play date at the park he went down the slide with his Daddy and came down with a broken leg. Just what we needed, hey? I guess I am more useful at work. Jacob is doing well. The fracture is in two places on the tibia (larger bone below the knee) but is only hairline. He will be in a cast for about a month. I'm told by everybody in the hospitals that this is one of the most common ways that little kids break their legs - NOW THEY TELL ME! They should post signs at all playground! They also tell me that many dogs break their legs this way, too. The slide down with kids.

5. Just to pour salt on wounds - Jacob came home from the hospital and picked up a stomach virus. After a painful night in bed with Codiene (spelling?) we woke up the next day and had vomitting all afternoon. Oh, what fun. The nurse also told me that this is very common (to pick up a virus at the hospital when you come to the emergency room with a broken bone). She could have told me before and I would have masked him in the emergency room! Anyway, at least she was very nice.

So it is now Sunday. I half watched both NFL conference games. I seem to half watch everything these days. Two boring games with the right results. Anyway, I better help Tania out now. I'll try to get some new pictures up soon - before I get bollocked any more!

Date for the Bris is set

Brit Milah

Andy's Brit Milah ceremony has now been set and will be this Thursday, 5th January at our place in Palo Alto. The service will begin promptly at noon but we would appreciate if people could arrive by 11:30 or at the latest 11:45. Casual buffet lunch will be served. Please RSVP by sending an email to msuster@gmail.com or clicking the comments section below and letting us know whether you will be there or not. All friends and family welcome.

Happy New Year - 2006 !

Toast!

Put Jacob to bed at 11:30 after playing at Maya's house and celebrating New Year's at 9:00 (midnight East Coast time). Actually, trying to get everybody into the same room in time for the countdown proved difficult so we didn't get around to the countdown until about 9:08. But if you aren't gonna stay up all the way until midnight why quibble over 8 minutes? We had about 12 two-year olds all jumping up and down shouting "happy new year" - was the cutest thing you could imagine. I got a call from my good friend Rob Sowers from Vegas around the same time. "Sow" doesn't have kids and so continues our "bad boy" New Year's Eve tradition in my honor. Somehow the contrast of Sow calling hammered from Paris Hilton's New Year's party in Vegas put into perspective just how much my life has changed. So at midnight I had to at least break out a little bubbly to feel real.

Home in time to get Jacob to bed where he insisted on licking a marshmellow ("do not bite it, Daddy!") as he went to sleep and still made it downstairs to see Regis do the countdown and "wet the baby's head" (as they say in England) with Papa / Kay.

Happy New Year! Could it really already be 2006?