I had previously written about this with regard to our former cat Frank the ass-cat. It’s not as funny now.
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Posts Tagged family
The “V”
Oct 15
Receiving the Santa Hat
Dec 23
“Aaron, wake up; it’s Xmas!” Melissa whispered, lying next to me in bed. The sun was just barely up; I figured it was about half-past seven.
“No it’s not, it’s only the 21st.” I was close — it was the 22nd. She smiled at me and we got out of bed.
Flashback a few years ago. the house where I grew up in Pennsylvania, December 24th, around eleven PM. My mom and I are the last people awake after my little brother went to sleep a little while ago.
“Are you going to help me?” Mom asked me. It was genuinely inquisitive, not rhetorical. I think I was either watching the color television or cleaning up in the kitchen. I’m a bit of a night owl.
“Help you with what?” I replied.
“Put the presents out.”
I was a little surprised, partly because I had forgotten that it was Xmas eve, but also because every year prior I had also been asleep, or at least out of the room, when the presents were laid out. Read the rest of this entry »
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Today, when I was leaving for work, I knelt down and kissed Sullivan on his head and said “Bye stinker!” then I kissed my wife goodbye and walked towards the door. As I was unlocking the door, I heard Sullivan make a noise and I turned around. He went “Dah!” and was waving his arm.
Sullivan was waving goodbye to me!
As I backed out of the door, I continued to wave back at him, and he continued to wave back at me.
What an adorable little kid. 
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Whirlwind of a Week
Dec 6
The diet is still going well. I say this first because it’s still really challenging. Last night my wife decided she wanted to melt Barking Chocolate (like for covering pretzels or buckeyes) on some Vanilla Bean ice cream. I had a bite, just because I was curious, but no more. Today I was offered chocolate by my Organic Chemistry Prof during our Final Exam, and I successfully declined. Ditto for the chocolate donuts in the break room yesterday (ate NONE), and the various donuts and goodies they had at Exam Jam on Tuesday. Go me.
I haven’t been able to walk in the morning lately; Partly because it’s FREAKING COLD OUTSIDE and the snow and ice make jogging somewhat treacherous, but also because I’ve been up late studying and catching up with things.
Today was my Organic Chemistry Final Exam, where I was asked questions like:
“A newly isolated natural product was found to have the molecular formula C15H28O2. By hydrogenating a sample of the compound, it was determined to possess one pi bond. How many rings are present in the compound?”
(the answer is 1, I think, due to degree of desaturation). I think I did ok. With the bonus points I’ll be getting in the course (around 20) and my grade as of the last exam (88.5%), as long as I get at least a B on the Final I should have a high-B / low-A over all. Fingers crossed!
Last weekend, Melissa, Sullivan and I all flew out to NJ for my Grammy Westerdale’s Funeral services. My Grandpa Westerdale died earlier this year (March) and shortly after that, Grammy found out she had cancer already in metastasis. It only took about 8 months to do her in, and she passed on Thanksgiving of this year. The funeral services were very good – we interred her’s and grandpa’s ashes into the memorial garden of their church (St. Paul’s Episcopalian) and I got to say my final goodbyes then. There was no viewing like with Grandpa (her request), but this was just as good, I suppose. None of us were very surprised by it.
We all drove out to see her earlier this month, because my mom said it was “going to be any day now”, and I wanted Sullivan to see her one more time before she went. It was a good visit.
I think in some ways, I still haven’t had a chance to fully deal with this all. Sure, I cried at the funeral, like the rest of my family; And yeah, it wasn’t really a surprise to anyone. But I think the back corners of my mind haven’t quite come to terms with her being gone.
The best part of the trip (for me, but probably not for Melissa) was the family gathering after the Funeral. All of the branches of our family, the Westerdales, the Watkins, and the Magnussons (along with some neighbors and friends of my uncles) all came over and everyone drank Whiskey Sours (the official drink of the Westerdale Family), Gin, Wine, and Beer. It was a grand old time. Sullivan got to hang out with my siblings and other family members. He’s getting more comfortable with them. We’re going back in a couple weeks for Xmas. Non-stop this time. (Missed our connecting flight on the return this time..had to spend the night in Cleveland! Ick!)
For those of you who are wondering, yes the blog theme is different. My wife decided that she couldn’t be married to someone with an ugly blog theme, so she logged in and changed it. I think it looks nice.
that’s it for now, I have more finals to study for!
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Fatherhood, part deux
Nov 6
Sullivan
Sullivan has begun to crawl. Everywhere. He pulls himself up onto things as well. His new favorite hobby is finding new ways to bang his head into solid objects. Everytime he loses balance, gets that frightened look in his eyes, and then *THUD* right into the floor, coffee table, couch, table, chair, television, crib frame, kitchen cabinetry, computer, subwoofer, or some new object I have yet to see.
It’s hard to not feel like a bad parent when you see your son’s head collide with a stationary object but every parent I’ve talked to (including my own) have said that it’s totally normal. In some ways, it’s kind of funny — America’s Funniest Videos kind of schadenfreude kind of funny. But I still feel bad for him.
In addition to being more mobile, he’s a lot more lively. He cackles, shrieks, yelps, makes merry, cries, whines, bitches, moans, etc. He watches my mouth move when I talk. His eyes have a lot more character in them and his facial expressions are much more varied. He still doesn’t mimic quite yet, but I think that’ll be soon. (And then we get to teach him baby sign language!)
He can almost completely stand on his own, a prospect that frightens Melissa and I with a portent to the near future when he’ll be walking; elevating his head into a whole new echelon of objects to run into. I swear this kid is going to be a frenologists wet dream.
The House
The house is currently in a quasi-state of disarray. The bathroom, still unfinished, is lacking both a sink, a toilet seal (so it smells gross), and paint. The drywall is nearly done. All I have left to do is sand off one little area by the entrance, and it’ll be ready for painting. We picked up some primer to get it started, but haven’t really picked out a color yet.
The living room has one wall with primed-trim. The wall with the entrance door and large window have their trim painted (the door too). We finally decided that painting the trim would be a good idea, and I have to admit, it really does improve the appearance of the room. When we get carpet laid down, possibly next year, I think that’ll help it even more. It seems a shame to cover up the wood, but the hardwood floor lost it’s novelty after my eighth foot-splinter.
So painting, painting, painting. Anyone want to help? I also need someone skilled with doing ceramic tiling, because I think that’s what we want to do in the bathroom.
My Grammy
Earlier this year, in February I believe, my Grandpa Westerdale died at 82 years. He had some chest problems and knee difficulties, but pneumonia did him in. My Grammy Westerdale is currently in the hospital with cancer, and Mom says that it’s not gotten any better in spite of Chemo and Radiation therapy. I guess at this point, she’s done with treatment and just wants to go into pain management. Mom thinks it’s quite possible she won’t make it to Xmas.
This Thursday, Melissa, Sullivan and I will be driving out to NJ to see her and visit family. Saturday will be when we actually get to Jersey, because we’ll be staying at my Mom’s in PA. It’s supposed to be a bit of a surprise. My car is currently in the shop getting some much-needed repair work done to it, so it’ll be drive-viable for the trip.
I don’t think I’ve really had time to stop and let this whole situation sink in, but I’ll have a 10 hour trip each way to do it. I think the most significant thing about this is that this trip will be the last time any of we three ever see Grammy alive. Being able to say that with certainty is profound.
I know that I, and probably most people, have read stories and anecdotes about death / near-death putting life in perspective. But just like parenthood, you don’t comprehend how true it is until you’re actually in the situation yourself.
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