greek pharaoh Korfu labors with car and vacationing doctor
Young Tiger, however, still had a small fever that was being treated with Motrin. a baby version of ibuprofen. It generated an interesting conversation.
“We’re driving to your house, Tiger, to get some Motrin.” I said.
“I don’t want Motrin.” Tiger responded with typical two year old negatively.
“Motrin will make you feel better.”
“No, Dan. Bonbon will make me feel better.” Tiger countered sweetly.
Alert and attentive readers looking at the photo above will note that Melika is expecting. (In fact, very expecting: rumor has it that there were side bets about the possibility of an in-parade birth. Had this happened, it would have sealed the ‘most exciting’ award.) However, Melika, aware of complex employment contracts associated with maturity leave, sick days, vacation allocations and the Gregorian calendar, preferred a birthday that occurs after July 1. Confidently, I predict success on that front.
As we move closer to the arrival of another grand-baby, we’re amazed by the changes and growth of the grand(est)son in the last two (short) years. He’s become a ‘big boy’ capable of communicating and reasoning..
“Reasoning?” Nazy asked “He’s a two-year old. He does not reason.”
“But knows what he wants …”
“He wants to play with his cars. The first thing he says when he get here is: ‘I just want to play with my cars’…”
“And the second thing he says is ‘Sit down here Dan.’.” I thought.
“ … and then he points to the floor and tells you to sit down next to him.”
“Sometimes he wants you to sit next to him.”
“I’m sick of the cars, Dan. He has names for every one of them. I can’t even remember..”
“His favorite is the flat bed truck, followed by the ‘no roof jeep with the tire on the back’.”
“I thought his favorite was the Lamborghini.”
“It was — until he dropped it. Now one of the wheels doesn’t turn. The Lambo has been moved to the discard pile.”
In fact, he likes his cars, he likes his books (he’s memorized most of them), his lego blocks and walks to The Mission. Although we’re wondering how he’s going to like a new arrival, we also know that he’s a nice little boy.
“I’m a big boy, Dan!” Tiger interjects.
As we wait for the new arrival, I reflected on our experience with baby delivery.
Mitra: They kept the father in the waiting room — for a long time. Mitra arrived during an episode of M*A*S*H. Luckily, it was a rerun, so I knew the ending. (And the baby was pretty cool too.)
Darius: I was in the labor room and was prepared to ‘help’ (“Ha ha,” Interjects Nazy.) when everything went awry. A blundered epidural caused fetal distress. Sirens went off, they rushed Nazy to the delivery room, the obstetrician ran by screaming (“What the hell happened?&rdquo
and they left me with an 18 year old Candy striper. In the rush to deliver, they broke Darius’ collarbone and frightened Nazy. As a result, I told hospital administration that blind anesthesiologists were a significant risk factor.Melika: Nazy’s mother, visiting us in Memphis, was convinced arrival was near. “It is time, Nazy”. I demurred, explaining that contractions a fortnight apart were not indicative of an emergency. However, because of the concern of an imminent birth, Nazy stopped eating. After a couple of days, however, Nazy and I took a leisurely drive to the hospital. I wanted to stop for dinner, but for some reason, Nazy thought that was a bad idea. While waiting, I was particularly annoyed by the lack of information shared by the medical establishment. I decided to read the papers on the clipboard at the bottom of the bed. (“Mother doing fine. Father extremely nervous.&rdquo
I was, of course, nervous for a reason. Nazy fainted during labor (she should have been eating). Baby Melika turned over within 10 seconds of delivery. She’s still feisty.Tiger: It appears that things took place in a trendy mix of nostalgia for the past (“natural” — e.g. ‘painful’ birth) juxtaposed against the 21st century demands of social media (a film crew for the previously scripted podcast was huddled in the waiting room). The baby played his role to perfection but the grandparents were denied even a cameo.
While all this is happening, Darius and Christiane…
“ Have you heard of Korfu, Dad?” Darius asked.
“Of course, Dar, I am a Renaissance man. Korfu was an Egyptian Pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty. About 2500 BC.”
“That’s Khufu, Dad.”
“Gesundheit, Dar.”
“We’re going to be in Korfu, a Greek Island that is right next to Albania.”
“Albania?”
“It’s a country, Dad. We’re going to visit.”
“Somehow, Dar, I’m not surprised. Have fun.”
Darius will be presenting a couple of research papers while he is in Greece.
And, finally, Melika’s doctor had interesting news:
“She said: I’ll be back from vacation on your due date’.” Melika told us.
“She has a lot of confidence in her predictive powers.”
“I don’t want to wait until my due date, Dad.”
“I’m sure that someone else can help with the delivery.”
“But we chose this doctor because we didn’t want ‘someone else’.”
“I recommend patience and restraint.”
“You’re a big help.”
For last week's letter, click here
Nazy at the Parade