living in the buffet
As the dad of a new baby, I've had several people ask very kindly how we're doing. Honestly, I've had to answer that we're actually doing great! But I make sure to explain that this is the easy part: at this stage in little Elijah's life he mostly hovers in a halfway stage between sleeping and waking, and he likes nothing better than to be carried around while we accomplish other useful tasks. At the same time, everyone around us is incredibly solicitous. We get to avoid all the usual responsibilities of our everyday life, and when we manage something simple like going to church we're treated like heroes; and even better, people keep bringing us delicious food!
It started on Thursday with a roast chicken dinner, complete with mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetable sides, cooked to perfection by my mom with maybe four hours of warning (and delivered to our door in time for our unsocially early 5:00 dinner hour!). Friday saw two pasta dishes—allowing us to choose between mac-and-cheese and pesto penne—as well as giant deliveries of fruit from both grandmas. Not only did we get pizza on Saturday, but the Stevenses came over and cooked it fresh in our oven while their children entertained ours. And today we got meatballs, more chicken, and brownies.
If you're keeping score at home, that comes out to six dinners so far, in just four days. So even with our best intentions and appetites there are leftovers; in fact, the refrigerator is so full that taking anything out—to say nothing of putting it back!—is quite a puzzle. A puzzle I'll happily solve, of course, since it means that whenever I want I can eat, say, a chicken sandwich with avocado and baby spinach with sides of mashed potatoes and pesto pasta. And the fruit. Thanks, everybody!!
Now two weeks from now things might look a little different. Elijah will have found his crying voice, I'll have to go back to work, and Harvey and Zion will be over the novelty of having a baby in the house and will be back to expecting (fairly, I might add!) a little bit of attention themselves. And people might have stopped bringing us food! Of course, that's the one part of our woeful future that you, dear reader, have the power to change. We have no food allergies or dietary restrictions, and Leah is very good at sending thank you notes promptly. You don't even have to tell us before you come by with something!
comments
I'm right on your wavelength! I was going to bring something Friday, but decided I'd wait until the initial food rush had calmed down a bit. :) Look forward to blessing you with food in the weeks to come!