Hello Everyone,
Everything has changed completely again, as usual. We are up to our eyebrows in things that start with B: Baby & Boat, to name the big ones. I am convinced that Boats and Babies have many things in common: They both create unexplained smelly fluids that need to be cleaned up and the cause tracked down. On or around both, strange noises occur that one would rather not investigate, but must. They both cost more than is humanly possibly believable. They both leave their caretakers exhausted with many strange aches and pains. Strangers admire them. Everyone wants to touch them. We love them more than we thought possible. (I'm sure there are more similarities but I'm too tired to think of them now.)
The baby, Nicholas Thorsten Lockert arrived with typical male Lockert panache on Fathers Day (6/16) at 7:53pm. Although we were shooting for a natural childbirth, it wasn't in the cards. He arrived by c-section. It wasn't super dangerous or dramatic, just the right thing to do. Thorsten has been a wonderful Daddy. My Lovely Mom was on hand to give us some much needed help for the first few days. It was great to have her around and I think she enjoyed being able to meet this little guy face to face. I've already sent the pics link to some of you but here it is again. There are quite a few pictures now and we add more as we take them, which is often. nicholas.lockert.name
Nicholas is a fantastic baby, a champion eater. (By this I mean he is an absolute PIG and I find it difficult to keep the supply in line with the demand.) His best skill so far is: squirting from all orifices. I change my clothes about as often as I change his. I need to either get quicker on the draw or buy more shirts- I'll get back to you soon with my decision. He is also a brilliant conversationalist. He squeaks rather charmingly when he is hungry and makes a lovely "oooooh" after eating which means he is satisfied for the next 34 seconds, after which there better be another boob ready or there's heck to pay. I sometimes wish that I had more than 2 boobs, which I'm sure is a form of post partum depression manifesting itself in strange ways. (Sorry if this is too graphic.)
We have done a little nesting here in Texas. (I use the word "little" with poetic license.) It's a bit of a story itself. Those of you who have heard it already, skip this paragraph. We started out on June 1 to make a return at Baby's R Us. Somehow, on the way to Baby's R Us, we stopped and traded in the car for an SUV. I'll never know how that happened. I do know that it's a lovely vehicle that looks great and makes Thorsten very happy. OK, so now we had a car with no garage and a woman with a feverish nesting instinct and nowhere to make a nest. (The apartment was 700 sqft and pretty full.) We did the best thing we could under the circumstances, we went to look at a townhouse that was for sale, immediately after the Lexus dealership. It was truly lovely. Big, room for everyone, a 42' boat dock in the back (which won't fit Blue Moon), on the water (clearly with a boat dock in the back), newish, and very pleasant to live in. We made an offer that day which got accepted and closed on Thursday June 6. We moved in on my official due date (June 8), which I was sure would mean Nicholas would arrive but he didn't. My lovely friend Jessica came out to lend us a hand for the move and in case Nicholas showed up. We were disappointed that he didn't arrive in time to thank her. That week moved about as fast as the first week on the boat in Canet. There were movers all over the place and so much happening that I still get dizzy thinking about it. There's a room in the back of the garage that is full of boxes and I just try not to think about getting them all unpacked. I'm not in denial about this, I just know they will unpack themselves. Pictures of the townhouse and SUV can be found at www.sigmasoft.com/~tholo/Townhouse I assure you that there is furniture in the house now...
Because we had a dock and no small boat... Thorsten bought a small used 19' speed boat to ride around the lake on. He surprised me with it, I thought he was going to the grocery store. We went for a ride and I think the bumpiness of the ride could have kicked things off baby wise because that night my water broke. It's fun and fast and a welcome addition to our toy box.
Thorsten update... Thorsten's back is completely healed, thank goodness. We both need him at peak performance these days. Some sad Thorsten news is that his father died, 2 days before our son was born. Circle of Life, Schmircle of Life, I say it stinks. We are both glad we had a chance to visit him last May. Some happy Thorsten and Heather news is that our 1st Wedding Anniversary is June 30. Thorsten is forcing me to go to a fantastic brunch to celebrate.
Our plans... We will postpone our trip to CA, which was planned for the end of July. It's just too much to get back to the boat and visit CA in the same couple of weeks. We hope to be back on the boat by July 16. We have a wonderful person living on our boat now and taking care of her but his last day is July 9th (or so) and we don't want to leave her alone for too long. The boat is currently in Georgetown, MD (not to be confused with the cool big Georgetown near DC). We plan to stay in the boatyard for a month or so, perhaps till October for the Annapolis boat show. Then the plan is to sail down the east coast to the Bahamas for Christmas. At some point we will visit CA, my cousins in NC (provided they will let us), and come back to Texas for a week or two. All dates TBD. Current Lockert family and boat location information can be found at www.sigmasoft.com/~tholo/bluemoon
Better go. I think it's dinner time, or maybe it's breakfast time, all I know is that the clock says 7:00 which means it's time to eat one or the other.
Heather (and Thorsten)