IPW

Say Uncle

This entry has been edited to update the spelling of Anja's name, which as of the time of the last publication had not been publicly announced :) Her also is the 'press release' from Gabe:

Anja Elise Webster was born at 1:27 AM on 1 April 2006. She weighs 5 lbs. 6 oz., and is 18 inches long. Anja and Chieni are both just fine.

Anja was born at 35 weeks so she is technically premature, but she was breathing within a second of delivery, scored 9 and 10 on the 5 and 10 minute APGAR tests, and is probably a genius. Therefore, there is nothing to worry about on that score.

"Anja" is the Norwegian spelling of a name that is also Irish and Slavic. The same pronunciation (with tones added, first-third) in Chinese becomes "An-Ya", the characters for "peace" and "grace".

We hope this email finds you also well!

With love, Gabe, Chieni, Anja, and Mercy the cat

Sometime this morning, unless it is an elaborate April Fool's joke, I became an Uncle. My sister-in-law, sislaw (this newly coined word rates a 9) gave birth to a baby girl named Anja Elise Webster, instantly making my brother a father, Chieni a mother, my mom a grandmother, dad a grandfather and Magda and myself, Aunt and Uncle. In fact, most everyone in our immediate and extended family received, without the benefit of shiny commemorative medallions, interesting new titles. I personally plan on using my new designation for good. I will emulate my Uncle Jan who we saw infrequently but filled the role of the only person in my life who spoiled us rotten. During our yearly trips to L.A., he would take us on toy shopping excursions and trips to theme parks. He once took us to a Toys R Us* and told us to pick out whatever we wanted. Unprecedented largess in the history of my short life. Naturally I bought a box full of dinosaurs. I'm warning my brother now, I will be observing what they deny young Anja, and I will pop in from time to time to surreptitiously present her with it. Cookies, Dolls, Electric Guitars. Bow and Arrows. I'm going to be a goodies smuggler and will take on mythical proportions.
So Please join me in congratulating Chieni and Gabe on the birth of their daughter and the marking of a fresh new chapter in all of our lives. I rate Anja, her mother and her father an 11. And I haven't even seen her yet.

*Toys "R" Us has always annoyed me, even as a child I could see that I was being patronized by the backwards and grammatically precocious "R". But I've always been sensitive to people patronizing me so I declare here and now that I will not patronize young Anja, but treat her as a peer throughout her life. A peer to whom I give outlandish presents and boxes of dinosaurs.

Posted by ian at April 1, 2006 12:57 PM