He's got toes!!! 10 of them! How cool is that! Aren't they adorable! (You'll note that's not acually a question. I'm not asking for your opinion on the adorability of Wally's toes, I'm giving it to you.)
Mother and son are doing fine.
Look at that hair! Have you ever seen a baby with so much hair in your life? This is a newborn! (Well, just look at mom, there. He comes by it honestly, that's fo sho.)
Wally (Big Wally, the father) and Vi have been waiting for this for a long time. Well, ok, only the usual 9 months, but it took rather a lot of effort to get to that point. They're going to make great parents. If I ever have kids, they will so be the godparents.
Sadly for me, Wally and Vi (and now L'il Wally!) live back in the states. I'm gutted that I missed the birth. Since receiving the news I've been alternating between weeping with joy for my friends and bawling with sorrow that I'm missing celebrating this with them. I'm going home in a month to visit, but I want to be there now now now! It kills me to think that I'll miss seeing him grow up. I get to be the crazy eccentric aunt, but how often? Will he even know me? I want to be a part of this kid's life. I don't just want to be some goofy half-relative that pops in for a day or two a year and gives him books that he'll never read.
This weekend I'm putting together a mix CD to send to Wally and Vi, aka mom and dad (!!!). I want to pick songs that evoke the feelings they have for their new son. It's not easy. Here's the list so far:
1. For Unto Us A Child Is Born, The Roches
2. Baby I Love You, The Ronettes
3. (Everything I Do) I Do For You, Bryan Adams
4. You're a Wonderful One, Art Garfunkel
5. Heaven Is A Place On Earth, Belinda Carslile
6. Lean On Me, Bill Withers
7. Baby Baby, Amy Grant
8. The Air That I Breathe, The Hollies
9. Have I Told You Lately, Rod Stewart
10. Good Morning Starshine, Oliver
11. From Me to You, The Beatles
12. Sunshine On My Shoulders, John Denver
13. Reach Out, The Four Tops
14. Rhythm of Life, Diana Ross
15. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel (I don't think I've ever created a mix playlist that didn't include Simon and Garfunkel somewhere.)
16. Rock Me Gently, Ron Dante
17. Be My Baby, The Ronettes
18. I'll Be There, Jackson 5
19. Benediction, Toni Nation
20. Day Is Done, Peter Paul & Mary
Any suggestions? Love songs are good, but I don't want any that are specifically directed at a female, or are blatantly about sexual relationships. A lot of stuff that hints at sex can be intepreted in numerous ways, so as long as there's a reasonable platonic/parental reading, that's cool.
*Yeah, that's a bit over the top, but it will make Vi laugh her pants off.
15 comments:
Congratulations! How about "Baby" by Rachael Sweet. Cover of an old soul song.
Everything seems hairy on this blog.
When I was born, number one was Everlasting Love by Love Affair.
(When my brother was born it was Bye Bye Baby by the Bay City Rollers, but that's best glossed over)
How wonderful! A new baby is always wonderful news. How about Beautiful Boy by John Lennon?
Isn't becoming 'Aunt Someone' the coolest?? I was bragging for EONS when the neph was born.
Congrats!!
There's also an opera by Catalani (sp?) called La Wally. I don't know it very well, but one of the arias is all over the soundtrack of Diva (dir: J-J Beneix), which was one of those must-see movies (along with Subway, Withnail, Blue Velvet) when I was a student.
Incidentally, when I was born, Louis Armstrong was at number one with What A Wonderful World, which is pretty cool. I feel a meme coming on...
Have you informed your chums about the not-entirely-complimentary connotations of the word 'wally' in the UK?
Gorgeous photos and a beautiful baby - wishing them every happiness!!
What about the kooks song by David Bowie -side two Hunky Dory album. He wrote it for his son - I reckon its one of the best things he ever did. I'll send you a copy - it always makes me cry.
BTW. Congratulations on becoming an auntie! You get all of the good bits and none of the nappies!
Hey Jude!
he wrote it for his sone to make him stop crying. guaranteed to lull a bitty one to sleep with the 105 'nananana, he0-ey jude's at the end.
you realize that as eccentric auntie who lives in the UK you must always wear a pith helmet when you visit Hugh, and give him things like books bound in cobra skin and ivory puzzle balls and jewelled goliath beetles under glass decked out like miniature imperial elephants. and use a long cigarette holder to dial the phone with.
congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great. Another planet destroying resource eater!
Re - Hey Jude: Depends which McCartney myth you read I suppose...
Re: Bridge over troubled water. A classic but its a bit hackneyed for me. A lesser known smug little bugger tune perhaps? Like the one at the end of Graceland where he sings about Clifton Chenier and dancing to Zydeco with the king o the Bayou while telling his child how he met his mother and reminding him that 'I sure do love you, lets get that straight.'
Or under african skies. Because Linda Ronstadt's harmonies are easily as good as anything Simon and Garfunkel ever did together and its a great lyric and a great tune...
'In early memory, mission music was playing 'round my nursery door. It said 'Take this child, Lord, from Tuscon Arizona give him the wings to fly through harmony...'
Or alternatively the recent one where he sings 'Gonna watch you shine, gonna watch you grow...' against a quite magical guitar line of cascading sixths?
BOTW is still the best song ever written
I have the album Surprise. I deliberatley didn't use the "gonna watch you shine" song because the chorus specifically speaks about a daughter. I decided to put it on the back hob if they ever have a girl.
Under African Skies: brilliant idea. can't believe i didn't think of it.
How was your birthday? Good cake, etc?
i can't stop looking at these pictures. what a blooming child!
he's like a cloud!
Tell me about it. I can't get past that that baby is less than 1 day old in those pics. He's so tubby and pink you'd swear he was a couple weeks at least! Big, strapping lad, that's what he'll be.
That's a very cool looking baby there.
I have to agree with First Nations' ideas of being the eccentric auntie. That's got to be fun.
I had a full head of hair when I was a baby too.
My Mum tells me that people came from all over the hospital to stare at me (you would have thought she would have charged and put a few quid into a trust fund for me. I've never been so interesting since. Bloody leftie parents.)
Anyhow, look how well I turned out!
(Um)
Baby I love You by the Ramones is a far, FAR better version. Congratulations on becoming an aunty, it's fucking ace being an aunty. I'm proud to say that I am, in fact, Great Aunt Thursday, yes, Great Aunt Thursay and I'm 42. My nephew AND his children think I'm really cool.
Baby. Os Mutantes. Lovely.
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