27 September, 2004: Kelvin's getting bigger every day. He was 21 pounds at his last checkup! We've visited North Carolina and Michigan since the last update. North Carolina was to introduce him to his Nana, his "Crazy" Uncle Josh, and his Greatgrandparents, Nan and Paki. He met much of the rest of his family in Michigan, including his tias Blanca and Gladys and his tios Johnny and Oscar. We've also started introducing him to the wonders of solid food. He's not fond of the rice cerial (who can blame him!) but he does like french fries. Guess he's his mother's son in that respect.

23 May, 2004: What a couple of weeks it's been for Kelvin! His first hiking trip, his first baseball game, his first long road trip, and his first camping trip.

For Mother's Day, we took the family hiking with our friends near Evergreen, Colorado. Noah carried an oft snoozing Kelvin in his Snuggli to Maxwell Falls where we stopped and all had a snack. Kelvin was a champ, either looking around wide eyed or sleeping. Not a complaint to be heard!

Last weekend, our friend Karl arrived from Winston Salem, NC. He will be staying with us for a couple weeks, enjoying his vacation in Colorado. Karl wanted to see a baseball game, so we took Kelvin to his (and his Papa's) first professional baseball game. The weather was nice, the beer and hotdogs were bad in a good way, and a good time was had by all.

This weekend, we ventured to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. Kelvin had no problem with spending 3.5 hours in the car or with camping (we were in a rented "camp cabin"). He did take issue with waking up at 4:30 am to go out in the wind, cold, and blowing sand. A quick change of plans had Diana and Kelvin heading back to camp while Noah continued on with the group for the Sandboarding adventure. We were filming a piece for the HDnet program, Across America. The program should air sometime in the July-August timeframe.


5 May, 2004: Kelvin's getting big fast. He's due for his two month checkup on monday and already he's grown out of his zero-to-three month clothing. We measured him yesterday at 22½ inches long.

He is going to visit his North Carolina relative in June, so he will get to meet his Grandmother, his "Crazy" Uncle Josh, and his Great-GrandParents. We are all looking forward to it!


12 March 2004: Everyone give Kelvin Henry Benedict a big warm welcome!

He arrived at 5:18am on Wednesday, the 10th of March, 2004. 7 pounds, ½ oz. and 20¼ inches long.

After about 36 hours of "preliminary" labor, Diana got down to business at 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon. A quick call to me at work ("You really need to get home now!") and we were off. Diana labored at the house for another handfull of hours before we set off for the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 8:00pm and were wheeled directly to the birthing room. Deb (to whom we owe a great big thank you!) met us at the hospital and helped both of us through the whole process. On her first exam, Diana had dialated to 5cm, or about half way. 8 hours later she had not dialated appreciably more. Something was not going right!

It turned out that there were several complications - meconium in the amniotic fluid, Diana's dehydration, Kelvin's elevated heart rate, and an unknown infection that was affecting Diana. At 4:30am the doctors decided that a c-section was in order, explained the situation, and wheeled us to the OR.

After prepping Diana, the doctors got started quickly. A quick incision, a lot of wrestling, and out popped Kelvin's head, soon followed by the rest of him. Diana let everyone know that her prediction of a boy was correct when the doctor pronounced, "Its a boy!" Hello Kelvin!