Park, Park, Park & Park

My brother Nate has now decided on a potential nickname for C: AJ- First of all, I have decided to refer to the newest member of the clan as simply "Fletch", for reasons which you will have to puzzle out for yourself. I assure you that it has little to do with a certain Chevy Chase movie. Of course, the reason is the Mutiny On The Bounty character, Masters Mate Fletcher Christian (played by Mel Gibson a few years back). We shall see if it sticks. None of us sail large masted ships.

Just a few quick points to explain why we set the Park & Park blog up. 1. To journal our memories just prior and ever after C's birth. 2. To communicate to family and friends the tales and pictures of C. 3. To experiment with new technology.

Thanks to Corey and Ewa in the States for prompting these pictures. The frst one of his hand is here , and now his foot next to Bella.

Grandma Park arrived for a two week stay with C. She landed earlier, and all three of us met her at Heathrow. Here's the first shot with C. More to come over the next two weeks.

Kate (partnered with Sebastian ) is a pal from the NCT class, whom Bella has become fast friends with. Max is their addition to the world. Despite the size of Max now, he WAS five weeks premature.

In honour of the triumph of the Welsh over the Aussies on Saturday, C donned his new Cymru rugby jersey. Thanks to John and Sheila Van Maurik, he now has a few sports covered. Soon he'll put on his Chicago Cubs Baseball kit from Uncle Nate and Aunt Dawyn.

A few new events in the C Bio for the 26th, November: First proper outing for C (other than the walk home from the Hospital). First trip to Starbucks, papoose-style on Dad's chest. First seven hour continuous sleep. First proper social outing by Dad (with the prior written approval of Mum, of course). First German visitor- Philipp, all the way from Hamburg. As Bells' Family Crest says: Carpe Diem.

At 4 days old, here he is holding tight.

Just lying in bed after C finished a feeding. Beautiful.

Andy and Jack were generous enough to drop everything on Sunday evening, and listen to me bubble on about the miracle of birth. We wet the baby's head at our local, Troubs, over a bottle of champs.

And here's Granny and Mummy, admiring C's dashing good looks he inherited from his father.

Here's Bella's father yesterday afternoon with the new one. C is taking well to meeting new people.

Christian went out on his first date this evening- 24 hours after coming out, and he's already nipping out for red wine and good pasta. We snuck across the street from the hospital for dinner, and he was a perfect gentleman. Didn't hold any doors for the ladies, but did not complain once through the entire meal. He earned a champange toast, which we enjoyed on his behalf.

Christian Richard Park. It took all week-end, but now: Happy, healthy, and asleep. All doing well. Here's the first shot a few minutes after. More over the next few days.

Well, we went in early this morning to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and very little excitement followed. So, we went out for a good walk and chocolate pudding. Here's a picture of us after licking our plates. Fitting because this is the place where we first met- The Randall & Aubin on Fulham. Bells is now resting comfortably.

Well, here we are. I'm having a pint , Bells a bath, and in 12 hours we get delivering. There she is with bump for the last time.

So, it looks like we'll induce on Friday morning. Nothing big; he's just 12 days past the 'born on' date. So, by Sunday, we should have a crying handful.

Made plans to get out of London for the day, and went East. To the Thames shore in Kent , by Uplees. Had a great walk along the salt marshes, and then eventually found a warm pub for a pint. Here's the Bell in the fresh air. I've uploaded a few others to Flickr. Click on the logo to the right.

We've scheduled activities for the week-end in an attempt to keep our mind off of things. Every once in while, a Braxton-Hicks fakie will pop up though. We were sitting in a movie this evening when one did. My response: "I paid 17 quid (25 dollars) for these tickets- we're not going any where until they run the credits." Sunday, it's off to the country for a pub lunch.

No rumblings yet. And we've still got a bit of time- in the UK they'll induce two weeks after the due date of 5 Nov. Bells has been sleeping ok the last few nights, but before you go to bed you just keep wondering "Will this be the night?"

Just patched in a new bit on the lower right side. If you put in your email address, you'll automatically get my postings without having to come to the site. Try it.

Since we're still waiting, let's post some pictures of mates. These guys- Jan, Philipp and Maurice- good friends, are from the Ashridge MBA. And are standing in front of arguably one of the best pubs in the UK- The Alford Arms in Frithsden

Still no news, even with the earlier activities, AND driving over speed bumps to go on a hike.

Bells had her first glass of alcohol tonight since late January. A bit of good French bubbly. And then a great Indian curry from our local favorite. All in the hopes that this would encourage an on time delivery- according to the Mid-Wife. Watch this space...

As Park & Park plc is on the verge of a large corporate acquisition, the Board of Directors thought it prudent to brief the Wall Street and London City analysts, as well as corporate shareholders. To be succinct, we will discuss only the potential effects of the acquisition on the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. The sleep bank account, nappy inventory turn ratio and outsourced service provider relationships will be dealt with in the future. The income statement won’t be materially affected in the near term. Revenue should remain constant. Costs, in aggregate, should change only marginally. The specific cost line items though will change dramatically. High value travel and entertainment expenses will be significantly curtailed, while daily operating expenses will increase. The Finance Director expects these changes to balance each other. Therefore, net operating income should remain stable or slightly below trend in the near-term. The balance sheet