Mariel Cornell

First off let me start off by thanking all the Kristin’s involved so far for having two “I’s” in their name. It’s making my guesses look really good.

On to the merchandise!

Kristin (Davis) Grice has a littun’ of her own so this present comes with some recent mothering experience. This is a baby einstein play mat with a suspended mobile thingee-majiggy. The hanging pictures of single subjects and bright colors offer lots of pre-frontal cortex and visual cortex stimulation responses which can make kids crazy smart. Since there are suspended objects too there’s probably even some inferior temporal gyrus activity which means that baby going to have some mad ball-handling skills. We won’t have to worry about paying for college because scouting violations by big time universities will take care of all that.

I wish I didn’t buy into this marketing scheme that Baby Einstein has developed but, boy oh boy there stuff works. They need an infomercial with some dumb babies that watch their videos and use their toys for a week and then get smarter and happier. They just need to find some guy with a British/Australian accent to make the pitch - unfortunately I can’t imagine there are any of those left unemployed.
Thanks Kristin.

If it looks like Mariel is holding the shipping slip with a tentative look - that’s because it’s a great picture.

Sarah Lyne… from Newton? That’s just a few miles away… who do we know that’s unlucky enough to be burdened with a shower gift invitation!?

Ahhh…Rob Hawke’s girlfriend, Sarah! We’re so friendly with our Newton neighbors that I don’t the formality of exchanging surnames ever even came up.

She sent along these great changing pads that will help to keep contain any little accidents from being BIG accidents.
Thanks Sarah.

Jen Miller (straight out of Manhattan) sent along TWO count them two gift cards. This is a neat twist.

One of the cards is for Mariel… and that’s good because she has some great taste.  But the other one is what makes me smile a little more then usual. It’s for Dexter!

Special instructions are for Dexter to pick out what HE wants for the baby. Now granted it will be tough to give him a subtle parental mental nudge away from the 4-year-old gifts for the newborn… but a great idea.

Thanks Jen.

Joanne Caldera sent us some of these towel things. Hoodie bath towels. Very comfy little things that will completely wipe away most of our good judgment.

I say that it will wipe away our better judgment because when we’ve just washed our new baby and wrapped it up…. we are going to think it’s so cute and clean and smiley that we will forget to Diaper Up (the less popular alternative to the redsox theme “Cowboy Up”). Playing bare-ass roulette a couple times too many and that will be the end of that game.

These hoodie towels are cute enough so that even though I know what’s coming I won’t be able to stop it.

Thanks Joanne.

More Gifts! This thing is a knit sweater from Lydia Holmes. This right here is a very strong contender in the ‘hand-made’ gift competition. I’m not sure if Lydia made it or not but it is cute, hand-made looking, warm and tag free.

Thank you Lydia.

[ quick aside: sorry for the long pause in posts… spent as much time away from the computer as I could during Christmas and when I got back there was a back log of many things that pay for diapers and formula to take care of first. Now that the logjam has broken - once more into the breech dear friends ]

Was anyone else buys during the week before Christmas? No? Human condition told me that I was the only one running around crazy.

First up is (at least and probably more then) a cute plush toy and  some diapers from Dan and Carrie Lopano. I think it’s Lamaze or something. Thanks Dan and Carrie.

To be honest all the descriptions for this days presents are going to be fuzzy at best because it’s just what I can remember. Hopefully Mariel did a much better job in the thank you notes. There is video coverage too - so if anyone is offended or needs more credit just drop me a line and I’ll do a video replay and review the ruling on the field.

Quick note… these next two are from the Demore clan progeny and they are special gifts because: a) it’s been ages since I’ve seen them and it’s great to know they remember me   and b) I know they’ve had a couple kids and we haven’t contributed yet to their “moving expenses” so we’ll try to send some retaliatory gifts in the future to balance up the karma. Thanks Kris and Bill.
On to the merchandise - Next up is a thermometer from Kristin (Demore)  Jospeh. This unit is choice.  Four years ago we got the previous generation of these for Dexter. It was really handy but unfortunately it would require 4-5 readings before we had the good sample. I had no idea why that was until I saw some of the new features on this bad boy of technology. It warms up the tip of plastic guard on the end to closer to body temp so that the readings are more accurate. Score one for science!

Thanks Kristin

Bill and Gretchen Demore’s gift showed up on the same day (good timing) and it was one of my favorite tips of material possessions: Books.  When Dexter was a baby he would sit and turn pages all the time. We did (and do) nightly readings to him to try and prevent him inheriting too much stupid from Matt and try and nurture all those brains he got from Mariel.

Thanks Bill and Gretchen.

All the incredible generosity of this shower might have gotten to Mariel’s head… because she’s started grabbing and opening anything that comes within a 10 foot radius of the door. It could also be all the behavioral conditioning of having a husband shove presents  at her when she gets home from work and flashing lights when she gets rewards.

These steaks might not have been intended for her but she was so happy that I didn’t dare speak up. Being supportive and quiet is a skill that should be nurtured now that we get closer to the D-day.

When Dex was born he got this real soft blanket that he still keeps close. It was originally the “Warm Blanket” but it had that really soft baby blanket material that feels cool to the first touch. And so it became the “Cold Blankie”.   Right now on his bed there is a Cold Blankie, Warm Blankie, Big Blankie, and Fuzzy Blankie. He has a lot of choices.

Even with all those choices Dex still had his eye on this Warm Blankie sent by Maureen Sheeran. It’s also got all the stuff that makes Mariel happiest: bunnies, pastel colors, and covered with sleep softness.

Thanks Maureen.

First up is a present from cousin Kelly and Shawn Noelle

One of the few items that Mariel didn’t ziplock and pack away were the blankets. Which is probably good because blankets were the foot soldiers of our parenting with Dex. You cannot have enough blankets and Kelly and Shawn gave us the “ULTIMATE RECEIVING BLANKET”. Now I’m not sure if it was in all capital letters like that on the package but it might as well have been.

Then… overtime.

The UPS guy is really working late. This time we missed the first delivery attempt at 4pm while I was picking up Mariel and he came back at 8pm to try again!
Mariel was asleep on the couch but managed to answer the door and sign for the goods.

When Dex was done with his bath he helped open a present from Sue Muratori.
Sue sent us a green and white striped outfit and a matching blanket.
Thanks Sue.

And there was another big package from Becky Douglass - Middlesex County Massachusetts making a very strong showing!

This package had two comfy blankets and a milk container storage thingee (Matt does not remember details for things that look very organized as he understands organization is Mariel’s bag).

Thanks Becky.

And now for the ‘Most Handmade Present’ Prize (by a very big margin) is an authentic Aunt Helen Cornell Yarn Circus Animal Mobile.

Dexter still has the animals from his and they are very cute.

Thank you Helen

Matt loves Papasans. Mariel loves papasans some much more then matt that in comparison he is a papa-hater.
Justin sent this gift and it looks very cool. Much more stable then those antique bouncy chairs they had back in 2002.
Thanks Justin.

Kristin Cornell sent along a Bumbo tray attachment. I didn’t even know that the Bumbo HAD a tray attachment - that thing is getting cooler all the time.
Again… Dexter had to explain the nuances of Bumbo culture to his lame parents.

Thanks Kristin.

Dolores Ennis sent along a very big package that was very well taped up. Inside was a cool Moses Basket where the new infant Cornell will be sleeping for the first couple months.
The thing Mariel said after she opened it: “oh cool, I’ll be able to take a shower”
Dexter got some wooden initials too (unless we’re supposed to name the baby to have the same initials).

Thanks Dosie

The UPS guy just came at 8pm. That’s way late. Poor guy probably has 5 other baby showers by mail to deliver to in this zip code.

So there are 3 big boxes to open.

I didn’t pay enough attention to this unexpected round of packages and so I can’t for the life of me remember more then one of the names associated with the gifts. I will just post the pictures now and when Mariel wakes up tomorrow I will fill in the names with the presents.
[Edited 12/14/06 2pm: Mariel is up and setting me straight about who was attached to which present]

We are a Playtex bottle family. These drop in bottle liners may be killing mother earth with trash but it may just be worth it. Thank you Christina (Lopano) and Jason Clobes.

These are sheets Mariel was very jazzed about. They are indeed very cute. Thank you Clif and Dyane Smith!

This is the Ultimate Baby wrap to help sling the newborn on in a number of ways. There is a instructional DVD! Thank you Aunt Linda and Uncle Nick!

This is a bumbo seat… Dexter was more excited about this then Mariel - but that’s just because she’s never seen one in action. I can attest to their effectiveness after seeing some very little babies propped up in them and having a blast. Thanks you Carrie (Ennis) and Rob!

Dexter did his best to explain to his mom how the bumbo works.

One lone package today from target waiting at the door - from Rebecca Cornell.

Everyone was anxious to see what was inside… even the usually distant and reclusive cat.

BundleMe thinge-a-ma-whatsit. This little item is all the rage at the various day-cares and pre-schools that Matt chauffeurs Dexter to and from each day. It is a really comfy pseudo-suede papoose looking thing for infants. Really neat looking - I won’t get tired of wishing they made a 6′ version of these things.

Thanks Rebecca!

Now, the Medical Dosimetry journal is a hard act to follow, so I apologize to Mary Lou for not making sure that her gift came before that.

This nice big bag was full of infant diapers and wipes. Most importantly there was also a deck of really big playing cards for Dexter.

Thank you Mary Lou.

In case you can’t tell from the pictures - Dexter is having a blast managing this shower-by-mail.

He got this package for Mariel and she was pretty excited…

Ahh - it’s an incredibly boring baby shower gift. This one was sent by The AAMD.

It’s Vol. 32 Issue 5 of Medical Dosimetry: the Official Journal of the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists.

Thanks American Association of Medical Dosimetrists!

These cute little under-outfits make you want to regress, stretch one on, and curl up for a nice nap. For the first few cold months these will be our baby’s second skin.
Thank you Grandma Lopano!

“I haven’t fallen and I can get up” is what our baby will being saying (in baby talk) because this new gate will help stop any unplanned flights of stairs.

This gate is going to be so much better then our last contraption. At least that is what Mariel tells me. I had no idea that the last 3.5′ tall gate was a real burden for Mariel to step over because I could just walk right over it.

Her hips would click and her neck would crack with every gymnastic lunge over our old one. This neat swing-open gate from Brittany Sheeran will save more then just some sore tendons, muscles, and joints - it’ll save the new kid from launching down our long staircase.

Thanks Brittany

Alisa Lopano lived with us for a short while here in Watertown, MA and so everyone was a little extra excited to get her present.

She gave Mariel a 2-in-1 head pillow for car seats. Don’t go telling the authorities or anything but our baby car seat setup for a newborn baby Dexter was somewhat less then optimal. We had to fashion some burp cloths and a towel into a head rest to keep his head stable.

This is much more professional and safe.

Thanks Alisa.

This next gift from Julie Ennis could probably greatly increase it market with a model for college-sized beverages. It’s a bottle warmer/cooler. This thing will save me from running all the way down stairs to fetch a bottle at night. Again… little sleep + loud crying + fast moving down dark stairs = slow bottle fetching.

Dexter naturally wanted to see it in action right away but we some how talked him out of it.

Thanks Julie.

In case this is the best kept secret of babies… this is a Boppy (from Jenna Lopano). A Boppy is a big stuffed “C” shaped pillow that allows me to prop up a completely exhausted Mother and a hungry newborn at 4am in the morning for a feeding. Anything that helps the sleep deprived get along is a big help.

Thanks Jenna.

This bag is from Debra Lopano and there were two outfits that Dexter thought were really nice. He grabbed them away and hung them up almost before Mariel got a good look.

Thank you Debra.

Here’s a package from Vermont…

That looks comfy enough to wish being a foot tall again:

Thank you Aunt Jeanne

Raising the ante for everyone else - Tina Schalke (no card, so while we dont’ mind at all, she is not entitled to a correct spelling unless I get lucky) stopped by with her gift to make sure that it was delivered on time.

A whole bunch of white button onesies. These things are great.

Thanks Tina!

An envelope showed up in the post this morning for Mariel.

Thank you very much for the gift card Lisa, Doug, Brendon, Justin, Ashley and Courtney.

The secret is out. Tonight while getting ready to crash into bed for the night I suddenly remembered that it was December 1st and it was time to start the shower. I pulled Mariel out of bed and told her to put some clothes on that she wouldn’t mind being photographed in.

The first gift is a “Pump in Style” from Betsy Cornell to start things off.  With this sucker Mariel will have no trouble keeping the new kid fed while putting some hours fighting cancer at work.

Thanks Betsy!