Introducing Violet Mae Howard

Lisa did it again. Beating her previous personal best of 10 pushes she managed to give birth to the latest member of the Howard family with a very respectable six pushes. A great achievement considering her lack of experience, with this being only her second attempt at this event.

Cora Rose gained a little sister (future servant, scapegoat and recipient of wrong doings) and Lisa and I our second beautiful daughter on the 27th of April 2010 at 12.52 in the morning.

After checking in at the hospital we were taken to our "on-suite" room. Very nice. A little more expensive than our normal night-away accommodations (thanks to "Fat Cat" insurance companies ripping off medical institutions which then have to pass their costs down to the customer, us.........................Oh! Pardon me, back to the update). Unfortunately, Henry Mayo is not a partner of Holiday Inn so no points for this stay.

Our, I mean, Lisa's labour progressed quickly. We left home at about 4:30 pm on Monday afternoon and by the small hours of Tuesday we were greeting our beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, incredible baby daughter (add your own expressions of joy and wonderment if you've ever witnessed this amazing show of creation).
She has right number of everything (except missing the one piece we knew she would be missing).
The same pointy pixie ears are evident on this year's model, a carry over from the 2007 model with design cues taken from the fine Howard creations of 1951 and 73. That's retro, people. If the Mustang can do it, so can we.

The baby was immediately laid on Lisa's chest, after the doctor had given her the once over, of course, and I cut the cord. Did I mention I cut the cord? Well. I did the same as I did with Cora. I cut the cord. I was prepared this time around. However, the pruning shears I brought in were apparently "not clean enough." Picky sods.

In the late morning, Lisa and I got two hours of sleep (not long but truly amazing when you consider the average hospital bed is like sleeping on a concrete patio) before being woken by the nurse. Not to worry. I'm sure they'll be plenty of time to sleep when we get home.

At lunch time Cora came to visit. She spent the night with Chris and Paula, who brought her to the hospital to see her baby sister for the first time. I filmed their meeting and got some great quotes from Cora. "Cora, I'd like you to meet your little sister, her name is Violet Mae". "NO, it's NOT, it's Duckie."
OK, then. Duckie it is. I think it will be a long time before that changes.
Cora was great. She got to hold Duckie straight away and gave her lots and kisses and cuddles.
Let's hope this continues!
Cora is a three-year-old expert of holding new babies. She showed great aptitude for the skill when meeting her new cousin Euan at Christmas, and now with Violet, she plans to build on her baby-holding expertise. Not quite a professional, more an enthusiastic amateur.

All of the above was a lot of typing that could have been easily explained like this:
1.6 minutes of passion, free. 14 boxes of Preggy Pops, $57. Twenty-four tubs of Cottage Cheese, $40. Identical Maternity wear but different colours, $170. Two nights' stay in a hospital 150 yards from your own house, $3,000 (approx. amount. Who knows what the insurance companies will ..........sorry).
Seeing your 3-year-old daughter meet her baby sister, priceless. Absolutely Priceless.

So here she is. May I introduce to you all, the latest in a long line of Howards -- Violet Mae.

And yes, I hear you. I am the Man.