garrison ridpath

Woohoo, I just found out I'm even more of an aunt than before!!!

Jeff's brother Case and his wife Debbie had a baby boy a few minutes ago...John Garrison Ridpath, He weighed 5 lb, 15 oz, and was 19 inches long. I now have one nephew and four nieces. :-) :-)

I've always been fascinated by the weight thing re: babies. Perhaps you parents can explain...WHY is the weight so important, exactly? I'm curious. It's always struck me as a bit weird, like weighing in a piece of produce at the supermarket. On the other hand, we aren't really able to discern a lot of other useful info about the baby at that point, so I guess there's not a lot else to talk about (Debbie ducks as all parents within range, including her own sister, start hurling things at her). Once he/she starts developing a personality and other non-produce-like qualities, we start talking about them instead. When Tiffany graduates from university, for example, we don't say, "Wow, did you hear about Tiffany's graduation? She weighed in at ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THREE POUNDS!!!!"

(Later note: HA! I called Ruth to let her know the good news about my new nephew, and one of her first questions was 'So what did he weigh?' HA! HA!)

Anyway, I'm super-happy about my new nephew, and can't wait to start corrupting his wee mind with Hockey Monkey Songs and obnoxiously loud percussion instruments and chocolate. :-) Congrats, Debbie and Case!

Other family news...

Jeff and I saw his mom (Virginia Ridpath) being inducted into the Ontario Aquatic Hall of Fame on Saturday, and I found out stuff I didn't know before, like the fact that she was the first female swimmer ever to score points for Canada in an Olympic individual swimming event. She still swims at Masters swimming events, and has broken a bunch of records. Cool mom-in-law!

Because I was at the induction ceremony, I was unable to attend a local housefilk in Toronto, which was honoured by the presence of UK filker Paul Bristow. Jodi and Allison report that it was a great filk, lots of fun. :-) Hopefully one of them will post a report soon.

Yesterday, we went to our niece Brittany's 4th birthday party. She's very much into Barbie these days. Barbie balloons, Barbie tablecloth, Barbie serviettes, Barbie cups. No, we didn't get her a Barbie. :-( But we did get her tattoos and a water gun. :-)

MY FIRST EBAY PURCHASE

Hey, I made my first EBAY PURCHASE!!! A copy of The Borrowers for $3. Does anyone remember this children's book?