The Canadas
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News Family to the Rescue
Features
Updated August
13, 2002 |
What a Summer!
Before and after Will’s arrival, we have been busy working and playing. At the end of July, Lisa catered a dinner for 70 people—her fourth catering job in the two months surrounding Will's birth. In addition to teaching a graduate course, ENG 516: Literary Journalism, in July, I have been constructing an online grammar course for UNC-Chapel Hill, doing research on Benjamin Franklin, and--with Lisa's help--compiling an index for The Companion to Southern Literature. The latter project, which involved indexing some 5,000 names in a book 1,012 pages long, threatened to finish us off. Apparently, however, whatever does not turn you in a raving lunatic only makes you stronger. Despite those demands on our time, we continue to enjoy plenty of what Lisa and I—and now even Essie—have come to call "family dates." Sometimes they consist merely of congregating on a bed to adore Will or sitting around the television on Saturday afternoons to take in the Fox Baseball Game of the Week—a special treat for a cable-less family, especially Dad. Other times, all or some of us get out of the house or even out of town for a trip to the park, a pool, the playground, the library, or the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro. |
Will Arrives
By Mark
June 28, 2001: "Alma Kay called this morning and said that we could have labor induced tomorrow. Lisa had mentioned to Dr. Cohn yesterday that she was interested in moving along the pregnancy. If Will arrives before July 1, we will save about $900 in insurance payments because we already have met our deductible this year. After Lisa and I talked, however, we agreed that we would rather let him arrive when he is ready. We don't think he would be in any danger, but it just doesn't seem right to either of us to schedule his arrival. There's something magical about the way nature brings new lives into the world--sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes in the early morning, always when we don't expect it. Years from now, when we tell Will about his birth, we want to be able to tell him a story, not recite a schedule.
So Will will come when he will come--and only God knows when that will be."
Ten minutes after I wrote those words in my journal last night, Lisa handed me her watch and asked me to time her contractions. An hour and a half later, we were at the hospital. Less than four hours later, at 3:44 this morning, we had a new son. We had decided months ago to name him Will. Today, his first act in this world was to earn that name. Not our will, but his was done.
Nothing prepared me for the arrival of our first child. Nothing could. Seeing a life we created enter the world, holding that life in my hands, and seeing it wake up to its new surroundings are all far beyond class or cliche. More than three years later, just thinking about meeting Esprit makes the tears begin to well up in my eyes.
And still nothing--not even meeting the first child--prepared me for the birth of our second. I thrilled at seeing his little head and a tiny ear as he entered the world. For the next couple of hours, while Lisa rested, I held him in my arms in the delivery room and watched his little eyes drift about, always returning to my face. I took off my glasses and moved my face up close to his so that he could see me better. It was not like meeting Esprit all over again. Instead, I was meeting a different child, himself new and fresh and individual.
Even before we discussed inducing labor, Lisa and I had joked about a convenient time for Will's birth. I suggested a morning delivery, followed by lunch. Today, however, I realize why nature seems to bring babies during the night. After the experience, I walked out of the hospital, exhausted and dazed, into a glorious morning. The sun, a glowing orange ball, hung a few inches above the horizon. The air was still and already a little warm and thick. A summer day in North Carolina was on its way. Soaking up all that dawn, I remembered how much I love mornings. And here was not one, but two.
By Lisa
I've had to get used to the idea of Will in stages. On Halloween, 2000, when we first learned we were expecting a baby, I was a little overwhelmed. It seemed Mark and I had just gotten used to having a child and that Esprit finally was a seamless addition to our lives. To learn that a second addition (or is that "edition"?) was on the way gave me pause. But as any mother would agree, the question we ask ourselves: "How am I going to handle another baby?" soon was replaced with: "You're gonna have a baby so quit asking yourself questions and get ready."
Then in February we learned that our little baby was a boy. Still more questions. "What am I gonna do with a BOY?" Little girls just seem like such easy, delightful little packages. A BOY was something entirely different; a mysterious entity that would surely encroach on the wonderful friendship I have with Essie. A boy would bust up our fun for sure. How could I bond with this little interloper? Those concerns dogged me until 3:44 a.m. on June 28.
Truth be told, even before the time of his birth was called out for the record, I was defending our son. Sure that our midwife was rubbing him down a little too bruskly for my taste, "Be careful," I thought. "That's my little boy you have there."
Family to the Rescue
July
2001: It's especially hard to be a long way from family when there's a new
baby in the house. We want to show him off--and we could use some help
taking care of him! Lisa's sister Jessica, along with her friend Melanie,
came through, however, by driving all the way down from Indiana to spend a few
days with us. We would have been happy just to have them here, but they
insisted on helping us out--and help they did. For starters, they
entertained Essie for four straight days, running errands with her around
Laurinburg, taking her shopping in Fayetteville, playing badminton with her in
the back yard, heaping presents on her, even taking her to a Fourth of July
celebration in Ellerbe, where she got to ride a pony and see a clown.
Essie had the time of her life. She just glowed while Jessie and Mel were
here. But that wasn't enough. Melanie also made us a wonderful
lasagna meal on Tuesday, and Jessica chipped in on the housework. All six
of us had a wonderful time together.
A few weeks later, Lisa's parents made the same trip. This time, we had more than a new baby and a three-year-old to keep the adults occupied. During the week of their visit, Lisa was catering a dinner for 150 people, and I was making last-minute revisions on an enormous project I have been working on for the last two months. To anyone who had decided to drop in on Saturday afternoon, the Canada household would have looked like the kitchen of a Manhattan restaurant--or the set of a television sitcom: In the kitchen, Lisa's mom was using the remaining four square millimeters of open counter space to cut out and bake some 200 biscuits. Meanwhile the rest of us were crowded around the dining room table, where Lisa-hana was hacking up fruit and directing the manufacture of 150 fruit kabobs by a ragtag assembly line consisting of me, Essie, and Lisa's dad. All the while, Will was crying out instructions in a language only he could understand, and Lisa's dad was pontificating on recent decline of requiem masses in the Catholic church. Around 3:30, someone did drop in--uninvited and unexpected--to have a look at the baby. She got her look, which was more like a glimpse, and was promptly shuffled off minutes before Lisa and I hopped into the van and drove the food up to the dinner, which turned out to be a success.
Yes, family members certainly do come in handy sometimes. I wish they were closer. I wonder if they wish the same.
Life with Will
July
13, 2001: Some four years ago, in a birthing class that Lisa and I were
taking in preparation for Esprit, I was engaged in a diaper-changing race with
some of the other fathers-to-be. I lost. In fact, I suppose I could
have been disqualified, since I put the diaper on backwards. I thought
about that embarrassing episode this morning while I was changing our new baby,
Will. How things have changed. This time, I was not using a
disposable diaper--obviously designed for amateurs--but a cloth one. I
had just rinsed out a batch of dirty ones and dumped them the washer, and now I
was tossing a clean one on him, folding and pinning it with the same degree of
concentration I commit to tying my shoes, and managing the affairs of Esprit,
now 3 years old, at the same time. I've come a long way, baby.
Life with a second baby is by no means easy, particularly since Will--despite his rather crude language skills--has made it quite clear that he prefers to be held while asleep and wishes to eat every hour, preferably every half-hour, the remainder of the day. Like his father, furthermore, he hates a blank page and, considering his diapers just such pages, is quick to make his mark on them minutes after we put them on him.
No, living with and caring for a second child is not easy, but it is easier. For one thing, raising Essie that first year or so helped us to break some of our old habits, such as resting and thinking. We also learned some valuable strategies. We know, for example, that a stroller ride can keep one or two children safe, out of mischief, and relatively content for an hour or more--and keep the house clean at the same time. We also have discovered the antidote for a baby's most severe bouts with dyspepsia: Waylon Jenning's Greatest Hits. Waylon worked miracles with Essie, and just yesterday I tried him out on Will. He had just turned rather fearsome, but just a few notes of "Lonesome, Ornery, and Mean" silenced him, hypnotized him even. He had a strange look on his face, as if he wanted to keep crying, but just couldn't. Soon, he was perfectly content, and he spent the next half hour--all the way through "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?"--with barely a peep.
Life with Will has included one new ingredient. This time, we have another child in the house. In spite of our fears of sibling rivalry, Essie has taken to her little brother right away. In fact, she had been anticipating his arrival for months, regularly asking her mom, "Is the baby coming out?" When it finally appeared that he was about to "come out," we took her over to spend the night with a friend. Partly asleep and probably entirely confused, she asked what was going on. When Lisa explained that Will was on his way, a big smile spread across her face. The next day, she was eager to meet him, but she didn't see him right away when we walked into the hospital room. "The baby no come out yet," she told her mom, disappointed. After Lisa pointed him out, sleeping in his bassinette, Essie began to fawn all over him, agreeing with us that he was awfully "cute." Later, she sat on the bed, holding him in her arms, and sang him "Sing a Song," the same tune her mom has sung to her many times. Now that he has come home, Essie continues to dote on him, stroking his head and sometimes even helping to feed him. "I think he likes me," she says. I think we like him, too.
Canada's Most Wanted |
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Summer 2001
Name: Esprit Canada
Name: Will Canada
Updated August
13, 2002 |
Esprit rumored to have accomplice
Prison officials, impressed with her boundless energy, assigned the infamous criminal to a road crew. The menial work has not demeaned her, however. Indeed, Canada has insisted on wearing flowered gardening gloves. Far more troubling to officials is the appearance of a mysterious figure rumored to be Canada's new accomplice. After being in hiding for nine months, Will "Butterbean" Canada emerged to pay Esprit several visits in prison. As suggested by the photo below, snapped during one of these visits, the two seem to share an intimate connection. Some think they may even be siblings. Butterbean is suspected of a number of minor offenses, including disturbing the peace, but officials lack the hard evidence to put him away. While they wait for him to make the kind of slip that might lead to an arrest, they have to cope some very real fears of a jail break. "She's got this one under her thumb," a police spokesman said of Canada's relationship with "Butterbean." "It's only a matter of time before she coaxes him into helping her escape." The prospect of a "Peanut"-"Butterbean" partnership has officials on edge. They have placed both individuals under constant surveillance.
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Laurinburg,
NC: Incarcerated for a second time for her involvement in a dollnapping,
Esprit Canada is again playing model prisoner.
A Word from Essie . . . |
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"He's a good kid."Esprit Canada on her newborn brother, Will |
Other Recent Quotables
- On her grandparents' one-liners: "Papa and Granny are cracking me up."
- On her mom's attempts to keep her out of mischief: "You go get some work done."
- On a secret she was hiding in the playroom: "You stay here and do something with you. . . . Don't go in there."
- On television: "Let's turn the TV on so I can hear some noise."
- On behaving: "I was being a little having."
- On housekeeping: "I like carpets dirty."