Our Son

We were blessed with a baby boy in the early hours of last Sunday. The Wife, The Daughter and I are as blissed out as can be about the new addition to the family.

Our son! My son! I'm as happy as can be. May your 8 pounds 5 ounces lead you onwards and upwards.

I plan to spend as much quality time with my family as I can. All the observations I've made in the past about the effect of parenthood on one's published output now apply doubly. In this instance however, I have a few pieces lined up that will be published automatically in the next few months as this blog will run on autopilot.

There is much deliberation in the mores of Akyem-Swedru, Accra and Aburi about the naming of children and a certain logic that is often followed (lineage, day names, special names and so forth). Still I am minded of the weight of all of those additional names, those shadow names, that may not appear on one's birth certificate but that still apply to you. Even at my age, I am still learning about names bestowed on me. There is power in naming and I wonder what names others will emphasize for our son. I look forward to his outdooring and to marking all the ceremonies that are to come in his life.

Welcome my son. I love you.

Soundtrack for this note

I'll add the following playlist to augment my previous take on parenthood. The theme is joy. (Listen here).

• D'Angelo - Greatdayndamornin'
  Elation is the prime sentiment.
• Shalamar - The Second Time Around
  Almost as influential as Chic's Good Times.
• Bilal - Second Child
  Off his First Born Second album. I haven't really used the Nii Amaah name that all first born males in our family inherit but I wear its mantle.
• Pointer Sisters - I'm So Excited
  Say no more.
• Finlay Quaye - Sunday Shining
  Sunday born children in our tradition automatically get called Kwesi.
• Ben Webster - There Is No Greater Love
  My favourite interpretation of this ballad. I certainly hope that our son inherits my father's and my own love for the soothing tones of Ben Webster.

File under: life, baby, parenthood, birth, joy, family, toli

Parenthood

So The Wife and I were blessed with a baby girl yesterday. A bundle of joy, pounds of loveliness, we couldn't be more elated. We'll have the outdooring (naming ceremony) in due course. Like all new parents, it's all about change, lots of change to our life, and an abundance of love.

The Wife had also been labouring to deliver her book manuscript to the publisher and, in the race between baby and book, our child barely won by two nagging footnotes, it was a close run thing, you know. The one was all sweetness and the other is to be titled, Bitter Roots. My own role was minor: a shoulder to rest on, a hand to squeeze, a chaufeur, a cook, a proud husband, and a copy editor.

I expect to be spending lots of quality time with the new addition to the family so blogging and everything else will be fitful at best, and diaper-constrained for certain. In mitigation, I've written a whole lot already over the past 6 years and even have some toli queued up for episodic release.

In the meantime, allow me to bask in parenthood.

Soundtrack for this note

A parenthood playlist. Enjoy. (spotify version)

• Teddy Pendergrass - Joy
• Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely?
• Bobby Byrd - No One Like My Baby
• The Meters - Just Kissed My Baby
• Tony! Toni! Toné! - Baby Doll
• Herbie Hancock - Little One
• UB40 - Baby
• Nina Simone - Little Girl Blue
• Prince And The New Power Generation - Sweet Baby
• Bilal - Little One
• The O'Jays - You've Got Your Hooks In Me

File under: life, baby, parenthood, birth, joy, family, personal, toli