Meet The Grandparents!

Shaman shared the best week of his life with his grandparents Evelyn and Charles.

He greeted them cautiously but respectfully at first.

The little guy bonds with Grandpa Charles over a feeding.

Swaddled, cradled, burp-cloth on the shoulder. He pulled off the Grandpa Trifecta! You sure you haven't done this in 30 years?

And he sure did love hanging out with his Bubie Evelyn.

They told each other stories and how much they loved each other the whole time.

Everybody else had to pretend Mortimer was a cuddly, cute little man since Shaman and Evelyn didn't want to leave each others' side.

Looks like Grandpa is waiting patiently for his turn.

Little Shaman misses his Bubie and Zadie so much. Hurry back you two!

What's up, Chicken Wing?

Here is our boy next to the international standard of measure for size and taste. He is currently 9 wings tall and weighs 83 wings (almost at his birthweight of 85 wings!)

(Sam is trying to get this blog sponsored by Glynner's Pub - I have a cute kid, gimme free food)

More birthday pics

Here is the REAL first picture of Shaman. Everybody could have guessed he was a boy if they just looked closely enough.

10 days before the big day, Mom and Dad were so eager for him to arrive.

Mom's-eye view right before The Grand Entrance.

And here is the little guy with mama right after birth

His first look at the big world

 And finally where he belongs.

The word of the day is...

Shaman: –noun (esp. among certain tribal peoples) a person who acts as intermediary between the natural and supernatural worlds, using magic to cure illness, foretell the future, control spiritual forces, etc.

That's pretty cool, eh? Many ancient and contemporary cultures have Shamanic traditions:

This is not Shaman Venus although they dress similarly

• Siberia 
• Finnish mythology
• The Huns
• Mongols
• Tibetan Buddhism
• China (dating back to the Shang dynasty 1600 B.C.)
• Shamans perform rituals in S. Korea and Vietnam
• Cyprus (Biblical times before Persian influence)
• Inuit and Eskimos
• traditional African religions 
• native North and South American traditions
• Australia and New Guinea

Here's a wikipedia link with lots more information about other Shamans.

Do you love chocolate and Shaman and can't choose between the two? Now you don't have to!

Visit shamanchocolates.com and satisfy your craving for both while supporting the indigenous Huichol Indians of Mexico with these fair-trade, organic delights!

This represents the oldest Shaman burial site ever discovered. It was featured in National Geographic. They found an Israeli Shaman!                           

  

Home

Dr. Boldt is the greatest of all time!

We offer the following proofs:

1. Always fit us into her busy personal schedule for prenatal visits.
2. Gave us a quick "reassurance ultrasound" before we left for Florida for 5 weeks
3. Knew Shaman was a boy for 7 months and never let on once to Mom and Dad.
4. Called Tillie's cellphone with lab results after-hours.
5. Is the only Canadian, vegetarian, dogsledder we have ever met. (all 3 of those are pretty cool)
6. Allowed Sam and Tillie to stay late in her office while they asked questions of Anesthesia the week before Shaman came.
7. Joined us to be a big part of Shaman's delivery even though she was not on call.
8. Smiled all the time and made us feel good every time we saw her.
9. Visited the Venus Family every day we were in the hospital (multiple times) even in between her surgical schedule.
10. Has a cooler haircut than Sam.
11. Told us Shaman was beautiful - not like those other babies that are ugly when they are born. We believe her!

First bath ever

Shaman's nurse gave him his 1st sponge bath last night.

Black Friday

Sam awoke early this morning to go Black Friday shopping while Mom and Son slept. He sharpened his elbows and fought off the hordes of deal-thirsty octogenarians at the Mayo Clinic Store in the subway. The adult diapers and sleep-apnea equipment were flying. You could hear peoples hips snapping in two as they stampeded towards the unparalleled selection of sale-priced compression hosiery. Sam made it out of the harrowing experience with his prize: a top-of-the-line breast pump.

Be smart and safe, you last-minute shoppers. Beat the crowds and order your urology and ostomy supplies online!

http://www.mayoclinic.org/mcitems/mc1200-mc1299/mc1234-47.pdf

Who is this loser?

Shaman wishes to inform everyone that he does not think he looks anything like this guy. Saying "Hellooow" to him in that voice is getting old. Please stop asking him where Lenny is. That is all.

Little gobbler

Shaman celebrated Turkey Day as he turned 24 (hours) in a most nutritious way; mom-milk plus some bottle for dessert.

His parents enjoyed the best spread that the Rochester Methodist Hospital cafeteria had to offer. Sam and Tillie left an aftermath to be proud of.

Day #1

The curious young gentleman named Shaman continues to have adventures today. A group of pediatricians examined and poked him in every place imaginable, nodding in satisfaction at each other all the while. He passed a hearing test with both the oversized ears his daddy gave him. He met somebody called Rabbi Michelle who discussed some doing scary things to him, but she smiled a lot. He watched with jealousy as mom held strange suction devices to his own personal feeding spots. But he got to fill his tummy up with mommymilk for the first time, yum! He celebrated all this by sneezing the cutest, tiniest little two sneezes ever and taking a nap with mommy. That's a pretty good first Thanksgiving day for a little guy.

The day before...

It was like somebody pulled the plug on Shaman's comfortable little bathtub / uterus-home and the water started slowly draining out around 10 pm on the 24th. Mommy Tillie was up most the night with strong, intermittent contractions and finally gently woke Sam up with a piercing shriek at 5:30 AM - WE HAVE GOT TO GO!

OB triage found Tillie in significant pain but only 2 cm dilated. Everyone involved was very lucky that her water had broken. Especially lucky was Sam who would've had to somehow take Mommy-to-be home and deal with her by himself.

Labor progressed well over the next 10 hours. When finally ready to push, Tillie took it to another level and squirted out the little squirt in only 50 minutes!

These are the first known photos of baby Shaman (and family) in existence!

Happy Birthday

Shaman Venus arrrived healthy, happy, strong, and handsome (only a little beaten up from the delivery) at 5:48 PM on November 25th, 2009. He weighed 5 lb and 14 oz and measured 19.5 inches in length.