Later updates Aaron update 104
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Subject: Aaron update 104
Date: Thursday, March 20, 2003 3:05 PM
From: Kevin Quick
To: Aaron Update List

We’re HOME!!!

We arrived home around 4 p.m. yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon.

Nurse Jo discharged Aaron from the hospital around noon, and we had a nice, tearful goodbye with her. Jo was never Aaron’s primary nurse, but she often filled in for other nurses; she’d been with us in one way or another from the beginning.

Aaron did just fine during the drive from San Francisco to Kelseyville. He only started fussing a little bit after three hours; otherwise, he seemed to enjoy riding in the car. He slept most of the way.

The Nowaks had asked us to stop by and pick up some groceries from them on the way home. We did, and as we pulled into their driveway, we were greeted by a big “Welcome Home Aaron!” sign that Grace and Hope had made. The Nowaks loaded us up with all kinds of goodies (thank you so much, Chris and Lisa!!). As we left the Nowaks, it started to rain lightly.

We arrived home about 10 minutes later, and were greeted by another “Welcome Home Aaron” sign, along with several cards and gifts, at our gate. We felt so honored! Thank you, everyone! You made our homecoming very special and memorable. (By the way, the gifts had only been rained on for a few minutes, so no damage was done.) Hmm, we haven’t figured out who put all these things on the gate. (Also, by the way, we don’t own this nice beachfront property. The property is owned by a family in Marin County; the property has been in their family for many, many years. We’ve been caretaking the property for about a year and a half; we live in the “cozy” caretaker’s house.)

Aaron settled down nicely when we got home, but then he was a little irritable for a couple of hours in the evening. We think he was reacting to being in an environment that’s very different (i.e. quiet) from the one where he’s spent the past four months.

Overnight, he did fine. He slept well until 2 a.m., when Kathleen fed him. He then slept well until 4:30 a.m., when I fed him. He then slept well until we woke him up at 8:00 a.m. to go to his first Lake County pediatrician’s visit.

Aaron did fine in the car once again, as we traveled to Sutter Lakeside Hospital and visited his pediatrician, did some errands in Lakeport, had a drive-through lunch at Taco Bell (where we saw Jerry and Karen Hook), stopped at church and saw pastor Gary (who said that there are a LOT of upper respiratory infections going around the church right now, and suggested that we might want to keep a little distance for awhile), then returned home. All the while, Aaron was just fine; he was a joy to have in the car. All in all, we’re very much enjoying our first couple of days of full-time parenting.

We had another visit this morning, too, that I’ll mention in tomorrow’s update; it’s worth an update in itself.

So far today, I think I’ve heard Kathleen say, “It’s good to be home” about fifty times.

Indeed, there’s no place like home, especially with ALL of us here now! Thank you again, everyone, for making our homecoming so sweet.

Love, Kevin, Kathleen & Aaron