Landon's Lunar Landing

I know that most of you have already read Cara's blog about Landon's birth, but I thought you might enjoy a proud Opa's insights from some of the behind the scenes of last week's "Birthday."


Here he is: I took this picture last Tuesday morning when he was only about 30 minutes old! Check out that hair! All 9 pounds 6 oz. and 21.5 inches of Landon Bruce Syers, born at 2:20 am on Tuesday Dec. 21. Wow, God is indeed good.

Barb and I got a text from Cara and Wes at about 10:30 on Monday night saying that she would probably be delivering fairly soon, so we jumped in the car and headed to the hospital. It was an amazingly clear and cold night and as we got into the car, I remembered that it was supposed to be a lunar eclipse on the winter solstice that night.... a very rare event indeed.

We ran upstairs and found Cara and Wes monitoring progress. Once again I was reminded why God has moms deliver babies and not dads. Way to go, Cara... you were amazing!
Abby arrived just a few minutes after we did and promptly showed Barb and me how much you really can hear through a door.

At 2:20 am we heard cries and knew that Landon had arrived. He had a lusty cry from the first sound. Here's the proud Mama and Papa!

"Auntie Abby" stayed the whole time to help welcome Landon to the family. Now that's a happy smile! And Barb, sorry you were the photographer and we didn't get any pictures of you on our camera. I'll have to ask Cara and Abby to forward some.

And how wonderful is it to have a namesake. With the names Gerard and Bruce, I really didn't think there was a chance. But I think Landon Bruce sounds pretty good!

Later that night we took some more pictures of the moon. The nurses kept running to the windows to watch the progress of the eclipse. When it went full, it actually turned red, but we couldn't get a good picture of it. Maybe the red is a harbinger of Landon's hair color. But one thing is clear: There will not be another full lunar eclipse for another 80 years. So Landon, here's a first prayer for a long and healthy life so you can see it when you are 80. Now that would be something!

So congrats Cara , Wes, Payton and Brady. And welcome to the world little Landon!