why ty?

we have had a lot of questions about tyrn; most of them have been about his name, but there have been a few about skin to skin contact. both topics will be addressed in this post.

our friend tyrn was one of my housemates in edmonton. josh, aaron, tyrn and i all shared a sweet little house just south of whyte ave. the four of us became and remain good friends.
josh, as well as tyrn and his beautiful wife kelsey joined us in egypt. aaron was there in spirit.

we like tyrn and we like his name. i know i just transcribed it as TIE rin in our previous post, but perhaps a more precise pronunciation would be TIE urn. tyrn's mother deb was telling me that she was looking for a spelling for the name that was in her head, and tyren and tyron just weren't right. she met with some resistance, but we agree with her that "tyrn" is an elegant way to represent what people actually say. even when the name has an extra vowel on it, familiarity and phonetic expedience would shorten it on most peoples' tongues to TIE urn. way to go deb! both tyrn and his mom seem really excited about having another tyrn around.


now on to the man. tyrn is a quality guy. he is sincere, funny, energetic, honest, friendly and fun to be around. i think he came up with the idea for the above picture.

he enjoys climbing and adventure

and drinking juice

and jumping off things

and probably most of all music. ty currently plays in a band called pre/post and being a drummer is a big part of his identity.

we love the name tyrn, and tyrn senior embodies many of the characteristics we want to see in our son, so it works out well. thanks for the name tyrn and deb!


james is to honour my grandfather, james rose, jim to his friends. i am his only grandson and was named marc james after him.
i wish he had lived long enough for me to know him in adulthood, but i got to spend a lot of time with him growing up and visiting the farm every summer. i remember a kind, generous and often understated farmer who was just a little rough around the edges. he was strong, resourceful and loyal. his cheeks were grizzled and his hands were tough and he called me "mark'n james". i hope tyrn james takes after him.

i just realized that i always sit like that.

now on to skin to skin contact. one week in i am a big proponent. it is the easiest way for ME to settle him down. infants have immature and untried physiologies. if he is in direct contact with me or kylie he can hitch a ride on our homeostatic mechanisms, thus freeing up the energy necessary to maintain a constant temperature to be used in growth or immune function. oxytocin is most likely involved in some pleasant way as well. the above pose gives the added benefit of vitamin D production and bilirubin breakdown. also, you may inadvertently burn your baby.

skin to skin contact between mom and baby immediately following delivery is another issue altogether, involving the reenforcement of maternal second messenger systems in order to clamp down the uterus and decrease bleeding and otherwise speed the body on its way to the post pregnant state. we have some pictures of kylie in this state, but in the interests of her privacy i will include another one of me instead.

ty went for his first hike a few days ago. he loves his snuggly. or at least it makes him sleepy... is that the same thing?

kylie did great as well. feeling strong and feeding on the fly. today was gorgeously sunny and we took a walk to a different beach on the fraser.

and lastly a farewell to the cherry blossoms as their season wanes. a quick thundershower with light hail knocked half of them off the tree and onto our subaru. it's now decorated like a parade float. ty thinks it's funny.