I’ve been working 24 hours a day, but my sister has been working much, much longer hours. And in her case, it has paid off. In the form of tomorrow’s superstar, Hugo Norbert Holland.
How about that, eh? At the moment, my contact with my sparkly new nephew is by email only, but I’ll be heading to his digs in a couple of weeks so I can set him straight about a few things. It’s what uncling is all about.
Fanny Roborat
45 comments
Flippy
November 2, 2006 at 4:08 am
1Congrats, he’s a cute baby, Uncle Adam. You know, if he’d held out just a little longer, he could’ve been the “November Surprise”, not that he was a surprise, but the other one won’t be either.
David
November 2, 2006 at 4:28 am
2Way, way cool.
cooper
November 2, 2006 at 4:53 am
3Wow, he looks just like his mama! Congrats, buddy. We had a “Hugo” blow through here back in 1989. That was memorable - we’re still talking about him in hushed tones.
Rebecca
November 2, 2006 at 4:56 am
4So adorable. Congrats!
dee
November 2, 2006 at 5:24 am
5How absolutely beautiful!!! Congratulations to all, especially to Miss Edith, for whom this is the First Grandchild.
So, where’s the link to his blog?
Julia
November 2, 2006 at 5:55 am
6Congratulations to all, but mostly to Susie — after all, she was, so to speak, head of production.
Welcome to the world, Hugo. Are you registered to vote?
ice weasel
November 2, 2006 at 6:21 am
7Congratulations uncle Adam. Congratulations to sister Susie.
I can you hear whispering in your young nephew’s ear now, “Ask you mom is she has gained wieght. Tell your mom you want to go shopping, without her. Ask your mom when was the last time she sent uncle Adam a nice gift. Go ahead, your mom’s credit cards are toys to played with…”
And as Julia pointed out immediately above, I do hope Hugo will be voting next week.
Holly H.
November 2, 2006 at 6:22 am
8Mazel Tov! What’s the link for his blog?
siobhan
November 2, 2006 at 6:24 am
9Yea! Happy for all involved.
bri
November 2, 2006 at 7:17 am
10Congratulations!
cooper
November 2, 2006 at 7:19 am
11Good point, dee. Someone give him a keyboard!
Harold
November 2, 2006 at 8:38 am
12Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
historyenne
November 2, 2006 at 11:00 am
13What a great name. Congrats Adam, and Susie too, of course.
waterfowler
November 2, 2006 at 11:17 am
14Uncle Adam, send him to East Tree Stump summer camp and he’ll do just fine. Congratulations.
Ann
November 2, 2006 at 11:24 am
15But…but…liberals hate babies, don’t we? How can we destroy the American family if we continue to have babies?
SeattleDan
November 2, 2006 at 11:50 am
16Many congrats to Susie and welcome to the world young Hugo.
Ann, at the moment I’m concentrating on winning the war on Christmas. The family comes next.
cooper
November 2, 2006 at 4:29 pm
17Good job, Mommy/Susie! And seventeen years from now, when he spears the family car onto the back of a pick-up truck, remember how really cute he was on this day.
Edith, kudos to you, too. Some family you raised, huh?! (Okay. Get to it this very moment - start spoiling the hell out of him. Go on, it’s your right!)
tess
November 2, 2006 at 5:58 pm
18Susie,
I’m telling you here and now to pick up the latest copy of Make and learn how to mute all the gadgety toys your son’s going to get without taking a hammer to them. Besides, you can also use this as an opportunity to teach your son useful phrases like, “Evolution’s a theory, much like germ theory,” or, “So what does your god have to do with me?”
Just Jay
November 2, 2006 at 6:01 pm
19Congrats to Adam and Susie. I have nearly twelve years of uncling experience and it seems to consist mostly of sending lots of cards and presents, in return for which I get a new picture to post on the refrigerator every year. Seriously though, since I have no kids of my own, having a nephew has been quite satisfying.
Excelsior! (All you James Thurber fans will understand.)
H. Chavez
November 2, 2006 at 6:25 pm
20Gracias, que honor. Con ese nombre, no puede sino ser un campeon en la lucha democratica del pueblo americano contra el imperio yanqui. I give him discount natural gas for life.
cooper
November 2, 2006 at 7:14 pm
21I don’t know, Baby Hugo. That last offer seems to have a bit of baggage that comes along with it. You may want to give it a pass.
In other news, Adam’s been inducted into Wikipedia. Cool, huh? Anyone up to speed on HMTL can go to the entry and update it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Felber
dee
November 3, 2006 at 6:51 am
22He’s still darling. Two suggestions for Uncle Adam:
1) But a really really good bottle of wine — one that should be cellared for about 21 years or more. Let Hugo celebrate his 21st birthday with a taste of something special. Before he heads out to the bar and gets plastered on the 2027 equivalent of Jaggermeister.
2) Books. Anyone and everyone will be buying him toys and pretty soon Susie’s living room will look like an explosion in a Fisher-Price factory. Even those “Made from 100%natural wood $150 a set educational building blocks” will be the subject of many a curse. Give the boy books. Big fat picture books he can chew the corners off at first, then introduce him to Daniel Pinkwater and Doreen Cronin and David Shannon and Mo Willems and oh the list goes on. Nothing is more fun than shopping for children’s books. And when you get a big list of ‘em together, you just email it to SeattleDan and voila! Chirstmas shopping done!
(Boy I hope Auntie Deena’s nephews don’t read this blog)
Murray
November 3, 2006 at 8:30 am
23Susie, way to go! Congrats!
Edith, enjoy.
Nothing better than grandchildren.
They are your reward for not having killed your own kids.
Adam, nephews are great too!
I agree with Dee. Kids have far too many toys. My grand children swim in them. As best I can tell they have only one goal in life, to take out as many toys as they can, every day. Not to play with them, just to take them out. And for as much gratification as there is in taking the toys out, it is just torture to have to put them back. (Besides that’s what parents are for). Although cardboard boxes seem to keep them occupied for hours.
So Jane and I have set up bank accounts for each of the tykes, as my parents did for my children. Every birthday and xmas they get a statement on how much the account holds. By age 21, it will be well over a thousand dollars and of actual use. Not just more junk to step on.
Edith, Mother of all Felbers
November 3, 2006 at 8:33 am
24Horning in here to say: Thanks for the congratulations!
Now I can officially be:
(drumroll)
Grandmother to all Felbers!
Hmm. Not so. Grandmother to only one, mother to others.
Aha!
I have it:
Edith, Matriach Supreme!
best,
Edith herownself, Matriach Supreme
Edith, Mother of all Felbers
November 3, 2006 at 8:34 am
25err. Ahm. In the excitement, I misspelled myself.
How embarrassing.
Matriarch Supreme, of course.
Dale
November 3, 2006 at 12:13 pm
26In South Boston you would be the Matri-ach Supreme.
Congrats: to matriarch supreme, the new matriarch (what do you call the Supreme’s second-in-command? Deputy matriarch?), and the birthday boy himself (you think Susie had a rough day!).
Hugo, let ‘em know who’s in charge, and that if you get books or a bank statement, there will be hell to pay. Also, make sure your stroller is at least as technologically advanced and expensive as a small car. It’s a baby-eat-baby world out there.
H. Chavez
November 3, 2006 at 12:13 pm
27Do I smell sulfur?
Oh no, ees just baby Hugo need to change the diaper.
Harold
November 3, 2006 at 2:40 pm
28Next Tuesday, do it for HUGO!
It's Pat!
November 3, 2006 at 2:53 pm
29I’ll vote with Hugo in mind, but unsure if that was all that was required Harold.
How about -
get out the vote for Hugo! Get your friends/couch potato neighbors/whatevers to vote!!
And not for the Schrub, btw.
cooper
November 4, 2006 at 5:34 am
30My bumper-sticker-of-the-month has been: “The Bush Legacy: Leave No Child A Dime!” purchased from The Northern Sun (Thanks, Sharon, The Contrarian Librarian). That is my political statement before the BIG Election. I figure a statement like that is hard to refute, even for the frothing Evangelicals that run in his pack. My “F the President” sticker goes back on afterwards.
The rest of my bumper stickers deal with origin of the species and the faith based myths which that has spawned. I fully expect for my windshield to be chain-whipped over these.
If you also have a no deductible glass break rider on your auto insurance, you may want to visit this site - www.northernsun.com. Figure on staying a while.
Liam
November 4, 2006 at 3:57 pm
31Has anyone else noticed how right-wing NPR has gotten lately?
It’s so frustrating!
Just Jay
November 4, 2006 at 4:43 pm
32Aha! Young Hugo has a doubly literary name. Norbert is the name Hagrid gives to the Norwegian Ridgeback dragon that he hatches in the first Harry Potter book. Yes, I’m a fan and I read all of them proving that it’s true that it’s never too late to have a happy childhood.
Cheers
Bill C.
November 4, 2006 at 5:36 pm
33Don’t you love how the Bush Admin twisted arms in Iraq so that the verdict for Saddam’s first trial will be announced on Sunday, before the BIG election. Karl Rove thought this would show that progress is indeed being made in Iraq. Unfortunately, whichever way the verdict goes, there will be rioting, senseless violence and murder from the side that is perceived to have “lost”. This machination of Iraqi jurisprudence that Karl came up with may be the first indication of early onset Alzheimers, a disease that ironically may be helped by stem cell research. But these clowns will stay the course & do what they can to restrain this research as long as they are in power.
For those who haven’t seen this from Bill Maher - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyVBVWKAnE8
ginny
November 4, 2006 at 9:28 pm
34Congratulations, Unca Adam. The latest pictures at Sister Susies include a hilarious one titled “Leaving NYU Hospital.”
Apparently, hospitals are not responsible for any damage discovered after leaving the facility. I did not know this.
In totally unrelated news, your Wikipedia entry needs some updating:
Didn’t you get a more recent award for “Farewell, My Gorgonzola: Travels In Italy by Gondola, Ferrari, and Funicular?”
David
November 5, 2006 at 4:49 am
35Northern Sun is a must for anyone who has not yet checked them out. Once, in a different galaxy many moons ago at a small community college in Central Florida, we had a quite successful fundraiser hawking Northern Sun merchandise.
Bill C.,
Muchas muchas gracias for the Bill Maher link. My day is now much brighter.
cooper
November 5, 2006 at 5:41 am
36Liam, I’ve seen this, too. The new writers are the spawn of Kenneth Tomlinson and must be ripped out by the roots!
siobhan
November 5, 2006 at 6:05 am
37If NPR doesn’t shut up about the Kerry botched joke (or at least start giving the facts rather than Republi-spin) I’m going to puke. I’ve already written them 3 times. I guess there’s just nothing else worth reporting these days.
David
November 5, 2006 at 8:11 pm
38Neo-Pathetic Radio comes to mind regarding more recent developments in the news division, which stands in stark contrast to the good stuff NPR is still offering, and in even starker contrast to when one could pretty consistently take NPR seriously. Spawn of Kenneth Tomlinson does seem to fit the “new and improved” aspects of NPR.
ice weasel
November 6, 2006 at 10:21 am
39Since I didn’t bring it up, can anyone here explain why Cokie Roberts has a job in the media much less on NPR?
Just asking the important questions.
Siobhan
November 6, 2006 at 1:26 pm
40Mr. Ice: No.
Harold
November 6, 2006 at 2:04 pm
41I’v never forgiven Cokie Roberts for an incident waaay back, just after the “Special Editions” of the Star Wars movies came out. There was supposed to be a big special behind-the-scenes program on about the special effects and all the work that went into restoring and upgrading the movies. At the designated time countless viewers tuned in only to see Cokie Roberts sitting with several other talking heads discussing a breaking news story. The newsreaders chattered amongst themselves for a minute about the incredible importance of the upcoming event, and then Cokie turned to the camera and said “And for those of you who are tuning in for the Making of The Star Wars Special Edition Trilogy…well, too bad.”
The momentous event that pre-empted the program? The announcement of the O.J. verdict.
George
November 6, 2006 at 2:59 pm
42Who’s O.J.?
Landis
November 6, 2006 at 3:21 pm
43What’s Star Wars?
Welcome Hugo! Adam, I’m a horrible uncle cause little kids scare me, so don’t ask me for any advice. When they turn about 20 I’ll be happy to talk with them.
Damn I sound old and I’m not even 30 yet….
cooper
November 6, 2006 at 4:51 pm
44weasel, Siobhan, Harold, I’ve noted this in the past, but since we’re on the subject of Cokie Roberts - http://www.nndb.com/org/930/000056762/ . And another thing, she was born with six names - Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborn Boggs and this is before you count the nickname and the marriage.
And yet another scrap of trivia, Doro Bush’s middle name is what? … Uh, this is where you say “Walker”. I tell you this Walker fellow was either a darn nice guy or one ruthless SOB, that brought all the money into the family. Why else would so many Bushes have the same middle name?
Don’t forget to vote tomorrow; early and often.
Murray
November 14, 2006 at 1:36 pm
45Coop, probably Johnny Walker.