Baptism and Graduation

Dan receiving his blank piece of paper

The moment of truth at long last - graduation day. The frame hung empty on the wall awaiting the arrival of the long-awaited document. The house was all ready to host the festivities. We had been debating for months who would get to use Dan's five tickets for the ceremony itself. One for each of his two brothers, one for Mom. They recommended that children under six not attend, so that left us with a dilemma...do I take Penny and Paul? Just Paul? We really wanted Penny to be there since she'd pretty much joined us at the beginning of this journey. But it was true that it would be a bit of a struggle. Maybe I could just entertain her in the neighborhood and then she'd be there for pictures, but then that meant I'd miss the ceremony.

Our debate was finally settled when Penny spent the night before graduation up every hour with diarrhea. Didn't seem like a good idea to drive two hours into town and then find bathrooms in Lincoln Center every few minutes. So Dad and Amanda enjoyed our seats while Penny and I perfected her potty training at home. She was actually in an awesome mood all day, managed to get to the bathroom in time at least a dozen times. Dad even emailed me to show me the exact instant that Dan was hooded on stage.

Dan, Mom and brother Dr. Charles Saha

From Dan's description of crowd dynamics at the scene, it really would have been craziness getting around to try to see the people we knew. His graduating class was still in the neighborhood of 500 students. The only place they had a nic little assembly line was in the photographing of the hooding process. We didn't purchase any of these official photos, though, because Dan claims they look as though he's in the process of being kidnapped.

After taking photos with the friends he could find in the sea of robes, Dad and Mandy drove mom and the graduate back to Mom"s house. Penny awoke from her nap and gave Daddy a big congradulatory hug. She also boasted about her great potty day. We've struggled to get a day where she goes potty willingly all day. Such days are "star days" because she is rewarded with a glow in the dark star to tape to her wall. With only one accident all day, this still qualified. So really, it was an awesome day all around, considering.

We took Amanda and Dad over to our place to visit and enjoy dinner while we put the finishing touches on our prep for the party the following day. Since evenings are pretty much just one event after another as the kids get ready for bed, it actually turned into an opportunity to catch up while Amanda helped with party prep. Dan also got to break in our new grill.

Godparents Aunt Rose and Brent with their little charge

Sunday was another big day for our little team. We had decided to take advantage of everyone being in town and scheduled Paul's baptism at our local parish. It's a very traditional parish: even asked for the godparents' credentials - a note of good standing from their home parishes. After the 12:30 mass, our family and friends gathered near the font with the three other infants getting initiated that day. Father managed to make the ceremony very personal feeling, even though it was a shared cwremony. He also complimented us repeatedly on how quiet and orderly we all were. Made me wonder how raucous these events usually were. There was no crying, just some very serious and contemplative looks between Paul and Father.

We were so excited to have both godparents able to attend this time. Brent claimed to have been studying for his role as godfather by watching the various movies. Dan gave him a brief pop quiz regarding said movies, which he failed. Perhaps he was studying more appropriate materials instead. He had brought his parents, Celeste and her parents on a mass transit excursion like no other to join us for the day. It's no easy matter getting to and from Staten Island on a Sunday afternoon, but they enjoyed the ferry ride, explored the often overlooked Staten Island subway, and generally seemed to take it all in stride. We did do a little assist in getting them from the ceremony to our place for the party becuase we didn't want them to miss the festivities brcause of the vagueries of Sunday bus schedules.

Aunt Rose managed to squeeze in a whirlwind weekend trip out to stand at Paul's side for the day. She and Aunt Helen overnighted at a hotel just blocks from my museum. I'm hoping their stay was more pleasant than the last time Aunt Helen booked a hotel near my museum (back in Silver Spring, MD, whew a memorable tale in itself).

Penny's tummy still wasn't quite right on Sunday, so she skipped Mass. She was thrilled to spend the time playing with cousin Catie over at Nanna's house instead. Catie is one of the few who can match or exceed Penny's energy. The pair were joined by cousin Christopher at the party afterward. They did some great pretending because Penny is still talking about it and tapping the creative juices they shared.  Christopher is reaching some kind of turning point as well. So far, Penny has been luke warm about playing with him because he's so fond of tackling. Recently, though, he has been more into construction and deatructiion, which are games Penny enjoys.

Graduates Celeste and Dan waiting for ice cream cake to melt

The party went pretty well, though we appeared to need another ten or so guests to eat all the food we had prepared. As it was, we convinced Dan's cousins to stay late playing Golf (cards courtesy of Amanda) and eat a whole other round of food. With some cleanup triage everyone here was in bed by midnight. We were eating salad and snacks for a week afterward, though. It was awesome to get to see our friends one more time before they head to Wisconsin, catch up with Salukes since I haven't been home for a year and a half, and get some games in.