Dear Reader:

I arrived home around 4:30 yesterday afternoon (following a three-day “tilt-a-twirl” tornado)… and my head is still spinning in happiness. Even now…parts of the last three days are beginning to blur and run together.

I fear if I wait much longer to share my feelings and impressions of my fourth grandchild’s birth…they will be carried out to the Sea of Lost Memories.

So bear with me today…a grandmother’s prerogative… to sit down and re-tell the story of  ” Once upon a time…something strange and mysterious began to happen on St. Patrick’s Day…  a very special event unfolded…  that would always change the way our family looks at this special holiday…”

Let me start first by introducing my fourth grandchild to you. After much soul-searching St. Patrick’s Day’s night (following the birth)…Walsh and Mollie decided to honor the occasion by returning to an Irish name they had discussed several months ago and then forgotten among other later name choices.

Lachlan Temple Dingle

The “Lach” is pronounced like “lock” which his name will probably be shortened to…at least during childhood. * Lach Dingle * “Temple” is Mollie’s maiden name. 

Here is a quick history behind the name. One historian had this to say about the Irish origin. LACHLAN

(*This Irish rendition’s spelling (I suspect) reflects Old or Middle Irish rather than Modern Irish. It’s rooted in the word for “lake” (as in “lake dweller”) and, in Ireland at least, originally referred to the Vikings.)

So, in my humble interpretation, Lach is going to grow up by a body of water ….not a lake necessarily… but a river (the Cooper) and take to the water like a fish.

One day Lach will travel the world looking for adventures…like the large, bold Vikings of old. Safe travels, my baby, safe travels.

On the last two “revealings” as to the gender of the newborn (the cake-cutting for Rutledge and the delivery for Lachlan)….Walsh has worn a pink shirt…getting the opposite gender from his attire.

I told Walsh that if Mollie gets brave enough to go for a third some day…especially a daughter…he had better wear blue for the “revealing.”

She deserves nothing less. Mollie was simply amazing… giving birth with no extra help except determination and pure “grit”…only pushing one time…I repeat…one time… and out came Lachlan… flying as if he was sliding into home. And I reckon, in a sense, he was!

* You might have noticed the cute little mittens Lach is wearing…(thank you Kaitlyn) He was scratching himself terribly and the hospital won’t cut fingernails…some legal reason…(have to ask Tommy) so Kaitlyn found these special “gloves” for newborns…for Lach to wear….it really works well!

Wednesday afternoon was the climax of the story…as we all waited for Rutledge to meet his little (big) brother for the first time. Both Mollie and I had read a lot of “Big Brother” books and he enjoyed them…but the reality was now about to hit.

When he first walked in…he looked confused and a little frightened…he sensed something wasn’t right. Both Walsh and I had taken some new little trucks for him (his whole world now is trucks from sleeping with them in his crib to playing with them at every opportunity available…he eats, sleeps trucks!

He just casually gave the baby a glance and then went to playing with his trucks…he appeared a little uncomfortable with the stranger everybody kept asking him about…

The break-through came when Walsh put him on the bed with Mollie and Lach and asked him if he would tell his little brother what each truck was. Now this was familiar territory!

I could hear Rutledge saying…”Dump-twruck”…Baby…yella twruck” and so on….From handing him trucks to kisses just naturally evolved. It was one of those moments we all knew would never leave our memories.

Suddenly when asked if he would like to kiss his little brother…

There will, inevitably, come the moments when he is jealous of the time mommy spends with the baby and all the “oohing and aahing” from family, friends, and strangers. But Boo Boo’s intuition predicts that these two will grow up to be more than brothers…they will be the best of friends!

I spent Wednesday night with Mandy and John so I could get over to Walsh and Mollie’s house Thursday morning for the happy arrival home.

Mandy still had her blue teddy bear/ribbon wreath from Jakie’s birth I had given her…so we got it together…I ran to Publix and picked up some ham and turkey to make sandwiches…potato salad, deviled eggs and a “Welcome Home Lach” cake. (Except after spelling the name three times for the cake decorator she had inscribed “Welcome Home Lack.”

 Ironically…I don’t think there will ever be any “lack” of anything for Lach…he will be loved, cared for, and big enough to take care of himself and his own problems.

Arriving Home…

After lunch Mollie was exhausted…so I begged to ‘rock Lach’ (rhymes doesn’t it?) while she rested… for the next two hours  that is just what I did!

Like Poogan…I inhaled the sweet smell of newborns…there’s nothing like it and sang songs…”Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” is his favorite…puts him right to sleep. (Or he might be faking it to get me to stop singing.)

“New Beginnings”

John O’Donohue

A Tribute to Lachlan Temple Dingle

In out of the way places of the heart
Where your thoughts never think to wander
This beginning has been quietly forming
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire
Feeling the emptiness grow inside you
Noticing how you willed yourself on
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the grey promises that sameness whispered
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

…………………………

So until tomorrow little one….“Loved you yesterday, Love you still…Always have…Always will.” Welcome to the family Lachlan!

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

* Anne said that in this picture by Kaitlyn… she detected a hint of red in his hair…was wondering if we were going to have a red-headed Irishman. We had all commented on it too…in the sunlight…Lach definitely has red highlights appearing…who knows…only time will tell. ***

I left yesterday before Rutledge got home…(more family and friends were coming…it was time for the Boo to go home)…but Walsh sent me this picture of what happened after he did arrive!

Uncle Tommy meets his nephew Lach for the first time…love at first sight!

* Thank all of you for your sweet comments through wordpress and/or emails. Will get back to you asap ….meaning after a good night’s sleep tonight. All your messages touched my heart.