The guest bedroom was gone. It was now the home of the Princess and her big girl bed. There was no coin toss, but I was assigned to the couch in the living room, and Nahna the inflatable mattress in what would become the bedroom for the new arrival. 
I had slept well, but my internal east coast alarm clock woke me too early to be stirring around the condo. Somehow, I fell back to sleep.
When I awoke, the darkness of the neighborhood was just being graced by light from the east. Thankfully, the predicted snowfall amounts didn’t occur in Lincoln Park. A few traces were scattered up and down the street.
Yesterday, our daughter thought the new baby might return to the womb if the ground had been covered in snow. But, that wasn’t the case. This was to be a day of bright sunshine and blue skies in every direction. But, the non-spring like cold temperatures were still hanging around along with a constant nippy wind.
Slowly, the condo came to life. Breakfast for the Princess came first. While coffee beans were ground, sporadic recanting of the training from the day before filled out the kitchen.
At some point, there was a loud clunk on one of the clear pained living room windows. I caught a glimpse of a stunned bird. Somehow, the bird recaptured the needed balance and landed in a tree still bare from winter.
The bird appeared to be a downy woodpecker checkered in black and white with a small patch of red on the top of its crown. Perched on a branch in the warming sun, the small woodpecker slowly regained its senses—shuddering a few times before flying off.
Just before nine, our son-in-law whisked the Princess away to an indoor Pee Wee camp at a local fitness center. An action packed morning awaited her with exercise, creating some collectible artwork, and swimming.
While he was doing the drop off, Nahna and I took out the trash and the recycling, made a short walk to mail a couple of letters, and stopped in CVS to buy a newspaper for the new arrival.
When our son-in-law returned, we had one more review of today’s game plan. Our daughter and her husband made a final check of all the things they needed at the hospital. The Uber was ordered, photos taken, hugs exchanged, and they were out the door.
A little bit before 12 noon, Nahna had us organized to go pick up the Princess. The fitness center was near the heart of DePaul University. When we arrived, all of the kids were in the pool working with instructors. Soon, the camp was over, and Nahna knew the drill for securing the Princess for departure.
We made the ride back. I dropped Nahna and the Princess off in front of the condo, got them in, and I left to park the car.
It was nap time for the Princess. After reading a book to her, the Princess zonked out.
Nahna’s phone rang. It was our son-in-law. Excitement filled us. But, he was only letting us know that they were still waiting to get in the operating room. An emergency procedure for another person had bumped them out of their 12 noon slot. So, we were in a delay, a holding pattern.
We briefly heard from our daughter around 1:30 with an update and maybe a hint that they would be heading into the operating room soon.
For the remainder of the afternoon, no matter how I attempted to distract myself, my always present demon, William Worry, was perched up on my shoulder. In every slow tick of the clock, I worried that something was going wrong at the hospital.
Finally at 5:05 p.m. central time, our son-in-law called. Hudson Leo Reinking had arrived. A big boy at 9 pounds 12 ounces and 21 inches in length. It had been a long afternoon, but his report was good.
I was relieved.
Seems like I forgot about the word “Trust” on the back of the tractor-trailer we had passed on Wednesday morning.
might be baloney 