Robin is ten days old, the pediatrician says she doing fine, she weighs 7 lbs, 0 ounces and she has a CEO-grade stare. I’m not sure if she is curious, ticked off, or just incredulous. The word is she sleeps very little ate night, eats heartily, is beginning to stare at the wider world. Em is not sleeping much.

I forgot how exhausting it is to have a baby, at least for a month or so.

Pearl, the devoted Lab, is already beginning to circle beneath her in the hope of anything dropping to the floor – anything.

This is the same look Robin gave me when I held her last week in New York. I took her to be saying “who the hell are you and why are you holding me?” She calmed down then and went to sleep. I think she likes posing for photos.

I have the feeling she will speak up for herself, as her mother did. Heh-heh. There is some justice in the world, even for fathers.

I don’t know when I will see Robin again, perhaps not for a few weeks,  or even a couple of months. I have the portrait show and the Bedlam Farm Open House looming. Almost every grandparent I talk with says the same thing – if you don’t spend time with them when they are very young, it’s difficult to have an abiding relationship later. When they reach adolescence, they have other things on their mind that grandparents, and they never look back.

To some degree, this is true for parents as well.

I accept that, and I also accept that I am not likely to spend all that much time with Robin, she lives far away, I am busy almost all the time, and I imagine she will be busy all of the time, she lives in Brooklyn and they take parenting seriously there. So we will have to see. I have no idea what will happen, and neither does anyone else.

I will be grateful for our relationship, whatever it is, however deep it goes, and however long it lasts. I certainly enjoyed our hours together last week. I told a friend it really depends on me and Emma, how much trouble we go to for Robin and I to get to know one another.

It’s too soon to worry about that, she has to sleep, eat solid foods and walk first. I like her stare. I told Emma if she can get the baby up here, I’ll make sure she sleeps. I’m up all night anyway, and I’ll be happy to see she gets some rest. I think she likes the idea of the farm better every day.