Now THIS is what I call a non-refundable tax credit: Henri-Georges Denis Rogers

"ah-REE jorj duh-NEE RAW-djers"

Or, just "Henry-George Dennis Rogers" for the maudit anglos in the audience. He was named Henri after my late father, Denis after his mother's uncle and my step-father, and Georges after Henri.

Of course, none of this would've been possible had henri-georges.com not been available. In that case I would've insisted on "Wilco" so that his phone listing would've been "Rogers, Wilco". There's nothing the early twenty-first century generation will appreciate more than a telephone book gag.

* * *

People have been asking what it's like to have a new baby. I say it's about the same as bringing home a turkey-weight PEZ dispenser: cartoonish outsized head, floppy neck, and filled with bricks of delicious Pfefferminz.

Henri-Georges--which has become such a mouthful that some of the family have resorted to "Rijo"--arrived shortly after midnight on June 16th and tipped the scales at a trim 8 pounds and zero ounces*. That corresponds to a rather spindly BMI of just 11.1. Better get you some Weight Gain 4000, Rijo. Beefcake!

*Apparently only babies and lumber are still measured in imperial units.

Yet more fodder for the 16th birthday public slide show.

* * *

As so many others have commented, the maternity unit at Whitehorse General is truly outstanding. Sadly, I didn't make it through any of the VHS tapes in our room so obviously placed for nervous dads: Slapshot, Rush Hour 2, and part one of LOTR.

In fact, the experience went a long way towards brightening my opinion of hospitals. I no longer solely think of them as gigantic industrial laundry automatons that rely on the leaking juices of the ill to justify their terrible existence.

* * *

Even though we received him only once, he came equipped with some forty-three "receiving" blankets. Good thing too, as he squirts through about seventeen of them a day.

* * *

I think it's fair to say that his mother and I are more than moderately enthused about our new houseguest. So long as he pays his own way and picks up after himself, there shouldn't be any trouble at all.