Here’s Noah relaxing in his new play yard.

This rule will be thoroughly proven in the coming months.

As early proof, here’s a second batch of pictures.  (As usual, use this backup link if the primary link doesn’t work.)

I have never seen my Kelly or John as tired as they’ve looked the last two days. Noah seems to sleep about two hours at a time. Kelly said at the middle of last night Noah’s crying woke them and she and John couldn’t remember who had done what.

It’s 5:24 PM and the three of them have been asleep since about 4:00. Mom, Dad, and I are whispering and tiptoeing. Noah just started crying intermittently.

Here are some pics of Noah Scott Wood and the rest of my family.

If the above link doesn’t show the pics use this backup.

My hope to be surprised lived less than 12 hours.

7:45 AM: My mom tells me how well the baby’s doing. “He’s feeding,” she says.

3:46 PM: My father carbon copies me on a congratulatory email from the builder constructing my parents’ new home. “Our builder just found out about Noah this afternoon,” his email starts.

So, I have a nephew named Noah.

I don’t know his middle name yet. Here’s to hoping it’s not accidentally leaked to me sometime in 10 hours between now and when I arrive in Asheville.

At 9:12 PM EDT tonight I became an uncle.

I don’t know if I have a niece or a nephew and I don’t know the little one’s name. I want be surprised when I visit Asheville later this week. Kelly and my parents are doing the best they can to talk about Baby without using personal pronouns. There’s no name yet.

Interestingly, Baby came almost three weeks early and was born on the same day as both the father and grandfather. I’ve been instructed to call People Magazine in the morning with the story.

This is the first niece or nephew and for both sets of parents the first grandchild. First babies are special. I know this first hand–I was the first in both my parents’ families and there are a disproportionate and overwhelming number of pictures and video spots starring me.

It’s weird and exciting to suddenly have a new family member. For years it was four of us in the immediate family–Kelly, me, and our parents. Then John married Kelly in 2003 and there were five. Baby makes six.

In the same timeframe I’ve lost two grandparents. Life changed slowly over a lot of years, and in the last three has changed a lot.

I wasn’t there for the baby’s birth, which is a new life regret. Note to self and anyone else who happens to read this: Do not let work, your schedule and routines, money, or anything other practical consideration come between you and life’s important events. There will only be one first niece or nephew/grandchild. Kelly, John, and my parents were all there, and I wasn’t.

Today’s regret can’t detract from the fact today’s a great day. Talking to Kelly, my Mom, and my Dad and listening to Baby on the phone overwhelmed me.

Whether I’m here or there, I am an uncle.

So I’m talking to my Mom the other day and she mentions we’re going to buy a camcorder for Kelly and John since my niece or nephew is on the way. “Great idea,” I tell her.

Out of nowhere she impresses the heck out of me by asking, “So, are digital cameras going to upend camcorders?” She’s noticed how digital cameras can do video and she’s wondering if it makes more sense to buy a digital camera. She’s also astutely noticed the typical digital camera memory card doesn’t seem to be able to store enough space to make using one as a camcorder practical.

I told her it was a great question but she should plan to buy a camcorder.

Does this mean the “average” person is getting smarter about technology, am I being condescending, or is she just really sharp? I don’t know, but regardless of the answer I’m still impressed.

I finally posted the photos from my Asheville trip of a couple weeks ago.

Note: I’ve gotten feedback the pictures are not always displaying. If you try to view the photos and can’t see anything, please come back to this page and use this backup link instead. Please email me or leave a comment if you can’t see the photos using the primary link.

It’s been a good week, a little crazy in places:

• I got back from Asheville at about 1:30 Tuesday morning.
• Tuesday night I hit the NY Tech Meetup. Interesting.
• Wednesday Apple announced Boot Camp. I’ve been wanting to ramble on it ever since.
• Wednesday night I did the New York Flyers group run. It was a better-than-usual night. Good company.
• Thursday was a low-key night. I rode my bike for the first time in a couple weeks.
• Today I went to Bryant Park after work and chilled for a while. Very therapeutic. I ran into my neighbor on the train and found out she’s the new sales head for Fast Company. I’m getting ready to run out and see Inside Man.
• My friend Jen will be visiting this weekend. She’s bringing her daughter Grace and her husband Richard.

Most of this stuff I’ll blog about later, I just want to get in a brain dump now.

3:09 PM EDT

I finally made it down to Asheville, NC to see Kelly and John and to see my parents’ new lot. Despite the fact I’ve never been here previously Asheville will likely be the family headquarters in a few years, so coming to terms with Asheville is a long term priority for me. This visit is the first step.

I flew from Newark, which is strangely my favorite NYC area airport, to Charlotte, NC, my new favorite airport, to Greenville/Spartenburg, NC which is a small, quiet airport. It was a pretty easygoing trip as far as single-layover flights go. I’m making the reverse trip as I write this.

Now I’m hearing the final call for the Charlotte flight. More later.

7:43 PM EDT

I’ve been sitting on the tarmac in Charlotte for over two hours now. First there was some sort of weather-related traffic jam here. At 7:00 we learned there’s a “ground stop” in Newark. We’re supposed to get more updates at 8:00. This type of life-wasting situation is the main reason I detest flying.

Better to talk about the trip than to gripe any further. I arrived midday Saturday and it was a low-key day. We visited my parents’ land and I napped a lot (my flight was early). We also reviewed the rough plans (still sketches) for my parents’ home. The place is going to be over 4000 square feet. It looks like we may end up with a family compound.

Looking at the plans I was struck by the similarities between designing a home and designing software. Contraints, collaboration, feedback, visuals–no wonder we software people stole construction terminology.

Sunday was more active. We were out the door in time to eat lunch at a great pizza joint in Hendersonville and then we hiked near Montreat College. We climbed pretty high and the view of the mountains was incredible. I’ll post the pictures in a follow-up post.

Following the hike we headed downtown. I’d built mental pictures of Asheville based on peoples’ descriptions and initially I found the city much different than I expected. People have said the city has a lot of interesting shops, restaurants, and coffee houses and that it hosted an eclectic mix of folks. I found all these things to be true, but the visual was different than I thought. I figured it would be rustic, and instead I found it small-city generic, which at first almost depressed me.

So, the aestetic didn’t seem right, but after about 10 minutes on the street I got a feel for the place and quickly felt comfortable. There’s definitely a good mix of people and the shops are quaint. The two restaurants I visited were excellent and there’s a shoe store, Tops for Shoes, that has the best selection I’ve ever seen. The people are way friendly. In the end I found myself wanting to hang out in the town more than I was able.

All in all my first trip to Asheville is encouraging. Given that Kelly and John already live there and my parents are building it’s the inevitable family headquarters. The full move is still a few years away, but I need to prepare. At this point I’m tentatively comfortable with Asheville as a second home.

I’m not comfortable with Charolotte Airport as a permanent home, though. It’s now 8:09 and I’m waiting for an update. This plane better take off soon.

8:16 PM EDT

We’ve been given a new update time: 9:00 PM EDT. Did I mention I hate flying?

Interestingly I found some wireless networks out here on the tarmac. Unfortunately the one insecure network I found apparently is not connected to the Internet. So, this post won’t be posted till I get home. I’m carrying my lousy Dell, which in addition to other disappointing traits (a screen defect, the lame plastic that has marks where my palms rest) has a defective battery tha won’t run standalone for more than an hour, so no more writing for now.

To summarize:

* A nice, relaxing weekend with the family.
* Asheville looks promising.
* I miss my PowerBook.
* Flying sucks.

Next day, 10:14 PM

The flight yesterday took off sometime after 9:15 and landed about 11:30. I missed the 11:48 train and had to sit around at the NJT station until the next train at 12:41. I got home around 1:30 AM. I was pretty groggy today.

Still, a nice trip. Did I mention I hate flying?