Shower "Cap"

I was going to title this post "Shower Re-Cap" as a pun on "Shower Cap", and then it occurred to me: where the hell did we come up with "recap" anyway? You have to have a cap to begin with in order to have a recap, right? So we'll just call this a shower cap and - since this is the first time we've described it - I guess we'll be accurate.

(Dork Alert! I couldn't help myself. For those of you with an interest in the inane and/or obscure, "recap" is actually a shortened form of "recapitulation", defined as a brief review or summary. It's from the Latin capitulare, "to draw up in chapters". Interestingly, the base word "capitulation", which originated from the same Latin root, has lost its original 16th century generic meaning of "an agreement on specified terms"; since the mid-17th century, it has been used exclusively to describe the terms of a surrender. Which, in the grand scheme of things, pretty much describes a couples baby shower anyway...but I digress. Point of the story is that "recap" bears little to no resemblance to the "cap" on which it was originally based. There - I feel better.)

OK, all that aside...we had a baby shower last weekend. It was a co-ed gathering, which basically meant it was a party with presents, and a few bonus activities. Much love to Ali and Colleen for throwing it all together, and to Larry and Mary for putting up with another Compound invasion.

The themed menu contained all kids' food - PB&J, mini corn dogs, tater tots, mac & cheese - now that I think about it, we probably just got all the leftovers from last week at Children's Choice. Regardless, it was some good grub. As for the rest of the fun, read on:

Diaper Up
The festivities started with a speed diapering competition between Mommy G and me. The fix was clearly in on this one - we both got normal sized diapers, but Mommy G got a normal sized doll and I got one that was barely taller than the diaper itself. But I made the most of it and, since I fancy myself as quite the swaddler, turned the diaper into a bit of a combo device. The entertaining (although non-victorious) effort is shown on the right.

Well Wishes and Play-Doh Dishes
A table was set up with construction paper and magazines for people to create ransom note-style welcome/congratulations cards for Baby G and the parents to be, and another one was set up with Play-Doh for people to create baby-related sculptures for us. The prize-winning efforts came from the few parents among us and were indicative of the sobering reality of parenthood. Mary offered us a vision of the things we'll be giving up in her card, and Patrick offered us a vision of...um...the things we'll be finding in Baby G's diapers, in a lovely sculpture that, sadly, I failed to capture on film.

A Onesie is Worth A Thousand Words
But the runaway highlight of the evening was the table with fabric markers, stencils, and blank onesies and bibs. The opportunity to design an article of clothing for Baby G got everyone's creative juices flowing. There were some REAL winners in this group, such as:

• "Party, My Crib, 3am / BYOB" - Robbie, who clearly has been there
• Tie-dye pattern / "The Baby Abides" - Ryan, takin' 'er easy out there for all us sinners
• "I Drink 'til I Pass Out / Just Like My Dad" - Linda (yes, my mother-in-law)
• "I Love Boobs" - Colleen
• "Don't Bother Me / I'm Watching the IRISH" - Jared
• "Nuthin' But A G Thang Baby / I (heart) Uncle Jangry" - Justin (aka Jangry)
• "Nobody Puts Baby G In The Corner" - Annie

Ali knocked it out of the park, though, with her immortal creation shown here:

Thanks again to all who participated locally and from afar. We are glad to count you all among our nearest and dearest.