Noe Valley Voice October 2001
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More Mouths to Feed:
Colin David Inns

By Maire Farrington

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After Colin David Inns missed his Christmas Eve due date, his parents scheduled an induced delivery for Dec. 28, 2000. Lisa and David Inns had an appointment to arrive at California Pacific Medical Center at 6 a.m., but as it turned out, there was no room at the inn.

"We spent the whole day waiting for a bed," says Lisa. To pass the time and "speed things along," Lisa and David walked all over Noe Valley, even venturing up Douglass Street to Kite Hill.

Finally, at 5 p.m., the hospital phoned to say a bed was available, but the couple's physician was going off duty. "They said, 'Do you still want to do it?'" David relates. "And we were like, 'We're getting this done!' So we went in."

Lisa's doctor administered medication to induce labor and then left for the evening, planning to check in on the couple the next morning. "He thought it would take all night," Lisa says.

But things went a little faster than anticipated. Says David, "The nurse who was watching us all of a sudden said, 'Oh my gosh, he's coming out!' She radioed the [on-call] doctor, who came right over. And he came out really fast."

Colin arrived at 10:59 p.m., weighing a healthy 8 pounds, 7 ounces.

At 10 months, Colin has blond hair and bright blue eyes and a grin that reveals a single tooth sprouting up front and center. He's also "pretty mobile," says Mom. "He's starting to move around, and he's actually interested in standing right now."

"He's very physical," Dad agrees. "He's already pulling himself up in his crib." In fact, if you don't keep your eye on him, he's likely to give you the slip. "He's started crawling now, and you'll turn around and you'll look over again and he'll be gone. He'll be over in the other corner of the room."

Big sister Greer, age 2, "has been really sweet to him," says Mom. The two little ones entertain each other with balls and blocks, and splash around at the pool together during swimming lessons.

Greer has taken an interest in teaching baby brother "everything," and has a caretaking side, too. "She likes to do all kinds of things for him," Lisa notes. "They're not always the most helpful things, but they're really sweet."

"Like putting him in a WWF [World Wrestling Federation] headlock when she's trying to give him a hug," jokes David.

Colin, naturally upbeat, doesn't seem to mind. When the going gets tough, he likes to suck on his index and middle fingers. "He doesn't need a pacifier, he's got a built-in one," says Dad.

"I think he's so happy and mellow because he knows how to soothe himself," says Mom. "He hardly ever cries." He's even been known to nod off and catch a few z's in the backpack on family hikes in Marin.

But baby does have a curious side, too, and he doesn't like to miss out on the action. "He always does this thing with his head when he hears a noise," says David. "He swivels his head around and does a double take, like something Kramer would do on Seinfeld. He's Krameresque in a way."

Lisa, 35, and David, 31, met in 1996 while living in Chicago. They were introduced at a party hosted by Lisa's cousin. The two were married the following year, and moved to San Francisco in 1999, where they settled into their home on Jersey Street. David works as a consultant, and Lisa has taken a break from her career as an interior designer and is enjoying her role as stay-at-home mom.

Raising two little ones has made for a full but manageable schedule, says David. "You can still go with man-on-man coverage," he quips.

Colin helps out by keeping himself busy indulging his passion for all things paper. He finds newspapers and magazines especially fascinating, and he'll attack with relish. "You can't read with him on your lap, because he just reaches over and crunches the paper," says David. Sip a cup of coffee and you may be courting disaster.

Lisa has learned to be wary of long silences. "The other night at bedtime we were tending to Greer, and all of a sudden I thought, Colin is so quiet," she says. "I went in there, and he was eating a Dr. Seuss book. He had the last page gone -- all crumpled up and soaking wet!"

Colin likes to spend time with his cousins in Salinas, Calif., and Reno, Nev., and he's made the rounds visiting family members as far away as Ontario, Can., and Cape Cod, Mass., where the beach-bum life suited him quite nicely. He fearlessly splashed in the waves and took his morning naps on the beach, shaded by his own little tent. He even experimented with the local cuisine.

"He'd try to eat the sand every once in a while," David says. "He'd take a handful of sand, and the next thing you know he'd be going for his mouth. It didn't seem to bother him, though. Maybe it's not as bad when you don't have teeth."

One of Colin's more endearing qualities, says Mom, is that he likes being held and cuddled. "He's a snuggly baby, which is really nice. He likes to snuggle and hold you."

"He's just so sweet and mellow," says Dad. "It's really cool having one of each, too. I think we're really lucky that way. Having a boy after having a girl is really fun."

THE VOICE
NEEDS BABIES

to glorify in our
More Mouths to Feed column.

All ages, shapes, and sizes welcome.
Please send your announcement and a phone number to the Noe Valley Voice, More Mouths to Feed, 1021 Sanchez St., S.F. 94114. Or you can e-mail jaxvoice@aol.com. We'll call to arrange for the family portrait.