A Star is Born - For those of you not in the know, our second son, Zachary, was born on the morning of August 27, 2004 in Berkeley, California. Jenny gave birth only a couple of hours after we arrived at Alta Bates Hospital, a mercifully short interval compared to the 40+ hours that it took Zachary's older brother Russell to be delivered. Except for the requested epidural, it was a natural delivery that took less than 20 minutes of pushing on Jenny's part.

Zachary weighed in at exactly 4 kg (8.8 lbs) and measured 53 cm (21 in.) long. Not quite as big as Russell, but still large by most standards. I am still awestruck by the miracle of life, and seeing Zachary for the first time was a moment that I will never forget.

As this was the second time around for us, we were prepared for the sleepless nights and frequent diaper changes that followed upon our return home the next day. Nevertheless, Zachary turned out to be a remarkably well-behaved child--compared to his brother Russell. Within a few weeks, Zachary was sleeping for most of the night without entering the colicky phase that we endured with Russell. I went back to work after only a week, and Jenny returned once again to her role of full-time nursing mom.

Whereas people think Russell looks like me, the consensus is that Zachary is looking more like Jenny with each passing day. I just think he looks dandy, so I will let you be the judge with the following photograph taken when Zachary--now known as "Punky Brewster"--was only 1 day old.

Zachary Chen a.k.a. Punky Brewster