Suburban dad-to-be has his cookie, licks it, too

Anthony Kouba, who took plenty of heat from online readers for going to Florida Thursday for a cookie-licking contest while his expectant wife stayed home in St. Charles, should be back in good graces today.

Kouba said goodbye to wife, Marlene, early Thursday to fly to West Palm Beach to take part in Friday's Oreo Double Stuf licking competition. Separate five-person teams were captained by NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning and tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams.

By Friday morning, Kouba was back home and at the hospital with his wife.

It turned out to be a good call. Julianna Grace Kouba arrived around 6:30 p.m. She weighs 7 pounds, 1 ounce and is 20 inches long.

According to Matt Kouba, who accompanied his brother to the competition and wound up being a contestant in his brother's stead, their early-morning Thursday flight landed and had a layover in Charlotte, N.C. Anthony called to check on his wife and she was fine. When the brothers arrived in Florida at noon and Anthony again called Marlene, things had changed.

Matt said a doctor's visit and subsequent test on Thursday indicated Marlene should expect to deliver within 24 hours or so. When she relayed this updated info to Anthony in Florida, he didn't even leave the airport, arranging instead to return home immediately.

Because of delays and weather problems, he didn't leave Florida until 6 p.m. Thursday, bound for Atlanta and another stopover.

You can probably see where this is going.

Yep, more delays and weather problems kept him in Atlanta until 5 a.m. Friday. He arrived in Chicago between 6 and 7 a.m., Matt said.

"We left Chicago around 5 a.m. Thursday, so Anthony has been in airports or on airplanes for more than 24 hours," said Matt, 23, who lives in Roselle.

Matt, though, experiencing no jet lag, had a lovely time in Florida.

"After the contest we got to play catch with Peyton and Eli, even run routes on a field. And next door they set up tennis courts and we actually played games of tennis with Venus and Serena. It was great," Matt said.

And the best part? No, not catching passes from two Super Bowl quarterbacks.

"Our team won the contest," said Matt, who was coached by the Williams sisters.

The winning team received $10,000, with each member receiving $2,000.

Matt, just happy not to be in airports or on airplanes, said he is giving the cash to Julianna's tired dad.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=288767">Oreo competition or daughter's birth? St. Charles man must decide <span class="date">[04/24/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>