31 October 2007

54







30 October 2007

53


HAppy HAllowEEn!


Jack and I spent the evening carving the pumpkins he picked out with Ga and Ma. So, the big one is Daddy, the middle one is Mama, Jack is sitting next to his and that little teeny gourd is Brennan.

Yup, that's the one JTR picked out for his baby bro. It's hard and a little moldy and I can't get into it to carve it.

Brotherly love.

22 October 2007

52

The class of 2025.
Brennan's cousins: Freddie, (almost) 7 months, Noah (almost) 3 months and Brennan, 6 weeks today.

51


Brennan and his Great Grandpa

15 October 2007

50

35 people later, Brennan's baptism is complete.
He's officially Catholic.

We had relatives from Virginia, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and the D come in for the weekend to help celebrate the newest member of the club.

And Brennan did really, really well.
No tears when he was drizzled with holy water. No tears as he got handed from aunt to aunt, cousin to cousin, friend to friend, uncle to uncle, grandparent to grandparent ... he was certainly the star of the day. But there was some cute competition. Suddenly my family is filled with baby boys. Cousins galore. Someday when they are all mobile it's going to be insane at family get-to-gethers.

08 October 2007

49

Great idea: Let's have another. Like with drinking, it's not always the smartest way to go. And like drinking, the hangover can hurt.

When we decided to have another baby, I worried I wouldn't be able to balance an infant with a three-year-old. So far, it's the three year old who is having the roughest time. And I am torn between feeling bad for him and being so frustrated. Sometimes I wonder where my Jack has gone.

He is just having a really, really hard time. I am not going to lie. I could be quiet about it and pretend we live in Pleasantville. But it's just not going to help. He is fighting us on everything. When he's angry he wants us to "just go to work" and when he's not miffed, he's clingy. It's terrible. We're at our wits end.

He's lucky he's gorgeous, that's all I can say.

He won't eat without a fight. He won't go to school with out tears (but then begs to go when he's not there). He won't go to bed without us upstairs, in bed too. Time out is laughable. Punishing someone who is 3 is nearly impossible.

And we're not sure if this is the terrible 3s or the shock of suddenly not being the center of attention. I heard 3 is worse than 2. At two, he didn't talk that much and everything he said was cute and innocent. At 3, he's right there with us. He talks as well as a 17-year-old -- with the same amount of attitude.

Don't worry, he is good with the baby. He wants to know what he's doing, wants to help. The doctor said everything he's doing is on track -- perfectly normal. But "normal" is horrible right now.

And he's three. He's just a baby; you can't reason him. Mix that with hot temper and you've got one hell of a tough shot to take.

Hand me the salt and a lemon.

05 October 2007

48

Check it out.

Daddy's a star... well, sort of.

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071004/VIDEO01/71004007