Christmas Mass

Mema and PopPop arrived early to celebrate Christmas with us!  While I was helping unload hundred of presents from the van, Elliott crawled towards the door.  Blocked by Jonah and a pile of gifts, he started crying inconsolably.  I worried he was hurt (run over by Jonah, most likely), but when that wasn't the case, I couldn't figure out if he had become hungry, tired, frustrated, needed a diaper, etc. As I was at my wits' end, Elliott spotted PopPop again and was completely happy to be swept away in his arms!  He knew exactly what who he wanted.

I pointed out baby Jesus lying in the manger in the church's creche.  Jonah pointed and exclaimed, "He came out of her belly button!"  At least I'm spared the question about how babies get out of their Mommy's tummy...

Favorite gifts from Santa were:
Elliott - a wooden hammer (which he holds and looks like Thor while pushing down the pegs on his pounding bench with his thumb)
Jonah - monster trucks

Grandpa, Aunt Ashley, Uncle Leon and Uncle Kevin also joined us after Mass for gifts, dinner and a little chaos.  We missed you, Aunt Lindsay!  Feel better soon!

We also Skyped with Cailin and Declan, which was fun for the kids to show off all their new toys.  Jonah was a bit too worked up and spent the entire call jumping and doing flips in the living room.  It's amazing to watch him going wild, and then later when asked a question, learn that he had been listening and watching everything.

Merry Christmas!

Elliott's Baptism

Elliott became an official member of the congregation today as he was Baptized at St. Luke's.  He slept like a champ and woke up in time to realize his impending fate beside the water font.  He settled after only a few cries and cuddled with Daddy through the rest of the service... expect during the transubstantiation he let out a few happy "aaah!" cries with each ring of the bells.  The Holy Spirit at work?

Thank you to all the family and friends who traveled near and far to celebrate Elliott's initiation into the Catholic Church.  We were overjoyed by the outpouring of love on this special day.

Happy Easter!

I may have failed as a Catholic parent this Easter.  I never want Easter to be just bunnies, eggs and candy.  But how do you explain to a toddler what the celebration is about?  Does he understand death?  Is it silly that death is so taboo in our culture, or a good idea to avoid the topic with a sensitive little mind?  I offhandedly gave Jonah a couple soundbites about God, Heaven and Jesus but it certainly wasn't a theological conversation intended to foster deep understanding.  But you never know... sometimes a little phrase can stick with him.  Last weekend, Grandmama asked Jonah if he would come to her house to help find the eggs the Easter Bunny hid.  All week we've been hearing Jonah excitedly explain, "I go Mema's house, she need help finding eggs.  I help Mema find the eggs!"

Easter was a lovely day of Mass (we arrived just in time to get seats in the vestibule, right behind Jonah's friends.  They were all a little more rowdy than usual... maybe from the candy???), egg hunts (which included a full boisterous and theatrical narrative worthy of a Tony Award) and family.

Back to Back!

At his cousin's baptism today, Elliott had his first opportunity at our family's tradition of "back-to-back".  As kids, this meant standing beside the cousin closest in age to compare height and take a photograph.  Cousin Jonathan is only 10 days younger, and looks to be only half Elliott's size!  Boy, do I envy mothers of newborns with small heads!

Jonah spent most of the ceremony running through the back door, shouting about wanting to use the potty again.  Really he wanted the reward of playing on Grandmama's tablet.

Beatitudes, Baby Style

Today Jonah attended a funeral service for the husband of his first-cousin-twice-removed on his paternal-maternal side.  To most, "Al's grandson".  With an even more tenuous relationship, it was difficult to explain why I was there except to care for Jonah.

Everyone loved having a baby around, and we received many compliments "is he always this good?" and words of appreciation "just when I thought I wouldn't make it, I heard a little baby babble and got through it."  And so we discovered that in times of mourning, a baby is far more healing than flowers.

Cousin Addison's Baptism

In remembrance of Great-Grandma Germaine

We attended a memorial Mass at Assumption with the family.  Everyone was so impressed by how good Jonah was during the service!  I think he made a bad impression on folks at his Baptism, and at a Mass a few weeks ago with his Grandparents.  Cousin Nathan was even better behaved, though he seemed to be sleeping.  I can't even say what Jonah was up to!  He was sitting with Pop-pop in the pew right behind us, and every time we turned they had moved a seat farther away, until he was with Uncle Kevin two rows back.  I'm pretty sure they would have taken him home with them if we hadn't intervened.  ;-)

Great-Grampy's 90th Birthday

This morning was Jonah's first Mass and blessing by Msgr. Mike ex-utero!  He slept like a pro through the whole celebration.  Maybe next week Mommy and Daddy won't need to sit in the rear vestibule after all...

Jonah was introduced to the family this afternoon at Great-Grandpa's 90th Birthday party.  He was very well behaved while taking turns in several laps and being the object of the paparazzi.  Great-Grampy was enthusiastic about holding his namesake for pictures.  Jonah also met his big cousin, Nathan (about 4 weeks older).  And yes, the "back to back" tradition has begun!