Builder Buddies

My family got to spend a wonderful afternoon picking apples with the (very pregnant) Red and her children last week. Like B-Mama, this is one of my favorite activities, and it is great fun to share it with good friends. The funniest part was these two little guys, born three weeks apart, both of whom toddled through the orchard without complaint and happily munched on apples.

I suspect that they were having a (non-verbal) man-to-man chat -- Leo attempted to prepare his friend for being "not quiet the baby." It is not so bad -- once mom is distracted with nursing, you can sneak into the pantry and eat brown sugar to your heart's content. Also, since the first bite of the apple is the best, just eat that, and put it back in the bowl. She won't catch on for a few days. You can demand juice at all times. Once there is another baby in the house, she will give you anything just to get you to be quiet for a few minutes. The best part, though, is that if you hug and kiss the baby they will think you are the cutest thing going. This is a much better way to get their attention than hitting, which will wind you right back in your crib alone. If you can, try to have the baby's name be one of your first words, or better yet, garble the name, and the little one will be saddled with that nickname for life. Most of all, don't worry about a thing: when it comes to family, the love only gets bigger and better.