The Gianino Family

For at least six months we’ve been talking about the binky fairy – how when you’re ready, you can leave all your old binkies for her, and she will come and collect them to give to all the babies who need them. He voluntarily gave them up about 10 days ago when he knew that boys who slept in big boy beds didn’t need binkies. But whenever we asked him if he wanted to leave his binkies for her, he would say, “I’m noooot ready yet.” Which I totally respect. He may not have been USING the binkies, but he liked knowing that there were still some around. We never pushed. But last night, he told us he was ready. So we gathered them up, and wrote her a little note.

In the morning, while he was still groggy, he suddenly remembered that the binky fairy came last night. We ran to get Daddy and he giggled all the way down the stairs.

Thank goodness we got those new floors.

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Outside he has to wear a helmet, which is not his favorite. So I showed him a video of a big guy going down some stairs wearing his helmet. Mommy isn’t very bright sometimes.

We needed to be at work for meetings starting at 9:00 which amazingly enough, constitutes an “early” day for us. We are still adjusting to the big boy bed, and sleep has not been as consistent for any of us. The morning went smoothly enough – Brendan pooped right before we needed to get him dressed and run out of the house – perfect timing. Except Brendan didn’t want to get his diaper changed. We got out the soft pants – but they were not BLUE soft pants, a sin we didn’t know we were committing. And in the process of diapering and putting on pants, Brendan kicked Daddy in the face – hard. I heard him yell from the other room as I was putting on my earrings. I ran in to help and was met with Daddy holding at arms length, a pantsless baby. Nobody was happy. Mommy gave it a shot and was met with the same resistance to getting dressed. Finally, I used a method I had heard in a workshop – I asked him if he wanted to go to school without any clothes on. “Nooooo!” was the angry and tearful reply. Well then lets get you dressed because we have to go. If you don’t want to be a good helper, we’ll have to get in the car without your clothes on. He wasn’t ready to cooperate – and I needed to be a woman of my word, so I gathered him up and brought him downstairs. He thought he was ready when we were downstairs, and I gave him one more try – but he wasn’t. So we put him in the car, screaming, without any clothes on. Neighbors were watching. But they were neighbors with children, so there was kindness and understanding in their eyes.

I had to go up and get my purse and my other earring, so Daddy took over. By the time I came back down, he was still angry and crying, but almost dressed. I drove, Daddy was a bit stoic next to me, and Brendan was starting to make the transition from mad to sad. I recognized an opportunity to lay some foundation for the man I hope to raise:

It was a frustrating morning, wasn’t it? You didn’t want to get dressed, and you really wanted to wear blue pants. But did you know that when you kicked Daddy you really hurt him? I know you didn’t mean to hurt Daddy, do you want to say you’re sorry?

“No.”

Okay, I understand that you’re still upset. Some mornings are like that. Some mornings we are sad and frustrated. We don’t feel like going to school, and we don’t get to wear our favorite clothes. We make some bad choices and forget to listen to the people we love. Those mornings happen. But the good news is, we always have an opportunity to make better choices. We can learn from the not so good times, and we can leave the bad feelings behind and start fresh. We can choose any moment we want to start listening and to start making better choices. I think that’s what big boys and superheroes do – even big boys and superheroes make bad choices – things don’t always go exactly the way they want them to – sometimes they fall down – but big boys and superheroes know how to get themselves back up quickly so they can start making their day better again and start making better choices.

“I’m not ready to make better choices.”

That’s okay – I know you are still feeling frustrated. That is also your choice. You are in complete control of how you feel. Nobody – not even Mommy or Daddy can control how you feel – that is all up to you. You can choose to feel happy or sad or frustrated or excited or angry or silly – it’s all totally up to you. It makes Mommy feel happy when you’re happy.
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“I’m not ready to be happy.”

Okay – just know that even if you forget to make good choices, and even if you forget to listen, Mommy and Daddy always love you so much no matter what. Mommy will just listen to some music now.

A little later, Daddy and Brendan put the past behind them, and all of us started talking about toys and race cars and raindrops coming out of clouds. We made a fresh start.

I made it to my meeting 2 minutes late, and called Daddy after to find out how the drop off at school went. He told me that it went fine, and admitted that on the drive to work, he was still upset and for a while wanted to tell me to stop talking because he wasn’t ready to make better choices either. Turns out Mommys are annoying to Daddy’s too – not just sons. And parenthood is a thankless job – Daddy will never get a thank you for changing that poopy diaper while being pummeled by kicks and hits. Mommy will never get a thank you for packing the lunch and cutting the pieces of ham into little hearts and stars. Neither of us will ever get a thank you for getting him dressed – even if we do choose the blue soft pants. Or maybe sometimes there will be a thank you, because we have a very polite little man. But we don’t raise Brendan because we want to receive thanks or accolades, we do our best to be good parents because we are filled with unconditional love. We love who he is now, and who he will become – and we want to give him as many tools as we can to navigate this world, and to discover exactly who he is meant to be, and who he wants to be within the world. Lord knows we don’t get everything right in our own lives, let alone as parents, but there has never been anything in my life that has brought me more joy, or that has felt more important. Because parenting may be a thankless job, but it is the most rewarding job I’ve ever had.

Aside from the big boy bed, Brendan is now trusted to take a bath in our big tub without one of us in there with him. These means a lot more photo opportunities.

He has also selected a new favorite show: Tree Fu Tom. What? You’ve never heard of it? Me either. But it’s about a little guy who sometimes needs help from his friends at home in the ‘big world’ to perform his magic. Lucky for Tom, we have a very willing and capable participant at our house. I managed to catch a little bit of it:
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Happy Fat Tuesday!

I tend to worry about things before they happen. I’m not proud of this, it’s not a good idea and often wastes a lot of energy unnecessarily. But sometimes it works out in that I’m prepared for big emotions before they happen. When I can plan for the worst, sometimes I’m better able to see the best in the situation. This is why I’m doubly surprised when I don’t see it coming. I guess I was caught up in Brendan’s excitement over the Big Boy Bed. We had picked out his Superman sheets together, he had seen the bed in the garage all week and three days ago, he even gave up his binky on his own so that he would be ready for his Big Boy Bed. So when I returned from grocery shopping this evening, and found his crib dismantled in the hallway, I didn’t expect the flood of emotions – even though they should have been totally predictable. My baby is growing up. I know it’s time for all of these things, but I can’t help but remember how it felt to set up his crib before he was even ours. As exciting as it was, it was a little scary – and as much as I wanted to see a crib in that room, it felt a little out of place. And I guess that’s how the big boy bed looks to me right now.

We set it up for nap time, and I insisted that we leave the crib in there “just in case”. I’m not sure what the “just in case” would have entailed, but my husband has learned not to try and talk sense into me when I get these plans. Brendan and Daddy got their tool boxes together and made an excellent team. And Brendan was VERY excited about his bed – for everything other than sleep.

It was 3:00 when we finally gave up our trying and brought him downstairs. And even though I had cuddled with him in his bedroom chair as we have every night of his life, when we cuddled on the couch downstairs he was asleep in about 5 minutes. I understand – I truly do, changed is hard for his Mommy too. I laid him in his Big Boy Bed and sat glued to the baby monitor for any signs of wakefulness. Three hours later he finally peeped. And he was so proud of himself for waking up in his new bed. So was I.
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When I started writing this at 9:00, I had just heard Daddy leave his bedroom, and I haven’t heard a peep sense. Wish us luck.
Truly, the Big Boy Bed is awesome – not only does the mattress have to be more comfortable, but Mommy and Daddy can get in bed with Brendan to read stories and cuddle. This afternoon he DID NOT want us in his bed, but tonight he got it and we had a major snuggle session date with Cinderella. He still doesn’t want any blanket or pillow on his bed that is not Superman, but at least we finally got him to let us drape his cute quilt over the foot of his bed.

He’s so, so great. Today at the park he was running in the field and yelled, “DADDY!! I LOVE YOU!!!”. He saw the silky ribbon tie on the waist of my flannel pajamas and told me, “You’re a princess!”. He tells us great stories, and has favorite things, and he still cries if we try and make him wear anything other than ‘soft pants’. He plays ‘pretend’ all the time with so many creative ideas. He builds awesome play-doh sculptures – he loves Superman AND Cinderella – and here is what he had to say about the moon:

And now there is no bottle, no binky, a big boy bed – and he has pretty much potty trained himself. Last week after several hours at the farmers market, we were walking around the big lake looking at all the ducks and I saw him holding his crotch for the first time. I asked him, “Brendan, do you have to go potty?” His reply was no, as usual, but when Daddy took him behind some bushes and let him do his first outdoor peepee, his diaper was bone dry and he watered the plants for what felt like five minutes straight. After we get through the newness of the bed, we’ll move on to big boy underwear. And yeah, I’ll probably be sad someday when we don’t need the changing table, but I’m confident that all these changes will just reveal a boy who keeps getting better and better.

Morning update: he slept all night in his big boy bed without one wake-up, and got up at 6:30 – which in this family, is almost like sleeping in. Good job Brendan, and good job Big Boy Bed.

Recently as I carve out time to catch up on recording the life of Captain B, I feel like a catholic school girl confessing my time since my last blog post. I have never actually been a catholic school girl, but I imagine it’s the same guilt. And while I have spent plenty of quality time with my son, the good camera has not been invited to our parties. More guilt about that. I’m just going to go with what I have, knowing that I’ll be glad for any morsels when I’m reading this after Brendan goes off to college. Thankfully, that’s still a looooong way off.

Let’s start with Valentine’s weekend. For Christmas, Rob gave me two nights at a fancy hotel 30 minutes from our house. It was to be our first weekend away from Brendan. He knew this would be met with mixed emotions: sleeping in = good, being away from our son = not on your life. He arranged it so that The Uncles would fly in for the weekend which would be like a holiday for Brendan, but also sad for the parents to miss out on time with them. Anyway, with a whirlwind of emotions, we agreed to the following: we would put Brendan to sleep on Friday night with the Uncles here, and then we would drive the half hour to our hotel and be away from our boy for about 40 hours. In other words, longer than we had ever been away from him. I’ll save you the suspense – it all worked out fine. We arrived and the nice hotel person poured us each a glass of wine and I started to relax. Then she told us that we could take the wine with us in the car as we drove back to our cottage since they own the property. We were so giddy with the novelty of wine glasses in our cup holders that we forgot cup holders were not exactly built for stemware. As we pulled away, two full glasses of wine in my lap and all over the car quickly reminded us. But it also reminded me not to take anything too seriously. After we got things cleaned up (which included dunking our wine soaked car mat into a fountain – which in our defense, looked more like a bathtub than the Trevi), we spent the next 39 hours sleeping, eating, reading and looking at pictures of Brendan.

When it was over, we felt refreshed and anxious to get home. Being 30 minutes away really helped – I knew we could be home in an instance if needed. But it was never needed – Brendan had his own personal vacation with the Uncles: a trip to train town, countless treats and presents and allowances of naughty behavior, and many hugs and giggles and snuggles. Along with a new talent:

Uncle Brian also cooked us an amaaaazing meal, and found a heart shaped potato in the process. Of course.

It made an excellent addition to my collection of heart shaped things. There were also a few other entries in the Valentine’s category. First, I was greeted at school by a poster on the door with quotes from the kids on what they love. We say “Thankful’s” with Brendan, so I assumed I might see a similar response on the poster, but here was his response: “I love chocolate cake – and I eat it!”. Clearly Grandma’s impromptu party carried some serious weight with this boy. And speaking of Grandma, we also received a special package with matching Mommy/Brendan Valentine hats:

We created quite the stir at school. And these pictures make me realize that I am too old for hair this long.

We had Brendan’s parent/teacher conference and were delighted but not surprised at the feedback. One of the main things highlighted was his empathy – that when one of the kids in daycare is sad or upset, Brendan not only notices but always tries to help. He is also great at clean-up time, and even helps the other kids put the toys in the right places. And apparently he likes to play ‘house’ with two little girls. One of them is the mommy, one of them is the baby, and Brendan is the daddy. I demanded a video but have not received one yet. I did however, see how gently he responds to the ‘baby’ when he decided to bring a sheet of Spiderman stickers in to share with his friends at school. He had such a look of delight on his face as he offered to let everyone choose their favorite sticker. And when Ella (the baby) seemed unsure of what to do, Brendan bent down to look in her eyes (she is a little peanut) and in the sweetest tone, helped her to choose a sticker. He is my superhero for sure – and he is all about superheroes right now. Superheroes and race cars, and even sometimes the blending of the two into discussions of super-hero-race-cars. Also including the not-so-occasional breakdown if there are not any superhero articles of clothing clean and available to wear for each and every occasion. If things continue on this trajectory, I think it’s safe to assume we will have a superhero themed birthday party this year. Particularly because he already told me that he wants a superhero party. I am already dreaming of the possibilities.

And now for the tragedy section… I got a call yesterday that my baby got his finger smashed in the hinge end of a cabinet. I moved at super-hero-race-car speed across the building and found my little man at the front desk curled up in the teachers arms with some ice near his clenched little hand. Both he and his teacher were relieved to see me, and as he was passed into my arms he said one word in a quiet shaky little voice: “home”. He barely let me look at the little purple bruise beginning to show under his fingernail before he buried his head as deep as he could into me. As we sat and cuddled, various teachers and friends came to check on him and moments later he was fast asleep – snoring and drooling on Mommy’s chest. I realized that he would get the best nap at school so I sat with him a while longer before tucking him into his bed at school. I was there and scooped him back up before he woke up and could tell immediately that he was feeling better when the first words out of his mouth were, “what are those friends eating?”. We had a little snack time (it was yogurt afterall…) and one of his best buds, Griffin was sitting with his Mom and told her about B’s finger. He asked her if he could give Brendan a hug. Brendan was happily eating his yogurt and I said, “Brendan, Griffin wants to know if he can give you a hug.” My little man stood up with a purpose, threw his arms around Griffin and the two of them happily sank into a hug between two friends. Griffin will definitely get an invite to the superhero party. When he was done snacking I said, “Brendan – how about if you and I leave early? We can go see both Mommy AND Daddy’s offices (his very favorite thing) and then we can head home.” He responded as if he had just won the lottery, and we had the best evening ever.

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Other favorite Brendanisms:
– He is really into the word “carpool”. He knows what it means, he knows that we get a special stamp at work when we are a carpool, and he knows which lane is the carpool lane – even announcing each and every time he sees the carpool diamond in the lane.

– He has discovered the wonder of the cargo ship – one of Mommy’s very favorites too. Recently we were driving to work and he started saying “beep beep beep beep” and then “waaaaaaayyyy wooooooooooe” (our version of a cargo ship horn) and then he came up with a question that knocked my socks off, “Mommy – what sound does a cargo ship make when it backs up?” I don’t know – but we are going to find out together.

– He continues to be such a polite boy. He always says please and thank you, but he has also learned to ask for something using the word, “may” and often says things like, “Mommy, may I can please have a treat?”. He has also learned that when he wants to get up from the table he can say, “May I please be excused?” and now does so without us even prompting him. Turns out good manors are adorable. His tantrums are not as polite, but that just proves he’s really a two year old afterall.

– He uses the word, “belong”. I don’t know why, but I particularly love this. He combines ‘belong’ with his empathy for some heart exploding moments. For instance, when the bowl of yogurt was empty at snack time and he asked his teacher if there was more, she said there wasn’t any. But then she made a call and a new bowl of yogurt showed up. Brendan was pleased, but also had a look of concern on his face. “Who does this belong to?” She explained that another class room didn’t finish their yogurt, but B had to ask one more time before he helped himself, to be sure that he wasn’t taking yogurt away from someone else.

I love this sweet boy so much. I know I love him because he is my son, but I also know that he has a soul that would stand out to me no matter how I knew him. It’s the kind of connection that is the essence of belonging. Of home. Of family. All words we use daily, especially during the very special conversations we get to have when we’re alone in the car – and all words that make us smile that certain smile of knowing as we gaze at each other in the rear view mirror.

I started to write that I’m tired, and whine about all the reasons why. But we have been talking with Brendan about how whining is not the best way to communicate – and really, the thing I most want to communicate is this:

That isn’t exactly where we started our weekend, but it was one of my favorite moments.

We had rain this weekend – finally. There was a lot of talk of drought and we really needed it. Plus, I love the rain, and so does my son – so we went out and did some puddle jumping.

He decided recently that he really likes umbrellas. He didn’t have his own, but he thought this red one that belonged to Mama was pretty cool.

So the next morning we went out to get the boys haircuts. Brendan once again sat like a big boy – in fact, he walked in, picked out a race car magazine, and climbed into his booster seat to look at all the cars with Mommy while Daddy got his hair cut a few chairs away. He did a great job, reminded us after that he would like his lollipop, and we still had time before nap to stop by one of our favorite toy stores. They had a whole assortment of umbrellas, and we told him he could pick any one he wanted – there were rocket ships and cars and trucks and motorcycles – but there wasn’t much question because from the moment he walked in, he knew the one he wanted.

I’m not sure there is anything cuter than a little boy wearing rain boots and carrying an umbrella.

He also helped Mommy decorate our traditional Valentine’s cookies. I’m always reminded that the year he was born, I used these cookies to test out the two names that were our front runners. In my heart, and even in my dreams, I knew he was Brendan – I just hadn’t convinced my brain yet. This was the first year Brendan helped, and he definitely had a favorite part:

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Today he handed out personalized cookies to all of his teachers with a great big smile on his face and a hug for each of them. I love watching him in action. Brendan has become more predictable in his napping, and I can usually time my visits to be there just as he is waking up. I can’t resist the cuddle time, and frankly, will pretty much clear my schedule for it. Recently he has started taking his shoes and socks off when he naps. I don’t know if that is actually sanctioned, but I wouldn’t want to nap with my shoes on either. And besides, how could anyone resist these feet?

After he woke up, it was Jamaroo time (a special once a week singing and dancing program). Most of the time he wants me to be there, but not to sing or move around (he does, however, always make sure that Mommy gets one of whatever the teacher is passing out – including the stamp on my hand at the end). Today, however, he asked me to stand up and be a dinosaur with the other kids. He sat down, so I started to sit down too but he told me to keep going. When the song was over he said to me, “Mama – you did a great job!”.

He also said good a special good morning to the puppy this weekend, and it was quiet enough in the early morning hours that we got to hear him whispering to Chelsea about the birdies in the trees:

Brendan is completely two-and-a-half. Maybe I should have capitalized that, because it is full of BIG things. It is the best of times, it is the… slightly less than best of times. He is figuring things out, and sometimes that takes experimentation that can be a bit tiring. Like this morning for instance… and I’ll be honest, in the moment it can feel a bit frustrating. But not a kind of frustration that I’ve ever felt before – it’s the frustration of wanting to understand what is going on in his little mind, wanting him to understand why I’m asking him to do something differently – feeling responsible for his happiness in both the short term and the long term – and for teaching him the way to be a big boy. And most of all, it’s the love that makes it different. I see Mom’s at the Olympics cheering their little hearts out, probably embarrassing the heck our of their athlete, and I so totally get it. I would be bursting with pride if my son were there – even if he was the one emptying the trash cans at the Olympics – or the one driving the taxi cab to and from the airport. It doesn’t matter what he does, it’s who he is. There is a saying I have always loved, “To the world, you may be one person – but to one person, you may be the world.” And I always got it, but now I FEEL it. Brendan will always be the sun, the moon and the shining star of my world. Wherever he goes, and whatever he does, he will always have at least one person who is on his side, beaming with pride over anything and everything he accomplishes – and there with a listening ear and hugs and infinite unconditional love when things don’t go quite according to his plans. And that’s what happened this morning. After the tantrum storm finally blew over, and all the lessons his father and I tried to teach were either heard or forgotten, he came to me with a smile and a story. Probably about a race car. I knelt down on the floor and took his shoulders in my hands and looking him in the eye, reminded him that I loved him so very much – and that it was always true, and always would be true – even in the times when he didn’t make the best choices. I asked him if he knew how much I loved him – if he could feel it. He heard me. He looked me solidly and knowingly in my eyes and put a warm little hand on each side of my face. And he nodded right before I scooped him closer and hugged him tight.

It’s late. And the moon is coming through the tiny little window above my computer screen. It reminds me of the night we got to take “The Moon Bag” home from school and Brendan got to draw a picture of the moon on black paper while I wrote down his observations. We got to look at books with astronauts and rocket ships and other exciting things. And it’s reminding me that I better get to bed, because there is a chance that tomorrow morning I might make a mistake and forget to let Brendan choose his OWN water cup. So just in case, I’m gonna need some rest.

I know it was only a couple of weeks (or three weekends) – but our little home improvement project really tuckered us out. We were happy to have a weekend with our house in tact, and just the regular list of chores. There are still some projects left – but the invasive parts are over. And most of the major decision making is over, thank goodness. So this weekend, Grandma and Grandpa came up to return the puppy, see our progress, and share a sleepover. Grandma is doing SO much better. About 300% better from when they were here at Christmas. She was climbing the stairs faster than she did before her stay in the hospital. Her physical therapist asked her if she had any goals she was working toward, and she told her that although she hadn’t voiced it to anyone, her real goal was that she wanted to take her Grandson to Disneyland. Best goal ever. And luckily, she knows a couple people who work for Disney. Whenever the PT feels she needs some motivation, she says, ‘Now remember… we’re working toward a trip to Disneyland!”. At the rate she’s going, we’ll be there in no time.

Daffodils share special memories for me and Grandma – and every year we try and capture a picture of Brendan with the first blooms in our yard. It was very exciting that this year Grandma got to be here for that moment! Brendan’s excitement about he daffodils comes and goes, but he did pick all 5 blooms and we are enjoying the extra happy in our home.

Grandma and Grandpa offered to babysit for a little while, and Daddy and I had a romantic date that included The Container Store, a trip to Lamps Plus, and a quick Costco run. We did throw in some garlic fries and a soft serve ice cream though. Then we got home and learned that apparently last time we visited at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, Brendan mentioned something about cake. So naturally, not only did Grandma bring a cake, she brought a whole party:

What was the party for? Chelsea coming home and new floors! I think I understand where I learned to turn every event into a celebration.

We enjoyed the cake last night, and as soon as he saw it this morning, Brendan decided it would make a wonderful breakfast. It reminding me of he and Meredith enjoying a slice the morning after his birthday party.
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We also watched a brand new movie: The classic version of The Music Man. He loved it. We all marched around the house and had parades all weekend long. I was having too much fun to capture a movie, but I did snap this picture… mainly because of the cute toes.

You’ll notice he’s not wearing any pants – it reminds me to mention that this week Brendan make his preference for ‘soft pants’ (sweats) very clear. It takes a lot of convincing to get him to wear jeans these days. It makes me laugh because I was exactly the same way as a child – I can remember thinking that wearing jeans was like a punishment. Even the ones with the rainbow stitching down the sides – if only I still had those jeans!

No big Superbowl party this year – just some fun snacks and a nice relaxing time with the family. I could go for another couple of days at home, but it was a very nice weekend.

One of Brendan’s favorite things is when Mommy comes to pick him up, and together we walk to Daddy’s office. There are many great things about Daddy’s office. First, we get to run down ramps and walk down stairs that take us past spaceships and dinosaurs. We also pass a big poster of Tarzan riding an elephant with a monkey – and sometimes, if he asks at just the right time, Mommy will do the Tarzan found for him. Then we pass a poster of Marilyn Monroe. Brendan loves this poster. He says, ‘Oooooooh! There’s the mommy! She’s nice. I want to hug her.’ Then when we get to Daddy’s office, there are many toys – including his favorite one – the same millennium falcon that daddy used to play with when he was eight.

Then we go into Auntie Gabe and Uncle Clay’s office where there is always candy (candy corn or m&ms) in a gumball machine. Yesterday he actually chose raisins over candy. He ate one, then when he got a second, he carried it in his hand like a tiny treasure. He carried it so carefully all the way to the car, and wouldn’t let us hold it for him as he climbed into his seat. Then, halfway home, he erupted in tears because he had lost his raisin. We couldn’t find it, but when we got home and he removed his bum from the car seat, he was so excited to see his raisin. It was warm and linty – and before I could protest, he promptly popped the precious raisin into his mouth.

These are the reasons we love Daddy’s office. And today, all of this fun came with a crown made of pipe cleaners and Cheerios that he made at school today. Male ED is viagra online in canada the condition which is refer as impotency, it is the state in which the penis do not constrict. After noticing the constantly elevating impotency issues the medical experts viagra prescription free explain that the strong mechanism that is performed by PDE5 and replaces this problem by triggering the blood inflow and obstructing its outflow for longer duration. The first thing that is wanted is carried tadalafil tablets in india out through the machinery. Some levitra generic vardenafil Of The Most Common Penis Problems Are As Follow: Trouble in Erection & Ejaculation: Problem in attaining and maintaining an erection suitable for sexual intercourse.

I was so proud to parade my little Cheerio King through the hallway. And in case you don’t know me well enough, there is not an ounce of sarcasm in that statement.

I’m happy to report that Brendan is an Equal Opportunity Super Hero.
While we all know that he is really Superman, today he decided to be Superman pretending to be Spiderman.

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Sorry for the sparse updates – home improvements and crib jumping have us running a little tired, but luckily SuperSpiderMan is here to save the day.

There was a special singing event for all the ‘upper classes’ at school and Charlie’s teacher sent these pictures over to Lisa with the message, “How stinking cute are they!? ”

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Answer: pretty stinking cute.
I love to peek in and see how they act when their parents aren’t watching.

It looks like the crib climbing was not a one time event. Last night we had a little visitor at 12:45. Daddy was working at the computer so Brendan climbed in bed with Mommy and flopped around all over the bed for an hour or so (spending a majority of the time laying squarely on Mommy’s head). He was not happy about the idea of going back into his own bed, but Daddy and I laid down on the floor by his crib until he went to sleep. He kept peeking over the side to make sure we were still there, and then finally he settled back in. We weren’t apart for long though, because he came back in at around 6:15 to wake us up. He wanted a bottle, and then later he said he wanted another bottle. We are technically done with bottles – he drinks out of big boy cups for everything else, but he still prefers his milk warm, and out of a bottle. We’ll cut him off soon, but not quite yet… So when he asked for a second bottle, Rob said, ‘What?? You’re not a baby!’ and Brendan replied, “Yes I am! I’m mommy’s baby!” He had us there – this is always what I tell him when he says he’s a big boy.

I also witnessed him CLEARLY flirting with the mother of one of the little girls in his room. He was telling her every story he could think of, including how the guys at our house were going to open up all the boxes and put in a brown floor so he could drive his two race cars from Santa. And then my favorite part – he looked up on the wall at some pictures that have been there for at least six months and said, “Heeeeey…. who’s that? OH! It’s me! I was riding a choo choo train – it said chugga chugga CHOO CHOOOOOOOO!”. The kid has moves.

Last night when putting him to bed we had our bath, put our pj’s on, read our book, snuggled on the chair, got all the way through singing his three favorite songs in bed, and I was just ready to walk out of his room when he said “I wanna cuddle in the chair”. Something about his tone made me realize it was more than just procrastination. Turns out he wanted to talk about a couple sad things that happened during his day. Mommy had a few good reminders for him, and as he was feeling better he looked right into my eyes and said, “Mommy – you have pretty eyes”. I thanked him and told him a few of the thousand things I love about him and then added that I loved that we both had blue eyes and that I was certain that all the time I spent looking at him had made my eyes more beautiful. Then he looked up at me again and said, “Mommy, I will always be riiiight here.” I said, “That’s always what Mama tells you, isn’t it baby? That no matter if we are in the same room or not, I will always be right here with you.” And he said, “No Mama – I will always be right here – with you!”

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That boy. He fills up my heart like a balloon until I’m certain it will explode from all the love.

These next two weeks are big for the Gianino house: we’re getting a new floor downstairs. Aside from cream colored carpeting not being the best choice for dogs and boys, we let Brendan know that we wanted his cars to be free to drive wherever they wanted without being slowed down by carpeting. We talked about how it would all go down, and Brendan was very excited for “the guys” to come and start working. He even decided that he was “going to say thank you very much and give them a big hug for working so hard”. Turns out the floor is sort of the base of the house, so this weekend we had the big task of moving everything out. When Brendan woke up each day, more and more things had made their way into the garage, and there were more and more areas for him to establish forts. He also no longer ran the risk of getting stuck in important endeavors like this:

We can only assume that he wanted to make sure that we had finished up our final tasks late last night, because this morning, he woke us up. Not in the way he normally does, by calling, “Mooooooomy? Daaaaaady?” but by walking into our bedroom and yelling, “SURPRISE!”. I happened to wake up as he was walking in, and saw a little blond head bopping by the foot of the bed – I tried to quickly rouse my husband because Rob had vividly pictured this moment for a long time. I wasn’t quite successful though, so Daddy jumped about 3 feet in the air when Brendan announced himself. B was so pleased with himself, and as we scooped him up into our bed he told us all about how “I woke up and did not call you!” and “I held onto railing!”.

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We have known he was capable for quite some time, and we were thankful that we had seen him do it so that we knew we wouldn’t wake up to a thud and tears. I knew we were close to this day when he told me after his nap this weekend that he was ready to get out of bed, but when I started to lift him out, he said, “No thank you – I do it myself”. Which he did.

“The Guys” arrived this morning, and I have never seen Brendan want to get dressed so quickly. He even brought his tools down to help out. The first step was sealing off the upstairs so we could live there without a dust storm invading. I ran upstairs to get one last thing before work, and when I started back to the stairs, there was a guy way up high on a ladder precariously placed on the stairs. I waited for him to finish, but Brendan started frantically calling for me. Daddy was down there with him, but I think he was concerned that his Mama was going to get stuck upstairs. I almost knocked that ladder over getting down to him as fast as I could. I squeezed him and wiped away those real tears and reminded him that Mommy would never be anywhere that he couldn’t get to me. And now that he can get out of bed all on his own, that is more true than it ever has been.

With school/work starting up again tomorrow, this holiday season is officially over for the Gianino family. It was a whirlwind, as usual, marked with some highs and some lows – and often the two were blurred together. I didn’t do as much photo taking, and I didn’t jot down some of the cute things Brendan said and did – but we packed in our days with togetherness – with each other, and with family on both coasts. That’s the best gift of all.

Here are a few gifts that will stand out this Christmas:

– Grandma Casler was definitely not herself during her stay at our house. We were so happy that she allowed herself to rest, but the littlest Gianino loves his Grandma a whole bunch, and many times during the day would announce that he was going to “check on Grandma”. He would march into her room, or go stand very quietly right next to the chair where she was sleeping, and would gently touch her arm. She would open her eyes to a beaming Grandson. I didn’t spend a lot of time wondering whether I should stop Brendan from checking on Grandma – I knew she needed her rest, but I also know what is most healing to her soul.

– Even when she wasn’t feeling well, Grandma packed the same angel chimes that I so vividly remember from my childhood. She and Brendan set them up together, and then we all enjoyed.

– On Christmas Eve, we all had our traditional waffle dinner, and then Brendan started getting things ready for Santa. He put out some carrots for the reindeer, and when I laid out the selection of 4 different kinds of homemade Christmas cookies, he chose a single cookie – Grandpa’s favorite kind – and left that and some milk for Santa. I asked him if we should leave a note, and then took dictation as he told me exactly what to write. He added his own special message to Santa at the end as well. I planned on putting the cookies on a table (mainly so that Chelsea wouldn’t be tempted…) but Brendan had other ideas – he wanted to put the note and the treats as close as they could possibly be to the fireplace. He got everything just so, and then he peeked his little head over to look up the chimney to see if Santa was on his way. I will never forget the magic of that moment. And luckily, Daddy captured a shot with his phone to help us remember.

– On Christmas morning, before Brendan was interested in presents, he wanted to see whether Santa had eaten his cookie – and he had! Brendan proceeded to finish up the crumbs while we read the note that Santa had left. He had no interest in rushing through presents – he thoroughly enjoyed each gift as we opened it and each time one was presented to him, he would look at us and ask, ‘what could it be??’. Santa brought him a bike that Brendan did not ask for, and is not quite excited about yet – but he also brought the exact toy that Brendan had picked out again and again from his toy catalog. Santa is amazing – and that toy has become the very favorite of the season. Along with a race track from his Aunt and Uncle and Cousins that takes the same kind of little cars – even though they didn’t know that this first gift would be coming from Santa!

– Grandma surprised even her husband by presenting Brendan with his very own sword and crown and handmade shield. Brendan wasted no time at all practicing his brave knight skills.

– We took the red eye to Boston on Christmas night, arriving early on the 26th. There was snow on the ground, but it was old snow. Last year Brendan liked looking at the snow, but was not very excited about going out to play in it. This year was different. We all settled in for a long winters nap when we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa’s house – and even though it was not in the forecast, just as we woke up the snow began to fall. It was a Christmas miracle. We watched for only a few minutes as we greeted cousins before everyone decided to go out and play. And this year – Brendan LOVED the snow. He went sledding, he made snow angels, and he had snowball fights – each time he threw a snowball he would yell “Snowballlll!”. He outlasted his twin cousins, but Brett stayed out there with him the whole time. It was everything a California girl could wish for. He even caught a snowflake on his tongue:

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– Sleep schedules always get a little wacky when we travel back east, but Brendan did pretty well. We packed in a lot of fun that was on a schedule (like hockey games and parties and sledding in Fenway park!) so Rob and I would lay down with him to try and encourage napping, and he would get very chatty. One particular time he said to me, “I have a question”. I asked what his question was and he said, “I have to go to work.” I asked why he had to go to work and he told me, “I have meetings”. Then we laughed and laughed – the kind where he wrinkles up his nose and knows he came up with something funny. Even though we left at the crack of dawn by Boston standards – let alone California time, he only slept 20 minutes on the 7 hour flight home. He wasn’t grouchy and there were no melt downs, he just wanted to play. And eat as many treats as he could get his hands on. This did work out nicely for quickly getting him adjusted back to CA time because he passed out the moment we were all in our car for the ride home from the airport. We love to go on adventures, but my little man truly loves being home as much as his Mama does.

– We also did our traditional cousin photo shoot. I bought a few pictures, so I don’t feel bad posting this totally plagiarized screen captured view of a few of the photos. These are some good looking boys.

I also took this one with my cell phone before getting yelled at that I couldn’t take pictures in their studio. It’s not like I was using their props or lighting, but I guess they are afraid of a little competition…

– All this extra together time has made for extra cuddles together and I love it. We have always been big on family hugs – all of us piling together – often with Chelsea and often with smiles and giggles too. When we got home, one night we were having more fun than ever with our family hugs. It was time for bed, so Mommy proposed a crazy idea – “Do you think we could hold a family hug ALL the way upstairs?” Big eyes and giggles and then, “Let’s see!”. We all huddled together doing little tiny steps that prompted laughs so big that it was hard to breathe. We made it all the way to his room, and then took it one last step by doing a family hug while we brushed teeth. I know this silliness will prompt eye rolls from our teenage son, and probably everyone else – but it was one of Mommy’s most treasured Christmas gifts. And the next night, he asked if we could do it again.

During this holiday, our little man turned two and a half. Perhaps it’s predictable at this point that I am confident this is the best age ever. I think the reality is that I love being Brendan’s mom. I love ALL of it. Even the parts some parents seem to lament like changing diapers and middle of the night wake-ups have never bothered me. Every moment spent with my little man is a treasure – and sure, sometimes I’m tired, but just because kids are tired from waking up so early on Christmas morning, doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy unwrapping their gifts. Each day I have new gifts to unwrap – new words that pop into his vocabulary, new ways that he plays. Right now he loves playing hide and seek, and he loves listening to the theme song from Superman while he flies his super hero action figures around. He loves cuddling up (he ASKS to cuddle up) to read books or to watch the new Gianino family favorite movie: “How to Train Your Dragon”. (and if you haven’t seen the Christmas short, it’s worth a watch. I still cry every single time we watch.) He is my big boy, but he still calls Peter Pan, “Peter Man”, and I hope he always does. One morning he woke up before the sun did, and as the three of us sat in Mommy and Daddy’s bed and he caught the first glimpse of sun rays peeking through the window, he said, “Look! The sun is just down the road!”. Yesterday morning he called in to let us know he was awake and when I went in to get him, the first words out of his mouth were, “Mama – I like your sweater!”. I was wearing a ratty old navy blue hoodie, so I asked him to repeat what he said two more times with the same result, a gentle stroke of my sweatshirt and a big smile. I love how he sees the world. I love how he seems to know and seems to remind his Mama that we are all in charge of our own perception – of the way we choose to see the world. I don’t even know that it’s a conscious choice, but I know that my world is filled with Merry and Bright – whether the holidays are officially over or not.

I’m fighting off a cold, and so far behind on Christmas pictures and memories that I’m finding it hard to catch up.
So I’m going to temporarily skip over Christmas in the hopes that I can at least pick up from here.

Yesterday Charlie turned five, and had a rock star party. The Gianino family believes in dressing appropriately, so we all sported our best rock star looks.

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Once we were there, one particular member of the family really got into the spirit of the party:

He also enjoyed running around in the back yard in bare feet. And he enjoyed the birthday cupcakes. We put these two things together and when he dropped his cupcake, he just stuck his toes in the frosting and started trying to lick his toes. I’m sure that’s what all the rock stars do.

Oh this boy…

I have at least 20 similar videos from last week alone. He has several songs that are his favorite to sing, but he’s building quite a repertoire.

He also has a new haircut, and for the first time – sat on his own in a booster seat and was good as gold.
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Grandma and Grandpa are here, and while Grandma is still very weak and tired, she is better – and we are so happy about that. It’s a gift we don’t take for granted this year.

A week ago today, we were still glowing/recovering from Grandma and Grandpa Casler’s annual Christmas carol party. While this party has changed in many ways over the years, the actual party has happened on the first Saturday of December since the dawn of time. Or at least as long as I can remember. There is always food and singing and table hockey and crafts and reading the Christmas Story. This year Brendan was certain that this was his party, along with Grandma and Grandpa. While Grandma was reading the Christmas story, Brendan kept whispering to me, “I need to go help Gramma Grampa”. I asked him to wait until they started the singing, and then he could go help. The second the singing started, my little man got up, walked all the way around everyone, up on the stage, and scooted in as close as he could to his Grandparents.

At one point I went up to check on everyone, and Brendan waved me away saying, “No sit down, Mommy” and then turned his attentions back to leading the singing with his co-hosts. (Rob somehow captured this in a movie, but it’s stuck on his phone, so you’ll have to take my word for it).

Brendan and Grandma had practiced handing out bells, and I didn’t know if Brendan would rise to the occasion or not, but I shouldn’t have wondered.


There were several young kids who doted on Brendan all night. One of them even chose a race car as her prize so that she could give it to Brendan.

Then of course came the dessert bonanza, all prepared by Grandma.

Brendan got to eat yummy things, hang out with people who love him, and stay up WAY past his bed time. Needless to say, he loves parties.

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The carol party always wears Grandma out. It’s not surprising, since she puts all of herself and everything she has into every last detail. She has always done this, but she has an artist’s soul which means that she continually comes up with new ideas about new things to add to the party. There is rarely any subtracting. Add to the mix that she is a perfectionist. Add to the mix the fact that her hours and level of activity leading up to the party would wear out someone half her age. Or a quarter of her age. There is no curtailing her – she is a stubborn woman. I know, because I take after her in many ways. But this is one inner urge I’m fighting very hard to change. Because a week ago tonight, I got the call I have always feared. At 11:30 my phone rang and it was my Dad. He said my Mom was having a serious medical issue – that the ambulance was at the house – that she was unresponsive and he feared it was a stroke.

I’ll skip over many details to say that she is home now. Doing better. It wasn’t a stroke – and appears to be a somewhat manageable condition going forward.

I know that working this hard for the people she loves is what makes her happy, but I have always worried about her in these situations. Even when I was a little girl I would try to find ways to take enough off her plate so that she could sit down for a minute. But even if she agreed to let me tie all the ribbons on the candy canes, it only freed her to make one extra dessert. She will never rest. Over the years I have tried to come to terms with the worry by thinking deeply about who my Mom is, and how that fits with my definition of love. I believe that love starts with recognizing that each person is unique, and becomes more beautiful by helping to encourage and inspire a person to become even more of who they are meant to be. I love my Mom deeply and completely. So in the same way that I would have to let her skydive if that was what most moved her soul, am I asking her to be less of herself if I ask her to curtail her activities? I don’t even know exactly how or where I would try and draw the line in reducing her to-do list, but it doesn’t matter – because no matter how dire the consequences, only my Mom can draw that line. At least finally I have some hope – because if anything will encourage some healthy change, it’s her all consuming love for one small boy who passed out bells for her at the party.

On my way back from the hospital one night, I was hurrying in hopes that I would get to give Brendan one last sleepy kiss. I was a few blocks from home when I saw the unmistakable red and blue lights flash in my rear view mirror. I pulled over and a young police woman about my height walked over to the car. We had the predictable conversation between the law and the perpetrator. Then as I was fumbling to find my registration and proof of insurance, she told me that she lives in the town where my Mom was in the hospital. And that she drives exactly the same car that I do. When she returned with my license she said, “Slow Down. Happy Holidays.” And with those four words, she gave me two amazing gifts – first, the forgiveness of my speeding sins, and second – my new holiday mantra.

It’s always my wish, but I’m not naturally predisposed to slowing down. It’s clearly not in my DNA. So I need encouragement and reminders that doing more isn’t always better. That sure, it’s more blessed to give than to receive – but that doesn’t mean drastically depleting yourself for trivial pursuits. There are so many things I want to do during the holidays to show those around me how special they are. But hopefully the end of the year isn’t like some last ditch effort for extra credit in order to earn a passing grade – hopefully I can be better about spreading love all year round. And maybe people aren’t really looking for more from me or anyone else during the holidays – maybe what we all need is a little less. Less to do so that we can be still and truly experience the season.

This evening as I was talking to Grandma and Grandpa, I was distracted. So when they asked what cute things their Grandson had said or done, I forgot to give them my two favorite gems.

We’ve been talking about all the ways to make people happy – and that it feels good to spread happiness around. As we got into the elevator to come home, we ran into a few people that Mommy knows, but Brendan doesn’t. He gave them his usual smile and a “hi” when prompted, but then he got shy and hid behind mommy. The elevator was fairly packed, maybe 6 or so people, and suddenly out of the mouth of the small boy behind me, I heard, “jingle all the way… oh what fun it is to ride…. one horse sleigh…” My shy little angel had decided to sing the crowd a Christmas song. As the smiles and ‘awwww’s’ erupted around us, he got a little shy again, so Mommy helped him finish the song. People got out on their floors, and as they left, I told Brendan that I was sure he made everyone on the elevator so happy with his special song. Not only did he make mommy’s day, but he actually got her to sing in a crowded elevator.

On the way to work yesterday I heard Brendan exclaim, “OHHHH!” from the backseat. I asked him what he saw and he kept pointing to one area at the bottom of the front window. Finally I realized there was a bright yellow leaf that had gotten stuck in the hood. As we drove, the wind was whipping it around. “The pretty leaf?”, I asked. “It’s dancing!!!”, my son responded.
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I captured the magic just before the leaf blew away. Brendan was concerned about where it went, and I suggested that maybe he flew away so he could make other people happy too. Today on our way to work Brendan got all excited – on the back of the car in front of us, there was a yellow leaf. And of course, he was dancing.

Yep, we’ve started in full force.
After Daddy and Brendan took one more tumble in the leaves….

And they did a little reporting on Thanksgiving at school: (‘Papi’ = puppy. Love that I can just hear his voice saying this)

(love his answer – we did not have sausage or cookies at Thanksgiving. there was a salad, but Brendan wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot turkey drumstick)

We got his room decorated with his seasonal shelf – that’s Stanley the Snowman in the corner. He’s handmade, but not by me. I did make the little forest to go with him though.

And we put up his mobile and his Merry Christmas sign:

And this year I made him a super soft flannel crib sheet and pillow case! I had planned on buying something, but I couldn’t find the right one, and turns out it’s super easy (thank you pinterest!)

(The hearts weren’t Christmas decorations, they were just hanging out in the bed with George the monkey when I took this picture. I made the little heart and put extra love and kisses in it so he could keep it under his pillow. There are two because I made one for Daddy too when he went on a trip, but he’s letting Brendan borrow it.)

Grandma let me have the advent calendar she made me when I was a little girl. We used it last year and it is still as magical as it was when she filled it for me – but this year I decided to make a new one for Brendan. He is really getting good at counting, and the one I used did not have numbers on the pockets (Grandma reminded me that she put the numbers on the gifts…). So we created one with numbers:

Sidenote: we had a REAL family movie night the last night of November (real = big bowl of popcorn and candy) and note to self: even a few red and green M&M’s are not the best idea for a toddler near bedtime.

So the morning of the first was not our best morning. He didn’t get the advent calendar, and I didn’t force the issue. Then later that day we tried again. Once he opened the first pocket (a wind up Santa), he wanted to open more – but we explained that wasn’t how it worked. The second day, he came downstairs, looked up at the wall and said, “Ohhhhhhhh!” with a big smile on his face. He still wanted to open more, but we explained once again. Today, the third day of advent, he figured out that together we count each day, and so after he opened third pocket, he offered to keep counting. Still no dice. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.
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We also had REAL family breakfast (real = popovers with Grandma’s strawberry jam and a cheesy egg scramble).

Then after naptime, we went to meet Santa. Brendan and I had practiced how it would go, and he told me he was ready. Every time we ask him what he is going to ask Santa for, he says, “A race car, and another race car”. Sometimes he adds that they will be blue. He did great. Santa did great. But the picture people somehow FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES!!! So we missed all the initial faces of delight, and actually had to get BACK onto Santa’s lap to pose. Oh well. Still adorable. Here is a high tech scan of the photo we got (it’s a picture of the picture taken with my cell phone):

There were other wonders at the mall, like ice cream (frozen yogurt…):

And a nice man who let Brendan drive his red race car:

And of course, the choo choo train:

There was an ice skating rink set up too! We watched the people skate, but there is only so much excitement a boy can take in one day. We’ll be back. (sidenote: today there was a big weather news story that it was 46 degrees in Oakland. A real cold spell. Brrrrrrr)

Somebody is also getting to be a real expert in decorating the tree:

It was a pretty nice start to the season.

Here is the summary photo from the season: A little bubble of fun and happiness.

We drove down to Grandma and Grandpa’s house Wednesday night with our Chelsea and the Lucasfilm Turkey in the backseat. All the way down, Brendan kept saying, “I wanna see Gramma and Graaaaaanpa! I think that is the 2 year old version of “are we there yet?” When we got there, we had a big surprise – they re-landscaped their front yard! It looks amazing, but even a pile of weeds would have felt welcoming because it was the people we were there to see. We especially enjoyed playing with the new bubble machine (Brendan called it a ‘rocket’) in the front yard.

Oh my gosh, babies and bubbles… I took way too many pictures.
Earlier this year, Grandma and Grandpa surprised us by having their back yard done when we arrived. Their back yard has always been one of the crowning jewel of the house, but it was sort of a diamond in the rough – now it feels like a park where you would want to go picnic. Or just hang out with the guys:

Especially if you are a little boy – which makes sense, because when my parents were having the plans designed, they said they wanted it to revolve around their Grandson. That’s why there is an area right outside my Dad’s workshop that was built just to be a construction site:

And trails that are just right for obstacle courses, and doing laps on the new bike:

And an area down by the creek left more wild feeling, with rocks still scattering the ground – just right for throwing into the creek:

We had lots of fun out there. In fact, it was a real drag for Brendan to come in and eat Thanksgiving dinner. Hiding in the turkey box was a nice try, but somehow we spotted him in there.

And while the rest of the family ate way more than their share, (Grandma sure can cook!!!), Brendan was less excited. Begrudgingly he finally tried a few things when we reminded him that if he wasn’t hungry for dinner, it must mean he wasn’t hungry for dessert. Thank goodness we convinced Grandma to leave her good china in the china cabinet this year – it was just the five of us – and it was a day of good food and good company. Not fancy dishes or clothes (I carefully stayed out of the dinner picture or you would have seen that I was still in my pj’s.)

Aside from the amazing food, my highlight of the meal came when we offered thanks. We do this with Brendan at every family meal, and he always takes it seriously – but you never know what he is going to be thankful for. This time, he carefully listened to everyone else and then very purposefully said, “I’m thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Puppy and Grandma and Grandpa. Hooray!!!”. And we all said Amen. Then later he reached out and said, “everyone hold hands” – he wanted to do another round of giving thanks. When Brendan really likes something, or is really happy – he calls it a ‘happy birthday’. Parties are always ‘happy birthday parties’. Presents are ‘happy birthday presents’. So it really shouldn’t have come as a shock to me when Brendan referred to Thanksgiving as ‘Happy Birthdaygivng’. I love that boy. After dinner there was some family time, including a stargazing cuddle session with Grandma.

I am lucky enough to take for granted so many of the important things in life. But there is one thing I find that I never take for granted –
He’s my celebration and my meditation
my hindsight and perspective
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my energy and my peace.
He is the joy joy joy joy down in my heart –
I’m certain it was always there, but he was the one who held my joy colored glasses
and now the joy is down in my heart to stay.
He is my miracle

Three years ago on Christmas Eve, I sat in a dark church watching the candles burn on the advent wreath –
Hope – Preparation – Joy – Love
I prayed for the woman who would carry my child
and even though I didn’t know it yet, my son had already started his journey to me
he was busy growing a whole new branch of love to root our family tree.
And now as Thanksgiving ends, and my pumpkins are replaced with reds and greens –
I soak in the joy as Brendan sits as the little shining star on top of a whole tree of gratitude.
He is my Thanksgiving.

We made our way back home and have continued working on the important things:

Tomorrow, we may even meet Santa…

(Mom – a few more photos here…)

If cuddling were an Olympic event, Brendan and I would be gold medal contenders. We had to stop our middle of the night sessions, but since he usually wakes up around 6:00, there is an unwritten rule that if he calls for me any time after 5:30, I bring him into our bed. He seems fully aware of this rule, and each morning this week I have heard, “Mooooooooomy!!” at exactly 5:45am. When I pick him up, he holds on so tight that we just fall into bed as one unit, and then it’s face time. When he was an infant, he would flop his head over so it was resting right on top of my head, but now he pulls my face in so that we are cheek to cheek, and we each hug each others head.

This is the kind of moment that can never be captured on film, it’s just too magical. When Brendan is in our bed, he tends to sleep another hour. Or two. And we’re not cheek to cheek the whole time, eventually he will flop over on top of Daddy, or spread his body out to cover more bed space – but lots of times he reaches back and holds on to some part of my face with his hand – often my nose.
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These photos are not THE moments. The still dark outside magic hour moments, but this morning as we woke up I couldn’t resist taking a few selfies of one of the things I’m most thankful for. And in case you were wondering, it’s certainly not my bed head or my multiple chins.