The Glory of Autumn

Entirely because it’s my only experience, it seems to me that autumn is the best time to have a baby, at least in this hemisphere. You’re not pregnant enough the winter before to need a maternity coat. You can get away with flip flops and dresses when you feel enormous in the summer. And after the baby’s born, when you feel like you just want to stay inside all day in yoga pants, you can, because it’s getting cold out, and you wouldn’t want to get the baby sick, now would you?

I’m sure whenever I had my first baby would seem to me to be the best time to do it. But I do have one more reason why autumn (technically the last day of summer) is the best: because a year later, when your little one has just learned to walk, you can take pictures like these:

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Monkeys, Uncles, and Birthdays

Last week Jacob and I set out to find a card for John’s brother’s birthday (hi, Karl!).

The first shop we went to was a fancy paper store, but their cards were a little too jazzy and hip and didn’t convey the love we wanted to express.

The second store was, admittedly, a drugstore.  But I have a history of finding some pretty great cards at drugstores.  Here I decided we should not only get a birthday card, but an “uncle” birthday card.  This decision was made, in part, because the only non-funny (they’re rarely funny to me) “brother” card was way too sappy.  The hurdle now was that there were no “uncle” cards at this store.  None.  “Aunt” cards? Yes. “Niece” cards?  Yes.  “Nephew” cards?  Oddly, yes.  But “uncle”? Absolutely not.

Confused as to how someone had rationalized that all the nieces and nephews in the world—who were happily celebrating their birthdays with folded paper greetings—only had aunts.  People have brothers.  And aunts get married.  Where’s the love for the uncles?

Bummed, we moved on to another drugstore.  (There are lots in these parts.)  Again, no “uncle” card.  Really?  Really?

An afternoon walk turned into a trip to Target and there, finally, we found it.  Nay, them.  Four—count them—four “uncle” cards to choose from.  This sounds like a great discovery, but if you’ve seen the hundreds of cards for myriad occasions Target has to offer, you may not be so impressed.  I was, but only momentarily.

Giddy with victory, I picked up the cards one-by-one and read them.  The first was sweet, but was written with the voice of an older niece or nephew, i.e. referring to things Jacob hasn’t done with Karl yet, like ask advice (as far as I know).  The second was funny, but probably only to me and the guy that wrote it.  That left two.  Incredible—I’d used the process of elimination twice and still I had a choice.

As if shopping for an “uncle” card hadn’t taken enough strange, and perhaps inconsequential-in-the-long-run turns, I realized that my two options both had monkeys on them.  One made reference to the amount of fun contained a barrel of monkeys.  This one was signed “xoxo” and I just can’t see Jacob writing that.  The other—and ultimately the chosen one—made no direct reference to monkeys.  It just had a monkey on it.  The bit of humor about a “bunch” of love could have been as much about grapes as it was here about bananas.  But apparently monkeys and uncles just go together, in a way that uncles and birthdays do not.

Moral of the story:  Make a card next time.  And don’t forget to draw a monkey on it. Uncles like that stuff.

Apartment Photos!

You asked for it, friends.  A month and half into our new place, I’m finally ready to share some photos.  Welcome, and please come in.

Here’s what you’d see if you could walk in the door (little man included):

 

Then if you could turn about forty-five degrees, this is what you’d see:

And then a bit farther:

If you were really standing in my living room, I’d invite you into the dining room, where I keep my little desk, and Jacob keeps some toys.  And a sippy cup.  Always a sippy cup.

The art on the walls is courtesy of John’s brothers.  We love that we have a family museum.

I’d turn to show you our little (but workable) nook of a kitchen:

There’s more, but it’s tough to photograph.

And then there’s Jacob’s room, with all the fun stuff on the walls.  There’s an icon of his patron saint, Saint James the Greater, which Jacob’s godfather brought back for him from Spain.  There’s a pillow a friend gave him at his Baptism that says “God bless this little one.” (I love that!)

Then there’s some random fun-but-no-personal-connection stuff on the “learning wall”–number flashcards to come.

 

Above his bed is the rug my aunt made for him.  We have also one from our wedding in the living room.  Aren’t they pretty?  She makes them; she’s a rug hooker.  Check it out.  Cool stuff.  And finally, near his bed are a cross John’s family gave us at Jacob’s Baptism and a photo from the day, on which I had printed a quote from the Bible about Jacob.  See below for a close-up.  I love that, too.  Heck, I love all this stuff!

 

 

Kind of reminds you of the opening scene of The Lion King, right?  But kind of beautiful, too.

 

Out the window in Jacob’s room you can see the backyard and his baby swing.  All that’s missing is our room, but that’s pretty much just a big brown bed, big brown furniture, and a couple of hangings on the walls.

 

Thanks for coming to visit, friends.  Please stop by again next time you’re in Brooklyn!