Big Brother Ben (week 196): Special Birthday Edition

The big news this week of course, was the first birthday of my little brother Chris. It is hard to believe that he is already twelve months old. I still remember the day he was born--a Monday just before Thanksgiving. Now, he is nearly walking; exploring the yard like a madman; and, eating everything in sight.

Mama invited all of Chub's closest friends to the house for a Tuesday night bash with Eggplant Parmesan and Braciole. Chubs had the time of his life crawling around the backyard, while the big boys played baseball and the parents talked. He loved the singing and the fact that he got to stay up past 8:00 PM; and of course, he loved the cake the best. To finish the night, he got to take a bath with his good friend Maddie. The next morning, he was definitely hung-over and slept until almost 8:00 AM without a sound.

Another good thing about Chub's birthday is that it is only days before Thanksgiving. This means, we all got into the car Thursday morning and drove-up to Grandma Paula's house for the holiday. There were a lot of people already there, including our new cousin--the first female grandchild--Sophie. She was beautiful, happy, and definitely a needed addition to the strike force of baby boys.

While Chubs loved every bit of the eating, my favorite part of Thanksgiving was the train that Grandpa John set-up at his house. Eli and I got to spend the night trading-off who would drive the train around the tracks. The next day, we got to go to Cal Poly SLO to see the stadiums and run the bases. We also did the rounds at the duck pond, chicken coop, and barn...all favorites. The only drawback was that all of the babies got each other sick. I think it was from all the baby kissing; and it lent itself to a lot of coughing and a lot of sleepless nights.

When we got back to Long Beach on Sunday afternoon, dada and I put-up the Christmas lights on the house. No begins my favorite time of the year!