"Baby Ray popped out of Mommy's belly!"

Maybe it wasn't quite as simple as that, but that's how Leon explained it to all of us when he met his new brother. He's usually more interested in the things than the people, but even mechanically-minded Leon knew this was a big moment. He kept repeating his explanation of how Baby Ray turned from a much-discussed myth supposedly related to the bump in Mommy's belly to the tiny person he held on his lap:

"Baby Ray popped out of Mommy's belly!"

 "...Baby Ray popped out of Mommy's belly!"

...Okay, someone else can hold this now... (His exact words were "Want me to hold it!" which was how he indicated that Daddy, who he hears calling himself "me", should take his brother away from him so he could examine the hospital scanners.)

Me: "Leon, did you know that when I was born, that's when Daddy became a big brother, just like you did today when baby Ray was born?"

Leon: "Banana!"

Historical note: when he first met me, 3 1/2 year old Russ took off his pants and pooped on the floor.

His son Leon seemed a lot more amenable to having a new sibling. 

My earlier visit with Ray the morning he was born, October 31st. Yes, a Halloween birthday! His cousins Demitri and Johannes were envious.

I wish I had a photo of Cee to show you, too -- she was absolutely glowing. I felt so lucky to get to visit with the three of them in the first few hours of Ray's life. Both Cee and Ray were doing so well. We were all so grateful and happy!

Leon welcomes Baby Ray home for the first time:  

 

 

 

Proud Daddy with his new son!

Meanwhile, I left for two weeks the day after Ray was born. By then, Cee's mother, Janice, was staying with the family and it would have been a bit crowded with all of us. (More about my amazing two weeks in another post.)

When I returned, Baby Ray had his eyes open a lot more often:

Most of all, throughout this whole adventure, I got to spend a lot of time with big brother Leon, picking him up from "school," learning how to open and close an umbrella, practicing jumping, etc. The first words out of his mouth most mornings were, "Wanna play the guitar!" I can relate to that...

Aunt Amanda holds the chord shapes, Leon strums like crazy.

So his parents got him a Leon-sized guitar, with which we passed many happy hours. This kid has a seriously long attention span.

If you want to see what a two-and-a-half year old rock star looks like, check this out (only 25 seconds long):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC6FxOv8MVQ

As for MY mommy and daddy, Papa Jerry and Grandma Judy arrived from Boston a few days before Thanksgiving. This is on the way back from the community garden, where Leon really enjoys the hoses:

High five?

Thanks to Russ, Cee, and Dad for these photos!