Happy Halloween!

Where he gets it from...

 

 

He may not look exactly like Chase, but now we see where Brice gets his eyes, smile, and hair from...

Brice at 5 months!

It's been a hard month, to say the least, but our sweet little boys provide a good distraction from the sadness. Brice continues to be a joyful baby, but he is growing so fast that I keep calling him my big boy! Yesterday Chase said to me, "I a big boy and Bricey a big boy!"

(Chase did an acoustic performance of Happy Birthday for Brice on his 5 month birthday)

We're still recovering from a stomach bug that hit our household earlier this week, so pictures might be a few days behind.

At 5 months, Brice is:

-Taking a 5-8oz bottle every 2-21/2 hours. He's not nursing as much and even has trouble with the bottle because he is so distracted. There's so much to look at! He also pets my hand while he eats, just like Chase did (does).

-Still takes a solid 60-90 minute nap in the morning and 2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon.

-Waking up every 3 hours at night. His sleep has regressed a bit, probably due to all of our travel. Hopefully he'll get back to a longer stretch of sleep soon. Sadly, I'm not shocked at this.

-Eating more intersting foods! We've added oatmeal, peas, apples, peaches, carrots, and sweet potatoes (as of yesterday) to his menu. He especially loves peas and carrots. Most of his food is still homemade, but the carrots and sweet potatoes have been jarred since we were traveling. Brice loves when we play airplane fork. He's also learning to grab his fork and "feed himself."

-Growing more hair. We like to say he has a proceeding hair line. Sometimes it winds up parted down the middle like one of the three stooges.

-Holding his head up high when he's on his belly. He also scrunches up his legs to move himself a little bit. I'm not in a rush for him to crawl, but Brice clearly wants to move!

-Still loves his exersaucer. He's so tall we had to move him up to the middle level.

-Learning that he can manipulate things with his hands. Brice really concentrates on this, grabs them, and puts them in his mouth or tries to move them. This includes his hanging toys, his exersaucer toys, my hair, my jewelry, and my mouth. You can almost see him understanding that if he grabs something, he can move it. When I'm feeding him, he reaches up and pats my mouth. So sweet.

-Loves to watch videos of himself or "chat" with himself in the mirror. He's belly-laughing, which is so funny.

Brice brings so much joy to our lives. Even at the saddest moments these past couple of weeks, he has brought a smile to my face. We love you so much, Brice!

My Grandma

Grandma was born an unknown number of years ago on Chatterton Avenue in the Bronx. She was the only child of Papa Connie and Grandma Helen, but with many friends and her cousin Dolores, you never would have known she was an only child.  Grandma and Grandpa were childhood friends, but she fell in love with him the first time she saw him in his Navy uniform. They agreed to get married once Grandpa made $50 a week. At the time he was only making $48, so he figured he had some time. A few weeks later when he told Grandma he had gotten a raise, she said "we're engaged!" A few years later Uncle Douglas came along and my mom a few years after that.

 

During those years, they were more than a family of four. The many very close friends they had made an extended family. The kids were the same ages and grew up together. Most of the families belonged to the Morrisania Yacht Club, where the ladies got together with the kids while the men worked.  On the weekends there were parties that started early in the morning and went late into the night. In the 60s they progressive moved to Rockland. Together they celebrated birthdays, holidays, and family milestones. These friends were family. Growing up I didn't know why I had so many aunts and uncles who all looked different, but I counted myself lucky to have such a big family.

 

Grandma and Grandpa never stayed home on a Saturday night. They always enjoyed a party, and were always happy to host. Legend has it that the parties started in the afternoon, lunch was served around 6pm, and dinner was around midnight. Dessert, night-swimming, and night-caps were squeezed in before the sunrise. The biggest party they ever threw was Mom and Dad's wedding. Grandma loved going to weddings and missed only one when she misread the invitation.  Because of this love of weddings Stephen and I and Joey and Meg both got married twice, each with a party. No pressure, Billy. In later years, Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed traveling and going out with the Red Hat Club, the Seniors, and their best friends Aunt Jean and Uncle Bill, Aunt Louise and Uncle Artie, Julie and Jimmy, Kathy and Jack, Marilyn, and whoever else was available.

 

Much of Grandma's life was devoted to caring for her family. She cared for Grandma Annie and then Nana in her home, while balancing a job and kids. After she retired she cared for us, her grandchildren. We spent countless summer days together. She taxied us around and spoiled us with shopping trips and meals out. More recently she cared tirelessly for Grandpa, putting aside her needs to ensure he had a hot breakfast to eat, whatever time he woke up.

 

Grandma had a twinkle in her eye when she smiled. She made you feel like you were the most important person in the world and that your conversation was the highlight of her day. She took time and care and paid attention to everyone she came in contact with. She even left coffee and muffins for the cleaning ladies and insisted that they eat before the leave. Her trail of friends is long.  She is one of the most generous and loyal people I have ever known and these traits made her an easy and endearing friend.

 

Grandma's hair and makeup were always done just so; her house was always kept neat and clean. Its not that Grandma was vain. She just believed that you always wanted to be your best. Grandma pushed us to be our best. When I was in 3^rd grade I wanted to be a teacher, but Grandma told me I had to be the Principal! She worked hard and it paid off. She went back to the telephone company to simply replace an iron, and we all know how important an iron is to Grandma, and worked her way up to management.

 

 

Grandma was an amazing mother. I think both my mom and my Uncle Douglas would call her their best friend. Never an animal lover, she let mom get all the pets she wanted from goldfish to hamsters to guinea pigs to ducks to a horse. Grandma prepared thermoses full of drinks for Uncle Douglas before nights out in the city. She was always knew what her children needed, even if they didn't listen to her.  Mom talked to her every single day after work. I know that's when she'll miss her the most. Grandma treated Dad and Uncle Bob like sons although their piles of Christmas present were never quite as high as Mom and Uncle Douglas.

 

In addition to all of these things, Grandma was an amazing Grandmother. I had a special relationship with her, but so did Joey and Billy. My parents always said I was Grandma's daughter; she taught how to put on makeup, how to keep my naturally blonde hair perfect, and how to shop. Grandma always pushed me to be my best and was the proudest when I graduated from Duke. She was close with my friends and loved hosting the girls when they came to visit in Florida. I was with Grandma and Grandpa the night I met my future husband and he quickly realized that acceptance into the family was granted only by Grandma. Luckily he passed. I paid attention to all of the little details in our wedding not for my friends and my family, because I knew Grandma would notice everything. And she did.

 

Joey, too, had a special relationship with Grandma. He tried so hard but couldn't get back for today, so he asked me to read this:

 

Grandma Joan was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and great
grandmother. She would do anything for anyone and was always up for a
great conversation. From going swimming in the pool, to Christmases and
the epic present opening sessions, to going to stateline,  to having the
usual Sunday dinner at the grandparents, grandma joan was an integral
part of all of our lives. She was very kind with the probably the
biggest heart of anyone I know. She would do anything for anyone. She
loved us all unconditionally and just wanted the best for us all. Some
of my best times and fondest memories of grandma  were when I would go
over and just hang out after one of my Africa trips and we would just
talk for hours and catch up on everything. I would give anything to see
the look of happiness on her face that she had every time the great
grandchildren came over.  


We are all going to miss you grandma. I know that you are in a better
place looking down on us and smiling. We are all lucky to of had you in
our lives and we are all better people for knowing you. I love you and
miss you already

 

 

 

Billy also had a special relationship with Grandma, because he spent the most time with her as a child. She treated Billy to Chinese Food for lunch practically every day before picking us up from school, took him bowling and to the movies. She taught Billy how to read and instilled in him a love of books.  They both loved mysteries: books, shows, and movies.  Billy was always there when Grandma and Grandpa needed him, but Grandma always reciprocated by giving him the biggest pile of presents at Christmas.

 

Her newest role was as Great-Grandmother. I can still remember the look on her face the first time she held Chase, her first great-grandchild. She loved having the kids around, even if they turned meals upside down. She called Addy her little Princess and told me how smart Chase was. Grandma only saw Brice, JW, and Liam a few times, but loved her sweet baby boys. Even when she was sick in the hospital, she wanted to know how the babies were and was worried about how we were all going to fit around the table for Christmas with 5 highchairs…if only the kitchen were three feet longer.

 

There's so much more I want to talk about, from birthday parties to thoughtful and generous Christmas presents to Sunday family dinners, but my time's almost up.

 

I don't know how to say goodbye to my Grandma… so I'm not going to. We'll keep Grandma alive in our hearts. A little part of her will be in all of us and make us better people. We'll tell stories about her so that her great- and great-great-grandchildren know her. But we'll miss her smile, her hug, her laugh, and her warmth. I love you grandma.

Prayers for Grandma

Everyone please send good thoughts and prayers to Grandma Joan. She's facing a tough health battle and could use all the help she can get from both folks down here and the man upstairs.

Love you, Grandma!