It’s summer time but the living has not exactly been easy. It’s been busy and fun, but not easy. We kicked the summer off with my birthday extravaganza. The next weekend, Liam and I had a very eventful drive out to Kim and Greg’s in Suffern to play with Ethan and meet little Baby Anna. Baby Anna was gorgeous and tiny and Ethan and Liam played as if they had known each other for ever (they kind of have, but I sort of doubt they remembered each other). Baby Anna and Ethan made the two hours that we were stranded in the Bronx totally worth it!
Then last weekend we headed back to Baltimore for Hannah’s baby shower, Josh’s birthday, and Liam and Sydney’s baptism. It was back to back parties all weekend long. At Hannah’s shower we decorated bibs with Hannah, her adorable belly, Helki, my mom, and a bunch of Hannah’s friends. That night, much later than we had hoped, we popped in over at Josh and Mandy’s and celebrated the last hour of Josh’s birthday with him. Though, the highlight was definitely meeting Teagan. Another new, lovely, tiny baby girl.
The next morning we rolled out of bed and got dressed for church. I had told Jason long ago that if he wanted to have Liam baptized, it would have to be his thing since Quakers (my religion, technically) don’t do baptism. So when Jeff and Angela started preparing for Sydney’s baptism, Jason decided to sneak Liam in as well. On Sunday morning Jason started prepping Liam for what was up ahead. Because, let’s be honest, the child is not really familiar with church. And if you take Liam and put him in a new place, full of new people, and then you try and dump water on his head…. Well, it’s just not a recipe for happiness. But Jason did a good job telling him what to expect and by the time we arrived at church Liam was telling everyone he was going to get "water on my head" today. Then Jason and I took him to the back of the church where the water is and showed him the “statue” where the head-watering would take place. Reverend Flo met us back there and greeted Liam who told her to “go away”. Uh oh. But the service started and Liam sat with Jason and was pretty happy to listen to the music and take it all in. By the time Flo called us up to the front Liam jetted up ahead of us to sprint down the isle (the same isle I walked down to marry Jason not that long ago. Sniff sniff). After the initial presentation of both kids, we headed to the back of the church where Jason poured the water into the basin. It was nice and quiet in the church as Liam shouted “I need to see the water!” I quietly reminded him that Sydney would have her turn first and then he’d be up. Sydney took the “water on HER head” like a pro. And just as Jeff and Angela turned to step down, Liam yelled “MY TURN!”. That got a chuckle from the crowd. As we stepped up to the water, Liam dipped his hands in, lifted them up, and poured the water onto his own head. He did the job himself! But Flo finished it up with three additional handfuls of water, much to Liam’s delight. I was shocked. Not only did he endure the whole ritual, he actually enjoyed it. And he certainly embraced having the attention of the entire congregation on him. The kid can certainly turn it on when he wants to. After the baptism, we headed back to Jeff and Angela’s for some lunch, drinks, and family time. I know Jeff and Jessica will be wonderful Godparents to Liam. As he grows up, it will be nice for him to have others adults to count on, besides his dear parents. Someone will have to buy him beer. It's not going to be us. And one more thing…. We learned that Sydney and Liam are the 5th generation of the Jason’s family to be baptized in that same church. Pretty amazing.
This weekend we mostly were hunkered down at home and celebrated father’s day with Jason. Our main outing yesterday was to attend Simon’s Fabulous Firefighter Third Birthday Party, where Liam had a blast to say the least.
Today we rode our bikes around the neighborhood and ate pizza in the park. On the ride home this evening, we passed a drum circle. Liam demanded to stop, get down from his bike seat, and then join the dancers. Not bad for a white boy!
Drum Circle from Nina Philipsen Hetzner on Vimeo.
After the zoo, we stayed in Baltimore through the weekend. Now we’re counting down to our beach vacation. Five more days till fresh air, sunshine, swimming, biking, and relaxation!
