The Meeting of the Cousins

The Desch family had quite a weekend... complete with a visit from my sister Jennie, my grandma, my sister Marnie and brother-in-law Chris, and MUCH to my surprise, my sister Carrie and my sister Emily and her precious baby BOY John Gabriel!! John was born on Sept. 14th and I had not yet met him, and was definitely not expecting to meet him until Christmas, but he showed up at our doorstep with his mama and aunt Carrie in tow!! We knew that Jennie, Grandma, Marnie, and Chris were coming and we were already beside ourselves with excitement, but I was absolutely shocked when Emily, Carrie, and John walked in. So the cousins have now met. I think that Howie enjoyed meeting his cousin, who is only 11 weeks younger than he is. Howie was proud to show him the tricks of the trade for when you're four months old. It was so fun to see them together and know that they'll be great buddies as they get older. Howie already has a soft spot for John... at one point in the evening John was crying, and Howie, in an attempt to provide some comfort and communicate that he was empathizing along with him, placed his hand on John's hand and shoulder. When that gesture of caring didn't do the trick to get John to stop crying, Howie started crying too. He truly understands the meaning of rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. We had a wonderful time together.

As you can see from the photo, I have officially tried to give Howie some solid food. And as you can see from the picture, he wasn't jumping for joy at the opportunity to try it. Although he did swallow some, much of it ended up on his bib. I think he is telling me, "Thanks, Mama- that was fun, but I think I'll stick with milk for now." Maybe in a couple of weeks he'll be more eager to try again.

We're doing just fine down here and enjoying the cooler weather... I'm also happy to report that the paci situation has resolved itself for the most part, and Howie is sleeping very well without it. So are we.

Have a wonderful day!