Really Cool

This has nothing to do with John aside from the fact that the thingees on the float are singing the theme song from The Courtship of Eddie's Father...even that's a stretch since it was a show I watched long ago and I have been known to respond to Eddie; however, Rick Astley popping up out of nowhere really makes this the greatest thing to hit the Macy's parade since Mr. Pitt got the chance to hold one of the ropes on the Underdog balloon on Seinfeld.

Poopie Pooperson

Our dear sweet boy with his freshly washed hair wound up with poop in his hair this afternoon. We were over at the Hasenberg residence for their annual after Thanksgiving open house. The chili was excellent. Anywho, as I'm holding John, I feel several bursts from his rear as he's starting to grunt. I knew full well that he was in the midst of a bowel movement; however, something felt a little different. I was quite hopeful that it was a normal movement, but it was far from it.

As I went to change him, I noticed that his feculence (it is a word. look it up.) had passed over the edge of his diaper and he'd soiled his onesie. I immediately asked Maureen to come help me since I'm useless when it comes to such odd occurrences. I can deal with normal movements, but not this one.

Maureen immediately took charge and removed the onesie. Unfortunately, a bit of his ordure (look it up) got onto his hair. I didn't notice until we took him out to the kitchen and I saw what I thought was dandruff. No, it sure wasn't dandruff. It was dried poop. I had to use soap, water, and a paper towel for a good five minutes before I was satisfied that it was clean.

The moral of the story is to always follow your instinct. I knew that something was wrong and I was tempted to ask Maureen to change him, but no!!!!!!! I decided to be a decent fellow and change the diaper by myself. Next time I get that feeling, I'll be sure to pass him along to Maureen.

At least, John made a good impression on the Brady side of the family. They all seemed to like him. How could they not? He's a precious angel...and, he's going to play the baby Jesus in the school pageant. His cousin, Brady, is going to be one of the shepards. It'll be an all Brady Christmas pageant.

BTW, the photo is post hair cleaning. Do you think I'd show a photo of the golden child with dung in his hair?

Johnny Sings the Classics

After chomping on his finger for a while, John decides to provide lyrics to accompany a few classical compositions.

Target Jammies

Johnny Johnnersson is wearing some PJs we purchased at Target. Guess what size he's wearing? He's wearing 12-month pajamas. What the deuce? Unless he's figured out a way to bend the space time continuum, he's not even 5-months.

Our Boy

His hair is getting quite long. We don't know what to do with it. It's good that he's happy with it right now. I wonder how he's going to deal with his first hair cut. He's still too young to go to Jerry's on Larchmont, but he'll get there soon enough.

The Boy In The Bubble

I laughed when I saw that Maureen had purchased a stroller cover, but I was quite thankful that she did since it actually rained heavily yesterday. According to Maureen, strangers gave many compliments about the cover. I'm just glad he was OK with it. He can be a bit ornery when he's in a new situation.

Johnny Rotten?

Is this a sign of things to come? Sharon says that he has a devilish look in his eyes. I thought that Fr. Nguyen had done an exorcism on the boy before he baptized him last week. Actually, he only gets that way when he gets really hungry. What's the lesson learned? FEED THE BOY ON TIME!!!

Little Man's Growing Up

Look, he can hold his bottle. Soon, he'll be able to make his own bottle.

Johnny On The Road

Last weekend, we had the distinct honor and pleasure to be invited to Little Ann and Thomas' wedding. Since the wedding was at the Ventura Mission, we decided to take a weekend trip out in the area. We stayed at the Embassy Suites at Mandalay Beach. The decor at the hotel could use a bit of an upgrade, but it was nice enough, breakfast was included, and the Manager's Reception in the evening included an open bar from 5:30 to 7:30 (Sorry Marty, you could only get two drinks at a time). If you are looking for a family friendly place on the beach, try the Embassy Suites in Oxnard. Plus, you can stop in and buy some strawberries on your way home from the fruit stands.

Anywho, John was a bit of a terror. He had trouble sleeping in his pack and play, but that's to be expected. The mattress is a bit hard on it Friday night, he woke up every couple of hours. Saturday night was a different matter. He woke up every hour and just wanted to wail and wail as if someone were pinching him. Still, he's our special little guy and we knew what we were getting ourselves into.

So, Saturday started nicely. We went to the Surf Room for some breakfast. It was a nice FULL breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, potatoes, fruit, cereal, and breads. I chawed on my bacon. John enjoyed a nice bottle of fomula. Maureen decided to go get some photos on the beach. All went well when we took photos on the Presidential Lawn as you can see from the photo on the left. As we went to take a walk am Strand, as the Germans would say, our Maureen aka Tumbelina slipped and fell to the ground. Unfortunately, John was in her arms. Fortunately, Maureen's protective instict kicked in and she pulled him into her body and made sure that he wasn't hurt at all. I saw his head come within 3 inches of the pavement, but his mother did a great job. Sadly, Maureen sustained some horrible abrasions on her knee and foot. Consequently, we made the decision to go to the wedding, but the reception would have been too much for her leg to take (sorry Mr. & Mrs. Diaz and the new Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Heaphy for not attending, but the poor woman was limping around like an old man with arthritis (says the 35-year old with arthritis)).

So, it was a bittersweet time, but John did get to wear his Florence Eiseman outfit that Maureen originally purchased for the after party of his baptism, but it was too hot on the 15th. Take a look and enjoy the golden child in his fancy lad clothes. Sunday afternoon, he went to Cousin Adriana's birthday. She says that his special name is Juanito. I always tell her that his name is John, but she says she likes to call him Juanito. How do I tell a 4-year old that she can't call her baby cousin a special name? I can't. I'm a sucker for small kids.

Happy Birthday Cousin Adrianita

John's very happy to wish his cousin a very happy birthday. She had a great birthday party yesterday. John had so much fun.

The End of a Long Weekend

It's been a long weekend and now it'll be the start of a new week. Let's hope things go as well as they did for the baptism. Here are a couple of shots of John unwinding. We're still trying to get his hair clean after the baptism, but it'll take a couple more days before we can stop calling him a Greaser.

By the way, guess who's baptism was the first announcement at the end of mass today? That's right, Fr. Truc congratulated us on John's big day.

The Wit & Wisdom of Matthew David Gonzalez

MD Gonzalez is also known as my Godson. This is a photo from his time of service as a ring bearer at our wedding. He's a little older than this photo, but he looks quite sharp in this photo.

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of being entertained with his charm and style. On the drive over to the luncheon, we had this following exchange:

Ed: Matthew, are you going to have some aye aye aye sauce (his term for hot sauce)?

Matthew: No, I've tried that once and I'm never going to try aye aye aye sauce ever again.

Maureen: But, Matthew, aye aye aye sauce will put hair on your chest.

Matthew: Well, I'm not going to eat any.

Ed: Don't you want hair on your chest.

Matthew: Well, yes, I do want hair on my chest, but I don't want to get it that way.

As if that wasn't enough to entertain, later he gave us these good words after he'd given a piece of cake to someone:

Matthew: I just gave a piece of cake to an elderly person. May I have some?

That boy is going places.

Limbo No More

Yesterday, John was finally baptized. I was very concerned that he'd wind up in Limbo if he were to die unbaptized (catechism will do that to you).
It was a lovely day. John woke up at 6 AM and was ready to go. No amount of hugging or patting his back would get the young lad to go back to sleep. It was as if he knew something big was going to happen. He was just soooooooooooooooooooo excited and happy.



Whilst Maureen and I finalized preparations, he did settle down enough to allow me to step out and buy way too much ice for the reception. If you ever need to buy 20-lbs bags of ice, go to Smart and Final. They open at 7 AM every day of the week. Maureen took care of giving him a bath and washing his hair. We wanted him to look extra special on this big day.

At the Church, we had to dress John in his baptismal gown. DON'T CALL IT A DRESS!! It was a special gown that Grammy Brady picked up in Ireland at the behest of Maureen. It'll be passed on through the generations in the family. One day, his children will be baptized in the gown. Doesn't he look like a little choir boy who sings at Midnight Mass at the Vatican?


For the most part, John was silent during the ceremony. Fr. Truc did a very good job and spoke about love and responsibility. He did something that I don't recall happening at other baptisms (then again, I really haven't been paying attention at other baptisms). He gave John a quick exorcism...Original Sin and all, you know. Then, he went into the Rite of Baptism and did the traditional pouring water on the head. John did not like that. He started to fuss. The only times he gets his hair wet is during tubby time and he likes to get his head massage. After that, he anointed John's head with oil. Now, I thought Fr. Truc would trace the sign of the cross on John's head with the oil...OH NO, HE DUMPED A LITTLE TIN OF OIL ON HIS HEAD (See picture at the end)!!! Our John was actually ok with that. He really didn't cry much aside from getting the water on his head.



The reception at the Brady manse was lovely. It was a hot day, but it wasn't unbearable. Everyone lunched on sandwiches from Larchmont Village Wine, Cheese, and Spirits and pizza from Village Pizzeria (honestly, the pizza was for the kids). We had a lovely cake from Hansen's Bakery. Maureen told them NOT to put the fake Bible or Rosary on the cake, but they didn't listen. Oh well, Life goes on. As for presents, John made out like a bandit. He received several frames, some money for his college fund, and some great books. All in all, I'd have to say it was good day (thanks to Ice Cube for that line).






Now for greasy little John. We call him Ponyboy in this shot. (his hair has been washed since this photo was taken):

Happy Birthday Uncle Robert!!!

Just a Good Shot of John

John and Milo

Our John has a new favorite friend. He's a monkey named Milo. We showed it to John and he was just as gleeful as can be (Obviously, not in this shot. I think he knew he was going to the doctor. He prescient like that).

John just loves monkeys. We may have to buy him one when he's older. I don't know where we'll house a monkey, but we're creative.

Rolling Stone

Just yesterday, Maureen and I were speaking about the fact that our John hadn't rolled over on his own. It was of some concern; however, what did he do this morning before his doctor's appointment? It looks like he'll be rolling with the homies whenever he wants at this point!!

Four Month Check Up

Our John had a visit with Dr. K today. Everything is just fine with our strapping young lad...aside from a mild case of ringworm (don't worry, it'll be gone soon enough).

John is currently 15-lbs 7-oz. That's a 3-lbs weight gain in 2-months. Dr. K was quite impressed. He's 26.25 inches long. That's about an inch that he's grown. He just keeps on growing and growing.

Sadly, he had to get some vaccinations. He had the typical delayed reaction once the needle went into his left leg. As the needle went into his right leg, John did something that the nurse had never experienced: He grabbed the needle and wouldn't let go. We should have known that he'd be trouble when he mooned the doctor that delivered him.

Peek a Boo!!!

For Immediate Release!!!

Los Angeles, CA - After days of tense negotiations, we are proud to announce that our John has accepted the role of Baby Jesus in the St. A's Christmas Pagent. John will be following in the footsteps of such people as Ted Neely and Sebastian Bach as he brings his own interpretation to the role.

When asked his feelings, John replied, "Right now, I'm feeling overwhelmed. I've always thought that we could all be a little more like JC...no, not a Jewish carpenter, but a genuinely good man who did what was right. I hope that I can do justice to the role because I plan to play him like Jesus in a tuxedo t-shirt. You know, I'm looking formal, but I'm here to party.* As long as my co-stars aren't glue sniffing teens, I'll be fine."

*Thanks to the writers of Talladega Nights for the Jesus in a t-shirt line.

Secret Negotiations

As I stated in an earlier post, there are some serious negotiations going on regarding a star in a MAJOR stage production for our John! We're still going over contracts, but we should be able to make an announcement shortly. The role he'll be playing is one that he was born to play.

Others have played this role, but our John will bring that certain something extra that no other actor has. I'd say if you could win an Oscar for best stage performance ever, it would go to John. Anywho, enough of my crowing. Be on the lookout for the official announcement.

It's gonna be hot!!!

Barack Baby?

A couple of weeks ago, we were at Trader Joe's and one of the workers was just enchanted by our John. She fawned all over him and said the following:

Oh, you're an Obama Baby. Only ten more days Obama Baby.

I don't think John's an Obama Baby. When he heard Fox News project that Obama had won the state of Ohio, our John spat up all over my shoulder. I think he really felt bad for Sheppard Smith since he had to deliver the news.

I'd hate to see if the state of California doesn't agree with JD's views on the propositions. Either, he'll throw up all over the place, or he'll pull off his diaper after a bowel movement. I don't think I could deal with either!

Happy Birthday to You!!!

Happy Birthday Cousin Alexis Kiev Lowther...at least, I'm pretty sure today is your birthday. When he's older, Johnny will sing November Spawned a Monster to you. After all, your coolest uncle, Uncle Eddie Sir, says that is your theme song. If the Minister of Cool says it, then it must be true. Fret not, it's a Morrissey song. It's rufus to have a Morrissey or The Smiths theme song.

Why, it was only a 15-years ago that your brother, Dillon, traded you to Uncle Eddie Sir for a bag of spicy peanuts. Your mother and father have done a nice job in rearing you properly.

We'll get new photos of the two of you together later this evening. He won't be Johnny mittens and he'll be freshly bathed. We do like to make a good impression.

JDG is The Black Cat

JDG made it over to the St. A's Halloween Parade. He had a grand old time as a black cat. His mother had fun as pajama party girl.

A special announcement may be forthcoming in the next day or so. John has been asked to participate in a special event and I need to make sure no glue sniffing teens are involved. I can't stand glue sniffing teens.