We’re starting to talk with Joel more about his little brother. While on one hand he seems to like the idea of having a baby around (he pretends that his Pooh bear is a baby and will rock it and kiss it) the whole idea of sharing Mommy and Daddy with another permanent addition to the family has been met with slightly less enthusiasm. Here’s a little excerpt from our conversation this morning:

Me: Joel, do you think there will be enough room for mommy & daddy AND Joel AND the baby in mommy & daddy’s bed?
Joel: Um… no…
Me: Should mommy and daddy get a bigger bed?
Joel: (shaking his head) No!
Me: Joel, when your baby brother comes will we be able to SHARE mommy and daddy with the baby?
Joel: (more emphatically) NO!

I don’t know how fair some of these questions are for him, since the reality of having a little brother is probably still slightly outside of his realm of comprehension, but it is telling. Having another one changes the game for everyone. I’ve really enjoyed these last couple years of learning what it’s like to be a parent and Joel has been a great teacher. It’s hard to know what life will be like with another one around… and yet like my Mom would always say, “You can’t imagine loving another one as much as you love the first… but then the second one comes and there’s just more love. You don’t love the first one any less, there’s just more.”

When we last saw our heroes they were hunkered down in University Place, blissfully celebrating Joel’s first birthday, attending the Puyallup fair and other “South Sound” type things. Here’s a bullet style list of what’s happened since then (which should get us back up to speed).

• We spent Christmas in Montana with Gpa & Gma B
  
• We moved from Tacoma to Seattle (Ballard to be precise)
  
• Joel learned his ABCs
  
• We rebuilt our garage
  
• Back to MT, where Gpa B took us for a boat ride
  
• Two words: “Oh shoot”
  
• Joel disgused himself as a giraffe
  
• Pumkin patch pillaging galore
  
  

Last, but certainly not least, we learned that Joel will soon have a little brother! That’s right, we’re expecting again, and another boy at that. While of course we would have been overjoyed either way I must admit I’m glad that we’re having another boy. I know what a blessing it was for me to grow up with brothers and am glad that Joel will have the same opportunity. As for child the third… well we’re just taking it one step at a time.