Chillaxin'

What better place to relax while Mom hangs up the laundry?





(Thanks Lala!)

No Pressure or Anything...

David's only already gotten a tattoo of Danny's future Padres number...




(Thanks Nana!)

side by side

Our Little Movie Star

So about a week ago I get an email asking if little Matty wanted to be in a music video being directed by this guy.

I wasn't sure, since I have vowed never to let any of my children ever ever be in any kind of movie/commercial/photography thing after seeing how difficult and - frankly - strange many child actors and their parents are.

But Michel (yes, I feel I can call him that, after our hug...) directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which was my favorite movie that year and still remains one of my absolute favorites. Beyond that, he's considered the most acclaimed music video director IN THE WORLD. Honestly. He did this video.

All of this, plus the fact that they couldn't find any other fresh baby with one day's notice (go figure!), and we decided, oh what the heck. That and Michel called me himself to beg. When he insisted it would be only an hour and "a very sweet adventure," I relented. Who isn't a pushover for a soft-spoken Frenchman?

(Although David had me call back to make sure they wouldn't "put anything on the baby" - to simulate an actual birth. Listening to Michel's response was worth all of it, frankly. "OH NO!" he exclaimed.)

So we show up to the production office that they've quickly dressed to look like a hospital room. One of the singers is about to give birth, so the video culminates in her giving birth to Matty, natch. She's up in stirrups, it's a little surrealistic and very, very low-tech. Gondry is working the camera himself, and it's a hand-cranked Bolex, meaning he can only shoot about a minute at a time without having to re-crank. The music playback is happening on a good old fashioned boombox.

I should say that Matty's been a little fussy around eating - I think I'm making too much milk, and he's gulping it down, leaving him with a lot of gas. We have to burp Matty for about 15 minutes to avoid massive spitups/crying. So we were a little worried about how he'd do.

Well, he seems to take after his brother - three beautiful ladies holding him and he was happy as a clam. Didn't hurt that they were singing to him either.

Bottom line - he was amazing. Mellow as can be for the hour they needed him, charmed everybody, and it went great. Got a hug from Mr. Gondry when we left, what else could I ask for?

Here are some pictures of Matty and the band:



During the shooting:



And everybody:



And here is the song performed live - so cute, huh?

The Living Sisters - How Are You Doing? - Luxury Wafers Sessions from Luxury Wafers on Vimeo.

Blankie

Heather made Matty this blanket and it is our absolute favorite. Matty's too!

Danny and His Buddies Turn Two!

This Sunday the April dudes in my mom's group had their birthday party. It was quite a treat to get out of the house and let Danny romp around with his buddies.

Young Daniel showed up looking quite fetching in his chapeau...



And promptly got in line behind the tow-headed Dashiell at the t-ball set.





Here is Emerson, the third little one celebrating his birthday this month! His mom and dad hosted the party in nearby Culver City.



And here is Raiss, who's had so much trouble with his tummy but is finally on the mend - hooray Raiss!



And here is that rascal Cooper, who I think it's safe to say is Danny's best friend and Troublemaker #2.



Here Danny snacks while Cooper considers pulling some puppy dog tails.



Matty was a hit, as he slept bundled up like a Norwegian baby outside of a store.



Here is the delicious cake..



Note the three firemen (Mom, don't laugh).



As everybody was getting ready to sing to them, Danny dove hands-first into the cake, and was pretty upset when I had to pull him away...



And the icing left him looking like he went a few rounds...



But all was better once the dudes started pushing each other up and down the street in the wagon.





A wonderful time was had by all. Happy birthday, big guy! You're not a baby anymore...you're a wonderful little boy and big brother.

LALA

Lala just left...we are all very sad. Thank you so much for coming out to help us with Matty...



And giving Danny his very first chocolate cream puff...







We love you!

Bruddas

This morning, after we weighed Matt (thankfully, we haven't had to worry about him getting enough to eat like we were with Dan), Danny climbed up into the glider and was holding the nursing pillow and announced that he wanted to "feed the baby". Or, at the very least, hold the baby.

Another Bath???

So we didn't escape the pustules with poor Matty either, leaving us giving poor guy a bath three times a day, ointment and oral antibiotics. Happy to say he's on the mend.

But he's not yet a big fan of the 11pm soak...

Minneapolis Stylin'

Along with a tres cool outfit for young Matty (who is sleeping at the moment), the Burmans sent this hat for Danny - forget it!!

Aw.

That's My Baby Brother

Happy Easter (a day late)

Matty

Well, just to continue the "holy cow this is easier the second time"...

Follow up doctor's appointment today was a breeze.

"Anything else?"
"Nope."
"Great."

[Stunned silence and disbelief.]

The touch of jaundice is quickly fading, he's hardly lost any weight, everything is going just fine. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, simultaneously feeling so much empathy for wee Daniel and how traumatic it was for all of us (including him!) in the beginning last time. The doctor said, "you look so relaxed," and all I could think was how UN-relaxed we were first time around.

Well, it's been a blessing, and I'll take it.

Pops left today and I think there's no question he was critical to the transition here. We have a phenomenal book (given to us by Susan and Gary) that explains a new baby coming home, and the illustrations happen to have a grandfather coming to take care of the older son when the parents go to the hospital. At some point, seemingly when the phone call comes that the child has been born, the grandfather waves his arms in joy.

Apparently, all day when we were about to come home from the hospital, Danny kept asking Pops, "wave your arms?" - and when we brought Matty home, Danny waited and watched very carefully, and once Pops waved his arms, it seemed that all was well in the world.

Danny's been really, really great with Matty. He seems delighted by him and a bit protective. Today at the doctor's, he was not happy when the doctor seemed to be making Matty cry. Every now and then Matty's baby cries make Danny yell out in a bit of either competitive or empathetic cry (which has the effect of a chorus of insanity), but otherwise no major regression or jealousy (yet)...

Thanks to you all for the well-wishes and prayers and support. We love you.

(Note: to fully understand and enjoy the video, keep in mind Danny calls his belly button his "oatmeal" after one day finding a small piece of oatmeal in his own belly button.)

While we were at the hospital

Danny was hangin' with Mr. Cooper and those two are a couple of nutballs.




Dan also explains how rockets work:

wait for it...

More Matthew, please

Look like another baby we know?