Katie's baptism day

Here's a picture of Katie on her baptism day, Dec. 19. She's wearing a baptism dress that is almost 100 years old -- it was first worn by her great-great-grandmother Margaret in 1909.


the newest Christian

Another Nickname

Mr. Pickles forgot to mention one more nickname: Katie Kaboom (a character from good ol' Animaniacs). This is a very versatile name b/c it can either refer to her Kaboom hair, or her other end (she's already gotten the wall once)....

Pick Catherine's New Nickname

So you've always wanted to give your friend or family member a nickname, but you never had the opportunity or creative knack to devise a name. Or perhaps you never had that runty little brother whom you could pick on, for which a nickname would have been appropo. Well, here's your opportunity to help us pick a new nickname for our daughter. The following list contains the potential nicknames for Catherine.

• Katie--Obvious and unoriginal. It will never stand out in this Brave New World of beloved novelty. However, the name is a classic, and it has some good history in our families (particularly on Mrs. Pickles side of the family). More "original" names appear below. An excellent name that could never be wrong.
• Katie Bear--Read the post from 12/13/2004 and look at the picture in that post to understand how this name came about. With such a fuzzy head of hair, we couldn't help but think of a fuzzy bear.
• B.C.--Abbreviation for Baby Catherine. It may also be used as a nickname for Miriam--an abbreviation for Before Catherine.
• Ben--The first name of Ben Wallace. Why on earth would we use an NBA star's name for a nickname? Look at Katie's picture.

Now compare that hair with this picture of Ben. The resemblance from the forehead up is uncanny, isn't it?

• The Chin--A name used for her alterego if she ever decides to don black tights and join the crime fighting circuit. ("Not until your 18, young lady!") Given the additional chin(s) it's an appropriate name. Her likely superpowers include irresistible cuteness combined with projectile vomiting--a deadly combination.
• The Grunt--An alternate name for her alterego. Her superpower is the ability to shock any person into submission with noises that seem to defy the laws of physics. For instance, noises that you would only expect to come from a much larger individual. Exhibit A: Catherine falling asleep. ("wheez, wheez, whine, GRUUUUUUNNNNNNTTT!!!!")
• Don--Short for Don King. Look at the hair again. That comparison should adequately inform you on the inspiration for this nickname.

That is the sum total of our current nicknames. Tell us your favorite in the comments below.

Katie at one month

Here's a photo of Catherine taken yesterday, on her One Monthday. :) She now weighs in at 10 lbs.! (She's got the extra chin to prove it, too.) We just moved her up to size 1 diapers. *sigh* They grow up so fast!

I got her to smile by having Miriam come over and talk to her -- Katie is absolutely fascinated by Miriam. It's neat watching their relationship develop already -- often when Katie is crying, she'll be comforted by Miriam just coming up, holding her hand, and talking to her. (usually something along the lines of, "Baby, it's okay. I know, I know. It's okay. You hungwy? I know.")

And why "Bear", do you ask? Just look at the hair! She's our fuzzy little baby bear. :)


Katie Bear -- 1 mo. 

Latest Miriam Sayings

(We had this mostly written out a month ago, just didn't finish it & post it until now!)

It's fun watching something learn to put a language together from the bottom up. It's so obvious to us how much Miriam learns from copying our phrases. The problem is she doesn't always quite get it right – for example she'll say something like, “Bear, you happy to see me, don't you.” We've also been working on getting her to say “may I” instead of “can I” -- but the end result has been, “Can I may?” Another hilarious question she asks is “What's that thing?” It doesn't sound funny unless you understand she's referring to a person. Once we had a salesman knock on our door, and as he was leaving, Miriam called after him, “Mommy, what's that thing?” I tried to cover up by saying, “You mean, who's that person?” but I was still SOOO embarrassed.

Miriam knows her numbers, and she can count to ten, but we're still working on counting things. When she wants to count a number of things, she invariably says, “1, 3, 2, 1. Look, Mommy! I got twos!” -- regardless of the actual number of things. (at least she understands about plural endings!)

Miriam was a banaleena for Halloween (i.e., ballerina), “an' wear pwetty shoes an' say twick o tweat an' get candy and chocate!”

You already know that Miriam is fairly musical. Mealtimes seem to be the most creative time for her. The other day she was singing the Tantum Ergo very devoutly, then all of a sudden started yelling “Q! Caw! S! T! Voo! V!” (part of her version of the alphabet)
Another mealtime religious favorite of hers of late is singing the Alleluia, then saying “Lord be wis you an also wis you, God bess you, Fadder, Hoy Speet, Amen,” then singing the Alleluia again. (we're not sure what happened to the Second Person of the Trinity...)
She also loves the alphabet tune – often we hear her singing nonsense syllables to that tune, or singing about whatever she's doing. We think she's living in a perpetual musical. This evening she was singing, “I'm a noono, I'm a noono,” while dancing one of her noodles around the rim of her cup. (after which she devoured it with a snarling sound)

Miriam will often comment on her crying episodes as soon as the storm clouds clear. For example, before her tears are even dry she'll say something like, “Meenum's cwying kabuzz no wanta eata oatmeal.” (Kabuzz is her cute version of “because” -- our favorite of her words so far!)

Not only do Miriam's hands not seem to know what the other is doing, but they seem to be downright hostile towards each other. For example, her fingers regularly fight over her sippy cups. So we're teaching them to take turns poking themselves into the sippy spout, but I guess they're slow learners: “Okay, dis hand's turn. No! Stop dat! Nauny [naughty -- said with lips puckered] hand! [smack smack smack] Dis hand need to share.”

It's a good thing that Miriam and her cousin Edy get along so well in real life, because Edy gets a lot of abuse in Miriam's imagination! Often Miriam will be playing quietly, then all of a sudden we'll hear her yelling, “Edy, no! No, Edy! Stop it! I'ma smack you! You being nauny! You need a time out!” (we're a little worried about the smacking part, since she doesn't have any contact with anyone who hits, at least as far as we know!) Of course, she also says the same things to her various stuffed animals. I guess she's just practicing for her younger sibling. ;)
I suppose one of the things Miriam likes most about her friendship with Edy is Edy's vast amount of wealth – this evening we were informed that “Edy has a bicy-o [bicycle], Edy has a bacuum, Edy has a lawnmoweh – Edy has LOTS of things!” Edy also has small versions of everything, apparently – we'll be reading a book together, and: “Look, Mommy, elephant! Edy has a little elephant.” Or we'll be driving in the car: “Look, a mocyco [motorcycle]! Edy has a little mocyco.” However, “Edy doesn't have a car. SOMEday Edy have a car.”

Our New Daughter

Here are some pictures of our daughter. She was born at 7:30 am on Friday, and she weighed in at 7 lbs. 5 oz. and a little over 20 inches long.

A close up of our daughter with her customary hospital baby hat.



A picture of Mrs. Pickles looking radiant and beautiful (of course!) about 12 hours after the birth.



A picture of our new daughter on the scale about 30 minutes after birth. You should be able to see the weight on the scale in the lower left-hand portion of the picture. Check out all of that hair. Makes me (Mr. Pickles) envious! :)



Another pic of Katie on the scale. We love this shot of her. She just looks so fresh and new! The "baby Lojack" on her cord stump is a tracking device the hospital puts on all newborns now, for extra security.


CL w/her "baby Lojack"

And finally, here's a picture of our eldest daughter with Mom. She's hamming it up as usual, though it did take a little while until she warmed up to the situation (a new rival and all).

I hope you all enjoy the pictures. We'll try to put up a summary of the birth story as soon as possible. Thank you for your love and prayers.

Spring and Fall

On Sunday, the priest in our parish gave a good homily (judging by the bits I heard inbetween caring for my daughter) on the month of November. The gist of the homily was that this month is spent on focusing upon our death, our final end. What will that final end be? What will that end bring for us? He stated that throughout the Sunday's in November The Church continues to focus upon the theology of death. What does death mean for us as Christians?

I recall one of my professors in college spending some time talking about this topic in class. He talked about the paradox that death brings to life. In youth hope continues to spring up. There is no confrontation with death, and little thought about death. The site of life brings joy and an experience of beauty. However, the experience of death causes us to mourn and question that joy. Life gives joy and hope, yet it also causes us to mourn when we acknowledge its finitude. Why should something so beautiful not last forever? There lies the echo of God in our hearts, and a calling from Him to come closer. I found this attitude best described in the following poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins. I often comes to my mind when I must rake leaves during the fall (as I did yesterday).

Márgarét, are you gríeving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leáves, líke the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! ás the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you wíll weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sórrow's spríngs áre the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It ís the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.

A young child encountering the death of something beautiful. Isn't that like us? God's children in a world full of beauty and Himself, yet also full of death. "Yet you will weep, and know why." We know why we weep. We know why we sorrow. Death will come. It will come for all of us. The beauty we see will perish, and we weep. But we will soon weep tears of joy when ushered before He who IS beauty, and our sorrow will be no more.

During this month of November, may we all remember our final end--and the final joy that should accompany it.

Christ's Peace,

Happy Halloween!

Aren't we just the scariest family? (L-R: hippie mama, "ballaneena," and Mr. Math -- he's holding an Operations Research textbook, for those who want to know)

Trick or Treat! 


We apparently won some neighbors' informal pumpkin carving contest with this incredibly inside-joke pumpkin. :) (no one else got it, but several trick-or-treaters said they thought it looked cool) Next year we want to do TROGDORRRRRRRR.

"Hi, I'm Marshie!" 

Listen to Bill!

For once I agree with Clinton.
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Also from WSJ's Best of the Web

"Snivel Discourse"

Bill Clinton was campaigning in Philadelphia the other day, and he had this to say: "If one candidate is trying to scare you and the other is trying to get you to think, if one candidate is appealing to your fears and the other one is appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the one who wants you to think and hope."

It's hard to argue with that. So, who is the candidate of hope, and who is the candidate of fear? For an answer, we turn to Slate, the online magazine, which asked each of its staff and contributors to make the case for Kerry (an intern provides the pro-Bush counterpoint). Reading their endorsements, a clear theme emerges:

Paul Berman: "The prospect of tumbling down the stairs for four more years has got me scared out of my wits. Better Kerry, then."

Kris Fritz: "If Bush gets re-elected, I might have to change citizenship and move to another country."

Mickey Kaus: "I think Bush is prosecuting the fight against terrorism in a way that will make us dramatically less safe. . . . Let the world calm down so that fewer people hate us."

Laura Kipnis: "The rest of the world sees Bush for exactly who he is, which unfortunately ups the danger level for all of us."

Josh Levin: "If Kerry gets elected, the world will be just a bit less dangerous, and I'm all for baby steps away from mutual assured destruction."

Jill Hunter Pellettieri: "I fear what another four years of Bush's myopic worldview would bring to our country and the world."

Laurie Snyder: "Another four years with Bush-Cheney at the helm is a terrifying prospect."

Seth Stevenson: "The Bush administration frigging TERRIFIES me. . . . They literally make me fear for the fate of the world."

Louisa Herron Thomas: "I wish I didn't fear for the safety and health of myself, my country, and my planet. Under Bush, I do."

Julia Turner: "I think Bush is bad for the country and the world--and for me. He has put my lungs at risk. He has put my reproductive rights at risk. He has put my retirement at risk. He has put my friends at risk, by sending them to Iraq on false pretenses. He has put all of our lives at risk."

It seems clear, then, that when Clinton urged Americans to vote for the candidate of hope not fear, he was endorsing President Bush. But ostensibly he was campaigning for Kerry; this photo depicts Kerry as a teenager excited that he's standing next to a rock star. Oh well, Clinton always had a talent for making people on all sides think he agreed with them.

Endorsements for John Kerry

Courtesy of WSJ's Best of the Web
compiled by James Taranto

"I know few people enthused about John Kerry. His record is undistinguished, and where it stands out, mainly regrettable. He intuitively believes that if a problem exists, it is the government's job to fix it. He has far too much faith in international institutions, like the corrupt and feckless United Nations, in the tasks of global management. He got the Cold War wrong. He got the first Gulf War wrong. His campaign's constant and excruciating repositioning on the war against Saddam have been disconcerting, to say the least. I completely understand those who look at this man's record and deduce that he is simply unfit to fight a war for our survival. They have an important point--about what we know historically of his character and his judgment when this country has faced dire enemies. His scars from the Vietnam War lasted too long and have gone too deep to believe that he has clearly overcome the syndrome that fears American power rather than understands how to wield it for good."--Andrew Sullivan, endorsing John Kerry, The New Republic, Oct. 26

"I can't remember ever voting for anybody I disliked as much as I do John Kerry, at least not for president, but vote for him I will. I didn't have much use for Al Gore either, but I don't remember any real sense of hostility before punching the hole next to his name. . . . I can't persuade anybody to vote for a candidate for whom I can muster so little enthusiasm, but there must be an awful lot of people out there who are going to cast votes next week for Kerry who are, like me, discouraged by the prospect and needing one of those you-are-not-alone talks."--Mark Brown, endorsing John Kerry, Chicago Sun-Times, Oct. 27

"I remain totally unimpressed by John Kerry. Outside of his opposition to the death penalty, I've never seen him demonstrate any real political courage. His baby steps in the direction of reform liberalism during the 1990s were all followed by hasty retreats. His Senate vote against the 1991 Gulf War demonstrates an instinctive aversion to the use of American force, even when it's clearly justified. Kerry's major policy proposals in this campaign range from implausible to ill-conceived. He has no real idea what to do differently in Iraq. His health-care plan costs too much to be practical and conflicts with his commitment to reducing the deficit. At a personal level, he strikes me as the kind of windbag that can only emerge when a naturally pompous and self-regarding person marinates for two decades inside the U.S. Senate. If elected, Kerry would probably be a mediocre, unloved president on the order of Jimmy Carter."--Jacob Weisberg, endorsing John Kerry, Slate, Oct. 26

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Pathetic, isn't it? Is anybody actually voting FOR the guy? (as opposed to voting merely against Bush)