Get Out and VOTE!!!!!

See who I'm for? If you care at all about the future of me and my contemporaries, follow suit and vote for the guy on my shirt! Remember this: we are going to be the ones taking care of you, so don't screw this up! Say it with me: OBAMA!!!! Actually, say it for me because though I am brilliant, I am still only four months old and can't talk yet.

Now, guess what we did this weekend? Even though it's October we went to the beach. Check out these gems:

Once again, vote OBAMA or the next time you're holding me you may just find a little "October Surprise" leaking out of my diaper and into your lap! ADIOS W. AND TAKE YOUR CLONE MCCAIN WITH YOU!!!

School days...

Brighton is really loving school! He enjoys "circle time" where the babies listen to music - sometimes even live piano. All of his teachers are great and think he's the cutest boy around (gee, you think they say that to all the parents?)...they keep him busy with high contrast flash cards and an activity they call "hands and faces."

Little B Dodge is also doing a lot of "singing" and blowing of bubbles...it's great to watch him discover new things he can do!

Tasty New Developments

So there's a little bit of Indiana showing through in this Bostonian already, he's developed a taste for plastic corn. Could those be teeth coming through? Who can say, but he seems to enjoy putting anything and everything in his mouth.

And how about sitting up? It's pretty easy when you have a chair perfectly molded to your little bum that does all of the work for you.

Now on to the really good stuff. Let's close with a video like we always do. Being the true performer, BD keeps you hanging for the payoff at the end so stick with it.

So our little boy is almost 12 weeks old. Summer is over, and we've managed to run him all over and keep him on the most irregular schedule possible. It will be fun to see what neuroses will surface when he's 15. Most importantly this summer, Brighton took his first trip on a plane 3 weeks ago. It was a very important trip because we had to get him to Indiana to meet Jen's father. So after miraculously sleeping for the entirety of the flight, Brighton was well rested for a trip to the hospital to meet "mean Grandpa". To say the two were smitten with each other is an understatement.

Luckily we made it back home in time for the two to meet, and to get some photos to mark the occasion. Sadly on September 13th Jennifer's father Steve lost his 2 1/2 year battle with brain cancer. To see his full obituary, click here. We'll miss you Colonel.

"Cole Slaw" (Uncle Chris) and "Cod Fish" (Cousin Jax) came for their summer vacation and spent some quality time with our boy who they now call "B Dodge." During an overnight diaper changing/feeding session while Brighton was crying Jax woke up and said, "He's making me nervous!" Jax is going to be a great cousin and I'm sure he will show my son how to rock out to Queen, play lightsabers, and do "flip ups" (his very own unique exercise move).

Another nickname Brighton earned during the Dodds Boys' visit is "Gee" (hard G) because when the boy is REALLY hungry his cries sound like "Um Gee, Um Gee" while his face gets red and scrunchy, what Chris calls his "angry raisin" face.

We've been a little behind on our blogging these days...Brighton has been enjoying spending time meeting new family members on Cape Cod and even managed to dip some toes into the frigid Atlantic! Our little boy is almost 12 lbs now and has grown about 2 inches since birth.

If Only We Lived in Norway

Call me bitter, but if Jen, Brighton and I were Norwegian, not only would we have the joy of speaking either Bokmal or Nynorsk (that's right, 2 official languages), enjoying the classical music of Edvard Greig, and the vast fjords, oh the endless fjords!, but I would only be in the middle of my mandatory 6 weeks of paid paternity leave (I had to look all that up, because I knew exactly nothing about Norway). Pause and re-read that last sentence...actually, save yourself some time and just read the last point. That's right folks, in addition to a kick ass horned-helmet-fur-boot-wearing-plundering-and-pillaging Viking heritage, the Norwegians have some equally kick ass parental leave. That 6 weeks is required. Viking men are allowed 10 1/2 paid months off. I won't drone on, look it up yourself. The US is right on par with beautiful Lesotho and Swaziland in offering no paid leave for parents. Dynamite.

Yes, I'm bitter and angry and mostly sad, because tomorrow I am going back to work to spend my day at a desk instead of spending time with this kid. I've had a lot of people tell me what they think the hardest part of being a new parent is; lack of sleep, the lifestyle adjustments, the crying, and so on. I know I'm new to this, but I think the hardest part about being a parent is knowing I'm not going to see him all day tomorrow. Changing his diaper is a snap. Not being around all day to change it, that's hard.

Now, let's end on a happy note. The cord finally fell off, so it was time for his first full on bath. Enjoy.