SO BY NOW YOU KNOW that I have had this baby, and that all is well, so far. I promise that, if you really want to know, I will email you all the gory details about the delivery and recovery and all that really fun stuff. Just let me know you're interested.

I also promise to post more photos, just as soon as I can download them from my camera. Oh - and take a few.

But today I need to post a TRUE STORY about Nicholas's visit to the hospital.

I was worried about being separated from my firstborn for so long, and I was also really curious to see how Nick would react to his new baby brother. It went surprisingly well. Nick hardly missed me, and he was only kind of interested in Nate.

At one point the Nurse came in to check on Nate. They do this about 47 times each day. The difference THIS time is that, not only was I in the room, but so was Steve... and Nicholas, and My mother, and Steve's mother. My little recovery room was packed with people.

Nate, of course, objected to being poked and having his diaper changed. He whimpered and cried a little bit - JUST a little bit - and then the nurse handed him back o my mother.

Steve, in an effort to form some sort of bond between brothers, lifted Nicholas up to the same level as Nate, who was still making a few noises. And predictably, everyone looked at Nicholas to see what he would do.

Nicholas looked right at Nate and said, very clearly, "Sha up."

I want to just say that Steve and I consider ourselves good parents. We have never told our child to "Shut Up" and we don't even speak that way to each other. In fact, after much discussion, we determined he must have picked it up while we were yelling at OUR DOG, Gunther, who likes to bark and the invisible forces pulling into their very own driveways across the street during naps and at 5am.

But however he learned it, he now knows what it means. His very first words to his new baby brother. Shut up.

I sense I have my work cut out for me.