The Class Clown

I've often thought, since Brennan was very young, that he had the potential to be somewhat of a class clown. I've always thought he is very smart and will be successful -- just with how curious he is and how he is determined to figure out how things work. But he also likes to make people laugh, even it if requires being a little naughty. He always has been a performer around crowds. Whenever we take him to a party, he wants to be the center of attention -- dancing, singing, doing whatever he can to get people to watch him. Or when he was younger, he would run all around the waiting area at the airport clapping and saying "yay," getting everyone in the terminal to clap and cheer with him. He would make a great mascot in high school if he's not on the sports team.

At his family daycare, I think we're getting a little preview of what's to come. Apparently, this week, when all the kids go down for a nap, Brennan has started trying to keep them all up and and get them to play. Which is sort of funny, because he loves to sleep, and even nap.

The picture above is a little hard to make out -- crappy Blackberry camera. But it's Brennan trying to make a cat laugh.

Vacation

The above picture pretty much summarizes our whirlwind, 12-day, 3 city vacation for the holidays. Although we got to see a lot of family and friends, and we ate a lot of good food, the vacation was thoroughly exhausting.

Brennan slept in a total of seven different places (not including naps in the car, stroller, or planes). Fortunately, he's a pretty flexible kid, so he was able to sleep everywhere we went. But he was definitely getting fed up with the trip near the end. Acting up, throwing a few punches, throwing some food off the table. Now that we're back in town, it's time to eliminate those bad habits. Also fortunately, Brennan dodged the Christmas cold that always circulates around our families, but I didn't, and I'm still suffering from it.

This trip included a few "lasts" for us, for at least as long as we have young children:

- This was our last multicity trip

- This was our last trip longer than a week

- This was our last trip in which we take EIGHT pieces of luggage (including carry-ons).

- This was our last trip with Brennan as a "lap infant" on the planes. Both because he's turning two and because we wouldn't want to do it again anyway.

- This was our last trip with Brennan sleeping in a pack-n-play. He just doesn't fit anymore. Time to get him used to the big-boys bed.