Franco: An Update From the Trenches of Babyhood

As of the fifth of this month, Franco is four months old. Yep, already. As we know, he is quite a gregarious fellow, who enjoys good company and intelligent conversation, even if it might occur with several stuffed friends in a bouncy seat.

In his first four months, he has traveled to the following locales:

**Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to visit his relatives -

**Scottsdale, Arizona, with his parents for daddy's business trip -

**Wilmington, North Carolina, for a dear friend's wedding -

**Western Pennsylvania for a week in Stillers country with the fam -

Through all of these adventures, ol' Franco has maintained a cheerful disposition that would make Mary Poppins proud. His own personal motto as of this point: "Don't be tardy for the party." His best times include those with the most stimuli, and I think he would describe the three best days of his life as follows:

1.  The day we went to Sears for professional pictures with Grand-mama, Grand-papa, and Auntie Beckey. (See above.) Never before have I witnessed so much hammed-up behavior from a baby. (Not that I have any experience in this area, but still.)

As an aside, the skilled photographer pointed out his obvious Steelers-inspired name and informed us that, a few months before, a baby she photographed was named something even more Steelers-specific: Tunch.

There are no words, save maybe: That. Is. Awesome.

2. The day we had to run through the Atlanta International Airport to catch our connecting flight to Phoenix. If I could have spared a second to snap a photo of Franco's expression during this jaunt, I would gladly post it. However, as you can tell by its absence, no such moment could be spared.

You will have to take my word for it. Franco adored every breathless, frantic second of it, and his expression of awe and excitement ramped up my adrenaline with pure laughter. His joy seemed so incredibly infectious that onlookers clapped and cheered us on as we passed, like we were part of a bizarre airport marathon.  We made it to the gate with at least a minute to spare, and Franco's smile lasted all the way to take-off - when he promptly passed out.

3. The first pool party at our home.

Even though Franco tired himself out with all the swimming, he was able to completely enjoy the day, a preview of things to come around here.

Throughout Franco's first four and a half months, he has shown that babies are fun-filled companions who love to smile, giggle, hit your glass while you are drinking from it, pick up half-full bottles of soda with both hands to prove it possible, stand (with assistance) eye-level with a Beagle to pet its nose, roll over, snuggle, and squeal as loudly in possible when delighted with life. (Which is all the time.)

Ferris Bueller said, "Life moves pretty fast sometimes." Truer words have never been spoken, especially when life is being experienced by a baby.

We are lucky to be able to slow down once in a while to savor all the memories - and to share with all of you.