Baptism

Happy Fatherhood Friday everyone! And Happy Birthday to Fatherhood Friday! Congratulations to dad-blogs.com on one year of this fun-filled event. I know I've enjoyed participating for the vast majority of that year. Be sure to check out all of the great dad bloggers over there.

Over the last year, I've chronicled the fun of getting ready for church, attending church, and even trying to sit in the front row at church.

If all of the above wasn't enough to make you tired, last week we added Bab-E Brother's baptism on top of it (HELP! My sucker tattoo is burning like fire on my forehead a la Harry Potter's scar.)

And just to make things even more complicated to spice things up a bit, I decided to pick up a case of gastroenteritis from Little Brother just 24 hours before the baptism, and drop about 6 pounds, thereby making it a challenge for me just to shower, get dressed, and show up.

Of course, we ended up feeding the boys during the service, knowing that they wouldn't make it through church plus the baptism without getting really hungry (and tired and irritable and fussy). This was a great idea, because I can think of no better way to spend church than bending over at my seat, vacuuming up crumbs with my fingers, and apologizing to the lady behind us who had goldfish thrown at her.

Having survived the church service, we started the baptism.

I kept Little Brother occupied by carrying him, while Mom-E held Bab-E Brother.

Big Brother was given the special responsibility of holding the baptismal candle.

While this was originally a great idea for about 30 seconds, to a 5 year-old, a candle becomes a combination Thundercats Sword of Omens/Harry Potter wand, with which to:
a. Swing at your Little Brother
b. Swing at the Baptismal Font
c. All of the above

Correct answer: (c)

Fortunately we made it through the "pour water on his head" part without any small children running away screaming madly.

And then 30 seconds later, small children started running away screaming madly.

It started with Big Brother, who no longer holding a candle, suddenly became unable to stand still. In the blink of an eye, he had eloped.

Now running around the church and through the seats, Mom-E and I were left with the dilemma of wanting to both:
a. Pay close attention to the remainder of the baptismal ceremony.
b. Scream for Big Brother to "Hey, get your @$$ back over here." (Wait a minute, we're at church.)

Monkey-see, monkey-do. Next thing you know, Little Brother is pleading for me "put me down, put me down" while turning his body into a worm, with the unique ability to make his skeleton disappear.

I feel myself heating up due to fever in frustration (hey, can you splash some of that baptismal water over this way to help cool me off). In a moment of futility, my weakness and fatigue starting to get the best of me, I let him go.

And he's off to the races with Big Brother!

Our saving grace is that outside of the officiant, everyone in the church is either family or close friends. Still, my blood is now a gentle, rolling boil of embarassment.

Or is that the virus coursing through my veins?

Either way, after what seems like an eternity, the baptism is over.

Big Brother and Litlle Brother, meanwhile, are at the halfway point of their little Sanctuary 500 race.

During the intermission, we "attempt" (very loosely) to take a family photo. It was a family photo in the sense of all 5 of us were in the picture, even if everyone's eyes and bodies were pointing in different directions.

At this point, I'm pretty much exhausted, and decided to sit down and just chat it up with the godfather, Kid-Nee, while the ladies talk and open presents. Meanwhile, the brothers Big and Little have resumed their race.

And such is life, sometimes, with 3 young boys. You've got to pick your battles.

(In the words of Cousin Eddie, "sometimes you've just gotta let 'em finish, Clark.")

It was a nice baptism. We were thankful for the attendance of our friends and family. We're thankful for Big Brother and Little Brother, who I must remind myself are 5 and 2, and are still pretty good boys and good big brothers.

Congrats, Bab-E Brother, we love you.

Have a good weekend,
Busy-Dad-E