Smudge is here

Yesterday, your brother was born. Half brother. Son of Tamara. Smudge. Whatever he is to you, he's a non-related son to me.

I hope you guys get along.

I was kind of thinking he would wait until today because having 8/7/6 as a birthday would be a little cool, but really, you don't need a birthday to make you cool.

Apparently, he came out sunny side up, which I think means lying on his back instead of his front. That's supposed to be really painful (for the mother). But they also say that once the kid is born, the mother forgets most of the pain. And kids don't remember. I don't.

So now, before you're even born, you officially have a sort-of big brother. And I'm guessing he's going to be big. Bigger than you. His mom is normal-sized and his dad is pretty hulking. I'm about average-sized and your mom is downright dinky. So just based on genetics, it would be weird for you to turn out bigger.

But you might.

It's weird to be telling you about Smudge because by the time you read this, you know him better than I do. I mean, he's new to me. But because Tamara is so important in our lives, you're going to be around him a lot.

Your mom is all excited. She wants to get on the next plane up there. To help out.

It's a wonderful notion, but she can barely get out of bed here. She's spent most of the last few weeks lying in bed reading Harry Potter books. I can just imagine how much help she'd be up there. Tamara would end up taking care of her, which is the last thing she needs.

We are planning to go up to Portland on Wednesday. Portland is only about three hours from Tamara, so we'll definitely come by to meet Smudge. And maybe we'll find a home. If you grow up in Portland, that's probably what happened.

It'll be interesting to look back on this someday and compare.