Will!

Dear Annie,

The entire extended family is dancing with joy, waiting for this little guy to wake up, grow a bit, and dance with us:

Will!

Will arrived early this morning, missing his uncle's birthday by a few hours.  You're now a five-person nuclear family.  I suspect Will's big sisters (how does that title feel to Isabel?) will start reading to him soon.  The new baby books, of course, and the three-child-family ones, and many many more.

We can't wait to meet him.  In the meantime, we will send him books and ooh and aah over his pictures, and cheer on his amazing sisters.

I offer you two quotes from children's literature, to celebrate the boy.

I've cited Ramona's wonder at having a baby sister in the three-child-family post, but here's a snippet again:

"Look at her tiny fingernails," Ramona marveled as she looked at the sleeping Roberta, "and her little eyebrows.  She is already a whole person, only little."

And from William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, a different context -- the missing Sylvester has been restored to his parents --but applicable to the birth of a baby as well:

When they had eventually calmed down a bit, and had gotten home, Mr. Duncan put the magic pebble in an iron safe. Some day they might want to use it, but really, for now, what more could they wish for? They all had all that they wanted.

I suspect you have all you want right now (except maybe more sleep...).   Enjoy tomorrow's homecoming, and all that follows.  We have guest bloggers waiting in the wings, and will be very happy to hear all about your five-person family whenever you come up for air.

With much love for all,

Deborah