First post-Callum trip... Callum rolls... Ronan's dialogue

I took my first post-birth business trip last week, to NYC, and Callum chose that exact time to roll over! It was Saturday, June 7 and he was 4 months and one week old. Yay for Callum! I think Ronan first rolled over at 4.5 months old. Both my boys have rolled back to tummy first, rather than the more common tummy to back. We'll see if this means that Callum becomes a tummy sleeper like his big brother.

I was of course sad to leave Christian and the boys for three days, but it was great to be back at work and NY was an exciting place to be. Good food, interesting meetings, a fun dinner with Kristine, and a king-size bed all to myself! Christian deserves major kudos for managing both kids while I was gone. That is no easy feat!! We call Ronan the "two parent child" and Callum the "mommy child." Grandma Kathy was nice enough to help out during the 5-8 pm window that is the hardest time of the day. My next trip: San Antonio at the end of next week. And then Christian and I will go with Callum to Tahoe at the end of June, while Ronan spends the weekend with Grandma Kathy.

Ronan capped off a busy weekend by developing his second ear infection and his first case of conjunctivitis -- at the same time. Kids really do keep you on your toes. He's doing a lot better with the antibiotics and we're praying that the pink eye doesn't spread to the rest of the family....

Ronan has said some very funny things lately and I'll try to recall the best ones. Last week, I asked him if he wanted me to bring him back anything from NY, thinking he'd want a toy or some candy. But he said, "I want a briefcase, just like Daddy. But I don't want it Daddy-sized, that's too big. I want it Nini-sized, and black. So I can go to work!" (Didn't manage to find a child-sized black suitcase in Times Square but I did pick up an M&M t-shirt for him and matching onesie for Callum.)

Last night on the potty, Ronan was in rare form, chattering on and on about his book about fire engines, trains, and boats. He still assigns vehicles on the page to us, for fun. He told me that he would drive the speed boat and I should sit "in the back of the boat and do your email!"

In the car today, he talked incessantly about school, cars, his brother, his need to hold a sword in his hand, and the movie "Cars." At one point I said a word that he didn't understand and he said, "Mommy, I don't quite know what that word means." I had to laugh. He's three and he sounded like such a genteel, refined young man! Of course, that sentence was followed almost immediately by "Mommy, I have a gun and I'm going to protect you by shooting the monsters and the skeletons DEAD!"