Flossy Marie

You might wonder "what the heck!?!?" on the title- but that was what my dad called my little brother when he was an itty-bitty redhead of a baby. He had a wide range of nicknames, "baby" by Hannah; Little Guy by mom and I; and Flossy Marie. If there's more, I'm not remembering them- it was half a decade ago, give me a break!

See, this little guy isn't just any baby- he's the only boy, the baby of the family, a surprise and a half (not as much as H), the one who will carry on the last name that we thought was a dead end w/ my sister and I, a troublemaker, all around hysterical.

Matthew John was born at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass. In the midst of historical sites, on Monday, February 2, 2004 at 8:38 a.m. EST , this little guy was born. He was not happy about being taken out of his happy place- and he peed on the doctor just to show him how mad he was. I remember when mom refused to let dad take me to the nursery when I got to the hospital because she wanted to see my reaction to his hair; and you just don't say no to a woman who just had a baby. We joked for her whole pregnancy that he'd be a redhead since mom had a brunette and a blonde already. Well imagine her surprise when her little guy had some very red hair when she first saw him- she was giddy and knew I would be too.

We were sad when his hair turned blonde, but we enjoyed his red hair for a good year. The boy's been a heartbreaker from the minute he's been out of the womb. Now he's complete trouble and will find a way to be sneaky but give a grin only a mother and sister would love when he's caught. He and H are best buds- one minute they fight, the next they love each other. He's my baby brother and always will be. His first hours were spent in my arms. I never let him out of my sight unless the nurses had to take him and do bloodwork or do his stats.

Now he's just trouble (for proof see the picture above.) Between giving himself the alter ego of troublemaker, throwing things over the staircase, telling our neighbor to back off or else, teasing the dogs next door, sneaking his way downstairs when he's supposed to be in bed, there isn't an hour that goes by that this house is quiet- ok, well when he's at school it's quiet. Either way, he cracks us all up and not a day goes by that I wish he wasn't around :)