Pictures of Hosea at the end of this post! Be sure to read on!

So you may be asking yourself, "What's up with the birthday extravaganza, Matt? Wasn't your birthday back on the sixth?" Well, it was, but time gets sort of wonky when you have a kid and my birthday has kind of dragged out into a month long affair. So why do you get the extravaganza post today? Two reasons: first is that Jeni is hard at work right now baking my birthday cake to take over to Andrej and Sarah's for dinner tonight. Second is that today is the day that AJ's present, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, is getting shipped from amazon.co.uk. Hooray! This game was supposed to come out last October and was one of the top reasons I bought a DS. So I'm glad it's finally here! (And yes, we are planning on dressing Hosea as Link for Halloween.) Here's more birthday stuff:



Jeni was planning on getting me Phantom Hourglass for my birthday and had even pre-ordered it when AJ ordered it, too. A girl always ready for the unexpected, Jeni went out and picked up Hotel Dusk instead. It's sort of an interactive mystery novel, which is great since it can be played with one hand and put down at any point, both plusses when having a new baby.



Next up is the generous check sent by my grandparents. It funded these two expansions for BattleLore and a fantastic Indian dinner for ourselves and the Burnses last week. Thanks a lot!



Here Jeni's English cavalry are about to decimate my French foot soldiers. Bummer.



Finally, I got a few cards. This one is from Bianca "Which One is the Pointy End Again" and Andrew "Here, Let Me Wash Those Knives for You, Dear" Geblin, which illustrates some improper baby washing technique. Another card from my aunt Marcia and uncle Dick, contains timely and pointed commentary on the state of the US dollar:






So thanks everyone for the great birthday stuff. Thanks also to Russ and Emily who watched Hosea on my birthday proper so Jeni and I could go out for dinner. I apologize if I left anyone out. Now, on with the Hosea show!



Breastfeeding has been going well. We try to use that little froggy rattle to keep Hosea's hands occupied while eating with mixed success.



Here's one of Hosea's favorite games, a little pastime we've dubbed "Mr. Rattle-Hands."



Here's a pic of Hosea in a bamboo nappy. It may not look very different from the last nappy pic at first glance, but look and see how fluffy this one is. Bamboo is pretty awesome. It's really eco friendly, really soft, and really absorbent.

And for good measure, here's the little guy just being cute: