That's why monkey mamas look so tired

On Saturday, my brother and his family joined us for a trip to "Zooz." Their son was born about 10 weeks after Will, so the difference in their ages is quickly vanishing. As much as Will often chooses to share, she also chooses to yank away. Every time her cousin showed any sort of interest in one of her toys, it was suddenly the only toy she was interested in.

Our invitation wasn't purely to get the cousins together for some family fun. With our trip to Vancouver coming up in a couple of weeks, we have finally put together our will. We wanted to ask my brother and SIL if they would consider becoming Will's guardians if our plane crashes. How morbid.

I sprung it on them in much the same way as I announced my pregnancy: bluntly and without grace. For that announcement, my mom had arranged for some of my siblings to be over at the house when we were visiting. As I was trying to figure out how to let them in on the news, my brother said he had to leave soon. I didn't want to lose my nerve (or the opportunity) and blurted out: "Before you go, I want you to know something. I'm pregnant."

The look on my brother's face was priceless, and my youngest sister nearly fell over. Of course, he was shocked because he and his wife were on the verge of finding out that their son was on the way. Neither one of us had any idea the other was even trying.

On Saturday, we had just ordered lunch and were discussing the upcoming trip. "Speaking of that," I said smoothly. "We wanted to ask you if you would consider becoming Will's guardian if our plane explodes. Is there any good way to ask that question?"

I'm comfortable with our decision, even though the idea of our daughter being raised by anyone other that us is so terrible (even with the sound of her sobbing now as her dad tries to put her to sleep) I can't stand to think about it for long.



Fortunately, it was followed by a fun afternoon with a vicious parrot who lured us close with a friendly "Hello!", a monkey who was mounted by her mate while breastfeeding her infant, and a splash pad.