Little Brother, the big THREE O

Today is my little brother's 30th birthday.

I was an only child until he came along. My mom and dad separated when I was still an infant (like 5 months old) so I had my mom to myself until I was five and she married my step dad. That was a big year since my dad also got married.

When I was seven my little brother was born. I'd insert a cute picture of us right after he was born here but I don't seem to have any at my house. I'll have to
snag some from my mom's and scan them. It was hard adjusting to having a new baby brother. I wasn't the center of attention anymore. We lived in a two bedroom house so I also had to share my room. My mom had worked before he was born but became a stay at home mom. She started doing daycare to make some extra money.

When my little brother was born he was the first grandchild on my step dad's side of the family. His family is all Italian and they all sent presents, many from New York. I've blogged a bit about spending time over at my step grandma's and Aunt Anna's house before.

Anyhow, so having a brother was all new, but I loved him. Even though I vividly remember biting him once. I'm pretty sure that had something to do with sibling rivalry..

When he was almost two my baby brother came along and now they've always been "the boys". They used to have great fun trying to kill each other. I mostly just tried to stay out of the way.

After I moved out my little brother came over a lot and spent a lot of time with me (and Scott not too long after). The boys were both in my wedding.  When little brother was about 16 he came and spent the summer with us. He originally came to have Scott help him work on his bug he had bought but it took Scott FOREVER to get it done. In exchange he helped paint our house and watched  Jessica a bit while I worked.

I think over that summer we really bonded. When he was about 19 he got married and ended up buying a house right down the street from me. Not too long after my nephew was born and then Trevor. We spent A LOT of time together. I used to just wander over and we'd sit on the porch and have a drink and talk. After he got divorced and moved back to my mom's neighborhood it was really sad not to have him right down the street! We do still spend a lot of time over at his house and my baby brother's hanging out though!

Tomorrow night is his party, the big 30! I can't believe he's 30 now, but it's nice to have him in the same "decade" as me for awhile ;)

(picture is baby brother, mom, little brother, step dad and me, taken at little brother's wedding last October)