This weekend was Andrew's baptism into the Catholic Church, which was also his baptism by fire into the very secret clan of Men in My Husband's Family Who Have Worn a Dress. Andrew's attire for the ceremony was the beautiful baptismal gown that was handmade by Andrew's paternal great-grandmother. Joe and his brothers also each wore the gown, much to their dismay later in life. I thought Andrew would have to endure merciless teasing from his paternal uncles about wearing an article of clothing that is reserved on most occasions for girls in our culture, but their comments were more of the hang-in-there-I-survived-this-too variety. Before the ceremony started, Joe and his three brothers collectively nixed the bonnet with ribbons that Joe's mother crocheted by arguing that Andrew was already being subjected to enough humiliation for one outfit. He did, however, wear the beautiful matching sweater and booties that his Grandma had crocheted for him. See the photographic evidence provided above.
The baptismal ceremony itself was lovely. It was done by a young priest, who was extremely nice and seemed genuinely happy to be the one welcoming the newest members of the Christian community. He is also the only priest I have ever seen with a shaved head, which added a little zen to the experience. My mom came into town to celebrate, as well as my friend, Kim, who is Andrew's godmother, and our friend Pete, who is the godfather. Kim was quickly able to get Andrew to laugh on cue for all of the photos by doing an excellent imitation of Elmo's laugh.
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