Week 3 in NC!

It's been another busy week! This week we tried and liked a new babysitter. We also watched Jake completely fall in love with Hannah, our 9 year old cat and become the most confident and independent he's been since we moved while doting in her care (he even gave her new ice cubes in her water hourly on the first day of the new discovery. Then he decided she didn't really like cold water, but still gave her food and treats and insisted we go buy her catnip. She, in turn, sits in back of him on the couch and curls her tail around his neck. It is quite the romance). Honestly, I think she is just happy to be allowed back in the house! For the first 2 weeks we kept her out for our allergic guests. But he is clearly her protector. Abby pulled her tail the other day, making Hannah scream out and Jake cried!



















Jake had a new, very sweet little boy exactly his age over for a 2nd playdate and after checking with his mother, a nice new friend for me, I followed up with the school to get them assigned to the same classroom - success! We have not told him yet but know now that Jake will have a new best friend in his class! They are really a good match. I also spent 2 days working and had a lovely dinner in Downtown Durham with colleagues that culminated in a visit to a collegue's downtown loft-like apartment with wonderful city views.

We discovered our backyard forest wonderland contains a special treasure - a wonderful little creek that has rocks and roots and running water and is about 4 mins from our house. The kids LOVE to walk down there after dinner and play in the water.



















I had my annual bout with back pain ritual this week as well - culminating in an epidural steroid shot. Not fun, but seems to be helping already. The first day I was manic and realized I had flushed cheeks all day and that I had run, vacuumed, mopped, steam mopped, shopped, and done tons of other things I usually cannot even consider doing on the same day!

We had friends over for dinner, enjoyed some Peter Lugar steaks one of Mike's clients sent us as a housewarming gift, went to Orange Leaf for frozen yogurt and Locopops for popsicles at least 3 times, discovered a new healthy fast food place, ate wonderful food from Trader Joe's, got a new collection of DVDs and books from the library, filled up our baby pool and had some sprinkler fun with a neighbor, and today, Jake, Abby and I found a new playground we liked downtown and then spent a very happy hour or so looking at the Critter Corner at Jake's new school, where we hit the jackpot - two new baby bunnies! Such happy children have rarely been seen.







































The verdict? My goodness, we like it here!!