Waiting for the Snow

Here's Jake, this afternoon around 3:30, after lining up all his farm animals on the window to watch the snow just starting to fall. Such excitement!
And here he is an hour later, on the back deck, "collecting" snow. This has become his default snow activity, mostly because he can do it even when we get a scant 1/2 inch, usually the norm. He brings out cups and tupperware containers, fills them with ice or snow, and then brings them inside to watch them melt and apportion them to even more containers. It is amazing how satisfying this activity is for him.

By 6pm, there was a real inch or so of nice wet snow on the ground and Jake and I went out after dinner to get the snowshovels out from under the house and build a small snowman. He was so excited. The snow is real this time - we didn't tell him but it's supposed to be 5-8 inches by tomorrow! We are so excited that he'll FINALLY get a real snow day this season. He tried to make snow angels tonight too but it was not thick enough.

We've got tape ready in the videocam and Abby's snowsuit all ready for some great snow play in the morning!

A Few More...

pix from yesterday. I was in NY; everyone else was here, enjoying the warm weather.

Look Ma, I'm Standing!

Bubbling Beauty

Abby seems to be recovering, finally, from her multiple bouts of illness. She's down to just one symptom: a perpetually runny nose. Otherwise, she is her usual bubbly self!

She also moved to the big tub a few weeks ago and loves bathing there. Sometimes Jake joins her but usually she has it all to herself. (She falls over if the tub is full to his level, so usually she bathes first and then I run more water for Jake.)





Her most common activity in the past 3 days? Standing up slowly from a squatting position and then beaming as she balances standing straight up, for longer and longer each time. We're trying to get it on video - it is adorable. Even Jake starting clapping and cheering for her. She is clearly so very proud.

Sick, Sick, Sick

So, we're going on 3 weeks of Abby being sick here and I've had quite enough. I'm sure she has too! We've had colds and congestion and ear infections and two different antibiotics and crying all day and hives from head to toe and crying all night. Poor little thing. I'll feel more like writing when we get to the end of this lousy spell.

On the other hand, I just got word from a friend of mine in SF that her daughter was diagnosed 3 weeks ago with leukemia. They are moving back to the city to do her radiation therapy and trying to reorganize her older sister's life. Puts things in perspective - a few hives and a few nights of lost sleep suddenly seem really quite ok.

Still, we're tired. Wish us well soon!

To go with our feeling of general wackiness in the universe, here's a funky photo Jake and I made with the webcam last weekend. He loved the special effects options.

Taste of Spring

It was 67 degrees here on on Sunday! We all spent the afternoon outside with two other families on our neighbor's back deck and yard. The three big boys helped rake paths in the woods and got all muddy rescuing boats from the creek; the two babies explored the sandbox (a first for both of them; much sand was ingested) and snacked. What a lovely break in our long, illness-filled winter!

James with a truck

Abby, sharing

Drake, standing

Drake and Ashleigh

Abby, serious at the sandbox

Jake, running the path in the woods

Happy Gram!

Aren't these photos amazing? Kudos to Mike, who sees the world best in black and white. And has found a way to get cheap and quick digital scans from his film camera!

These two were on the same roll. I love them. (just click on them to enlarge - they're worth it!)

32 Great Hours in NYC

My weekly NYC trip was both extended and great this week! Highlights:

-yummy burger and great conversation at a noisy upper west side diner with a work colleague
-taught a fabulous 3 hour class. Did one of my favorite cases and presentations and students were super engaged.
-had take-out dinner and a whole evening mommy talk with my friend Yasmina and her beautiful 4 month old baby Elia. She is serene in her new mommy role and it was lovely to see. Here they are:
-a relaxing night in a relatively quiet hotel, sans baby monitor. aaaaahhhh.
-posh breakfast at Nice Matin, fancy omelet paired with great people watching.
-a 2 hour visit plus lunch with my cousin Rachel and her 4 week old baby Alexa. (She lives one block from the last place I worked full time in NY. I ran some errands for her before I left and it was a huge deja vu.) Here's a really blurry picture from my phone of Rachel rocking Alexa to sleep, and one from her Uncle Mike's facebook page of her all dressed up where you can actually see Alexa's eyes. Rachel is almost through the craziness of the first 6 weeks and is as fun to talk to as ever. I could have stayed all day!

- a fabulous afternoon back at school, helping to run an educational event for aspiring social entrepreneurs. I got inspired by their energy, which got me through the hour lecture on a heavy topic I had to start at 5:30pm!
-Wrapped up the day with a crazy cab ride to LaGuardia. I thought I might die as we careened across Harlem at hair-raising speeds, but I survived and had time for a leisurely undressing and redressing at security as well as to find a burrito for dinner that I ate on the plane while watching the snow flurries outside before we took off. Luckily, we made it out and after my hour plus drive from the airport, I was home by 11:20pm.

Today we're having a quiet day. Abby is stuffy, Jake is excited about his new walkie talkies that he saved up 25 STARS to buy(!!), and Mike is running around the house in a cleaning frenzy, which I'm trying hard not to interrupt!!

Abby's 12 Month Stats

"Hello, gorgeous!"
That was Abby's doctor greeting her this morning. She beamed at him, naked except for her diaper and her hair clip. And then went back to playing with her socks.

She was a little more wary than at her 9 month visit, but was a great sport, until the shots were jammed into her leg. Four of them, in groups of two. She cried bloody murder, and continued at various intervals until we got outside and she hit the 25 degree air. Then, finally, calm.

Her stats:
Weight: 27.10 pounds
Height: 32.25 inches
Head circumference: 19 inches

So, she's gained 1 pound and over 2 inches in the last 3 months. She's finally lengthening more than widening!

He noted a few things to watch and gave me some much needed advice about switching her from formula to milk and moving from a bottle to a cup. Reasonable and reassuring, as always.

This afternoon we went to the library and she read books in her stroller the whole time, happy as a clam.