Making Owen Laugh

Please forgive the seven month jump in time from Susannah's dance recital - when she was still enjoying her final days as an only child - to now, when she has a four month old giggling baby brother. I think the blog is the best place to post videos, so I will go ahead and post and not try to "catch up" on the past seven months, which we all know is unlikely to happen. Enjoy!

Dance Recital 2012

Susannah started taking dance classes this winter/spring and absolutely LOVES it! Here is a video of her class in the spring dance recital dancing to the tunes of none other than Hannah Montana. They are pretty funny and cute. I never thought I would end up memorizing anything by Hannah Montana, but here we are. Susannah is the youngest kid in her class and was nervous about going up on stage with all the flashing lights and people in the audience, but she did a fantastic job and we are so proud of her!
While her class is out for the summer, she continues to do various dance moves and acrobatics around the house.

Make Way for Ducklings

Susannah has been reading the 1941 classic children's book "Make Way for Ducklings" quite a bit lately. It's no wonder it's become a classic - the illustrations are plain and simple black and white, but do a perfect job of portraying the cuteness of little ducklings. So, as soon as we found out that there are statues of momma duck and her ducklings in the Boston Public Garden (where the book is set) we were there!

Just a quick train ride from our home, we found ourselves in the Boston Common on a beautiful Sunday morning, and then it was just a quick stroll to the Public Gardens. It took a little searching to find the statues, but we were clued in by the hoardes of little kiddies climbing on them. It was quite impossible to get a photo of the ducks alone, as they were occupied by toddlers nearly 100% of the time. If you want to see what they look like, here's a picture I stole from the internet:


This photo of Boston Public Garden is courtesy of TripAdvisor

They are larger than life; the ducklings are about the size of an adult, and the mother duck is the size of a monster goose. She was the most popular sitting spot by far. Susannah waited patiently for her turn. Here she is in her moment of glory.

Our New House

Ok, so it's been a busy year. Insane would be a better word. I've missed a lot of blog entries that should have been. My next entry or two will attempt to be the equivalent of a re-cap episode of our life, but for now, I'm too excited about the present.

We're New Englanders now! I suppose Alex has always been a New Englander, but living on the west coast for so long has essentially drained out his New Englander blood and he must start over. While living in Massachusetts for one year does not a New Englander make, we went ahead and bought a house here -which means we're stuck here for a good while. Here it is:



Cute, isn't it? We moved in July 4th weekend and are really enjoying it so far. We live in Melrose, roughly considered to be on the "North Shore" of Boston, and while it does not touch the shore, it has some very nice lakes and the cutest downtown ever. Melrose was originally a farming community and a place where well-to-do Bostonians summered. When they put the rail in, it rapidly became built up in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Like the vast majority of houses here, ours is turn-of-the century vintage.

Check out the old in-ground waste container in our backyard!



It is quite charming, and will also give us a headache here and there, I'm sure.

Headache #1: Replacing these old leaky pipes in the basement with new PVC


And here's Alex, newly minted home improvement weekend warrior, getting ready to saw them to pieces:


Yeah. So, hopefully this blog won't turn into "This Old House". Meanwhile, while we very slowly putter about with various projects, Susannah has been settling in pretty well. She has never lived anywhere nearly this big, and will occasionally get scared in the house, but for the most part I think she likes the extra breathing room. Having a yard is kind of nice! We even have a resident bunny, who she loves saying hi to each day. We have lots of picnics on the deck, and have even worked on full-size murals outside:


And some more rough-housing on the deck and in the kitchen:






So there you have it. We're having fun, and we are certainly never bored. I promise not to wait another year before I post again.

Where do I start?

Hi folks! It's been awhile! Moving across the country and starting a new job has been an all-consuming activity, so the blog fell by the wayside for awhile. Assuming anyone is still out there, I will try to post a little more often.

Susannah has handled the big move just fine (better than either Alex or I), and she continues to be the sunshine of our lives. She is TWO years old now, and if you ask her how old she is, she even says "Two!", while holding up two fingers (usually). She speaks in full sentences now, and is into absolutely everything.

While we do sometimes miss California and the west coast in general, we do like it here. While we have left behind good friends, we now live much closer to most of our family, and some good old friends, too. It has been great to have Dave (Alex's brother) and his wife Colleen and their daughter Isla close by. It is a wonderful thing for Susannah to be able to play with her little cousin on a regular basis, and nice for us to be able to see Isla grow up, too. They are just one year apart (Isla turned one in July) and as they grow, that one year age difference will become less and less significant - oh, what fun they will have!

Isla and Susannah (with Isla's other 2 year-old cousin, Natalie) having fun in the kiddie pool

Since we moved, we have also had the pleasure of seeing my best friend from college, Christine, and her family. They live in PA and were just in the Boston area recently with their three kids. I haven't seen their oldest since he was younger than Susannah (he is now almost 6!), and hadn't met their younger kids at all. We all got together at a beautiful playground in Concord, watched them all play, and had lunch. Later that night, Chris and I chatted in the hotel lobby as she held her 6 month-old - a far cry from our crazy college days, but just as good, if not better! It was so much fun, and I look forward to seeing them more often!

We had a surprise visit from Alex's parents yesterday, and will soon see my parents and Anna. Watch out, east-coasters - we're back, and we may be seeing you soon, too!



Susannah with Christine's kids: Getting four kids under the age of 6 to cooperate for a photo-shoot is impossible!

So much to do, so little time

As most of you probably know by now, we will be leaving San Francisco and making a new home for our family in the Boston area. I'm excited about my new job (starting in the fall, you can call me professor!), proximity to many family and friends, and about the adventures and that life will bring in the future. However, the list of what we actually need to accomplish in the next several weeks is daunting. Let's see, we need to......
- pack our stuff
- get our stuff moved
- find a place to live
- Alex: find job
- find a good childcare center for Susannah

and at work:
- publish two papers
- pack and ship my precious reagents to Merrimack College

And of course most of these items encompass a million sub-items. Thinking about too much of this stuff at once is a great way to bring on a panic attack. Significant progress has been made on many of these things, but still, we have a lot to do. I alternate between feeling that everything is completely under control...... to complete and utter freakout mode. Has anyone ever heard of those super crazy type-A moms who take their kids' ritalin as a pharmaceutical "mother's little helper?" (http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Mothers-Turning-to-Prescription-Medication)
Before anyone stages an intervention for me, for the record, I am not suggesting that this is a good idea. But, I certainly can sympathize...

OK, deep breaths, deep breaths...........

On the one hand, I don't think Susannah will be very helpful when it comes to moving, generally speaking (except possibly with unpacking, and even then only if we don't mind our things unpacked completely at random). On the other hand, she helps us keep things in perspective and provides plenty of comic relief. The other day we took a trip to the drug store to pick up a few things...normally a pretty mundane task, right? Not when I bring my little "helper" along! She got bored standing in line at the checkout and when I turned my head for one second, she started making a beeline for the toy aisle, giggling maniacally the whole way. It turned into a slightly protracted chase because I was already holding several things, so it was hard to pick her up. I had to give up my spot in line to chase her down, but luckily everyone behind us seemed quite amused and they were nice enough to insist I reclaim my position in the queue. Susannah's comment on the situation: "Mommy funny!"
There is never a dull moment around here!



(This video has nothing to do with anything, but I love it and had to put it somewhere)

Grala!

Kids come up with all sorts of funny names for their grandparents. A quick Google search came up with many alternatives to regular old "Grandma" and "Grandpa". For Grandpa substitutes, there are many options, including, but not limited to: Gramps, Granddaddy, Grandpappy, and my all-time favorite: Big Paw. Instead of Grandma, there are even more unique and interesting names such as Grammy, Nana, Mami, Boppy, and my other all-time favorite: Big Maw. Well, nowhere on the almighty Google did I ever see "Grala" (pronounced Grah-la), the name that Susannah has given to all of her grandparents. She apparently likes to keep things simple, as this term covers both Grandmas and Grandpas (and, for all we know, all people above a certain age!). Despite the fact that a "Grala" sounds like some kind of odd creature out of a fantasy novel, it seems to be working just fine for now while she gets her pronunciation sorted out.
Both sets of Gralas have visited lately, and Susannah thoroughly enjoyed the loving attention of all of them. The Watters drove all the way from VT in their van and hit San Francisco during Easter weekend. If their legs were feeling stiff from the drive, Susannah definitely helped them get the blood moving, that's for sure! Susannah hasn't seem them since Christmas, but warmed to them very quickly and spent an entire day with Chris and Cynthia while Alex and I went to work.

At the Windmill/tulip garden at Golden Gate park, Easter weekend

More recently, my parents came for a weekend visit. We played tourist and rode the trolley down to Fisherman's Wharf and visited the historic ships at Hyde St. Pier. Susannah had lots of fun running up and down the dock, sticking her head into portholes (see video) and generally making my dad incredibly nervous. After a nice weekend visit, my dad drove back to AZ on his own and was kind enough to leave my mom here for a whole week! This was not only lots of fun, but especially helpful for Alex and I, as this corresponded with a vacation at Susannah's daycare. Oh, the fun they had! To top off the week, my aunt Marka was in town, too. I haven't seen her for a few years, and she has never met Susannah, so we were thrilled to have her over for a quick visit.
Susannah clearly remembers her grandparents, because after they leave she frequently asks about them. Her vocabulary is exploding these days, and she can express herself with simple phrases now, such as "Grala, home?" and "Where Grala?" She also has made the connection that I sometimes call my mom on the phone, because whenever I pick it up to dial, she asks, "Grala, phone?"


Grandma works her magic with the Magnadoodle


Susannah enjoying images of herself in Marka's camera display


Aboard the Balclutha at Hyde St. Pier. Ships Ahoy!