Christmas Week

We flew to Seattle on the 16th, anticipating an enjoyable week of family, friends, and skiing. But... that was not to be. The master bath at our house in Mill Creek was leaking water and needed to be overhauled ASAP before more damage could be done. So - we spent our vacation remodeling our master bath - new bathtub, new plumbing, new tile walls and our friend Matt will finish up the new floor and all the detail work we couldn't get done. I always wanted a remodel - but this wasn't exactly the way I planned it. Oh - the joys of home ownership!!! At least we were still able to see, albeit briefly, our family and some of our friends.

Edison with Nana on Christmas eve.




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Here's the new shower tile-
Edison with Granddad on Christmas eve. Look at those smiles!
The flight from Dallas to Boston on Christmas day was pretty empty. We had a whole row to ourselves and had a little Christmas picnic and card game.

Catching Up

Edison posing with Santa at the Coast Guard Academy children's Christmas party.

Just call him Mozart...

At the pool with Dad. Look at those blue eyes!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Here's the best picture I've gotten so far of Edison's teeth - you can barely see them on the bottom there. Go ahead and make fun, but just you try to get a better picture!
This is Edison's tribute to our good friend Paul Lang...
What a stylin' kid. Almost ready for that skateboard...
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I can't get enough of this smile!

December 2008 - Five Months Old

It is hard to believe that Edison is now five months old - that is, until I have to pick him up. He weighs in at about 19 lbs these days & I've got the arm muscles to prove it. On top of that, his two bottom front teeth are now coming in - apparently that is behind all the drool. I didn't attribute the drool to teething because he's still a little young for teeth, but then our friend Jamie noticed he'd cut his first tooth when we celebrated our Early Bird Thanksgiving a couple weeks ago. (I'll try to get a picture, but it is a tough angle.

Look who's starting to get comfortable on his tummy!


Eben & I have been sick for the past couple weeks. We did enjoy a very fine Thanksgiving meal at his sister's house. But our plan to go to spend the rest of the weekend with friends in upstate New York was scrapped because of illness. Instead, we spent the whole break on the couch watching DVDs in front of the fire, under piles of blankets. Fortunately Edison did not catch the bug. We've now almost recovered and are trying to get back into our normal routines again. Needless to say, being sick caused a delay in the blog posting & a lack of new photos for the week. Sorry! So - don't forget to take lots of Vitamin C!!!

Uncle Palmer tells the most interesting stories. Zzzzzzzzzzz. (just kidding!)

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So grown up.

Gotta love the naked baby shots. I didn't mean to match the paint color to his eyes - just a happy coincidence.

100% vegetarian baby

Happy Thanksgiving!

We enjoyed a busy week of family and friends. On Wednesday, Eben went to Swampscott to celebrate his father's 70th birthday with his siblings over Chinese take out.On Saturday, our good friends Jay & Suz came to visit. They brought their two beautiful kids, Xavier (almost 3) and Jazelle (9 months). Here are the babies - aren't they sweet together?!
On Sunday we hosted an "Early Bird" Thanksgiving for our friends that we know through the Coast Guard. It was quite an ordeal to reconfigure the living room into a dining room - but well worth it. We enjoyed a fantastic potluck meal and fabulous company.
My cousin Pete came from Seattle to visit. It was so good to hang out with him again. We've really missed him since moving here to CT. Edison loves Uncle Pete!
We went to Newport and did the Cliff Walk on a brisk, but clear day. Edison is quite the bundle.

Recovered

We had a terrific week. Edison is at a magical age in babyhood - very fun & interactive, loves to imitate his parents, friendly and sociable, and he stays in one place and doesn't eat "real" food yet. Anyway - he is a wonderful son and a very enjoyable baby.



Edison is learning to sit on his own. This is a "bumbo" chair that helps babies sit up. Edison hasn't made up his mind yet as to whether he likes it or not.


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Most of the pictures I take are front view, so this is a side view to help you get a better sense of him. Aren't those chubby cheeks just ready to be squeezed?!Here's Edison sitting without the chair. The technical term is "tripod" - leaning forward on both hands. He's getting closer, though.
We went up to Boston for the weekend and Edison enjoyed getting lots of big hugs (and hand-me-downs) from his older cousins, Harry, Lily, & Sarah. They take really good care of their little cousin when he visits - finding toys for him to play with and entertaining him..



His cousins passed along their Exersaucer. Edison adores it - he can't get enough of standing and this way mom gets a little break from helping him stand. We're still working on standing upright, though.

November 2008 - Nana's Visit

My computer's hard drive crashed this week. I lost all my data, but on the positive side have a new hard drive & newer versions of all my programs - thanks to the warranty. I also had backed up a month ago, so ALL is not lost - but I did lose my pictures from most of my mother's visit. BUMMER. Here are a few that survived from our last couple days together...

To celebrate my mom's birthday, we went to a cute ice cream & sandwich shop in Old Lyme, the town to our west. We had a nice lunch & then went to the Florence Griswold Museum. We saw a fantastic collection of Betsy Potter Vonnoh sculpture, and early American impressionism (which apparently was centered RIGHT HERE in CT - who knew?!).

Is this the cutest jacket or what? Okay - maybe it is Edison's smile that is so wonderful.

Edison with his Nana.
She has the magic touch. (Note, Edison is going to be too big for the Coast Guard "uniform" very soon - maybe already actually.)

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I love my sweet little boy!

Happy Halloween

Edison absolutely adores being on his feet. He loves to get a little help with standing up, but once he's standing, he is so proud of himself and enjoys the new perspective on his world. Ummmm, can I get a little help with the pedals, please? Wait ---What do you mean I need a license?My mom is in town to visit for the next few weeks. It is so wonderful to have her here. She is bonding with Edison and helping me out so much around the house.


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And for Halloween - look what we discovered on the beach. He must have gotten caught up in the Gulf Stream.
Giddey Up! Eben gave extra credit to his students so that he could borrow a Halloween costume. (He's a horse.) Edison now has a bedtime of 7:30, so Nana looked after Edison while we enjoyed our FIRST NIGHT OUT in four months! (We lasted until 11.)Twins? Devito & Shwarzenegger have nothing on these two. Eben WISHES he had those sweet football Robeez shoes. Hey - how is Shwarzenegger spelled anyway?
I have been doing a lot of swimming lately. Edison hangs out in his carseat at the end of my lap lane. I have been taking him in the pool for 15 minutes at the end of each of my workouts. He is getting quite used to the water. We're very slowly working up to getting head wet and then putting his face in the water. The first steps are just to make sure he is comfortable in the pool. As you can see from his picture with Nana, he is doing very well. Of course, all of my fellow swimmers absolutely adore having him at the pool each day. He is quite a ladies' man.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

joying a lovely New England fall. This is the view from our house, looking out across Gorton Pond.
Edison & his dad got all dressed up for a nice birthday dinner for Eben on Friday night. What a dashing father-son pair they make. They charmed the whole restaurant. Edison is definitely the best birthday present ever & his presence makes our own aging seem appropriate now and not something scary!
Getting some zzzzzs in with mom.
This picture title is supplied by Paul Lang: "I should never let Uncle Craig babysit me again."
Waiting for the Patriots game to start. Like father, like son.

Pumpkin Time

We went to Lyman Orchards last weekend with our Coast Guard friends the Rothbergs, Rhett & Brandi, and their two kids, Raisi (5) and Rhys (1). We also met up with Brian and Alison McSorely and their 2 year old, Jack. This place is a big deal in Connecticut. In addition to the masses of people, they had a corn maze, pumpkin patches, and pick your own apple orchards. It was all very "New England."





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Isn't this the cutest picture ever?! I wanted to get a quintessential pumpkin picture of Edison & I think I really lucked out. Too bad he slept through the whole thing!
Still sleeping...
In the corn maze, dozing. I guess he wasn't worried about making it out any time soon.










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This toy is hilarious - another Craigslist find. It is called the Po-Knee (get it?!) - dad just straps it to his leg & its Camp Town Races, here we come. We're just getting Edison started with it.
Edison is still loving bath time!

Green & Gold Weekend

We enjoyed a wonderful Columbus weekend getaway to Vermont with Palmer & Faye. Here's a little travelogue.
Going on a roadtrip with a three-month old is a little tricky. The infant is a bit like a ticking time bomb, you never know when it is going to explode, but you know it is coming soon. This picture was taken after Edison had a diaper blow out. Luckily the scenery was gorgeous and we could wash him off in the stream under the covered bridge. Don't you love the butt dimples?Our Saturday hike took us to the Mad River Glen, Eben's childhood ski area. It was fun hiking the old ski trails. Can you see why it is called Green & Gold weekend? It was absolutely beautiful & we enjoyed perfect weather. Who can spot Edison?

Uncle Palmer with Edison. I just like this photo, there's something to it because it is not posed. Despite what it looks like, they are not waiting for the bus to escape the crowded minivan! Edison is draped with one of dad's shirts for warmth, but it ends up looking more like religious robes.

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Can you tell how much dad loves you, Edison? I hope so! This photo is from the second hike of the weekend, up to Camel's Hump - a fantastic lookout point.
We could see Lake Champlain, separating Vermont & New York, and up into Quebec, Canada. Everywhere one looked, the leaves were changing color and the trees were magnificent. The hike was a little longer than we planned, but we had a great time (even Edison, the look on his face is just a ruse).