baby room

We will only be in this house for a few months before moving, but a few months is a long time in an infant's life (mainly because they work on a 24 hour a day clock) and how can I control my nesting without a room to fuss in?  So here is the beginning of the baby's storybook montage room.  

The watercolors were favorites from the batch made by my mom for Aiden's birthday party (Thanks Momo!).  The slanted wall has a cherry blossom bird decal (easily removable) which is a nod to our move to DC, the land of the cherry blossom trees.  We will likely miss the trees this year, but right around the baby's first birthday you better bet we will be soaking in the Cherry Blossom Festival. 

J lovingly painted the walls while we were away enjoying the sun in Florida.  They are supposed to be a bit greyer, but they do look warmed up a bit from the white primer we had on there for ages.  I think the blue trim and doors will work especially since I had that fabric that blends it all together.  The next step is to figure out what sort of mobile I want to hang from the very conveniently located hook right above the crib spot which was installed by the previous owners.  I finished the quilt I'd started before the holidays from Aiden's old duds, thanks to fabric/blankets my mom bought me for christmas.

 Horton Hears a Who, Wild Things, and the Hungry Caterpillar right next to the changing pad:

BEFORE with that awful wallpaper and too big for the room futon:

snowy

 Facebook is full of commentary of the snow.  My favorite is the photo album my friend created entitled "Completely Unreasonable" that shows the huge snow piles with her husband hidden behind them.  He's over six feet and most of the side road piles are hiding him.  Aiden's school, even before the last storm, had a 40 foot long, atlas 15 feet tall monster pile in the parking lot.  Now it has another foot piled onto it, and one of the teachers was joking that its remnants will still be there in April.  Aiden is lucky enough to get out with his class nearly everyday to explore the snow piles in the playground.  I can hardly imagine 8 kids putting on snow pants and all the gear (without help mind you) but their teacher says they are pretty quick now.  We've been out a bunch too, and J carried Aiden all the way out to the big pile at the end of our yard (since it was past his waist if he sunk all the way in, that was a lot quicker).  I'm still dreaming of the beach...

fl science museum

We used our reciprocal membership to visit the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science on a bit of a rainy afternoon.  They have a huge section similar to a children's museum where Aiden thought it was fun to pick fake oranges off a tree and put them on a conveyor belt.  They also had a huge aquarium and buggy area.  The bat boy said hey to his bat friends (while my skin crawled a little bit).

Then we tried out our fourth IMAX movie, Dinosaurs 3D.  Aiden was excited about it at first, but I think quickly learned to keep his eyes shut at the "loud scary parts" - The story about the paleontologists kept him interested, but when the dinos came out to growl he just shut his eyes.  I asked if he wanted to leave and he said no, and when he told his dad about it later he said, "I like the dinosaurs, but I don't like the loud dinosaurs!"

 So many creepy crawlies to point out:
I think Aiden liked this ambulance because it was a quiet little spot in the very loud active museum.

FL Science Museum from LB on Vimeo.

zoo!

The Palm Beach Zoo was a treat.  We were cooled a bit at first by some rain, but the tree cover made for a pretty decent umbrella.  I think it was the perfect sized zoo.  The program talks they had scheduled throughout the day were a definite highlight.  One program called Wild Things showed off some unique animals really up close.  My aunt was even treated to a lesson in how to recycle from a macaw that flew over to her and took a water bottle and flew it into the recycle bin.  Aiden loved petting the lizard and was a little timid giving the macaw his donation for the new tiger exhibit.

FL Zoo from LB on Vimeo.

contrast at 25/26 weeks

This past month presented itself as a big contrast. Snow and Sun. Certainty and Uncertainty. Two major things are certain: we are having a baby in April-ish and we are moving in July/August-ish. We're moving to the Washington, DC area for J's new position at Georgetown University!  I'm certain that I'm proud of him and it is the best possible move for him and for our family. We are completely uncertain of exactly where our family of four will settle in the area, but we're truly excited about the certainty that our life a year from now will be completely different with a whole new batch of places to explore.

As I floated around in the pool in Florida, feeling relief from gravity on my expanding 25/26 week belly, I would occasionally get a little excited as it dawned on me how much we have in store over the next year. It's also a little overwhelming to narrow down all the options and decisions we have waiting for us. Aiden already understands that we are moving to the school with the "big dogs" and I feel lucky that he's a pretty adaptable kid.  The baby will be too young to know what's going on as long as he gets his food and a semi-quiet place to sleep. I know in my sleep deprived state I will realize what is going on, but maybe it will make things easier to be distracted from thinking too much (aka. obsessing).

For now, I'm focused on enjoying the New England winter by cozying up to some quilting fabric. You always appreciate things after you no longer see them for long. So during these cozy days mostly stuck inside, I will try to find simple pleasure in the slowness... the calm before the storm...

26 weeks after a birthday party for Aiden's little buddy

25 weeks getting packed up for our trip to Florida

first sail

It's always fun to introduce Aiden to something new, and this was his first sail.  We saw manatees and iguanas from the boat, and my uncle brought some extra creepy crawly toy spiders that made Aiden's day.  He was also very excited to wear some of Lulu's crazy rockstar sunglasses.  He liked seeing the big blimp go overhead.  When we made it out onto the open ocean, Aiden was giddy when the sails first went up and the waves started bouncing us.  He asked how we'd get back to our house since the land was so far away.  He was very serious about his life vest and didn't even want me to loosen up the strap under his leg.  He was such a safety meister, it was actually a nice relaxed trip.  He even took a nap in my mom's arms as we bounced around on the waves.

First Sail from LB on Vimeo.

poppy's 89th

We had fun celebrating my Poppie's 89th birthday while we were visiting.  He kicked off the party sharing his well-known, loved magic tricks for Aiden.  The bunny trick (using smaller versions of the yellow foam bunnies my mom creatively cut out from sponges!) is the all time favorite.  Poppie generously gave Aiden one of the foam bunnies.  Aiden decided to try to copy the trick and ended up pulling the bunny into two pieces to recreate the "magic!"  Oops, but it made for a good laugh!  Aiden had fun as candle blowing helper again and was very excited to share those cupcakes.  He helped paint the stained glass hot air balloon as his present to his Great Poppie.

Poppie's Magic from LB on Vimeo.

chuckie birthday

We aren't totally adverse to Chuck E. Cheese like some people, but I prefer it on a weekday when it isn't packed full of people and birthday parties!  Sheesh, today they hosted 19 birthday parties in one day!  That is a lot of bad pizza, blowup crowns, and birthday medallions.

Aiden's buddy Aiden begged to have his 4th birthday party there and his mom apologized when sending out his invitation.  (Now I know why since it was a zoo!)  She even handed us little thank you bags with hand sanitizer in them when we arrived ;)

Strangely, he was pretty timid around Chuckie and didn't even want to step into the ticket blower, so he let his friend do it.  I think all he really wanted was to eat four cupcakes covered in the thickest frosting gunk (I could barely wipe it off Aiden's mouth).

Our Aiden ventured into the overhead tunnel for the first time with a bunch of fast moving, crazy big kids (rumored to be punching kids).  That is an exercise in parenting trust, letting your kid venture off where you can't see him.

J gets a super dad award for putting up with the chaos also and really helping be sure Aiden had a nice time despite the incredible crowd.  More photos here: http://flickr.com/gp/brennans/ETcr3V

swimming!

We spent about half our trip at my grandpa's timeshare specifically because they have a nice warm heated pool right off the beach - woohoo! - and this view when you wake up in the morning is always a nice treat. Aiden was cracking me up because he took every opportunity to use the word "timeshare" (just like multipurpose room at his school) - "Mommy, are my stickers at the timeshare?" "When are we going back to the timeshare?"  If you've ever heard a three year old use the word "share" - it's pretty cute how slowly they say it ;)

The swimming pool especially was a treat for Aiden (and for his brother who loved floating around without gravity pulling down on his belly house).  Aiden wore his "scuba suit" around the house in MA for weeks ahead of going to FL, and he was really ready to bust it out when we got there.  The Aiden pool games went something like this: the kissy shark (Aiden) rode around bossing the motor boat shark (Gran) so that she would scoot right past the foot grabbing shark (PopPop) and plant a big kiss on the tickle shark (Mommy).  Gran had a song about swimming and she was definitely the preferred swimming partner (Thanks Gran for working out in the pool with the bossy shark)

FL video

Of course, I have a gigantic set of photos and video from our trip.  I started with two really quick magic movies, but there is more where this came from for later.

FL Beaching and Swimming from LB on Vimeo.
You will see Lulu's toy box house at its best in this goofing around video. She has hundreds of Pez dispensers, animatronic animals galore, and that is just the beginning. She also spoiled Aiden with some really fun toys, especially the BIG piano. He was so excited to show it off to daddy when we got home - Thanks Lulu!

FL Goofin from LB on Vimeo.

beaching!

We're home from our trip to Florida!  Thanks for everything while we were visiting Lulu, Scott, Brucie, Great Poppie, Gran Gran, and Pop Pop!  We miss you already!  What a rude awakening walking out of the airport and getting street salt caught in my flimsy shoe - Oh boy, is it cold here!  I immediately thought of a favorite time (of many) during the trip - what Aiden affectionately called "beaching!"

Aiden loved wave jumping at the beach, destroying my sand castles, poking out while we tried to bury him, making drip sand castles, helping collect shells (then throwing them back), and writing in the sand.  He's not so into the relaxing thing that some people (especially big round pregnant people) enjoy, but that is what very enthusiastic grandparents are for ;)  I call it grandparent back strength training. (ps. Thanks Gran and Pop!)

boat ride!

We are lucky enough to be in Florida (while it is in the single digit temperatures in MA/RI).  We were even luckier to kick off our trip with the perfect sail - huge thanks to Aunt Lulu and Uncle Scott - out to the ocean and back Aiden fit in lotsa exploring, goofing, and even a nap.