Happy Six Months, Eliza!

Six months ago today, this amazing little girl came into our lives.

And it has been so powerful to reflect back to those incredible first impressions.

Eliza, you have brought so much joy and love into our family.  We can't imagine our lives without your sweet presence, and we love you with all our hearts!

Here are some of the specifics we love about you:

*Your huge, adorable, crooked smile.  All it takes is one look at you or a silly sound and you break out this heart-warming face.  

*Your happy demeanor. You are naturally so easy-going.  Sure, you have the standard baby needs and you protest if any needs aren't being met, but you are so easily entertained by the world around you. Your demeanor has made the transition to being momma of two so much smoother than I anticipated.  Bless you, little one, bless you.

*Your rolls. I have not lost any sleep worrying about your nourishment, you have always been one healthy little girl!  Here are my favorites:

The back of the neck roll

The mid-thigh roll

And the elbow dimple

*Your noises: Laughs, giggles, cadenced squeals, tongue sputters, grunts, conversive ahhs, and many more. You make us all laugh at your joyous explorations of your vocal abilities.

*Your cuddliness. So soft and sweet, you just melt into place.  Oh how I love this.

*Your fascination with your hands and your constant efforts to eat them.

(Your dad's unused surgical cap.  He thought this was hilarious. )

*Your 'excitement' moves: Open mouth smile, opening and closing your fists (Jazz hands), and powerful kicks. I especially love this response when I come in to greet you after a nap.

*Your squinty morning eyes, when the whole world is so interesting yet so bright.

*And your adoration of your brother. You love watching him play, you love to laugh at his funny faces, and you are so patient and tough with his bursts of intensity.

You are already acting the part of a six month old, and we sure love watching you get such joy and satisfaction with your increasing abilities.

You love to sit by yourself

In high chairs

And even shopping carts now

You love solid foods!  So far, you have loved pears and carrots, tolerated apples, and liked sweet potatoes.

Such a happy first six months! Every day, I am grateful for your health and your happiness.

Thank you for being my little girl.

St. Patrick's Day

For his Spring Break, my brother and his awesome family explored New England and came to see us!

It was so great to see them on bookend weekends, both of which turned out to be quite festive with St. Patrick's Day, March Madness, and Easter.

These two cousins took greater delight at each other's existence, admiring each other's hands, kicking moves, jumperoo-ing, and vocal abilities.

And John loved doting on "such cute little babies" (said low, slurred, and silly)

St. Patrick's morning, we did the green thing.

Green pancakes, green eggs, green juice.

For dinner, we went Irish.  Corned beef and cabbage (oh wait, I forgot about the cabbage until late that night...), mashed potatoes, root vegetables, bread, and (Martinelli's) brews in paper cups.

And it was so wonderful to have the Jensens join us!

My good luck charms, enjoying the party

After a rousing rendition of "who stole the cookie..." (John's latest favorite), we ate our shamrock sugar cookies.

And attempted family photos

Such a fun day!  Sure love this cute crew.

Mom's March Visit

I love my mom.  And it is such a blessing to live within a short drive/train ride of her.

When snow kept us from our February trip for her Heart luncheon (Nemo snowstorm... cancelled trains, snowed-in cars), the disappointment proved too much and Mom used those train points to come visit us!  I had just emerged from Week One of potty-training, in addition to surviving a particularly rough Eliza sleep schedule, so her visit was all the more the welcome treat.

This girl is just growing up so fast, so Mom fully enjoyed some Eliza time.

In addition to bonding with John.

And squeezing in an outing just the two of us!

This art trip was even more fantastic than we expected, as we stumbled upon a knowledgable curator with a booming voice who relayed a great story about this gallery's founder, John Trumbull. Best details: 

*First university art gallery- founded in 1832. 

*Trumbull sold 88 paintings and portraits to Yale, and as this legend goes, laid out the follow stipulations: 1. The collection was to be kept in its entirety at Yale (no traveling pieces)  2. He and his wife were to be buried at all times underneath his favorite painting- his original 'George Washington at Trenton'. If the painting moves, so do the caskets.  If either of these stipulations is not met, the entire collection is to be shipped to his alma mater, Harvard. He and his wife now lay (a few floors down from the exhibit, naturally) in their third (?) resting place, as the gallery has moved several times, but they are still beneath that painting.

Mom also helped me with a few projects and taught me the trick to her enchiladas, and left the house looking lovelier, me more rested, and all of us happy.

Love you, Mom!

Potty Party Days

Before this past month, I never could have imagined just how much pulling my hair out would be a literal temptation.  Nor could I have imagined just how much pride I would get out of a dry pull-up.  

Potty training.

Thanks to experienced and talented sisters-in-law, moms, and informative websites, I approached this daunting task with a solid, John-specific game plan.  And I am soooo happy that Phase 1 is complete!  

John. Is. Potty-trained!

The early days, also known as "potty party days" 

(John likes pants, only the 'party' idea convinced him to go with my pants-free approach)

Eliza was his loyal companion, keeping him company in her bumbo.

He now is his own master.  I am no longer a full-time potty monitor.  

And John already is taking on habits of other family members...

And we are no longer house-bound!  Church, preschool, museums, Boston, NYC, you name it- John can handle it.  A few more steps before he is officially diaper-free and one of the big boys, but I am so proud of him and happy that we successfully surmounted this huge skill.

Onward and upward, my big (little) boy!

Little Family in the Big City

We are trying to capitalize on Matt's glorious anesthesia rotation.  No weekend call means fitting in a lot of our exploring during the next few months.  At the top of our bucket list is seeing Wicked on Broadway.  We schemed up a fantastic weekend with some great friends, got a killer rate at my favorite Times Square hotel- the Marquis, so many fun memories staying there- and planned the babysitting hand-offs that would allow us to fit in a couples date including a nice meal, seeing Wicked, and going to the Manhattan temple.

Our friends' little boy came down with a crazy cold that resulted in hospitalization, so our Wicked temple trip was delayed. Our killer rate at the Marquis paired with our motivation to enjoy this rotation proved enticing enough to hop on the train and wing a NY weekend just the four of us.  And we had a ball! Most of our explorations were for the adults, interspersed with maximum kid (animal) appeal.

Public Library (lions everywhere)

Bryant Park (first time seeing ice skates, I mean "polar bear shoes")

Toys 'R Us (animated T-Rex was a favorite)

Our big Saturday outing: World Trade Center Memorial

Mysterious view of the new building- disappearing into the clouds

St. Paul's chapel- gorgeous!

Filled with 9/11 memorabilia 

And interesting history- George Washington's chosen prayer spot

Beautiful cemetery and Bell of Hope

The memorial museum is not yet complete, but the acre-sized reflection pools are breath-taking.

The calm after our most impressive crying 'storm'.  

The nearby Marriott lobby provided a much needed haven.

 Our exciting food finds from the trip:

#1- Wafels & Dinges- saw them on a Bobby Flay 'throwdown', tracked down a cart, ate decadent waffles for lunch, and now are HUGE fans of speculoos (cookie butter- conveniently offered at our local Trader Joe's)

#2- Becco- reasonably priced and delicious Italian food in Times Square- definitely recommend for any Broadway-bound friends. Ambitious with kids... but doable if they don't fall apart :)

We also fully enjoyed our hotel room.

The view

The nappers

The photoshoots

After a quick stop in the Disney store

And a Junior's cheesecake run, we were ready to head home.

Best moment: The store manager admired John's cookie monster hat so much that he gave him a huge chocolate chip cookie. That grin is forever imprinted in my memory- so fun.

Naturally, we played animal games the whole train-ride home.

In character as 'mean lions'.

I take my job seriously.